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Introduction

Vebugger is a visual debugging aid that integrates with Eclipse and allows developers to visualize Java objects' state during a paused execution (see some examples below). Vebugger is designed as an Eclipse plugin that uses templates to visualize class instances of a certain Java type. Vebugger includes a dozen templates for popular Java types, but it can also be extended with templates for custom types, as well.

Examples

class Color

Color

Vebugger's visualization of a Color class instance inside the Variables view of Eclipse's debug perspective. This visualization exposes the color represented by the object in a fashion more easily comprehensible compared to a textual representation.

enum Desktop.Action

Desktop.Action

Vebugger's visualization of a Desktop.Action enum instance inside a runtime mouse-over tooltip. Unlike the textual representation, this visualization exposes the alternative visual states of the enum.

class Locale

Locale

Vebugger's visualization of a Locale instance.

class LinkedList

LinkedList

Vebugger's visualization of a LinkedList instance.

Installation instructions

  1. Import the plugin project (vebugger-eclipse-plugin in the vebugger repository) into your Eclipse workspace and run it as an Eclipse Application. (Note: Please use the latest Eclipse Luna. Other Indigo/Juno are incompatible)
  2. Inside the "inner" Eclipse, import a project that you want to work on, we'll call this the target project.
  3. Also import the Vebugger Aid project (vebugger-templates-addon in the vebugger repository).
  4. Right click on the target project, select Build Path > Configure Build Path, select the Projects tab and add the vebugger-templates-addon project
  5. Debug-run the target project. When execution pauses (e.g., a breakpoint is reached) right click on any variable under the Variables view, select Show Details As > Visual Debugger

Extending Vebugger

To add support for a new Java type you will need to add a new template. Templates extend the VebuggerTemplate class. Your template class must be in the vebugger.templates package, but does not have to be inside the vebugger-templates-addon project.