Debug Station

Forsta Debug Station is a downloadable application provided as part of the Forsta Plus license, to be used for debugging script code in Forsta Plus surveys.

Important
Forsta Debug Station is a specialist feature that is intended to be used only by programmers who write advanced scripts as part of their surveys and who need to debug the script code. You must accept the terms of use as stated on the download page in Forsta Plus before you can download the application.

Note: The Debug Station is not supported on users’ pcs. All support required for this feature is chargeable.

Forsta Debug Station must be installed on the user's PC along with a third-party .NET debugging application such as Visual Studio 2005. Forsta Debug Station can then be used to run Forsta surveys locally on the user's PC, attached to the .NET debugger, to debug script code in the survey (script nodes, code masks, question masks, conditions, validation code and piping).

Launch the survey for debugging, synchronize it to the debug station, and then attach the .NET debugger to the debug station. Set breakpoints in the usercode, then when the survey starts, the debugger will pause the survey when it comes to a break-point in the code.

Installing the Debug Station

1. Open a project and go to the Designer > Quality Control > Debug Survey menu command.

A page of information including several links opens.

2. Click the link in the text to download the Debug Station, then follow the instructions displayed.

Note: If you already have CAPI installed from author.testlab.firmglobal.net server, then you do not need to install Debug Station. Merely replace the activation files.

Running the Debug Station

1. Log on to Forsta Plus and select a project from the project list.
2. Go to the Professional Designer > Quality Control > Debug Survey menu command.

A page of information including several links opens.

3. Click the Debug Survey button to launch the survey for debugging.

The Task pane opens and the launch task is run. This launch will not require or update the survey database.

4. Start Forsta Plus Debug Station.
5. Start the debugging software and attach it to the Debug Station process.
6. In the debugging software, open the GeneratorCode.js file (containing the script code) for the survey you wish to debug.

The file is located in C:\Program Files\confirmit\data\surveys\wi\pxxxxxxx. You can now set break points in this file.

7. Select the project in Forsta Plus Debug Station and start the interview. The debugger will pause the survey when it comes to a breakpoint in the code.

Note: Any interview data collected while the console is in Debug mode will not be synchronized back to the server.