So I get the fact that GNURadio is highly parallel, that is fine. I debug C++ OOT blocks all the time and it is super easy, generally I make specific effort to isolate the OOT block that I am currently working on in a test flowgraph.
For C++ OOT blocks I just run the python top_block.py in gdb (via vscode), and place a breakpoint in my C++ OOT block, and it works.
If I want to debug the python flowgraph, (generated from GRC or custom), I can do that via the python debug tool, I cannot step through the internals of blocks, but can see if things are hooking up correctly.
my problem, (and I personally don't think that there is a solution, but am happy to be wrong) is that there is no way to place a breakpoint inside a python block, like I do in the c++ blocks. presumably the swig (I'm still on 3.8) process removes all the information?.
As for specific use cases, the more complex blocks I write are all C++, but sometimes it is useful to write a quick and dirty python block which I can then use for debugging purposes. However when I do this I have to resort to using print statements to make sure everything is working like I expect. It's ok and workable, but I am not that good of a programmer and tend to do guess and check, which a debugger, rather than adding/removing print statements really speeds up.
So I guess there is nothing in particular to debug, but If there is a more efficient way to work I would love to know.
Nick
On Sat, Jan 16, 2021 PM Jeff Long wrote:
Python includes a debugger (pdb) and IDEs like VSCode have decent Python debugging. This should work fine for Python scripts like those generated by GRC. Internally, GNU Radio is highly parallel, which creates additional challenges not related to language ... how do you stop one block when that changes the behavior of, or crashes, the whole framework?
Anything in particular you are trying to debug?
So this is a relatively generic question about what people's processes for writing and debugging python blocks are.
In C++ I use VScode and just run the gdb debugger - I can place breakpoints, look at variables, and step through the program super easily.
Ideally I would like to be able to do the same with python blocks, but am not sure if it is possible.
Thanks,
Nick