Active Script Debug
The Active Script debugger enables you to detect and diagnose errors in embedded client-side scripts from a web page (*.htm, *.html or *.jsp) displayed by Microsoft(R) Internet Explorer. The Active Script debugger also hosts and allows you to debug stand-alone scripts with *.vbs or *.js file extensions. With the plugins, you can control the execution of the script by setting line breakpoints, suspending launches, stepping through your code, and examining and changing the contents of variables.
The Active Script debugger requires installation of the Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Script Debugger, which can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp (choose Web Development > Scripting > Downloads from the table of contents in the left-hand frame and then, in the resulting page, choose the link to the Microsoft Windows Script Debugger).
Known Problems and Workarounds
HTML Script Application
You may experience the following problems when trying to launch an HTML
Script Application debug session:
- A persistent "Error creating debug target" message.
- When trying to attach to an existing browser for debug, the
debugger is unable to obtain a list of running browsers.
You may correct these problems by doing the following:
- Close all running browsers and Microsoft(R) Windows Explorer
windows before trying to start another debug session.
- If the above step does not solve the problem, the mdm.exe process
is corrupted. Close all running browsers and file explorers, and
then terminate mdm.exe from the Windows(R) Task Manager. Restart the
debug session.
- When trying to attach to an existing browser for debug, do not
attempt to attach to the WebSphere Studio workbench internal browser.
Attaching to the internal browser for debug will cause your workbench
to stop responding and unexpected results may occur.
You may experience the following problems during an HTML Script
Application debug session:
- The current location is not highlighted in the editor when the
debug session is suspended
- Breakpoints cannot be installed
- Source is not available for display if the source is located
outside of the workbench workspace
You may correct these problems by doing the following:
- The browser may not be loading the page properly. Refresh the page
in Microsoft(R) Internet Explorer (you may need to do this several
times).
- If refreshing the page does not correct the problem, terminate the
debug session. Close all running browsers and file explorers, and
then restart the debug session.
- If the above step does not solve the problem, the mdm.exe process
is corrupted. Terminate the debug session, all running browsers and
file explorers. Then terminate mdm.exe from the Windows(R) Task
Manager and restart debug session.
Script Host Application
You may experience the following problem when trying to launch a
Script Host Application debug session:
- A persistent "Error creating debug target" message.
You may correct this problem by doing the following:
- Close all running browsers and Microsoft(R) Windows Explorer
windows before trying to start another debug session.
- If the above step does not solve the problem, the mdm.exe process
is corrupted. Close all running browsers and file explorers, and
then, terminate mdm.exe from the Windows(R) Task Manager. Restart the
debug session.
When trying to launch a script with a compile error, the debugger is not
able to launch the script. A launch may be created in the Debug View,
but there will be no thread or debug target under that launch. Make sure that you manually terminate and remove this unsuccessful
launch. Otherwise, it may interfere with subsequent debug sessions.