A guided tour through a window oriented debugging environment for embedded real time Ada systems

Embedded real-time control systems typically require the use of special debugging environments, which consist of a special debugging processor that hosts the debugging software and that monitors the execution of the separate target system via a special hardware interface. The focus is on extending the set of base debugging features typically found in such an environment to provide better support for real-time task debugging and a more visual graphic display of program behavior. A system was developed that provides such facilities, in the form of a task condition specification and checking system and multiwindow graphics display. A prototype of these novel debugging features was implemented which demonstrates how they work and how they assist in the debugging process. The features of the system are illustrated by providing a tour through an example debugging session. Various constraints that directed the prototype development process are discussed