Quick Tip: Intra-Statement Breakpoints

A statement referencing a non-existent variable is a common way to add a breakpoint to a q function.

q)f:{x:x+1;break;x+2}

While this is handy, it only lets you break between statements. A simple extension lets you break within statements, inspecting values at arbitrary points in the code, and continuing with execution once you’re done:

q)f:{x:x+1;{break;x}x+2}

Now, the break will occur after the portion of the statement to the right of the break function has executed, and x within the break function will have the value returned by that code. Since the break statement itself has no effects, and x contains the value returned by the code executed so far, typing : to continue will allow the rest of the break function to execute, returning x leftwards and allowing the rest of the statement to execute as if nothing had interrupted it.

Note that this is entirely legal inside qsql queries; I’ve often found it of particular utility there, since you can’t create new local variables inside a query. Unfortunately no specific examples come to mind at the moment; I’ll try to post one later to make it clearer how this technique works.