The steps you follow to start up the debugger depend on the build target you wish to debug. Usually, the debugger requires a project file and a symbolics file in order to successfully debug a project. Some embedded build targets do not require these files to start a debugging session.

Refer to "General start-up process" to learn about the typical start-up process for debugging a project. If you wish to debug an embedded build target, refer to "Embedded start-up process" and the Targeting manual appropriate for your particular build target.

To use the debugger, first open a project. Next, choose Project > Enable Debugger. Then, choose Project > Debug to debug the project.

When using the debugger with your code, pay careful attention to what happens. The following situations can occur:

• If you use the Debug menu command to debug a project, the debugger opens the Thread Window. Typically, the debugger stops program execution at the first line of code in the main function. If you encounter this situation, all is well. Your program's execution is stopped and ready to run.
• If you open a symbolics file, the debugger opens the Symbolics Window. In this case, you must Project > Debug or click the Run button in the Debugger toolbar. Then, the debugger launches the build target, takes control of that build target, brings forward the Thread window, and stops the program at the first line.

You might see this dialog either upon startup (the debugger is looking for the file with the main entry point) or by clicking on a specific file in the Symbolics Window.

The debugger might ask you to locate files in these situations:

The last case is most common if you compile a build target with symbolics-file generation enabled for a library. This case is especially true with some of the libraries distributed with CodeWarrior.

Once you find the file, the debugger remembers the new location, even between debugging sessions.

For more information, see "Generating Symbolics Information".

The typical debugging procedure described in "General start-up process" applies to most embedded projects as well. However, for some embedded build targets, you do not need to create a project file or generate symbolics information in order to debug a project. In such cases, the IDE creates a default project with default debugging settings. The debugger uses these default settings during the debugging session.

Additionally, the debugger lets you download and run an executable file without using symbolics information. For more information, refer to the Targeting manual appropriate for your particular build target.