Multi-domain unified debugger

• US 7,496,895 B1
• Filed: 12/29/2004
• Issued: 02/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The MathWorks, Inc.
• Original Assignee: The MathWorks, Inc.
• Inventors: Torgerson, Jay Ryan, Mosterman, Pieter J., Yeddanapudi, Murali, Yunt, Mehmet
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhen; Wei Y.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Brophy; Matthew J
• Application Number:
  US11/025,218
• Time in Patent Office: 1,518 Days
• Field of Search: 717124-136, 703/2
• US Class Current: 717/124
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3664 Environments for testing or debugging software

Abstract

A Unified Debugger that enables the debugging of graphical models with combinations of entities from multiple domains such as time-based block diagrams, statecharts, and physical system models, with additional features for the debugging of hand-written and automatically generated code is disclosed. A view of the entity being executed that is consistent with the type of the modeling domain to which the entity currently being executed belongs is automatically generated for a user. Rather than requiring a user to manually transition from one debugger to the next, the Unified Debugger applies the appropriate debugging features from each modeling domain. The Unified Debugger also enables integration of diagnostic information from a multitude of modeling domains into a central user interface. In addition, a standard diagnostic interface which spans a plurality of modeling domains is defined that enables the customization of debug behavior.

Claims

1. A system for debugging a multi-domain graphical model, comprising:

a computational device, having;

a plurality of debuggable objects respectively associated with at least one of a plurality of entities found in a graphical model, the plurality of entities including entities from modeling domains of different types; and

a unified debugger, the unified debugger integrating a plurality of the debuggable objects that are associated with entities from the modeling domains into a common diagnostic environment, the unified debugger generating a view of information based on information referenced by a debuggable object being executed in the graphical model; and

a display device configured to display a view of information associated with an executing one of the plurality of entities in the graphical model, the view automatically changing as entities from different types of modeling domains are executed in the graphical model, the changing view based on information in a debuggable object associated with a currently executing entity in the graphical model, the view changing between views of at least two of a time-based block diagram, a statechart, a data flow diagram, a discrete event model and compiled code.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the unified debugger further comprises:

a debugger engine for debugging the graphical model and communicating with the plurality of debuggable objects,

a plurality of debugger views for displaying debug information to a user, and

a debugger view controller for determining how information referenced by the debuggable objects is displayed to the user.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the plurality of debugger views include at least one of a model view displaying a graphical representation of the graphical model, a debugging view displaying debug information, and a model explorer view showing a hierarchical display of information associated with elements in the graphical model.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of modeling domains include at least two of a time-based block diagram domain, a statechart domain, a data flow diagram domain, a compiled code domain, a discrete event modeling domain and a physical system modeling domain.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the common diagnostic environment is used to debug at least two of a time-based block diagram, a statechart, a data flow diagram, a discrete event model, a physical system model and compiled code.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the debug information is provided to a user in a non-visual format.

7. In a computational device with a block diagram environment, a method of debugging a multi-domain block diagram, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of debuggable objects (DBOs) associated with entities found in a block diagram model and its solver, the block diagram model including entities from a plurality of types of modeling domains, the modeling domains being of different types;

providing a unified debugger, the unified debugger integrating the plurality of DBOS that are associated with entities from different types of modeling domains into a common diagnostic environment, the common diagnostic environment displaying a plurality of views of the block diagram to a user consistent with a modeling domain of an entity being executed;

executing a first entity from a first modeling domain in the block diagram;

displaying a first view consistent with the first modeling domain in the common diagnostic environment, the displaying of the first view based on information referenced by a first DBO associated with the first entity;

executing a second entity from a second modeling domain in the block diagram;

replacing the first view with a second view consistent with the second modeling domain in the common diagnostic environment, the view changing between views of at least two of a time-based block diagram, a statechart, a data flow diagram, a discrete event model and compiled code; and

displaying the second view based on information referenced by a second DBO associated with the second executing entity.

