Eclipse hangs during debugging with "Evaluating" thread

Question

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During a debugging session with Eclipse the thread under inspection turns into "Evaluating" mode during the inspection of a variable. The variable is shown with its input once, but the thread hangs afterwards and can only be terminated. The content of the variables is not shown another time. Trying to terminate the evaluation with a right click on the thread and selecting "Terminate Evaluation" brings the message:

"Attempts to terminate an evaluation can only stop a series of statements. The currently executing statement (such asa method invocation) cannot be interrupted."

What is going on here? Can I release and restart the thread on the same position or is terminating the only option? Is this behavior cause by the content of the variable or is it caused by something else?

Answer 1

The debugger views sometimes execute the toString() method of objects to show the value. When your toString() method has a bug (infinite loop) or calls another buggy method, the debugger could run into problems.