GDB no longer supports Windows before XP.
[deliverable/binutils-gdb.git] / gdb / NEWS
1 What has changed in GDB?
2 (Organized release by release)
3
4 *** Changes since GDB 8.3
5
6 *** Changes in GDB 8.3
7
8 * GDB and GDBserver now support access to additional registers on
9 PowerPC GNU/Linux targets: PPR, DSCR, TAR, EBB/PMU registers, and
10 HTM registers.
11
12 * GDB now has experimental support for the compilation and injection of
13 C++ source code into the inferior. This beta release does not include
14 support for several language features, such as templates, constructors,
15 and operators.
16
17 This feature requires GCC 7.1 or higher built with libcp1.so
18 (the C++ plug-in).
19
20 * GDB and GDBserver now support IPv6 connections. IPv6 addresses
21 can be passed using the '[ADDRESS]:PORT' notation, or the regular
22 'ADDRESS:PORT' method.
23
24 * DWARF index cache: GDB can now automatically save indices of DWARF
25 symbols on disk to speed up further loading of the same binaries.
26
27 * Ada task switching is now supported on aarch64-elf targets when
28 debugging a program using the Ravenscar Profile. For more information,
29 see the "Tasking Support when using the Ravenscar Profile" section
30 in the GDB user manual.
31
32 * GDB in batch mode now exits with status 1 if the last command to be
33 executed failed.
34
35 * The RISC-V target now supports target descriptions.
36
37 * System call catchpoints now support system call aliases on FreeBSD.
38 When the ABI of a system call changes in FreeBSD, this is
39 implemented by leaving a compatibility system call using the old ABI
40 at the existing number and allocating a new system call number for
41 the new ABI. For example, FreeBSD 12 altered the layout of 'struct
42 kevent' used by the 'kevent' system call. As a result, FreeBSD 12
43 kernels ship with both 'kevent' and 'freebsd11_kevent' system calls.
44 The 'freebsd11_kevent' system call is assigned an alias of 'kevent'
45 so that a system call catchpoint for the 'kevent' system call will
46 catch invocations of both the 'kevent' and 'freebsd11_kevent'
47 binaries. This ensures that 'kevent' system calls are caught for
48 binaries using either the old or new ABIs.
49
50 * Terminal styling is now available for the CLI and the TUI. GNU
51 Source Highlight can additionally be used to provide styling of
52 source code snippets. See the "set style" commands, below, for more
53 information.
54
55 * Removed support for old demangling styles arm, edg, gnu, hp and
56 lucid.
57
58 * New targets
59
60 NXP S12Z s12z-*-elf
61 GNU/Linux/OpenRISC or1k*-*-linux*
62
63 * New commands
64
65 set debug compile-cplus-types
66 show debug compile-cplus-types
67 Control the display of debug output about type conversion in the
68 C++ compile feature. Commands have no effect while compiliong
69 for other languages.
70
71 set debug skip
72 show debug skip
73 Control whether debug output about files/functions skipping is
74 displayed.
75
76 frame apply [all | COUNT | -COUNT | level LEVEL...] [FLAG]... COMMAND
77 Apply a command to some frames.
78 FLAG arguments allow to control what output to produce and how to handle
79 errors raised when applying COMMAND to a frame.
80
81 taas COMMAND
82 Apply a command to all threads (ignoring errors and empty output).
83 Shortcut for 'thread apply all -s COMMAND'.
84
85 faas COMMAND
86 Apply a command to all frames (ignoring errors and empty output).
87 Shortcut for 'frame apply all -s COMMAND'.
88
89 tfaas COMMAND
90 Apply a command to all frames of all threads (ignoring errors and empty
91 output).
92 Shortcut for 'thread apply all -s frame apply all -s COMMAND'.
93
94 maint set dwarf unwinders (on|off)
95 maint show dwarf unwinders
96 Control whether DWARF unwinders can be used.
97
98 info proc files
99 Display a list of open files for a process.
100
101 * Changed commands
102
103 Changes to the "frame", "select-frame", and "info frame" CLI commands.
104 These commands all now take a frame specification which
105 is either a frame level, or one of the keywords 'level', 'address',
106 'function', or 'view' followed by a parameter. Selecting a frame by
107 address, or viewing a frame outside the current backtrace now
108 requires the use of a keyword. Selecting a frame by level is
109 unchanged. The MI comment "-stack-select-frame" is unchanged.
110
111 target remote FILENAME
112 target extended-remote FILENAME
113 If FILENAME is a Unix domain socket, GDB will attempt to connect
114 to this socket instead of opening FILENAME as a character device.
115
116 info args [-q] [-t TYPEREGEXP] [NAMEREGEXP]
117 info functions [-q] [-t TYPEREGEXP] [NAMEREGEXP]
118 info locals [-q] [-t TYPEREGEXP] [NAMEREGEXP]
119 info variables [-q] [-t TYPEREGEXP] [NAMEREGEXP]
120 These commands can now print only the searched entities
121 matching the provided regexp(s), giving a condition
122 on the entity names or entity types. The flag -q disables
123 printing headers or informations messages.
124
125 info functions
126 info types
127 info variables
128 rbreak
129 These commands now determine the syntax for the shown entities
130 according to the language chosen by `set language'. In particular,
131 `set language auto' means to automatically choose the language of
132 the shown entities.
133
134 thread apply [all | COUNT | -COUNT] [FLAG]... COMMAND
135 The 'thread apply' command accepts new FLAG arguments.
136 FLAG arguments allow to control what output to produce and how to handle
137 errors raised when applying COMMAND to a thread.
138
139 set tui tab-width NCHARS
140 show tui tab-width NCHARS
141 "set tui tab-width" replaces the "tabset" command, which has been deprecated.
142
143 set style enabled [on|off]
144 show style enabled
145 Enable or disable terminal styling. Styling is enabled by default
146 on most hosts, but disabled by default when in batch mode.
147
148 set style filename foreground COLOR
149 set style filename background COLOR
150 set style filename intensity VALUE
151 Control the styling of file names.
152
153 set style function foreground COLOR
154 set style function background COLOR
155 set style function intensity VALUE
156 Control the styling of function names.
157
158 set style variable foreground COLOR
159 set style variable background COLOR
160 set style variable intensity VALUE
161 Control the styling of variable names.
162
163 set style address foreground COLOR
164 set style address background COLOR
165 set style address intensity VALUE
166 Control the styling of addresses.
167
168 * MI changes
169
170 ** The '-data-disassemble' MI command now accepts an '-a' option to
171 disassemble the whole function surrounding the given program
172 counter value or function name. Support for this feature can be
173 verified by using the "-list-features" command, which should
174 contain "data-disassemble-a-option".
175
176 ** Command responses and notifications that include a frame now include
177 the frame's architecture in a new "arch" attribute.
178
179 * New native configurations
180
181 GNU/Linux/RISC-V riscv*-*-linux*
182 FreeBSD/riscv riscv*-*-freebsd*
183
184 * New targets
185
186 GNU/Linux/RISC-V riscv*-*-linux*
187 CSKY ELF csky*-*-elf
188 CSKY GNU/LINUX csky*-*-linux
189 FreeBSD/riscv riscv*-*-freebsd*
190
191 * Removed targets
192
193 GDB no longer supports native debugging on versions of MS-Windows
194 before Windows XP.
195
196 * Python API
197
198 ** GDB no longer supports Python versions less than 2.6.
199
200 ** The gdb.Inferior type has a new 'progspace' property, which is the program
201 space associated to that inferior.
202
203 ** The gdb.Progspace type has a new 'objfiles' method, which returns the list
204 of objfiles associated to that program space.
205
206 ** gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_COMMON_BLOCK, gdb.SYMBOL_MODULE_DOMAIN, and
207 gdb.SYMBOL_COMMON_BLOCK_DOMAIN were added to reflect changes to
208 the gdb core.
209
210 ** gdb.SYMBOL_VARIABLES_DOMAIN, gdb.SYMBOL_FUNCTIONS_DOMAIN, and
211 gdb.SYMBOL_TYPES_DOMAIN are now deprecated. These were never
212 correct and did not work properly.
213
214 ** The gdb.Value type has a new constructor, which is used to construct a
215 gdb.Value from a Python buffer object and a gdb.Type.
216
217 * Configure changes
218
219 --enable-ubsan
220
221 Enable or disable the undefined behavior sanitizer. This is
222 disabled by default, but passing --enable-ubsan=yes or
223 --enable-ubsan=auto to configure will enable it. Enabling this can
224 cause a performance penalty. The undefined behavior sanitizer was
225 first introduced in GCC 4.9.
226
227 *** Changes in GDB 8.2
228
229 * The 'set disassembler-options' command now supports specifying options
230 for the MIPS target.
231
232 * The 'symbol-file' command now accepts an '-o' option to add a relative
233 offset to all sections.
234
235 * Similarly, the 'add-symbol-file' command also accepts an '-o' option to add
236 a relative offset to all sections, but it allows to override the load
237 address of individual sections using '-s'.
238
239 * The 'add-symbol-file' command no longer requires the second argument
240 (address of the text section).
241
242 * The endianness used with the 'set endian auto' mode in the absence of
243 an executable selected for debugging is now the last endianness chosen
244 either by one of the 'set endian big' and 'set endian little' commands
245 or by inferring from the last executable used, rather than the startup
246 default.
247
248 * The pager now allows a "c" response, meaning to disable the pager
249 for the rest of the current command.
250
251 * The commands 'info variables/functions/types' now show the source line
252 numbers of symbol definitions when available.
253
254 * 'info proc' now works on running processes on FreeBSD systems and core
255 files created on FreeBSD systems.
256
257 * C expressions can now use _Alignof, and C++ expressions can now use
258 alignof.
259
260 * Support for SVE on AArch64 Linux. Note that GDB does not detect changes to
261 the vector length while the process is running.
262
263 * New commands
264
265 set debug fbsd-nat
266 show debug fbsd-nat
267 Control display of debugging info regarding the FreeBSD native target.
268
269 set|show varsize-limit
270 This new setting allows the user to control the maximum size of Ada
271 objects being printed when those objects have a variable type,
272 instead of that maximum size being hardcoded to 65536 bytes.
273
274 set|show record btrace cpu
275 Controls the processor to be used for enabling errata workarounds for
276 branch trace decode.
277
278 maint check libthread-db
279 Run integrity checks on the current inferior's thread debugging
280 library
281
282 maint set check-libthread-db (on|off)
283 maint show check-libthread-db
284 Control whether to run integrity checks on inferior specific thread
285 debugging libraries as they are loaded. The default is not to
286 perform such checks.
287
288 * Python API
289
290 ** Type alignment is now exposed via the "align" attribute of a gdb.Type.
291
292 ** The commands attached to a breakpoint can be set by assigning to
293 the breakpoint's "commands" field.
294
295 ** gdb.execute can now execute multi-line gdb commands.
296
297 ** The new functions gdb.convenience_variable and
298 gdb.set_convenience_variable can be used to get and set the value
299 of convenience variables.
300
301 ** A gdb.Parameter will no longer print the "set" help text on an
302 ordinary "set"; instead by default a "set" will be silent unless
303 the get_set_string method returns a non-empty string.
304
305 * New targets
306
307 RiscV ELF riscv*-*-elf
308
309 * Removed targets and native configurations
310
311 m88k running OpenBSD m88*-*-openbsd*
312 SH-5/SH64 ELF sh64-*-elf*, SH-5/SH64 support in sh*
313 SH-5/SH64 running GNU/Linux SH-5/SH64 support in sh*-*-linux*
314 SH-5/SH64 running OpenBSD SH-5/SH64 support in sh*-*-openbsd*
315
316 * Aarch64/Linux hardware watchpoints improvements
317
318 Hardware watchpoints on unaligned addresses are now properly
319 supported when running Linux kernel 4.10 or higher: read and access
320 watchpoints are no longer spuriously missed, and all watchpoints
321 lengths between 1 and 8 bytes are supported. On older kernels,
322 watchpoints set on unaligned addresses are no longer missed, with
323 the tradeoff that there is a possibility of false hits being
324 reported.
325
326 * Configure changes
327
328 --enable-codesign=CERT
329 This can be used to invoke "codesign -s CERT" after building gdb.
330 This option is useful on macOS, where code signing is required for
331 gdb to work properly.
332
333 --disable-gdbcli has been removed
334 This is now silently accepted, but does nothing.
335
336 *** Changes in GDB 8.1
337
338 * GDB now supports dynamically creating arbitrary register groups specified
339 in XML target descriptions. This allows for finer grain grouping of
340 registers on systems with a large amount of registers.
341
342 * The 'ptype' command now accepts a '/o' flag, which prints the
343 offsets and sizes of fields in a struct, like the pahole(1) tool.
344
345 * New "--readnever" command line option instructs GDB to not read each
346 symbol file's symbolic debug information. This makes startup faster
347 but at the expense of not being able to perform symbolic debugging.
348 This option is intended for use cases where symbolic debugging will
349 not be used, e.g., when you only need to dump the debuggee's core.
350
351 * GDB now uses the GNU MPFR library, if available, to emulate target
352 floating-point arithmetic during expression evaluation when the target
353 uses different floating-point formats than the host. At least version
354 3.1 of GNU MPFR is required.
355
356 * GDB now supports access to the guarded-storage-control registers and the
357 software-based guarded-storage broadcast control registers on IBM z14.
358
359 * On Unix systems, GDB now supports transmitting environment variables
360 that are to be set or unset to GDBserver. These variables will
361 affect the environment to be passed to the remote inferior.
362
363 To inform GDB of environment variables that are to be transmitted to
364 GDBserver, use the "set environment" command. Only user set
365 environment variables are sent to GDBserver.
366
367 To inform GDB of environment variables that are to be unset before
368 the remote inferior is started by the GDBserver, use the "unset
369 environment" command.
370
371 * Completion improvements
372
373 ** GDB can now complete function parameters in linespecs and
374 explicit locations without quoting. When setting breakpoints,
375 quoting around functions names to help with TAB-completion is
376 generally no longer necessary. For example, this now completes
377 correctly:
378
379 (gdb) b function(in[TAB]
380 (gdb) b function(int)
381
382 Related, GDB is no longer confused with completing functions in
383 C++ anonymous namespaces:
384
385 (gdb) b (anon[TAB]
386 (gdb) b (anonymous namespace)::[TAB][TAB]
387 (anonymous namespace)::a_function()
388 (anonymous namespace)::b_function()
389
390 ** GDB now has much improved linespec and explicit locations TAB
391 completion support, that better understands what you're
392 completing and offers better suggestions. For example, GDB no
393 longer offers data symbols as possible completions when you're
394 setting a breakpoint.
395
396 ** GDB now TAB-completes label symbol names.
397
398 ** The "complete" command now mimics TAB completion accurately.
399
400 * New command line options (gcore)
401
402 -a
403 Dump all memory mappings.
404
405 * Breakpoints on C++ functions are now set on all scopes by default
406
407 By default, breakpoints on functions/methods are now interpreted as
408 specifying all functions with the given name ignoring missing
409 leading scopes (namespaces and classes).
410
411 For example, assuming a C++ program with symbols named:
412
413 A::B::func()
414 B::func()
415
416 both commands "break func()" and "break B::func()" set a breakpoint
417 on both symbols.
418
419 You can use the new flag "-qualified" to override this. This makes
420 GDB interpret the specified function name as a complete
421 fully-qualified name instead. For example, using the same C++
422 program, the "break -q B::func" command sets a breakpoint on
423 "B::func", only. A parameter has been added to the Python
424 gdb.Breakpoint constructor to achieve the same result when creating
425 a breakpoint from Python.
426
427 * Breakpoints on functions marked with C++ ABI tags
428
429 GDB can now set breakpoints on functions marked with C++ ABI tags
430 (e.g., [abi:cxx11]). See here for a description of ABI tags:
431 https://developers.redhat.com/blog/2015/02/05/gcc5-and-the-c11-abi/
432
433 Functions with a C++11 abi tag are demangled/displayed like this:
434
435 function[abi:cxx11](int)
436 ^^^^^^^^^^^
437
438 You can now set a breakpoint on such functions simply as if they had
439 no tag, like:
440
441 (gdb) b function(int)
442
443 Or if you need to disambiguate between tags, like:
444
445 (gdb) b function[abi:other_tag](int)
446
447 Tab completion was adjusted accordingly as well.
448
449 * Python Scripting
450
451 ** New events gdb.new_inferior, gdb.inferior_deleted, and
452 gdb.new_thread are emitted. See the manual for further
453 description of these.
454
455 ** A new function, "gdb.rbreak" has been added to the Python API.
456 This function allows the setting of a large number of breakpoints
457 via a regex pattern in Python. See the manual for further details.
458
459 ** Python breakpoints can now accept explicit locations. See the
460 manual for a further description of this feature.
461
462
463 * New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
464
465 ** GDBserver is now able to start inferior processes with a
466 specified initial working directory.
467
468 The user can set the desired working directory to be used from
469 GDB using the new "set cwd" command.
470
471 ** New "--selftest" command line option runs some GDBserver self
472 tests. These self tests are disabled in releases.
473
474 ** On Unix systems, GDBserver now does globbing expansion and variable
475 substitution in inferior command line arguments.
476
477 This is done by starting inferiors using a shell, like GDB does.
478 See "set startup-with-shell" in the user manual for how to disable
479 this from GDB when using "target extended-remote". When using
480 "target remote", you can disable the startup with shell by using the
481 new "--no-startup-with-shell" GDBserver command line option.
482
483 ** On Unix systems, GDBserver now supports receiving environment
484 variables that are to be set or unset from GDB. These variables
485 will affect the environment to be passed to the inferior.
486
487 * When catching an Ada exception raised with a message, GDB now prints
488 the message in the catchpoint hit notification. In GDB/MI mode, that
489 information is provided as an extra field named "exception-message"
490 in the *stopped notification.
491
492 * Trait objects can now be inspected When debugging Rust code. This
493 requires compiler support which will appear in Rust 1.24.
494
495 * New remote packets
496
497 QEnvironmentHexEncoded
498 Inform GDBserver of an environment variable that is to be passed to
499 the inferior when starting it.
500
501 QEnvironmentUnset
502 Inform GDBserver of an environment variable that is to be unset
503 before starting the remote inferior.
504
505 QEnvironmentReset
506 Inform GDBserver that the environment should be reset (i.e.,
507 user-set environment variables should be unset).
508
509 QStartupWithShell
510 Indicates whether the inferior must be started with a shell or not.
511
512 QSetWorkingDir
513 Tell GDBserver that the inferior to be started should use a specific
514 working directory.
515
516 * The "maintenance print c-tdesc" command now takes an optional
517 argument which is the file name of XML target description.
518
519 * The "maintenance selftest" command now takes an optional argument to
520 filter the tests to be run.
521
522 * The "enable", and "disable" commands now accept a range of
523 breakpoint locations, e.g. "enable 1.3-5".
524
525 * New commands
526
527 set|show cwd
528 Set and show the current working directory for the inferior.
529
530 set|show compile-gcc
531 Set and show compilation command used for compiling and injecting code
532 with the 'compile' commands.
533
534 set debug separate-debug-file
535 show debug separate-debug-file
536 Control the display of debug output about separate debug file search.
537
538 set dump-excluded-mappings
539 show dump-excluded-mappings
540 Control whether mappings marked with the VM_DONTDUMP flag should be
541 dumped when generating a core file.
542
543 maint info selftests
544 List the registered selftests.
545
546 starti
547 Start the debugged program stopping at the first instruction.
548
549 set|show debug or1k
550 Control display of debugging messages related to OpenRISC targets.
551
552 set|show print type nested-type-limit
553 Set and show the limit of nesting level for nested types that the
554 type printer will show.
555
556 * TUI Single-Key mode now supports two new shortcut keys: `i' for stepi and
557 `o' for nexti.
558
559 * Safer/improved support for debugging with no debug info
560
561 GDB no longer assumes functions with no debug information return
562 'int'.
563
564 This means that GDB now refuses to call such functions unless you
565 tell it the function's type, by either casting the call to the
566 declared return type, or by casting the function to a function
567 pointer of the right type, and calling that:
568
569 (gdb) p getenv ("PATH")
570 'getenv' has unknown return type; cast the call to its declared return type
571 (gdb) p (char *) getenv ("PATH")
572 $1 = 0x7fffffffe "/usr/local/bin:/"...
573 (gdb) p ((char * (*) (const char *)) getenv) ("PATH")
574 $2 = 0x7fffffffe "/usr/local/bin:/"...
575
576 Similarly, GDB no longer assumes that global variables with no debug
577 info have type 'int', and refuses to print the variable's value
578 unless you tell it the variable's type:
579
580 (gdb) p var
581 'var' has unknown type; cast it to its declared type
582 (gdb) p (float) var
583 $3 = 3.14
584
585 * New native configurations
586
587 FreeBSD/aarch64 aarch64*-*-freebsd*
588 FreeBSD/arm arm*-*-freebsd*
589
590 * New targets
591
592 FreeBSD/aarch64 aarch64*-*-freebsd*
593 FreeBSD/arm arm*-*-freebsd*
594 OpenRISC ELF or1k*-*-elf
595
596 * Removed targets and native configurations
597
598 Solaris 2.0-9 i?86-*-solaris2.[0-9], sparc*-*-solaris2.[0-9]
599
600 *** Changes in GDB 8.0
601
602 * GDB now supports access to the PKU register on GNU/Linux. The register is
603 added by the Memory Protection Keys for Userspace feature which will be
604 available in future Intel CPUs.
605
606 * GDB now supports C++11 rvalue references.
607
608 * Python Scripting
609
610 ** New functions to start, stop and access a running btrace recording.
611 ** Rvalue references are now supported in gdb.Type.
612
613 * GDB now supports recording and replaying rdrand and rdseed Intel 64
614 instructions.
615
616 * Building GDB and GDBserver now requires a C++11 compiler.
617
618 For example, GCC 4.8 or later.
619
620 It is no longer possible to build GDB or GDBserver with a C
621 compiler. The --disable-build-with-cxx configure option has been
622 removed.
623
624 * Building GDB and GDBserver now requires GNU make >= 3.81.
625
626 It is no longer supported to build GDB or GDBserver with another
627 implementation of the make program or an earlier version of GNU make.
628
629 * Native debugging on MS-Windows supports command-line redirection
630
631 Command-line arguments used for starting programs on MS-Windows can
632 now include redirection symbols supported by native Windows shells,
633 such as '<', '>', '>>', '2>&1', etc. This affects GDB commands such
634 as "run", "start", and "set args", as well as the corresponding MI
635 features.
636
637 * Support for thread names on MS-Windows.
638
639 GDB now catches and handles the special exception that programs
640 running on MS-Windows use to assign names to threads in the
641 debugger.
642
643 * Support for Java programs compiled with gcj has been removed.
644
645 * User commands now accept an unlimited number of arguments.
646 Previously, only up to 10 was accepted.
647
648 * The "eval" command now expands user-defined command arguments.
649
650 This makes it easier to process a variable number of arguments:
651
652 define mycommand
653 set $i = 0
654 while $i < $argc
655 eval "print $arg%d", $i
656 set $i = $i + 1
657 end
658 end
659
660 * Target descriptions can now describe registers for sparc32 and sparc64.
661
662 * GDB now supports DWARF version 5 (debug information format).
663 Its .debug_names index is not yet supported.
664
665 * New native configurations
666
667 FreeBSD/mips mips*-*-freebsd
668
669 * New targets
670
671 Synopsys ARC arc*-*-elf32
672 FreeBSD/mips mips*-*-freebsd
673
674 * Removed targets and native configurations
675
676 Alpha running FreeBSD alpha*-*-freebsd*
677 Alpha running GNU/kFreeBSD alpha*-*-kfreebsd*-gnu
678
679 * New commands
680
681 flash-erase
682 Erases all the flash memory regions reported by the target.
683
684 maint print arc arc-instruction address
685 Print internal disassembler information about instruction at a given address.
686
687 * New options
688
689 set disassembler-options
690 show disassembler-options
691 Controls the passing of target specific information to the disassembler.
692 If it is necessary to specify more than one disassembler option then
693 multiple options can be placed together into a comma separated list.
694 The default value is the empty string. Currently, the only supported
695 targets are ARM, PowerPC and S/390.
696
697 * New MI commands
698
699 -target-flash-erase
700 Erases all the flash memory regions reported by the target. This is
701 equivalent to the CLI command flash-erase.
702
703 -file-list-shared-libraries
704 List the shared libraries in the program. This is
705 equivalent to the CLI command "info shared".
706
707 -catch-handlers
708 Catchpoints stopping the program when Ada exceptions are
709 handled. This is equivalent to the CLI command "catch handlers".
710
711 *** Changes in GDB 7.12
712
713 * GDB and GDBserver now build with a C++ compiler by default.
714
715 The --enable-build-with-cxx configure option is now enabled by
716 default. One must now explicitly configure with
717 --disable-build-with-cxx in order to build with a C compiler. This
718 option will be removed in a future release.
719
720 * GDBserver now supports recording btrace without maintaining an active
721 GDB connection.
722
723 * GDB now supports a negative repeat count in the 'x' command to examine
724 memory backward from the given address. For example:
725
726 (gdb) bt
727 #0 Func1 (n=42, p=0x40061c "hogehoge") at main.cpp:4
728 #1 0x400580 in main (argc=1, argv=0x7fffffffe5c8) at main.cpp:8
729 (gdb) x/-5i 0x0000000000400580
730 0x40056a <main(int, char**)+8>: mov %edi,-0x4(%rbp)
731 0x40056d <main(int, char**)+11>: mov %rsi,-0x10(%rbp)
732 0x400571 <main(int, char**)+15>: mov $0x40061c,%esi
733 0x400576 <main(int, char**)+20>: mov $0x2a,%edi
734 0x40057b <main(int, char**)+25>:
735 callq 0x400536 <Func1(int, char const*)>
736
737 * Fortran: Support structures with fields of dynamic types and
738 arrays of dynamic types.
739
740 * The symbol dumping maintenance commands have new syntax.
741 maint print symbols [-pc address] [--] [filename]
742 maint print symbols [-objfile objfile] [-source source] [--] [filename]
743 maint print psymbols [-objfile objfile] [-pc address] [--] [filename]
744 maint print psymbols [-objfile objfile] [-source source] [--] [filename]
745 maint print msymbols [-objfile objfile] [--] [filename]
746
747 * GDB now supports multibit bitfields and enums in target register
748 descriptions.
749
750 * New Python-based convenience function $_as_string(val), which returns
751 the textual representation of a value. This function is especially
752 useful to obtain the text label of an enum value.
753
754 * Intel MPX bound violation handling.
755
756 Segmentation faults caused by a Intel MPX boundary violation
757 now display the kind of violation (upper or lower), the memory
758 address accessed and the memory bounds, along with the usual
759 signal received and code location.
760
761 For example:
762
763 Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault
764 Upper bound violation while accessing address 0x7fffffffc3b3
765 Bounds: [lower = 0x7fffffffc390, upper = 0x7fffffffc3a3]
766 0x0000000000400d7c in upper () at i386-mpx-sigsegv.c:68
767
768 * Rust language support.
769 GDB now supports debugging programs written in the Rust programming
770 language. See https://www.rust-lang.org/ for more information about
771 Rust.
772
773 * Support for running interpreters on specified input/output devices
774
775 GDB now supports a new mechanism that allows frontends to provide
776 fully featured GDB console views, as a better alternative to
777 building such views on top of the "-interpreter-exec console"
778 command. See the new "new-ui" command below. With that command,
779 frontends can now start GDB in the traditional command-line mode
780 running in an embedded terminal emulator widget, and create a
781 separate MI interpreter running on a specified i/o device. In this
782 way, GDB handles line editing, history, tab completion, etc. in the
783 console all by itself, and the GUI uses the separate MI interpreter
784 for its own control and synchronization, invisible to the command
785 line.
786
787 * The "catch syscall" command catches groups of related syscalls.
788
789 The "catch syscall" command now supports catching a group of related
790 syscalls using the 'group:' or 'g:' prefix.
791
792 * New commands
793
794 skip -file file
795 skip -gfile file-glob-pattern
796 skip -function function
797 skip -rfunction regular-expression
798 A generalized form of the skip command, with new support for
799 glob-style file names and regular expressions for function names.
800 Additionally, a file spec and a function spec may now be combined.
801
802 maint info line-table REGEXP
803 Display the contents of GDB's internal line table data struture.
804
805 maint selftest
806 Run any GDB unit tests that were compiled in.
807
808 new-ui INTERP TTY
809 Start a new user interface instance running INTERP as interpreter,
810 using the TTY file for input/output.
811
812 * Python Scripting
813
814 ** gdb.Breakpoint objects have a new attribute "pending", which
815 indicates whether the breakpoint is pending.
816 ** Three new breakpoint-related events have been added:
817 gdb.breakpoint_created, gdb.breakpoint_modified, and
818 gdb.breakpoint_deleted.
819
820 signal-event EVENTID
821 Signal ("set") the given MS-Windows event object. This is used in
822 conjunction with the Windows JIT debugging (AeDebug) support, where
823 the OS suspends a crashing process until a debugger can attach to
824 it. Resuming the crashing process, in order to debug it, is done by
825 signalling an event.
826
827 * Support for tracepoints and fast tracepoints on s390-linux and s390x-linux
828 was added in GDBserver, including JIT compiling fast tracepoint's
829 conditional expression bytecode into native code.
830
831 * Support for various remote target protocols and ROM monitors has
832 been removed:
833
834 target m32rsdi Remote M32R debugging over SDI
835 target mips MIPS remote debugging protocol
836 target pmon PMON ROM monitor
837 target ddb NEC's DDB variant of PMON for Vr4300
838 target rockhopper NEC RockHopper variant of PMON
839 target lsi LSI variant of PMO
840
841 * Support for tracepoints and fast tracepoints on powerpc-linux,
842 powerpc64-linux, and powerpc64le-linux was added in GDBserver,
843 including JIT compiling fast tracepoint's conditional expression
844 bytecode into native code.
845
846 * MI async record =record-started now includes the method and format used for
847 recording. For example:
848
849 =record-started,thread-group="i1",method="btrace",format="bts"
850
851 * MI async record =thread-selected now includes the frame field. For example:
852
853 =thread-selected,id="3",frame={level="0",addr="0x00000000004007c0"}
854
855 * New targets
856
857 Andes NDS32 nds32*-*-elf
858
859 *** Changes in GDB 7.11
860
861 * GDB now supports debugging kernel-based threads on FreeBSD.
862
863 * Per-inferior thread numbers
864
865 Thread numbers are now per inferior instead of global. If you're
866 debugging multiple inferiors, GDB displays thread IDs using a
867 qualified INF_NUM.THR_NUM form. For example:
868
869 (gdb) info threads
870 Id Target Id Frame
871 1.1 Thread 0x7ffff7fc2740 (LWP 8155) (running)
872 1.2 Thread 0x7ffff7fc1700 (LWP 8168) (running)
873 * 2.1 Thread 0x7ffff7fc2740 (LWP 8157) (running)
874 2.2 Thread 0x7ffff7fc1700 (LWP 8190) (running)
875
876 As consequence, thread numbers as visible in the $_thread
877 convenience variable and in Python's InferiorThread.num attribute
878 are no longer unique between inferiors.
