µVISION DEBUGGER: Local Variables Not Displayed

Information in this article applies to:

• C51 any Version
• C251 any Version
• C166 any Version

QUESTION

I have a function foo which is written as follows:

void foo(void)
{
  unsigned char bar;
  bar = 4;
}

When I step through this function in the debugger, the variable bar is not displayed in the locals window. Is this a bug?

ANSWER

No. The optimizer removed the variable bar since you do not do anything with it. It is initialized but left unused, so all code related to the variable is removed.

You can either

• Do something with the variable.
• Declare the variable as volatile, which stops the compiler from optimizing code related to the variable out. For example:

  volatile unsigned char bar;
  

SEE ALSO

• µVision DEBUGGER: Incorrect Values displayed for Locals
• µVision DEBUGGER: Source Code Synchronization Problems
• µVision DEBUGGER: Watch Variables Do Not Display

Last Reviewed: Tuesday, December 8, 2020