Debug View - 2025.2 English - UG1400

Vitis Unified Software Platform Documentation: Embedded Software Development (UG1400)

Document ID
UG1400
Release Date
2025-11-20
Version
2025.2 English
The Vitis IDE debug environment has many features found in traditional GUI-based debug environments, such as GDB. In the debug environment, you can do the following:
  • Add break points to the code.
  • Step over or step into specific lines of code, loops, or functions.
  • Examine the state of variables and force them to desired values.
The AI Engine Debug view contains several windows or views as shown in the following figure.
Figure 1. AIE Component Debug View


Control Panel
The Debug view's Control Panel is at the upper-left corner of the screen. During debugging, you can use the control buttons such as Continue, Step Over, Step Into, Step Out, Restart, and Stop to control the debugging process.
Figure 2. Debug Control Panel

Threads
Threads shows the related debugging threads. The debugging process creates and destroys threads. You can switch between multiple threads.
Call Stack
Call Stack shows the function call stack updating when the application is running.
Variables
Variables shows the current value of global and local variables. The variable information updates when switching threads.
Watch
Watch shows variables and expressions you have specified to watch. To add watch points select Add Expression (+).
Breakpoints
  • The system sets break points at the host component's main function if it is debuggable.
  • The system sets break points at the top function of the PL kernels if they are debuggable.
  • To add breakpoints, open the source file and click the left side of the line number when a red dot appears.
  • To remove breakpoints, click on a previously added breakpoint.
  • To add conditional breakpoints, right-click when the red dot appears and select Add Conditional Breakpoint. To log a message, select Add Logpoint when reaching the breakpoint.
Source Code Editor
The Source Code view opens after launching Debug from Flow Navigator or Launch Configuration.
Memory Inspector
You can manually open the Memory Inspector. The Memory Inspector displays the content of specific memory addresses.
Register Inspector
You can manually open the Register Inspector. This view shows the following:
  • The registers of the Cortex-A72 at a triggered breakpoint in the Application Component source code.
  • The registers of the AI Engine at a triggered breakpoint in the AI Engine kernel.
Disassembly View
You can open the Disassembly view from the Source Code window right-click menu.
Debug Console
This view displays the transcript of the debug process and messages received from the application.
Note: You can see all the prints from MDM (MicroBlaze/ V Debug Module) UART in the Debug Console.