879
880 GDB now maintains a second thread ID per thread, referred to as the
881 global thread ID, which is the new equivalent of thread numbers in
882 previous releases. See also $_gthread below.
883
884 For backwards compatibility, MI's thread IDs always refer to global
885 IDs.
886
887 * Commands that accept thread IDs now accept the qualified
888 INF_NUM.THR_NUM form as well. For example:
889
890 (gdb) thread 2.1
891 [Switching to thread 2.1 (Thread 0x7ffff7fc2740 (LWP 8157))] (running)
892 (gdb)
893
894 * In commands that accept a list of thread IDs, you can now refer to
895 all threads of an inferior using a star wildcard. GDB accepts
896 "INF_NUM.*", to refer to all threads of inferior INF_NUM, and "*" to
897 refer to all threads of the current inferior. For example, "info
898 threads 2.*".
899
900 * You can use "info threads -gid" to display the global thread ID of
901 all threads.
902
903 * The new convenience variable $_gthread holds the global number of
904 the current thread.
905
906 * The new convenience variable $_inferior holds the number of the
907 current inferior.
908
909 * GDB now displays the ID and name of the thread that hit a breakpoint
910 or received a signal, if your program is multi-threaded. For
911 example:
912
913 Thread 3 "bar" hit Breakpoint 1 at 0x40087a: file program.c, line 20.
914 Thread 1 "main" received signal SIGINT, Interrupt.
915
916 * Record btrace now supports non-stop mode.
917
918 * Support for tracepoints on aarch64-linux was added in GDBserver.
919
920 * The 'record instruction-history' command now indicates speculative execution
921 when using the Intel Processor Trace recording format.
922
923 * GDB now allows users to specify explicit locations, bypassing
924 the linespec parser. This feature is also available to GDB/MI
925 clients.
926
927 * Multi-architecture debugging is supported on AArch64 GNU/Linux.
928 GDB now is able to debug both AArch64 applications and ARM applications
929 at the same time.
930
931 * Support for fast tracepoints on aarch64-linux was added in GDBserver,
932 including JIT compiling fast tracepoint's conditional expression bytecode
933 into native code.
934
935 * GDB now supports displaced stepping on AArch64 GNU/Linux.
936
937 * "info threads", "info inferiors", "info display", "info checkpoints"
938 and "maint info program-spaces" now list the corresponding items in
939 ascending ID order, for consistency with all other "info" commands.
940
941 * In Ada, the overloads selection menu has been enhanced to display the
942 parameter types and the return types for the matching overloaded subprograms.
943
944 * New commands
945
946 maint set target-non-stop (on|off|auto)
947 maint show target-non-stop
948 Control whether GDB targets always operate in non-stop mode even if
949 "set non-stop" is "off". The default is "auto", meaning non-stop
950 mode is enabled if supported by the target.
951
952 maint set bfd-sharing
953 maint show bfd-sharing
954 Control the reuse of bfd objects.
955
956 set debug bfd-cache
957 show debug bfd-cache
958 Control display of debugging info regarding bfd caching.
959
960 set debug fbsd-lwp
961 show debug fbsd-lwp
962 Control display of debugging info regarding FreeBSD threads.
963
964 set remote multiprocess-extensions-packet
965 show remote multiprocess-extensions-packet
966 Set/show the use of the remote protocol multiprocess extensions.
967
968 set remote thread-events
969 show remote thread-events
970 Set/show the use of thread create/exit events.
971
972 set ada print-signatures on|off
973 show ada print-signatures"
974 Control whether parameter types and return types are displayed in overloads
975 selection menus. It is activaled (@code{on}) by default.
976
977 set max-value-size
978 show max-value-size
979 Controls the maximum size of memory, in bytes, that GDB will
980 allocate for value contents. Prevents incorrect programs from
981 causing GDB to allocate overly large buffers. Default is 64k.
982
983 * The "disassemble" command accepts a new modifier: /s.
984 It prints mixed source+disassembly like /m with two differences:
985 - disassembled instructions are now printed in program order, and
986 - and source for all relevant files is now printed.
987 The "/m" option is now considered deprecated: its "source-centric"
988 output hasn't proved useful in practice.
989
990 * The "record instruction-history" command accepts a new modifier: /s.
991 It behaves exactly like /m and prints mixed source+disassembly.
992
993 * The "set scheduler-locking" command supports a new mode "replay".
994 It behaves like "off" in record mode and like "on" in replay mode.
995
996 * Support for various ROM monitors has been removed:
997
998 target dbug dBUG ROM monitor for Motorola ColdFire
999 target picobug Motorola picobug monitor
1000 target dink32 DINK32 ROM monitor for PowerPC
1001 target m32r Renesas M32R/D ROM monitor
1002 target mon2000 mon2000 ROM monitor
1003 target ppcbug PPCBUG ROM monitor for PowerPC
1004
1005 * Support for reading/writing memory and extracting values on architectures
1006 whose memory is addressable in units of any integral multiple of 8 bits.
1007
1008 catch handlers
1009 Allows to break when an Ada exception is handled.
1010
1011 * New remote packets
1012
1013 exec stop reason
1014 Indicates that an exec system call was executed.
1015
1016 exec-events feature in qSupported
1017 The qSupported packet allows GDB to request support for exec
1018 events using the new 'gdbfeature' exec-event, and the qSupported
1019 response can contain the corresponding 'stubfeature'. Set and
1020 show commands can be used to display whether these features are enabled.
1021
1022 vCtrlC
1023 Equivalent to interrupting with the ^C character, but works in
1024 non-stop mode.
1025
1026 thread created stop reason (T05 create:...)
1027 Indicates that the thread was just created and is stopped at entry.
1028
1029 thread exit stop reply (w exitcode;tid)
1030 Indicates that the thread has terminated.
1031
1032 QThreadEvents
1033 Enables/disables thread create and exit event reporting. For
1034 example, this is used in non-stop mode when GDB stops a set of
1035 threads and synchronously waits for the their corresponding stop
1036 replies. Without exit events, if one of the threads exits, GDB
1037 would hang forever not knowing that it should no longer expect a
1038 stop for that same thread.
1039
1040 N stop reply
1041 Indicates that there are no resumed threads left in the target (all
1042 threads are stopped). The remote stub reports support for this stop
1043 reply to GDB's qSupported query.
1044
1045 QCatchSyscalls
1046 Enables/disables catching syscalls from the inferior process.
1047 The remote stub reports support for this packet to GDB's qSupported query.
1048
1049 syscall_entry stop reason
1050 Indicates that a syscall was just called.
1051
1052 syscall_return stop reason
1053 Indicates that a syscall just returned.
1054
1055 * Extended-remote exec events
1056
1057 ** GDB now has support for exec events on extended-remote Linux targets.
1058 For such targets with Linux kernels 2.5.46 and later, this enables
1059 follow-exec-mode and exec catchpoints.
1060
1061 set remote exec-event-feature-packet
1062 show remote exec-event-feature-packet
1063 Set/show the use of the remote exec event feature.
1064
1065 * Thread names in remote protocol
1066
1067 The reply to qXfer:threads:read may now include a name attribute for each
1068 thread.
1069
1070 * Target remote mode fork and exec events
1071
1072 ** GDB now has support for fork and exec events on target remote mode
1073 Linux targets. For such targets with Linux kernels 2.5.46 and later,
1074 this enables follow-fork-mode, detach-on-fork, follow-exec-mode, and
1075 fork and exec catchpoints.
1076
1077 * Remote syscall events
1078
1079 ** GDB now has support for catch syscall on remote Linux targets,
1080 currently enabled on x86/x86_64 architectures.
1081
1082 set remote catch-syscall-packet
1083 show remote catch-syscall-packet
1084 Set/show the use of the remote catch syscall feature.
1085
1086 * MI changes
1087
1088 ** The -var-set-format command now accepts the zero-hexadecimal
1089 format. It outputs data in hexadecimal format with zero-padding on the
1090 left.
1091
1092 * Python Scripting
1093
1094 ** gdb.InferiorThread objects have a new attribute "global_num",
1095 which refers to the thread's global thread ID. The existing
1096 "num" attribute now refers to the thread's per-inferior number.
1097 See "Per-inferior thread numbers" above.
1098 ** gdb.InferiorThread objects have a new attribute "inferior", which
1099 is the Inferior object the thread belongs to.
1100
1101 *** Changes in GDB 7.10
1102
1103 * Support for process record-replay and reverse debugging on aarch64*-linux*
1104 targets has been added. GDB now supports recording of A64 instruction set
1105 including advance SIMD instructions.
1106
1107 * Support for Sun's version of the "stabs" debug file format has been removed.
1108
1109 * GDB now honors the content of the file /proc/PID/coredump_filter
1110 (PID is the process ID) on GNU/Linux systems. This file can be used
1111 to specify the types of memory mappings that will be included in a
1112 corefile. For more information, please refer to the manual page of
1113 "core(5)". GDB also has a new command: "set use-coredump-filter
1114 on|off". It allows to set whether GDB will read the content of the
1115 /proc/PID/coredump_filter file when generating a corefile.
1116
1117 * The "info os" command on GNU/Linux can now display information on
1118 cpu information :
1119 "info os cpus" Listing of all cpus/cores on the system
1120
1121 * GDB has two new commands: "set serial parity odd|even|none" and
1122 "show serial parity". These allows to set or show parity for the
1123 remote serial I/O.
1124
1125 * The "info source" command now displays the producer string if it was
1126 present in the debug info. This typically includes the compiler version
1127 and may include things like its command line arguments.
1128
1129 * The "info dll", an alias of the "info sharedlibrary" command,
1130 is now available on all platforms.
1131
1132 * Directory names supplied to the "set sysroot" commands may be
1133 prefixed with "target:" to tell GDB to access shared libraries from
1134 the target system, be it local or remote. This replaces the prefix
1135 "remote:". The default sysroot has been changed from "" to
1136 "target:". "remote:" is automatically converted to "target:" for
1137 backward compatibility.
1138
1139 * The system root specified by "set sysroot" will be prepended to the
1140 filename of the main executable (if reported to GDB as absolute by
1141 the operating system) when starting processes remotely, and when
1142 attaching to already-running local or remote processes.
1143
1144 * GDB now supports automatic location and retrieval of executable
1145 files from remote targets. Remote debugging can now be initiated
1146 using only a "target remote" or "target extended-remote" command
1147 (no "set sysroot" or "file" commands are required). See "New remote
1148 packets" below.
1149
1150 * The "dump" command now supports verilog hex format.
1151
1152 * GDB now supports the vector ABI on S/390 GNU/Linux targets.
1153
1154 * On GNU/Linux, GDB and gdbserver are now able to access executable
1155 and shared library files without a "set sysroot" command when
1156 attaching to processes running in different mount namespaces from
1157 the debugger. This makes it possible to attach to processes in
1158 containers as simply as "gdb -p PID" or "gdbserver --attach PID".
1159 See "New remote packets" below.
1160
1161 * The "tui reg" command now provides completion for all of the
1162 available register groups, including target specific groups.
1163
1164 * The HISTSIZE environment variable is no longer read when determining
1165 the size of GDB's command history. GDB now instead reads the dedicated
1166 GDBHISTSIZE environment variable. Setting GDBHISTSIZE to "-1" or to "" now
1167 disables truncation of command history. Non-numeric values of GDBHISTSIZE
1168 are ignored.
1169
1170 * Guile Scripting
1171
1172 ** Memory ports can now be unbuffered.
1173
1174 * Python Scripting
1175
1176 ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "username",
1177 which is the name of the objfile as specified by the user,
1178 without, for example, resolving symlinks.
1179 ** You can now write frame unwinders in Python.
1180 ** gdb.Type objects have a new method "optimized_out",
1181 returning optimized out gdb.Value instance of this type.
1182 ** gdb.Value objects have new methods "reference_value" and
1183 "const_value" which return a reference to the value and a
1184 "const" version of the value respectively.
1185
1186 * New commands
1187
1188 maint print symbol-cache
1189 Print the contents of the symbol cache.
1190
1191 maint print symbol-cache-statistics
1192 Print statistics of symbol cache usage.
1193
1194 maint flush-symbol-cache
1195 Flush the contents of the symbol cache.
1196
1197 record btrace bts
1198 record bts
1199 Start branch trace recording using Branch Trace Store (BTS) format.
1200
1201 compile print
1202 Evaluate expression by using the compiler and print result.
1203
1204 tui enable
1205 tui disable
1206 Explicit commands for enabling and disabling tui mode.
1207
1208 show mpx bound
1209 set mpx bound on i386 and amd64
1210 Support for bound table investigation on Intel MPX enabled applications.
1211
1212 record btrace pt
1213 record pt
1214 Start branch trace recording using Intel Processor Trace format.
1215
1216 maint info btrace
1217 Print information about branch tracing internals.
1218
1219 maint btrace packet-history
1220 Print the raw branch tracing data.
1221
1222 maint btrace clear-packet-history
1223 Discard the stored raw branch tracing data.
1224
1225 maint btrace clear
1226 Discard all branch tracing data. It will be fetched and processed
1227 anew by the next "record" command.
1228
1229 * New options
1230
1231 set debug dwarf-die
1232 Renamed from "set debug dwarf2-die".
1233 show debug dwarf-die
1234 Renamed from "show debug dwarf2-die".
1235
1236 set debug dwarf-read
1237 Renamed from "set debug dwarf2-read".
1238 show debug dwarf-read
1239 Renamed from "show debug dwarf2-read".
1240
1241 maint set dwarf always-disassemble
1242 Renamed from "maint set dwarf2 always-disassemble".
1243 maint show dwarf always-disassemble
1244 Renamed from "maint show dwarf2 always-disassemble".
1245
1246 maint set dwarf max-cache-age
1247 Renamed from "maint set dwarf2 max-cache-age".
1248 maint show dwarf max-cache-age
1249 Renamed from "maint show dwarf2 max-cache-age".
1250
1251 set debug dwarf-line
1252 show debug dwarf-line
1253 Control display of debugging info regarding DWARF line processing.
1254
1255 set max-completions
1256 show max-completions
1257 Set the maximum number of candidates to be considered during
1258 completion. The default value is 200. This limit allows GDB
1259 to avoid generating large completion lists, the computation of
1260 which can cause the debugger to become temporarily unresponsive.
1261
1262 set history remove-duplicates
1263 show history remove-duplicates
1264 Control the removal of duplicate history entries.
1265
1266 maint set symbol-cache-size
1267 maint show symbol-cache-size
1268 Control the size of the symbol cache.
1269
1270 set|show record btrace bts buffer-size
1271 Set and show the size of the ring buffer used for branch tracing in
1272 BTS format.
1273 The obtained size may differ from the requested size. Use "info
1274 record" to see the obtained buffer size.
1275
1276 set debug linux-namespaces
1277 show debug linux-namespaces
1278 Control display of debugging info regarding Linux namespaces.
1279
1280 set|show record btrace pt buffer-size
1281 Set and show the size of the ring buffer used for branch tracing in
1282 Intel Processor Trace format.
1283 The obtained size may differ from the requested size. Use "info
1284 record" to see the obtained buffer size.
1285
1286 maint set|show btrace pt skip-pad
1287 Set and show whether PAD packets are skipped when computing the
1288 packet history.
1289
1290 * The command 'thread apply all' can now support new option '-ascending'
1291 to call its specified command for all threads in ascending order.
1292
1293 * Python/Guile scripting
1294
1295 ** GDB now supports auto-loading of Python/Guile scripts contained in the
1296 special section named `.debug_gdb_scripts'.
1297
1298 * New remote packets
1299
1300 qXfer:btrace-conf:read
1301 Return the branch trace configuration for the current thread.
1302
1303 Qbtrace-conf:bts:size
1304 Set the requested ring buffer size for branch tracing in BTS format.
1305
1306 Qbtrace:pt
1307 Enable Intel Procesor Trace-based branch tracing for the current
1308 process. The remote stub reports support for this packet to GDB's
1309 qSupported query.
1310
1311 Qbtrace-conf:pt:size
1312 Set the requested ring buffer size for branch tracing in Intel Processor
1313 Trace format.
1314
1315 swbreak stop reason
1316 Indicates a memory breakpoint instruction was executed, irrespective
1317 of whether it was GDB that planted the breakpoint or the breakpoint
1318 is hardcoded in the program. This is required for correct non-stop
1319 mode operation.
1320
1321 hwbreak stop reason
1322 Indicates the target stopped for a hardware breakpoint. This is
1323 required for correct non-stop mode operation.
1324
1325 vFile:fstat:
1326 Return information about files on the remote system.
1327
1328 qXfer:exec-file:read
1329 Return the full absolute name of the file that was executed to
1330 create a process running on the remote system.
1331
1332 vFile:setfs:
1333 Select the filesystem on which vFile: operations with filename
1334 arguments will operate. This is required for GDB to be able to
1335 access files on remote targets where the remote stub does not
1336 share a common filesystem with the inferior(s).
1337
1338 fork stop reason
1339 Indicates that a fork system call was executed.
1340
1341 vfork stop reason
1342 Indicates that a vfork system call was executed.
1343
1344 vforkdone stop reason
1345 Indicates that a vfork child of the specified process has executed
1346 an exec or exit, allowing the vfork parent to resume execution.
1347
1348 fork-events and vfork-events features in qSupported
1349 The qSupported packet allows GDB to request support for fork and
1350 vfork events using new 'gdbfeatures' fork-events and vfork-events,
1351 and the qSupported response can contain the corresponding
1352 'stubfeatures'. Set and show commands can be used to display
1353 whether these features are enabled.
1354
1355 * Extended-remote fork events
1356
1357 ** GDB now has support for fork events on extended-remote Linux
1358 targets. For targets with Linux kernels 2.5.60 and later, this
1359 enables follow-fork-mode and detach-on-fork for both fork and
1360 vfork, as well as fork and vfork catchpoints.
1361
1362 * The info record command now shows the recording format and the
1363 branch tracing configuration for the current thread when using
1364 the btrace record target.
1365 For the BTS format, it shows the ring buffer size.
1366
1367 * GDB now has support for DTrace USDT (Userland Static Defined
1368 Tracing) probes. The supported targets are x86_64-*-linux-gnu.
1369
1370 * GDB now supports access to vector registers on S/390 GNU/Linux
1371 targets.
1372
1373 * Removed command line options
1374
1375 -xdb HP-UX XDB compatibility mode.
1376
1377 * Removed targets and native configurations
1378
1379 HP/PA running HP-UX hppa*-*-hpux*
1380 Itanium running HP-UX ia64-*-hpux*
1381
1382 * New configure options
1383
1384 --with-intel-pt
1385 This configure option allows the user to build GDB with support for
1386 Intel Processor Trace (default: auto). This requires libipt.
1387
1388 --with-libipt-prefix=PATH
1389 Specify the path to the version of libipt that GDB should use.
1390 $PATH/include should contain the intel-pt.h header and
1391 $PATH/lib should contain the libipt.so library.
1392
1393 *** Changes in GDB 7.9.1
1394
1395 * Python Scripting
1396
1397 ** Xmethods can now specify a result type.
1398
1399 *** Changes in GDB 7.9
1400
1401 * GDB now supports hardware watchpoints on x86 GNU Hurd.
1402
1403 * Python Scripting
1404
1405 ** You can now access frame registers from Python scripts.
1406 ** New attribute 'producer' for gdb.Symtab objects.
1407 ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "progspace",
1408 which is the gdb.Progspace object of the containing program space.
1409 ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "owner".
1410 ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "build_id",
1411 which is the build ID generated when the file was built.
1412 ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new method "add_separate_debug_file".
1413 ** A new event "gdb.clear_objfiles" has been added, triggered when
1414 selecting a new file to debug.
1415 ** You can now add attributes to gdb.Objfile and gdb.Progspace objects.
1416 ** New function gdb.lookup_objfile.
1417
1418 New events which are triggered when GDB modifies the state of the
1419 inferior.
1420
1421 ** gdb.events.inferior_call_pre: Function call is about to be made.
1422 ** gdb.events.inferior_call_post: Function call has just been made.
1423 ** gdb.events.memory_changed: A memory location has been altered.
1424 ** gdb.events.register_changed: A register has been altered.
1425
1426 * New Python-based convenience functions:
1427
1428 ** $_caller_is(name [, number_of_frames])
1429 ** $_caller_matches(regexp [, number_of_frames])
1430 ** $_any_caller_is(name [, number_of_frames])
1431 ** $_any_caller_matches(regexp [, number_of_frames])
1432
1433 * GDB now supports the compilation and injection of source code into
1434 the inferior. GDB will use GCC 5.0 or higher built with libcc1.so
1435 to compile the source code to object code, and if successful, inject
1436 and execute that code within the current context of the inferior.
1437 Currently the C language is supported. The commands used to
1438 interface with this new feature are:
1439
1440 compile code [-raw|-r] [--] [source code]
1441 compile file [-raw|-r] filename
1442
1443 * New commands
1444
1445 demangle [-l language] [--] name
1446 Demangle "name" in the specified language, or the current language
1447 if elided. This command is renamed from the "maint demangle" command.
1448 The latter is kept as a no-op to avoid "maint demangle" being interpreted
1449 as "maint demangler-warning".
1450
1451 queue-signal signal-name-or-number
1452 Queue a signal to be delivered to the thread when it is resumed.
1453
1454 add-auto-load-scripts-directory directory
1455 Add entries to the list of directories from which to load auto-loaded
1456 scripts.
1457
1458 maint print user-registers
1459 List all currently available "user" registers.
1460
1461 compile code [-r|-raw] [--] [source code]
1462 Compile, inject, and execute in the inferior the executable object
1463 code produced by compiling the provided source code.
1464
1465 compile file [-r|-raw] filename
1466 Compile and inject into the inferior the executable object code
1467 produced by compiling the source code stored in the filename
1468 provided.
1469
1470 * On resume, GDB now always passes the signal the program had stopped
1471 for to the thread the signal was sent to, even if the user changed
1472 threads before resuming. Previously GDB would often (but not
1473 always) deliver the signal to the thread that happens to be current
1474 at resume time.
1475
1476 * Conversely, the "signal" command now consistently delivers the
1477 requested signal to the current thread. GDB now asks for
1478 confirmation if the program had stopped for a signal and the user
1479 switched threads meanwhile.
1480
1481 * "breakpoint always-inserted" modes "off" and "auto" merged.
1482
1483 Now, when 'breakpoint always-inserted mode' is set to "off", GDB
1484 won't remove breakpoints from the target until all threads stop,
1485 even in non-stop mode. The "auto" mode has been removed, and "off"
1486 is now the default mode.
1487
1488 * New options
1489
1490 set debug symbol-lookup
1491 show debug symbol-lookup
1492 Control display of debugging info regarding symbol lookup.
1493
1494 * MI changes
1495
1496 ** The -list-thread-groups command outputs an exit-code field for
1497 inferiors that have exited.
1498
1499 * New targets
1500
1501 MIPS SDE mips*-sde*-elf*
1502
1503 * Removed targets
1504
1505 Support for these obsolete configurations has been removed.
1506
1507 Alpha running OSF/1 (or Tru64) alpha*-*-osf*
1508 SGI Irix-5.x mips-*-irix5*
1509 SGI Irix-6.x mips-*-irix6*
1510 VAX running (4.2 - 4.3 Reno) BSD vax-*-bsd*
1511 VAX running Ultrix vax-*-ultrix*
1512
1513 * The "dll-symbols" command, and its two aliases ("add-shared-symbol-files"
1514 and "assf"), have been removed. Use the "sharedlibrary" command, or
1515 its alias "share", instead.
1516
1517 *** Changes in GDB 7.8
1518
1519 * New command line options
1520
1521 -D data-directory
1522 This is an alias for the --data-directory option.
1523
1524 * GDB supports printing and modifying of variable length automatic arrays
1525 as specified in ISO C99.
1526
1527 * The ARM simulator now supports instruction level tracing
1528 with or without disassembly.
1529
1530 * Guile scripting
1531
1532 GDB now has support for scripting using Guile. Whether this is
1533 available is determined at configure time.
1534 Guile version 2.0 or greater is required.
1535 Guile version 2.0.9 is well tested, earlier 2.0 versions are not.
1536
1537 * New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
1538
1539 guile [code]
1540 gu [code]
1541 Invoke CODE by passing it to the Guile interpreter.
1542
1543 guile-repl
1544 gr
1545 Start a Guile interactive prompt (or "repl" for "read-eval-print loop").
1546
1547 info auto-load guile-scripts [regexp]
1548 Print the list of automatically loaded Guile scripts.
1549
1550 * The source command is now capable of sourcing Guile scripts.
1551 This feature is dependent on the debugger being built with Guile support.
1552
1553 * New options
1554
1555 set print symbol-loading (off|brief|full)
1556 show print symbol-loading
1557 Control whether to print informational messages when loading symbol
1558 information for a file. The default is "full", but when debugging
1559 programs with large numbers of shared libraries the amount of output
1560 becomes less useful.
1561
1562 set guile print-stack (none|message|full)
1563 show guile print-stack
1564 Show a stack trace when an error is encountered in a Guile script.
1565
1566 set auto-load guile-scripts (on|off)
1567 show auto-load guile-scripts
1568 Control auto-loading of Guile script files.
1569
1570 maint ada set ignore-descriptive-types (on|off)
1571 maint ada show ignore-descriptive-types
1572 Control whether the debugger should ignore descriptive types in Ada
1573 programs. The default is not to ignore the descriptive types. See
1574 the user manual for more details on descriptive types and the intended
1575 usage of this option.
1576
1577 set auto-connect-native-target
1578
1579 Control whether GDB is allowed to automatically connect to the
1580 native target for the run, attach, etc. commands when not connected
1581 to any target yet. See also "target native" below.
1582
1583 set record btrace replay-memory-access (read-only|read-write)
1584 show record btrace replay-memory-access
1585 Control what memory accesses are allowed during replay.
1586
1587 maint set target-async (on|off)
1588 maint show target-async
1589 This controls whether GDB targets operate in synchronous or
1590 asynchronous mode. Normally the default is asynchronous, if it is
1591 available; but this can be changed to more easily debug problems
1592 occurring only in synchronous mode.
1593
1594 set mi-async (on|off)
1595 show mi-async
1596 Control whether MI asynchronous mode is preferred. This supersedes
1597 "set target-async" of previous GDB versions.
1598
1599 * "set target-async" is deprecated as a CLI option and is now an alias
1600 for "set mi-async" (only puts MI into async mode).
1601
1602 * Background execution commands (e.g., "c&", "s&", etc.) are now
1603 possible ``out of the box'' if the target supports them. Previously
1604 the user would need to explicitly enable the possibility with the
1605 "set target-async on" command.
1606
1607 * New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
1608
1609 ** New option --debug-format=option1[,option2,...] allows one to add
1610 additional text to each output. At present only timestamps
1611 are supported: --debug-format=timestamps.
1612 Timestamps can also be turned on with the
1613 "monitor set debug-format timestamps" command from GDB.
1614
1615 * The 'record instruction-history' command now starts counting instructions
1616 at one. This also affects the instruction ranges reported by the
1617 'record function-call-history' command when given the /i modifier.
1618
1619 * The command 'record function-call-history' supports a new modifier '/c' to
1620 indent the function names based on their call stack depth.
1621 The fields for the '/i' and '/l' modifier have been reordered.
1622 The source line range is now prefixed with 'at'.
1623 The instruction range is now prefixed with 'inst'.
1624 Both ranges are now printed as '<from>, <to>' to allow copy&paste to the
1625 "record instruction-history" and "list" commands.
1626
1627 * The ranges given as arguments to the 'record function-call-history' and
1628 'record instruction-history' commands are now inclusive.
1629
1630 * The btrace record target now supports the 'record goto' command.
1631 For locations inside the execution trace, the back trace is computed
1632 based on the information stored in the execution trace.
1633
1634 * The btrace record target supports limited reverse execution and replay.
1635 The target does not record data and therefore does not allow reading
1636 memory or registers.
1637
1638 * The "catch syscall" command now works on s390*-linux* targets.
1639
1640 * The "compare-sections" command is no longer specific to target
1641 remote. It now works with all targets.
1642
1643 * All native targets are now consistently called "native".
1644 Consequently, the "target child", "target GNU", "target djgpp",
1645 "target procfs" (Solaris/Irix/OSF/AIX) and "target darwin-child"
1646 commands have been replaced with "target native". The QNX/NTO port
1647 leaves the "procfs" target in place and adds a "native" target for
1648 consistency with other ports. The impact on users should be minimal
1649 as these commands previously either throwed an error, or were
1650 no-ops. The target's name is visible in the output of the following
1651 commands: "help target", "info target", "info files", "maint print
1652 target-stack".
1653
1654 * The "target native" command now connects to the native target. This
1655 can be used to launch native programs even when "set
1656 auto-connect-native-target" is set to off.
1657
1658 * GDB now supports access to Intel MPX registers on GNU/Linux.
1659
1660 * Support for Intel AVX-512 registers on GNU/Linux.
1661 Support displaying and modifying Intel AVX-512 registers
1662 $zmm0 - $zmm31 and $k0 - $k7 on GNU/Linux.
1663
1664 * New remote packets
1665
1666 qXfer:btrace:read's annex
1667 The qXfer:btrace:read packet supports a new annex 'delta' to read
1668 branch trace incrementally.
1669
1670 * Python Scripting
1671
1672 ** Valid Python operations on gdb.Value objects representing
1673 structs/classes invoke the corresponding overloaded operators if
1674 available.
1675 ** New `Xmethods' feature in the Python API. Xmethods are
1676 additional methods or replacements for existing methods of a C++
1677 class. This feature is useful for those cases where a method
1678 defined in C++ source code could be inlined or optimized out by
1679 the compiler, making it unavailable to GDB.
1680
1681 * New targets
1682 PowerPC64 GNU/Linux little-endian powerpc64le-*-linux*
1683
1684 * The "dll-symbols" command, and its two aliases ("add-shared-symbol-files"
1685 and "assf"), have been deprecated. Use the "sharedlibrary" command, or
1686 its alias "share", instead.
1687
1688 * The commands "set remotebaud" and "show remotebaud" are no longer
1689 supported. Use "set serial baud" and "show serial baud" (respectively)
1690 instead.
1691
1692 * MI changes
1693
1694 ** A new option "-gdb-set mi-async" replaces "-gdb-set
1695 target-async". The latter is left as a deprecated alias of the
1696 former for backward compatibility. If the target supports it,
1697 CLI background execution commands are now always possible by
1698 default, independently of whether the frontend stated a
1699 preference for asynchronous execution with "-gdb-set mi-async".
1700 Previously "-gdb-set target-async off" affected both MI execution
1701 commands and CLI execution commands.
1702
1703 *** Changes in GDB 7.7
1704
1705 * Improved support for process record-replay and reverse debugging on
1706 arm*-linux* targets. Support for thumb32 and syscall instruction
1707 recording has been added.
1708
1709 * GDB now supports SystemTap SDT probes on AArch64 GNU/Linux.
1710
1711 * GDB now supports Fission DWP file format version 2.
