Why the Debugger in Toad doesn't give me values for the watched variables?

I am in need of help in using the debug tool in Toad for troubleshooting a live issue on one of the procedures in a package, but the debugger doesn’t seem to work the way as described in the help manual of Toad for Oracle.

I went thru the Debugging Tutorial step by step in trying to learn how to use debug tool for trouble shooting a procedure in a package in Toad for Oracle. But, nothing happened all the way thru the process except for the stops in a break point & a couple of watched variables. I am pretty sure I had the required parameters setup as instructed in the tutorial. But, the process did not display any values for the watched variables either in the same or different TAB. I however am not sure if I have access to the DBMS_DEBUG Oracle package.

How do I verify whether or not I have access to the DBMS_DEBUG Oracle package?

If the problem is about my access to the DBMS_DEBUG Oracle package, I would think I would receive some kind of obvious error message while trying to run the package with the debug option. But I received no error message and the package was compiled w/ debug option and executed all the way stepping thru a debug break point and watched variables without displaying any helpful variable values.

p.s. I need to troubleshot a live issue in a procedure of a package; therefore, I must learn how to use the debugger tool VERY SOON in order to find out the root cause of the live problem.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

After reviewing the ‘Run Code and Display Output - Debugging Tutorial’ document in Toad Help for debugging a procedure or function, I think I know what my problem is. According to the help document, the value for the watched variable is in the DBMS Output tab, and I notice my DBMS Output tab is disabled. So, my question is:

How do I enable the DBMS Output in Toad?

Thanks.

Morning Orchid Lin,

... I think I know what my problem is. According
to the help document, the value for the watched variable is
in the DBMS Output tab,
I don't think that is really the case. There are a number of tab along
the bottom of a debugger session, I've got a session open in Toad 10.6
at the moment, using the DBMS Debugger (Debug->DBMS Debugger) and I see
the following:

Messages, DBMS Output (Disabled), Call Stack, Breakpoints, Watches, etc.
There is a separate tab for DBMS Output and Watches.

If you cannot see the Watches tab, right click on any of the tabs and
make sure that Watches is checked in the dialogue that pops-up.

Now, put the cursor on a variable that you want to watch, and Debug->Add
Watch at cursor (or press CTRL+F5) then click Debug->Trace Into and
notice that your watch changes value as and when the variable changes.

and I notice my DBMS Output tab is
disabled. So, my question is:
How do I enable the DBMS Output in Toad?

Click on the DBMS Output tab, and click the red "led" to turn on
dbms_output, but this is not your problem with watches.

HTH

Cheers,
Norm. [TeamT]

Information in this message may be confidential and may be legally privileged. If you have received this message by mistake, please notify the sender immediately, delete it and do not copy it to anyone else.

We have checked this email and its attachments for viruses. But you should still check any attachment before opening it.
We may have to make this message and any reply to it public if asked to under the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act or for litigation. Email messages and attachments sent to or from any Environment Agency address may also be accessed by someone other than the sender or recipient, for business purposes.

If we have sent you information and you wish to use it please read our terms and conditions which you can get by calling us on 08708 506 506. Find out more about the Environment Agency at www.environment-agency.gov.uk

Thanks for your response and all the information Norm. You are correct that DBMS Output (Disabled) is not the problem. FYI, the problem is that Toad cannot display the value for a variable within asub-procedure if it has been declared in the parent procedure as I was told by a Quest Software Tech Support and that this is a limitation of the Toad Debugger.

Thanks again.

Actually, this is a limit of the DBMS_DEBUG API that Toad uses to provide the
information. The Toad debugger simply makes calls into DBMS_DEBUG and takes the
values returned by Oracle and returns them to the user. In many cases, we’re
simply limited by what Oracle will return and this is one of those cases.

Greg

On Aug 2, 2011, at 12:15 AM, Orchid Lin wrote:

Message from: Orchid

Thanks for your response and all the information Norm. You are correct that
DBMS Output (Disabled) is not the problem. FYI, the problem is that Toad
cannot display the value for a variable within asub-procedure if it has been
declared in the parent procedure as I was told by a Quest Software Tech
Support and that this is a limitation of the Toad Debugger.

