JP2001051871A - Remote debugging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform remote debugging with simple constitution. SOLUTION: This remote debugging device consists of a printer controller 100 where a target program runs and a computer 200 for development which controls the printer controller 100 so as to debug the target program. The printer controller is provided with a printer control process 101 which executes the target program, a debugging server 103 which controls the printer control process at a request from the computer 200 and informs the computer 200 of the operation state of the printer control process, and a debugging management mechanism 102 which starts the debugging server and printer control process for execution under the control of the computer 200. The computer 200 is provided with a debugging client 201 which communicates with the debugging server and debugging management mechanism. Further, the debugging management mechanism informs the debugging client of standard input/output information that the target program outputs in operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a remote debugging device for debugging a program operating on a computer by remote debugging.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a computer program is developed, a defective portion may be formed in the program. This defective part is called a bug, and the work of removing the bug is called debugging. A program that supports debugging is called a debugger, and a program to be debugged is called a target program. In the following description, a person in charge of debugging using a debugger is referred to as a user.

[0003] The debugger has a function of operating a target program in response to a user's request and monitoring the operation status. The user uses the debugger to operate the target program and monitors the behavior to find a bug in the program. There are various debugging methods, one of which is remote debugging disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-20122.

FIG. 7 shows a configuration of a conventional remote debugger. In remote debugging, a “target process” and a “debug client” are distributed and arranged on two different computers. In FIG. 7, the computer on which the target process 11 exists is called a target computer 10. The computer on which the debug client 21 exists is called a host computer 20. In addition, 30
Is a terminal described later.

[0005] The target process 11 indicates a state where the above-described target program is being executed. That is, the target program exists on a secondary storage device such as the storage medium 12 that can be referred to from the target computer, and the state where the target program is read into the main storage device and executed is called a target process. The secondary storage device is a device that permanently stores a program to be operated on the target computer regardless of whether it is inside or outside the target computer. The storage medium 12 is a hard disk, a ROM, or the like.
Debugging is the operation of manipulating the operation of the target process 11 and monitoring the operation status.

[0006] The debug client 21 in the host computer 20 is a process for presenting the execution status of the target process 11 to the user and for inputting an operation request for execution or the like to the user. Realization of the user interface is a main process. is there.

[0007] The debug server 13 in the target computer 10 receives a process operation request input by the user to the debug client 21 through the communication path 22 and responds to the instruction to execute the target process 10.
Is actually executed, the operation status of the process is acquired, and the information is sent to the debug client 21.

The above is the configuration of the conventionally proposed remote debugger, which has the following advantages. Even if the target program is a program that runs on a small computer that does not have an input / output device with the user, if there is a communication path 22, another computer such as the host computer 20 is connected to perform the debugging operation. be able to.

[0010] Even when the computer on which the target program operates has low computational power, the processing of the user interface is excluded from the outside, and the debug processing required on the target computer is minimized.

Some other examples of a conventional debugger including a remote debugger are described below. JP-A-52-225090: Remote debugging method. As a basic function of the debugger, there is a function of placing a breakpoint (in the gazette, referred to as "execution stop point") for the target program. Conventionally, the break point arrangement was specified by the user one by one, but this is to be automated. JP-A-5-274177: Real-time system debug device. Proposal of debugger structure to improve debugger portability.

JP-A-6-103104: Remote debugging method. An object of the present invention is to arrange a file for automatically executing a file on a target program in order to automate execution of the target program, and execute the file on the target. In the present invention to be described later, a program for starting a program (a debug management mechanism) is arranged instead of a file, and the input / output processing of the target program as well as the start of the file is sent to the debug client. .

