14.30 Watches Window

To open the Watches window, select Window > Debugging > Watches. You must be in debug mode to watch symbol values change.

Select global symbols and SFRs and watch values change on program halt or during runtime (if supported).

For information on using the Watches window, see 5.18 Watch Symbol Values Change.

Watches Display

The following display features are discussed in the sections below: icons, columns and actions (buttons).

Icons

Icons are found to the left of the name object in the Name column:

Table 14-107. Name Column Icons
Icon	Description
	Watch object
	Watch object in Program Memory
	Static field of an object
	Non-static field of an object

Columns

You can change the columns displayed in the window by:

Right clicking on a heading and checking/unchecking a heading to be displayed.
Clicking on the Change Visible Columns icon in the top right of the window
. In the Change Visible Columns dialog, check/uncheck a heading to be displayed.

Actions

Actions are on buttons on the left side of the window:

Table 14-108. Action Button Icons
Button	Action
	Toggle button: Show verbose (qualified) names of member fields. Show brief (relative) names of member fields.
	Import watches from list file. Right click for options.
	Export all watches to list file.
	Set the default numeric format for the Value field.

Watches Menus

Right click in a blank area of a Watches window (not a row) to open a Watches window menu with basic functions.

Table 14-109. Watches Window Menu – Window
Menu Item	Description
New Watch*	Add a new symbol to watch.
New Runtime Watch*	Only visible if debug tool supports runtime watches. Add a new runtime watch for the selected symbol.
Export All Watches to List File	Export information about the symbols to be watched to a file (.xwatch).
Delete All	Remove all the watched symbols from the Watches window.
* You can also right click in a symbol in code to add a New Watch or New Runtime Watch.

Right click on a row to open a Watches menu with additional functions that depend on whether a symbol is in the row or what debug tool you are using.

Table 14-110. Watches Window Menu – Row
Menu Item	Description
New Watch	Add a new symbol to watch.
New Runtime Watch	Only visible if debug tool supports runtime watches. Add a new runtime watch for the selected symbol.
Run Time Update Interval	Only visible if debug tool supports runtime watches. Specify the rate at which the symbol value will be updated. No Delay will update as quickly as your personal computer is able. If you are seeing errors in the runtime data, you can add a delay to decrease the update speed.
Export Selected Watches to List File	Export information about the symbol(s) to be watched to a file (`.xwatch`). You can select more than one row using Shift + click (select several rows in order) or Ctrl + click (select several rows individually).
Export Data	Export watch data to a CSV file or as a literal string.
Delete	Delete selected symbol row(s) from the watch list. You can also select a row and hit the Delete key.
Delete All	Remove all the watched symbols from the Watches window.
Display Value Column as	Display the symbol value in the selected row in one of the formats listed. See the next section.
User Defined Size	Specify the size of the program memory symbol from the list.

Fractional Integer Properties Dialog

This dialog is intended to improve support for evaluating all fixed-point operation modes supported by dsPIC and PIC32 devices. View this dialog from the pop-up menu item Display Value Column as > Fractional Integer to select this feature and Display Value Column as > Fractional Properties optionally afterwards.

Table 14-111. Fractional Properties Dialog Items
Dialog Item	Description
Variable	The name of the variable, for reference.
N*	The total number of bits available to represent the integer number.
Qm	The whole part of the fixed data format. m represents the number bits used to specify the whole part.
Qn	The fractional part of the fixed data format. n represents the number of bits used to specify the fractional part.
Signed*	Check to use a bit to represent a signed value.
Slider	Click and drag the slider to select the fixed point position (Qm vs. Qn) to be applied to the calculation of the fixed point fractional value.
* If the variable type is unknown, these items are made editable.

Figure 14-89. Fractional Properties Dialog