Using Breakpoints

For an overview of breakpoints in the debugger engine, see Breakpoints.

Breakpoints are event triggers which, when the breakpoint's conditions are satisfied, will halt execution of the target and break into the debugger. Breakpoints allow the user to analyze and perhaps modify the target when execution reaches a certain point or when a certain memory location is accessed.

The debugger engine inserts a software breakpoint into a target by modifying the processor instruction at the breakpoint's location; this modification is invisible to the engine's clients. A software breakpoint is triggered when the target executes the instruction at the breakpoint location. A processor breakpoint is inserted into the target's processor by the debugger engine; its capabilities are processor-specific. It is triggered by the processor when the memory at the breakpoint location is accessed; what type of access will trigger this breakpoint is specified when the breakpoint is created.

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