Stepping Through a Project in VEXcode VR

The Project Stepping feature provides the user with important visual cues that help troubleshoot or better understand a project's flow. When a project is run, the VR Robot will run as instructed, but it may not be how the user intended. Having the ability to see the blocks being executed one step at a time gives the user a better visual of which blocks may be causing the error.


How to Use the Project Stepping Feature

Step button

Select the step button located at the top right of the VEXcode VR toolbar.

drive forward

Once selected, a green highlight will appear around the “when started“ block to indicate where the program is beginning, and then immediately moves to highlight the first block in the stack. The highlight will stay on the first block after “when started” until the step button is selected again.

turn right

Select the step button again to run the block that is highlighted. Once the block has been executed, the next block will become highlighted.

Continue to use the step button to run through the project one block at a time.


Debugging with the Project Stepping Feature

blocks

The Project Stepping feature slows down the flow of the project and provides immediate visual feedback. This allows the user to go through the project one block at a time to observe behavior and correct mistakes.

In this example, the intention is for the VR Robot to draw a square (drive forward for 800mm and turn right 90 degrees, 4 times to create a square). However there is a wrong turn in the project.

observe mistake

compare code and playground

Run the project step by step using the Project Stepping feature until a mistake is observed.

blocks

blocks

Correct the mistake.

turn right green

Make square

Then run the project again from the beginning using the Project Stepping feature. Repeat this process until the project runs correctly.

For more information, help, and tips, check out the many resources at VEX Professional Development Plus

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