Debugging can be a challenge. This may seem like stating the obvious, but one of the most difficult parts of debugging can be isolating just what the problem is and/or what is causing it.

Since 4D 2004.4, 4D developers have had access to a very powerful debugging tool in the form of the 4D debug log file. The 4D debug log file provides a wealth of data that can be used during isolation of a problem. The data from the 4D debug log can be used to look for patterns or even to isolate an offending piece of code.

Because the 4D debug log file can grow quite large, and also affects runtime performance, it is often desirable to enable or disable it as needed rather than leave it enabled in a production system. The challenge is, when problems occur, the system may not respond to user interaction and, therefore, the debug log file cannot be enabled.

This Technical Note introduces an alternative technique for enabling the 4D Debug log file that does not require user interaction with 4D. It is useful for situations where an application appears to be "hung" but code is still actually executing.

A component is included.

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