Debug Tooltips

While debugging you can hover a data item to view its value in a debug tooltip.

To query an item from a program which is not the current program being debugged, you need to point that program as the current context in the call stack list as described below. Otherwise, the context is the current program being debugged and the tooltips show the wrong values. This is the default Visual Studio behavior.

Viewing the debug tooltips for a program which is not the one being debugged

To point which program is the current context:

  1. Start debugging your project and step into the code.
  2. Click Debug > Call Stack to display the call stack.

    The program being debugged is indicated by a yellow arrow. This program is also the current context.

  3. Continue stepping the code till the call stack list is populated with the other programs in your application.
  4. Double-click the program you wish to query in the call stack list.

    This adds a green arrow in front of the program in the list to indicate it is the current context.

  5. In the editor, open the program or the copybook which contains a reference to the item you want to query.
  6. Hover a data item.

    The debug tooltip should display the correct value.

Debug Tooltips for Subscripted OCCURS Items

You can configure the style of the debug tooltips to either show all items in an array or the value of an expression. You can do this from Tools > Options > Text Editor > Micro Focus COBOL > Advanced, and set your preference in the Debug tooltip style for OCCURS items field.

You can change the tooltip style in the editor with the following default key sequence - ALT+T, T.

Parent topic: Debugging Features and Techniques in Visual Studio