Is this a worthwhile feature request?

The script debugger (FileMaker Pro Advanced v 7 onwards) has a "step
out" button. It will run all the script lines until it has to jump
back to the script that called it; then it pauses. I want to be able
to do the opposite. Lets give this new button a name: "Run until step
into". When the user presses the "Run until step into" it will run all
the script steps in the primary script, until a sub-script is called.
It then pauses on the first line of the sub-script.
This is far more convenient than having to press the "step-into"
button on each line until you get to the right place.

This would be useful for scripts that have lots of branching
conditions as it will save me from having to watch the system push
through all the conditions until it meets a valid condition and
performs the relevant sub-script.

What do you thing?

Regards
Kevin Smith

KevinSmith wrote:


It is a worthwhile request, though I might implement it a little
differently. I've long thought there should be a "Pause on Calc"
option, which would be similar to the Pause on Error in debugger, but
with the ability to specify the calc.

To accommodate your suggestion, the calc might be:
get(scriptname) <> "Main Script"

Or often in a complex script, I can't figure out how we got to a
particular layout or a particular record, so I might use a Pause on Calc
like:
get(layoutname) = "Wrong Layout"

Or you might wonder why FieldX has a value of 666. Use this calc in
debugger:
FieldX = 666

Such an option would lend so much flexibility and efficiency to
debugger, while still accommodating your particular need of pausing on
subscript.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Howard Schlossberg
FM Professional Solutions, Inc. Los Angeles

FileMaker Certified Developer
Associate Member, FileMaker Business Alliance

In article <hr9olt$ft9$1 (AT) news (DOT) motzarella.org>, Howard Schlossberg
<howard (AT) nospam (DOT) fmprosolutions.com> wrote:

Lightspeed / Think Pascal had a great programming / debugging environment
- one of the best I've ever used.

It had an "Observe" window where you could easily see the contents of any
variable.

It also had an ability to put little "Stop" signs next to any line of code
and then run the program up to that point. Then you could:

- Step In each line one at a time (including entering sub-'scripts')

- Step Over sub-'scripts' (i.e. run them at full speed and then go
back to the calling 'script' in step mode)

- Step Out of sub-'scripts' back to the calling 'script'

- Continue running at full speed, until the next Stop sign

It's a pity it was abandoned, so is no use for Mac OS X programming. (


Helpfull Harry )

Ummm...sounds exactly like what FileMaker has, no?

On 28 Apr, 17:44, Howard Schlossberg
<how... (AT) nospam (DOT) fmprosolutions.com> wrote:
Hi Howard

I think that's a great suggestion of itself. Script debugging is a
generic activity; I wonder what extra features FileMaker could copy
from other programming languages? I must admit to having little
experience of other programming environments, but it would be
interesting to see what other people can suggest based on their use of
other languages.

Regards
Kevin Smith