[Python-bugs-list] pdb can only step when at botframe (PR#4)

[MHammond@skippinet.com.au]

Full_Name: Mark Hammond
Version: 1.5.2
OS: Windows
Submission from: eric.cnri.reston.va.us (132.151.1.38)
Submitted by: guido


[Resubmitted by GvR]

It is a problem that bugged me for _ages_.  Since the years I first wrote
the Pythonwin debugger Ive learnt alot about how it works :-)

The problem is simply:  when the frame being debugged is self.botframe, it
is impossible to continue - only "step" works.  A "continue" command
functions as a step until you start debugging a frame below self.botframe.

It is less of a problem with pdb, but makes a GUI debugger clunky - if you
start a debug session by stepping into a module, the "go" command seems
broken.

The simplest way to demonstrate the problem is to create a module, and add
a "pdb.set_trace()" statement at the top_level (ie, at indent level 0).
You will not be able to "continue" until you enter a function.

My solution was this:  instead of run() calling "exec" directly, it calls
another internal function.  This internal function contains a single line -
the "exec", and therefore never needs to be debugged directly.  Then
stop_here is modified accordingly.

The end result is that "self.botframe" becomes an "intermediate" frame, and
is never actually stopped at - ie, self.botframe effectivly becomes one
frame _below_ the bottom frame the user is interested in.

Im not yet trying to propose a patch, just to discuss this and see if the
"right thing" can be determined and put into pdb.

Thanks,

Mark.