JEDI Code Library




Content of this file



About experts

For Delphi 5, Delphi 6, Delphi 7, C++Builder 5 and C++Builder 6, experts can be installed as design time packages or dll experts. For C#Builder 1 and Delphi 8, experts are installed as dll experts (those products don't load design time packages). For Delphi 2005, Borland Developer Studio 2006, Turbo Delphi Professional and newer tools, experts are installed as design time packages.

Debug Extension for JclDebug unit

The experts\debug folder contains an IDE expert which assists to insert JCL Debug information into executable files. This can be useful when use source location routines from JclDebug unit. These routines need some kind of special information to be able provide source location for given address in the process. Currently there are four options to get it work:

  1. Generate and deploy MAP file with your executable file. The file is generated by the linker. It needs to be set in Project|Options dialog -> Linker page, Detailed checkbox.
  2. Generate and deploy JDBG file file with your executable file. This is binary file based on MAP file but its size is typically about 12% of original MAP file. You can generate it by MapToJdbg tool in jcl\experts\debug\tools folder. The advantage over MAP file is smaller size and better security of the file content because it is not a plain text file and it also contains a checksum. The IDE expert can automatically create this file when the project is compiled (see below).
  3. Insert JCL Debug info into executable file. The size of added data is similar to JDBG file but it will be inserted directly into the executable file. This is probably best option because it combines small size of included data and no requirement of deploying additional files. The IDE expert can automatically insert these informations when the project is compiled (see below).
  4. Generate Borland TD32 debug symbols. These symbols are stored directly in the executable file but usually adds several megabytes so the file is very large. The advantage is you don't have to deploy any other file and it is easy to generate it by checking Include TD32 debug info in Linker option page.

The IDE expert will add new item to IDE Project menu. The expert behavior can be customized by using the "JCL Debug Expert" item at the end of the Project menu. This submenu contains three settings to configure the operations that are automatically executed each time the projects are compiled/built. Three distinct operations are possible:

  1. Automatically create .jdbg file from project MAP file;
  2. Automatically insert JCL Debug info into the executable;
  3. Automatically delete the MAP file after the conversions are done.
For each of these operations, the action can be enabled/disabled either on a project basis or for all projects. The expert outputs a message in the IDE message view to display details about the data being generated.

You can generate those debug data for packages and libraries as well using the expert. Each executable file in the project can use different option from those listed above. It is not necessary to generate any debug data for Borland runtime packages because the source location code can use names of exported functions to get procedure or method name. To get line number information for Borland RTL and VCL/CLX units you have to check Use Debug DCUs checkbox in Project|Options dialog -> Compiler tab. Unfortunately, it is not possible to get line number information for Borland runtime packages because Borland does not provide detailed MAP files for them so you get procedure or method name only.

In case you have more than one data source for an executable file by an accident the best one is chosen in following order:

  1. JCL Debug data in the executable file
  2. JDBG file
  3. Borland TD32 symbols
  4. MAP file
  5. DBG and PDB debug informations (for system DLLs)
  6. Library or Borland package export tables

It is also possible to create JCL debug data programmatically from a MAP file by using MakeJclDbg command line tool in jcl\experts\debug\tools folder. This utility can either export data as a separate .jdbg file or insert them in the executable. You can study included makefiles which uses this tool for building delphitools examples.

To help using JclDebug exceptional stack tracking in application simple dialog is provided in jcl\experts\repository\ExceptionDialog\StandardDialogsfolder. The dialog replaces standard dialog displayed by VCL applications when an unhandled exception occurs. It has additional Detailed button showing the stack, list of loaded modules and other system information. By adding the dialog to the application exceptional stack tracking code is automatically initialized so you don't have to care about it. You can also turn on logging to text file by setting the Tag property of the dialog to '1'. These dialogs are intended to be added to Object Repository.

The repository expert can customize these standard exception dialogs by enabling additional features and by helping their creation by a step by step wizard. The dialogs can be created for any Delphi/C++Builder applications by invoking the File/New... menu.

Short description of getting the JclDebug functionality in your project:

  1. Close all running instances of Delphi
  2. Install JCL and IDE experts by the JCL Installer
  3. Run Delphi IDE and open your project
  4. Remove any TApplication.OnException handlers from your project(if any).
  5. Add new Exception Dialog by selecting File | New | Other ... | Delphi Projects | Delphi Files, Select 'JCL Exception Dialog for XXX' (where XXX is either Delphi or C++Builder depending on your project). A wizard will appear to configure the options for this dialog.
  6. Configure "Project" | "JCL Debug expert" to your needs
  7. Do Project | Build


Version control expert

A new expert integrating version control systems in the IDE was added. It provides an integration of TortoiseCVS and TortoiseSVN inside the IDE, items are added in the IDE menu and buttons can be placed in IDE toolbars via the customize dialog, see below.

A dialog-box provides configuration options for JCL experts in the Tools menu.

It wraps TortoiseCVS  and TortoiseSVN commands in actions that can be placed on IDE toolbars and in IDE menu.

This expert requires TortoiseCVS  or/and TortoiseSVN installed on the system to properly work. Please refer to these products documentations for help about using version control systems.

The structure of the "JCL Version" menu can be customized in the JCL options dialog (in the "Tools" menu).



XMM debug window

This dialog provides enhancement to the debugger of Delphi and C++Builder regarding XMM registers. These registers were introduced in SSE instructions (and are still used in SSE2, SSE3 and SSSE3 instructions). This dialog can be displayed by clicking on menu View | Debug Windows | SIMD (keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+D). It is divided in to panes following the style of the FPU window: the left pane displays content of registers and the right pane displays MXCSR flags. The format of the registers can be modified from the context. All registers and flags can be modified and changes will be applied to the debugged process.



Favorite combobox in Open/Save dialogs

This expert modifies the IDE Open/Save dialogs and add a combobox to store your favorite directories. Items can be added and deleted using the button at the right of the combobox.