> I am conceiving of it as a standalone utility. I'm interested in the reasoning there. No strong opinions, I can see some advantages either way, but an IDE integration does seem to have a head start in several areas related to debugging.
On Mon, Feb 15, 2021 at 1:27 PM Sloane, Brandon <bslo...@owlcyberdefense.com> wrote: > We are at the very early stages. I am conceiving of it as a standalone > utility. > > > > Brandon Sloane | Engineer > > bslo...@owlcyberdefense.com > > Connect with us! > > <https://www.linkedin.com/company/owlcyberdefense/> > <https://twitter.com/owlcyberdefense> > > <https://owlcyberdefense.com/resources/events/> > > > > The information contained in this transmission is for the personal and > confidential use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If > the reader is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any > review, dissemination, or copying of this communication is strictly > prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify > the sender immediately > > ------------------------------ > *From:* John Wass <jwa...@gmail.com> > *Sent:* Monday, February 15, 2021 7:39 AM > *To:* dev@daffodil.apache.org <dev@daffodil.apache.org> > *Subject:* Re: Possible road map for GUI debugger > > Is the gui envisioned to be an ide plugin or a standalone application (ie > swing, fx, ...)? > > > > On Sun, Jan 24, 2021 at 2:08 PM Sloane, Brandon < > bslo...@owlcyberdefense.com> > wrote: > > > Following up on the recent discussion about the Daffodil debugger, I > would > > like to propose a roadmap for creating graphical debugger. > > Organizationally, the GUI debugger is a separate application (maintained > > in the normal Daffodil repository) that may include any of the current > > Daffodil libraries as a dependency. > > > > Phases 1 and 2 focus on developing an enhanced trace functionality; where > > Daffodil outputs a machine readable trace of the parse/unparse process. > The > > GUI then allows a user to view this trace offline. > > > > Phase 3 adds support for interactive debugging, by allowing the > > Daffodil-cli and Daffodil-gui-debugger to act in a client/server > > relationship > > > > Phase 4 focuses on backend debugger enhancements. > > > > In more detail: > > > > Phase 1: > > > > - Add a --machine-trace flag to Daffodil CLI, that is analogous to the > > current --trace option. Output is a stream of XML parse-state nodes, > each > > one describing the current state of the parse, including: > > - Current infoset > > - Current bit position > > - Current parser > > - A UID of the current state > > - A UID of the parent state (in event of backtracking, multiple > > states will have the same parent). > > - Machine-trace output stream also include input-data nodes, that > > include: > > - A region of (byte aligned) input data (hex encoded?) > > - The byte position of the start of the region > > - The relative location of the input data nodes is undefined, but > > given the complete trace, it should be possible to reconstruct the > original > > dataset by stitching together the data in the nodes. The goal here > is that > > we can just output data as Daffodil reads it in. > > - --machine-trace take an optional argument of a file path. If > > provided, its output will be directed to a file at said location > (otherwise > > stderr) > > - Create a GUI program that can ingest the machine trace and display > > it in a 4-pane view: > > - Pane 1 - trace navigator > > - Represents the entire parse in a tree format. Each parse state > > corresponds to a node on the tree > > - The user can select a node on the tree to load it into the > > other panes > > - Pane 2 - Infoset viewer > > - Shows the complete infoset corresponding to the node selected > > in pane 1. > > - Indicates the "current" position of the parser within the > > infoset > > - Highlights changes in the infoset relative to the parent node. > > - Pane 3 - binary viewer > > - Shows a complete hex-dump of the input data, indicating > > current location within the parse > > - Pane 3 -- parser view > > - Shows the current parser. Probably will be a dumping ground > > for additional information that does not warrant the addition > of a new pane. > > > > > > Phase 2: > > > > - Support showing suspensions on unparse > > - Display additional data about the parse/unparse state: > > - Delimeter stack > > - Variables > > - Support additional formats for displaying input data > > - Text (of selectable encoding) > > - Binary (not hex; actual 1s and 0s) > > - Support generating traces through the API as well. > > > > Phase 2.5: > > > > Gather user feedback and iterate on the trace viewer functionality > > > > Phase 3: > > > > - Define protocol for the debugger to talk with the CLI. > > - Debugger can load schema, and input data. > > - Debugger can step through the parse/unparse > > - Viewer built in phases 1 and 2 continually updates as the parse > > proceeds > > - User can send CLI debugger commands and get the textual response; > > but only for the current parse/unparse state. > > - User can set breakpoints (possibly using textual commands). Debugger > > supports continue until breakpoint > > > > Phase 3.5: > > > > > > - Not debugger related, but as long as the Daffodil CLI can operate as > > a server, support server mode operations for non-debug use cases. > > > > > > Phase 4: > > > > - Support time travel debugging, with an interface in both the CLI and > > GUI debuggers > > - Support associating a trace with schema source, and allowing a "go > > to source" functionality where the user can navigate directly to the > > location in source corresponding to the current parser > > - Support dynamically editing/reloading schema and input data > > > > Thoughts? > > Brandon Sloane | Engineer > > > > bslo...@owlcyberdefense.com > > > > Connect with us! > > > > <https://www.linkedin.com/company/owlcyberdefense/> > > <https://twitter.com/owlcyberdefense> > > > > <https://owlcyberdefense.com/resources/events/> > > > > > > > > The information contained in this transmission is for the personal and > > confidential use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If > > the reader is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that > any > > review, dissemination, or copying of this communication is strictly > > prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please > notify > > the sender immediately > > > > >