Thanks again.

_______________________________________

Historical Messages

Author: Orchid Lin
Date: Mon Aug 01 21:15:09 PDT 2011
Thanks for your response and all the information Norm. You are correct that
DBMS Output (Disabled) is not the problem. FYI, the problem is that Toad
cannot display the value for a variable within asub-procedure if it has been
declared in the parent procedure as I was told by a Quest Software Tech
Support and that this is a limitation of the Toad Debugger.

Thanks again.
__

Author: Norman Dunbar
Date: Wed Jul 27 00:13:12 PDT 2011
Morning Orchid Lin, >> ... I think I know what my problem is.
According >> to the help document, the value for the watched variable
is >> in the DBMS Output tab, I don't think that is really the case.
There are a number of tab along the bottom of a debugger session, I've got a
session open in Toad 10.6 at the moment, using the DBMS Debugger
(Debug->DBMS Debugger) and I see the following: Messages, DBMS Output
(Disabled), Call Stack, Breakpoints, Watches, etc. There is a separate tab
for DBMS Output and Watches. If you cannot see the Watches tab, right click
on any of the tabs and make sure that Watches is checked in the dialogue
that pops-up. Now, put the cursor on a variable that you want to watch, and
Debug->Add Watch at cursor (or press CTRL+F5) then click
Debug->Trace Into and notice that your watch changes value as and when
the variable changes. >> and I notice my DBMS Output tab is >>
disabled. So, my question is: >> How do I enable the DBMS Output in
Toad? Click on the DBMS Output tab, and click the red "led" to
turn on dbms_output, but this is not your problem with watches. HTH Cheers,
Norm. [TeamT] Information in this message may be confidential and may be
legally privileged. If you have received this message by mistake, please
notify the sender immediately, delete it and do not copy it to anyone else.
We have checked this email and its attachments for viruses. But you should
still check any attachment before opening it. We may have to make this
message and any reply to it public if asked to under the Freedom of
Information Act, Data Protection Act or for litigation. Email messages and
attachments sent to or from any Environment Agency address may also be
accessed by someone other than the sender or recipient, for business
purposes. If we have sent you information and you wish to use it please read
our terms and conditions which you can get by calling us on 08708 506 506.
Find out more about the Environment Agency at www.environment-agency.gov.uk
__

Author: Orchid Lin
Date: Tue Jul 26 21:15:26 PDT 2011
After reviewing the 'Run Code and Display Output - Debugging Tutorial'
document in Toad Help for debugging a procedure or function, I think I know
what my problem is. According to the help document, the value for the
watched variable is in the DBMS Output tab, and I notice my DBMS Output tab
is disabled. So, my question is:

How do I enable the DBMS Output in Toad?

Thanks.

__

Author: Orchid Lin
Date: Tue Jul 26 14:58:08 PDT 2011
I am in need of help in using the debug tool in Toad for troubleshooting a
live issue on one of the procedures in a package, but the debugger doesn't
seem to work the way as described in the help manual of Toad for Oracle.

I went thru the Debugging Tutorial step by step in trying to learn how to
use debug tool for trouble shooting a procedure in a package in Toad for
Oracle. But, nothing happened all the way thru the process except for the
stops in a break point & a couple of watched variables. I am pretty sure I
had the required parameters setup as instructed in the tutorial. But, the
process did not display any values for the watched variables either in the
same or different TAB. I however am not sure if I have access to the
DBMS_DEBUG Oracle package.

How do I verify whether or not I have access to the DBMS_DEBUG Oracle
package?

If the problem is about my access to the DBMS_DEBUG Oracle package, I would
think I would receive some kind of obvious error message while trying to run
the package with the debug option. But I received no error message and the
package was compiled w/ debug option and executed all the way stepping thru
a debug break point and watched variables without displaying any helpful
variable values.

p.s. I need to troubleshot a live issue in a procedure of a package;
therefore, I must learn how to use the debugger tool VERY SOON in order to
find out the root cause of the live problem.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

__
_______________________________________