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Sometimes (about 50% of the times) , while debugging an Android app, in order to step into a function , I use F5 (F6 is for going over it) yet it doesn't do anything

Sometimes, none of the regular debugging keys work (F5,F6,F7,F8, maybe other that i don't know about too).

Currently, the only way to overcome this is to choose the current thread from the "Debug" view (that shows the current stack of each thread) and then press on F5 . When the situation is even worse (unable to use the content assist, for example), I restart eclipse.

Speaking of threads, I've noticed that if I have multiple threads running, sometimes when I try to go further, it goes to another thread and this is annoying as I lose the concentration I had on the current thread. I know it does make some sense, but it's really annoying especially if I've taken into account that there are multiple threads.

Why do those things occur, and how can I fix them?

Note: I have the latest version of both Eclipse, ADT and the Android SDK . the problem occurs on both devices and emulators.

android developer
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    When the problem occurs - see if the key bindings can be found under Preferences->General->Keys and then tell me here if they are. – g00dy Mar 29 '13 at 09:06
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    Are you by any chance using Ubuntu 11.04 with the classic gnome desktop manager? I experience a lot of issues with Eclipse in this setup; they range from less annoying quirks like javadoc is not displayed, right click menus are not displayed, autocomplete not working, debugging keys (e.g. F5, F6) not working and, the cherry on the top, complete gui freeze. Haven't really used Eclipse under Unity (because I hate it) so don't know about that. As for the thread issue... it never happened (as far as I recall) – alex Mar 29 '13 at 14:02
  • @g00dy i always had the key bindings. – android developer Mar 29 '13 at 19:26
  • @alex , i use windows 7 at the office that shows those problem, but it also occurs (though maybe less frequently) at my house with windows 8. – android developer Mar 29 '13 at 19:28

5 Answers5

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You can't control the execution pattern of threads as they don't run in sequence, but debugger does.

I have faced similar issues with threads and async operations that run in the background.

How I manage it:

  • What I do is run the same code without thread and after confirmation I put that in thread
  • Use android.os.Debug.waitForDebugger(); in your thread. It will automatically bring you there and force the debugger to halt here. There onwards you can carry on with your debugguing.

Precautions

Don't forget to comment this line before launching the application, otherwise it will result in endless waiting as it will go to debug mode in real device also.

Moreover its not the fault of Eclipse, it's purely because of nature of threading as it starts getting executed in its own environment. Visual Studio behaves the same with threads.

eldarerathis
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DeltaCap019
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  • The threads issue is not the main issue i've talked about. however, i remember that for the normal java (of Sun/Oracle), while debugging multiple threads you could stay on the current thread as long as you wanted, without having to see the context switch by yourself and figuring out what has happened and what is the thread's status (do some sort of context switch to yourself, so to speak) . – android developer Apr 03 '13 at 21:53
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You might try to reset your perspective (just in case you moved something without wanting to).

This can be accomplished in the Debug perspective by:

  1. Right-clicking the Debug Perspective (upper right "zone" of Eclipse) and choosing "Reset"

  2. Switching to the Debug Perspective and clicking the menu Window->Reset Perspective...

DigCamara
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  • which of them? the debug , the java, or both? – android developer Apr 03 '13 at 22:35
  • Just the debug perspective. Though now, that you ask about it I guess you could do it for the Java perspective as well. – DigCamara Apr 03 '13 at 22:41
  • ok, i've done it now, and i hope it helped. can't know for sure till i use it enough time. – android developer Apr 04 '13 at 07:17
  • It didn't work. My guess is that only if I uninstall anything related to eclipse,JDK,and android, and then re-install it all, it will work fine again. it's just that i didn't want to spend this much time on it. maybe it will be fixed by itself someday after an update on any of those things. – android developer Apr 04 '13 at 10:44
  • Yeah, that's pretty much what my solution was, anyhow (a bit less drastic though). Still, couldn't hurt to try. Best of luck! – DigCamara Apr 04 '13 at 12:45
  • i will keep this question open. maybe someone will find a way to fix this till i actually re-install everything. it's just that it takes so much time and it's really annoying to get the settings right again. – android developer Apr 04 '13 at 12:57
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Sometimes, none of the regular debugging keys work (F5,F6,F7,F8, maybe other that i don't know about too).

None of these keys will work in a view other than the debug view. It is by design.