1712 http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/DebugFission
1713
1714 * New convenience function "$_isvoid", to check whether an expression
1715 is void. A void expression is an expression where the type of the
1716 result is "void". For example, some convenience variables may be
1717 "void" when evaluated (e.g., "$_exitcode" before the execution of
1718 the program being debugged; or an undefined convenience variable).
1719 Another example, when calling a function whose return type is
1720 "void".
1721
1722 * The "maintenance print objfiles" command now takes an optional regexp.
1723
1724 * The "catch syscall" command now works on arm*-linux* targets.
1725
1726 * GDB now consistently shows "<not saved>" when printing values of
1727 registers the debug info indicates have not been saved in the frame
1728 and there's nowhere to retrieve them from
1729 (callee-saved/call-clobbered registers):
1730
1731 (gdb) p $rax
1732 $1 = <not saved>
1733
1734 (gdb) info registers rax
1735 rax <not saved>
1736
1737 Before, the former would print "<optimized out>", and the latter
1738 "*value not available*".
1739
1740 * New script contrib/gdb-add-index.sh for adding .gdb_index sections
1741 to binaries.
1742
1743 * Python scripting
1744
1745 ** Frame filters and frame decorators have been added.
1746 ** Temporary breakpoints are now supported.
1747 ** Line tables representation has been added.
1748 ** New attribute 'parent_type' for gdb.Field objects.
1749 ** gdb.Field objects can be used as subscripts on gdb.Value objects.
1750 ** New attribute 'name' for gdb.Type objects.
1751
1752 * New targets
1753
1754 Nios II ELF nios2*-*-elf
1755 Nios II GNU/Linux nios2*-*-linux
1756 Texas Instruments MSP430 msp430*-*-elf
1757
1758 * Removed native configurations
1759
1760 Support for these a.out NetBSD and OpenBSD obsolete configurations has
1761 been removed. ELF variants of these configurations are kept supported.
1762
1763 arm*-*-netbsd* but arm*-*-netbsdelf* is kept supported.
1764 i[34567]86-*-netbsd* but i[34567]86-*-netbsdelf* is kept supported.
1765 i[34567]86-*-openbsd[0-2].* but i[34567]86-*-openbsd* is kept supported.
1766 i[34567]86-*-openbsd3.[0-3]
1767 m68*-*-netbsd* but m68*-*-netbsdelf* is kept supported.
1768 sparc-*-netbsd* but sparc-*-netbsdelf* is kept supported.
1769 vax-*-netbsd* but vax-*-netbsdelf* is kept supported.
1770
1771 * New commands:
1772 catch rethrow
1773 Like "catch throw", but catches a re-thrown exception.
1774 maint check-psymtabs
1775 Renamed from old "maint check-symtabs".
1776 maint check-symtabs
1777 Perform consistency checks on symtabs.
1778 maint expand-symtabs
1779 Expand symtabs matching an optional regexp.
1780
1781 show configuration
1782 Display the details of GDB configure-time options.
1783
1784 maint set|show per-command
1785 maint set|show per-command space
1786 maint set|show per-command time
1787 maint set|show per-command symtab
1788 Enable display of per-command gdb resource usage.
1789
1790 remove-symbol-file FILENAME
1791 remove-symbol-file -a ADDRESS
1792 Remove a symbol file added via add-symbol-file. The file to remove
1793 can be identified by its filename or by an address that lies within
1794 the boundaries of this symbol file in memory.
1795
1796 info exceptions
1797 info exceptions REGEXP
1798 Display the list of Ada exceptions defined in the program being
1799 debugged. If provided, only the exceptions whose names match REGEXP
1800 are listed.
1801
1802 * New options
1803
1804 set debug symfile off|on
1805 show debug symfile
1806 Control display of debugging info regarding reading symbol files and
1807 symbol tables within those files
1808
1809 set print raw frame-arguments
1810 show print raw frame-arguments
1811 Set/show whether to print frame arguments in raw mode,
1812 disregarding any defined pretty-printers.
1813
1814 set remote trace-status-packet
1815 show remote trace-status-packet
1816 Set/show the use of remote protocol qTStatus packet.
1817
1818 set debug nios2
1819 show debug nios2
1820 Control display of debugging messages related to Nios II targets.
1821
1822 set range-stepping
1823 show range-stepping
1824 Control whether target-assisted range stepping is enabled.
1825
1826 set startup-with-shell
1827 show startup-with-shell
1828 Specifies whether Unix child processes are started via a shell or
1829 directly.
1830
1831 set code-cache
1832 show code-cache
1833 Use the target memory cache for accesses to the code segment. This
1834 improves performance of remote debugging (particularly disassembly).
1835
1836 * You can now use a literal value 'unlimited' for options that
1837 interpret 0 or -1 as meaning "unlimited". E.g., "set
1838 trace-buffer-size unlimited" is now an alias for "set
1839 trace-buffer-size -1" and "set height unlimited" is now an alias for
1840 "set height 0".
1841
1842 * The "set debug symtab-create" debugging option of GDB has been changed to
1843 accept a verbosity level. 0 means "off", 1 provides basic debugging
1844 output, and values of 2 or greater provides more verbose output.
1845
1846 * New command-line options
1847 --configuration
1848 Display the details of GDB configure-time options.
1849
1850 * The command 'tsave' can now support new option '-ctf' to save trace
1851 buffer in Common Trace Format.
1852
1853 * Newly installed $prefix/bin/gcore acts as a shell interface for the
1854 GDB command gcore.
1855
1856 * GDB now implements the the C++ 'typeid' operator.
1857
1858 * The new convenience variable $_exception holds the exception being
1859 thrown or caught at an exception-related catchpoint.
1860
1861 * The exception-related catchpoints, like "catch throw", now accept a
1862 regular expression which can be used to filter exceptions by type.
1863
1864 * The new convenience variable $_exitsignal is automatically set to
1865 the terminating signal number when the program being debugged dies
1866 due to an uncaught signal.
1867
1868 * MI changes
1869
1870 ** All MI commands now accept an optional "--language" option.
1871 Support for this feature can be verified by using the "-list-features"
1872 command, which should contain "language-option".
1873
1874 ** The new command -info-gdb-mi-command allows the user to determine
1875 whether a GDB/MI command is supported or not.
1876
1877 ** The "^error" result record returned when trying to execute an undefined
1878 GDB/MI command now provides a variable named "code" whose content is the
1879 "undefined-command" error code. Support for this feature can be verified
1880 by using the "-list-features" command, which should contain
1881 "undefined-command-error-code".
1882
1883 ** The -trace-save MI command can optionally save trace buffer in Common
1884 Trace Format now.
1885
1886 ** The new command -dprintf-insert sets a dynamic printf breakpoint.
1887
1888 ** The command -data-list-register-values now accepts an optional
1889 "--skip-unavailable" option. When used, only the available registers
1890 are displayed.
1891
1892 ** The new command -trace-frame-collected dumps collected variables,
1893 computed expressions, tvars, memory and registers in a traceframe.
1894
1895 ** The commands -stack-list-locals, -stack-list-arguments and
1896 -stack-list-variables now accept an option "--skip-unavailable".
1897 When used, only the available locals or arguments are displayed.
1898
1899 ** The -exec-run command now accepts an optional "--start" option.
1900 When used, the command follows the same semantics as the "start"
1901 command, stopping the program's execution at the start of its
1902 main subprogram. Support for this feature can be verified using
1903 the "-list-features" command, which should contain
1904 "exec-run-start-option".
1905
1906 ** The new commands -catch-assert and -catch-exceptions insert
1907 catchpoints stopping the program when Ada exceptions are raised.
1908
1909 ** The new command -info-ada-exceptions provides the equivalent of
1910 the new "info exceptions" command.
1911
1912 * New system-wide configuration scripts
1913 A GDB installation now provides scripts suitable for use as system-wide
1914 configuration scripts for the following systems:
1915 ** ElinOS
1916 ** Wind River Linux
1917
1918 * GDB now supports target-assigned range stepping with remote targets.
1919 This improves the performance of stepping source lines by reducing
1920 the number of control packets from/to GDB. See "New remote packets"
1921 below.
1922
1923 * GDB now understands the element 'tvar' in the XML traceframe info.
1924 It has the id of the collected trace state variables.
1925
1926 * On S/390 targets that provide the transactional-execution feature,
1927 the program interruption transaction diagnostic block (TDB) is now
1928 represented as a number of additional "registers" in GDB.
1929
1930 * New remote packets
1931
1932 vCont;r
1933
1934 The vCont packet supports a new 'r' action, that tells the remote
1935 stub to step through an address range itself, without GDB
1936 involvemement at each single-step.
1937
1938 qXfer:libraries-svr4:read's annex
1939 The previously unused annex of the qXfer:libraries-svr4:read packet
1940 is now used to support passing an argument list. The remote stub
1941 reports support for this argument list to GDB's qSupported query.
1942 The defined arguments are "start" and "prev", used to reduce work
1943 necessary for library list updating, resulting in significant
1944 speedup.
1945
1946 * New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
1947
1948 ** GDBserver now supports target-assisted range stepping. Currently
1949 enabled on x86/x86_64 GNU/Linux targets.
1950
1951 ** GDBserver now adds element 'tvar' in the XML in the reply to
1952 'qXfer:traceframe-info:read'. It has the id of the collected
1953 trace state variables.
1954
1955 ** GDBserver now supports hardware watchpoints on the MIPS GNU/Linux
1956 target.
1957
1958 * New 'z' formatter for printing and examining memory, this displays the
1959 value as hexadecimal zero padded on the left to the size of the type.
1960
1961 * GDB can now use Windows x64 unwinding data.
1962
1963 * The "set remotebaud" command has been replaced by "set serial baud".
1964 Similarly, "show remotebaud" has been replaced by "show serial baud".
1965 The "set remotebaud" and "show remotebaud" commands are still available
1966 to provide backward compatibility with older versions of GDB.
1967
1968 *** Changes in GDB 7.6
1969
1970 * Target record has been renamed to record-full.
1971 Record/replay is now enabled with the "record full" command.
1972 This also affects settings that are associated with full record/replay
1973 that have been moved from "set/show record" to "set/show record full":
1974
1975 set|show record full insn-number-max
1976 set|show record full stop-at-limit
1977 set|show record full memory-query
1978
1979 * A new record target "record-btrace" has been added. The new target
1980 uses hardware support to record the control-flow of a process. It
1981 does not support replaying the execution, but it implements the
1982 below new commands for investigating the recorded execution log.
1983 This new recording method can be enabled using:
1984
1985 record btrace
1986
1987 The "record-btrace" target is only available on Intel Atom processors
1988 and requires a Linux kernel 2.6.32 or later.
1989
1990 * Two new commands have been added for record/replay to give information
1991 about the recorded execution without having to replay the execution.
1992 The commands are only supported by "record btrace".
1993
1994 record instruction-history prints the execution history at
1995 instruction granularity
1996
1997 record function-call-history prints the execution history at
1998 function granularity
1999
2000 * New native configurations
2001
2002 ARM AArch64 GNU/Linux aarch64*-*-linux-gnu
2003 FreeBSD/powerpc powerpc*-*-freebsd
2004 x86_64/Cygwin x86_64-*-cygwin*
2005 Tilera TILE-Gx GNU/Linux tilegx*-*-linux-gnu
2006
2007 * New targets
2008
2009 ARM AArch64 aarch64*-*-elf
2010 ARM AArch64 GNU/Linux aarch64*-*-linux
2011 Lynx 178 PowerPC powerpc-*-lynx*178
2012 x86_64/Cygwin x86_64-*-cygwin*
2013 Tilera TILE-Gx GNU/Linux tilegx*-*-linux
2014
2015 * If the configured location of system.gdbinit file (as given by the
2016 --with-system-gdbinit option at configure time) is in the
2017 data-directory (as specified by --with-gdb-datadir at configure
2018 time) or in one of its subdirectories, then GDB will look for the
2019 system-wide init file in the directory specified by the
2020 --data-directory command-line option.
2021
2022 * New command line options:
2023
2024 -nh Disables auto-loading of ~/.gdbinit, but still executes all the
2025 other initialization files, unlike -nx which disables all of them.
2026
2027 * Removed command line options
2028
2029 -epoch This was used by the gdb mode in Epoch, an ancient fork of
2030 Emacs.
2031
2032 * The 'ptype' and 'whatis' commands now accept an argument to control
2033 type formatting.
2034
2035 * 'info proc' now works on some core files.
2036
2037 * Python scripting
2038
2039 ** Vectors can be created with gdb.Type.vector.
2040
2041 ** Python's atexit.register now works in GDB.
2042
2043 ** Types can be pretty-printed via a Python API.
2044
2045 ** Python 3 is now supported (in addition to Python 2.4 or later)
2046
2047 ** New class gdb.Architecture exposes GDB's internal representation
2048 of architecture in the Python API.
2049
2050 ** New method Frame.architecture returns the gdb.Architecture object
2051 corresponding to the frame's architecture.
2052
2053 * New Python-based convenience functions:
2054
2055 ** $_memeq(buf1, buf2, length)
2056 ** $_streq(str1, str2)
2057 ** $_strlen(str)
2058 ** $_regex(str, regex)
2059
2060 * The 'cd' command now defaults to using '~' (the home directory) if not
2061 given an argument.
2062
2063 * The C++ ABI now defaults to the GNU v3 ABI. This has been the
2064 default for GCC since November 2000.
2065
2066 * The command 'forward-search' can now be abbreviated as 'fo'.
2067
2068 * The command 'info tracepoints' can now display 'installed on target'
2069 or 'not installed on target' for each non-pending location of tracepoint.
2070
2071 * New configure options
2072
2073 --enable-libmcheck/--disable-libmcheck
2074 By default, development versions are built with -lmcheck on hosts
2075 that support it, in order to help track memory corruption issues.
2076 Release versions, on the other hand, are built without -lmcheck
2077 by default. The --enable-libmcheck/--disable-libmcheck configure
2078 options allow the user to override that default.
2079 --with-babeltrace/--with-babeltrace-include/--with-babeltrace-lib
2080 This configure option allows the user to build GDB with
2081 libbabeltrace using which GDB can read Common Trace Format data.
2082
2083 * New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
2084
2085 catch signal
2086 Catch signals. This is similar to "handle", but allows commands and
2087 conditions to be attached.
2088
2089 maint info bfds
2090 List the BFDs known to GDB.
2091
2092 python-interactive [command]
2093 pi [command]
2094 Start a Python interactive prompt, or evaluate the optional command
2095 and print the result of expressions.
2096
2097 py [command]
2098 "py" is a new alias for "python".
2099
2100 enable type-printer [name]...
2101 disable type-printer [name]...
2102 Enable or disable type printers.
2103
2104 * Removed commands
2105
2106 ** For the Renesas Super-H architecture, the "regs" command has been removed
2107 (has been deprecated in GDB 7.5), and "info all-registers" should be used
2108 instead.
2109
2110 * New options
2111
2112 set print type methods (on|off)
2113 show print type methods
2114 Control whether method declarations are displayed by "ptype".
2115 The default is to show them.
2116
2117 set print type typedefs (on|off)
2118 show print type typedefs
2119 Control whether typedef definitions are displayed by "ptype".
2120 The default is to show them.
2121
2122 set filename-display basename|relative|absolute
2123 show filename-display
2124 Control the way in which filenames is displayed.
2125 The default is "relative", which preserves previous behavior.
2126
2127 set trace-buffer-size
2128 show trace-buffer-size
2129 Request target to change the size of trace buffer.
2130
2131 set remote trace-buffer-size-packet auto|on|off
2132 show remote trace-buffer-size-packet
2133 Control the use of the remote protocol `QTBuffer:size' packet.
2134
2135 set debug aarch64
2136 show debug aarch64
2137 Control display of debugging messages related to ARM AArch64.
2138 The default is off.
2139
2140 set debug coff-pe-read
2141 show debug coff-pe-read
2142 Control display of debugging messages related to reading of COFF/PE
2143 exported symbols.
2144
2145 set debug mach-o
2146 show debug mach-o
2147 Control display of debugging messages related to Mach-O symbols
2148 processing.
2149
2150 set debug notification
2151 show debug notification
2152 Control display of debugging info for async remote notification.
2153
2154 * MI changes
2155
2156 ** Command parameter changes are now notified using new async record
2157 "=cmd-param-changed".
2158 ** Trace frame changes caused by command "tfind" are now notified using
2159 new async record "=traceframe-changed".
2160 ** The creation, deletion and modification of trace state variables
2161 are now notified using new async records "=tsv-created",
2162 "=tsv-deleted" and "=tsv-modified".
2163 ** The start and stop of process record are now notified using new
2164 async record "=record-started" and "=record-stopped".
2165 ** Memory changes are now notified using new async record
2166 "=memory-changed".
2167 ** The data-disassemble command response will include a "fullname" field
2168 containing the absolute file name when source has been requested.
2169 ** New optional parameter COUNT added to the "-data-write-memory-bytes"
2170 command, to allow pattern filling of memory areas.
2171 ** New commands "-catch-load"/"-catch-unload" added for intercepting
2172 library load/unload events.
2173 ** The response to breakpoint commands and breakpoint async records
2174 includes an "installed" field containing a boolean state about each
2175 non-pending tracepoint location is whether installed on target or not.
2176 ** Output of the "-trace-status" command includes a "trace-file" field
2177 containing the name of the trace file being examined. This field is
2178 optional, and only present when examining a trace file.
2179 ** The "fullname" field is now always present along with the "file" field,
2180 even if the file cannot be found by GDB.
2181
2182 * GDB now supports the "mini debuginfo" section, .gnu_debugdata.
2183 You must have the LZMA library available when configuring GDB for this
2184 feature to be enabled. For more information, see:
2185 http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/MiniDebugInfo
2186
2187 * New remote packets
2188
2189 QTBuffer:size
2190 Set the size of trace buffer. The remote stub reports support for this
2191 packet to gdb's qSupported query.
2192
2193 Qbtrace:bts
2194 Enable Branch Trace Store (BTS)-based branch tracing for the current
2195 thread. The remote stub reports support for this packet to gdb's
2196 qSupported query.
2197
2198 Qbtrace:off
2199 Disable branch tracing for the current thread. The remote stub reports
2200 support for this packet to gdb's qSupported query.
2201
2202 qXfer:btrace:read
2203 Read the traced branches for the current thread. The remote stub
2204 reports support for this packet to gdb's qSupported query.
2205
2206 *** Changes in GDB 7.5
2207
2208 * GDB now supports x32 ABI. Visit <http://sites.google.com/site/x32abi/>
2209 for more x32 ABI info.
2210
2211 * GDB now supports access to MIPS DSP registers on Linux targets.
2212
2213 * GDB now supports debugging microMIPS binaries.
2214
2215 * The "info os" command on GNU/Linux can now display information on
2216 several new classes of objects managed by the operating system:
2217 "info os procgroups" lists process groups
2218 "info os files" lists file descriptors
2219 "info os sockets" lists internet-domain sockets
2220 "info os shm" lists shared-memory regions
2221 "info os semaphores" lists semaphores
2222 "info os msg" lists message queues
2223 "info os modules" lists loaded kernel modules
2224
2225 * GDB now has support for SDT (Static Defined Tracing) probes. Currently,
2226 the only implemented backend is for SystemTap probes (<sys/sdt.h>). You
2227 can set a breakpoint using the new "-probe, "-pstap" or "-probe-stap"
2228 options and inspect the probe arguments using the new $_probe_arg family
2229 of convenience variables. You can obtain more information about SystemTap
2230 in <http://sourceware.org/systemtap/>.
2231
2232 * GDB now supports reversible debugging on ARM, it allows you to
2233 debug basic ARM and THUMB instructions, and provides
2234 record/replay support.
2235
2236 * The option "symbol-reloading" has been deleted as it is no longer used.
2237
2238 * Python scripting
2239
2240 ** GDB commands implemented in Python can now be put in command class
2241 "gdb.COMMAND_USER".
2242
2243 ** The "maint set python print-stack on|off" is now deleted.
2244
2245 ** A new class, gdb.printing.FlagEnumerationPrinter, can be used to
2246 apply "flag enum"-style pretty-printing to any enum.
2247
2248 ** gdb.lookup_symbol can now work when there is no current frame.
2249
2250 ** gdb.Symbol now has a 'line' attribute, holding the line number in
2251 the source at which the symbol was defined.
2252
2253 ** gdb.Symbol now has the new attribute 'needs_frame' and the new
2254 method 'value'. The former indicates whether the symbol needs a
2255 frame in order to compute its value, and the latter computes the
2256 symbol's value.
2257
2258 ** A new method 'referenced_value' on gdb.Value objects which can
2259 dereference pointer as well as C++ reference values.
2260
2261 ** New methods 'global_block' and 'static_block' on gdb.Symtab objects
2262 which return the global and static blocks (as gdb.Block objects),
2263 of the underlying symbol table, respectively.
2264
2265 ** New function gdb.find_pc_line which returns the gdb.Symtab_and_line
2266 object associated with a PC value.
2267
2268 ** gdb.Symtab_and_line has new attribute 'last' which holds the end
2269 of the address range occupied by code for the current source line.
2270
2271 * Go language support.
2272 GDB now supports debugging programs written in the Go programming
2273 language.
2274
2275 * GDBserver now supports stdio connections.
2276 E.g. (gdb) target remote | ssh myhost gdbserver - hello
2277
2278 * The binary "gdbtui" can no longer be built or installed.
2279 Use "gdb -tui" instead.
2280
2281 * GDB will now print "flag" enums specially. A flag enum is one where
2282 all the enumerator values have no bits in common when pairwise
2283 "and"ed. When printing a value whose type is a flag enum, GDB will
2284 show all the constants, e.g., for enum E { ONE = 1, TWO = 2}:
2285 (gdb) print (enum E) 3
2286 $1 = (ONE | TWO)
2287
2288 * The filename part of a linespec will now match trailing components
2289 of a source file name. For example, "break gcc/expr.c:1000" will
2290 now set a breakpoint in build/gcc/expr.c, but not
2291 build/libcpp/expr.c.
2292
2293 * The "info proc" and "generate-core-file" commands will now also
2294 work on remote targets connected to GDBserver on Linux.
2295
2296 * The command "info catch" has been removed. It has been disabled
2297 since December 2007.
2298
2299 * The "catch exception" and "catch assert" commands now accept
2300 a condition at the end of the command, much like the "break"
2301 command does. For instance:
2302
2303 (gdb) catch exception Constraint_Error if Barrier = True
2304
2305 Previously, it was possible to add a condition to such catchpoints,
2306 but it had to be done as a second step, after the catchpoint had been
2307 created, using the "condition" command.
2308
2309 * The "info static-tracepoint-marker" command will now also work on
2310 native Linux targets with in-process agent.
2311
2312 * GDB can now set breakpoints on inlined functions.
2313
2314 * The .gdb_index section has been updated to include symbols for
2315 inlined functions. GDB will ignore older .gdb_index sections by
2316 default, which could cause symbol files to be loaded more slowly
2317 until their .gdb_index sections can be recreated. The new command
2318 "set use-deprecated-index-sections on" will cause GDB to use any older
2319 .gdb_index sections it finds. This will restore performance, but the
2320 ability to set breakpoints on inlined functions will be lost in symbol
2321 files with older .gdb_index sections.
2322
2323 The .gdb_index section has also been updated to record more information
2324 about each symbol. This speeds up the "info variables", "info functions"
2325 and "info types" commands when used with programs having the .gdb_index
2326 section, as well as speeding up debugging with shared libraries using
2327 the .gdb_index section.
2328
2329 * Ada support for GDB/MI Variable Objects has been added.
2330
2331 * GDB can now support 'breakpoint always-inserted mode' in 'record'
2332 target.
2333
2334 * MI changes
2335
2336 ** New command -info-os is the MI equivalent of "info os".
2337
2338 ** Output logs ("set logging" and related) now include MI output.
2339
2340 * New commands
2341
2342 ** "set use-deprecated-index-sections on|off"
2343 "show use-deprecated-index-sections on|off"
2344 Controls the use of deprecated .gdb_index sections.
2345
2346 ** "catch load" and "catch unload" can be used to stop when a shared
2347 library is loaded or unloaded, respectively.
2348
2349 ** "enable count" can be used to auto-disable a breakpoint after
2350 several hits.
2351
2352 ** "info vtbl" can be used to show the virtual method tables for
2353 C++ and Java objects.
2354
2355 ** "explore" and its sub commands "explore value" and "explore type"
2356 can be used to recursively explore values and types of
2357 expressions. These commands are available only if GDB is
2358 configured with '--with-python'.
2359
2360 ** "info auto-load" shows status of all kinds of auto-loaded files,
2361 "info auto-load gdb-scripts" shows status of auto-loading GDB canned
2362 sequences of commands files, "info auto-load python-scripts"
2363 shows status of auto-loading Python script files,
2364 "info auto-load local-gdbinit" shows status of loading init file
2365 (.gdbinit) from current directory and "info auto-load libthread-db" shows
2366 status of inferior specific thread debugging shared library loading.
2367
2368 ** "info auto-load-scripts", "set auto-load-scripts on|off"
2369 and "show auto-load-scripts" commands have been deprecated, use their
2370 "info auto-load python-scripts", "set auto-load python-scripts on|off"
2371 and "show auto-load python-scripts" counterparts instead.
2372
2373 ** "dprintf location,format,args..." creates a dynamic printf, which
2374 is basically a breakpoint that does a printf and immediately
2375 resumes your program's execution, so it is like a printf that you
2376 can insert dynamically at runtime instead of at compiletime.
2377
2378 ** "set print symbol"
2379 "show print symbol"
2380 Controls whether GDB attempts to display the symbol, if any,
2381 corresponding to addresses it prints. This defaults to "on", but
2382 you can set it to "off" to restore GDB's previous behavior.
2383
2384 * Deprecated commands
2385
2386 ** For the Renesas Super-H architecture, the "regs" command has been
2387 deprecated, and "info all-registers" should be used instead.
2388
2389 * New targets
2390
2391 Renesas RL78 rl78-*-elf
2392 HP OpenVMS ia64 ia64-hp-openvms*
2393
2394 * GDBserver supports evaluation of breakpoint conditions. When
2395 support is advertised by GDBserver, GDB may be told to send the
2396 breakpoint conditions in bytecode form to GDBserver. GDBserver
2397 will only report the breakpoint trigger to GDB when its condition
2398 evaluates to true.
2399
2400 * New options
2401
2402 set mips compression
2403 show mips compression
2404 Select the compressed ISA encoding used in functions that have no symbol
2405 information available. The encoding can be set to either of:
2406 mips16
2407 micromips
2408 and is updated automatically from ELF file flags if available.
2409
2410 set breakpoint condition-evaluation
2411 show breakpoint condition-evaluation
2412 Control whether breakpoint conditions are evaluated by GDB ("host") or by
2413 GDBserver ("target"). Default option "auto" chooses the most efficient
2414 available mode.
2415 This option can improve debugger efficiency depending on the speed of the
2416 target.
2417
2418 set auto-load off
2419 Disable auto-loading globally.
2420
2421 show auto-load
2422 Show auto-loading setting of all kinds of auto-loaded files.
2423
2424 set auto-load gdb-scripts on|off
2425 show auto-load gdb-scripts
2426 Control auto-loading of GDB canned sequences of commands files.
2427
2428 set auto-load python-scripts on|off
2429 show auto-load python-scripts
2430 Control auto-loading of Python script files.
2431
2432 set auto-load local-gdbinit on|off
2433 show auto-load local-gdbinit
2434 Control loading of init file (.gdbinit) from current directory.
2435
2436 set auto-load libthread-db on|off
2437 show auto-load libthread-db
2438 Control auto-loading of inferior specific thread debugging shared library.
2439
2440 set auto-load scripts-directory <dir1>[:<dir2>...]
2441 show auto-load scripts-directory
2442 Set a list of directories from which to load auto-loaded scripts.
2443 Automatically loaded Python scripts and GDB scripts are located in one
2444 of the directories listed by this option.
2445 The delimiter (':' above) may differ according to the host platform.
2446
2447 set auto-load safe-path <dir1>[:<dir2>...]
2448 show auto-load safe-path
2449 Set a list of directories from which it is safe to auto-load files.
2450 The delimiter (':' above) may differ according to the host platform.
2451
2452 set debug auto-load on|off
2453 show debug auto-load
2454 Control display of debugging info for auto-loading the files above.
2455
2456 set dprintf-style gdb|call|agent
2457 show dprintf-style
2458 Control the way in which a dynamic printf is performed; "gdb"
2459 requests a GDB printf command, while "call" causes dprintf to call a
2460 function in the inferior. "agent" requests that the target agent
2461 (such as GDBserver) do the printing.
2462
2463 set dprintf-function <expr>
2464 show dprintf-function
2465 set dprintf-channel <expr>
2466 show dprintf-channel
2467 Set the function and optional first argument to the call when using
2468 the "call" style of dynamic printf.
2469
2470 set disconnected-dprintf on|off
2471 show disconnected-dprintf
2472 Control whether agent-style dynamic printfs continue to be in effect
2473 after GDB disconnects.
2474
2475 * New configure options
2476
2477 --with-auto-load-dir
2478 Configure default value for the 'set auto-load scripts-directory'
2479 setting above. It defaults to '$debugdir:$datadir/auto-load',
2480 $debugdir representing global debugging info directories (available
2481 via 'show debug-file-directory') and $datadir representing GDB's data
2482 directory (available via 'show data-directory').
2483
2484 --with-auto-load-safe-path
2485 Configure default value for the 'set auto-load safe-path' setting
2486 above. It defaults to the --with-auto-load-dir setting.
2487
2488 --without-auto-load-safe-path
2489 Set 'set auto-load safe-path' to '/', effectively disabling this
2490 security feature.
2491
2492 * New remote packets
2493
2494 z0/z1 conditional breakpoints extension
2495
2496 The z0/z1 breakpoint insertion packets have been extended to carry
2497 a list of conditional expressions over to the remote stub depending on the
2498 condition evaluation mode. The use of this extension can be controlled
2499 via the "set remote conditional-breakpoints-packet" command.
2500
2501 QProgramSignals:
2502
2503 Specify the signals which the remote stub may pass to the debugged
2504 program without GDB involvement.
2505
2506 * New command line options
2507
2508 --init-command=FILE, -ix Like --command, -x but execute it
2509 before loading inferior.
2510 --init-eval-command=COMMAND, -iex Like --eval-command=COMMAND, -ex but
2511 execute it before loading inferior.
2512
2513 *** Changes in GDB 7.4
2514
2515 * GDB now handles ambiguous linespecs more consistently; the existing
2516 FILE:LINE support has been expanded to other types of linespecs. A
2517 breakpoint will now be set on all matching locations in all
2518 inferiors, and locations will be added or removed according to
2519 inferior changes.
2520
2521 * GDB now allows you to skip uninteresting functions and files when
2522 stepping with the "skip function" and "skip file" commands.
2523
2524 * GDB has two new commands: "set remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit"
2525 and "show remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit". These allows to
2526 set or show the maximum length limit (in bytes) of a remote
2527 target hardware watchpoint.
