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From: news@ucf1vm.BITNET
Newsgroups: comp.lang.asm370
Subject: Re: Single Step Debugger
Message-ID: <9011271513.AA11760@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 24 Nov 90 23:19:39 GMT
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Reply-To: IBM 370 Assembly Programming Discussion List
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In article <2624@hsi86.hsi.com> siperas@hsi86.hsi.com (Steve Siperas) writes:
>Hi
>Does anyone know of any Single Step Debugging Tools for Batch Assembler
>Programs under VM. Has been looked into but doesn't seem to be any vendors
>with this product.

I am not sure what you mean by "batch" assembler under VM.  If you
are talking about anything other than running a bal program under
CMS with you sitting there at the terminal stepping thru the program,
the following doesn't apply.
I do a lot of assembly programming under VM/CMS.  While a symbolic
debugger would be nice, I have never worked at a place that did enough
assembly programming to justify getting one, so I make use of the
native debugger under VM, known as PER.  Long available as a user mod,
PER became standard in VM at release 3 of VM/SP.   PER plus TRACE
give the ability to single step sections of code or all of it,
and set/reset various breakpoints.
(Under VMXA/SP, PER has been folded into the TRACE command but the
PER command is a synonym for TRACE).  Consult the CP command refrence
for details & syntax, its too long to go into here.  A few hilites:
 * Trace all/specific instructions within a range/everywhere.
 * Trace interrupts, i/o, program, etc.
 * Trace braches.
 * Trace storage alteration.
 * o/p to terminal, printer, both.
 * Stop on an event/continue after displaying trace info.
 * Execute (almost) any CP command at the stop.
 * Don't display the trace info until the nth hit.
 * Only display every nth hit.
 * Etc etc etc.

You should have a reasonably current assembly listing handy, and a
good idea is to assemble it to the address that CMS will load it
at when running (usually x'20000' or x'E000').
To do this use:
  NAME    START  X'20000'
instead of:
  NAME    CSECT
at the begining of the program.
That way you can read addresses off the listing without having to
constantly be adding/subtracting x'20000'.

If you have specific questions, follow up here or email to
       Richg@locus.com