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 6-61817: Thread online debug device. For thread debugging. JP-A-7-306800: Debugging method. JP-A-8-1471
No. 89: A method for debugging an operating system of a parallel computer. These two inventions are kernel debugging methods. On the other hand, the present invention aims at debugging a user process.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-249280: It is considered that the electronic key computer of the data processing apparatus is provided with a "mode" and a service mode is added in addition to the normal operation mode. In the service mode, remote debugging is possible, but the present invention mainly proposes a "mode-switchable device". Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 8-314760: A program development support device relates to development support of server client type software.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-120366: A system and method for distributed debugging for debugging a distributed application program. It is believed that a single remote debug system configuration has been invented in a more sophisticated environment than the environment targeted by the present invention. The debugging system proposed in the present invention inserts a new mechanism (debug management mechanism) into the conventional program configuration, and does not construct the whole as a single new system. For this reason, the present invention has an advantage that it can be easily applied to a conventional system as compared with the invention disclosed in the above publication.

JP 9-259004 A: A debugging method.
It is assumed that a target program (a control program in the present invention) and a debug server (a debug support program) are implemented on a real machine. However, since the target computer does not seem to support multi-process, it can be said that the target environment is different from the present invention.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-319614: Remote debugging method. The present invention focuses on improving the interface of a debug client, and particularly improves the display of the operation status of a target process. JP-A-10-105410: Internet-enabled portfolio manager system and method. It depends on the specific environment (JAVA, HTTP, etc.). -Japanese Patent Publication No. 9-512404: ATM exchange system. The invention relates to an ATM switch.

[0017]

In order to realize an environment such as the remote debugger shown in FIG. 7, a debug server program stored in a secondary storage device which can be referred to by the target computer 10 before debugging is mainly stored. It must be loaded into the device and executed as a process. However, a small-scale computer for machine control or the like often does not have an input / output device for inputting the program start command.

For this purpose, it is necessary to connect a device such as the terminal 30 shown in FIG. 7 to the outside via the communication path 31, or to prepare terminal software on the host computer side.
The debug server 13 purely performs the operation of the target process 11, and the target server 1
The output from 1 is not particularly notified to the outside.

That is, the conventional remote debugging configuration shown in FIG. 7 has the following problems. -Costs for preparing the terminal 30 and the like are required. The cost of adding the communication path 31 for the terminal to the target computer 10 is increased. -It takes time and effort to execute the debug server 13 before debugging.

In the conventional configuration of remote debugging, a single debug server can control only one process. That is, in order to debug a plurality of target processes at the same time, a plurality of pairs of a debug server and a debug client are required. Further, even if the debug server supports a plurality of processes, the standard input / output cannot be managed and output collectively.

However, depending on the environment, a plurality of processes may cooperate on the target computer. When these processes send various messages to the standard input / output, managing where the message came from and notifying the user accurately will greatly improve the efficiency of debugging.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and has as its object to enable remote debugging with a simple configuration.

[0023]

In order to achieve the above object, a remote debugging device according to the present invention comprises a first computer on which a target program operates and a first computer for debugging the target program. A second computer for controlling, a target process provided in the first computer for executing a target program, and a target process provided in the first computer for controlling the target process in response to a request from the second computer; Operation status of the second
A debug server provided to the first computer, debug management means provided in the first computer to start and execute the debug server and the target process under the control of the second computer, and a debug server provided to the second computer. And a debug client for communicating with the debug management means.

The debug server can control a plurality of target processes for executing a plurality of target programs, the debug client specifies a target process to be debugged, and the debug management means manages the plurality of target processes. May be.

[0025] The debug management means may notify the debug client of standard input / output information output when the target program operates.

Further, a sending means for sending a debugged new program may be provided in the debug client, and the debug management means may receive the new program and store it in the storage device.

[0027]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As a first embodiment of the present invention, a case where the present invention is applied to the development of a control computer for controlling a printer will be described. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a remote debugger as a remote debugging device according to the present embodiment. Normally, the printer is controlled on a small computer called a printer controller 100. Inside the printer controller 100, a printer control process 101 operates. The purpose of this embodiment is to debug this process 101. The user connects the development computer 200 to the controller 100 and performs a debugging operation from here.

