Lourenço, J. M., and J. C. Cunha,
"Fiddle: A Flexible Distributed Debugging Architecture",
Proceedings of the International Conference on Computational Science-Part II, London, UK, Springer-Verlag, pp. 821–830, 2001.
AbstractIn the recent past, multiple techniques and tools have been proposed and contributed to improve the distributed debugging functionalities, in several distinct aspects, such as handling the non-determinism, allowing cyclic interactive debugging of parallel programs, and providing more user-friendly interfaces. However, most of these tools are tied to a specific programming language and provide rigid graphical user interfaces. So they cannot easily adapt to support distinct abstraction levels or user interfaces. They also don't provide adequate support for cooperation with other tools in a software engineering environment. In this paper we discuss several dimensions which may contribute to develop more flexible distributed debuggers. We describe Fiddle, a distributed debugging tool which aims at overcoming some of the above limitations.
Cunha, J. C., J. M. Lourenço, J. Vieira, B. Moscão, and D. Pereira,
"A Framework to Support Parallel and Distributed Debugging",
Proceedings of the International Conference and Exhibition on High-Performance Computing and Networking (HPCN'98), London, UK, Springer-Verlag, pp. 708–717, 1998.
AbstractWe discuss debugging prototypes that can easily support new functionalities, depending on the requirements of high-level computational models, and allowing a coherent integration with other tools in a software engineering environment. Concerning the first aspect, we propose a framework that identifies two distinct levels of functionalities that should be supported by a parallel and distributed debugger using: a process and thread-level, and a coordination level concerning sets of processes or threads. An incremental approach is used to effectively develop prototypes that support both functionalities. Concerning the second aspect, we discuss how the interfacing with other tools has influenced the design of a process-level debugging interface (PDBG) and a distributed monitoring and control layer called (DAMS).