# Monitors pane

The Monitors pane displays only those variables explicitly selected by the user for review. Any valid variable expression can be monitored. To explicitly select a variable to appear in this window, select a variable from the source window, and then select Actions --> New monitor from the menu bar.

The Monitors pane includes the ability to watch a specified variable. The watch function permits a programmer to request a breakpoint when the content of a specified storage location is changed from its current value. After the watch condition is successfully set, a change to the content of the watched storage location causes program operation to be suspended.

All the options for the Monitors pane are available from the context menu and the menu bar. Menu options that have an icon appear on the tool bar.

To optimize debug performance, temporarily suspend updates by right-clicking the pane and selecting Suspend Updates from the context menu. While in the suspended mode, the pane displays the indicator Suspended and pane icon is unavailable. Right click and select Resume Updates to permit updating the pane information.