You launch the Debugger by selecting the desired source file and issuing the Debug command as explained in Run or debug a program.

Note: You can also launch a debugging session with focus on an include file.

When you launch the Debugger, you may see either or both of two prompts:

  • If you have not enabled debugging, you are prompted to do so before the debug session runs.
  • If you are not in the Debugger perspective, you may be prompted to confirm a switch to that perspective. Switching is recommended but not required.

A dedicated OpenEdge runtime instance starts for the session in a suspended state, with an ABL stack trace displayed as a tree in the Debug view. The current line, which is the first executable statement in the source file, is selected in the stack trace. In an ABL Editor window showing the source file, this line is highlighted and includes an execution pointer () in the left margin.

Use any of the program execution commands on the Debug view toolbar or context (right-click) menu to proceed.

Debugging class files

When you use an ABL class file as the starting program for the Debugger, a temporary program is created to instantiate the class, using a public default constructor (no parameters). A different temporary program is used for each debugging session, as concurrent debug sessions are allowed. Each temporary program has a unique name relative to the Debugger session. If the class does not have a public default constructor, an error occurs.