8. The method of claim 7, comprising further:

synchronizing at least two data values displayed in the plurality of views to reflect the results of the execution of the block diagram.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the plurality of modeling domains include at least two of a time-based block diagram domain, a statechart domain, a discrete event modeling domain, a data flow diagram domain, a compiled code domain and a physical system modeling domain.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

providing a graphical object associated with a DBO.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the graphical object includes a schema indicating how data associated with the entity associated with the DBO should be displayed by the unified debugger.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing a view controller, the view controller communicating with the graphical object prior to the unified debugger displaying the plurality of views.

13. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

registering at least one method in a DBO with the unified debugger.

14. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

registering at least one domain specific event with the unified debugger.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the domain specific event is one of division by zero in a solver, a zero crossing, a negative square root and an inconsistent state transition.

16. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

registering at least one DBO specific command with the unified debugger.

17. The method of claim 7 wherein a DBO informs the unified debugger of a currently executing method.

18. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

transmitting a communication from a first DBO registered with the unified debugger to a second DBO registered with the unified debugger.

19. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

exposing a collection of data in an entity being executed in the block diagram to a user, the collection of data being sent from a DBO associated with the entity to the unified debugger in response to a request, the unified debugger generating a display of the data to the user.

20. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

displaying debug information from the execution of an entity in the block diagram based on a schema associated with a DBO of the entity.

21. The method of claim 7 wherein the common diagnostic environment displays profiling information to a user.

22. The method of claim 7 wherein the user selects which of the plurality of views to display.

23. A computer-readable medium holding computer executable instructions for debugging a multi-domain block diagram, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions for providing a plurality of debuggable objects (DBOs) associated with entities found in a block diagram model and its solver, the block diagram model including entities from a plurality of different types of modeling domains, the modeling domains being of different types;

one or more instructions for providing a unified debugger, the unified debugger integrating the plurality of DBOs that are associated with entities from different types of modeling domains for debugging into a common diagnostic environment, the common diagnostic environment displaying a plurality of views of the block diagram to a user consistent with a modeling domain of an entity being executed;

one or more instructions for executing a first entity from a first modeling domain in the block diagram;

one or more instructions for displaying a first view consistent with the first modeling domain in the common diagnostic environment, the displaying of the first view based on information referenced by a first DBO associated with the first entity;

one or more instructions for executing a second entity from a second modeling domain in the block diagram;

one or more instructions for replacing the first view with a second view consistent with the second modeling domain in the common diagnostic environment, the view changing between views of at least two of a time-based block diagram, a statechart, a data flow diagram, a discrete event model and compiled code; and

one or more instructions for displaying the second view based on information referenced by a second DBO associated with the executing second entity.

24. The medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions for synchronizing at least two data values displayed in the plurality of views to reflect the results of the execution.

25. The medium of claim 23 wherein the plurality of modeling domains include at least two of a time-based block diagram domain, a statechart domain, a data flow diagram domain, a discrete event modeling domain, a compiled code domain and physical system model domain.

26. The medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions for providing a graphical object associated with a DBO.

27. The medium of claim 26 wherein the graphical object includes a schema indicating how data associated with the entity associated with the DBO should be displayed by the unified debugger.

28. The medium of claim 27 wherein the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions for providing a view controller, the view controller communicating with the graphical object prior to the unified debugger displaying the plurality of views.

29. The medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions for registering at least one method in a DBO with the unified debugger.

30. The medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions for registering at least one domain specific event with the unified debugger.

31. The medium of claim 30 wherein the domain specific event includes one of a division by zero in a solver, a zero crossing, a negative square root and an inconsistent state transition.

32. The medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions for registering at least one DBO specific command with the unified debugger.

33. The medium of claim 23 wherein a DBO informs the unified debugger of a currently executing method.

34. The medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions further comprise:

one of more instructions for transmitting a communication from a first DBO registered with the unified debugger to a second DBO registered with the unified debugger.

35. The medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions for exposing a collection of data in an entity being executed in the block diagram to a user, the collection of data being sent from a DBO associated with the entity to the unified debugger in response to a request, the unified debugger generating a display of the data to the user.