2528
2529 This allows e.g. to use "unlimited" hardware watchpoints with the
2530 gdbserver integrated in Valgrind version >= 3.7.0. Such Valgrind
2531 watchpoints are slower than real hardware watchpoints but are
2532 significantly faster than gdb software watchpoints.
2533
2534 * Python scripting
2535
2536 ** The register_pretty_printer function in module gdb.printing now takes
2537 an optional `replace' argument. If True, the new printer replaces any
2538 existing one.
2539
2540 ** The "maint set python print-stack on|off" command has been
2541 deprecated and will be deleted in GDB 7.5.
2542 A new command: "set python print-stack none|full|message" has
2543 replaced it. Additionally, the default for "print-stack" is
2544 now "message", which just prints the error message without
2545 the stack trace.
2546
2547 ** A prompt substitution hook (prompt_hook) is now available to the
2548 Python API.
2549
2550 ** A new Python module, gdb.prompt has been added to the GDB Python
2551 modules library. This module provides functionality for
2552 escape sequences in prompts (used by set/show
2553 extended-prompt). These escape sequences are replaced by their
2554 corresponding value.
2555
2556 ** Python commands and convenience-functions located in
2557 'data-directory'/python/gdb/command and
2558 'data-directory'/python/gdb/function are now automatically loaded
2559 on GDB start-up.
2560
2561 ** Blocks now provide four new attributes. global_block and
2562 static_block will return the global and static blocks
2563 respectively. is_static and is_global are boolean attributes
2564 that indicate if the block is one of those two types.
2565
2566 ** Symbols now provide the "type" attribute, the type of the symbol.
2567
2568 ** The "gdb.breakpoint" function has been deprecated in favor of
2569 "gdb.breakpoints".
2570
2571 ** A new class "gdb.FinishBreakpoint" is provided to catch the return
2572 of a function. This class is based on the "finish" command
2573 available in the CLI.
2574
2575 ** Type objects for struct and union types now allow access to
2576 the fields using standard Python dictionary (mapping) methods.
2577 For example, "some_type['myfield']" now works, as does
2578 "some_type.items()".
2579
2580 ** A new event "gdb.new_objfile" has been added, triggered by loading a
2581 new object file.
2582
2583 ** A new function, "deep_items" has been added to the gdb.types
2584 module in the GDB Python modules library. This function returns
2585 an iterator over the fields of a struct or union type. Unlike
2586 the standard Python "iteritems" method, it will recursively traverse
2587 any anonymous fields.
2588
2589 * MI changes
2590
2591 ** "*stopped" events can report several new "reason"s, such as
2592 "solib-event".
2593
2594 ** Breakpoint changes are now notified using new async records, like
2595 "=breakpoint-modified".
2596
2597 ** New command -ada-task-info.
2598
2599 * libthread-db-search-path now supports two special values: $sdir and $pdir.
2600 $sdir specifies the default system locations of shared libraries.
2601 $pdir specifies the directory where the libpthread used by the application
2602 lives.
2603
2604 GDB no longer looks in $sdir and $pdir after it has searched the directories
2605 mentioned in libthread-db-search-path. If you want to search those
2606 directories, they must be specified in libthread-db-search-path.
2607 The default value of libthread-db-search-path on GNU/Linux and Solaris
2608 systems is now "$sdir:$pdir".
2609
2610 $pdir is not supported by gdbserver, it is currently ignored.
2611 $sdir is supported by gdbserver.
2612
2613 * New configure option --with-iconv-bin.
2614 When using the internationalization support like the one in the GNU C
2615 library, GDB will invoke the "iconv" program to get a list of supported
2616 character sets. If this program lives in a non-standard location, one can
2617 use this option to specify where to find it.
2618
2619 * When natively debugging programs on PowerPC BookE processors running
2620 a Linux kernel version 2.6.34 or later, GDB supports masked hardware
2621 watchpoints, which specify a mask in addition to an address to watch.
2622 The mask specifies that some bits of an address (the bits which are
2623 reset in the mask) should be ignored when matching the address accessed
2624 by the inferior against the watchpoint address. See the "PowerPC Embedded"
2625 section in the user manual for more details.
2626
2627 * The new option --once causes GDBserver to stop listening for connections once
2628 the first connection is made. The listening port used by GDBserver will
2629 become available after that.
2630
2631 * New commands "info macros" and "alias" have been added.
2632
2633 * New function parameters suffix @entry specifies value of function parameter
2634 at the time the function got called. Entry values are available only since
2635 gcc version 4.7.
2636
2637 * New commands
2638
2639 !SHELL COMMAND
2640 "!" is now an alias of the "shell" command.
2641 Note that no space is needed between "!" and SHELL COMMAND.
2642
2643 * Changed commands
2644
2645 watch EXPRESSION mask MASK_VALUE
2646 The watch command now supports the mask argument which allows creation
2647 of masked watchpoints, if the current architecture supports this feature.
2648
2649 info auto-load-scripts [REGEXP]
2650 This command was formerly named "maintenance print section-scripts".
2651 It is now generally useful and is no longer a maintenance-only command.
2652
2653 info macro [-all] [--] MACRO
2654 The info macro command has new options `-all' and `--'. The first for
2655 printing all definitions of a macro. The second for explicitly specifying
2656 the end of arguments and the beginning of the macro name in case the macro
2657 name starts with a hyphen.
2658
2659 collect[/s] EXPRESSIONS
2660 The tracepoint collect command now takes an optional modifier "/s"
2661 that directs it to dereference pointer-to-character types and
2662 collect the bytes of memory up to a zero byte. The behavior is
2663 similar to what you see when you use the regular print command on a
2664 string. An optional integer following the "/s" sets a bound on the
2665 number of bytes that will be collected.
2666
2667 tstart [NOTES]
2668 The trace start command now interprets any supplied arguments as a
2669 note to be recorded with the trace run, with an effect similar to
2670 setting the variable trace-notes.
2671
2672 tstop [NOTES]
2673 The trace stop command now interprets any arguments as a note to be
2674 mentioned along with the tstatus report that the trace was stopped
2675 with a command. The effect is similar to setting the variable
2676 trace-stop-notes.
2677
2678 * Tracepoints can now be enabled and disabled at any time after a trace
2679 experiment has been started using the standard "enable" and "disable"
2680 commands. It is now possible to start a trace experiment with no enabled
2681 tracepoints; GDB will display a warning, but will allow the experiment to
2682 begin, assuming that tracepoints will be enabled as needed while the trace
2683 is running.
2684
2685 * Fast tracepoints on 32-bit x86-architectures can now be placed at
2686 locations with 4-byte instructions, when they were previously
2687 limited to locations with instructions of 5 bytes or longer.
2688
2689 * New options
2690
2691 set debug dwarf2-read
2692 show debug dwarf2-read
2693 Turns on or off display of debugging messages related to reading
2694 DWARF debug info. The default is off.
2695
2696 set debug symtab-create
2697 show debug symtab-create
2698 Turns on or off display of debugging messages related to symbol table
2699 creation. The default is off.
2700
2701 set extended-prompt
2702 show extended-prompt
2703 Set the GDB prompt, and allow escape sequences to be inserted to
2704 display miscellaneous information (see 'help set extended-prompt'
2705 for the list of sequences). This prompt (and any information
2706 accessed through the escape sequences) is updated every time the
2707 prompt is displayed.
2708
2709 set print entry-values (both|compact|default|if-needed|no|only|preferred)
2710 show print entry-values
2711 Set printing of frame argument values at function entry. In some cases
2712 GDB can determine the value of function argument which was passed by the
2713 function caller, even if the value was modified inside the called function.
2714
2715 set debug entry-values
2716 show debug entry-values
2717 Control display of debugging info for determining frame argument values at
2718 function entry and virtual tail call frames.
2719
2720 set basenames-may-differ
2721 show basenames-may-differ
2722 Set whether a source file may have multiple base names.
2723 (A "base name" is the name of a file with the directory part removed.
2724 Example: The base name of "/home/user/hello.c" is "hello.c".)
2725 If set, GDB will canonicalize file names (e.g., expand symlinks)
2726 before comparing them. Canonicalization is an expensive operation,
2727 but it allows the same file be known by more than one base name.
2728 If not set (the default), all source files are assumed to have just
2729 one base name, and gdb will do file name comparisons more efficiently.
2730
2731 set trace-user
2732 show trace-user
2733 set trace-notes
2734 show trace-notes
2735 Set a user name and notes for the current and any future trace runs.
2736 This is useful for long-running and/or disconnected traces, to
2737 inform others (or yourself) as to who is running the trace, supply
2738 contact information, or otherwise explain what is going on.
2739
2740 set trace-stop-notes
2741 show trace-stop-notes
2742 Set a note attached to the trace run, that is displayed when the
2743 trace has been stopped by a tstop command. This is useful for
2744 instance as an explanation, if you are stopping a trace run that was
2745 started by someone else.
2746
2747 * New remote packets
2748
2749 QTEnable
2750
2751 Dynamically enable a tracepoint in a started trace experiment.
2752
2753 QTDisable
2754
2755 Dynamically disable a tracepoint in a started trace experiment.
2756
2757 QTNotes
2758
2759 Set the user and notes of the trace run.
2760
2761 qTP
2762
2763 Query the current status of a tracepoint.
2764
2765 qTMinFTPILen
2766
2767 Query the minimum length of instruction at which a fast tracepoint may
2768 be placed.
2769
2770 * Dcache size (number of lines) and line-size are now runtime-configurable
2771 via "set dcache line" and "set dcache line-size" commands.
2772
2773 * New targets
2774
2775 Texas Instruments TMS320C6x tic6x-*-*
2776
2777 * New Simulators
2778
2779 Renesas RL78 rl78-*-elf
2780
2781 *** Changes in GDB 7.3.1
2782
2783 * The build failure for NetBSD and OpenBSD targets have now been fixed.
2784
2785 *** Changes in GDB 7.3
2786
2787 * GDB has a new command: "thread find [REGEXP]".
2788 It finds the thread id whose name, target id, or thread extra info
2789 matches the given regular expression.
2790
2791 * The "catch syscall" command now works on mips*-linux* targets.
2792
2793 * The -data-disassemble MI command now supports modes 2 and 3 for
2794 dumping the instruction opcodes.
2795
2796 * New command line options
2797
2798 -data-directory DIR Specify DIR as the "data-directory".
2799 This is mostly for testing purposes.
2800
2801 * The "maint set python auto-load on|off" command has been renamed to
2802 "set auto-load-scripts on|off".
2803
2804 * GDB has a new command: "set directories".
2805 It is like the "dir" command except that it replaces the
2806 source path list instead of augmenting it.
2807
2808 * GDB now understands thread names.
2809
2810 On GNU/Linux, "info threads" will display the thread name as set by
2811 prctl or pthread_setname_np.
2812
2813 There is also a new command, "thread name", which can be used to
2814 assign a name internally for GDB to display.
2815
2816 * OpenCL C
2817 Initial support for the OpenCL C language (http://www.khronos.org/opencl)
2818 has been integrated into GDB.
2819
2820 * Python scripting
2821
2822 ** The function gdb.Write now accepts an optional keyword 'stream'.
2823 This keyword, when provided, will direct the output to either
2824 stdout, stderr, or GDB's logging output.
2825
2826 ** Parameters can now be be sub-classed in Python, and in particular
2827 you may implement the get_set_doc and get_show_doc functions.
2828 This improves how Parameter set/show documentation is processed
2829 and allows for more dynamic content.
2830
2831 ** Symbols, Symbol Table, Symbol Table and Line, Object Files,
2832 Inferior, Inferior Thread, Blocks, and Block Iterator APIs now
2833 have an is_valid method.
2834
2835 ** Breakpoints can now be sub-classed in Python, and in particular
2836 you may implement a 'stop' function that is executed each time
2837 the inferior reaches that breakpoint.
2838
2839 ** New function gdb.lookup_global_symbol looks up a global symbol.
2840
2841 ** GDB values in Python are now callable if the value represents a
2842 function. For example, if 'some_value' represents a function that
2843 takes two integer parameters and returns a value, you can call
2844 that function like so:
2845
2846 result = some_value (10,20)
2847
2848 ** Module gdb.types has been added.
2849 It contains a collection of utilities for working with gdb.Types objects:
2850 get_basic_type, has_field, make_enum_dict.
2851
2852 ** Module gdb.printing has been added.
2853 It contains utilities for writing and registering pretty-printers.
2854 New classes: PrettyPrinter, SubPrettyPrinter,
2855 RegexpCollectionPrettyPrinter.
2856 New function: register_pretty_printer.
2857
2858 ** New commands "info pretty-printers", "enable pretty-printer" and
2859 "disable pretty-printer" have been added.
2860
2861 ** gdb.parameter("directories") is now available.
2862
2863 ** New function gdb.newest_frame returns the newest frame in the
2864 selected thread.
2865
2866 ** The gdb.InferiorThread class has a new "name" attribute. This
2867 holds the thread's name.
2868
2869 ** Python Support for Inferior events.
2870 Python scripts can add observers to be notified of events
2871 occurring in the process being debugged.
2872 The following events are currently supported:
2873 - gdb.events.cont Continue event.
2874 - gdb.events.exited Inferior exited event.
2875 - gdb.events.stop Signal received, and Breakpoint hit events.
2876
2877 * C++ Improvements:
2878
2879 ** GDB now puts template parameters in scope when debugging in an
2880 instantiation. For example, if you have:
2881
2882 template<int X> int func (void) { return X; }
2883
2884 then if you step into func<5>, "print X" will show "5". This
2885 feature requires proper debuginfo support from the compiler; it
2886 was added to GCC 4.5.
2887
2888 ** The motion commands "next", "finish", "until", and "advance" now
2889 work better when exceptions are thrown. In particular, GDB will
2890 no longer lose control of the inferior; instead, the GDB will
2891 stop the inferior at the point at which the exception is caught.
2892 This functionality requires a change in the exception handling
2893 code that was introduced in GCC 4.5.
2894
2895 * GDB now follows GCC's rules on accessing volatile objects when
2896 reading or writing target state during expression evaluation.
2897 One notable difference to prior behavior is that "print x = 0"
2898 no longer generates a read of x; the value of the assignment is
2899 now always taken directly from the value being assigned.
2900
2901 * GDB now has some support for using labels in the program's source in
2902 linespecs. For instance, you can use "advance label" to continue
2903 execution to a label.
2904
2905 * GDB now has support for reading and writing a new .gdb_index
2906 section. This section holds a fast index of DWARF debugging
2907 information and can be used to greatly speed up GDB startup and
2908 operation. See the documentation for `save gdb-index' for details.
2909
2910 * The "watch" command now accepts an optional "-location" argument.
2911 When used, this causes GDB to watch the memory referred to by the
2912 expression. Such a watchpoint is never deleted due to it going out
2913 of scope.
2914
2915 * GDB now supports thread debugging of core dumps on GNU/Linux.
2916
2917 GDB now activates thread debugging using the libthread_db library
2918 when debugging GNU/Linux core dumps, similarly to when debugging
2919 live processes. As a result, when debugging a core dump file, GDB
2920 is now able to display pthread_t ids of threads. For example, "info
2921 threads" shows the same output as when debugging the process when it
2922 was live. In earlier releases, you'd see something like this:
2923
2924 (gdb) info threads
2925 * 1 LWP 6780 main () at main.c:10
2926
2927 While now you see this:
2928
2929 (gdb) info threads
2930 * 1 Thread 0x7f0f5712a700 (LWP 6780) main () at main.c:10
2931
2932 It is also now possible to inspect TLS variables when debugging core
2933 dumps.
2934
2935 When debugging a core dump generated on a machine other than the one
2936 used to run GDB, you may need to point GDB at the correct
2937 libthread_db library with the "set libthread-db-search-path"
2938 command. See the user manual for more details on this command.
2939
2940 * When natively debugging programs on PowerPC BookE processors running
2941 a Linux kernel version 2.6.34 or later, GDB supports ranged breakpoints,
2942 which stop execution of the inferior whenever it executes an instruction
2943 at any address within the specified range. See the "PowerPC Embedded"
2944 section in the user manual for more details.
2945
2946 * New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
2947
2948 ** GDBserver is now supported on PowerPC LynxOS (versions 4.x and 5.x),
2949 and i686 LynxOS (version 5.x).
2950
2951 ** GDBserver is now supported on Blackfin Linux.
2952
2953 * New native configurations
2954
2955 ia64 HP-UX ia64-*-hpux*
2956
2957 * New targets:
2958
2959 Analog Devices, Inc. Blackfin Processor bfin-*
2960
2961 * Ada task switching is now supported on sparc-elf targets when
2962 debugging a program using the Ravenscar Profile. For more information,
2963 see the "Tasking Support when using the Ravenscar Profile" section
2964 in the GDB user manual.
2965
2966 * Guile support was removed.
2967
2968 * New features in the GNU simulator
2969
2970 ** The --map-info flag lists all known core mappings.
2971
2972 ** CFI flashes may be simulated via the "cfi" device.
2973
2974 *** Changes in GDB 7.2
2975
2976 * Shared library support for remote targets by default
2977
2978 When GDB is configured for a generic, non-OS specific target, like
2979 for example, --target=arm-eabi or one of the many *-*-elf targets,
2980 GDB now queries remote stubs for loaded shared libraries using the
2981 `qXfer:libraries:read' packet. Previously, shared library support
2982 was always disabled for such configurations.
2983
2984 * C++ Improvements:
2985
2986 ** Argument Dependent Lookup (ADL)
2987
2988 In C++ ADL lookup directs function search to the namespaces of its
2989 arguments even if the namespace has not been imported.
2990 For example:
2991 namespace A
2992 {
2993 class B { };
2994 void foo (B) { }
2995 }
2996 ...
2997 A::B b
2998 foo(b)
2999 Here the compiler will search for `foo' in the namespace of 'b'
3000 and find A::foo. GDB now supports this. This construct is commonly
3001 used in the Standard Template Library for operators.
3002
3003 ** Improved User Defined Operator Support
3004
3005 In addition to member operators, GDB now supports lookup of operators
3006 defined in a namespace and imported with a `using' directive, operators
3007 defined in the global scope, operators imported implicitly from an
3008 anonymous namespace, and the ADL operators mentioned in the previous
3009 entry.
3010 GDB now also supports proper overload resolution for all the previously
3011 mentioned flavors of operators.
3012
3013 ** static const class members
3014
3015 Printing of static const class members that are initialized in the
3016 class definition has been fixed.
3017
3018 * Windows Thread Information Block access.
3019
3020 On Windows targets, GDB now supports displaying the Windows Thread
3021 Information Block (TIB) structure. This structure is visible either
3022 by using the new command `info w32 thread-information-block' or, by
3023 dereferencing the new convenience variable named `$_tlb', a
3024 thread-specific pointer to the TIB. This feature is also supported
3025 when remote debugging using GDBserver.
3026
3027 * Static tracepoints
3028
3029 Static tracepoints are calls in the user program into a tracing
3030 library. One such library is a port of the LTTng kernel tracer to
3031 userspace --- UST (LTTng Userspace Tracer, http://lttng.org/ust).
3032 When debugging with GDBserver, GDB now supports combining the GDB
3033 tracepoint machinery with such libraries. For example: the user can
3034 use GDB to probe a static tracepoint marker (a call from the user
3035 program into the tracing library) with the new "strace" command (see
3036 "New commands" below). This creates a "static tracepoint" in the
3037 breakpoint list, that can be manipulated with the same feature set
3038 as fast and regular tracepoints. E.g., collect registers, local and
3039 global variables, collect trace state variables, and define
3040 tracepoint conditions. In addition, the user can collect extra
3041 static tracepoint marker specific data, by collecting the new
3042 $_sdata internal variable. When analyzing the trace buffer, you can
3043 inspect $_sdata like any other variable available to GDB. For more
3044 information, see the "Tracepoints" chapter in GDB user manual. New
3045 remote packets have been defined to support static tracepoints, see
3046 the "New remote packets" section below.
3047
3048 * Better reconstruction of tracepoints after disconnected tracing
3049
3050 GDB will attempt to download the original source form of tracepoint
3051 definitions when starting a trace run, and then will upload these
3052 upon reconnection to the target, resulting in a more accurate
3053 reconstruction of the tracepoints that are in use on the target.
3054
3055 * Observer mode
3056
3057 You can now exercise direct control over the ways that GDB can
3058 affect your program. For instance, you can disallow the setting of
3059 breakpoints, so that the program can run continuously (assuming
3060 non-stop mode). In addition, the "observer" variable is available
3061 to switch all of the different controls; in observer mode, GDB
3062 cannot affect the target's behavior at all, which is useful for
3063 tasks like diagnosing live systems in the field.
3064
3065 * The new convenience variable $_thread holds the number of the
3066 current thread.
3067
3068 * New remote packets
3069
3070 qGetTIBAddr
3071
3072 Return the address of the Windows Thread Information Block of a given thread.
3073
3074 qRelocInsn
3075
3076 In response to several of the tracepoint packets, the target may now
3077 also respond with a number of intermediate `qRelocInsn' request
3078 packets before the final result packet, to have GDB handle
3079 relocating an instruction to execute at a different address. This
3080 is particularly useful for stubs that support fast tracepoints. GDB
3081 reports support for this feature in the qSupported packet.
3082
3083 qTfSTM, qTsSTM
3084
3085 List static tracepoint markers in the target program.
3086
3087 qTSTMat
3088
3089 List static tracepoint markers at a given address in the target
3090 program.
3091
3092 qXfer:statictrace:read
3093
3094 Read the static trace data collected (by a `collect $_sdata'
3095 tracepoint action). The remote stub reports support for this packet
3096 to gdb's qSupported query.
3097
3098 QAllow
3099
3100 Send the current settings of GDB's permission flags.
3101
3102 QTDPsrc
3103
3104 Send part of the source (textual) form of a tracepoint definition,
3105 which includes location, conditional, and action list.
3106
3107 * The source command now accepts a -s option to force searching for the
3108 script in the source search path even if the script name specifies
3109 a directory.
3110
3111 * New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
3112
3113 - GDBserver now support tracepoints (including fast tracepoints, and
3114 static tracepoints). The feature is currently supported by the
3115 i386-linux and amd64-linux builds. See the "Tracepoints support
3116 in gdbserver" section in the manual for more information.
3117
3118 GDBserver JIT compiles the tracepoint's conditional agent
3119 expression bytecode into native code whenever possible for low
3120 overhead dynamic tracepoints conditionals. For such tracepoints,
3121 an expression that examines program state is evaluated when the
3122 tracepoint is reached, in order to determine whether to capture
3123 trace data. If the condition is simple and false, processing the
3124 tracepoint finishes very quickly and no data is gathered.
3125
3126 GDBserver interfaces with the UST (LTTng Userspace Tracer) library
3127 for static tracepoints support.
3128
3129 - GDBserver now supports x86_64 Windows 64-bit debugging.
3130
3131 * GDB now sends xmlRegisters= in qSupported packet to indicate that
3132 it understands register description.
3133
3134 * The --batch flag now disables pagination and queries.
3135
3136 * X86 general purpose registers
3137
3138 GDB now supports reading/writing byte, word and double-word x86
3139 general purpose registers directly. This means you can use, say,
3140 $ah or $ax to refer, respectively, to the byte register AH and
3141 16-bit word register AX that are actually portions of the 32-bit
3142 register EAX or 64-bit register RAX.
3143
3144 * The `commands' command now accepts a range of breakpoints to modify.
3145 A plain `commands' following a command that creates multiple
3146 breakpoints affects all the breakpoints set by that command. This
3147 applies to breakpoints set by `rbreak', and also applies when a
3148 single `break' command creates multiple breakpoints (e.g.,
3149 breakpoints on overloaded c++ functions).
3150
3151 * The `rbreak' command now accepts a filename specification as part of
3152 its argument, limiting the functions selected by the regex to those
3153 in the specified file.
3154
3155 * Support for remote debugging Windows and SymbianOS shared libraries
3156 from Unix hosts has been improved. Non Windows GDB builds now can
3157 understand target reported file names that follow MS-DOS based file
3158 system semantics, such as file names that include drive letters and
3159 use the backslash character as directory separator. This makes it
3160 possible to transparently use the "set sysroot" and "set
3161 solib-search-path" on Unix hosts to point as host copies of the
3162 target's shared libraries. See the new command "set
3163 target-file-system-kind" described below, and the "Commands to
3164 specify files" section in the user manual for more information.
3165
3166 * New commands
3167
3168 eval template, expressions...
3169 Convert the values of one or more expressions under the control
3170 of the string template to a command line, and call it.
3171
3172 set target-file-system-kind unix|dos-based|auto
3173 show target-file-system-kind
3174 Set or show the assumed file system kind for target reported file
3175 names.
3176
3177 save breakpoints <filename>
3178 Save all current breakpoint definitions to a file suitable for use
3179 in a later debugging session. To read the saved breakpoint
3180 definitions, use the `source' command.
3181
3182 `save tracepoints' is a new alias for `save-tracepoints'. The latter
3183 is now deprecated.
3184
3185 info static-tracepoint-markers
3186 Display information about static tracepoint markers in the target.
3187
3188 strace FN | FILE:LINE | *ADDR | -m MARKER_ID
3189 Define a static tracepoint by probing a marker at the given
3190 function, line, address, or marker ID.
3191
3192 set observer on|off
3193 show observer
3194 Enable and disable observer mode.
3195
3196 set may-write-registers on|off
3197 set may-write-memory on|off
3198 set may-insert-breakpoints on|off
3199 set may-insert-tracepoints on|off
3200 set may-insert-fast-tracepoints on|off
3201 set may-interrupt on|off
3202 Set individual permissions for GDB effects on the target. Note that
3203 some of these settings can have undesirable or surprising
3204 consequences, particularly when changed in the middle of a session.
3205 For instance, disabling the writing of memory can prevent
3206 breakpoints from being inserted, cause single-stepping to fail, or
3207 even crash your program, if you disable after breakpoints have been
3208 inserted. However, GDB should not crash.
3209
3210 set record memory-query on|off
3211 show record memory-query
3212 Control whether to stop the inferior if memory changes caused
3213 by an instruction cannot be recorded.
3214
3215 * Changed commands
3216
3217 disassemble
3218 The disassemble command now supports "start,+length" form of two arguments.
3219
3220 * Python scripting
3221
3222 ** GDB now provides a new directory location, called the python directory,
3223 where Python scripts written for GDB can be installed. The location
3224 of that directory is <data-directory>/python, where <data-directory>
3225 is the GDB data directory. For more details, see section `Scripting
3226 GDB using Python' in the manual.
3227
3228 ** The GDB Python API now has access to breakpoints, symbols, symbol
3229 tables, program spaces, inferiors, threads and frame's code blocks.
3230 Additionally, GDB Parameters can now be created from the API, and
3231 manipulated via set/show in the CLI.
3232
3233 ** New functions gdb.target_charset, gdb.target_wide_charset,
3234 gdb.progspaces, gdb.current_progspace, and gdb.string_to_argv.
3235
3236 ** New exception gdb.GdbError.
3237
3238 ** Pretty-printers are now also looked up in the current program space.
3239
3240 ** Pretty-printers can now be individually enabled and disabled.
3241
3242 ** GDB now looks for names of Python scripts to auto-load in a
3243 special section named `.debug_gdb_scripts', in addition to looking
3244 for a OBJFILE-gdb.py script when OBJFILE is read by the debugger.
3245
3246 * Tracepoint actions were unified with breakpoint commands. In particular,
3247 there are no longer differences in "info break" output for breakpoints and
3248 tracepoints and the "commands" command can be used for both tracepoints and
3249 regular breakpoints.
3250
3251 * New targets
3252
3253 ARM Symbian arm*-*-symbianelf*
3254
3255 * D language support.
3256 GDB now supports debugging programs written in the D programming
3257 language.
3258
3259 * GDB now supports the extended ptrace interface for PowerPC which is
3260 available since Linux kernel version 2.6.34. This automatically enables
3261 any hardware breakpoints and additional hardware watchpoints available in
3262 the processor. The old ptrace interface exposes just one hardware
3263 watchpoint and no hardware breakpoints.
3264
3265 * GDB is now able to use the Data Value Compare (DVC) register available on
3266 embedded PowerPC processors to implement in hardware simple watchpoint
3267 conditions of the form:
3268
3269 watch ADDRESS|VARIABLE if ADDRESS|VARIABLE == CONSTANT EXPRESSION
3270
3271 This works in native GDB running on Linux kernels with the extended ptrace
3272 interface mentioned above.
3273
3274 *** Changes in GDB 7.1
3275
3276 * C++ Improvements
3277
3278 ** Namespace Support
3279
3280 GDB now supports importing of namespaces in C++. This enables the
3281 user to inspect variables from imported namespaces. Support for
3282 namepace aliasing has also been added. So, if a namespace is
3283 aliased in the current scope (e.g. namepace C=A; ) the user can
3284 print variables using the alias (e.g. (gdb) print C::x).
3285
3286 ** Bug Fixes
3287
3288 All known bugs relating to the printing of virtual base class were
3289 fixed. It is now possible to call overloaded static methods using a
3290 qualified name.
3291
3292 ** Cast Operators
3293
3294 The C++ cast operators static_cast<>, dynamic_cast<>, const_cast<>,
3295 and reinterpret_cast<> are now handled by the C++ expression parser.
3296
3297 * New targets
3298
3299 Xilinx MicroBlaze microblaze-*-*
3300 Renesas RX rx-*-elf
3301
3302 * New Simulators
3303
3304 Xilinx MicroBlaze microblaze
3305 Renesas RX rx
3306
3307 * Multi-program debugging.
3308
3309 GDB now has support for multi-program (a.k.a. multi-executable or
3310 multi-exec) debugging. This allows for debugging multiple inferiors
3311 simultaneously each running a different program under the same GDB
3312 session. See "Debugging Multiple Inferiors and Programs" in the
3313 manual for more information. This implied some user visible changes
3314 in the multi-inferior support. For example, "info inferiors" now
3315 lists inferiors that are not running yet or that have exited
3316 already. See also "New commands" and "New options" below.
3317
3318 * New tracing features
3319
3320 GDB's tracepoint facility now includes several new features:
3321
3322 ** Trace state variables
3323
3324 GDB tracepoints now include support for trace state variables, which
3325 are variables managed by the target agent during a tracing
3326 experiment. They are useful for tracepoints that trigger each
3327 other, so for instance one tracepoint can count hits in a variable,
3328 and then a second tracepoint has a condition that is true when the
3329 count reaches a particular value. Trace state variables share the
3330 $-syntax of GDB convenience variables, and can appear in both
3331 tracepoint actions and condition expressions. Use the "tvariable"
3332 command to create, and "info tvariables" to view; see "Trace State
3333 Variables" in the manual for more detail.
3334
3335 ** Fast tracepoints
3336
3337 GDB now includes an option for defining fast tracepoints, which
3338 targets may implement more efficiently, such as by installing a jump
3339 into the target agent rather than a trap instruction. The resulting
3340 speedup can be by two orders of magnitude or more, although the
3341 tradeoff is that some program locations on some target architectures
3342 might not allow fast tracepoint installation, for instance if the
3343 instruction to be replaced is shorter than the jump. To request a
3344 fast tracepoint, use the "ftrace" command, with syntax identical to
3345 the regular trace command.
