H-Series Application Migration Guide (H06.03+)

The TNS/E Native Development Environment
H-Series Application Migration Guide—429855-006
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TNS/E Native Mode Debugging Tools
H-series systems. The Inspect debugger is available on H-series systems, but can be
used only for debugging TNS processes.
Visual Inspect
Visual Inspect is the primary application debugging tool in the TNS/E native
environment. The H-series version of Visual Inspect debugger includes the same
functionality as the G-series version. Visual Inspect supports high-level symbolic
debugging of native and TNS processes (interpreted and accelerated) through a PC-
based graphical user interface. Processes being debugged run on the NonStop server,
but all debugging tasks are performed through the Visual Inspect client running on a
PC.
Visual Inspect can also be used for debugging TNS, TNS/R, and TNS/E snapshot files.
For TNS/E native mode debugging, you can invoke Visual Inspect from within ETK.
You can use Visual Inspect to debug programs created by the PC cross-compilers (C,
C++, COBOL, and pTAL).
The H-series Visual Inspect facility has been enhanced for machine-level debugging.
You can now perform low-level debugging tasks from the PC that needed to be done in
previous RVUs on the NonStop server using Debug or Inspect. The following machine-
level features are supported:
•
Set instruction breakpoints
•
Display instruction code
•
Step by instruction
•
Display and modify data using a numeric (non-symbolic) address
•
Modify, format, and monitor registers
•
Display and format data buffers as SPI or EMS buffers
These capabilities enable you to perform low-level debugging tasks that formerly
needed to be done on the NonStop server using Debug or Inspect.
Visual Inspect is the preferred application debugging tool on H-series systems. If you
are currently an Inspect user, you are encouraged to use Visual Inspect when you
migrate to the H-series system. It offers a simpler and more intuitive user interface and
more capabilities. For example, working from a PC, you can use Visual Inspect to
debug multiple processes residing on the same or on different nodes in a network. The
processes can be TNS, native TNS/R, or native TNS/E. The other TNS/E native mode
debugger, Native Inspect, does not provide this capability.
See the Visual Inspect online help for more information on Visual Inspect. In particular,
to ease migration from Inspect to Visual Inspect, the Visual Inspect online help
provides a mapping of Inspect commands to Visual Inspect commands.
Native Inspect
Native Inspect is a command-line symbolic debugging tool that can be used for
debugging TNS/E native processes and snapshot files. It can be used for source
statement level debugging as well as machine-level debugging. Native Inspect is