cc65-dbg

This VS Code extension adds syntax and debugger support for cc65 and ca65.

Features

Works with an adapter/emulator supporting Debug Adapter Protocol (DAP).

You need to provide your own debugger or debug adapter as "command" option, which is able to communicate using DAP protocol over stdin/stdout or TCP socket.

The main job of this extension is to parse debug info file generated by ld65 --dbgfile and use the information to drive the debugger executable. It expects the file to be placed beside the "program" binary, with .dbg extension.

The idea is that your debugger/adapter should not know about the format of the source nor the assembler or compiler. It should just support breakpoints and interactive debugging.
On the other side, the debugging extension for particular assembler/compiler should work with many debuggers/emulators, supporting DAP protocol.

Screenshots

Breakpoints synchronization between Emulator and VS Code:

CPU registers inspector and watch:

Module-scoped Globals view:

Disassembly view:

Memory view:

Arbitrary Watch expressions:

Requirements

⚠️ Following is a deviation from Debug Adapter Protocol, used to simplify the DAP-debugger implementation for 8-bit machine emulators.

The extension will present the breakpoint memory addresses as lines property of SetBreakpoints Request. Debugger does not need to know anything about the source structure - this is the job of the extension. It just needs to be able to set memory breakpoints, pause and step through the program execution.

Breakpoints are presented in packs identified with sourceReference number (0 included) of Source descriptor. Your debugger endpoint should track the source reference number of a breakpoint in order to remove it, when an update for the pack is being received.

Emulators

List of emulators supporting this variation of DAP:

• Emu — The X65 Computer Emulator.

If you know any other, please create a PR with an update to the list.

Acknowledgements

This extension builds on code from:

• Alchemy65
• db65xx

Kudos to its authors!