Show TOC

Debugging ProcessesLocate this document in the navigation structure

Use

Debugging processes enables you to go step-by-step through a running process to locate and analyze errors that occur. When debugging a process, you set certain points in the process you are modeling, called breakpoints. The breakpoint is a mark in the process which you can set at any time, that is to say during modeling or at runtime. When the running process reaches a breakpoint, the process execution stops and you can analyze problems that occurred up to that breakpoint. You can manage the breakpoints you set in a process in the Breakpoints view in the Debug perspective in the SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio . You can define breakpoints on the following flow objects in the process:

  • Events

  • Activities (human, automated, sub-processes, and so on)

  • Gateways

To start the process in debug mode, you create a debug configuration and then use the Debug perspective to start debugging and analyze the process. In the debug configuration you specify the following information:

  • AS Java server to run the process in debug mode

  • Project containing one or more processes to be debugged

  • Process to be debugged

  • Process instances to attach the debugger to

    You can attach the debugger either to all process instances running on the server or to a new process instance. In case you attach the debugger to a new process instance, you specify which data is passed to the start event of the process and thus start the process instance on the server from the Developer Studio.

When you debug a process, you can also analyze the data flow in the process. The data flow shows how data objects are used in the process and how the data mappings are performed. You can see the data objects used in the process in the Variables view in the Debug perspective.

Prerequisites

  • You have configured the AS Java to connect to in the Developer Studio .

    For more information about configuring the server, see Configuring the Application Server in the Developer Studio .

    Caution

    Debugging processes in cluster mode is not possible.

    Debugging in processes that contain embedded sub-processes or activities with loop characteristics is also not possible. For more information, see SAP Note 1482362 Information published on SAP site.

  • You have the SAP_BPM_Debug role assigned to your user so you can debug processes. For more information about Business Process Management (BPM) roles, see Authorizations and Roles .

  • You have modeled, built, and deployed a process.

Procedure

1. Set Breakpoints

  1. Choose Start of the navigation path Window Next navigation step Open Perspective Next navigation step Other... Next navigation step Process Development End of the navigation path and choose the OK pushbutton.

  2. Expand your project in the Project Explorer view.

  3. Expand Process Modeling , then expand Processes .

  4. In the context menu of a process, choose Open .

  5. In the context menu of a flow object in the modeling surface, choose Toggle Breakpoint .

    The breakpoint appears next to the flow object. Note that in case you set breakpoints on start and end events without a trigger in an embedded sub-process, these breakpoints are ignored during debugging.

  6. (Optional) If you want to remove a breakpoint, in the context menu of a flow object with a breakpoint, choose again Toggle Breakpoint .

    Note

    You can later manage the breakpoints you have set. To do that, you use the context menu of a breakpoint in the Breakpoints view in the Debug perspective. For example, you can choose to disable a breakpoint. This means the process execution does not stop at that disabled breakpoint but goes directly to the next enabled breakpoint.

2. Build, Deploy, and Execute a Process

For more information about building and deploying a process, see Building and Deploying a Process .

3. Create a Debug Configuration

  1. Choose Start of the navigation path Window Next navigation step Open Perspective Next navigation step Other... Next navigation step Debug End of the navigation path and choose the OK pushbutton.

    The Debug perspective opens.

  2. Choose Start of the navigation path Run Next navigation step Debug Configurations... End of the navigation path.

    Note

    You can also start the Debug Configurations wizard directly from the Process Development perspective when you choose the Debug icon and then choose Debug Configurations...

  3. In the wizard that appears, select Process and in the context menu choose New .

    A new configuration to launch the process in debug mode is created. You can optionally specify a name of the debug configuration in the Name field.

  4. Under System on the Main tab page, select one of the following options:

    • Use default server

      You use this option when you want to debug the process on the default server you have configured.

    • Use specific server

      You use this option when you want to debug the process on a server that is different from the default one.

  5. Choose the Browse... pushbutton in the Project field to specify the project containing the process to be debugged.

  6. Choose the Search... pushbutton in the Process field to select a process to debug from the list.

  7. On the Arguments tab page, select one of the following options to attach the debugger:

    • Attach to all process instances

      You use this option to debug all process instances running on the server.

    • Attach to a new process instance

      You use this option to debug a new process instance which you can start on the server from the Developer Studio. You have to configure the start process payload as a valid XML, which means you specify the input parameters needed to start the process.

      You can select the Stop on start event checkbox to make the new process instance stop on the start event even if there is no breakpoint on the start event.

  8. Choose the Apply pushbutton and close the dialog.

4. Manage the Debugged Process

For more information, see Managing the Debugged Process .