How to Debug Scripts Written
for TPF Software Products

Users who write scripts for TPF Software products can debug those scripts using the Microsoft Script Debugger. This page tells you how to

• Determine whether the Microsoft Script Debugger is installed on your machine,
• Obtain the Script Debugger if you need it,
• Enable the Script Debugger so that it works with TPF/GI and other TPF Software products, and
• Use breakpoints in your scripts.

Determine whether the Script Debugger is Installed
Most users with Internet Explorer 4 or later will already have the Script Debugger installed on their machines. To check whether a script debugger is installed, do the following:

1. Start Internet Explorer;
2. Open the View menu on the Internet Explorer menu bar;
3. If there is a menu item that reads "Script Debugger," a script debugger is installed on your machine.

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Obtain the Script Debugger if You Need It
You can download the Script Debugger for free from Microsoft's web site (the links are below). WARNING! Make sure to download and install the script "debugger" and not the script "engine." Another thing to be careful of is that there are two versions of the Windows Script Debugger, one for Windows 98/ME and one for Windows NT 4.0/2000/XP. Please download the version appropriate for your operating system. After downloading, follow Microsoft's directions for installing the Script Debugger.

• Microsoft Windows Script Debugger, NT 4.0, 2000, XP
• Microsoft Windows Script Debugger, 98, ME
• General Windows Scripting Download Page

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Enable the Script Debugger after It is Installed
Some recent versions of the Script Debugger have been designed by Microsoft so that the debugger window does not automatically appear when there is a script problem. To change this behavior, every time TPF/GI 2.6.1 starts up it will now override a Microsoft registry setting so that you can debug your scripts using the Microsoft Script Debugger.

If you are still working with TPF/GI 2.4.1 or 2.5.1, you can do the following to enable the Script Debugger:

1. Click here to download the file JITDebug.reg;
2. If you are given the choice by your browser, elect to "Open this file from its current location;" otherwise, after the file JITDebug.reg is downloaded, double click it in Windows Explorer;
3. Answer yes that you want to add information to the registry.

Once this is done, the Script Debugger window should appear when your scripts have a problem or when execution hits a breakpoint in your scripts.

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Use Breakpoints in Your Scripts
Once the Microsoft Script Debugger is installed and enabled, the Script Debugger window should appear whenever one of your scripts has a problem.

You can force the Script Debugger window to appear containing your script by placing a breakpoint in your script. In VBScript, the way to do this is to place a "stop" statement in the script. In JScript, the equivalent statement is the "debugger" statement. Example scripts that use these breakpoint statements are below.

Once the Script Debugger window has appeared containing your script, you can set further breakpoints using facilities in the Script Debugger.

Example VBScript script with a breakpoint:
x = 1
stop ' Execution will stop here the Script Debugger
y = x

Example JScript script with a breakpoint:
x = 1
debugger //Execution will stop here the Script Debugger
y = x

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