Bug 28976

Comment 1 Darin Wright 2003-01-06 10:32:36 EST

Note: there is no support in JDI to retrieve "next" variables. We can only see 
what is currently allocated.

I am not sure how this is different than what we have already. The variables 
view will display "this", children of which are member variables. All locals 
and arguements are also displayed (up to the point of execution).

Comment 2 Ed Burnette 2003-01-06 11:03:14 EST

It goes to the source (or the ADT) to get the variables. Here's the difference 
between the auto and variables view. Let's say that you are debugging a class 
method like this:

1: void aMethod(int nItems, Object[] aItems)
2: {
3:    int total;
4:    total = nItems * 2;
5:    nItems = total;
6:    _items = nItems;
7:    anotherMethod(aItems[0], aItems[1]);
8: }

And the class variables were something like this:

class aClass
{
   int _items;
   double _ratio;
   String _name;
...
}

You step to line 4. The variables view might show these variables:

   + this
     nItems = 1
   + aItems
     total = <undefined>

In order to see the member variables you'd have to expand 'this'. Also if the 
class had a lot of member variables then you would likely be seeing a lot of 
stuff you don't care about right now.

The auto view might show these variables when stopped at line 4:

   total = <undefined>
   nItems = 1

The exact heuristic to decide which variables to show is up for debate, and 
maybe "total" wouldn't be displayed if it's not allocated yet. But the basic 
idea is that it shows you the variables you are likely to want to see when 
debugging this particular statement. If you single step to line 5 then the 
auto view would change to:

   total = 2 <highlighted to indicate a change>
   nItems = 1
   _items = 0

Then if you step to line 6 the auto view would change to:

   total = 2 <no longer highlighted>
   nItems = 2 <highlighted>
   _items = 0
 + aItems

The heuristic (just for illustration) might be something like:

   start with a null list
   for each line in (previous, current, next) do
      tokenize the source code for line
      for each potential variable in (tokenized list) do
         add variable to list if it's not already there
         done
      done
   for each potential variable in list do
      try to add variable to view
      if that fails (i.e., it's not really a variable), ignore it.
      done

I know that the user can manually inspect whatever variables and expressions 
they want but it's just that, manual. A good auto view would do what they want 
80% of the time without any manual intervention.

Comment 3 Darin Wright 2003-01-06 11:11:54 EST

Marking as later, for post 2.1 consideration.

Comment 4 Darin Wright 2005-07-06 16:59:22 EDT

*** Bug 55344 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 5 Curtis Windatt 2007-09-21 15:53:19 EDT

*** Bug 73525 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 6 Eclipse Webmaster 2009-08-30 02:34:04 EDT

As of now 'LATER' and 'REMIND' resolutions are no longer supported.
Please reopen this bug if it is still valid for you.