Question

I just started doing iPhone dev. At the moment I’m trying to fix a bug which exists in an already built app. The main function looks as follows:

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {

    NSAutoreleasePool * pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];
    int retVal = UIApplicationMain(argc, argv, nil, nil);
    [pool release];
    return retVal;
}

This seems pretty typical from what I understand; I’m guessing UIApplicationMain is the main loop, which the source files that have been created for the app specifically connects to via the use of delegates/function pointers in Objective-C (note, while I’m quite proficient in C++, I hardly know much about iOS or Objective-C).

So, what I’d like to know is how I can step through my source files and track down the calculation bug I’m experiencing for this app. Unfortunately, all I receive is disassembly when stepping into the UIApplicationMain, and while I know the very basics of asm and can interpret it (for the most part), I’d rather not unless I absolutely have to – especially considering the fact that the debugger appears to be outputting AT&T syntax (NOTE: if it’s possible to change the asm syntax to Intel, I’d appreciate it if someone could state how to do that).

Thanks.

Answer 1

You can put breakpoints on every line by clicking on the gray space between the code and the project explorer on the left. When running, upon encountering a breakpoint the simulator or device will stop running and the code will show up. Then hit either the down arrow button that will show up on the upper left of the debugging window at the bottom to go line by line, which will show asm when appropriate, or hit the right-pointing arrow which will run until the next breakpoint is hit. You can disable breakpoints by deleting them individually or by toggling the breakpoints button at the top.