That is, the printer controller 100
, And the development computer 200 becomes the host computer in FIG. At the time of debugging, a process called “debug management mechanism 103” is arranged on the printer controller in addition to the configuration of the conventional remote debugger.

This process is performed by the development computer 20.
The debug server 201 communicates with the debug client 201 within the communication path 202 via the communication path 202, reads the debug server program from the secondary storage device as needed, and causes the debug server 103 to execute the program. Therefore, there is no need to connect a terminal to the controller and execute a debug server as in the conventional remote debugger shown in FIG.

The debug management mechanism 102 also has a function of sending standard input / output information output by the printer control program as a target program during operation to the debug client. Therefore, if the printer control program is created so as to present some information to the standard input / output device during operation, all such information will be presented to the debug client side.

The target program is X-Window
If it is software that can construct a user interface mainly composed of windows, such as System, and has a function of sending the window to an external computer, it sets the window display destination as a host computer and starts it. This allows the host computer (development computer) to display the window of the target program. By using this function, if the printer control program is created to present information useful for debugging to the standard input / output or X-Window System window, all such information will be presented to the debug client side. As a result, more efficient debugging becomes possible.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of FIG. 1 in more detail. In FIG. 2, the user operates the development computer 20.
0 is connected to the printer controller 100. The user specifies the printer control process 101 to be debugged at the beginning with the debug client. Based on this information, the debug client 201 automatically requests the generation of the debug server 103 and the printer control process 101 to be debugged as needed. This request is received by the debug management mechanism 102, where the target process (printer control process 101) and the debug server 103 are actually started and executed.

When the target process is executed, the standard input / output of the target process is set to be notified to the debug server 103 as it is. Thus, all the information presented to the standard input / output is notified to the debug client 201.

After executing the printer control process 101, the debug management mechanism 102 notifies the debug client 201 of information specifying the process. The debug client 201 sends this information to the debug server 1
Notify 03. Thereafter, following the same procedure as in the normal debugging, the user inputs a process operation request to the debug client 201 and sends the request to the debug server 103.
And operates the printer control process 101.

When the execution of the printer control program 101 is completed or forcibly terminated on the way, this information is stored in the debug server 1 in the same manner as ordinary remote debugging.
03 is received and notified to the debug client 201. The debug client 201 presents this information to the user. Here, if debugging is to be repeated again, the debugging client 201
Requests the debug management mechanism 102 to execute the printer control process 101.

In summary, this embodiment has the following configuration and operation. A part called a debug management mechanism 102 is newly added to the conventional remote debugging environment. The debug management mechanism 102 is the debug client 2
In response to the request No. 01, the debug server 103 is started.

The debug management mechanism 102 activates the printer control process (target process) 101 in response to a request from the debug client 201. A process for requesting the debug management mechanism 102 to start a program is added to the debug client 201. Notify the debug client 201 of access to the standard input / output from the printer control process 101.

By applying the present invention to the debugging of the printer control process 101 operating on the printer controller, it is possible to automatically start all the processes of starting the programs on the printer controller such as the target process and the debug server. .

The following advantages are obtained by applying this embodiment.・ Startup of the debug server can be automated. -It is not necessary to connect a terminal to the printer control system. Therefore, there is no need to arrange a communication path with the terminal on the printer controller. -If a function to output the operation status of the program to the standard output is added to the printer control program, all the output is automatically notified to the debug client side.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a second embodiment of the present invention, and portions corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. The system configuration described in the first embodiment does not assume that a plurality of target processes are simultaneously managed by the debug server 103 or the debug management mechanism 102. However, in the present embodiment, the printer controller 100 Printer control process 1
01 are operated in a coordinated manner to realize the desired printer control.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, an object is to enable debugging of a plurality of printer control processes 101 by a single debug server 103 and a single debug client 201.

In this case, communication between the debug client 201 and the debug server 103 requires not only normal target program operation information but also information specifying which one of the plurality of printer control processes 101 is to be debugged. The debug server 103 operates the printer control process 101 specified here.

