SAPIEN Technologies

PowerShell Studio 2016 is released! We’ve written a series of blog posts to introduce you to the newest features. In this blog, Part 2, we introduce our new debugging features, including variable and function breakpoints and improvements to the Variables pane.

But, there’s more:

• In Part 1, we review the new UI features, including our new dark themes.
• In Part 3, we look at some of the new editor features of PowerShell Studio 2016.
• In Part 4, we show the new customizable PrimalSense in PowerShell Studio 2016.

The first debugging feature we are looking at is the new interface for dynamic breakpoints.

Variable Breakpoints

You can trigger a break when a variable is read or modified, by setting a Variable Breakpoint:

Variable: Enter the name of the variable. Dollar sign is not necessary.

File: Bind the breakpoint to a particular file. Leave blank to apply to the current session instead.

Action: Specifies commands that run at each breakpoint instead of breaking.

Mode: Determines the mode of access that triggers variable breakpoints (Read, ReadWrite, Write).

Function Breakpoints

You can also trigger a breakpoint when a particular command is called, by setting a Function Breakpoint:

Function: Enter the name of the command.

File: Bind the breakpoint to a particular file. Leave blank to apply to the current session instead.

Action: Specifies commands that run at each breakpoint instead of breaking.

Edit Breakpoints Dialog

The Edit Breakpoint dialog allows you to view all the breakpoints and tracepoints in one location.

Enable / Disable / Remove Breakpoints

You can enable or disable the specific breakpoint by unchecking the check box:

Add Breakpoints

Using the buttons at the top, you can add new variable and function breakpoints.

Remove Breakpoints

To remove the highlighted breakpoints, press the X button.

Edit Breakpoints

You can also edit existing variable or function breakpoints directly:

Filter Breakpoints

When dealing with a large number of breakpoints, you can filter specific types of breakpoints using the filter drop-down menu:

When you are done editing the breakpoints, to commit the changes, click OK. To undo the changes, click Cancel.

Variable Panel Updates

We revamped the Variable Panel to make it easier to find the variables you are looking for.

Filtering

You can now choose to selectively display variables, such as: user variables, PowerShell variables, or all variables.

Search

To filter variables by name, type the variable into the Search box.

We hope these new features will improve your overall debugging experience.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of “PowerShell Studio 2016: What’s New?” blog series.