3346
3347 ** Disconnected tracing
3348
3349 It is now possible to detach GDB from the target while it is running
3350 a trace experiment, then reconnect later to see how the experiment
3351 is going. In addition, a new variable disconnected-tracing lets you
3352 tell the target agent whether to continue running a trace if the
3353 connection is lost unexpectedly.
3354
3355 ** Trace files
3356
3357 GDB now has the ability to save the trace buffer into a file, and
3358 then use that file as a target, similarly to you can do with
3359 corefiles. You can select trace frames, print data that was
3360 collected in them, and use tstatus to display the state of the
3361 tracing run at the moment that it was saved. To create a trace
3362 file, use "tsave <filename>", and to use it, do "target tfile
3363 <name>".
3364
3365 ** Circular trace buffer
3366
3367 You can ask the target agent to handle the trace buffer as a
3368 circular buffer, discarding the oldest trace frames to make room for
3369 newer ones, by setting circular-trace-buffer to on. This feature may
3370 not be available for all target agents.
3371
3372 * Changed commands
3373
3374 disassemble
3375 The disassemble command, when invoked with two arguments, now requires
3376 the arguments to be comma-separated.
3377
3378 info variables
3379 The info variables command now displays variable definitions. Files
3380 which only declare a variable are not shown.
3381
3382 source
3383 The source command is now capable of sourcing Python scripts.
3384 This feature is dependent on the debugger being build with Python
3385 support.
3386
3387 Related to this enhancement is also the introduction of a new command
3388 "set script-extension" (see below).
3389
3390 * New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
3391
3392 record save [<FILENAME>]
3393 Save a file (in core file format) containing the process record
3394 execution log for replay debugging at a later time.
3395
3396 record restore <FILENAME>
3397 Restore the process record execution log that was saved at an
3398 earlier time, for replay debugging.
3399
3400 add-inferior [-copies <N>] [-exec <FILENAME>]
3401 Add a new inferior.
3402
3403 clone-inferior [-copies <N>] [ID]
3404 Make a new inferior ready to execute the same program another
3405 inferior has loaded.
3406
3407 remove-inferior ID
3408 Remove an inferior.
3409
3410 maint info program-spaces
3411 List the program spaces loaded into GDB.
3412
3413 set remote interrupt-sequence [Ctrl-C | BREAK | BREAK-g]
3414 show remote interrupt-sequence
3415 Allow the user to select one of ^C, a BREAK signal or BREAK-g
3416 as the sequence to the remote target in order to interrupt the execution.
3417 Ctrl-C is a default. Some system prefers BREAK which is high level of
3418 serial line for some certain time. Linux kernel prefers BREAK-g, a.k.a
3419 Magic SysRq g. It is BREAK signal and character 'g'.
3420
3421 set remote interrupt-on-connect [on | off]
3422 show remote interrupt-on-connect
3423 When interrupt-on-connect is ON, gdb sends interrupt-sequence to
3424 remote target when gdb connects to it. This is needed when you debug
3425 Linux kernel.
3426
3427 set remotebreak [on | off]
3428 show remotebreak
3429 Deprecated. Use "set/show remote interrupt-sequence" instead.
3430
3431 tvariable $NAME [ = EXP ]
3432 Create or modify a trace state variable.
3433
3434 info tvariables
3435 List trace state variables and their values.
3436
3437 delete tvariable $NAME ...
3438 Delete one or more trace state variables.
3439
3440 teval EXPR, ...
3441 Evaluate the given expressions without collecting anything into the
3442 trace buffer. (Valid in tracepoint actions only.)
3443
3444 ftrace FN / FILE:LINE / *ADDR
3445 Define a fast tracepoint at the given function, line, or address.
3446
3447 * New expression syntax
3448
3449 GDB now parses the 0b prefix of binary numbers the same way as GCC does.
3450 GDB now parses 0b101010 identically with 42.
3451
3452 * New options
3453
3454 set follow-exec-mode new|same
3455 show follow-exec-mode
3456 Control whether GDB reuses the same inferior across an exec call or
3457 creates a new one. This is useful to be able to restart the old
3458 executable after the inferior having done an exec call.
3459
3460 set default-collect EXPR, ...
3461 show default-collect
3462 Define a list of expressions to be collected at each tracepoint.
3463 This is a useful way to ensure essential items are not overlooked,
3464 such as registers or a critical global variable.
3465
3466 set disconnected-tracing
3467 show disconnected-tracing
3468 If set to 1, the target is instructed to continue tracing if it
3469 loses its connection to GDB. If 0, the target is to stop tracing
3470 upon disconnection.
3471
3472 set circular-trace-buffer
3473 show circular-trace-buffer
3474 If set to on, the target is instructed to use a circular trace buffer
3475 and discard the oldest trace frames instead of stopping the trace due
3476 to a full trace buffer. If set to off, the trace stops when the buffer
3477 fills up. Some targets may not support this.
3478
3479 set script-extension off|soft|strict
3480 show script-extension
3481 If set to "off", the debugger does not perform any script language
3482 recognition, and all sourced files are assumed to be GDB scripts.
3483 If set to "soft" (the default), files are sourced according to
3484 filename extension, falling back to GDB scripts if the first
3485 evaluation failed.
3486 If set to "strict", files are sourced according to filename extension.
3487
3488 set ada trust-PAD-over-XVS on|off
3489 show ada trust-PAD-over-XVS
3490 If off, activate a workaround against a bug in the debugging information
3491 generated by the compiler for PAD types (see gcc/exp_dbug.ads in
3492 the GCC sources for more information about the GNAT encoding and
3493 PAD types in particular). It is always safe to set this option to
3494 off, but this introduces a slight performance penalty. The default
3495 is on.
3496
3497 * Python API Improvements
3498
3499 ** GDB provides the new class gdb.LazyString. This is useful in
3500 some pretty-printing cases. The new method gdb.Value.lazy_string
3501 provides a simple way to create objects of this type.
3502
3503 ** The fields returned by gdb.Type.fields now have an
3504 `is_base_class' attribute.
3505
3506 ** The new method gdb.Type.range returns the range of an array type.
3507
3508 ** The new method gdb.parse_and_eval can be used to parse and
3509 evaluate an expression.
3510
3511 * New remote packets
3512
3513 QTDV
3514 Define a trace state variable.
3515
3516 qTV
3517 Get the current value of a trace state variable.
3518
3519 QTDisconnected
3520 Set desired tracing behavior upon disconnection.
3521
3522 QTBuffer:circular
3523 Set the trace buffer to be linear or circular.
3524
3525 qTfP, qTsP
3526 Get data about the tracepoints currently in use.
3527
3528 * Bug fixes
3529
3530 Process record now works correctly with hardware watchpoints.
3531
3532 Multiple bug fixes have been made to the mips-irix port, making it
3533 much more reliable. In particular:
3534 - Debugging threaded applications is now possible again. Previously,
3535 GDB would hang while starting the program, or while waiting for
3536 the program to stop at a breakpoint.
3537 - Attaching to a running process no longer hangs.
3538 - An error occurring while loading a core file has been fixed.
3539 - Changing the value of the PC register now works again. This fixes
3540 problems observed when using the "jump" command, or when calling
3541 a function from GDB, or even when assigning a new value to $pc.
3542 - With the "finish" and "return" commands, the return value for functions
3543 returning a small array is now correctly printed.
3544 - It is now possible to break on shared library code which gets executed
3545 during a shared library init phase (code executed while executing
3546 their .init section). Previously, the breakpoint would have no effect.
3547 - GDB is now able to backtrace through the signal handler for
3548 non-threaded programs.
3549
3550 PIE (Position Independent Executable) programs debugging is now supported.
3551 This includes debugging execution of PIC (Position Independent Code) shared
3552 libraries although for that, it should be possible to run such libraries as an
3553 executable program.
3554
3555 *** Changes in GDB 7.0
3556
3557 * GDB now has an interface for JIT compilation. Applications that
3558 dynamically generate code can create symbol files in memory and register
3559 them with GDB. For users, the feature should work transparently, and
3560 for JIT developers, the interface is documented in the GDB manual in the
3561 "JIT Compilation Interface" chapter.
3562
3563 * Tracepoints may now be conditional. The syntax is as for
3564 breakpoints; either an "if" clause appended to the "trace" command,
3565 or the "condition" command is available. GDB sends the condition to
3566 the target for evaluation using the same bytecode format as is used
3567 for tracepoint actions.
3568
3569 * The disassemble command now supports: an optional /r modifier, print the
3570 raw instructions in hex as well as in symbolic form, and an optional /m
3571 modifier to print mixed source+assembly.
3572
3573 * Process record and replay
3574
3575 In a architecture environment that supports ``process record and
3576 replay'', ``process record and replay'' target can record a log of
3577 the process execution, and replay it with both forward and reverse
3578 execute commands.
3579
3580 * Reverse debugging: GDB now has new commands reverse-continue, reverse-
3581 step, reverse-next, reverse-finish, reverse-stepi, reverse-nexti, and
3582 set execution-direction {forward|reverse}, for targets that support
3583 reverse execution.
3584
3585 * GDB now supports hardware watchpoints on MIPS/Linux systems. This
3586 feature is available with a native GDB running on kernel version
3587 2.6.28 or later.
3588
3589 * GDB now has support for multi-byte and wide character sets on the
3590 target. Strings whose character type is wchar_t, char16_t, or
3591 char32_t are now correctly printed. GDB supports wide- and unicode-
3592 literals in C, that is, L'x', L"string", u'x', u"string", U'x', and
3593 U"string" syntax. And, GDB allows the "%ls" and "%lc" formats in
3594 `printf'. This feature requires iconv to work properly; if your
3595 system does not have a working iconv, GDB can use GNU libiconv. See
3596 the installation instructions for more information.
3597
3598 * GDB now supports automatic retrieval of shared library files from
3599 remote targets. To use this feature, specify a system root that begins
3600 with the `remote:' prefix, either via the `set sysroot' command or via
3601 the `--with-sysroot' configure-time option.
3602
3603 * "info sharedlibrary" now takes an optional regex of libraries to show,
3604 and it now reports if a shared library has no debugging information.
3605
3606 * Commands `set debug-file-directory', `set solib-search-path' and `set args'
3607 now complete on file names.
3608
3609 * When completing in expressions, gdb will attempt to limit
3610 completions to allowable structure or union fields, where appropriate.
3611 For instance, consider:
3612
3613 # struct example { int f1; double f2; };
3614 # struct example variable;
3615 (gdb) p variable.
3616
3617 If the user types TAB at the end of this command line, the available
3618 completions will be "f1" and "f2".
3619
3620 * Inlined functions are now supported. They show up in backtraces, and
3621 the "step", "next", and "finish" commands handle them automatically.
3622
3623 * GDB now supports the token-splicing (##) and stringification (#)
3624 operators when expanding macros. It also supports variable-arity
3625 macros.
3626
3627 * GDB now supports inspecting extra signal information, exported by
3628 the new $_siginfo convenience variable. The feature is currently
3629 implemented on linux ARM, i386 and amd64.
3630
3631 * GDB can now display the VFP floating point registers and NEON vector
3632 registers on ARM targets. Both ARM GNU/Linux native GDB and gdbserver
3633 can provide these registers (requires Linux 2.6.30 or later). Remote
3634 and simulator targets may also provide them.
3635
3636 * New remote packets
3637
3638 qSearch:memory:
3639 Search memory for a sequence of bytes.
3640
3641 QStartNoAckMode
3642 Turn off `+'/`-' protocol acknowledgments to permit more efficient
3643 operation over reliable transport links. Use of this packet is
3644 controlled by the `set remote noack-packet' command.
3645
3646 vKill
3647 Kill the process with the specified process ID. Use this in preference
3648 to `k' when multiprocess protocol extensions are supported.
3649
3650 qXfer:osdata:read
3651 Obtains additional operating system information
3652
3653 qXfer:siginfo:read
3654 qXfer:siginfo:write
3655 Read or write additional signal information.
3656
3657 * Removed remote protocol undocumented extension
3658
3659 An undocumented extension to the remote protocol's `S' stop reply
3660 packet that permited the stub to pass a process id was removed.
3661 Remote servers should use the `T' stop reply packet instead.
3662
3663 * GDB now supports multiple function calling conventions according to the
3664 DWARF-2 DW_AT_calling_convention function attribute.
3665
3666 * The SH target utilizes the aforementioned change to distinguish between gcc
3667 and Renesas calling convention. It also adds the new CLI commands
3668 `set/show sh calling-convention'.
3669
3670 * GDB can now read compressed debug sections, as produced by GNU gold
3671 with the --compress-debug-sections=zlib flag.
3672
3673 * 64-bit core files are now supported on AIX.
3674
3675 * Thread switching is now supported on Tru64.
3676
3677 * Watchpoints can now be set on unreadable memory locations, e.g. addresses
3678 which will be allocated using malloc later in program execution.
3679
3680 * The qXfer:libraries:read remote procotol packet now allows passing a
3681 list of section offsets.
3682
3683 * On GNU/Linux, GDB can now attach to stopped processes. Several race
3684 conditions handling signals delivered during attach or thread creation
3685 have also been fixed.
3686
3687 * GDB now supports the use of DWARF boolean types for Ada's type Boolean.
3688 From the user's standpoint, all unqualified instances of True and False
3689 are treated as the standard definitions, regardless of context.
3690
3691 * GDB now parses C++ symbol and type names more flexibly. For
3692 example, given:
3693
3694 template<typename T> class C { };
3695 C<char const *> c;
3696
3697 GDB will now correctly handle all of:
3698
3699 ptype C<char const *>
3700 ptype C<char const*>
3701 ptype C<const char *>
3702 ptype C<const char*>
3703
3704 * New features in the GDB remote stub, gdbserver
3705
3706 - The "--wrapper" command-line argument tells gdbserver to use a
3707 wrapper program to launch programs for debugging.
3708
3709 - On PowerPC and S/390 targets, it is now possible to use a single
3710 gdbserver executable to debug both 32-bit and 64-bit programs.
3711 (This requires gdbserver itself to be built as a 64-bit executable.)
3712
3713 - gdbserver uses the new noack protocol mode for TCP connections to
3714 reduce communications latency, if also supported and enabled in GDB.
3715
3716 - Support for the sparc64-linux-gnu target is now included in
3717 gdbserver.
3718
3719 - The amd64-linux build of gdbserver now supports debugging both
3720 32-bit and 64-bit programs.
3721
3722 - The i386-linux, amd64-linux, and i386-win32 builds of gdbserver
3723 now support hardware watchpoints, and will use them automatically
3724 as appropriate.
3725
3726 * Python scripting
3727
3728 GDB now has support for scripting using Python. Whether this is
3729 available is determined at configure time.
3730
3731 New GDB commands can now be written in Python.
3732
3733 * Ada tasking support
3734
3735 Ada tasks can now be inspected in GDB. The following commands have
3736 been introduced:
3737
3738 info tasks
3739 Print the list of Ada tasks.
3740 info task N
3741 Print detailed information about task number N.
3742 task
3743 Print the task number of the current task.
3744 task N
3745 Switch the context of debugging to task number N.
3746
3747 * Support for user-defined prefixed commands. The "define" command can
3748 add new commands to existing prefixes, e.g. "target".
3749
3750 * Multi-inferior, multi-process debugging.
3751
3752 GDB now has generalized support for multi-inferior debugging. See
3753 "Debugging Multiple Inferiors" in the manual for more information.
3754 Although availability still depends on target support, the command
3755 set is more uniform now. The GNU/Linux specific multi-forks support
3756 has been migrated to this new framework. This implied some user
3757 visible changes; see "New commands" and also "Removed commands"
3758 below.
3759
3760 * Target descriptions can now describe the target OS ABI. See the
3761 "Target Description Format" section in the user manual for more
3762 information.
3763
3764 * Target descriptions can now describe "compatible" architectures
3765 to indicate that the target can execute applications for a different
3766 architecture in addition to those for the main target architecture.
3767 See the "Target Description Format" section in the user manual for
3768 more information.
3769
3770 * Multi-architecture debugging.
3771
3772 GDB now includes general supports for debugging applications on
3773 hybrid systems that use more than one single processor architecture
3774 at the same time. Each such hybrid architecture still requires
3775 specific support to be added. The only hybrid architecture supported
3776 in this version of GDB is the Cell Broadband Engine.
3777
3778 * GDB now supports integrated debugging of Cell/B.E. applications that
3779 use both the PPU and SPU architectures. To enable support for hybrid
3780 Cell/B.E. debugging, you need to configure GDB to support both the
3781 powerpc-linux or powerpc64-linux and the spu-elf targets, using the
3782 --enable-targets configure option.
3783
3784 * Non-stop mode debugging.
3785
3786 For some targets, GDB now supports an optional mode of operation in
3787 which you can examine stopped threads while other threads continue
3788 to execute freely. This is referred to as non-stop mode, with the
3789 old mode referred to as all-stop mode. See the "Non-Stop Mode"
3790 section in the user manual for more information.
3791
3792 To be able to support remote non-stop debugging, a remote stub needs
3793 to implement the non-stop mode remote protocol extensions, as
3794 described in the "Remote Non-Stop" section of the user manual. The
3795 GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been adjusted to support these
3796 extensions on linux targets.
3797
3798 * New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
3799
3800 catch syscall [NAME(S) | NUMBER(S)]
3801 Catch system calls. Arguments, which should be names of system
3802 calls or their numbers, mean catch only those syscalls. Without
3803 arguments, every syscall will be caught. When the inferior issues
3804 any of the specified syscalls, GDB will stop and announce the system
3805 call, both when it is called and when its call returns. This
3806 feature is currently available with a native GDB running on the
3807 Linux Kernel, under the following architectures: x86, x86_64,
3808 PowerPC and PowerPC64.
3809
3810 find [/size-char] [/max-count] start-address, end-address|+search-space-size,
3811 val1 [, val2, ...]
3812 Search memory for a sequence of bytes.
3813
3814 maint set python print-stack
3815 maint show python print-stack
3816 Show a stack trace when an error is encountered in a Python script.
3817
3818 python [CODE]
3819 Invoke CODE by passing it to the Python interpreter.
3820
3821 macro define
3822 macro list
3823 macro undef
3824 These allow macros to be defined, undefined, and listed
3825 interactively.
3826
3827 info os processes
3828 Show operating system information about processes.
3829
3830 info inferiors
3831 List the inferiors currently under GDB's control.
3832
3833 inferior NUM
3834 Switch focus to inferior number NUM.
3835
3836 detach inferior NUM
3837 Detach from inferior number NUM.
3838
3839 kill inferior NUM
3840 Kill inferior number NUM.
3841
3842 * New options
3843
3844 set spu stop-on-load
3845 show spu stop-on-load
3846 Control whether to stop for new SPE threads during Cell/B.E. debugging.
3847
3848 set spu auto-flush-cache
3849 show spu auto-flush-cache
3850 Control whether to automatically flush the software-managed cache
3851 during Cell/B.E. debugging.
3852
3853 set sh calling-convention
3854 show sh calling-convention
3855 Control the calling convention used when calling SH target functions.
3856
3857 set debug timestamp
3858 show debug timestamp
3859 Control display of timestamps with GDB debugging output.
3860
3861 set disassemble-next-line
3862 show disassemble-next-line
3863 Control display of disassembled source lines or instructions when
3864 the debuggee stops.
3865
3866 set remote noack-packet
3867 show remote noack-packet
3868 Set/show the use of remote protocol QStartNoAckMode packet. See above
3869 under "New remote packets."
3870
3871 set remote query-attached-packet
3872 show remote query-attached-packet
3873 Control use of remote protocol `qAttached' (query-attached) packet.
3874
3875 set remote read-siginfo-object
3876 show remote read-siginfo-object
3877 Control use of remote protocol `qXfer:siginfo:read' (read-siginfo-object)
3878 packet.
3879
3880 set remote write-siginfo-object
3881 show remote write-siginfo-object
3882 Control use of remote protocol `qXfer:siginfo:write' (write-siginfo-object)
3883 packet.
3884
3885 set remote reverse-continue
3886 show remote reverse-continue
3887 Control use of remote protocol 'bc' (reverse-continue) packet.
3888
3889 set remote reverse-step
3890 show remote reverse-step
3891 Control use of remote protocol 'bs' (reverse-step) packet.
3892
3893 set displaced-stepping
3894 show displaced-stepping
3895 Control displaced stepping mode. Displaced stepping is a way to
3896 single-step over breakpoints without removing them from the debuggee.
3897 Also known as "out-of-line single-stepping".
3898
3899 set debug displaced
3900 show debug displaced
3901 Control display of debugging info for displaced stepping.
3902
3903 maint set internal-error
3904 maint show internal-error
3905 Control what GDB does when an internal error is detected.
3906
3907 maint set internal-warning
3908 maint show internal-warning
3909 Control what GDB does when an internal warning is detected.
3910
3911 set exec-wrapper
3912 show exec-wrapper
3913 unset exec-wrapper
3914 Use a wrapper program to launch programs for debugging.
3915
3916 set multiple-symbols (all|ask|cancel)
3917 show multiple-symbols
3918 The value of this variable can be changed to adjust the debugger behavior
3919 when an expression or a breakpoint location contains an ambiguous symbol
3920 name (an overloaded function name, for instance).
3921
3922 set breakpoint always-inserted
3923 show breakpoint always-inserted
3924 Keep breakpoints always inserted in the target, as opposed to inserting
3925 them when resuming the target, and removing them when the target stops.
3926 This option can improve debugger performance on slow remote targets.
3927
3928 set arm fallback-mode (arm|thumb|auto)
3929 show arm fallback-mode
3930 set arm force-mode (arm|thumb|auto)
3931 show arm force-mode
3932 These commands control how ARM GDB determines whether instructions
3933 are ARM or Thumb. The default for both settings is auto, which uses
3934 the current CPSR value for instructions without symbols; previous
3935 versions of GDB behaved as if "set arm fallback-mode arm".
3936
3937 set disable-randomization
3938 show disable-randomization
3939 Standalone programs run with the virtual address space randomization enabled
3940 by default on some platforms. This option keeps the addresses stable across
3941 multiple debugging sessions.
3942
3943 set non-stop
3944 show non-stop
3945 Control whether other threads are stopped or not when some thread hits
3946 a breakpoint.
3947
3948 set target-async
3949 show target-async
3950 Requests that asynchronous execution is enabled in the target, if available.
3951 In this case, it's possible to resume target in the background, and interact
3952 with GDB while the target is running. "show target-async" displays the
3953 current state of asynchronous execution of the target.
3954
3955 set target-wide-charset
3956 show target-wide-charset
3957 The target-wide-charset is the name of the character set that GDB
3958 uses when printing characters whose type is wchar_t.
3959
3960 set tcp auto-retry (on|off)
3961 show tcp auto-retry
3962 set tcp connect-timeout
3963 show tcp connect-timeout
3964 These commands allow GDB to retry failed TCP connections to a remote stub
3965 with a specified timeout period; this is useful if the stub is launched
3966 in parallel with GDB but may not be ready to accept connections immediately.
3967
3968 set libthread-db-search-path
3969 show libthread-db-search-path
3970 Control list of directories which GDB will search for appropriate
3971 libthread_db.
3972
3973 set schedule-multiple (on|off)
3974 show schedule-multiple
3975 Allow GDB to resume all threads of all processes or only threads of
3976 the current process.
3977
3978 set stack-cache
3979 show stack-cache
3980 Use more aggressive caching for accesses to the stack. This improves
3981 performance of remote debugging (particularly backtraces) without
3982 affecting correctness.
3983
3984 set interactive-mode (on|off|auto)
3985 show interactive-mode
3986 Control whether GDB runs in interactive mode (on) or not (off).
3987 When in interactive mode, GDB waits for the user to answer all
3988 queries. Otherwise, GDB does not wait and assumes the default
3989 answer. When set to auto (the default), GDB determines which
3990 mode to use based on the stdin settings.
3991
3992 * Removed commands
3993
3994 info forks
3995 For program forks, this is replaced by the new more generic `info
3996 inferiors' command. To list checkpoints, you can still use the
3997 `info checkpoints' command, which was an alias for the `info forks'
3998 command.
3999
4000 fork NUM
4001 Replaced by the new `inferior' command. To switch between
4002 checkpoints, you can still use the `restart' command, which was an
4003 alias for the `fork' command.
4004
4005 process PID
4006 This is removed, since some targets don't have a notion of
4007 processes. To switch between processes, you can still use the
4008 `inferior' command using GDB's own inferior number.
4009
4010 delete fork NUM
4011 For program forks, this is replaced by the new more generic `kill
4012 inferior' command. To delete a checkpoint, you can still use the
4013 `delete checkpoint' command, which was an alias for the `delete
4014 fork' command.
4015
4016 detach fork NUM
4017 For program forks, this is replaced by the new more generic `detach
4018 inferior' command. To detach a checkpoint, you can still use the
4019 `detach checkpoint' command, which was an alias for the `detach
4020 fork' command.
4021
4022 * New native configurations
4023
4024 x86/x86_64 Darwin i[34567]86-*-darwin*
4025
4026 x86_64 MinGW x86_64-*-mingw*
4027
4028 * New targets
4029
4030 Lattice Mico32 lm32-*
4031 x86 DICOS i[34567]86-*-dicos*
4032 x86_64 DICOS x86_64-*-dicos*
4033 S+core 3 score-*-*
4034
4035 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports x86 Windows CE
4036 (mingw32ce) debugging.
4037
4038 * Removed commands
4039
4040 catch load
4041 catch unload
4042 These commands were actually not implemented on any target.
4043
4044 *** Changes in GDB 6.8
4045
4046 * New native configurations
4047
4048 NetBSD/hppa hppa*-*netbsd*
4049 Xtensa GNU/Linux xtensa*-*-linux*
4050
4051 * New targets
4052
4053 NetBSD/hppa hppa*-*-netbsd*
4054 Xtensa GNU/Lunux xtensa*-*-linux*
4055
4056 * Change in command line behavior -- corefiles vs. process ids.
4057
4058 When the '-p NUMBER' or '--pid NUMBER' options are used, and
4059 attaching to process NUMBER fails, GDB no longer attempts to open a
4060 core file named NUMBER. Attaching to a program using the -c option
4061 is no longer supported. Instead, use the '-p' or '--pid' options.
4062
4063 * GDB can now be built as a native debugger for debugging Windows x86
4064 (mingw32) Portable Executable (PE) programs.
4065
4066 * Pending breakpoints no longer change their number when their address
4067 is resolved.
4068
4069 * GDB now supports breakpoints with multiple locations,
4070 including breakpoints on C++ constructors, inside C++ templates,
4071 and in inlined functions.
4072
4073 * GDB's ability to debug optimized code has been improved. GDB more
4074 accurately identifies function bodies and lexical blocks that occupy
4075 more than one contiguous range of addresses.
4076
4077 * Target descriptions can now describe registers for PowerPC.
4078
4079 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports the AltiVec and SPE
4080 registers on PowerPC targets.
4081
4082 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports thread debugging on GNU/Linux
4083 targets even when the libthread_db library is not available.
4084
4085 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports the new file transfer
4086 commands (remote put, remote get, and remote delete).
4087
4088 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports run and attach in
4089 extended-remote mode.
4090
4091 * hppa*64*-*-hpux11* target broken
4092 The debugger is unable to start a program and fails with the following
4093 error: "Error trying to get information about dynamic linker".
4094 The gdb-6.7 release is also affected.
4095
4096 * GDB now supports the --enable-targets= configure option to allow
4097 building a single GDB executable that supports multiple remote
4098 target architectures.
4099
4100 * GDB now supports debugging C and C++ programs which use the
4101 Decimal Floating Point extension. In addition, the PowerPC target
4102 now has a set of pseudo-registers to inspect decimal float values
4103 stored in two consecutive float registers.
4104
4105 * The -break-insert MI command can optionally create pending
4106 breakpoints now.
4107
4108 * Improved support for debugging Ada
4109 Many improvements to the Ada language support have been made. These
4110 include:
4111 - Better support for Ada2005 interface types
4112 - Improved handling of arrays and slices in general
4113 - Better support for Taft-amendment types
4114 - The '{type} ADDRESS' expression is now allowed on the left hand-side
4115 of an assignment
4116 - Improved command completion in Ada
4117 - Several bug fixes
4118
4119 * GDB on GNU/Linux and HP/UX can now debug through "exec" of a new
4120 process.
4121
4122 * New commands
4123
4124 set print frame-arguments (all|scalars|none)
4125 show print frame-arguments
4126 The value of this variable can be changed to control which argument
4127 values should be printed by the debugger when displaying a frame.
4128
4129 remote put
4130 remote get
4131 remote delete
4132 Transfer files to and from a remote target, and delete remote files.
4133
4134 * New MI commands
4135
4136 -target-file-put
4137 -target-file-get
4138 -target-file-delete
4139 Transfer files to and from a remote target, and delete remote files.
4140
4141 * New remote packets
4142
4143 vFile:open:
4144 vFile:close:
4145 vFile:pread:
4146 vFile:pwrite:
4147 vFile:unlink:
4148 Open, close, read, write, and delete files on the remote system.
4149
4150 vAttach
4151 Attach to an existing process on the remote system, in extended-remote
4152 mode.
4153
4154 vRun
4155 Run a new process on the remote system, in extended-remote mode.
4156
4157 *** Changes in GDB 6.7
4158
4159 * Resolved 101 resource leaks, null pointer dereferences, etc. in gdb,
4160 bfd, libiberty and opcodes, as revealed by static analysis donated by
4161 Coverity, Inc. (http://scan.coverity.com).
4162
4163 * When looking up multiply-defined global symbols, GDB will now prefer the
4164 symbol definition in the current shared library if it was built using the
4165 -Bsymbolic linker option.
4166
4167 * When the Text User Interface (TUI) is not configured, GDB will now
4168 recognize the -tui command-line option and print a message that the TUI
4169 is not supported.
4170
4171 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now has lower overhead for high
4172 frequency signals (e.g. SIGALRM) via the QPassSignals packet.
4173
4174 * GDB for MIPS targets now autodetects whether a remote target provides
4175 32-bit or 64-bit register values.
4176
4177 * Support for C++ member pointers has been improved.
4178
4179 * GDB now understands XML target descriptions, which specify the
4180 target's overall architecture. GDB can read a description from
4181 a local file or over the remote serial protocol.
4182
4183 * Vectors of single-byte data use a new integer type which is not
4184 automatically displayed as character or string data.
4185
4186 * The /s format now works with the print command. It displays
4187 arrays of single-byte integers and pointers to single-byte integers
4188 as strings.
4189
4190 * Target descriptions can now describe target-specific registers,
4191 for architectures which have implemented the support (currently
4192 only ARM, M68K, and MIPS).
4193
4194 * GDB and the GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now support the XScale
4195 iWMMXt coprocessor.
4196
4197 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been updated to support
4198 ARM Windows CE (mingw32ce) debugging, and GDB Windows CE support
4199 has been rewritten to use the standard GDB remote protocol.
