How can I debug my OpenTools in JBuilder 4?

This FAQ describes possible scenarios for debugging your OpenTools in JBuilder 4. There are essentially two ways to do this:

• Use a dynamic class loader to load the OpenTool and debug it.
• Launch a second instance of JBuilder in debug mode and debug the whole IDE.

There is a sample included with JBuilder 4 that can allow you to use the first technique ("samples/opentools/miscellaneous/DynamicClassLoader"). There is also an extension of this sample written by Borland TeamB member John McGrath, available here:

http://www.JPMcGrath.net/

Follow these steps to use the second technique:

1. In your OpenTool project, set the main class to com.borland.jbuilder.JBuilder.
   
   
2. Define a Library named JBuilder4 and in that definition include every jar file found in the JBuilder lib directory (and possibly the lib/ext directory if any of those are required by your tool.)
   
   
3. Set the Application Parameters to:

   -verbose -nosplash

   Set the VM Parameters to:

   -Xms8m -Xmx128m -Xbootclasspath/p:<path to lawt.jar>

   For example:

   -Xms8m -Xmx128m -Xbootclasspath/p:/home/joe/jbuilder4/lib/lawt.jar

   -Xms8m -Xmx128m -Xbootclasspath/p:C:/jbuilder4/lib/lawt.jar

   Of course the path to lwtoolkit.jar will be different on your system so adjust it accordingly.
   
   

Now, when you run this project, your primary IDE will launch a child copy of JBuilder using the parameters provided by the project settings. You will get a second browser window, in which you can test your OpenTool. In the Primary IDE's message pane you will see any exceptions JBuilder may throw when loading your opentool.