Hi,
Immediate, I use it for testing. If the code stopped on an error, in
pre-intellisense time, we could type the variable name in the immediate
window:
? variableName
but even now, it has its use, as a calculator, for something you wish to
check, once.
Watch can be thought as the nice place to place expression you wish to check
over and over. You can even add a "stop the code when the expression
change", which can help you to debug large part of code and you know that
the expression get the wrong value... from "somewhere" in your code. You are
not obliged to run "one line at a time" any more. How to use it? Right click
on it to get the contextual menu. Sure, if the code don't stop, then, it is
maybe that some subroutine didn't get called, and then, we are back to
manual Step Into and Step Over debugging.
Local can allow you to browse among instanced objects. As example, you have
problem finding the info you want about a treeview control, or about an
Office object, you can explore the maintain values keep by the object, after
your code did create it. You don't have a summary of what the "value"
refers to, you just see the value and its "property name" as example, not at
all like when you use The Browser (F2) which supply a description of the
function/method/enumeration you are browsing into, but while The Browser
gives you hint about the API to handle the object, the Local allows you to
inspect what the object can get and what it "got". Try to inspect the form
that has "stop" the execution of its code, as example, and drill down to its
embedded treeview control (or another control).
That is far form "spoon feed" text, but in general, the interfaces you
mentioned are fairly simple and relatively easy to "discover" by
exploration/manipulation/observation.
Hoping it may help,
Vanderghast, Access MVP
