Debugging Palette Help

Name:	Alpha Developer Menu
Version:	1.5
Last update:	2019-11-27 14:12:49

The Debugging Palette is a truncated version of the Alpha Developer and Tcl menus with a limited number of commands that users might find handy to help debug some problem with Alpha or its library of AlphaTcl files.
Click here to display the palette.

Introduction

If you have run into a problem using Alpha, please report it on one of the mailing lists described in the "Readme" file, or select the menu command Help ↣ Bug Reports ↣ Create New Ticket to submit a report to the Alpha Tracker database.
You might be asked to display the Debugging Palette to perform some task that will help a developer track down the problem. To do so, you can select the Contextual Menu ↣ Alpha Help ↣ Debugging Palette command. (See the package: contextualMenu help window if you can't find this command.)
The Help ↣ Bug Reports ↣ Bug Reporting and Help ↣ Bug Reports ↣ Debugging Help files also include this hyperlink that you can click on to display the palette.

Palette Commands

The various utilities contained in this palette include:

Display Error Info: When an AlphaTcl routine runs into an error, this information is saved internally in an errorInfo variable. Select this command to display this error information in a new window.
Display Log Info: Many error messages encountered during some AlphaTcl routine are logged in a special cache to be reviewed later. This command will display that information in a new window.
Display Timing Data: When Alpha is first initialized, various stages are recorded to help determine exactly what is taking place during startup. In some cases, this information will provide a clue as to why something goes wrong later during the editing session.
Display Version Info: Opens a new window containing version information that developers often find useful when trying to help you track down your problem.
Rebuild Package Indices: Alpha maintains a cache of AlphaTcl scripts that are only sourced on an as-needed basis, which makes the startup much quicker. Occasionally these indices must be rebuilt if you have upgraded your AlphaTcl library, or if the cache has been corrupted for some reason. You must quit Alpha immediately after rebuilding.
Update Alpha Sources: Alpha sources are under Subversion control. The source files for the core and for the AlphaTcl library are regularly updated prior to a next public release of the application to address different bugs and to implement new feature requests. You can update your source files to get a preview of the next release; in some cases this might address the bug you've observed.
After performing the update, you should immediately quit Alpha. If changes have been made in the core sources, you must recompile the application. See the instructions in the technical note TN #1: How to update the core.
Perform A Stack Trace: After reporting a bug, you might be asked by a developer to perform a "stack trace" on a specific procedure. Selecting this item will present a dialog to choose that procedure. You should then perform the operation that caused the bug you've observed. Once you are done, select the Display Trace Results command.
Display Trace Results: This command is meaningless unless you have already performed a stack trace as described above. Once you have completed the routine that was causing the problem you observed, select this command to display the trace results in a new window. The information might mean very little to you, but it can be invaluable to a developer to help figure out what is going wrong with your distribution.
Create New Ticket: A duplicate of the Help ↣ Bug Reports ↣ Create New Ticket command. See Bugs Tracker Help for more information.
View A Ticket: This command allows you to display a ticket in Alpha's Bug Tracker. See the summary listing for a table of all the tickets.
Debugging Tips & Tricks: Opens the Bug Reporting and Debugging Help pages with more information about how to debug Alpha or AlphaTcl.
Debugging Palette Help: Opens this window.

Additional Help Files

The following help files might also be useful:

Known problems

Please report any problem or bug you encounter to Alpha's Bug Tracker.

License and Disclaimer

Original Author: Vince Darley.
Co-Authors: Craig Barton Upright, Bernard Desgraupes.
Copyright (c) 2003-2019, Vince Darley and Contributors.
Contributors: Craig Barton Upright, Bernard Desgraupes.
All rights reserved.
The Debugging Palette package is free software and distributed under the terms of the new BSD license:
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
Neither the name of Vince Darley nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL VINCE DARLEY OR THE CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.