Debugging a Process

You can start a debug session from the Debug Configuration dialog box, or by accessing an existing Debug Configuration from the Debug menu. For more information, see Creating a Process Debug Configuration.

When you start debugging a process, Designer can prompt you to enter data input for the receive step or steps. You can save entered data in XML form for reuse, save different versions of the data, and load the XML from a file in subsequent sessions.

The process debugger adds step status symbols in the process editor during the debug session. It also adds bold transition lines to indicate paths taken during debugging.

1. Click the menu (

) button next to the Debug button (

) on the main toolbar to open the Debug Configurations dialog box.

2. Select an existing configuration or create a new one as described in Creating a Process Debug Configuration.

Tip: You can the F11 key on your keyboard to start a debugging session. For more key combinations, see Using Keyboard Shortcuts.

3. If you selected Prompt for data at launch in the Debug Configuration, the default input data is displayed in the Enter input for document name dialog box.

4. If required, update the input data provided to the process you are debugging. You can enter data directly in the dialog box or load it from a file, as described in Loading Input Data. For more information about modifying input data, refer to Modifying Input Data.

6. When debugging starts, Designer displays a message on the first line of the table in the Trace view:

Status Indicator	Message
(Green square)	Process: process name started.

Designer displays step status messages as each step is completed:

7. Use the Trace view toolbar to control your debugging session. For more information, see About the Trace View.

8. To cancel the currently running debug session, click

Cancel Debug in the Trace view toolbar. Debugging stops, but the step status symbols remain in the process editor.

Tip: During debugging, a timeout might occur due to the long-running nature of a typical debug session. Such a timeout would essentially mark the process as done, rendering the debug effort useless. Avoid setting any join or process timeouts in a process for debugging.

9. When the process debugger has finished or been cancelled, Designer updates the process status Message and End Time information in the Trace view:

Status Indicator	Message
(Green square)	Process: process name is done.
(Yellow triangle)	Process: process name is done with warnings.
(Red circle)	Process: process name is done with errors OR Process: process name was cancelled.

10. Click

Clear on the Trace view toolbar to clear the Trace view and remove all debug status symbols in the editor. This button is not enabled while you are debugging a process.

The process debugger can monitor Designer's memory usage while you are debugging, and prompt you to end the session if memory use exceeds a set limit. See Configuring Process Debug Preferences.