Xcode debugger sometimes doesn't display variable values?

Question

This happens to me pretty often. For example, right now I have the debugger stopped at a breakpoint in a method . . . and it isn't displaying any variable values at all. Other times, it displays some, but not others.

Can anyone explain?

Answer 1

The most common reason for this is that you're trying to debug code compiled with optimisation enabled and/or no debug symbols. Typically this will be because you're trying to debug a Release build rather than a Debug build but it can also happen with Debug builds if you've made inappropriate changes to the Debug build settings.

Another less common possibility is that you've hosed the stack.

Answer 2

If you are using the @property feature of Objective-C 2.0 the debugger does not display those variables unless they are backed by explicit ivars in your Class interface. This is slated to be fixed in Xcode 4 as I understand it.