Editing while debugging

During a debug session, you can make corrections directly in the same source code window that is used for controlling the debugging. Changes will be included in the next project rebuild.

Setting breakpoints at any point during the development cycle

You can inspect and modify breakpoint definitions also when the debugger is not running, and breakpoint definitions flow with the text as you edit. Your debug settings, such as watch properties, window layouts, and register groups will be preserved between your debug sessions.

Source and disassembly level debugging

C-SPY allows you to switch between source and disassembly debugging as required, for both C or C++ and assembler source code.

Single-stepping on a function call level

Compared to traditional debuggers, where the finest granularity for source level stepping is line by line, C-SPY provides a finer level of control by identifying every statement and function call as a step point. This means that each function call—inside expressions, and function calls that are part of parameter lists to other functions—can be single-stepped. The latter is especially useful when debugging C++ code, where numerous extra function calls are made, for example to object constructors.

Code and data breakpoints

The C-SPY breakpoint system lets you set breakpoints of various kinds in the application being debugged, allowing you to stop at locations of particular interest. For example, you set breakpoints to investigate whether your program logic is correct or to investigate how and when the data changes.

Monitoring variables and expressions

For variables and expressions there is a wide choice of facilities. You can easily monitor values of a specified set of variables and expressions, continuously or on demand. You can also choose to monitor only local variables, static variables, etc.

Container awareness

When you run your application in C-SPY, you can view the elements of library data types such as STL lists and vectors. This gives you a very good overview and debugging opportunities when you work with C++ STL containers.

Call stack information

The compiler generates extensive call stack information. This allows the debugger to show, without any runtime penalty, the complete stack of function calls wherever the program counter is. You can select any function in the call stack, and for each function you get valid information for local variables and available registers.

Powerful macro system

C-SPY includes a powerful internal macro system, to allow you to define complex sets of actions to be performed. C-SPY macros can be used on their own or in conjunction with complex breakpoints and—for some cores or devices—the interrupt simulation system to perform a wide variety of tasks.