[comp.sys.ibm.pc] TDBUG+

darrylo@hpsrlc.HP.COM (Darryl Okahata) (07/22/87)

In comp.sys.ibm.pc, fischer@umn-cs.UUCP (Scott Fischer) writes:

> Someone mentioned a product called TDBUG+ to me.  
> 
> I believe it has something to do with stripping out the parsed info during
> compilation, but I'm not really sure.  What exactly does it do, how much
> does it cost, and how available is it?
> 
> Does anyone out there have any experience with it?
>  
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> | Scott Fischer - Computer Science Systems Group         |
> | University of Minnesota - (612) 625-0876               |
> |                                                        | 
> | fischer@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu or fischer@wkspe.cs.umn.edu  |
> | rutgers!meccts!umn-cs!fischer                          |   
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> ----------

     I assume that you're talking about TDEBUG Plus by Turbopower Software.

     TDEBUG Plus is a symbolic debugger for Turbo Pascal (IBM PC).  When
you run it, it loads a copy of Turbo Pascal, which it then modifies and
runs.  From here, everything acts just like a vanilla version of Turbo
Pascal until you try to compile and run a program.  Instead of running the
program, you are put into a symbolic debugger where you can examine LOCAL
and global variables, set breakpoints at line ###, examine the source,
etc..  It costs about $55-$65 (I can't remember the exact price), and, I
believe, comes with full SOURCE (in Turbo Pascal).  Look in all of the
major magazines for their ad.

     If you'd like to "test" it before buying, there is a limited version
(i.e., less features but still usable) available from BBSes.  It is a
public domain/shareware version of TDEBUG Plus called, simply, TDEBUG.
TDEBUG is an earlier version of TDEBUG Plus.  It does NOT come with
source.  It also runs only on certain versions of Turbo Pascal, like
version 3.01A.

Comments:

     I've only used TDEBUG (I've haven't gotten TDEBUG Plus because I don't
have any reason to do any serious programming in Turbo Pascal), and so the
following may not apply to TDEBUG Plus:

     1. Compiling is slower (guesstimate of 1.5 to 2 times slower).
     2. You probably need a hard disk.  TDEBUG creates HUGE files to
	contain debugging information.  You can make these files smaller
	by telling the debugger to NOT include information on local
	variables.
     3. 100K (????!??) of memory is used by TDEBUG, in addition to that
	used by Turbo Pascal and your programs.


     -- Darryl Okahata
	{hplabs!hpcea!, hpfcla!}hpsrla!darrylo
	CompuServe: 75206,3074

Disclaimer: the above is the author's personal opinion and is not the
opinion or policy of his employer or of the little green men that
have been following him all day.

Disclaimer II: I have no connections, etc. with Turbopower Software, other
than as a satisfied customer (but from a product other than TDEBUG Plus).