Debugging

KirAsh4

I guess I’m not sure what you mean with ‘real-time debugging’ as there is no real-time anything between the node server and the browser. Everything runs on the browser end, and because of that, you can open the console window and watch what’s happening, in as ‘real-time’ as possible. I’m also not sure what exactly you are trying to debug.

As I explained before, when I’m writing code, I watch the console log for errors. I simply refresh the browser when I need to check for things. Remember, I don’t use the actual Raspberry Pi nor the monitor connected to it to debug. I load up the mirror on a regular browser on my computer and debug there. I also write code there.

Hrm, it dawned on me that I should explain better how I’m doing this …

Eunanibus

Even when writing console.log(’ ') nothing appears in the terminal, so I just assumed it was logging elsewhere.

How are you accessing it via your browser?

KirAsh4

Nothing would appear in the terminal, it’s not the STDOUT facility that you’re using. The console.log() facility logs to the browser’s console log. With most browsers, you access this by pressing F12. This is what my desktop looks like when I’m coding. Note that this is a Windows machine with dual monitors. On the left monitor is my code editor, split into two panels so I can look at multiple files at the same time. The files are being opened directly from the MagicMirror folder on the Raspberry Pi. On the right is a Chrome browser open with the Raspberry Pi’s IP address. That loads up the mirror display. And by hitting F12, I get the console panel that you see open, and at the bottom you can see the debugging messages that I put in the code to track. I can write/change code in the editor, hit Save, then hit Refresh in Chrome and get instant feedback. All of that is completely independent of what’s actually being displayed on the Raspberri Pi’s monitor.

The panel also allows me to see the actual HTML being returned (by selecting Elements at the top.) So any code that I write, I can verify the HTML bit, and I can follow along with any errors or other messages that I put in the code. When the mirror code fails for some reason, I can look in the console and try to figure out where the error lies.

Eunanibus

Your last post helped immensely! Thank you!

Eunanibus

Sorry to keep on this. Is there a particular way I’m able to look at a particular object’s available functions in console (if there is a way, I can’t see it and google is turning up zilch)

KirAsh4

I suspect the answer is: go read the source code … but, what are you trying to do?

Eunanibus

It’s my source code :laughing: - My object should have an available function to me, but it’s coming up function not found. I’m gonna keep digging! New module is on its way.

KirAsh4

Theeeeen you’re not defining it as a function … ?

alexyak

You don’t have to run the the code in the electron every time. I would just run “node index” from the /serveronly folder and start the chrome with dev tools on my dev box. Also as dev tool Visual Studio Code is a very good one and runs on Windows, Linux and OS X. You could configure it to debug the node.js as well as the chrome client (via a plugin) locally or even have a remote debugging session.

bobbob601

Hi,

I’m trying to dev a module too and I’m trying to debug too. Sadly I get a white screen, like when the config file is incorrect. I’m pretty sure the config file is OK, because the only thing I add is

{
		        module: 'MMM-Ratp',
		        position: 'top_right'
    		},

Where MMM-Ratp is the name of my module.

I tried to use the console (I’m using firefox) and it works fine when MM is running, but when I get a white screen under Epifany webbrowser (default one), under Firefox, I get “Unable to connect” like if the web server was not running so I don’t have any log and I don’t know whether it is a code error in my plugin, or something more stupid like denied access to one specific file or anything else I forgot like registering the module

I then did a test with a Helloword plugin, it works fine. Then I copy the HW code to my plugin.js, just renaming the file and then it’s not working. I thought that the issue would be an access denied but doing ls -al (I’m noob with linux), the chmod seem to be the same for both plugin (read access)

Any idea where to start digging ? thx

[edit] I’m moving forward. it was because as soon as placed in the module folder, the node_helper seems to be parsed and executed and I had some modules required which were not installed. Now, the module is loaded but not working. I continue digging :)