Debug Process I/O Multiplexing
Wing alters the I/O environment in order to make it possible to keep the debug process responsive while waiting for I/O, and to redirect I/O over the connection to the IDE. This code mimics the environment found outside of the debugger, so any code that uses only Python I/O does not need to worry about this change.
There are however several cases that can affect users that bypass Python I/O by doing C-level I/O from within an extension module:
- C/C++ extension modules that use the C-level stdin or stdout will bypass Wing's debugger I/O environment. This means that output sent to C-level stdout will not be redirected to the IDE. Also, waiting on stdin in C or C++ code will make the debug process unresponsive to messages from the IDE, such as Pause and changes to breakpoints, until the debug process exits its wait state.
- Calling C-level stdin from multiple threads in a multi-threaded program may result in altered character read order when running under Wing's debugger.
- When debugging on Windows, calling C-level stdin, even in a single-threaded program, can result in a race condition with Wing's I/O multiplexer that leads to out-of-order character reads. This is an unavoidable result of limitations on multiplexing keyboard and socket I/O on this platform.
Disabling I/O Multiplexing
If you run into a problem with keyboard I/O in Wing's debugger, you should:
- Turn off Wing's I/O multiplexer by unchecking the Debugger > I/O > Use sys.stdin Wrapper preference.
- Turn on the Debugger > I/O > Use External Console preference. See External I/O Consoles for details.
Once that is done, I/O should work properly in the external console, but the debug process will remain unresponsive to Pause or breakpoint changes from Wing whenever it is waiting for input, either at the C/C++ or Python level.
Also, keyboard input invoked as a side effect of using the Debug Console in Wing Pro will happen through unmodified stdin instead of within the Debug Console, even though command output will still appear there.