36. The medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions for displaying debug information from the execution of an entity in the block diagram based on a schema associated with a DBO of the entity.

37. The medium of claim 23 wherein the common diagnostic environment displays profiling information to a user.

38. A distributed system for debugging multi-domain block diagrams, comprising:

a server hosting a block diagram environment having at least one block diagram model, the block diagram model including entities from a plurality of modeling domains, the modeling domains being of different types, the entities in the at least one block diagram model associated with a respective one of a plurality of debuggable objects (DBOs), DBO the block diagram environment including a unified debugger, the unified debugger integrating the plurality of DBOs that are associated with entities from different types of modeling domains into a common diagnostic environment for a user, the common diagnostic environment generating a plurality of views of the block diagram to the user;

a client device configured to communicate with the server over a network, the client device requesting the initiation of an execution of the block diagram model in response to a user request; and

a display device configured to communicate with the client device, the display device displaying the plurality of views generated by the server during an execution of the block diagram model, the plurality of views programmatically transitioning from a first view consistent with the first modeling domain to a second view consistent with a second modeling domain, the displaying of the first and second view based on information referenced by a first DBO and a second DBO associated with a first entity and a second entity, respectively, the transitioning between views of at least two of a time-based block diagram, a statechart, a data flow diagram, a discrete event model and compiled code.

39. A computer-readable medium holding computer-executable instructions for debugging a graphical model, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions for providing a model view of a graphical model being executed, the model view showing a plurality of entities from a plurality of different types of modeling domains and transitioning between views of at least two of a time-based block diagram, a statechart, a data flow diagram, a discrete event model and compiled code; and

,

one or more instructions for providing a plurality of debuggable objects (DBOs) associated with the plurality of entities found in the graphical model and a solver for the graphical model, the graphical model including entities from a plurality of modeling domains, the modeling domains being of different types;

one or more instructions for generating an execution list view displaying information from the execution of the entities in the graphical model; and

one or more instructions for integrating the model view, a plurality of DBOs that are associated with entities from different types of modeling domains, and the execution list view into a common diagnostic environment, the common diagnostic environment including a unified debugger for the plurality of modeling domain.

40. The medium of claim 39, wherein the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions for registering at least one method in a DBO with the unified debugger.

41. The medium of claim 39, wherein the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions for registering at least one domain specific event with the unified debugger.

42. The medium of claim 39, wherein the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions for registering at least one domain DBO specific command with the unified debugger prior to the execution of the graphical model.

43. The medium of claim 39 wherein a DBO informs the unified debugger of a currently executing method.

44. The medium of claim 39, wherein the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions for transmitting a communication from a first DBO registered with the unified debugger to a second DBO registered with the unified debugger.

45. The medium of claim 39, wherein the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions for exposing a collection of data in an entity being executed in the graphical model to a user, the collection of data being sent from a DBO associated with the entity to the unified debugger in response to a request, the unified debugger generating a display of the data to the user.

46. The medium of claim 39, wherein the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions for displaying debug information from the execution of an entity in the graphical model based on a schema associated with a DBO of the entity.

47. The medium of claim 39, wherein the common diagnostic environment displays profiling information to a user.

48. In a computational device with a graphical modeling environment, a method of debugging a multi-domain graphical model, the method comprising:

providing a standard interface for a plurality of entities found in a graphical model and its solver, the graphical model including entities from a plurality of different types of modeling domains;

providing a unified debugger, the unified debugger integrating information acquired for debugging the plurality of entities from different types of modeling domains into a common diagnostic environment for a user, the information acquired using a standard interface, the common diagnostic environment displaying a plurality of views of the graphical model to a user consistent with the modeling domain of an entity being executed, the plurality of views transitioning between views of at least two of a time-based block diagram, a statechart, a data flow diagram, a discrete event model and compiled code; and

executing the graphical model, the unified debugger providing a view of the execution to the user that automatically changes as entities from different types of modeling domains are executed in the graphical model, the changing of the view based on information associated with a currently executing entity in the graphical model.