Nice - almost looks like my SqueakJS debugger :)

For debugging the VM I found it useful to show the current stack and
context chain:

[image: Screen Shot 2020-01-20 at 08.28.26.jpg]

- Bert -


On Mon, Jan 20, 2020 at 7:04 AM Thiede, Christoph <
Christoph.Thiede at student.hpi.uni-potsdam.de> wrote:

> Further ideas to improve overall bytecode tools:
>
>
>
>    - We could reuse Marcel's recent #save*InspectorState approach to
>    memorize which methods should be displayed as bytecode. It would be also
>    great to extend the Debugger factory API to specify the desired
>    contentsSymbol. CodeHolders (such as MessageSets or other debuggers) could
>    pass their contentsSymbol if you open a new CodeHolder on them, for example
>    by pressing Browse, Implementors, or also via debugIt. Maybe we could also
>    make a preference for the preferred content symbol?
>    - It would be great if the bytecode (i. e. CompiledCode >> #symbolic)
>    would show real evaluable Smalltalk messages. For example, 'returnTop' has
>    no implementors, and if you want to find out what this bytecode does, you
>    need to either debug the stepInto button, or browse your image via #
>    methodStringsContainingit, so I would find it much more convenient to
>    directly write 'methodReturnTop' into the bytecode.
>    A very simple approach could be the following:
>
> InstructionPointer >> #subclassResponsibility
>
> | sender |
>
> sender := thisContext sender.
>
> (self class whichCategoryIncludesSelector: sender selector) =
> #'instruction decoding'
>
> ifFalse: [^ super subclassResponsibility].
>
> self print: sender asMessage.
>
> However, this would require a proper use of "^ self
> subclassResponsibility" in InstructionClient.
>
>
>    - We could also use a multi-column list instead of a text pane to
>    display the bytecodes.
>    - Maybe also provide a side-by-side view of both source and bytecode
>    with synchronized selection? This could help associating the bytecodes with
>    the original source.
>    - ...
>
>
> Best,
> Christoph
>
> ------------------------------
> *Von:* Squeak-dev <squeak-dev-bounces at lists.squeakfoundation.org> im
> Auftrag von Thiede, Christoph
> *Gesendet:* Montag, 20. Januar 2020 15:39 Uhr
> *An:* Squeak Dev
> *Betreff:* [squeak-dev] Changeset/Concept: BytecodeDebugger.3.cs
>
>
> Hi all, time for some more context fun! :-)
>
>
> Marcel recently mentioned to me that we could need some kind of
> "raw debugger" for a better experience when exploring the bytecode.
>
> The current best work"flow" to do this was: In the open debugger, first
> evaluate [ThisContext method symbolic edit] in the CVI
> (ContextVariablesInspector) to see the bytecode. Then, while debugging,
> you need to evaluate [ThisContext pc] in the CVI repeatedly to check the
> current position and compare it with the bytecode to see what's going on.
> Furthermore, you could open the debug menu of the stepInto button and debug
> the button action to dive into the deeps of context simulation.
>
>
> This changeset proposes an implementation for debugging the bytecode
> directly. It's still very alpha-WiP-tbd-y, but it might give you an
> impression of my approach.
>
> Some screenshots (sorry, Dave!):
>
> Comeback of the code provenance button:
>
>
> Take attention to the Simulate button!
>
>
>
> Go ahead and give me feedback! It would be nice to have an early version
> of this feature in Trunk in not-so-far time; I am sure this could be
> helpful for investigating all the context bug I reported over the latest
> months.
>
> I'm excited to hear from you!
>
>
> Best,
>
> Christoph
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/pipermail/squeak-dev/attachments/20200120/0cd17b7b/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: pastedImage.png
Type: image/png
Size: 53722 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/pipermail/squeak-dev/attachments/20200120/0cd17b7b/attachment-0002.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: pastedImage.png
Type: image/png
Size: 57006 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/pipermail/squeak-dev/attachments/20200120/0cd17b7b/attachment-0003.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Screen Shot 2020-01-20 at 08.28.26.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 121501 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/pipermail/squeak-dev/attachments/20200120/0cd17b7b/attachment-0001.jpg>