Expressions view

The Expressions view contains a list of watch expressions. Only variables are supported. These watch expressions are evaluated each time a session suspends. The expressions are evaluated in the context of the currently selected stack frame.

The left part of the screenshot shows the Debug view with the selected stack frame. The right part shows the Expressions view with the watch expressions. In the screenshot, the Expressions view consists of an overview pane (left) and a details pane (right).

The details pane shows this information:

Value of primitive variables.
Hexadecimal value of variables of type string.
XML structure of variables of type XML.

Expressions that cannot be evaluated in the context of the current stack frame are indicated as “cannot be resolved”.

You can determine the amount of information displayed in the Expressions view. For example, you can show / hide the following:

Data type information.
The details pane.

See the description of the toolbar and shortcut menu commands.

Note: Try to keep the list of expressions limited. This is, because all expressions are evaluated each time a session suspends, which can affect the performance adversely.

If an array variable contains more than 10 dimensions, the variable is divided into partitions of 10 dimensions.

Toolbar

The toolbar of the Expressions view contains these buttons:


Show Type Names	You can toggle this option to show or hide data type names. The data type names are displayed in front of the expression names.
Show Logical Structure	Displays certain complex data structures in a more compact and meaningful form. For example, elements of a list are displayed as an ordered collection. Therefore, you can easier navigate complex data structures in terms of their logical structure, than in terms of their implementation.
Collapse All	Collapses all expanded expressions.
Menu	Contains these layout options: Vertical View Orientation: The details pane is displayed below the overview pane. Horizontal View Orientation: The details pane is displayed next to the overview pane. Expressions View Only: The details pane is not displayed.

Shortcut menu

Use the shortcut menu to add, remove, and edit watch expressions. If you right-click a watch expression when the debugger is active, the shortcut menu also contains the Reevaluate Watch Expression command. This command evaluates the watch expression again, which is useful after editing a watch expression.

Note: To define an expression that must be executed only once, click Execute Assignment Expression. The Execute Assignment Expression dialog box starts. See the dialog box's online help.

To create a watch expression that is executed each time you step through the execution, click Add Watch Expression. The Add Watch Expression dialog box starts. In this dialog box, specify the expression in this format: <variable>:=<value>. Then, select the Enable check box and click OK.

Icons and decorators

Icons

These icons are displayed in the Expressions view:

Decorators

The following decorators are used to indicate whether a variable is fixed and / or based. Decorators are displayed in the upper right corner of the variable icon.

Limitations

Limited to variables

Currently, it is only possible to evaluate expressions that are actually variables. It is not possible to evaluate other expressions, such as I=0.

Changing values not reflected in UI

The value of an expression is not updated, when the value of the contained variable is changed. To solve this, use the Reevaluate Watch Expression command on the expression.