TotalView Users Guide - CI Wiki

Diving in Variable Windows
Rebinding the Variable Window
When you restart your program, TotalView must identify the thread in which
the variable existed. For example, suppose variable my_var was in thread
3.6. When you restart your program, TotalView tries to rebind the thread to
a newly created thread. Because the order in which the operating system
starts and executes threads can differ, there’s no guarantee that the thread
3.6 in the current context is the same thread as what it was previously.
Problems can occur. To correct rebinding issues, use the Threads box in the
Variable Window toolbar to specify the thread to which you want to bind
the variable.
Another way to use the Threads box is to change to a different thread to
see the variable or expression’s value there. For example, suppose variable
my_var is being displayed in thread 3.4. If you type 3.5 in the Threads box,
TotalView updates the information in the Expression List Window so that it
is what exists in thread 3.5.
Closing Variable Windows
When you finish analyzing the information in a Variable Window, use the
File > Close command to close the window. You can also use the File >
Close Similar command to close all Variable Windows.
Diving in Variable Windows
If the variable being displayed in a Variable Window is a pointer, structure, or
array, you can dive on the value. This new dive, which is called a nested dive,
tells TotalView to replace the information in the Variable Window with information
about the selected variable. If this information contains nonscalar
data types, you can also dive on these data types. Although a typical data
structure doesn’t have too many levels, repeatedly diving on data lets you
follow pointer chains. That is, diving lets you see the elements of a linked list.
The following topics contain information related to this topic:
� “Displaying an Array of Structure’s Elements” on page 300
� “Changing What the Variable Window Displays” on page 301
TotalView lets you see a member of an array of structures as a single array
across all the structures. See “Displaying an Array of Structure’s Elements” on
page 300 for more information.
TotalView remembers your dives. This means that you can use the undive/
redive buttons to view where you already dove. (See Figure 185 on
page 299.)
298 Chapter 14: Examining and Changing Data