Further, a mechanism for acquiring standard input / output from a plurality of target processes and transmitting / receiving the data via a single communication path 202 is also provided. FIG. 4 shows the details of this procedure. The activation of various processes in the present embodiment is similar to the procedure described in the first embodiment. Debug client 201
Automatically recognizes whether the printer control process 101 needs to be executed, and requests the debug management mechanism 102 to execute the printer control process 101 if necessary.

The debug management mechanism 102 sends information of the started process (such as a process ID) to the debug client 201. The debug client 201 according to the present embodiment internally stores the information of the process acquired in this manner. Since a plurality of printer control processes 101 operate simultaneously, a plurality of pieces of process information to be held are generated. The debug client 201 manages these collectively.

Thereafter, the same operation as that described in the first embodiment is performed. That is, 1. A user inputs an operation request of the printer control process 101 to the debug client 201. 2. The debug client 201 sends a process operation request to the debug server 103. 3. The debug server 103 implements the operation of the printer control process 101 accordingly.

However, at this time, there are a plurality of processes to be debugged, and it is unknown which printer control process 101 the debug server 103 operates. This information can be solved by arranging a shared memory 104 between the debug server 103 and the debug management mechanism 102 as shown in FIG. 4, and arranging information of a process to be operated there. That is, the user specifies the process to debug,
Alternatively, when a change is input to the debug client 201, the debug client 201 notifies the debug management mechanism 102 of the request.

The debug management mechanism 102 writes information of a new process to be debugged into the shared memory 104. When the debug server 103 is notified of the process operation instruction, the debug server 103
Realizes the process operation instruction notified to the process indicated by.

As described above, the configuration and operation of this embodiment can be summarized as follows: The debug management mechanism 102 can execute a plurality of printer control processes. The debug client 201 collectively manages information on the activated printer control process 101. A shared memory 104 is provided between the debug management mechanism 102 and the debug server 103, and information on which process is to be debugged is written therein. The debug server operates the process indicated by the information written in the shared memory 104.・ Simultaneously send all standard inputs and outputs of the target process.

Therefore, by adopting this embodiment,
The following advantages are obtained. A plurality of processes can be debugged by a single debug management mechanism 102 and debug client 201 pair. -While a process is being debugged, other processes can be debugged. -Since the information of the process being debugged is collectively stored in the debug client, it can be processed collectively or individually selected and presented to the user.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. This embodiment is directed to the operation after debugging a program operating on a target computer (printer controller), finding a bug, and removing the bug from the program in the first and second embodiments. I do.

It is assumed that a bug of a program is found, and a corrected new program with the bug removed is sent to the target computer. Means for saving the new program in a secondary storage device that can be referred to from the target computer include the following. 1. Write the modified new program to the secondary storage and connect it to the target computer. 2. The program is sent from the external computer to the target computer. The target computer receives it and writes it on secondary storage.

1. Means does not require complicated mechanisms,
Although it is easy to implement, it is a very time-consuming task. 2. Is a simple method, but it is necessary to prepare a new program externally in order to send the program to the target computer. Further, depending on the OS operating on the target computer, if a program on the secondary storage is changed while a certain program is being executed, an abnormal operation is performed, and this must be avoided. Therefore, the present embodiment solves the above problem.

FIG. 5 shows this embodiment, in which parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. As described above, the present embodiment utilizes the debug configuration shown in the first and second embodiments to perform debugging, find a bug, correct it on a computer other than the target computer, and create a new one. It is assumed that the printer control program is completed.

The modified program is stored on another computer (development computer 200), and is transferred to a target computer (printer controller 100).
Must be transmitted to a secondary storage device that can be referred to from the storage device. The present embodiment is intended to enable the transfer of a program between the debug client 201 and the debug management mechanism 102. That is, a function of sending a new printer control program to the target computer 100 to the debug client 201, and a function of receiving the new printer control program to the debug management mechanism 102 and storing it in the storage medium 105 as a secondary storage device Is added.

