Arma 3 SQF Debugger

This extension allows you to debug your scripts directly, as they are running in Arma 3.
To do this it uses the Arma Debug Engine (by Dedmen).

It is only tested (lightly, so far) for debugging of mission scripts when run via the Eden editor, other scenarios are not tested.

To work it needs to correctly map the ingame script paths to your on-disk script paths. The missionRoot and scriptPrefix in the launch.json are what determine this mapping. The default should be correct if you follow the instructions below.

This extension is based on unfinished implementation by SkaceKamen in SQF Lint.

Requires

• Arma Debug Engine Arma 3 mod
• SQF Language Visual Studio Code extension

Features

• Entire callstack
• All variables in all scopes inspectable - local, stack, missionNamespace, uiNamespace, profileNamespace, parsingNamespace
• Manual breakpoints
• Source stepping - step over, out, into
• Exceptions, halt, and assert will break into debugger automatically
• Experimental: advanced breakpoints - conditional, logging, and hit count
• Experimental: expression evaluation, debug console
• Experimental: source server - if local file isn't found, it will be requested directly from Arma

Instructions

1. Install and activate the Arma Debug Engine and pre-requisite mods
2. Disable BattleEye
3. Disable BattleEye!!
4. Run a mission you want to debug via the Eden editor
5. Open the mission script directory in VSCode
6. Press F5 (or run via the Debug sidebar)
7. A new default launch configuration should be created automatically for you
8. Place breakpoints in your code to debug it at those locations

Known Issues

• Breakpoints aren't validated -- if they don't match a real instruction in Arma they will just not fire
• In some cases breakpoints won't be on the correct line (see Trouble Shooting)
• Source server may only returns one file and stop further debugging until Arma is restarted
• Expression evaluation may cause crashes

Not Implemented

• Threads

Trouble Shooting

Enable logging in SQF Debugger configuration settings (might need to restart VSCode for it to apply).

Check the Debug Console output in VSCode for errors.

If breakpoints are not being hit:

• Confirm (in the Debug Console) that paths are being mapped between your workspace and the game correctly. If not then adjust the missionRoot (your workspace) and scriptPrefix (in game) paths in your .vscode/launch.json file (click the cog on the Debug sidebar).
• Confirm that your source file doesn't not begin with a block comment before #include statements, as this will break line numbering totally.
• Try adding more breakpoints around the line you are trying to hit.

If the server won't connect:

• Confirm you disabled BattleEye
• Double check Arma Debug Engine is enabled and on the latest version. Seeing a warning dialog on start up is a dead giveaway that it is loading correctly. Check your intercept_dll.log at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Arma 3\Logs\intercept_dll.log.
• Restart both VSCode and Arma 3.