You can use several visualization tools to monitor the decisions within your application: the Node Inspector, the Propagation Spy, the Decision Stack, or a tooltip on the Search Tree.

The interface shown above contains the elements used to monitor the decisions taken at each node in the search tree:

Current Node Inspector

To use the Current Node Inspector docked panel, proceed as follows:

Node Inspector Dialog Box

Right-click on a node to display the Node Inspector dialog box. In this dialog box, information on decisions taken at a node is only available when the exploration of the next node begins.

Propagation Spy

The Propagation Spy does not only contain the propagation events, it also contains the decision events.

Decision Stack

The Decision Stack is a panel that lists the decisions made in the current branch, starting from the root node.

When you double-click on a node, a green arrow points to the node you selected, and the Decision Stack (docked) panel displays the decisions taken in the branch starting from the root to the selected node. The description of the decision taken at a node is only available when the exploration of the next node begins.

The Decision Stack indicates the depth of the node starting from the root, displayed between brackets. For instance, in the debugnqueen example, [48] Set Value 47 to vars[94] corresponds to a decision taken at the node pointed to by the green arrow. [48] indicates the depth from the root.

Tooltip on the Search Tree

To access quickly the decisions taken at a node, place the cursor over the node graphic representation or over the link above. A tooltip will appear with the decision trapped by the debugger at this node.