4200
4201 * GDB can now step into C++ functions which are called through thunks.
4202
4203 * GDB for the Cell/B.E. SPU now supports overlay debugging.
4204
4205 * The GDB remote protocol "qOffsets" packet can now honor ELF segment
4206 layout. It also supports a TextSeg= and DataSeg= response when only
4207 segment base addresses (rather than offsets) are available.
4208
4209 * The /i format now outputs any trailing branch delay slot instructions
4210 immediately following the last instruction within the count specified.
4211
4212 * The GDB remote protocol "T" stop reply packet now supports a
4213 "library" response. Combined with the new "qXfer:libraries:read"
4214 packet, this response allows GDB to debug shared libraries on targets
4215 where the operating system manages the list of loaded libraries (e.g.
4216 Windows and SymbianOS).
4217
4218 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports dynamic link libraries
4219 (DLLs) on Windows and Windows CE targets.
4220
4221 * GDB now supports a faster verification that a .debug file matches its binary
4222 according to its build-id signature, if the signature is present.
4223
4224 * New commands
4225
4226 set remoteflow
4227 show remoteflow
4228 Enable or disable hardware flow control (RTS/CTS) on the serial port
4229 when debugging using remote targets.
4230
4231 set mem inaccessible-by-default
4232 show mem inaccessible-by-default
4233 If the target supplies a memory map, for instance via the remote
4234 protocol's "qXfer:memory-map:read" packet, setting this variable
4235 prevents GDB from accessing memory outside the memory map. This
4236 is useful for targets with memory mapped registers or which react
4237 badly to accesses of unmapped address space.
4238
4239 set breakpoint auto-hw
4240 show breakpoint auto-hw
4241 If the target supplies a memory map, for instance via the remote
4242 protocol's "qXfer:memory-map:read" packet, setting this variable
4243 lets GDB use hardware breakpoints automatically for memory regions
4244 where it can not use software breakpoints. This covers both the
4245 "break" command and internal breakpoints used for other commands
4246 including "next" and "finish".
4247
4248 catch exception
4249 catch exception unhandled
4250 Stop the program execution when Ada exceptions are raised.
4251
4252 catch assert
4253 Stop the program execution when an Ada assertion failed.
4254
4255 set sysroot
4256 show sysroot
4257 Set an alternate system root for target files. This is a more
4258 general version of "set solib-absolute-prefix", which is now
4259 an alias to "set sysroot".
4260
4261 info spu
4262 Provide extended SPU facility status information. This set of
4263 commands is available only when debugging the Cell/B.E. SPU
4264 architecture.
4265
4266 * New native configurations
4267
4268 OpenBSD/sh sh*-*openbsd*
4269
4270 set tdesc filename
4271 unset tdesc filename
4272 show tdesc filename
4273 Use the specified local file as an XML target description, and do
4274 not query the target for its built-in description.
4275
4276 * New targets
4277
4278 OpenBSD/sh sh*-*-openbsd*
4279 MIPS64 GNU/Linux (gdbserver) mips64-linux-gnu
4280 Toshiba Media Processor mep-elf
4281
4282 * New remote packets
4283
4284 QPassSignals:
4285 Ignore the specified signals; pass them directly to the debugged program
4286 without stopping other threads or reporting them to GDB.
4287
4288 qXfer:features:read:
4289 Read an XML target description from the target, which describes its
4290 features.
4291
4292 qXfer:spu:read:
4293 qXfer:spu:write:
4294 Read or write contents of an spufs file on the target system. These
4295 packets are available only on the Cell/B.E. SPU architecture.
4296
4297 qXfer:libraries:read:
4298 Report the loaded shared libraries. Combined with new "T" packet
4299 response, this packet allows GDB to debug shared libraries on
4300 targets where the operating system manages the list of loaded
4301 libraries (e.g. Windows and SymbianOS).
4302
4303 * Removed targets
4304
4305 Support for these obsolete configurations has been removed.
4306
4307 alpha*-*-osf1*
4308 alpha*-*-osf2*
4309 d10v-*-*
4310 hppa*-*-hiux*
4311 i[34567]86-ncr-*
4312 i[34567]86-*-dgux*
4313 i[34567]86-*-lynxos*
4314 i[34567]86-*-netware*
4315 i[34567]86-*-sco3.2v5*
4316 i[34567]86-*-sco3.2v4*
4317 i[34567]86-*-sco*
4318 i[34567]86-*-sysv4.2*
4319 i[34567]86-*-sysv4*
4320 i[34567]86-*-sysv5*
4321 i[34567]86-*-unixware2*
4322 i[34567]86-*-unixware*
4323 i[34567]86-*-sysv*
4324 i[34567]86-*-isc*
4325 m68*-cisco*-*
4326 m68*-tandem-*
4327 mips*-*-pe
4328 rs6000-*-lynxos*
4329 sh*-*-pe
4330
4331 * Other removed features
4332
4333 target abug
4334 target cpu32bug
4335 target est
4336 target rom68k
4337
4338 Various m68k-only ROM monitors.
4339
4340 target hms
4341 target e7000
4342 target sh3
4343 target sh3e
4344
4345 Various Renesas ROM monitors and debugging interfaces for SH and
4346 H8/300.
4347
4348 target ocd
4349
4350 Support for a Macraigor serial interface to on-chip debugging.
4351 GDB does not directly support the newer parallel or USB
4352 interfaces.
4353
4354 DWARF 1 support
4355
4356 A debug information format. The predecessor to DWARF 2 and
4357 DWARF 3, which are still supported.
4358
4359 Support for the HP aCC compiler on HP-UX/PA-RISC
4360
4361 SOM-encapsulated symbolic debugging information, automatic
4362 invocation of pxdb, and the aCC custom C++ ABI. This does not
4363 affect HP-UX for Itanium or GCC for HP-UX/PA-RISC. Code compiled
4364 with aCC can still be debugged on an assembly level.
4365
4366 MIPS ".pdr" sections
4367
4368 A MIPS-specific format used to describe stack frame layout
4369 in debugging information.
4370
4371 Scheme support
4372
4373 GDB could work with an older version of Guile to debug
4374 the interpreter and Scheme programs running in it.
4375
4376 set mips stack-arg-size
4377 set mips saved-gpreg-size
4378
4379 Use "set mips abi" to control parameter passing for MIPS.
4380
4381 *** Changes in GDB 6.6
4382
4383 * New targets
4384
4385 Xtensa xtensa-elf
4386 Cell Broadband Engine SPU spu-elf
4387
4388 * GDB can now be configured as a cross-debugger targeting native Windows
4389 (mingw32) or Cygwin. It can communicate with a remote debugging stub
4390 running on a Windows system over TCP/IP to debug Windows programs.
4391
4392 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been updated to support Windows and
4393 Cygwin debugging. Both single-threaded and multi-threaded programs are
4394 supported.
4395
4396 * The "set trust-readonly-sections" command works again. This command was
4397 broken in GDB 6.3, 6.4, and 6.5.
4398
4399 * The "load" command now supports writing to flash memory, if the remote
4400 stub provides the required support.
4401
4402 * Support for GNU/Linux Thread Local Storage (TLS, per-thread variables) no
4403 longer requires symbolic debug information (e.g. DWARF-2).
4404
4405 * New commands
4406
4407 set substitute-path
4408 unset substitute-path
4409 show substitute-path
4410 Manage a list of substitution rules that GDB uses to rewrite the name
4411 of the directories where the sources are located. This can be useful
4412 for instance when the sources were moved to a different location
4413 between compilation and debugging.
4414
4415 set trace-commands
4416 show trace-commands
4417 Print each CLI command as it is executed. Each command is prefixed with
4418 a number of `+' symbols representing the nesting depth.
4419 The source command now has a `-v' option to enable the same feature.
4420
4421 * REMOVED features
4422
4423 The ARM Demon monitor support (RDP protocol, "target rdp").
4424
4425 Kernel Object Display, an embedded debugging feature which only worked with
4426 an obsolete version of Cisco IOS.
4427
4428 The 'set download-write-size' and 'show download-write-size' commands.
4429
4430 * New remote packets
4431
4432 qSupported:
4433 Tell a stub about GDB client features, and request remote target features.
4434 The first feature implemented is PacketSize, which allows the target to
4435 specify the size of packets it can handle - to minimize the number of
4436 packets required and improve performance when connected to a remote
4437 target.
4438
4439 qXfer:auxv:read:
4440 Fetch an OS auxilliary vector from the remote stub. This packet is a
4441 more efficient replacement for qPart:auxv:read.
4442
4443 qXfer:memory-map:read:
4444 Fetch a memory map from the remote stub, including information about
4445 RAM, ROM, and flash memory devices.
4446
4447 vFlashErase:
4448 vFlashWrite:
4449 vFlashDone:
4450 Erase and program a flash memory device.
4451
4452 * Removed remote packets
4453
4454 qPart:auxv:read:
4455 This packet has been replaced by qXfer:auxv:read. Only GDB 6.4 and 6.5
4456 used it, and only gdbserver implemented it.
4457
4458 *** Changes in GDB 6.5
4459
4460 * New targets
4461
4462 Renesas M32C/M16C m32c-elf
4463
4464 Morpho Technologies ms1 ms1-elf
4465
4466 * New commands
4467
4468 init-if-undefined Initialize a convenience variable, but
4469 only if it doesn't already have a value.
4470
4471 The following commands are presently only implemented for native GNU/Linux:
4472
4473 checkpoint Save a snapshot of the program state.
4474
4475 restart <n> Return the program state to a
4476 previously saved state.
4477
4478 info checkpoints List currently saved checkpoints.
4479
4480 delete-checkpoint <n> Delete a previously saved checkpoint.
4481
4482 set|show detach-on-fork Tell gdb whether to detach from a newly
4483 forked process, or to keep debugging it.
4484
4485 info forks List forks of the user program that
4486 are available to be debugged.
4487
4488 fork <n> Switch to debugging one of several
4489 forks of the user program that are
4490 available to be debugged.
4491
4492 delete-fork <n> Delete a fork from the list of forks
4493 that are available to be debugged (and
4494 kill the forked process).
4495
4496 detach-fork <n> Delete a fork from the list of forks
4497 that are available to be debugged (and
4498 allow the process to continue).
4499
4500 * New architecture
4501
4502 Morpho Technologies ms2 ms1-elf
4503
4504 * Improved Windows host support
4505
4506 GDB now builds as a cross debugger hosted on i686-mingw32, including
4507 native console support, and remote communications using either
4508 network sockets or serial ports.
4509
4510 * Improved Modula-2 language support
4511
4512 GDB can now print most types in the Modula-2 syntax. This includes:
4513 basic types, set types, record types, enumerated types, range types,
4514 pointer types and ARRAY types. Procedure var parameters are correctly
4515 printed and hexadecimal addresses and character constants are also
4516 written in the Modula-2 syntax. Best results can be obtained by using
4517 GNU Modula-2 together with the -gdwarf-2 command line option.
4518
4519 * REMOVED features
4520
4521 The ARM rdi-share module.
4522
4523 The Netware NLM debug server.
4524
4525 *** Changes in GDB 6.4
4526
4527 * New native configurations
4528
4529 OpenBSD/arm arm*-*-openbsd*
4530 OpenBSD/mips64 mips64-*-openbsd*
4531
4532 * New targets
4533
4534 Morpho Technologies ms1 ms1-elf
4535
4536 * New command line options
4537
4538 --batch-silent As for --batch, but totally silent.
4539 --return-child-result The debugger will exist with the same value
4540 the child (debugged) program exited with.
4541 --eval-command COMMAND, -ex COMMAND
4542 Execute a single GDB CLI command. This may be
4543 specified multiple times and in conjunction
4544 with the --command (-x) option.
4545
4546 * Deprecated commands removed
4547
4548 The following commands, that were deprecated in 2000, have been
4549 removed:
4550
4551 Command Replacement
4552 set|show arm disassembly-flavor set|show arm disassembler
4553 othernames set arm disassembler
4554 set|show remotedebug set|show debug remote
4555 set|show archdebug set|show debug arch
4556 set|show eventdebug set|show debug event
4557 regs info registers
4558
4559 * New BSD user-level threads support
4560
4561 It is now possible to debug programs using the user-level threads
4562 library on OpenBSD and FreeBSD. Currently supported (target)
4563 configurations are:
4564
4565 FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
4566 FreeBSD/i386 i386-*-freebsd*
4567 OpenBSD/i386 i386-*-openbsd*
4568
4569 Note that the new kernel threads libraries introduced in FreeBSD 5.x
4570 are not yet supported.
4571
4572 * New support for Matsushita MN10300 w/sim added
4573 (Work in progress). mn10300-elf.
4574
4575 * REMOVED configurations and files
4576
4577 VxWorks and the XDR protocol *-*-vxworks
4578 Motorola MCORE mcore-*-*
4579 National Semiconductor NS32000 ns32k-*-*
4580
4581 * New "set print array-indexes" command
4582
4583 After turning this setting "on", GDB prints the index of each element
4584 when displaying arrays. The default is "off" to preserve the previous
4585 behavior.
4586
4587 * VAX floating point support
4588
4589 GDB now supports the not-quite-ieee VAX F and D floating point formats.
4590
4591 * User-defined command support
4592
4593 In addition to using $arg0..$arg9 for argument passing, it is now possible
4594 to use $argc to determine now many arguments have been passed. See the
4595 section on user-defined commands in the user manual for more information.
4596
4597 *** Changes in GDB 6.3:
4598
4599 * New command line option
4600
4601 GDB now accepts -l followed by a number to set the timeout for remote
4602 debugging.
4603
4604 * GDB works with GCC -feliminate-dwarf2-dups
4605
4606 GDB now supports a more compact representation of DWARF-2 debug
4607 information using DW_FORM_ref_addr references. These are produced
4608 by GCC with the option -feliminate-dwarf2-dups and also by some
4609 proprietary compilers. With GCC, you must use GCC 3.3.4 or later
4610 to use -feliminate-dwarf2-dups.
4611
4612 * Internationalization
4613
4614 When supported by the host system, GDB will be built with
4615 internationalization (libintl). The task of marking up the sources is
4616 continued, we're looking forward to our first translation.
4617
4618 * Ada
4619
4620 Initial support for debugging programs compiled with the GNAT
4621 implementation of the Ada programming language has been integrated
4622 into GDB. In this release, support is limited to expression evaluation.
4623
4624 * New native configurations
4625
4626 GNU/Linux/m32r m32r-*-linux-gnu
4627
4628 * Remote 'p' packet
4629
4630 GDB's remote protocol now includes support for the 'p' packet. This
4631 packet is used to fetch individual registers from a remote inferior.
4632
4633 * END-OF-LIFE registers[] compatibility module
4634
4635 GDB's internal register infrastructure has been completely rewritten.
4636 The new infrastructure making possible the implementation of key new
4637 features including 32x64 (e.g., 64-bit amd64 GDB debugging a 32-bit
4638 i386 application).
4639
4640 GDB 6.3 will be the last release to include the the registers[]
4641 compatibility module that allowed out-of-date configurations to
4642 continue to work. This change directly impacts the following
4643 configurations:
4644
4645 hppa-*-hpux
4646 ia64-*-aix
4647 mips-*-irix*
4648 *-*-lynx
4649 mips-*-linux-gnu
4650 sds protocol
4651 xdr protocol
4652 powerpc bdm protocol
4653
4654 Unless there is activity to revive these configurations, they will be
4655 made OBSOLETE in GDB 6.4, and REMOVED from GDB 6.5.
4656
4657 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
4658
4659 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
4660 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
4661 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
4662 permanently REMOVED.
4663
4664 h8300-*-*
4665 mcore-*-*
4666 mn10300-*-*
4667 ns32k-*-*
4668 sh64-*-*
4669 v850-*-*
4670
4671 *** Changes in GDB 6.2.1:
4672
4673 * MIPS `break main; run' gave an heuristic-fence-post warning
4674
4675 When attempting to run even a simple program, a warning about
4676 heuristic-fence-post being hit would be reported. This problem has
4677 been fixed.
4678
4679 * MIPS IRIX 'long double' crashed GDB
4680
4681 When examining a long double variable, GDB would get a segmentation
4682 fault. The crash has been fixed (but GDB 6.2 cannot correctly examine
4683 IRIX long double values).
4684
4685 * VAX and "next"
4686
4687 A bug in the VAX stack code was causing problems with the "next"
4688 command. This problem has been fixed.
4689
4690 *** Changes in GDB 6.2:
4691
4692 * Fix for ``many threads''
4693
4694 On GNU/Linux systems that use the NPTL threads library, a program
4695 rapidly creating and deleting threads would confuse GDB leading to the
4696 error message:
4697
4698 ptrace: No such process.
4699 thread_db_get_info: cannot get thread info: generic error
4700
4701 This problem has been fixed.
4702
4703 * "-async" and "-noasync" options removed.
4704
4705 Support for the broken "-noasync" option has been removed (it caused
4706 GDB to dump core).
4707
4708 * New ``start'' command.
4709
4710 This command runs the program until the begining of the main procedure.
4711
4712 * New BSD Kernel Data Access Library (libkvm) interface
4713
4714 Using ``target kvm'' it is now possible to debug kernel core dumps and
4715 live kernel memory images on various FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD
4716 platforms. Currently supported (native-only) configurations are:
4717
4718 FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
4719 FreeBSD/i386 i?86-*-freebsd*
4720 NetBSD/i386 i?86-*-netbsd*
4721 NetBSD/m68k m68*-*-netbsd*
4722 NetBSD/sparc sparc-*-netbsd*
4723 OpenBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-openbsd*
4724 OpenBSD/i386 i?86-*-openbsd*
4725 OpenBSD/m68k m68*-openbsd*
4726 OpenBSD/sparc sparc-*-openbsd*
4727
4728 * Signal trampoline code overhauled
4729
4730 Many generic problems with GDB's signal handling code have been fixed.
4731 These include: backtraces through non-contiguous stacks; recognition
4732 of sa_sigaction signal trampolines; backtrace from a NULL pointer
4733 call; backtrace through a signal trampoline; step into and out of
4734 signal handlers; and single-stepping in the signal trampoline.
4735
4736 Please note that kernel bugs are a limiting factor here. These
4737 features have been shown to work on an s390 GNU/Linux system that
4738 include a 2.6.8-rc1 kernel. Ref PR breakpoints/1702.
4739
4740 * Cygwin support for DWARF 2 added.
4741
4742 * New native configurations
4743
4744 GNU/Linux/hppa hppa*-*-linux*
4745 OpenBSD/hppa hppa*-*-openbsd*
4746 OpenBSD/m68k m68*-*-openbsd*
4747 OpenBSD/m88k m88*-*-openbsd*
4748 OpenBSD/powerpc powerpc-*-openbsd*
4749 NetBSD/vax vax-*-netbsd*
4750 OpenBSD/vax vax-*-openbsd*
4751
4752 * END-OF-LIFE frame compatibility module
4753
4754 GDB's internal frame infrastructure has been completely rewritten.
4755 The new infrastructure making it possible to support key new features
4756 including DWARF 2 Call Frame Information. To aid in the task of
4757 migrating old configurations to this new infrastructure, a
4758 compatibility module, that allowed old configurations to continue to
4759 work, was also included.
4760
4761 GDB 6.2 will be the last release to include this frame compatibility
4762 module. This change directly impacts the following configurations:
4763
4764 h8300-*-*
4765 mcore-*-*
4766 mn10300-*-*
4767 ns32k-*-*
4768 sh64-*-*
4769 v850-*-*
4770 xstormy16-*-*
4771
4772 Unless there is activity to revive these configurations, they will be
4773 made OBSOLETE in GDB 6.3, and REMOVED from GDB 6.4.
4774
4775 * REMOVED configurations and files
4776
4777 Sun 3, running SunOS 3 m68*-*-sunos3*
4778 Sun 3, running SunOS 4 m68*-*-sunos4*
4779 Sun 2, running SunOS 3 m68000-*-sunos3*
4780 Sun 2, running SunOS 4 m68000-*-sunos4*
4781 Motorola 680x0 running LynxOS m68*-*-lynxos*
4782 AT&T 3b1/Unix pc m68*-att-*
4783 Bull DPX2 (68k, System V release 3) m68*-bull-sysv*
4784 decstation mips-dec-* mips-little-*
4785 riscos mips-*-riscos* mips-*-sysv*
4786 sonymips mips-sony-*
4787 sysv mips*-*-sysv4* (IRIX 5/6 not included)
4788
4789 *** Changes in GDB 6.1.1:
4790
4791 * TUI (Text-mode User Interface) built-in (also included in GDB 6.1)
4792
4793 The TUI (Text-mode User Interface) is now built as part of a default
4794 GDB configuration. It is enabled by either selecting the TUI with the
4795 command line option "-i=tui" or by running the separate "gdbtui"
4796 program. For more information on the TUI, see the manual "Debugging
4797 with GDB".
4798
4799 * Pending breakpoint support (also included in GDB 6.1)
4800
4801 Support has been added to allow you to specify breakpoints in shared
4802 libraries that have not yet been loaded. If a breakpoint location
4803 cannot be found, and the "breakpoint pending" option is set to auto,
4804 GDB queries you if you wish to make the breakpoint pending on a future
4805 shared-library load. If and when GDB resolves the breakpoint symbol,
4806 the pending breakpoint is removed as one or more regular breakpoints
4807 are created.
4808
4809 Pending breakpoints are very useful for GCJ Java debugging.
4810
4811 * Fixed ISO-C build problems
4812
4813 The files bfd/elf-bfd.h, gdb/dictionary.c and gdb/types.c contained
4814 non ISO-C code that stopped them being built using a more strict ISO-C
4815 compiler (e.g., IBM's C compiler).
4816
4817 * Fixed build problem on IRIX 5
4818
4819 Due to header problems with <sys/proc.h>, the file gdb/proc-api.c
4820 wasn't able to compile compile on an IRIX 5 system.
4821
4822 * Added execute permission to gdb/gdbserver/configure
4823
4824 The shell script gdb/testsuite/gdb.stabs/configure lacked execute
4825 permission. This bug would cause configure to fail on a number of
4826 systems (Solaris, IRIX). Ref: server/519.
4827
4828 * Fixed build problem on hpux2.0w-hp-hpux11.00 using the HP ANSI C compiler
4829
4830 Older HPUX ANSI C compilers did not accept variable array sizes. somsolib.c
4831 has been updated to use constant array sizes.
4832
4833 * Fixed a panic in the DWARF Call Frame Info code on Solaris 2.7
4834
4835 GCC 3.3.2, on Solaris 2.7, includes the DW_EH_PE_funcrel encoding in
4836 its generated DWARF Call Frame Info. This encoding was causing GDB to
4837 panic, that panic has been fixed. Ref: gdb/1628.
4838
4839 * Fixed a problem when examining parameters in shared library code.
4840
4841 When examining parameters in optimized shared library code generated
4842 by a mainline GCC, GDB would incorrectly report ``Variable "..." is
4843 not available''. GDB now correctly displays the variable's value.
4844
4845 *** Changes in GDB 6.1:
4846
4847 * Removed --with-mmalloc
4848
4849 Support for the mmalloc memory manager has been removed, as it
4850 conflicted with the internal gdb byte cache.
4851
4852 * Changes in AMD64 configurations
4853
4854 The AMD64 target now includes the %cs and %ss registers. As a result
4855 the AMD64 remote protocol has changed; this affects the floating-point
4856 and SSE registers. If you rely on those registers for your debugging,
4857 you should upgrade gdbserver on the remote side.
4858
4859 * Revised SPARC target
4860
4861 The SPARC target has been completely revised, incorporating the
4862 FreeBSD/sparc64 support that was added for GDB 6.0. As a result
4863 support for LynxOS and SunOS 4 has been dropped. Calling functions
4864 from within GDB on operating systems with a non-executable stack
4865 (Solaris, OpenBSD) now works.
4866
4867 * New C++ demangler
4868
4869 GDB has a new C++ demangler which does a better job on the mangled
4870 names generated by current versions of g++. It also runs faster, so
4871 with this and other changes gdb should now start faster on large C++
4872 programs.
4873
4874 * DWARF 2 Location Expressions
4875
4876 GDB support for location expressions has been extended to support function
4877 arguments and frame bases. Older versions of GDB could crash when they
4878 encountered these.
4879
4880 * C++ nested types and namespaces
4881
4882 GDB's support for nested types and namespaces in C++ has been
4883 improved, especially if you use the DWARF 2 debugging format. (This
4884 is the default for recent versions of GCC on most platforms.)
4885 Specifically, if you have a class "Inner" defined within a class or
4886 namespace "Outer", then GDB realizes that the class's name is
4887 "Outer::Inner", not simply "Inner". This should greatly reduce the
4888 frequency of complaints about not finding RTTI symbols. In addition,
4889 if you are stopped at inside of a function defined within a namespace,
4890 GDB modifies its name lookup accordingly.
4891
4892 * New native configurations
4893
4894 NetBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-netbsd*
4895 OpenBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-openbsd*
4896 OpenBSD/alpha alpha*-*-openbsd*
4897 OpenBSD/sparc sparc-*-openbsd*
4898 OpenBSD/sparc64 sparc64-*-openbsd*
4899
4900 * New debugging protocols
4901
4902 M32R with SDI protocol m32r-*-elf*
4903
4904 * "set prompt-escape-char" command deleted.
4905
4906 The command "set prompt-escape-char" has been deleted. This command,
4907 and its very obscure effet on GDB's prompt, was never documented,
4908 tested, nor mentioned in the NEWS file.
4909
4910 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
4911
4912 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
4913 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
4914 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
4915 permanently REMOVED.
4916
4917 Sun 3, running SunOS 3 m68*-*-sunos3*
4918 Sun 3, running SunOS 4 m68*-*-sunos4*
4919 Sun 2, running SunOS 3 m68000-*-sunos3*
4920 Sun 2, running SunOS 4 m68000-*-sunos4*
4921 Motorola 680x0 running LynxOS m68*-*-lynxos*
4922 AT&T 3b1/Unix pc m68*-att-*
4923 Bull DPX2 (68k, System V release 3) m68*-bull-sysv*
4924 decstation mips-dec-* mips-little-*
4925 riscos mips-*-riscos* mips-*-sysv*
4926 sonymips mips-sony-*
4927 sysv mips*-*-sysv4* (IRIX 5/6 not included)
4928
4929 * REMOVED configurations and files
4930
4931 SGI Irix-4.x mips-sgi-irix4 or iris4
4932 SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris
4933 Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
4934 Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
4935 H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
4936 HP/PA running BSD hppa*-*-bsd*
4937 HP/PA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
4938 HP/PA Pro target hppa*-*-pro*
4939 PMAX (MIPS) running Mach 3.0 mips*-*-mach3*
4940 386BSD i[3456]86-*-bsd*
4941 Sequent family i[3456]86-sequent-sysv4*
4942 i[3456]86-sequent-sysv*
4943 i[3456]86-sequent-bsd*
4944 SPARC running LynxOS sparc-*-lynxos*
4945 SPARC running SunOS 4 sparc-*-sunos4*
4946 Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
4947 Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
4948
4949 *** Changes in GDB 6.0:
4950
4951 * Objective-C
4952
4953 Support for debugging the Objective-C programming language has been
4954 integrated into GDB.
4955
4956 * New backtrace mechanism (includes DWARF 2 Call Frame Information).
4957
4958 DWARF 2's Call Frame Information makes available compiler generated
4959 information that more exactly describes the program's run-time stack.
4960 By using this information, GDB is able to provide more robust stack
4961 backtraces.
4962
4963 The i386, amd64 (nee, x86-64), Alpha, m68hc11, ia64, and m32r targets
4964 have been updated to use a new backtrace mechanism which includes
4965 DWARF 2 CFI support.
4966
4967 * Hosted file I/O.
4968
4969 GDB's remote protocol has been extended to include support for hosted
4970 file I/O (where the remote target uses GDB's file system). See GDB's
4971 remote protocol documentation for details.
4972
4973 * All targets using the new architecture framework.
4974
4975 All of GDB's targets have been updated to use the new internal
4976 architecture framework. The way is now open for future GDB releases
4977 to include cross-architecture native debugging support (i386 on amd64,
4978 ppc32 on ppc64).
4979
4980 * GNU/Linux's Thread Local Storage (TLS)
4981
4982 GDB now includes support for for the GNU/Linux implementation of
4983 per-thread variables.
4984
4985 * GNU/Linux's Native POSIX Thread Library (NPTL)
4986
4987 GDB's thread code has been updated to work with either the new
4988 GNU/Linux NPTL thread library or the older "LinuxThreads" library.
4989
4990 * Separate debug info.
4991
4992 GDB, in conjunction with BINUTILS, now supports a mechanism for
4993 automatically loading debug information from a separate file. Instead
4994 of shipping full debug and non-debug versions of system libraries,
4995 system integrators can now instead ship just the stripped libraries
4996 and optional debug files.
4997
4998 * DWARF 2 Location Expressions
4999
5000 DWARF 2 Location Expressions allow the compiler to more completely
5001 describe the location of variables (even in optimized code) to the
5002 debugger.
5003
5004 GDB now includes preliminary support for location expressions (support
5005 for DW_OP_piece is still missing).
5006
5007 * Java
5008
5009 A number of long standing bugs that caused GDB to die while starting a
5010 Java application have been fixed. GDB's Java support is now
5011 considered "useable".
5012
5013 * GNU/Linux support for fork, vfork, and exec.
5014
5015 The "catch fork", "catch exec", "catch vfork", and "set follow-fork-mode"
5016 commands are now implemented for GNU/Linux. They require a 2.5.x or later
5017 kernel.
5018
5019 * GDB supports logging output to a file
5020
5021 There are two new commands, "set logging" and "show logging", which can be
5022 used to capture GDB's output to a file.
5023
5024 * The meaning of "detach" has changed for gdbserver
5025
5026 The "detach" command will now resume the application, as documented. To
5027 disconnect from gdbserver and leave it stopped, use the new "disconnect"
5028 command.
5029
5030 * d10v, m68hc11 `regs' command deprecated
5031
5032 The `info registers' command has been updated so that it displays the
5033 registers using a format identical to the old `regs' command.
5034
5035 * Profiling support
5036
5037 A new command, "maint set profile on/off", has been added. This command can
5038 be used to enable or disable profiling while running GDB, to profile a
5039 session or a set of commands. In addition there is a new configure switch,
5040 "--enable-profiling", which will cause GDB to be compiled with profiling
5041 data, for more informative profiling results.
5042
5043 * Default MI syntax changed to "mi2".
5044
5045 The default MI (machine interface) syntax, enabled by the command line
5046 option "-i=mi", has been changed to "mi2". The previous MI syntax,
5047 "mi1", can be enabled by specifying the option "-i=mi1".
5048
5049 Support for the original "mi0" syntax (included in GDB 5.0) has been
5050 removed.
5051
5052 Fix for gdb/192: removed extraneous space when displaying frame level.
5053 Fix for gdb/672: update changelist is now output in mi list format.
5054 Fix for gdb/702: a -var-assign that updates the value now shows up
5055 in a subsequent -var-update.
5056
5057 * New native configurations.
5058
5059 FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
5060
5061 * Multi-arched targets.
