(EDIT -- This thread was previously titled "MCUX 11.0.0 - 'this' not visible in Variables view", but it was eventually pointed out (derp) that static methods have no "this" pointer available. However, in the course of investigating this issue, I discovered that the Variables view would often appear with blank contents. The original thread appears below; the comments with screenshots show the issue with blank Variables view data.)
TL;DR - "this" no longer appears in the Variables view when debugging a C++ class.
So, I've pulled down MCUX v11.0.0 and installed it... I've also grabbed SDK v2.6.0 for the RT1050. I created a brand new workspace, set my templates and code style, set my hotkeys, installed the SDK, created a new C++ application, picked all the middleware, merged in all my previous application code, merged in my preprocessor defines and include directories, and after a bit of fiddling, got my "new" application to build. It even downloaded and ran the first time, which I'm thankful for.
However, my code got hung up during initialization, hmm. So I drill in with the debugger:
Now, upon reflection, I understand why this function failed... I haven't yet gone in and re-arranged the heap, stack, and data segments, so they're still pointing to internal SRAM, and I'm pretty sure the heap just ran out of memory, thus yielding a null pointer.
But what concerns me is the Variables view. I'm in the NxpLpi2c::CreateInstance() method, which means I'm inside the NxpLpi2c class. When I've debugged with MCUX in the past, there's always been a "this" symbol automatically added to the Variables view when debugging C++ methods. So... where did it go? It is invaluable to have access to the current object in the Variables view. Please tell me this is an easily remedied oversight. Thanks.
OK, this issue is getting weirder. On several occasions I've noticed that the Variables view is not showing anything, even when there are parameters or local variables present. I wasn't sure what was causing this, because other times it seems I'm able to get variables to show up.
Well, it turns out that sometimes the variables are there, you just can't see them. Have a look at these three screenshots:
Notice which line of the Variables table is highlighted in blue, and the details that appear in the window below. Clearly, the IDE believes that certain variables are in the table, because I can click on a row and see the details, but it's not actually displaying them. I can even click and turn the dropdown arrow for the I2c::Addr addr object parameter, though when I do that, the line below gives no details (the next line after that, however, is "data" as expected). Also, for whatever reason, if I click the top row in the table, the details don't change (they stay on whatever they were previously). That's normally (I think) the line I'd expect to have a "this" dropdown for the current object.
So... what the heck is going on with the Variables view?
All I'm doing is building my project and launching the debugger, and I wind up with a screen like this (from five minutes ago):
I mean, these are the only steps I've taken:
1) Make a copy of the "Debug" perspective, calling it "Debug (Custom)", and deleting a few tabs like Global Variables (which, yes, still creates a 1-2 minute delay if it exists at the time I click Debug). I make a copy of this perspective because then the IDE doesn't automatically re-add that tab to my custom perspective every time I launch a debug session, like it does with the standard "Debug" perspective.
2) Shift-click on the blue bug to create a new debug configuration (in this case I'm using a SEGGER pod with my EVKB, but the CMSIS-DAP doesn't change the behavior).
3) Let the debug session launch.
4) Start single-stepping through the code. Observe that the Variables window remains blank, though dropdown arrows appear for structures and objects. Clicking one of these lines will (usually, not always) cause details to appear in the white box below.
Right now, this is the biggest impediment to debugging. Being unable to examine variables or dive into structures is crippling my ability to debug my application; I'm pretty much relying on printf() and watching if/then branching to figure out what my program is doing.
Regarding "this"... dang it, you're right, "this" won't appear when debugging a static method. Should have realized that earlier. So yeah, the topic of this thread is a bit of a red herring at this point... the biggest issue is why the Variables tab is not rendering.
I mean, I'm not surprised that you're having difficulty reproducing the issue... if your developers had encountered this issue during IDE development, I'm sure it would have been one of the first things flagged and fixed. But that doesn't help me any. I've been using CW for MCU, KDS, and now MCUX since forever, and this is the first time I've ever encountered this issue. But it's 100% reproducible on my machine (it persists through IDE restarts and system restarts). Don't know what else to tell you.
Thought that I had replied to this directly, apparently I did not. So I tried each thing that you suggested, and did not manage to get the Variables view to work. Tried #1 just now (close Variables, reset the Debug perspective). I even deleted my customized copy of the Debug perspective that I've been using to get around the "2%" delay issue. No dice. After resetting the debug perspective, I cleared all breakpoints, started the debug on my FRDM-K66F, waited for the debugger to pause at main(), set one breakpoint inside a test method in an object, set the program to run, then pressed a key on the UART to trigger the test method. The debugger hit the breakpoint, and here's what I see:
See those two chevrons/angle brackets in the Name column? Those are almost certainly intended for the "spi" and "cfg" objects in the RunSpiFlashTest() method. So the IDE sorta knows what's supposed to go in those spots, but it's not rendering anything, maybe because it's being horribly slow to load data (pure speculation on my part). Worse, after I let the IDE sit there on this breakpoint for about a minute, I press F6 to step over, and nothing happens. I wait another minute, press F6 again, nothing happens. I click Run / Step Over from the menu bar, nothing happens. Although strangely, a third chevron appears at some point during all that.
Tried #2, excluding columns... no dice. I remove all but the Name column, and I just have a blank column with two chevrons. Which yes, I can expand/collapse, though only one blank row appears below the first chevron.
Tried #3 on multiple occasions last week and just now... I can't see variables anywhere in the call stack (extremely frustrating when trying to debug a driver).
Tried #4... turning Variables off and back on again did nothing, still blank.
None of this is working.
There's something wrong with the Variables view in MCUX 11.0.0, that wasn't wrong in previous versions. I still see no trace of "this", but what's more troubling is that much of the time, I don't see ANY variables listed, in functions that clearly have arguments and/or locals.
I did what you suggested and went into the Debugger Console to inspect the "locals" and "args". Here's what I saw on my first run:
GDB clearly knows that there are arguments to this function, but nothing is listed in the Variables view. FWIW, this code was build with -O0 (optimization level zero). Since I've done most of my previous debugging with -Og (optimize for debug), I switched to that, rebuilt, and tried again. Initially I again couldn't see anything in the Variables view. Then for giggles, I clicked on the Breakpoints tab, then on the Modules tab, then back to the Variables tab, and suddenly I got some stuff to show up there:
Still no "this", but now I have two copies of "instance" (one @entry version, whatever that means), and two copies of "input_clock_hz". The "args" display in the console looks to be what I would expect, as does "locals", save for the absence of "this". Does this help you at all?