When the situation is even worse (unable to use the content assist, for example), I restart eclipse.

You have a buggy eclipse installation or a faulty keyboard. I'm positive of it after reading your other comments. I've had plugins mess up my eclipse installation and can relate with this. Make sure your eclipse code window has focus before trying the shortcuts. That could contribute to the problem too. If all else fails try moving to another version of eclipse to try and isolate the problem.

I had this weird bug for eclipse for a while where when I press the backspace key, it deletes characters on a previously opened file on the same line. It was horrific and I had to reinstall and move to another version of eclipse (I cannot recall what the previous version was). May be your situation is similar.

Speaking of threads, I've noticed that if I have multiple threads running, sometimes when I try to go further, it goes to another thread and this is annoying as I lose the concentration I had on the current thread.

I know the pain. Unfortunately there is no way to get around it. Eclipse does not consider the priority of a breakpoint while suspending threads. Take a look at this related question - How to deprioritize Java testrunner in Eclipse breakpoints?. If you can setup conditional breakpoints to prevent the debugger from moving to the other thread, that will help.

Community
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Deepak Bala
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  • the shortcuts were used at debug mode as i always use it there (btw, you are wrong that it's impossible to use them in other modes). it can't be that both keyboards are faulty since the buttons work on any other app (plus it happens on 2 completely different computers). i've also mentioned that i've deleted the entire eclipse folder and downloaded it again, but it didn't help. i really hope i don't need to reset the workspace data as i really liked my settings. about threads, it wasn't always like that, right? i remember that for the official java, it let me stay on the current thread, no? – android developer Apr 03 '13 at 07:23
  • I've never been able to use the debug shorcuts in other views. Others have had the [same experience](http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1147960&p=7209215#post7209215). Can you point me to docs that explains how the shortcuts work on other perspectives ? As for the eclipse installation, I re-installed a new one to get rid of my problem. To my knowledge the thread suspensions were always like that. – Deepak Bala Apr 03 '13 at 08:06
  • The problem you've pointed me to (using the link) is about breakpoints that don't work. I'm talking only about hotkeys and shortcuts. sometimes they don't have anything to do with debugging. about using debug shortcuts while not in the debug view, you can check for yourself:just put a breakpoint, click the debug button and wait for reaching to the breakpoint, go to "java" editing mode , and click any of the debugging hotkeys (like F6) . it's not so useful, but it's possible. – android developer Apr 03 '13 at 18:21
  • hmmm... you are right. I've tried this several times before and I always assumed you are only allowed to debug in the 'debug' perspective. I guess I just lived with that one for a long time. Thanks. I'll edit my answer to correct this. – Deepak Bala Apr 04 '13 at 03:47
  • Restarting Eclipse fixes the keyboard issue... this is the first time I had this issue after years of using the Eclipse debug perspective. I did not have to reset the perspective. – Christophe Roussy Apr 04 '16 at 12:22
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I've found a good thread, which explains how a Debug with Step Filters is done in Eclipse. The thread can be found here. Since apparently this is a problem in eclipse and more people are encountering it, this is a workaround for the moment:

You can configure the Eclipse Java debugger to not step into those bits of code by configuring a ‘Step Filter’.

  1. Go to Windows -> Preferences -> Java -> Debug -> Step Filtering.
  2. Check ‘Use Step Filters’.
  3. Check the appropriate options on the screen. You can add parts that are relevant to your own codebase.
  4. Click ‘Apply’.

See if this helps you.

g00dy
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  • It wasn't checked. Which of them should I check? isn't it actually the opposite of what i'm asking? even F8 doesn't work, so why would I use it? even basic keys can stop working (like delete). it's like a huge bug on eclipse, and i have no idea why it occurs. today i've even removed the whole eclipse folder and re-downloaded it with the needed plugins i need (like adt), and the same bug has occurred again. – android developer Apr 01 '13 at 21:37
  • Sounds really strange to me .. are you sure your keyboard works well - do you have a spare to test with? – g00dy Apr 02 '13 at 06:00
  • It occurs on both my computer at home and at the office. I have no idea when and why it occurs, but it's really annoying. Usually it occurs when I debug, but it can occur for no apparent reason and then i restart eclipse. – android developer Apr 02 '13 at 10:39
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In my case keys are assigned to do something not related to android studio, increase volume for instance so I reconfigure the file/settings/keymap to reconfigure what key doe what.

Pomagranite
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