winIDEA Editor: Source-level debugging not available

23-Nov-2023

This topic describes what to do if winIDEA Editor window shows inconsistent or no glyph margin (grey strip or column on the left side of the Editor), icons (glyphs, LoC (Line of Code) markers, debug line symbols,...) for debugging of the opened source file thus disabling source-level debugging in winIDEA.


Possible solutions:

Check that the symbol file related to the source file is correctly configured and loaded

1. Correctly add and configure the source file application symbol file in Symbol Files page.

2. Start the debug session (Download or Load Symbols Only).


Update symbol file

1. If the content of the source file was changed or a new source file was added to the project, the symbol file (e.g. ELF) needs to be rebuilt. If a separate file (e.g. Motorola S) is used for device programming, make sure that it is updated too.

2. When the symbol file is up to date, (re)start debug session in winIDEA. 


Add debug information to the symbol file

Symbol file has to contain (enough) debug information so that debugger can do source-level debugging. This is managed through compiler debugging options.

1. Refer to your compiler and linker documentation on how to enable debug information.


Configure the location of the source file in winIDEA

Per default, winIDEA uses source file locations defined in the symbol file debug information. Check if your source file location references in the symbol file are the same as actual file locations on your PC. Refer to Locating the source code winIDEA Help page.

This situation typically occurs if the application is compiled on a different PC.


Use symbol files that contain long paths of the referenced source files

Some compilers can generate short/truncated paths of the referenced source files (e.g. it shortens the original path C:\long_path\source_file.c to C:\LONG_P~1\source_file.c).

This will prevent winIDEA from locating the source files. Typically this is managed through compiler options, for example using -remap command-line option with GCC compiler is not recommended.

Using excessive or some specific compiler code optimization can yield source-level debugging inconsistencies, e.g. particular source code line in the source file is missing glyph margin icon in winIDEA Editor.


More resources in winIDEA Help:

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