5062
5063 HP/PA HPUX11 hppa*-*-hpux*
5064 Renesas M32R/D w/simulator m32r-*-elf*
5065
5066 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
5067
5068 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
5069 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
5070 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
5071 permanently REMOVED.
5072
5073 Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
5074 Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
5075 H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
5076 HP/PA running BSD hppa*-*-bsd*
5077 HP/PA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
5078 HP/PA Pro target hppa*-*-pro*
5079 PMAX (MIPS) running Mach 3.0 mips*-*-mach3*
5080 Sequent family i[3456]86-sequent-sysv4*
5081 i[3456]86-sequent-sysv*
5082 i[3456]86-sequent-bsd*
5083 Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
5084 Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
5085
5086 * REMOVED configurations and files
5087
5088 V850EA ISA
5089 Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
5090 IBM AIX PS/2 i[3456]86-*-aix
5091 i386 running Mach 3.0 i[3456]86-*-mach3*
5092 i386 running Mach i[3456]86-*-mach*
5093 i386 running OSF/1 i[3456]86-*osf1mk*
5094 HP/Apollo 68k Family m68*-apollo*-sysv*,
5095 m68*-apollo*-bsd*,
5096 m68*-hp-bsd*, m68*-hp-hpux*
5097 Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
5098 Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
5099 Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
5100 OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
5101 I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
5102
5103 * MIPS $fp behavior changed
5104
5105 The convenience variable $fp, for the MIPS, now consistently returns
5106 the address of the current frame's base. Previously, depending on the
5107 context, $fp could refer to either $sp or the current frame's base
5108 address. See ``8.10 Registers'' in the manual ``Debugging with GDB:
5109 The GNU Source-Level Debugger''.
5110
5111 *** Changes in GDB 5.3:
5112
5113 * GNU/Linux shared library multi-threaded performance improved.
5114
5115 When debugging a multi-threaded application on GNU/Linux, GDB now uses
5116 `/proc', in preference to `ptrace' for memory reads. This may result
5117 in an improvement in the start-up time of multi-threaded, shared
5118 library applications when run under GDB. One GDB user writes: ``loads
5119 shared libs like mad''.
5120
5121 * ``gdbserver'' now supports multi-threaded applications on some targets
5122
5123 Support for debugging multi-threaded applications which use
5124 the GNU/Linux LinuxThreads package has been added for
5125 arm*-*-linux*-gnu*, i[3456]86-*-linux*-gnu*, mips*-*-linux*-gnu*,
5126 powerpc*-*-linux*-gnu*, and sh*-*-linux*-gnu*.
5127
5128 * GDB now supports C/C++ preprocessor macros.
5129
5130 GDB now expands preprocessor macro invocations in C/C++ expressions,
5131 and provides various commands for showing macro definitions and how
5132 they expand.
5133
5134 The new command `macro expand EXPRESSION' expands any macro
5135 invocations in expression, and shows the result.
5136
5137 The new command `show macro MACRO-NAME' shows the definition of the
5138 macro named MACRO-NAME, and where it was defined.
5139
5140 Most compilers don't include information about macros in the debugging
5141 information by default. In GCC 3.1, for example, you need to compile
5142 your program with the options `-gdwarf-2 -g3'. If the macro
5143 information is present in the executable, GDB will read it.
5144
5145 * Multi-arched targets.
5146
5147 DEC Alpha (partial) alpha*-*-*
5148 DEC VAX (partial) vax-*-*
5149 NEC V850 v850-*-*
5150 National Semiconductor NS32000 (partial) ns32k-*-*
5151 Motorola 68000 (partial) m68k-*-*
5152 Motorola MCORE mcore-*-*
5153
5154 * New targets.
5155
5156 Fujitsu FRV architecture added by Red Hat frv*-*-*
5157
5158
5159 * New native configurations
5160
5161 Alpha NetBSD alpha*-*-netbsd*
5162 SH NetBSD sh*-*-netbsdelf*
5163 MIPS NetBSD mips*-*-netbsd*
5164 UltraSPARC NetBSD sparc64-*-netbsd*
5165
5166 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
5167
5168 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
5169 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
5170 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
5171 permanently REMOVED.
5172
5173 Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
5174 OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
5175 IBM AIX PS/2 i[3456]86-*-aix
5176 Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
5177 Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
5178 Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
5179 i386 running Mach 3.0 i[3456]86-*-mach3*
5180 i386 running Mach i[3456]86-*-mach*
5181 i386 running OSF/1 i[3456]86-*osf1mk*
5182 HP/Apollo 68k Family m68*-apollo*-sysv*,
5183 m68*-apollo*-bsd*,
5184 m68*-hp-bsd*, m68*-hp-hpux*
5185 I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
5186
5187 * OBSOLETE languages
5188
5189 CHILL, a Pascal like language used by telecommunications companies.
5190
5191 * REMOVED configurations and files
5192
5193 AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi, udi29k
5194 A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
5195 AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
5196 AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
5197 AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
5198
5199 testsuite/gdb.hp/gdb.threads-hp/ directory
5200
5201 * New command "set max-user-call-depth <nnn>"
5202
5203 This command allows the user to limit the call depth of user-defined
5204 commands. The default is 1024.
5205
5206 * Changes in FreeBSD/i386 native debugging.
5207
5208 Support for the "generate-core-file" has been added.
5209
5210 * New commands "dump", "append", and "restore".
5211
5212 These commands allow data to be copied from target memory
5213 to a bfd-format or binary file (dump and append), and back
5214 from a file into memory (restore).
5215
5216 * Improved "next/step" support on multi-processor Alpha Tru64.
5217
5218 The previous single-step mechanism could cause unpredictable problems,
5219 including the random appearance of SIGSEGV or SIGTRAP signals. The use
5220 of a software single-step mechanism prevents this.
5221
5222 *** Changes in GDB 5.2.1:
5223
5224 * New targets.
5225
5226 Atmel AVR avr*-*-*
5227
5228 * Bug fixes
5229
5230 gdb/182: gdb/323: gdb/237: On alpha, gdb was reporting:
5231 mdebugread.c:2443: gdb-internal-error: sect_index_data not initialized
5232 Fix, by Joel Brobecker imported from mainline.
5233
5234 gdb/439: gdb/291: On some ELF object files, gdb was reporting:
5235 dwarf2read.c:1072: gdb-internal-error: sect_index_text not initialize
5236 Fix, by Fred Fish, imported from mainline.
5237
5238 Dwarf2 .debug_frame & .eh_frame handler improved in many ways.
5239 Surprisingly enough, it works now.
5240 By Michal Ludvig, imported from mainline.
5241
5242 i386 hardware watchpoint support:
5243 avoid misses on second run for some targets.
5244 By Pierre Muller, imported from mainline.
5245
5246 *** Changes in GDB 5.2:
5247
5248 * New command "set trust-readonly-sections on[off]".
5249
5250 This command is a hint that tells gdb that read-only sections
5251 really are read-only (ie. that their contents will not change).
5252 In this mode, gdb will go to the object file rather than the
5253 target to read memory from read-only sections (such as ".text").
5254 This can be a significant performance improvement on some
5255 (notably embedded) targets.
5256
5257 * New command "generate-core-file" (or "gcore").
5258
5259 This new gdb command allows the user to drop a core file of the child
5260 process state at any time. So far it's been implemented only for
5261 GNU/Linux and Solaris, but should be relatively easily ported to other
5262 hosts. Argument is core file name (defaults to core.<pid>).
5263
5264 * New command line option
5265
5266 GDB now accepts --pid or -p followed by a process id.
5267
5268 * Change in command line behavior -- corefiles vs. process ids.
5269
5270 There is a subtle behavior in the way in which GDB handles
5271 command line arguments. The first non-flag argument is always
5272 a program to debug, but the second non-flag argument may either
5273 be a corefile or a process id. Previously, GDB would attempt to
5274 open the second argument as a corefile, and if that failed, would
5275 issue a superfluous error message and then attempt to attach it as
5276 a process. Now, if the second argument begins with a non-digit,
5277 it will be treated as a corefile. If it begins with a digit,
5278 GDB will attempt to attach it as a process, and if no such process
5279 is found, will then attempt to open it as a corefile.
5280
5281 * Changes in ARM configurations.
5282
5283 Multi-arch support is enabled for all ARM configurations. The ARM/NetBSD
5284 configuration is fully multi-arch.
5285
5286 * New native configurations
5287
5288 ARM NetBSD arm*-*-netbsd*
5289 x86 OpenBSD i[3456]86-*-openbsd*
5290 AMD x86-64 running GNU/Linux x86_64-*-linux-*
5291 Sparc64 running FreeBSD sparc64-*-freebsd*
5292
5293 * New targets
5294
5295 Sanyo XStormy16 xstormy16-elf
5296
5297 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
5298
5299 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
5300 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
5301 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
5302 permanently REMOVED.
5303
5304 AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi, udi29k
5305 A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
5306 AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
5307 AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
5308 AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
5309
5310 testsuite/gdb.hp/gdb.threads-hp/ directory
5311
5312 * REMOVED configurations and files
5313
5314 TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
5315 WDC 65816 w65-*-*
5316 PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
5317 PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
5318 PowerPC Netware powerpc-*-netware*
5319 Harris/CXUX m88k m88*-harris-cxux*
5320 Most ns32k hosts and targets ns32k-*-mach3* ns32k-umax-*
5321 ns32k-utek-sysv* ns32k-utek-*
5322 SunOS 4.0.Xi on i386 i[3456]86-*-sunos*
5323 Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1 a29k-nyu-sym1 a29k-*-kern*
5324 Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x m68*-sony-sysv news
5325 ISI Optimum V (3.05) under 4.3bsd. m68*-isi-*
5326 Apple Macintosh (MPW) host and target N/A host, powerpc-*-macos*
5327
5328 * Changes to command line processing
5329
5330 The new `--args' feature can be used to specify command-line arguments
5331 for the inferior from gdb's command line.
5332
5333 * Changes to key bindings
5334
5335 There is a new `operate-and-get-next' function bound to `C-o'.
5336
5337 *** Changes in GDB 5.1.1
5338
5339 Fix compile problem on DJGPP.
5340
5341 Fix a problem with floating-point registers on the i386 being
5342 corrupted.
5343
5344 Fix to stop GDB crashing on .debug_str debug info.
5345
5346 Numerous documentation fixes.
5347
5348 Numerous testsuite fixes.
5349
5350 *** Changes in GDB 5.1:
5351
5352 * New native configurations
5353
5354 Alpha FreeBSD alpha*-*-freebsd*
5355 x86 FreeBSD 3.x and 4.x i[3456]86*-freebsd[34]*
5356 MIPS GNU/Linux mips*-*-linux*
5357 MIPS SGI Irix 6.x mips*-sgi-irix6*
5358 ia64 AIX ia64-*-aix*
5359 s390 and s390x GNU/Linux {s390,s390x}-*-linux*
5360
5361 * New targets
5362
5363 Motorola 68HC11 and 68HC12 m68hc11-elf
5364 CRIS cris-axis
5365 UltraSparc running GNU/Linux sparc64-*-linux*
5366
5367 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
5368
5369 x86 FreeBSD before 2.2 i[3456]86*-freebsd{1,2.[01]}*,
5370 Harris/CXUX m88k m88*-harris-cxux*
5371 Most ns32k hosts and targets ns32k-*-mach3* ns32k-umax-*
5372 ns32k-utek-sysv* ns32k-utek-*
5373 TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
5374 WDC 65816 w65-*-*
5375 Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1 a29k-nyu-sym1 a29k-*-kern*
5376 PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
5377 PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
5378 PowerPC Netware powerpc-*-netware*
5379 SunOS 4.0.Xi on i386 i[3456]86-*-sunos*
5380 Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x m68*-sony-sysv news
5381 ISI Optimum V (3.05) under 4.3bsd. m68*-isi-*
5382 Apple Macintosh (MPW) host N/A
5383
5384 stuff.c (Program to stuff files into a specially prepared space in kdb)
5385 kdb-start.c (Main loop for the standalone kernel debugger)
5386
5387 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
5388 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
5389 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
5390 permanently REMOVED.
5391
5392 * REMOVED configurations and files
5393
5394 Altos 3068 m68*-altos-*
5395 Convex c1-*-*, c2-*-*
5396 Pyramid pyramid-*-*
5397 ARM RISCix arm-*-* (as host)
5398 Tahoe tahoe-*-*
5399 ser-ocd.c *-*-*
5400
5401 * GDB has been converted to ISO C.
5402
5403 GDB's source code has been converted to ISO C. In particular, the
5404 sources are fully protoized, and rely on standard headers being
5405 present.
5406
5407 * Other news:
5408
5409 * "info symbol" works on platforms which use COFF, ECOFF, XCOFF, and NLM.
5410
5411 * The MI enabled by default.
5412
5413 The new machine oriented interface (MI) introduced in GDB 5.0 has been
5414 revised and enabled by default. Packages which use GDB as a debugging
5415 engine behind a UI or another front end are encouraged to switch to
5416 using the GDB/MI interface, instead of the old annotations interface
5417 which is now deprecated.
5418
5419 * Support for debugging Pascal programs.
5420
5421 GDB now includes support for debugging Pascal programs. The following
5422 main features are supported:
5423
5424 - Pascal-specific data types such as sets;
5425
5426 - automatic recognition of Pascal sources based on file-name
5427 extension;
5428
5429 - Pascal-style display of data types, variables, and functions;
5430
5431 - a Pascal expression parser.
5432
5433 However, some important features are not yet supported.
5434
5435 - Pascal string operations are not supported at all;
5436
5437 - there are some problems with boolean types;
5438
5439 - Pascal type hexadecimal constants are not supported
5440 because they conflict with the internal variables format;
5441
5442 - support for Pascal objects and classes is not full yet;
5443
5444 - unlike Pascal, GDB is case-sensitive for symbol names.
5445
5446 * Changes in completion.
5447
5448 Commands such as `shell', `run' and `set args', which pass arguments
5449 to inferior programs, now complete on file names, similar to what
5450 users expect at the shell prompt.
5451
5452 Commands which accept locations, such as `disassemble', `print',
5453 `breakpoint', `until', etc. now complete on filenames as well as
5454 program symbols. Thus, if you type "break foob TAB", and the source
5455 files linked into the programs include `foobar.c', that file name will
5456 be one of the candidates for completion. However, file names are not
5457 considered for completion after you typed a colon that delimits a file
5458 name from a name of a function in that file, as in "break foo.c:bar".
5459
5460 `set demangle-style' completes on available demangling styles.
5461
5462 * New platform-independent commands:
5463
5464 It is now possible to define a post-hook for a command as well as a
5465 hook that runs before the command. For more details, see the
5466 documentation of `hookpost' in the GDB manual.
5467
5468 * Changes in GNU/Linux native debugging.
5469
5470 Support for debugging multi-threaded programs has been completely
5471 revised for all platforms except m68k and sparc. You can now debug as
5472 many threads as your system allows you to have.
5473
5474 Attach/detach is supported for multi-threaded programs.
5475
5476 Support for SSE registers was added for x86. This doesn't work for
5477 multi-threaded programs though.
5478
5479 * Changes in MIPS configurations.
5480
5481 Multi-arch support is enabled for all MIPS configurations.
5482
5483 GDB can now be built as native debugger on SGI Irix 6.x systems for
5484 debugging n32 executables. (Debugging 64-bit executables is not yet
5485 supported.)
5486
5487 * Unified support for hardware watchpoints in all x86 configurations.
5488
5489 Most (if not all) native x86 configurations support hardware-assisted
5490 breakpoints and watchpoints in a unified manner. This support
5491 implements debug register sharing between watchpoints, which allows to
5492 put a virtually infinite number of watchpoints on the same address,
5493 and also supports watching regions up to 16 bytes with several debug
5494 registers.
5495
5496 The new maintenance command `maintenance show-debug-regs' toggles
5497 debugging print-outs in functions that insert, remove, and test
5498 watchpoints and hardware breakpoints.
5499
5500 * Changes in the DJGPP native configuration.
5501
5502 New command ``info dos sysinfo'' displays assorted information about
5503 the CPU, OS, memory, and DPMI server.
5504
5505 New commands ``info dos gdt'', ``info dos ldt'', and ``info dos idt''
5506 display information about segment descriptors stored in GDT, LDT, and
5507 IDT.
5508
5509 New commands ``info dos pde'' and ``info dos pte'' display entries
5510 from Page Directory and Page Tables (for now works with CWSDPMI only).
5511 New command ``info dos address-pte'' displays the Page Table entry for
5512 a given linear address.
5513
5514 GDB can now pass command lines longer than 126 characters to the
5515 program being debugged (requires an update to the libdbg.a library
5516 which is part of the DJGPP development kit).
5517
5518 DWARF2 debug info is now supported.
5519
5520 It is now possible to `step' and `next' through calls to `longjmp'.
5521
5522 * Changes in documentation.
5523
5524 All GDB documentation was converted to GFDL, the GNU Free
5525 Documentation License.
5526
5527 Tracepoints-related commands are now fully documented in the GDB
5528 manual.
5529
5530 TUI, the Text-mode User Interface, is now documented in the manual.
5531
5532 Tracepoints-related commands are now fully documented in the GDB
5533 manual.
5534
5535 The "GDB Internals" manual now has an index. It also includes
5536 documentation of `ui_out' functions, GDB coding standards, x86
5537 hardware watchpoints, and memory region attributes.
5538
5539 * GDB's version number moved to ``version.in''
5540
5541 The Makefile variable VERSION has been replaced by the file
5542 ``version.in''. People creating GDB distributions should update the
5543 contents of this file.
5544
5545 * gdba.el deleted
5546
5547 GUD support is now a standard part of the EMACS distribution.
5548
5549 *** Changes in GDB 5.0:
5550
5551 * Improved support for debugging FP programs on x86 targets
5552
5553 Unified and much-improved support for debugging floating-point
5554 programs on all x86 targets. In particular, ``info float'' now
5555 displays the FP registers in the same format on all x86 targets, with
5556 greater level of detail.
5557
5558 * Improvements and bugfixes in hardware-assisted watchpoints
5559
5560 It is now possible to watch array elements, struct members, and
5561 bitfields with hardware-assisted watchpoints. Data-read watchpoints
5562 on x86 targets no longer erroneously trigger when the address is
5563 written.
5564
5565 * Improvements in the native DJGPP version of GDB
5566
5567 The distribution now includes all the scripts and auxiliary files
5568 necessary to build the native DJGPP version on MS-DOS/MS-Windows
5569 machines ``out of the box''.
5570
5571 The DJGPP version can now debug programs that use signals. It is
5572 possible to catch signals that happened in the debuggee, deliver
5573 signals to it, interrupt it with Ctrl-C, etc. (Previously, a signal
5574 would kill the program being debugged.) Programs that hook hardware
5575 interrupts (keyboard, timer, etc.) can also be debugged.
5576
5577 It is now possible to debug DJGPP programs that redirect their
5578 standard handles or switch them to raw (as opposed to cooked) mode, or
5579 even close them. The command ``run < foo > bar'' works as expected,
5580 and ``info terminal'' reports useful information about the debuggee's
5581 terminal, including raw/cooked mode, redirection, etc.
5582
5583 The DJGPP version now uses termios functions for console I/O, which
5584 enables debugging graphics programs. Interrupting GDB with Ctrl-C
5585 also works.
5586
5587 DOS-style file names with drive letters are now fully supported by
5588 GDB.
5589
5590 It is now possible to debug DJGPP programs that switch their working
5591 directory. It is also possible to rerun the debuggee any number of
5592 times without restarting GDB; thus, you can use the same setup,
5593 breakpoints, etc. for many debugging sessions.
5594
5595 * New native configurations
5596
5597 ARM GNU/Linux arm*-*-linux*
5598 PowerPC GNU/Linux powerpc-*-linux*
5599
5600 * New targets
5601
5602 Motorola MCore mcore-*-*
5603 x86 VxWorks i[3456]86-*-vxworks*
5604 PowerPC VxWorks powerpc-*-vxworks*
5605 TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
5606
5607 * OBSOLETE configurations
5608
5609 Altos 3068 m68*-altos-*
5610 Convex c1-*-*, c2-*-*
5611 Pyramid pyramid-*-*
5612 ARM RISCix arm-*-* (as host)
5613 Tahoe tahoe-*-*
5614
5615 Configurations that have been declared obsolete will be commented out,
5616 but the code will be left in place. If there is no activity to revive
5617 these configurations before the next release of GDB, the sources will
5618 be permanently REMOVED.
5619
5620 * Gould support removed
5621
5622 Support for the Gould PowerNode and NP1 has been removed.
5623
5624 * New features for SVR4
5625
5626 On SVR4 native platforms (such as Solaris), if you attach to a process
5627 without first loading a symbol file, GDB will now attempt to locate and
5628 load symbols from the running process's executable file.
5629
5630 * Many C++ enhancements
5631
5632 C++ support has been greatly improved. Overload resolution now works properly
5633 in almost all cases. RTTI support is on the way.
5634
5635 * Remote targets can connect to a sub-program
5636
5637 A popen(3) style serial-device has been added. This device starts a
5638 sub-process (such as a stand-alone simulator) and then communicates
5639 with that. The sub-program to run is specified using the syntax
5640 ``|<program> <args>'' vis:
5641
5642 (gdb) set remotedebug 1
5643 (gdb) target extended-remote |mn10300-elf-sim program-args
5644
5645 * MIPS 64 remote protocol
5646
5647 A long standing bug in the mips64 remote protocol where by GDB
5648 expected certain 32 bit registers (ex SR) to be transfered as 32
5649 instead of 64 bits has been fixed.
5650
5651 The command ``set remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs on'' has been
5652 added to provide backward compatibility with older versions of GDB.
5653
5654 * ``set remotebinarydownload'' replaced by ``set remote X-packet''
5655
5656 The command ``set remotebinarydownload'' command has been replaced by
5657 ``set remote X-packet''. Other commands in ``set remote'' family
5658 include ``set remote P-packet''.
5659
5660 * Breakpoint commands accept ranges.
5661
5662 The breakpoint commands ``enable'', ``disable'', and ``delete'' now
5663 accept a range of breakpoints, e.g. ``5-7''. The tracepoint command
5664 ``tracepoint passcount'' also accepts a range of tracepoints.
5665
5666 * ``apropos'' command added.
5667
5668 The ``apropos'' command searches through command names and
5669 documentation strings, printing out matches, making it much easier to
5670 try to find a command that does what you are looking for.
5671
5672 * New MI interface
5673
5674 A new machine oriented interface (MI) has been added to GDB. This
5675 interface is designed for debug environments running GDB as a separate
5676 process. This is part of the long term libGDB project. See the
5677 "GDB/MI" chapter of the GDB manual for further information. It can be
5678 enabled by configuring with:
5679
5680 .../configure --enable-gdbmi
5681
5682 *** Changes in GDB-4.18:
5683
5684 * New native configurations
5685
5686 HP-UX 10.20 hppa*-*-hpux10.20
5687 HP-UX 11.x hppa*-*-hpux11.0*
5688 M68K GNU/Linux m68*-*-linux*
5689
5690 * New targets
5691
5692 Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
5693 Intel StrongARM strongarm-*-*
5694 Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
5695
5696 * OBSOLETE configurations
5697
5698 Gould PowerNode, NP1 np1-*-*, pn-*-*
5699
5700 Configurations that have been declared obsolete will be commented out,
5701 but the code will be left in place. If there is no activity to revive
5702 these configurations before the next release of GDB, the sources will
5703 be permanently REMOVED.
5704
5705 * ANSI/ISO C
5706
5707 As a compatibility experiment, GDB's source files buildsym.h and
5708 buildsym.c have been converted to pure standard C, no longer
5709 containing any K&R compatibility code. We believe that all systems in
5710 use today either come with a standard C compiler, or have a GCC port
5711 available. If this is not true, please report the affected
5712 configuration to bug-gdb@gnu.org immediately. See the README file for
5713 information about getting a standard C compiler if you don't have one
5714 already.
5715
5716 * Readline 2.2
5717
5718 GDB now uses readline 2.2.
5719
5720 * set extension-language
5721
5722 You can now control the mapping between filename extensions and source
5723 languages by using the `set extension-language' command. For instance,
5724 you can ask GDB to treat .c files as C++ by saying
5725 set extension-language .c c++
5726 The command `info extensions' lists all of the recognized extensions
5727 and their associated languages.
5728
5729 * Setting processor type for PowerPC and RS/6000
5730
5731 When GDB is configured for a powerpc*-*-* or an rs6000*-*-* target,
5732 you can use the `set processor' command to specify what variant of the
5733 PowerPC family you are debugging. The command
5734
5735 set processor NAME
5736
5737 sets the PowerPC/RS6000 variant to NAME. GDB knows about the
5738 following PowerPC and RS6000 variants:
5739
5740 ppc-uisa PowerPC UISA - a PPC processor as viewed by user-level code
5741 rs6000 IBM RS6000 ("POWER") architecture, user-level view
5742 403 IBM PowerPC 403
5743 403GC IBM PowerPC 403GC
5744 505 Motorola PowerPC 505
5745 860 Motorola PowerPC 860 or 850
5746 601 Motorola PowerPC 601
5747 602 Motorola PowerPC 602
5748 603 Motorola/IBM PowerPC 603 or 603e
5749 604 Motorola PowerPC 604 or 604e
5750 750 Motorola/IBM PowerPC 750 or 750
5751
5752 At the moment, this command just tells GDB what to name the
5753 special-purpose processor registers. Since almost all the affected
5754 registers are inaccessible to user-level programs, this command is
5755 only useful for remote debugging in its present form.
5756
5757 * HP-UX support
5758
5759 Thanks to a major code donation from Hewlett-Packard, GDB now has much
5760 more extensive support for HP-UX. Added features include shared
5761 library support, kernel threads and hardware watchpoints for 11.00,
5762 support for HP's ANSI C and C++ compilers, and a compatibility mode
5763 for xdb and dbx commands.
5764
5765 * Catchpoints
5766
5767 HP's donation includes the new concept of catchpoints, which is a
5768 generalization of the old catch command. On HP-UX, it is now possible
5769 to catch exec, fork, and vfork, as well as library loading.
5770
5771 This means that the existing catch command has changed; its first
5772 argument now specifies the type of catch to be set up. See the
5773 output of "help catch" for a list of catchpoint types.
5774
5775 * Debugging across forks
5776
5777 On HP-UX, you can choose which process to debug when a fork() happens
5778 in the inferior.
5779
5780 * TUI
5781
5782 HP has donated a curses-based terminal user interface (TUI). To get
5783 it, build with --enable-tui. Although this can be enabled for any
5784 configuration, at present it only works for native HP debugging.
5785
5786 * GDB remote protocol additions
5787
5788 A new protocol packet 'X' that writes binary data is now available.
5789 Default behavior is to try 'X', then drop back to 'M' if the stub
5790 fails to respond. The settable variable `remotebinarydownload'
5791 allows explicit control over the use of 'X'.
5792
5793 For 64-bit targets, the memory packets ('M' and 'm') can now contain a
5794 full 64-bit address. The command
5795
5796 set remoteaddresssize 32
5797
5798 can be used to revert to the old behaviour. For existing remote stubs
5799 the change should not be noticed, as the additional address information
5800 will be discarded.
5801
5802 In order to assist in debugging stubs, you may use the maintenance
5803 command `packet' to send any text string to the stub. For instance,
5804
5805 maint packet heythere
5806
5807 sends the packet "$heythere#<checksum>". Note that it is very easy to
5808 disrupt a debugging session by sending the wrong packet at the wrong
5809 time.
5810
5811 The compare-sections command allows you to compare section data on the
5812 target to what is in the executable file without uploading or
5813 downloading, by comparing CRC checksums.
5814
5815 * Tracing can collect general expressions
5816
5817 You may now collect general expressions at tracepoints. This requires
5818 further additions to the target-side stub; see tracepoint.c and
5819 doc/agentexpr.texi for further details.
5820
5821 * mask-address variable for Mips
5822
5823 For Mips targets, you may control the zeroing of the upper 32 bits of
5824 a 64-bit address by entering `set mask-address on'. This is mainly
5825 of interest to users of embedded R4xxx and R5xxx processors.
5826
5827 * Higher serial baud rates
5828
5829 GDB's serial code now allows you to specify baud rates 57600, 115200,
5830 230400, and 460800 baud. (Note that your host system may not be able
5831 to achieve all of these rates.)
5832
5833 * i960 simulator
5834
5835 The i960 configuration now includes an initial implementation of a
5836 builtin simulator, contributed by Jim Wilson.
5837
5838
5839 *** Changes in GDB-4.17:
5840
5841 * New native configurations
5842
5843 Alpha GNU/Linux alpha*-*-linux*
5844 Unixware 2.x i[3456]86-unixware2*
5845 Irix 6.x mips*-sgi-irix6*
5846 PowerPC GNU/Linux powerpc-*-linux*
5847 PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
5848 Sparc GNU/Linux sparc-*-linux*
5849 Motorola sysV68 R3V7.1 m68k-motorola-sysv
5850
5851 * New targets
5852
5853 Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
5854 Hitachi H8/300S h8300*-*-*
5855 Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
5856 Matsushita MN10300 w/simulator mn10300-*-*
5857 MIPS NEC VR4100 mips64*vr4100*{,el}-*-elf*
5858 MIPS NEC VR5000 mips64*vr5000*{,el}-*-elf*
5859 MIPS Toshiba TX39 mips64*tx39*{,el}-*-elf*
5860 Mitsubishi D10V w/simulator d10v-*-*
5861 Mitsubishi M32R/D w/simulator m32r-*-elf*
5862 Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
5863 NEC V850 w/simulator v850-*-*
5864
5865 * New debugging protocols
5866
5867 ARM with RDI protocol arm*-*-*
5868 M68K with dBUG monitor m68*-*-{aout,coff,elf}
5869 DDB and LSI variants of PMON protocol mips*-*-*
5870 PowerPC with DINK32 monitor powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
5871 PowerPC with SDS protocol powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
5872 Macraigor OCD (Wiggler) devices powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
5873
5874 * DWARF 2
5875
5876 All configurations can now understand and use the DWARF 2 debugging
5877 format. The choice is automatic, if the symbol file contains DWARF 2
5878 information.
5879
5880 * Java frontend
5881
5882 GDB now includes basic Java language support. This support is
5883 only useful with Java compilers that produce native machine code.
5884
5885 * solib-absolute-prefix and solib-search-path
5886
5887 For SunOS and SVR4 shared libraries, you may now set the prefix for
5888 loading absolute shared library symbol files, and the search path for
5889 locating non-absolute shared library symbol files.
5890
5891 * Live range splitting
5892
5893 GDB can now effectively debug code for which GCC has performed live
5894 range splitting as part of its optimization. See gdb/doc/LRS for
5895 more details on the expected format of the stabs information.
5896
5897 * Hurd support
5898
5899 GDB's support for the GNU Hurd, including thread debugging, has been
5900 updated to work with current versions of the Hurd.
5901
5902 * ARM Thumb support
5903
5904 GDB's ARM target configuration now handles the ARM7T (Thumb) 16-bit
5905 instruction set. ARM GDB automatically detects when Thumb
5906 instructions are in use, and adjusts disassembly and backtracing
5907 accordingly.
