In the process of debugging a C/C++ image-processing program

the debugger must have the ability to visualize the in-memory image data. Given that no study has yet to present an image debugger visualizer that can work in multiple-operation systems

an open-source

cross-platform image debugger visualizer design is proposed to fill the research gap. We utilize the Python interface of the GDB debugger

translate the byte array fetched from the debugged program to a Python two-dimensional array object

and visualize the array by using the Matplotlib library. The visualization process is executed in a worker thread

along with the traditional GDB text-based interface. Experiments are performed on Windows

Linux

and Mac Systems. Results show that the debugger has various features

such as zooming

panning the image

showing the pixel value of the specified position of the image

saving the image

and keeping the GDB text command line interface in a state where it can work interactively. The debugger design meets the requirements of developing and debugging an image program in different operating system platforms

thus compensating for the deficiencies of the GDB debugger in terms of image debugging ability

and significantly improving the efficiency of development and debugging.