5.18 Watch Symbol Values Change

Watch the values of symbols that you have selected change in the Watches window. Knowing whether these values are set as expected during program execution will help you to debug your code.

The following symbols may be added to a Watches window:

• Global symbols – visible after a build
• SFRs – special function registers (device dependent)
• Absolute addresses

In general, you must Pause from debugging to be able to see updated values. However, some tools allow runtime updates (you can see the values change as your program is running). Check your tool documentation to see if it supports this feature.

For all devices except PIC32 MCUs, symbols used in a runtime watch must be sized to match the device memory. That is, you need 8-bit symbols when using an 8-bit device.

For C-language enumerated types, you may enter either the enum label (text) or integer value in the window. For labels, be aware that they are case sensitive.