Variables View

The Variables View displays information about the variables associated with the stack frame selected in the Debug View. When debugging a Java program, variables can be selected to have more detailed information be displayed in the Detail Pane. In addition, Java objects can be expanded to show the fields that variable contains.

The Variables View, shown with columns. The Detail Pane the area at the bottom of the view displaying text.

Variables View with columns

There are many commands available in the Variables View:

Variables View Commands

Command

Name

Description

Availability

All References All Instances Opens a popup dialog displaying a list of all instances of the selected Java type. Your Java virtual machine must support instance retrieval. Context menu
All References All References Opens a popup dialog displaying a list of all Java objects that have references to the selected variable. Your Java virtual machine must support reference retrieval. Context menu
Change Value Change Value... Allows you to change the value for the underlying selected variable. Context menu
Collapse All Collapse All Collapses all the currently expanded variables. View action
Copy Expressions

Copy Variables

Copies the selected variables to the system clipboard.

Context menu
Add Watch Expression Create Watch Expression Allows you to create a watch expression for the selected variable. Context menu
  Edit Logical Structure Allow you to edit the logical structure of the selected variable Context menu
  Find... Opens the search dialog to find elements in the variables view. Context menu
Inspect Inspect Creates a new inspect statement for the selected variable and adds it to the expressions view. Context menu
  Instance Breakpoints... Allows you to filter existing breakpoints to the selected variable instance. Context menu
  Java Preferences... Opens several preference pages containing options that affect the view. View action
  New Detail Formatter... Allows you to create your own detail formatter for that type of variable. Context menu
  Open Actual Type Opens the actual type of the selected variable. Context menu
  Open Actual Type Hierarchy Opens the actual type hierarchy for the actual type of the selected variable. Context menu
  Open Declared Type Opens the declared type for the selected variable in a new editor. Context menu
  Open Declared Type Hierarchy Opens the type hierarchy for the declared type of the selected variable. Context menu
  Select All Selects all of the variables in the view. Context menu
  Show Structure As... Allows you to select a different formatter for showing the selected logical structure type variable. Context menu
  Show Details As... Allows you to select a different detail pane for showing detailed information about selected variables. Context menu
Toggle Watchpoint Toggle Watchpoint Creates a new watchpoint on the currently selected field or removes the watchpoint if one already exists. Context menu

Related concepts

Java views
Java perspectives

Related tasks

Suspending threads
Evaluating expressions

Related reference

Detail Pane
View Display Commands
View Layout Commands
Expressions View