Can I make the debugger press 'v' for me after every step?

will_ has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Can I make the debugger press 'v' for me after every step? by chrestomanci (Priest) on Jul 25, 2011 at 13:58 UTC
If you want to see context, then I think your best bet would be to use a visual debugger. Devel::ptkdb is available from the usual places, works on both Windows and Unix, and is fairly easy to setup and install. Just run: `perl -d:ptkdb <your program.pl>`. If you don't like the rather primitive user interface, or you need to remotely debug on a device that dose not support graphics, then you could also consider the EPIC plugin for eclipse, which incorporates a visual debugger that supports remote debugging over a network, but it is slightly more difficult to install and setup. Having said that, I would have thought that stepping over every statement that perl runs will get very tedious quite quickly, especially if your program is running any sort of loop. When I am debugging, I usually type `l <lines>` to view 30-50 lines of code in one function or block, and then with them on screen just use `n` to step over the code. One line of context it enough if the code is already on screen. If I find myself in a repetitive loop, I just type `c <line>` to continue after the loop.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Can I make the debugger press 'v' for me after every step? by will_ (Scribe) on Jul 26, 2011 at 10:50 UTC
Yes, I've used ptkdb before and it is brilliant. But you guessed right, the code is on a remote server, being read via a terminal. I did mount it locally and try to run in Eclipse, but there were so many other module dependencies missing that I gave up after installing several dozen.	[reply]
Re^3: Can I make the debugger press 'v' for me after every step? by chrestomanci (Priest) on Jul 26, 2011 at 11:05 UTC
It looks like BrowserUk has offered a soltuon to your original question. As for running your script with a visual debugger on your remote server, is there enough bandwith and resources to enable you to run a remote X application? I have done that sort of thing a lot when debugging perl on local servers, where the server room is across the hall from my desk, the server is a huge 16 core Solaris box, and there is plenty of bandwith between me and it.	[reply]
Re: Can I make the debugger press 'v' for me after every step? by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Jul 25, 2011 at 16:57 UTC
Doesn't `{{v` do exactly what you've asked for?	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Can I make the debugger press 'v' for me after every step? by will_ (Scribe) on Jul 26, 2011 at 08:45 UTC
Yes BrowserUk, yes it does. Thank you!	[reply]
Re^3: Can I make the debugger press 'v' for me after every step? by chrestomanci (Priest) on Jul 26, 2011 at 11:00 UTC
Thanks for the tip BrowserUk I will remember that for future reference. Are you able to explain the syntax of the command and how it works? I can see there is a section documenting it in perldebug, but it is not clear what the difference is between a `{ [command]` and a `{{ [command]` (Two curly braces) Edit: That post had the wrong parent. will_ please ignore.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^4: Can I make the debugger press 'v' for me after every step? by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Jul 26, 2011 at 11:08 UTC
Re: Can I make the debugger press 'v' for me after every step? by zentara (Cardinal) on Jul 25, 2011 at 16:26 UTC
I second the recommendation for using Devel::ptkdb. What I think you are looking for, is called setting the breakpoints. As a tip, remember to save your breakpoint setup as a ptkdb file, so you don't have to reset them everytime you run the script. Numerous tutorials for ptkdb on google show how it's done. I have hardly ever used the commandline debugger, but it may have a similar breakpoint mechanism, which you can save to automatically be loaded with the file to be debugged. Devel::ptkdb makes it as simple as clicking on a line of code, to set a breakpoint. I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. Old Perl Programmer Haiku ................... flash japh	[reply]
Re: Can I make the debugger press 'v' for me after every step? by bluescreen (Friar) on Jul 25, 2011 at 14:34 UTC
Another option would be creating your own debugger extending DB.pm and add that behavior to it. The debugger's code is not hard to extend/modify. Then you can run your script using `perl -d:MyDB`	[reply] [d/l]