Thursday, October 18th, 2007
Companion.JS: IE Debugging, now supports console.log
Jean-Fabrice Rabaute has released Companion.JS, an IE debugger that features:
- Detailled javascript error reporting (call stack and real file name where the error occured).
- “Firebug”-like Console API feature.
- Javascript console feature useful to inspect javascript objects at runtime.
- A toolbar icon to open the Companion.JS panel.





3 rating from 59 votes
Console API: http://www.my-debugbar.com/wiki/CompanionJS/ConsoleAPI
Good find :)
Yes!
not that I want to rant or anything, but, reading this I went and tried companion JS out. (I use a _lot_ of js, surprise surprise)
1) page reload would randomly just take forever
2) if an error happens it would just not be displayed
3) errors would be displayed (for instance in firebuglite.js) where there are none
4) it would make my site untestable and broken with companion JS
5mins after trying that was uninstalled and banned from my machine.
It made IE even _worse_, *gasp*. *sigh*.
What was life before firebug? Oh ya hellish :-)
Hi,
About EmEhRKay comment : Do not hesitate to contact me at contact@debugbar.com
A lot of users are using Companion.JS without having troubles. The install process is not great so far and some Microsoft stuff needs to be installed before Companion.JS. So may be this is related with your troubles.
And also this a version 0.2. My goal is to improve the tool. If if does not work on your machine, and you have some time, do not hesitate to contact me so I can correct the problem and post a new version !
Thank you.
JFR
http://www.debugbar.com
seems to work for me. However I’m confused about the difference between Companion.JS v0.2 & DebugBar v4.1.1??
Also for me in IE6.0.2900 The DebugBar’s HTTP(s) tab never shows anything – I was expecting to see my AJAX calls.
Hi,
The Debugbar is not giving detailled info about a javascript error, just a line number without corresponding file (possibly external .js file for instance), and no call stack.
Companion.JS is based on a real JS debugger and gives DETAILLED javascript error with call stack info (see screenshot on the homepage).
Companion.JS can be seen as a complement to DebugBar for more accurate Javascript debugging.
I will continue to improve DebugBar on the DOM/CSS side and improve Companion.JS on the javascript side.
I hope this is clear. Do not hesitate to answer for more info.
About the HTTP/S tab, please contact me so I can investigate.
JFR
http://www.debugbar.com
Awesome new tool! Many thanks to the Companion.JS developer!!!
When activating the console my cursor switches between “point” and “wait” all the time even in other programs. When closing the IE or disabling the console everything is fine again.
Win XP SP 2 German, IE 7
I’ve had the chance to play with this for about a day and a half now on a project I’m working on, and the convenience of not having to click “Yes! I fricken want to debug”, “Yes, use the same fricken debugger as last time”, and “Yes, I’m fricken done debugging now. That’s why I clicked the close button” just makes this awesome. Good stuff.
@Albert Kühner: This may come from the fact that you disabled the debugger in the IE options. Otherwise this is a bug :-(
Do not hesitate to contact me directly to investigate on your problem.
I already got feedback from users and found some bugs.
I will try to post a new 0.2.1 version soon with bug corrections.
Thanks for all the feedback !
Regards.
JFR
http://www.debugbar.com
i write something like the following to test console object in IE
if(typeof console === ‘undefined’){
alert(“test fail”);
}
else{
alert(“test pass”);
}
when the page first loads it alert “test pass” (i have companion.js installed)
but when i refresh the page by hitting f5 it alert “test fail”
Hi;
@Habesh : The problem you are reporting is a bug on Companion.JS not handling refreshes. I am working on it to correct it on a future release.
Regards.
JFR
http://www.debugbar.com