Patent Document ID: 7620937
Application ID: 10923215

Base Claim:
1. A method for debugging Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) programs, comprising: automatically locating program elements, including at least one of a program variable and a program logic path, within a first code of a first XSL program; for each located program element, automatically modifying the first XSL program by inserting into the first XSL program a second code for setting an XSL variable not included in the first code, the setting of the XSL variable including implementing a routine, the routine (a) generating a debugging comment regarding the first code when executed and (b) coded in a programming language that provides an element for maintaining a state information regarding a portion of the first code that corresponds to manipulation of the program element for which the debugging comment is generated, wherein the debugging comment is based on the state information for the respective program element; and executing the modified first XSL program; wherein: the debugging comments are integrated with a main output generated via execution of the first code, the integration including the debugging comments being interspersed between, and offset from, portions of the main output, such that a debugging comment is displayed on an output line that is sandwiched between a first output line including a first portion of the main output and a second output line including a second portion of the main output, a beginning of the debugging comment being displayed at an output column offset from output columns at which the first and second portions of the main output begins; for each located program element, the corresponding state information includes at least one of (a) a column and line location of the respective portion of the first code and (b) a hierarchical level of the respective program element; and the method further comprises: for each located program variable for which the first XSL program is modified, inserting into the first XSL program a copy of the program variable to mimic the located program variable, wherein the modified first XSL program including the first code is executed such that: (a) a portion of the first code that includes the program variable is executed, and (b) for the execution of the portion of the first code, a debugging comment is generated for the variable copy.

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Claim 4:
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein, for each of at least one of the located program elements, the debugging comment is indented, and an extent of the indentation corresponds to the hierarchical level of the located program element as indicated by the state information.