Running and Debugging

The InterSystems ObjectScript Extension provides support for ObjectScript debugging. It takes advantage of the debugging capabilities built into VS Code, so you may find these VS Code documentation resources useful:

Also, InterSystems Learning Services has produced a short video which walks through the steps in this documentation page that you may find useful.

Debug Configurations

In order to run or debug an ObjectScript class or routine or attach to a running process, you must create a debug configuration. Some other languages default to running the currently active file, but to run ObjectScript, you must specify the routine or ClassMethod to use or the running process to attach to.

Click the run button in the Activity Bar:

Run button.

If no debug configurations are available, you are prompted to create one:

Create debug configuration.

Clicking the link opens a dialog containing a list of debug environments. Select ObjectScript Debug.

Select debug environment.

Once you have chosen a debug environment, VS Code creates and opens a launch.json file containing the following default content:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "type": "objectscript",
            "request": "launch",
            "name": "XDebug"
        }
    ]
}

These attributes are mandatory for any debug configuration:

type - Identifies the type of debugger to use. In this case, objectscript, supplied by the InterSystems ObjectScript extension.
request - Identifies the type of action for this launch configuration. Possible values are launch and attach.
name - An arbitrary name to identify the configuration. This name appears in the Start Debugging drop down list.

In addition, for an objectscript launch configuration, you need to supply the attribute program, which specifies the routine or ClassMethod to run when launching the debugger, as shown in the following example:

"launch": {
	"version": "0.2.0",
	"configurations": [
      
		{
			"type": "objectscript",
			"request": "launch",
			"name": "ObjectScript Debug HelloWorld",
			"program": "##class(Test.MyClass).HelloWorld()",
		},
		{
			"type": "objectscript",
			"request": "launch",
			"name": "ObjectScript Debug GoodbyeWorld",
			"program": "##class(Test.MyOtherClass).GoodbyeWorld()",
		},
	]
}

For an objectscript attach configuration, you may supply the following attributes:

processId - Specifies the ID of process to attach to as a string or number. Defaults to "${command:PickProcess}", which provides a dropdown list of process ID’s to attach to at runtime.
system - Specifies whether to allow attaching to system process. Defaults to false.

The following example shows multiple valid objectscript attach configurations:

"launch": {
	"version": "0.2.0",
	"configurations": [
		{
			"type": "objectscript",
			"request": "attach",
			"name": "Attach 1",
			"processId": 5678
		},
		{
			"type": "objectscript",
			"request": "attach",
			"name": "Attach 2",
			"system": true
		},
	]
}

Starting a Debugging Session

You can select a debug configuration from the list VS Code provides in the Run and Debug field at the top of the debug side bar:

Select debug configuration.

Clicking on the green arrow runs the currently selected debug configuration.

When starting objectscript launch debug session, make sure that the file containing the program that you are debugging is open in your editor and is the active tab. VS Code will start a debug session with the server of the file in the active editor (the tab that the user is focused on). This also applies to objectscript attach debug sessions.

This extension uses WebSockets to communicate with the InterSystems server during debugging. If you are experiencing issues when trying to start a debugging session, check that the InterSystems server’s web server allows WebSocket connections.

Debugging commands and items on the Run menu function much as they do for other languages supported by VS Code. For information on VS Code debugging, see the documentation resources listed at the start of this section.

Debugging a REST Service

The InterSystems ObjectScript Extension provides a Webview-based graphical user interface that allows you to send a REST request and automatically start debugging the process on the server that handles it. With the InterSystems file that you want to debug open in the active text editor, you can show the GUI using the Debug REST Service... command. The command can be accessed in the command palette, editor context menu or editor tab context menu. Follow the directions in the GUI to build your REST request and click the Start Debugging button to send the request and connect the debugger. Be sure you have a breakpoint set somewhere in the code that handles the request.

Troubleshooting Debugger Issues

If you are experiencing issues using the debugger, please follow these steps before opening an issue on GitHub:

Open a terminal on your server and zn to the namespace containing the class or routine you are debugging.
Run the command Kill ^IRIS.Temp.Atelier("debug"), then Set ^IRIS.Temp.Atelier("debug") = 1 to turn on the Atelier API debug logging feature. If you are on Caché or Ensemble, the global is ^CacheTemp.ISC.Atelier("debug").
In VS Code, start a debugging session using the configuration that produces the error.
Once the error appears, copy the contents of the ^IRIS.Temp.Atelier("debug") global and add it to your GitHub issue.
After you capture the log, run the command Kill ^IRIS.Temp.Atelier("debug"), then Set ^IRIS.Temp.Atelier("debug") = 0 to turn logging back off again.