Debugging Messages

One of the easiest ways to debug message-related problems is to write messages to a message file. Message files do not contain all properties of a message (such as the priority and sender properties), but message files are relatively compact and easy to read.

In RTclients and RTservers, several options are available to easily start or stop logging messages to message files. Use the TipcMsgFileWrite function in any code to write a message to a message file. RTmon can also read messages being sent to an RTclient, as well as log them into a message file.

If you need more precise details about messages or if message files are not working, use the TipcMsgPrint function to print all the information about a message. This is useful for validating that all the properties of a message have been set correctly and that the message data uses the expected field types and field values. The option Real_Number_Format controls the level of precision SmartSockets uses to print real numbers, including the real number fields in messages.

Debugging Message Types and Message Files

Messages cannot be written to message files if the field types in the message do not exactly match the grammar listed in the message type (unless the verbose format is used in the grammar when the message type is created). In this situation, use the TipcMtPrint and TipcMsgPrint functions to print and compare message type information to message field types, and resolve the field type mismatches.