That is, a new program is arranged in a place where the debug client 201 can refer to it. The debug client 201 sends the program to the debug management mechanism 102. The debug management mechanism 102 receives it and writes it to the recording medium 105. As described above, the operation of sending the completed program to the target computer is automated.

If a new program is to be overwritten on a previous program, as shown in FIG. 6, the debug management mechanism 102 checks whether or not a previous program is operating. If so, the writing is stopped and the debug client 201 is notified to that effect. The debug client 201 notifies the user of an error message accordingly.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the function of transmitting the target program is
1 and the debug management mechanism 102. This has the following advantages. If a new program is placed at a position where the debug client 201 can refer to the program, the new program is automatically made executable on the target computer. Therefore, the trouble of registering a new program so that it can be executed on the target computer can be omitted.

If overwriting occurs at the time of writing, it can be automatically determined whether the printer controller 100 is executing. Since it is determined on the printer controller whether the program is being executed, it is simpler and more efficient than determination by another computer and writing from another computer. The program transmission procedure (communication protocol) is performed inside the debug management mechanism 102 and the debug client 201, does not require other programs, and when changing the protocol, only this part needs to be changed. .

[0059]

As described above, in the conventional remote debugging apparatus, it is necessary for the user to execute the debugging server or directly specify the target process. And debug management means on the target computer as a software-like mechanism that enables the startup of the debug server

A target process such as a printer control process to be debugged, or a debug server can be automatically started. It is not necessary to particularly connect a terminal to a target computer such as a printer control system, so that it is not necessary to provide a communication path with the terminal on the target computer.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of target programs can be simultaneously debugged by one debug server and a debug client pair, and information of a plurality of target processes is managed in a unified manner. By notifying the debug server as needed, the target process can be freely switched.

As a result, a plurality of processes can be debugged by a single debug management unit and debug client pair. -While a process is being debugged, other processes can be debugged. -Since the information of the process being debugged is collectively stored in the debug client, it can be processed collectively and presented to the user. -Input and output of the target process are sent to the debug client in a lump.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the target process performs input / output with respect to standard input / output, all of them are notified to the debug client.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, conventionally, processing for sending a program created outside the target computer to the target computer is time-consuming, but the program is sent to and received from the debug management means and the debug client. By adding new functions: ・ The task of sending a program to the target computer can be automated.・ Exclusive control of writing (do not overwrite the file being referenced) can be easily realized.・ Since the transmission / reception mechanism of the program is arranged in a limited portion, maintenance becomes easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a remote debugging device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an operation of the remote debugging device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a remote debugging device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing an operation of a remote debugging device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a remote debugging device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram illustrating an operation of a remote debugging device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional remote debugging device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 printer controller 101 printer control process 102 debug management mechanism 103 debug server 104 shared memory 105 storage medium 200 development computer 201 debug client 202 communication path

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A first computer on which a target program operates, a second computer controlling the first computer for debugging the target program, and the target program provided on the first computer A debugger that is provided in the first computer, controls the target process in response to a request from the second computer, and notifies the second computer of an operation state of the target process. A server; a debug management unit provided in the first computer for starting and executing the debug server and the target process under control of the second computer; and the debug server provided in the second computer. The debug Remote debugging apparatus is characterized by providing a debug clients that communicate with management means. 2. The debug server is capable of controlling a plurality of target processes executing a plurality of target programs, the debug client designates a target process to be debugged, and the debug management means controls the plurality of target processes. 2. The remote debugging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the remote debugging is performed. 3. The remote debugging device according to claim 1, wherein the debug management unit notifies the debug client of standard input / output information output by the target program during operation. 4. The debug client according to claim 1, further comprising: sending means for sending a debugged new program, wherein said debug management means receives said new program and stores it in a storage device. 3. The remote debugging device according to 2.