Debugging your Map?

Are you looking to debug your map to know where it went or why it's giving unexpected results? Then this is for you.

Debugging helps in many ways

• To understand the complex logic written in a map.
• To know the value of a variable at any point of time.
• If you are not sure why a particular field is not giving expected result.
• To check if the condition is working as expected or not

Below are the few ways to debug your map. I personally prefer to use ‘writeblock(<string>)’.

Writeblock(<string>) extended rule:

This function prints a new line on the output side (map result) with the information or data that was passed as an argument. This extended rule is the most simplest to use and find out what’s happening. All you need to write the writeblock extended rule where you feel like, and pass on the information that you would like to see on output.

Usage:

               writeblock(String strVariable);

               Where -

                              strVariable – String message that you would like print on output.

Example:

                String[100] strMessage;

                strMessage = “Test writeblock function..”;

                Writeblock(strMessage);

                writeblock(“Test writeblock() function….”);

Note: This function will take only string as an argument, when you want to print non-string values those should be converted to string.

Pros:

• Simple to use.
• Output message can be easily located, as you can see it along with output.
• No need to enable or disable any logs.
• No need to go to any specific location or interface to see messages.

Cons:

• Only string values are supported, all other data types need to be converted.
• By mistake if this code is migrated to live environment, it’ll cause issues.

MessageBox(<string>, 0) extended rule

This function prints the information that was passed as an argument on to translation log.

Using this function is simple as there are no restrictions on data type. However to see output one should access log files through Admin interface or file system. If the log was disabled or turned-off, then it won’t give any result.

Usage:

messagebox(String strMsg, 0); or 

messagebox(<fieldname>, 0);

Where –

strMsg – String message that will be printed to log

0 – Another mandatory parameter

fieldname – Refer any field, that would like to see its value on log file

Example:

                String[100] strMessage;

                strMessage(“Test MessageBox function…”);

                messagebox(strMessage, 0);

               

                messagebox(#0098, 0);

Pros:

• No restrictions on data type.
• Even if this code migrated to it’ll no show any impact on output, but it fills translation in case if it’s enabled.

Cons:

• Translation log needs to be turned-on to see the messages.
• All the maps that are running in system keeps writing their respective entries in this file.
• Developer must access this log using Admin interface/Dashboard or through file system.
• Hard to find or locate your messages, as there will be many other entries by other maps.

Push it to a field on output side.

The other way of debugging your map is to create a dummy field/element on output side and pass the information to it. Before migrating code to live environment these extra fields or elements needs to disabled or removed from map.