As a Salesforce developer, debugging your Apex code is a crucial aspect of ensuring that your applications run smoothly and efficiently. The Apex Replay Debugger, combined with the Visual Studio Code (VS Code) extension, provides a powerful environment for debugging Apex code in a way that is both user-friendly and highly effective. In this blog post, we will walk through the process of setting up the Apex Replay Debugger in VS Code, discuss key features, and provide coding examples to help you get started.
What is the Apex Replay Debugger?
The Apex Replay Debugger allows developers to replay execution logs from Apex code, enabling you to step through your code line-by-line as it was executed. This is particularly useful for analyzing complex logic and identifying issues within your code. With the integration of the Salesforce Extension Pack in Visual Studio Code, the Replay Debugger becomes a seamless part of your development workflow.
Setting Up the Apex Replay Debugger
To get started, ensure that you have the following prerequisites:
Salesforce CLI:
Download and install the Salesforce CLI from the Salesforce Developer website.
Visual Studio Code:
Download and install Visual Studio Code.
Salesforce Extension Pack:
Install the Salesforce Extension Pack for Visual Studio Code from the Extensions Marketplace.
Step 1: Authorize Your Salesforce Org
Open your terminal and run the following command to authorize your Salesforce org:
sfdx force:auth:web:login -a MyDevOrg
This command opens a browser window where you can log in to your Salesforce org. Replace MyDevOrg with a name that makes sense for your context.
Step 2: Pull the Apex Code and Debug Logs
Once authorized, create a new project or open an existing one in VS Code. Use the command palette (Ctrl + Shift + P) and run the following command to retrieve the Apex code and debug logs:
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sfdx force:source:pull
Make sure that you have generated debug logs for the Apex execution you want to analyze. You can do this by setting debug log levels in your Salesforce org settings and running your Apex code.
Step 3: Open the Replay Debugger
To open the Apex Replay Debugger, use the command palette and select:
Apex: Start Apex Replay Debugger
You will be prompted to select a debug log file. Choose the log file that you want to analyze.
Key Features of Apex Replay Debugger
Step Over/Into:
Navigate through your code line-by-line.
Watch Expressions:
Monitor variables and expressions as you step through the code.
Call Stack:
View the call stack to understand the execution flow.
Breakpoints:
Set breakpoints in your code to pause execution at specific lines.
Example: Let's try to perform debugging an Apex Class 😉
Let’s say we have the following simple Apex class that calculates the total price of products in an order:
public class OrderCalculator {
public static Decimal calculateTotalPrice(List<Decimal> prices) {
Decimal total = 0;
for (Decimal price : prices) {
total += price;
}
return total;
}
}
Step 1:
Set Breakpoints Before you start debugging, you can set breakpoints in the Apex code. Open the OrderCalculator class in VS Code, click to the left of the line number where you want to set a breakpoint (for example, the line where total is calculated).
Step 2:
Run the Replay Debugger With the breakpoints set, start the Replay Debugger. Step through the code as it executes, observing the values of key variables and how they change.
Step 3:
Use Watch Expressions You can add expressions to the watch list to monitor specific variables, such as total. This lets you see how the total changes as each price is added during the loop.
Step 4:
Analyze Execution Flow Utilize your skills in Salesforce, mastering tools like the Apex Replay Debugger will improve your productivity and the quality of your code. Happy coding!
Feel free to reach out with questions or share your experiences using the Apex Replay Debugger in the comments below!
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