Visualization Tools User's Guide


Snooping Basics

One way to open a Snooper on an object is to send it the snoop message.

The basic Snooper display is a list containing one line per object. Each line consists of a name and a value. The value of a composite object is shown simply as a <ClassName>. The value of a primitive object is simply printed. The first line in the list is for the object being snooped. The name on the first line is self, and the value is that of the object being snooped.

The subsequent lines in the list are for the components of the object being snooped. By default, these lines are ordered alpahbetically according to name. The names of the components are indented. In some cases, the sub-components of a component will be shown immediately below it. Their names will be indented even farther. Thus, the Snooper uses indentation to show structure.

Double-clicking a line of the Snooper display will expand an object, showing its components on subsequent lines. If the object's components are already shown, double-clicking contracts the object, removing its components from the display.

Objects frequently have components that you are not currently interested in. You may remove lines from the display by selecting them and choosing Hide Selected Items from the Hide menu. Reveal Hidden Items will return them to the display.

If you are snooping many objects of similar classes, you may know that you will never care about certain instance variables. You may tell the Snooper to always hide those variables by the selecting them and choosing Hide Selected Names from the Hide menu. Edit Automatically Hidden Names will let you tell the Snooper to show those instance variables again.


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