System Debugging Feature?

Hey,

Would it be possible to add a simple debugging feature to C2 - I'm thinking along the lines of just Console prints - like echo in PHP or System.out.print in java. Just an action called "Print to Console" or something - because as of now in order to check variables you would have to make popups using browser or add unnecessary text objects to the screen - just to be undone after. I don't know if this is possible, but I really hope it is :)

Thanks!

My workaround for this right now is to have a "debug" layer, on that layer I add all of my debug info, whenever I am ready to release all I need to do is be sure the debug layer is not visible. I have 1 text object with instance variables to link it to different functions, and 1 sprite with animation frames to have different colors to represent different things while debugging. A in-engine debugging feature would be nice, but with a bit of setup checking things using the tools available isn't super hard.

Greg I know its not really super hard, but it would be a lot more practical to have something like this. Its less time consuming, it would obviously have the option to be hidden, and would really make the engine more... engine like.

There's also an "is previewing" condition to make it automatic to delete debug objects when running an exported version.

Arima Yes, but that would help along what Greg said about his workaround - but the reason I suggested this was so that debugging can be done much easier than making new layers and text things (which takes a bit and is annoying). And it would really help larger projects with lots of variables to keep track of. 10 texts on 1 page and you need to recognize which one is which is sort of "in the way".

You don't need multiple text objects or even layers to keep track of variables - you only need one, with something like:

action: set text to:

"Variable 1: " & variable1 & newline & (press shift enter here to start a new line in the expression editor - doesn't create a new line at runtime, that's what newline is for)

"Variable 2: " & variable2

Etc.

Wasn't there a third party plugin that could write to the browser console?

We want to hold off making a full blown debugger for the time being, because it is an extremely complicated feature which will take a long time to get right. We have to get a few other things sorted first.

Arima but again, that could still be large and disrupt bugtesting. A console would be a lot more practical, but yes, it would definitely work.

Ashley I found it, and it looks great, thanks!

there is?! All I know about is the dialogbox one. Id love to be able to write to the console! I use alert windows for all my debugging lol

Chrome Console

http://www.scirra.com/forum/log-text-Objects-to-chrome-console_topic47859.html

or

Debug Panel

http://www.scirra.com/forum/plugin-debug-panel_topic48052.html

We should really have a place in the homepage for the plugins ;o