# Evaluating expressions

When the VM suspends a thread (due to hitting a breakpoint or stepping through code), you can evaluate expressions in the context of a stack frame.

1. Select the stack frame in which an evaluation is to be performed. The evaluation context will be the currently selected variable in the view. If no variable is selected, the selected stack frame will be the context.
2. Expressions can be entered and evaluated in the following areas:
   - Debug Shell View
   - Detail Pane (in the Expressions View and Variables View)
   - Java Editor when it is displaying source and it is not read-only
3. Select the expression to be evaluated and select Display, Inspect or Execute from the context pop-up menu. The result of a Display or Inspect evaluation is shown in a popup window. Note that Execute does not display a result - the expression is just executed.
4. The result popup window can be dismissed by clicking outside of the popup window or by pressing Esc. The result can be persisted to the Debug Shell view (if Display was chosen) or Expressions view (if Inspect was chosen) by pressing the key sequence shown at the bottom of the popup window. For example, to move the result of an Inspect evaluation to the Expressions view press Ctrl-Shift-I. Note that when the Display action is used from the Display view the result is written to the Debug Shell view rather than a popup

Note: Evaluations cannot be performed in threads that have been manually suspended.

### Related concepts

Debugger
Java editor

### Related tasks

Suspending threads
Resuming the execution of suspended threads

### Related references

Detail Pane
Debug Shell view
Expressions view
Variables view