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Expressions Windows: Variable shown as dot

halo
Expert 1030 points

I am using ccs5 and in debug mode am having trouble seeing a variable in the Expressions tab/window. The variable is called Status1 and shows up as a dot when I add it to the list of expressions. Has anybody else observed this or can anybody enlighten me as to why the Expressions tab/window can't reproduce the current value of Status1 when the program is paused?

  • 0
    TI__Guru 56650 points

    Hi,

    you can change the number format by right-clicking the variable and select "Number Format"

  • 0 in reply to Leo Hendrawan
    Expert 1030 points

    Thanks, Leo. That was simple. I don't know why the format changed, I used to be able to see it. Interestingly, the variable shows as a dot when default format is specified, but shows properly when hex or decimal is specified. I would have thought the default would be hex or decimal since it was cast as an unsigned char. Can you enlighten me? Regards, Harry

  • 0 in reply to halo
    Guru 227245 points

    halo said:
    I would have thought the default would be hex or decimal since it was cast as an unsigned char.

    I agree that this is what I'd expect too. But literally taken, 'char' stands for 'character', which is a readable letter (or not, in your case, and therefore shown as dot.) :)

  • 0 in reply to Jens-Michael Gross
    Expert 1030 points

    Yes, now that you have drawn it to my attention it seems obvious. Still, I could argue that an exception could/should be made for 'characters' that were not readable. Whatever.

    Thanks again for your help. Over and out.

  • 0 in reply to halo
    Guru 227245 points

    halo said:
    Still, I could argue that an exception could/should be made for 'characters' that were not readable.

    Showing a dot for unprintable characters is a common way to deal with them. However, not the only one. TrueType Fonts usually contain a 'unknown glyph' glyph that is shown if a font doesn't contain a dedicated glyph (symbol) for a given character number. This has been introduced with the 16 bit (unicode etc.) character sets. However, on console applications dealing with a normal 8 bit character set, the dot is still the most common approach. (just printing nothing isn't used because it makes it difficult to distinguish between intended spaces and unintended unreadable chars)

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