21.2 Debugging Applications that Use the Event-Driven Publishing API

Because these processes all run behind the scenes, there is no actual place where debugging information is produced during normal execution. Therefore, the API has two procedures that toggle a special debugging mode that produces extensive debugging information through DBMS_OUTPUT:

• SRW.START_DEBUGGING

• SRW.STOP_DEBUGGING

To switch on debugging mode simply call SRW.START_DEBUGGING and to stop it call SRW.STOP_DEBUGGING. The debugging mode must be started immediately before you run your actual logic. It stays on as long as the current instance of the package is loaded.

One way you can display this information is by setting SERVEROUT to ON in SQL*PLUS before you run your script.

In addition to this method of debugging, the API has a set of pre-defined exceptions to be used for error handling. You'll find examples of these exceptions in the srw_test.sql script provided with your Oracle Reports Services installation.