Debugging (Creating a Plug-In) Changed in Version 2026.0

During the development of a plug-in, you will sometime have to locate errors. Inside the plug-in itself, this can usually be simplified by using the compiler's debug option. But what about errors that occur inside the serving application, possibly caused by illegal parameters passed through the interface?

The serving application contains a simple debug layer that can be activated by setting a special value in the application's main settings files mkcad6allusers.ini in the "Debugging" entry, usually set to zero.

The internal debugging layer supports several levels of debugging which can be activated by a bit-wise OR combination of the following constants:

MKI_LOGFILE_STANDARD (0x00000001)

Standard debugging. Enables additional message display in all standard error cases. This option will not slow down any operation.

MKI_LOGFILE_INTERFACE (0x00000002)

Interface debugging. Enables additional message display when the interface detects error situations or illegal parameters. This option will not slow down any operation.

MKI_LOGFILE_TERM (0x00000008)

Term debugging. Enables additional status display during term evaluation. This option will result in several message displayed for any term entry being scanned (e.g. in edit fields).

MKI_LOGFILE_STARTUP (0x00000020)

Start-up progress debugging. Enables numerous messages written to the logfile during application start-up.

MKI_LOGFILE_CANVASTIME (0x00000040)

Display screen redraw time information in milliseconds when redrawing the complete screen using the "Space" key.

During normal plug-in development, the "Debugging" value should be set to MKI_LOGFILE_STANDARD | MKI_LOGFILE_INTERFACE (0x00000003), enabling extended message display in all standard and interface error cases. All other options should only be activated if really required.