The Watch registers view enables access to the selected registers on the target device added from the Peripheral Registers view or the Arm System Registers view.
The Watch registers view is included in the Debug perspective by default. If the view was closed, reopen it from the menu by selecting .
The Watch registers view presents the information about the selected registers in a tabular format. The Peripherals column displays the registers arranged in a hierarchy with the following levels (from top to bottom): a group of registers, a peripheral, a cluster (if set), a register, a field (sequential bits within a register). A minimal unit to be watched is a register. Any node in the hierarchy can be expanded or collapsed with a double click.
The Description column provides the information about the object shown in the Peripherals column.
- Hex: Displays the value read from the register in the hexadecimal format. If the register is not readable the field shows the access info (write-only).
- Binary: Displays the same register value in the binary format. If the register is not readable the field shows the access info (write-only).
- Address: Displays the register address in memory.Note: For Arm System registers the field is empty.
- Black - Read-Only
- Green - Read-Write,
- Blue - Write-Only.
The italics font indicates the Read on demand state of a register.
The toolbar of the Watch registers view includes the following buttons (from left to right):
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(Show structure) | Toggle for the Watch registers view to show peripheral registers combined in categories. |
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(Import registers from file) | Click to import registers from an XML file and write them to target registers. Learn more in Importing registers values. |
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(Export registers to file) | Click to export values of the selected registers to an XML file. Learn more in Exporting registers values. |
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(View Menu) | Click to open the menu customizing the layout of the
Watch registers view. Options:
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(Minimize) | Click to minimize the Watch registers view. |
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(Maximize) | Click to maximize the Watch registers view. All other views are minimized and their icons appear at the right border of the main application window, each next to the dedicated Restore icon. |
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(Restore) | Click to restore the Watch registers view from minimal or maximal state. |
- Find: Click to open the Find Element dialog. Search is available by register name, description or address (if available for a register).
- Copy: Click to copy the selected registers text info to a system clipboard.
- Remove Register(s): Click to remove the selected registers from the Watch registers view.
- Import: Click to import registers from an XML file.
- Export: Click to export the selected registers values to an XML file.
- Read always: Click to enable reading of the selected
registers.Note: Registers with side effects (readAction) are always kept in the Read on demand state and can't be reset to the Read always.
- Read on demand: Click to mark the selected registers be read only on demand.
- Read: Click to read values of the selected registers.
During debugging the Watch registers view can read, display and write the values of the registers.
Switching between the nodes in the Debug view also results in the loss of context in the Watch registers view. If you switch from the thread of a running program to a different node such as the GDB client or other, the Watch registers view stops reading the registers from the connected device. To restore the debug context, click the main() node of the project.
The Watch registers view remembers the state and apply it to any other launch configuration with the same SVD source.