Breakpoints not triggered in VS Code R Debugger when using box

[spirae-nevin]

Error description

When using the box package to modularize code, breakpoints in VS Code's R Debugger do not seem to be triggered. This issue does not occur when using source() to load files. Since box isolates environments, it might be causing the debugger to lose track of the code context.

The function hello_world defined in func1.R runs correctly, but breakpoints set inside this function are not triggered when called

code to reproduce : main.R

box::use(
  . / func1[hello_world]
)


hello_world()

func1.R

#' @export
hello_world <- function(){
  x = c(1,2,3)  # Breakpoint added here
  print("In here")
  return("Hello World")
}

R Debugger Version - v0.5.5

R version

platform       x86_64-w64-mingw32
arch           x86_64
os             mingw32
crt            ucrt
system         x86_64, mingw32
status
major          4
minor          4.1
year           2024
month          06
day            14
svn rev        86737
language       R
version.string R version 4.4.1 (2024-06-14 ucrt)
nickname       Race for Your Life

‘box’ version

'1.2.0'

[ManuelHentschel]

For me, the following setup works:

• Include "setBreakpointsInPackages": true in the debug config (.vscode/launch.json). This is necessary since box loads functions to an attached environment that is normally ignored by the debugger.
• Add the command vscDebugger:::setStoredBreakpoints() between the box::use command and the call to hello_world. This is necessary since the hello_world function does not exist yet at the beginning of the script, when the debugger tries to set breakpoints.

For this to work out of the box, we would have to overwrite/shim box::use, which I'd rather avoid given the complexity of that function. Note that at the moment, setStoredBreakpoints is not an exported function, but probably that will change given this usecase.

[spirae-nevin]

Thanks it worked. I can trigger break points now. Is there a way to not write this line directly in the code : vscDebugger:::setStoredBreakpoints(). Can this be globally called/ enabled without the need of directly writing this in code

[dereckmezquita]

Hello I found that it does not work if I use R6 classes. Any suggestions to get this working is helpful.

main.R

box::use(./src/test_module[ yeet, YeetClass ])

vscDebugger:::setStoredBreakpoints()

yeet() # this works

yeet_class <- YeetClass$new() # break point from inside function is not hit

print("done!")

./src/test_module.R

box::use(R6)

#' @export
yeet <- function() {
    print("Yeet")
}

#' @export
YeetClass <- R6$R6Class(
    "YeetClass",
    public = list(
        initialize = function() {
            print("YeetClass initialized") # <--- breakpoint using red dot gutter set here is never hit
        }
    )
)

launch.json

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "type": "R-Debugger",
            "name": "R test box modules",
            "request": "launch",
            "debugMode": "file",
            "workingDirectory": "",
            "file": "${workspaceFolder}/main.R",
            "setBreakpointsInPackages": true
        }
    ]
}

This issue seems to be related but I don't have enough background: https://github.com/ManuelHentschel/VSCode-R-Debugger/issues/165