Using breakpoints

Use breakpoints to stop execution temporarily at specified places in your code so that you can check various values, for example, register values. You can set software or hardware breakpoints in RealView Debugger, depending on the location of your code, and on the support provided for hardware breakpoints by your debug target.

You can set various conditions that must be met before execution stops, and you can also specify actions to take when the breakpoint conditions are satisfied. See Conditional breakpoints and Set Address/Data Breakpoint dialog.

Setting a very simple breakpoint

To set a breakpoint on an instruction in your application, without any conditions attached to it:

Double-click in the margin of the source line (Src tab) or address (Dsm tab) in the File Editor pane of the Code window. RealView Debugger sets a hardware or software breakpoint automatically, indicated by the symbol $image\breakpt.gif$ to the left of the source line.

$image\lamp.gif$ Breakpoints are set on executable instructions. If you click on a source line that is not executable, RealView Debugger sets a breakpoint on the next executable instruction and identifies the non-executable lines between with $image\downbr.gif$ .

Execution stops at this point in the code and waits for you to take action. If you execute the program again, it continues until the next breakpoint is reached.

To disable the breakpoint:

Click on the breakpoint
Select Disable Break from the context menu. A disabled breakpoint is indicated by the symbol $image\disbreak.gif$ .

To see the main menu options for setting breakpoints, select Breakpoints from the Code window Debug menu.

Breakpoint options are also available on many of the pane context menus:

File Editor pane - Src tab

File Editor pane - Dsm tab