Debugger Command Window

The Debugger Command window is the primary debugging information window in WinDbg. You can enter debugger commands and view the command output in this window.

Note  This window displays "Command" in the title bar. However, this documentation always refers to this window as "the Debugger Command window" to avoid confusing it with the Command Prompt windows that are used to issue Microsoft MS-DOS commands.

When you are debugging in user mode, the Debugger Command window corresponds to the whole CDB window. When you are debugging in kernel mode, the Debugger Command window corresponds to the KD window. However, certain commands work differently in the different debuggers. For more information about the differences, see the topics about each command.

Opening the Debugger Command Window

To open or switch to the WinDbg Debugger Command window, in the WinDbg window, on the View menu, click Command. (You can also press ALT+1 or click the Command (Alt+1) button () on the toolbar. ALT+SHIFT+1 will close the Debugger Command window.)

The following figure shows an example of a Debugger Command window.

In WinDbg, the Debugger Command window is split into two panes. You type commands in the smaller pane (the command entry pane) at the bottom of the window and view the output in the larger pane at the top of the window.

Using the Debugger Command Window

In the command entry pane, use the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW keys to scroll through the command history. When a command appears, you can edit it or press ENTER to run the command. The cursor does not have to be at the end of the line for this feature to work correctly.

Note  To paste the contents of the clipboard into the command entry pane, right-click anywhere in the command entry pane, and then click Paste.

The Debugger Command window contains a shortcut menu with additional commands. To access this menu, right-click the title bar of the window or click the icon near the upper-right corner of the window (). The menu contains the following commands:

• Add to command output adds a comment to the command output, similar to the Edit | Add to Command Output command.
• Clear command output deletes all of the text in the window.
• Choose text color and recolor selection... opens a dialog box that allows you to choose the text color in which to display the text selected in the Debugger Command Window.
• Word wrap turns on and off the word wrap status. This command affects the whole window, not only commands that you use after this state is selected. Because many commands and extensions produce formatted displays, we do not recommend that you use word wrap.
• Mark current location sets a marker at the current cursor location in the command window. The name of the mark is the contents of the line to the right of the cursor.
• Go to mark causes the window to scroll so that the line containing the chosen mark is positioned at the top of the window.
• Dock or Undock causes the window to enter or leave the docked state.
• (Menu only) Move to new dock closes the Debugger Command window and opens it in a new dock.
• (Menu only) Set as tab-dock target for window type is unavailable for the Debugger Command window. This option is only available for Source or Memory windows.
• Always floating causes the window to remain undocked, even if it is dragged to a docking location.
• Move with frame causes the window to move when the WinDbg frame is moved, even if the window is undocked. For more information about docked, tabbed, and floating windows, see Positioning the Windows.
• Help opens this topic in the Debugging Tools for Windows documentation.
• Close closes the window.

Additional Information

For more information about how to use the Debugger Command window, see The Debugger Command Window. For more information about docked, tabbed, and floating windows, see Positioning the Windows. For more information about all techniques that you can use to control debugging information windows, see Using Debugging Information Windows.