No debugging option in Flash Debug Player

Was having problems with a project, but couldn’t get the debug player to work. Whether I compiled with debugging enabled, included the SWD, nothing worked. However, works now. Here’s what I did:

– downloaded the <a href=”http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/alternates/”>Flash 7 Player uninstaller</a>
– ran it and uninstalled my Flash Player 7 players
– tested to make sure my player was uninstalled by going to <a href=”http://www.macromedia.com/”>macromedia.com</a> since they usually have a Flash movie on the front page
– went to my program files > Flash MX 2004 > Players > Debug folder
– ran the Install Flash Player 7 exe and manually pointed it to IE since it couldn’t find it on it’s own
– then, ran the Install Flash Player 7 ActiveX exe
– finally, copied the SAFlashPlayer.data, .exe, .rsrc and pasted over my originals in the Player’s directory so when I compile it’ll be the debug player.

Now, I can debug remotely again.

11 Replies to “No debugging option in Flash Debug Player”

  1. We need to start an effort to get the debugger beefed up in the next version of Flash. In MX, the debugger would barely work on complex projects. And boy, is it slow. I haven’t used Flash MX 2004 on a full project, but I am pretty sure it has the same issues (correct me, please, if there have been improvements).

    Do you use the IDE debugger? Do you care about improvements?

  2. It’s a lot better than the MX one; both speed and response time. There are still some usability issues with it not remembering what you resized it to, and sometimes your local variables will just disappear and then reappear on a later line. However, I use it a lot and it helps me out; traces do not always provide the level of control I need.

  3. also to note is that the showDebugConsole() method of the debug player does not work in player 7. i had a short back-and-forth with MM tech support on it, complete with sample code for them to test, but never heard back. actually, they apparently had no idea that function was even in there… i need to get back with them as it’s been several months now…

    g.

  4. You can also use the standalone version of the debug player and just type in the location of the file you want to debug. I have had issues with certain files locking the IDE completely when I tried to debug remotely, but the same files debugged fine at authoring time.

    You can write out to a log file which is nice, but I would really like that to be extended to the point where i could format the output more.

    The debugger could stand to be improved.

  5. Andre,
    You need to make it clear that you are using the channel ‘localhost:debug_connection’ and you are calling the method ‘onAlert’ with a param. I dont see this anywhere on your site.

    Yes you can build custom debug tools that just accept trace messages, but the remote debugger is a lot more than that.. it can still do tracing, but it also allows you to inspect the guts of your application.

    One other thing I would like to note.. is there anyway to do something like debug.setBreakPoint? I’d love to set break points in my files, but i author them externally. Any ideas, am I missing something basic?

  6. Your gonna hit yourself. Some-frikin-how my manager found this.

    When you first run the debugger, you know that message that says set breakpoints? Well… do it. I always ignored it, but actually, that dropdown/combobox actually contains all of your external code as well.

    Before you hit the play button, go into your code, and set a breakpoint. It may be tough to find it if your using a lot of includes/imports, but she’s in there. Then hit play.

    That way, if your using external code (better if your in 2004), you can debug your code with breakpoints.

    In the case that you find 2 copies of your code, try the first; if you cannot set a breakpoint, then try the second. One will work and one won’t; happens everytime.

    Also, if you see another prompt, don’t worry, it remembered your first breakpoint; it’s either just a level or shared library and it’s SWD was just loaded.

  7. The thing that ticked me off about the above was this was right when 2004 came it… it had worked in MX forever and I never knew about it….

  8. Jesse,

    Yea I knew about that way, but the issue there is I may have over a 100 classes for one project, I’d rather not have to go in and set it everytime. I’d like to save that type of setting or just place it in a file. Placing the debug statement in the file itself is a little sketchy because then altering breakpoints becomes a pain. But implementing it everytime is a pain. It would be nice to have a debug file. Again..I may b missing something.. my eyes are blurred and my brain is confused at this point in the day.

  9. “I’m not even supposed to BE HERE today…!”

    Same here.

    Um… one thing to try:

    …fuggit, I’ll test:

    Hrm. I put some code on _root, and then compared that with an SWD that had a breakpoint. The SWD’s are different, but they are all that weird programmer shite in Notepad.

    Hrm… sorry bro, don’t know.

  10. I found this on the Flashcoders Wiki, which is a neat way around the problem, one of those ‘why didn’t I think of that?’ things. >>>>

    doBreak – very useful for debugging code from .as files. Since breakpoints for .as files are not saved between executions, you have to manually set them each time you want to break inside a .as file. Instead, add:

    function doBreak(msg)
    {
    trace(“doBreak: ” + msg);
    return;
    }

    to your first frame. (Always on a seperate Actions layer!!) Add a breakpoint at the trace statement. Then call doBreak whereever in your .as files, run in debug mode, and the program will break inside the doBreak. Then press the “step out” button and you’re at the right place for debugging. Props to “Alan Prather” for the tip.

    http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/flashcoders-wiki/index.php?Best%20Practice

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