The debug functionality is a powerful ER tool that lets us see the values assigned to format nodes, the format mapping nodes, and finally navigate the mapping data sources. The last one is the most important part because it allows us to navigate between table relations. I frequently use this tool, not just for ER, because it’s easier and faster than using a combination of Visual Studio to view the relations and SQL Server Management Studio to query the database.
Mapping
Let’s start with the mapping. In the designer form, at the top, there’s a button labeled ‘Start Debugging.’
When we click it, we see the following screen: on the left, we have our mapping data sources, and on the right, the data we’ll be fetching.
To retrieve the data, we need to go step by step, starting from the top, unless it’s a record. For example, in the scenario where we have a calculated field inside ‘$inventTableRecord’ called ‘$InventDimCombination’ and we want to see the ‘InventDimId’ field from this list of records, the process would be as follows: For ‘$inventTableRecord,’ since it’s a record, there’s no need to ‘Get value.’ For ‘$InventDimCombination,’ because it’s a list of records, we’ll need to choose how many records we want. Finally, for ‘InventDimId,’ since it’s a field, we’ll select ‘Get value.’
While this functionality is great to navigate between tables, sometimes fails, for not clear reason. For example if I try to get a field from the related table for external codes, other than the recId, I get: ‘Error while evaluating expression for path *’.
Format
The format also offers the same debugging functionality. However, instead of the mapping, we can debug both the format and the format mapping.
Debugging Print Management ERs
Formats integrated with print management cannot be debugged during design because they start with an object passed during execution. However, we can debug them during execution. To do this, in the reporting configuration, navigate to ‘Configuration > Advanced Settings > User Parameters,’ and check ‘Enable data debugging at format run.’
Now, when running an ER, we’ll have the option to debug it.
Here, we can debug the mapping, the format mapping, and the format.
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