Debugging a Statechart for a Real Time Target

Abstract

System and method for debugging a statechart on a target device. The statechart may be created or displayed on a display and may include a plurality of state icons connected by wires. One or more debugging operations may be specified for the statechart. The statechart may be executed on the target device. The target device may provide debugging information to a computer during execution of the statechart. The debugging information may be displayed on the computer and may be usable to aid in debugging the statechart.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 creating a statechart that includes a plurality of state icons connected by wires, wherein the state icons correspond to respective states, wherein the wires correspond to transitions to and from the states, wherein the statechart is configured to store information in one or more variables;   creating a debugging program for debugging the statechart, wherein the debugging program is configured to receive the one or more variables from the statechart as input and perform one or more debugging operations using the one or more variables;   deploying the statechart to a target device;   deploying the debugging program to the target device; and   executing the statechart and the debugging program on the target device, wherein the debugging program executes to receive the one or more variables from the statechart as input and perform the one or more debugging operations using the one or more variables.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more variables include one or more of:
 a variable indicating a number of times that one or more states of the statechart have been entered; or   a variable indicating a number of times that one or more states of the statechart have been exited.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more variables include a variable indicating one or more of:
 a queue of pending triggers for the statechart;   a queue of pending events for the statechart.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said performing the one or more debugging operations using the one or more variables comprises displaying debugging information using the one or more variables. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein said displaying the debugging information using the one or more variables comprises displaying one or more values of the one or more variables. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 displaying the statechart in a first window on a host computer coupled to the target device;   wherein said displaying the debugging information comprises displaying the debugging information in a second window on the host computer.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said performing the one or more debugging operations using the one or more variables comprises logging the one or more variables. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the debugging program is configured to modify the one or more variables before said logging the one or more variables. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said performing the one or more debugging operations using the one or more variables comprises halting execution of the statechart based on the one or more variables. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the debugging program is configured to perform a particular debugging operation when one or more Boolean conditions are true, wherein the debugging program is configured to determine whether the one or more Boolean conditions are true based on the one or more variables. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 changing a value of a first variable of the statechart in response to receiving user input to a graphical user interface of the debugging program specifying a new value for the first variable.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 slowing a rate of execution of the statechart to a slower rate in response to receiving user input to a graphical user interface of the debugging program requesting the rate of execution to be slowed.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 converting the statechart to a graphical data flow program;   wherein said deploying the statechart to the target device comprises deploying the graphical data flow program to the target device.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the debugging program is a graphical data flow program, wherein the target device includes a graphical program execution engine configured to execute the graphical data flow program to perform the one or more debugging operations.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 ,
 wherein the graphical data flow program includes a block diagram portion and a user interface portion, wherein the block diagram portion executes on the target device, and wherein the user interface portion is displayed on a host computer coupled to the target device.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein said creating the debugging program comprises automatically generating the debugging program.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein said creating the debugging program comprises creating the debugging program in response to user input specifying the one or more debugging operations.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the target device includes a programmable hardware element, wherein said deploying the statechart and the debugging program to the target device comprises configuring the programmable hardware element to execute the statechart and the debugging program.   
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer-readable memory medium storing program instructions executable by one or more processors to:
 create a statechart that includes a plurality of state icons connected by wires, wherein the state icons correspond to respective states, wherein the wires correspond to transitions to and from the states, wherein the statechart is configured to store information in one or more variables;   create a debugging program for debugging the statechart, wherein the debugging program is configured to receive the one or more variables from the statechart as input and perform one or more debugging operations using the one or more variables;   deploy the statechart to a target device; and   deploy the debugging program to the target device;   wherein said deploying the statechart and the debugging program to the target device configures the target device to execute the statechart and the debugging program such that the debugging program executes to perform the one or more debugging operations in response to receiving the one or more variables from the statechart as input.   
     
     
         20 . A system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   memory storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by one or more processors to:   create a statechart that includes a plurality of state icons connected by wires, wherein the state icons correspond to respective states, wherein the wires correspond to transitions to and from the states, wherein the statechart is configured to store information in one or more variables;   create a debugging program for debugging the statechart, wherein the debugging program is configured to receive the one or more variables from the statechart as input and perform one or more debugging operations using the one or more variables;   deploy the statechart to a target device; and   deploy the debugging program to the target device;   wherein said deploying the statechart and the debugging program to the target device configures the target device to execute the statechart and the debugging program such that the debugging program executes to perform the one or more debugging operations in response to receiving the one or more variables from the statechart as input.