Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

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freak
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Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

Post by freak »

Hi everybody,

we are trying to decide whether it is worth keeping the "Remote debugging" functionality in the standalone debugger around in the future (see "Remote debugging with the standalone debugger" here: https://www.purebasic.com/documentation ... ugger.html)

The feature is a bit "in the way" in the IDE/Debugger source code as it is one of the few (soon hopefully the only) part that is written in C which complicates the build setup quite a bit. It is also rather complex/hard to maintain for the functionality it actually provides. Since the IDE is now open source we are trying to lower the bar for contributions from the community and this would help a lot. I looked into rewriting this part in PB but it will be quite some effort and given that I never had any feedback regarding this feature in terms of bug reports or suggestions I am really not sure if this is worth it. If the feature is not used much, removing it might be the preferable option.

So the big question is: Is anybody here actively using this feature and would have a problem if it is removed in the future?

Possible alternatives for debugging on a remote machine without a GUI would be:
  • Use the console debugger
  • Use an SSH tunnel with X forwarding to run the GUI debugger on the target machine but show the UI locally
Thanks for your feedback,

The Fantaisie Software Team
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skywalk
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Re: Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

Post by skywalk »

I vote for simplicity and remove this feature in the IDE debugger.
I never had occasion to use this feature.
PB has allowed me to debug on all target-type machines.
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Re: Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

Post by netmaestro »

I've never used it.
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chi
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Re: Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

Post by chi »

Same, never used it.
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Re: Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

Post by BarryG »

Also never used it.
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StarBootics
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Re: Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

Post by StarBootics »

Just make sure the bug presented in the topic viewtopic.php?f=23&t=77193 is corrected before removing it because for me it's the only way that I can compile with the debugger without experiencing a crash.

Best regards
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ChrisR
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Re: Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

Post by ChrisR »

I didn't even know this feature was available.
If I ever need to debug one day on a remote machine, I'll probably use a remote assistance software like TeamViewer, AnyDesk, Ammyy Admin...
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Demivec
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Re: Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

Post by Demivec »

I use only the standalone debugger but have never used the remote debugging feature and I don't foresee every having a need for that feature.
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kenmo
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Re: Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

Post by kenmo »

Never used this feature!

I think making the IDE project simpler to build and test is much more important.
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Ajm
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Re: Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

Post by Ajm »

I've used it a few times in the past when I had no other choice. I found it hard to use on one of those occasions but I think that was because the server the software was running on was locked down so much.

It is a nice ability to have but I would rather live without it if it's in the way.
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Re: Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

Post by Marc56us »

Never used too (PB user since 2009).
Also waiting to compile the IDE with PB alone.
There may be other problematic yet unused features as well. A survey could be interesting?

:wink:
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Re: Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

Post by ozzie »

Never used it.
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Re: Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

Post by majikeyric »

Never used it.
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luis
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Re: Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

Post by luis »

I marvel at most of the replies.

The question was "Is anybody here actively using this feature and would have a problem if it is removed in the future?"
You know why ? To know if someone is actually using it and would miss it if removed, and to possibly know the reason why,

We can easily bet the majority of people here never used remote debugging, and having 500 posts saying "I've never used it" doesn't answer the original question in the least and it's just pollution.

Sometimes you people are terrifying, especially since this should be a programmers' forum.

On the other hand, I was very vocal about keeping ASCII compilation and to have modules not broken, and it didn't mean much in the end so ...
"Have you tried turning it off and on again ?"
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Re: Removing the "Remote debugging" feature from the debugger

Post by Marc56us »

having 500 posts saying "I've never used it" doesn't answer the original question in the least and it's just pollution.
On the other hand, if there was no answer it could also mean that nobody has read this topic/forum... :wink:
So it's better if long time users say if they use it or not. This is the case.
As for the amount of response, don't worry, the 250 spammers and some bots won't give any feedback :mrgreen:
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