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Windows Batch Debugging

Written by Rex Conn on . Posted in Features.

One of our primary aims in Take Command version 25 was to enhance the batch debugger / IDE.  We implemented nearly all of the IDE feature requests in the Suggestions Forum, as well as many of our own ideas, including:

  • The Command Expansion window will show the original command line, the command line after alias expansion, and the command line after variable expansion.
  • The “Modified” tab has a new column “Previous” that shows the previous value of the variable that was just changed.
  • Redrawing in the edit windows is smoother and faster.The load and save times for large files has been improved.
  • The IDE now supports ANSI, UTF-8, UTF-8 w/BOM, and UTF-16 files.
  • When debugging, the IDE window will now keep the current line centered on the screen (unless it’s on the last page). This allows you to see both the last few lines and the next ones to be executed.
  • The edit window will default to maintaining the same indentation as the previous line.
  • The profiler timer now uses the Windows performance counters. The resolution is in milliseconds (.001 seconds) instead of hundredths (.01 seconds).
  • If you’re using TCC syntax (not CMD), and the first command on the line is an internal TCC command, the IDE will display the quick usage help on the status bar.
  • There is a new entry to the Debug menu “Evaluate Command”, which runs the specified command in the context of the currently executing batch file.
  • If you “step out” (run to breakpoint or end) and you are in a CALL’d batch file, and if there are no more breakpoints in the current file, you will be returned to the parent batch file at the line following the CALL, and “step out” will be turned off.
  • The Regular Expression Analyzer has a “cheat sheet” of RE syntax and common expressions.