5908
5909 * MIPS16 support
5910
5911 GDB's MIPS target configurations now handle the MIP16 16-bit
5912 instruction set.
5913
5914 * Overlay support
5915
5916 GDB now includes support for overlays; if an executable has been
5917 linked such that multiple sections are based at the same address, GDB
5918 will decide which section to use for symbolic info. You can choose to
5919 control the decision manually, using overlay commands, or implement
5920 additional target-side support and use "overlay load-target" to bring
5921 in the overlay mapping. Do "help overlay" for more detail.
5922
5923 * info symbol
5924
5925 The command "info symbol <address>" displays information about
5926 the symbol at the specified address.
5927
5928 * Trace support
5929
5930 The standard remote protocol now includes an extension that allows
5931 asynchronous collection and display of trace data. This requires
5932 extensive support in the target-side debugging stub. Tracing mode
5933 includes a new interaction mode in GDB and new commands: see the
5934 file tracepoint.c for more details.
5935
5936 * MIPS simulator
5937
5938 Configurations for embedded MIPS now include a simulator contributed
5939 by Cygnus Solutions. The simulator supports the instruction sets
5940 of most MIPS variants.
5941
5942 * Sparc simulator
5943
5944 Sparc configurations may now include the ERC32 simulator contributed
5945 by the European Space Agency. The simulator is not built into
5946 Sparc targets by default; configure with --enable-sim to include it.
5947
5948 * set architecture
5949
5950 For target configurations that may include multiple variants of a
5951 basic architecture (such as MIPS and SH), you may now set the
5952 architecture explicitly. "set arch" sets, "info arch" lists
5953 the possible architectures.
5954
5955 *** Changes in GDB-4.16:
5956
5957 * New native configurations
5958
5959 Windows 95, x86 Windows NT i[345]86-*-cygwin32
5960 M68K NetBSD m68k-*-netbsd*
5961 PowerPC AIX 4.x powerpc-*-aix*
5962 PowerPC MacOS powerpc-*-macos*
5963 PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
5964 RS/6000 AIX 4.x rs6000-*-aix4*
5965
5966 * New targets
5967
5968 ARM with RDP protocol arm-*-*
5969 I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
5970 MIPS VxWorks mips*-*-vxworks*
5971 MIPS VR4300 with PMON mips64*vr4300{,el}-*-elf*
5972 PowerPC with PPCBUG monitor powerpc{,le}-*-eabi*
5973 Hitachi SH3 sh-*-*
5974 Matra Sparclet sparclet-*-*
5975
5976 * PowerPC simulator
5977
5978 The powerpc-eabi configuration now includes the PSIM simulator,
5979 contributed by Andrew Cagney, with assistance from Mike Meissner.
5980 PSIM is a very elaborate model of the PowerPC, including not only
5981 basic instruction set execution, but also details of execution unit
5982 performance and I/O hardware. See sim/ppc/README for more details.
5983
5984 * Solaris 2.5
5985
5986 GDB now works with Solaris 2.5.
5987
5988 * Windows 95/NT native
5989
5990 GDB will now work as a native debugger on Windows 95 and Windows NT.
5991 To build it from source, you must use the "gnu-win32" environment,
5992 which uses a DLL to emulate enough of Unix to run the GNU tools.
5993 Further information, binaries, and sources are available at
5994 ftp.cygnus.com, under pub/gnu-win32.
5995
5996 * dont-repeat command
5997
5998 If a user-defined command includes the command `dont-repeat', then the
5999 command will not be repeated if the user just types return. This is
6000 useful if the command is time-consuming to run, so that accidental
6001 extra keystrokes don't run the same command many times.
6002
6003 * Send break instead of ^C
6004
6005 The standard remote protocol now includes an option to send a break
6006 rather than a ^C to the target in order to interrupt it. By default,
6007 GDB will send ^C; to send a break, set the variable `remotebreak' to 1.
6008
6009 * Remote protocol timeout
6010
6011 The standard remote protocol includes a new variable `remotetimeout'
6012 that allows you to set the number of seconds before GDB gives up trying
6013 to read from the target. The default value is 2.
6014
6015 * Automatic tracking of dynamic object loading (HPUX and Solaris only)
6016
6017 By default GDB will automatically keep track of objects as they are
6018 loaded and unloaded by the dynamic linker. By using the command `set
6019 stop-on-solib-events 1' you can arrange for GDB to stop the inferior
6020 when shared library events occur, thus allowing you to set breakpoints
6021 in shared libraries which are explicitly loaded by the inferior.
6022
6023 Note this feature does not work on hpux8. On hpux9 you must link
6024 /usr/lib/end.o into your program. This feature should work
6025 automatically on hpux10.
6026
6027 * Irix 5.x hardware watchpoint support
6028
6029 Irix 5 configurations now support the use of hardware watchpoints.
6030
6031 * Mips protocol "SYN garbage limit"
6032
6033 When debugging a Mips target using the `target mips' protocol, you
6034 may set the number of characters that GDB will ignore by setting
6035 the `syn-garbage-limit'. A value of -1 means that GDB will ignore
6036 every character. The default value is 1050.
6037
6038 * Recording and replaying remote debug sessions
6039
6040 If you set `remotelogfile' to the name of a file, gdb will write to it
6041 a recording of a remote debug session. This recording may then be
6042 replayed back to gdb using "gdbreplay". See gdbserver/README for
6043 details. This is useful when you have a problem with GDB while doing
6044 remote debugging; you can make a recording of the session and send it
6045 to someone else, who can then recreate the problem.
6046
6047 * Speedups for remote debugging
6048
6049 GDB includes speedups for downloading and stepping MIPS systems using
6050 the IDT monitor, fast downloads to the Hitachi SH E7000 emulator,
6051 and more efficient S-record downloading.
6052
6053 * Memory use reductions and statistics collection
6054
6055 GDB now uses less memory and reports statistics about memory usage.
6056 Try the `maint print statistics' command, for example.
6057
6058 *** Changes in GDB-4.15:
6059
6060 * Psymtabs for XCOFF
6061
6062 The symbol reader for AIX GDB now uses partial symbol tables. This
6063 can greatly improve startup time, especially for large executables.
6064
6065 * Remote targets use caching
6066
6067 Remote targets now use a data cache to speed up communication with the
6068 remote side. The data cache could lead to incorrect results because
6069 it doesn't know about volatile variables, thus making it impossible to
6070 debug targets which use memory mapped I/O devices. `set remotecache
6071 off' turns the the data cache off.
6072
6073 * Remote targets may have threads
6074
6075 The standard remote protocol now includes support for multiple threads
6076 in the target system, using new protocol commands 'H' and 'T'. See
6077 gdb/remote.c for details.
6078
6079 * NetROM support
6080
6081 If GDB is configured with `--enable-netrom', then it will include
6082 support for the NetROM ROM emulator from XLNT Designs. The NetROM
6083 acts as though it is a bank of ROM on the target board, but you can
6084 write into it over the network. GDB's support consists only of
6085 support for fast loading into the emulated ROM; to debug, you must use
6086 another protocol, such as standard remote protocol. The usual
6087 sequence is something like
6088
6089 target nrom <netrom-hostname>
6090 load <prog>
6091 target remote <netrom-hostname>:1235
6092
6093 * Macintosh host
6094
6095 GDB now includes support for the Apple Macintosh, as a host only. It
6096 may be run as either an MPW tool or as a standalone application, and
6097 it can debug through the serial port. All the usual GDB commands are
6098 available, but to the target command, you must supply "serial" as the
6099 device type instead of "/dev/ttyXX". See mpw-README in the main
6100 directory for more information on how to build. The MPW configuration
6101 scripts */mpw-config.in support only a few targets, and only the
6102 mips-idt-ecoff target has been tested.
6103
6104 * Autoconf
6105
6106 GDB configuration now uses autoconf. This is not user-visible,
6107 but does simplify configuration and building.
6108
6109 * hpux10
6110
6111 GDB now supports hpux10.
6112
6113 *** Changes in GDB-4.14:
6114
6115 * New native configurations
6116
6117 x86 FreeBSD i[345]86-*-freebsd
6118 x86 NetBSD i[345]86-*-netbsd
6119 NS32k NetBSD ns32k-*-netbsd
6120 Sparc NetBSD sparc-*-netbsd
6121
6122 * New targets
6123
6124 A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
6125 HP PA PRO embedded (WinBond W89K & Oki OP50N) hppa*-*-pro*
6126 CPU32 EST-300 emulator m68*-*-est*
6127 PowerPC ELF powerpc-*-elf
6128 WDC 65816 w65-*-*
6129
6130 * Alpha OSF/1 support for procfs
6131
6132 GDB now supports procfs under OSF/1-2.x and higher, which makes it
6133 possible to attach to running processes. As the mounting of the /proc
6134 filesystem is optional on the Alpha, GDB automatically determines
6135 the availability of /proc during startup. This can lead to problems
6136 if /proc is unmounted after GDB has been started.
6137
6138 * Arguments to user-defined commands
6139
6140 User commands may accept up to 10 arguments separated by whitespace.
6141 Arguments are accessed within the user command via $arg0..$arg9. A
6142 trivial example:
6143 define adder
6144 print $arg0 + $arg1 + $arg2
6145
6146 To execute the command use:
6147 adder 1 2 3
6148
6149 Defines the command "adder" which prints the sum of its three arguments.
6150 Note the arguments are text substitutions, so they may reference variables,
6151 use complex expressions, or even perform inferior function calls.
6152
6153 * New `if' and `while' commands
6154
6155 This makes it possible to write more sophisticated user-defined
6156 commands. Both commands take a single argument, which is the
6157 expression to evaluate, and must be followed by the commands to
6158 execute, one per line, if the expression is nonzero, the list being
6159 terminated by the word `end'. The `if' command list may include an
6160 `else' word, which causes the following commands to be executed only
6161 if the expression is zero.
6162
6163 * Fortran source language mode
6164
6165 GDB now includes partial support for Fortran 77. It will recognize
6166 Fortran programs and can evaluate a subset of Fortran expressions, but
6167 variables and functions may not be handled correctly. GDB will work
6168 with G77, but does not yet know much about symbols emitted by other
6169 Fortran compilers.
6170
6171 * Better HPUX support
6172
6173 Most debugging facilities now work on dynamic executables for HPPAs
6174 running hpux9 or later. You can attach to running dynamically linked
6175 processes, but by default the dynamic libraries will be read-only, so
6176 for instance you won't be able to put breakpoints in them. To change
6177 that behavior do the following before running the program:
6178
6179 adb -w a.out
6180 __dld_flags?W 0x5
6181 control-d
6182
6183 This will cause the libraries to be mapped private and read-write.
6184 To revert to the normal behavior, do this:
6185
6186 adb -w a.out
6187 __dld_flags?W 0x4
6188 control-d
6189
6190 You cannot set breakpoints or examine data in the library until after
6191 the library is loaded if the function/data symbols do not have
6192 external linkage.
6193
6194 GDB can now also read debug symbols produced by the HP C compiler on
6195 HPPAs (sorry, no C++, Fortran or 68k support).
6196
6197 * Target byte order now dynamically selectable
6198
6199 You can choose which byte order to use with a target system, via the
6200 commands "set endian big" and "set endian little", and you can see the
6201 current setting by using "show endian". You can also give the command
6202 "set endian auto", in which case GDB will use the byte order
6203 associated with the executable. Currently, only embedded MIPS
6204 configurations support dynamic selection of target byte order.
6205
6206 * New DOS host serial code
6207
6208 This version uses DPMI interrupts to handle buffered I/O, so you
6209 no longer need to run asynctsr when debugging boards connected to
6210 a PC's serial port.
6211
6212 *** Changes in GDB-4.13:
6213
6214 * New "complete" command
6215
6216 This lists all the possible completions for the rest of the line, if it
6217 were to be given as a command itself. This is intended for use by emacs.
6218
6219 * Trailing space optional in prompt
6220
6221 "set prompt" no longer adds a space for you after the prompt you set. This
6222 allows you to set a prompt which ends in a space or one that does not.
6223
6224 * Breakpoint hit counts
6225
6226 "info break" now displays a count of the number of times the breakpoint
6227 has been hit. This is especially useful in conjunction with "ignore"; you
6228 can ignore a large number of breakpoint hits, look at the breakpoint info
6229 to see how many times the breakpoint was hit, then run again, ignoring one
6230 less than that number, and this will get you quickly to the last hit of
6231 that breakpoint.
6232
6233 * Ability to stop printing at NULL character
6234
6235 "set print null-stop" will cause GDB to stop printing the characters of
6236 an array when the first NULL is encountered. This is useful when large
6237 arrays actually contain only short strings.
6238
6239 * Shared library breakpoints
6240
6241 In SunOS 4.x, SVR4, and Alpha OSF/1 configurations, you can now set
6242 breakpoints in shared libraries before the executable is run.
6243
6244 * Hardware watchpoints
6245
6246 There is a new hardware breakpoint for the watch command for sparclite
6247 targets. See gdb/sparclite/hw_breakpoint.note.
6248
6249 Hardware watchpoints are also now supported under GNU/Linux.
6250
6251 * Annotations
6252
6253 Annotations have been added. These are for use with graphical interfaces,
6254 and are still experimental. Currently only gdba.el uses these.
6255
6256 * Improved Irix 5 support
6257
6258 GDB now works properly with Irix 5.2.
6259
6260 * Improved HPPA support
6261
6262 GDB now works properly with the latest GCC and GAS.
6263
6264 * New native configurations
6265
6266 Sequent PTX4 i[34]86-sequent-ptx4
6267 HPPA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
6268 Atari TT running SVR4 m68*-*-sysv4*
6269 RS/6000 LynxOS rs6000-*-lynxos*
6270
6271 * New targets
6272
6273 OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
6274 MIPS R4000 mips64*{,el}-*-{ecoff,elf}
6275 Sparc64 sparc64-*-*
6276
6277 * Hitachi SH7000 and E7000-PC ICE support
6278
6279 There is now support for communicating with the Hitachi E7000-PC ICE.
6280 This is available automatically when GDB is configured for the SH.
6281
6282 * Fixes
6283
6284 As usual, a variety of small fixes and improvements, both generic
6285 and configuration-specific. See the ChangeLog for more detail.
6286
6287 *** Changes in GDB-4.12:
6288
6289 * Irix 5 is now supported
6290
6291 * HPPA support
6292
6293 GDB-4.12 on the HPPA has a number of changes which make it unable
6294 to debug the output from the currently released versions of GCC and
6295 GAS (GCC 2.5.8 and GAS-2.2 or PAGAS-1.36). Until the next major release
6296 of GCC and GAS, versions of these tools designed to work with GDB-4.12
6297 can be retrieved via anonymous ftp from jaguar.cs.utah.edu:/dist.
6298
6299
6300 *** Changes in GDB-4.11:
6301
6302 * User visible changes:
6303
6304 * Remote Debugging
6305
6306 The "set remotedebug" option is now consistent between the mips remote
6307 target, remote targets using the gdb-specific protocol, UDI (AMD's
6308 debug protocol for the 29k) and the 88k bug monitor. It is now an
6309 integer specifying a debug level (normally 0 or 1, but 2 means more
6310 debugging info for the mips target).
6311
6312 * DEC Alpha native support
6313
6314 GDB now works on the DEC Alpha. GCC 2.4.5 does not produce usable
6315 debug info, but GDB works fairly well with the DEC compiler and should
6316 work with a future GCC release. See the README file for a few
6317 Alpha-specific notes.
6318
6319 * Preliminary thread implementation
6320
6321 GDB now has preliminary thread support for both SGI/Irix and LynxOS.
6322
6323 * LynxOS native and target support for 386
6324
6325 This release has been hosted on LynxOS 2.2, and also can be configured
6326 to remotely debug programs running under LynxOS (see gdb/gdbserver/README
6327 for details).
6328
6329 * Improvements in C++ mangling/demangling.
6330
6331 This release has much better g++ debugging, specifically in name
6332 mangling/demangling, virtual function calls, print virtual table,
6333 call methods, ...etc.
6334
6335 *** Changes in GDB-4.10:
6336
6337 * User visible changes:
6338
6339 Remote debugging using the GDB-specific (`target remote') protocol now
6340 supports the `load' command. This is only useful if you have some
6341 other way of getting the stub to the target system, and you can put it
6342 somewhere in memory where it won't get clobbered by the download.
6343
6344 Filename completion now works.
6345
6346 When run under emacs mode, the "info line" command now causes the
6347 arrow to point to the line specified. Also, "info line" prints
6348 addresses in symbolic form (as well as hex).
6349
6350 All vxworks based targets now support a user settable option, called
6351 vxworks-timeout. This option represents the number of seconds gdb
6352 should wait for responses to rpc's. You might want to use this if
6353 your vxworks target is, perhaps, a slow software simulator or happens
6354 to be on the far side of a thin network line.
6355
6356 * DEC alpha support
6357
6358 This release contains support for using a DEC alpha as a GDB host for
6359 cross debugging. Native alpha debugging is not supported yet.
6360
6361
6362 *** Changes in GDB-4.9:
6363
6364 * Testsuite
6365
6366 This is the first GDB release which is accompanied by a matching testsuite.
6367 The testsuite requires installation of dejagnu, which should be available
6368 via ftp from most sites that carry GNU software.
6369
6370 * C++ demangling
6371
6372 'Cfront' style demangling has had its name changed to 'ARM' style, to
6373 emphasize that it was written from the specifications in the C++ Annotated
6374 Reference Manual, not necessarily to be compatible with AT&T cfront. Despite
6375 disclaimers, it still generated too much confusion with users attempting to
6376 use gdb with AT&T cfront.
6377
6378 * Simulators
6379
6380 GDB now uses a standard remote interface to a simulator library.
6381 So far, the library contains simulators for the Zilog Z8001/2, the
6382 Hitachi H8/300, H8/500 and Super-H.
6383
6384 * New targets supported
6385
6386 H8/300 simulator h8300-hitachi-hms or h8300hms
6387 H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
6388 SH simulator sh-hitachi-hms or sh
6389 Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
6390 IDT MIPS board over serial line mips-idt-ecoff
6391
6392 Cross-debugging to GO32 targets is supported. It requires a custom
6393 version of the i386-stub.c module which is integrated with the
6394 GO32 memory extender.
6395
6396 * New remote protocols
6397
6398 MIPS remote debugging protocol.
6399
6400 * New source languages supported
6401
6402 This version includes preliminary support for Chill, a Pascal like language
6403 used by telecommunications companies. Chill support is also being integrated
6404 into the GNU compiler, but we don't know when it will be publically available.
6405
6406
6407 *** Changes in GDB-4.8:
6408
6409 * HP Precision Architecture supported
6410
6411 GDB now supports HP PA-RISC machines running HPUX. A preliminary
6412 version of this support was available as a set of patches from the
6413 University of Utah. GDB does not support debugging of programs
6414 compiled with the HP compiler, because HP will not document their file
6415 format. Instead, you must use GCC (version 2.3.2 or later) and PA-GAS
6416 (as available from jaguar.cs.utah.edu:/dist/pa-gas.u4.tar.Z).
6417
6418 Many problems in the preliminary version have been fixed.
6419
6420 * Faster and better demangling
6421
6422 We have improved template demangling and fixed numerous bugs in the GNU style
6423 demangler. It can now handle type modifiers such as `static' or `const'. Wide
6424 character types (wchar_t) are now supported. Demangling of each symbol is now
6425 only done once, and is cached when the symbol table for a file is read in.
6426 This results in a small increase in memory usage for C programs, a moderate
6427 increase in memory usage for C++ programs, and a fantastic speedup in
6428 symbol lookups.
6429
6430 `Cfront' style demangling still doesn't work with AT&T cfront. It was written
6431 from the specifications in the Annotated Reference Manual, which AT&T's
6432 compiler does not actually implement.
6433
6434 * G++ multiple inheritance compiler problem
6435
6436 In the 2.3.2 release of gcc/g++, how the compiler resolves multiple
6437 inheritance lattices was reworked to properly discover ambiguities. We
6438 recently found an example which causes this new algorithm to fail in a
6439 very subtle way, producing bad debug information for those classes.
6440 The file 'gcc.patch' (in this directory) can be applied to gcc to
6441 circumvent the problem. A future GCC release will contain a complete
6442 fix.
6443
6444 The previous G++ debug info problem (mentioned below for the gdb-4.7
6445 release) is fixed in gcc version 2.3.2.
6446
6447 * Improved configure script
6448
6449 The `configure' script will now attempt to guess your system type if
6450 you don't supply a host system type. The old scheme of supplying a
6451 host system triplet is preferable over using this. All the magic is
6452 done in the new `config.guess' script. Examine it for details.
6453
6454 We have also brought our configure script much more in line with the FSF's
6455 version. It now supports the --with-xxx options. In particular,
6456 `--with-minimal-bfd' can be used to make the GDB binary image smaller.
6457 The resulting GDB will not be able to read arbitrary object file formats --
6458 only the format ``expected'' to be used on the configured target system.
6459 We hope to make this the default in a future release.
6460
6461 * Documentation improvements
6462
6463 There's new internal documentation on how to modify GDB, and how to
6464 produce clean changes to the code. We implore people to read it
6465 before submitting changes.
6466
6467 The GDB manual uses new, sexy Texinfo conditionals, rather than arcane
6468 M4 macros. The new texinfo.tex is provided in this release. Pre-built
6469 `info' files are also provided. To build `info' files from scratch,
6470 you will need the latest `makeinfo' release, which will be available in
6471 a future texinfo-X.Y release.
6472
6473 *NOTE* The new texinfo.tex can cause old versions of TeX to hang.
6474 We're not sure exactly which versions have this problem, but it has
6475 been seen in 3.0. We highly recommend upgrading to TeX version 3.141
6476 or better. If that isn't possible, there is a patch in
6477 `texinfo/tex3patch' that will modify `texinfo/texinfo.tex' to work
6478 around this problem.
6479
6480 * New features
6481
6482 GDB now supports array constants that can be used in expressions typed in by
6483 the user. The syntax is `{element, element, ...}'. Ie: you can now type
6484 `print {1, 2, 3}', and it will build up an array in memory malloc'd in
6485 the target program.
6486
6487 The new directory `gdb/sparclite' contains a program that demonstrates
6488 how the sparc-stub.c remote stub runs on a Fujitsu SPARClite processor.
6489
6490 * New native hosts supported
6491
6492 HP/PA-RISC under HPUX using GNU tools hppa1.1-hp-hpux
6493 386 CPUs running SCO Unix 3.2v4 i386-unknown-sco3.2v4
6494
6495 * New targets supported
6496
6497 AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi or udi29k
6498
6499 * New file formats supported
6500
6501 BFD now supports reading HP/PA-RISC executables (SOM file format?),
6502 HPUX core files, and SCO 3.2v2 core files.
6503
6504 * Major bug fixes
6505
6506 Attaching to processes now works again; thanks for the many bug reports.
6507
6508 We have also stomped on a bunch of core dumps caused by
6509 printf_filtered("%s") problems.
6510
6511 We eliminated a copyright problem on the rpc and ptrace header files
6512 for VxWorks, which was discovered at the last minute during the 4.7
6513 release. You should now be able to build a VxWorks GDB.
6514
6515 You can now interrupt gdb while an attached process is running. This
6516 will cause the attached process to stop, and give control back to GDB.
6517
6518 We fixed problems caused by using too many file descriptors
6519 for reading symbols from object files and libraries. This was
6520 especially a problem for programs that used many (~100) shared
6521 libraries.
6522
6523 The `step' command now only enters a subroutine if there is line number
6524 information for the subroutine. Otherwise it acts like the `next'
6525 command. Previously, `step' would enter subroutines if there was
6526 any debugging information about the routine. This avoids problems
6527 when using `cc -g1' on MIPS machines.
6528
6529 * Internal improvements
6530
6531 GDB's internal interfaces have been improved to make it easier to support
6532 debugging of multiple languages in the future.
6533
6534 GDB now uses a common structure for symbol information internally.
6535 Minimal symbols (derived from linkage symbols in object files), partial
6536 symbols (from a quick scan of debug information), and full symbols
6537 contain a common subset of information, making it easier to write
6538 shared code that handles any of them.
6539
6540 * New command line options
6541
6542 We now accept --silent as an alias for --quiet.
6543
6544 * Mmalloc licensing
6545
6546 The memory-mapped-malloc library is now licensed under the GNU Library
6547 General Public License.
6548
6549 *** Changes in GDB-4.7:
6550
6551 * Host/native/target split
6552
6553 GDB has had some major internal surgery to untangle the support for
6554 hosts and remote targets. Now, when you configure GDB for a remote
6555 target, it will no longer load in all of the support for debugging
6556 local programs on the host. When fully completed and tested, this will
6557 ensure that arbitrary host/target combinations are possible.
6558
6559 The primary conceptual shift is to separate the non-portable code in
6560 GDB into three categories. Host specific code is required any time GDB
6561 is compiled on that host, regardless of the target. Target specific
6562 code relates to the peculiarities of the target, but can be compiled on
6563 any host. Native specific code is everything else: it can only be
6564 built when the host and target are the same system. Child process
6565 handling and core file support are two common `native' examples.
6566
6567 GDB's use of /proc for controlling Unix child processes is now cleaner.
6568 It has been split out into a single module under the `target_ops' vector,
6569 plus two native-dependent functions for each system that uses /proc.
6570
6571 * New hosts supported
6572
6573 HP/Apollo 68k (under the BSD domain) m68k-apollo-bsd or apollo68bsd
6574 386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd
6575 386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or i386sco
6576
6577 * New targets supported
6578
6579 Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
6580 68030 and CPU32 m68030-*-*, m68332-*-*
6581
6582 * New native hosts supported
6583
6584 386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd
6585 (386bsd is not well tested yet)
6586 386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or sco
6587
6588 * New file formats supported
6589
6590 BFD now supports COFF files for the Zilog Z8000 microprocessor. It
6591 supports reading of `a.out.adobe' object files, which are an a.out
6592 format extended with minimal information about multiple sections.
6593
6594 * New commands
6595
6596 `show copying' is the same as the old `info copying'.
6597 `show warranty' is the same as `info warrantee'.
6598 These were renamed for consistency. The old commands continue to work.
6599
6600 `info handle' is a new alias for `info signals'.
6601
6602 You can now define pre-command hooks, which attach arbitrary command
6603 scripts to any command. The commands in the hook will be executed
6604 prior to the user's command. You can also create a hook which will be
6605 executed whenever the program stops. See gdb.texinfo.
6606
6607 * C++ improvements
6608
6609 We now deal with Cfront style name mangling, and can even extract type
6610 info from mangled symbols. GDB can automatically figure out which
6611 symbol mangling style your C++ compiler uses.
6612
6613 Calling of methods and virtual functions has been improved as well.
6614
6615 * Major bug fixes
6616
6617 The crash that occured when debugging Sun Ansi-C compiled binaries is
6618 fixed. This was due to mishandling of the extra N_SO stabs output
6619 by the compiler.
6620
6621 We also finally got Ultrix 4.2 running in house, and fixed core file
6622 support, with help from a dozen people on the net.
6623
6624 John M. Farrell discovered that the reason that single-stepping was so
6625 slow on all of the Mips based platforms (primarily SGI and DEC) was
6626 that we were trying to demangle and lookup a symbol used for internal
6627 purposes on every instruction that was being stepped through. Changing
6628 the name of that symbol so that it couldn't be mistaken for a C++
6629 mangled symbol sped things up a great deal.
6630
6631 Rich Pixley sped up symbol lookups in general by getting much smarter
6632 about when C++ symbol mangling is necessary. This should make symbol
6633 completion (TAB on the command line) much faster. It's not as fast as
6634 we'd like, but it's significantly faster than gdb-4.6.
6635
6636 * AMD 29k support
6637
6638 A new user controllable variable 'call_scratch_address' can
6639 specify the location of a scratch area to be used when GDB
6640 calls a function in the target. This is necessary because the
6641 usual method of putting the scratch area on the stack does not work
6642 in systems that have separate instruction and data spaces.
6643
6644 We integrated changes to support the 29k UDI (Universal Debugger
6645 Interface), but discovered at the last minute that we didn't have all
6646 of the appropriate copyright paperwork. We are working with AMD to
6647 resolve this, and hope to have it available soon.
6648
6649 * Remote interfaces
6650
6651 We have sped up the remote serial line protocol, especially for targets
6652 with lots of registers. It now supports a new `expedited status' ('T')
6653 message which can be used in place of the existing 'S' status message.
6654 This allows the remote stub to send only the registers that GDB
6655 needs to make a quick decision about single-stepping or conditional
6656 breakpoints, eliminating the need to fetch the entire register set for
6657 each instruction being stepped through.
6658
6659 The GDB remote serial protocol now implements a write-through cache for
6660 registers, only re-reading the registers if the target has run.
6661
6662 There is also a new remote serial stub for SPARC processors. You can
6663 find it in gdb-4.7/gdb/sparc-stub.c. This was written to support the
6664 Fujitsu SPARClite processor, but will run on any stand-alone SPARC
6665 processor with a serial port.
6666
6667 * Configuration
6668
6669 Configure.in files have become much easier to read and modify. A new
6670 `table driven' format makes it more obvious what configurations are
6671 supported, and what files each one uses.
6672
6673 * Library changes
6674
6675 There is a new opcodes library which will eventually contain all of the
6676 disassembly routines and opcode tables. At present, it only contains
6677 Sparc and Z8000 routines. This will allow the assembler, debugger, and
6678 disassembler (binutils/objdump) to share these routines.
6679
6680 The libiberty library is now copylefted under the GNU Library General
6681 Public License. This allows more liberal use, and was done so libg++
6682 can use it. This makes no difference to GDB, since the Library License
6683 grants all the rights from the General Public License.
6684
6685 * Documentation
6686
6687 The file gdb-4.7/gdb/doc/stabs.texinfo is a (relatively) complete
6688 reference to the stabs symbol info used by the debugger. It is (as far
6689 as we know) the only published document on this fascinating topic. We
6690 encourage you to read it, compare it to the stabs information on your
6691 system, and send improvements on the document in general (to
6692 bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu).
6693
6694 And, of course, many bugs have been fixed.
6695
6696
6697 *** Changes in GDB-4.6:
6698
6699 * Better support for C++ function names
6700
6701 GDB now accepts as input the "demangled form" of C++ overloaded function
6702 names and member function names, and can do command completion on such names
6703 (using TAB, TAB-TAB, and ESC-?). The names have to be quoted with a pair of
6704 single quotes. Examples are 'func (int, long)' and 'obj::operator==(obj&)'.
6705 Make use of command completion, it is your friend.
6706
6707 GDB also now accepts a variety of C++ mangled symbol formats. They are
6708 the GNU g++ style, the Cfront (ARM) style, and the Lucid (lcc) style.
6709 You can tell GDB which format to use by doing a 'set demangle-style {gnu,
6710 lucid, cfront, auto}'. 'gnu' is the default. Do a 'set demangle-style foo'
6711 for the list of formats.
6712
6713 * G++ symbol mangling problem
6714
6715 Recent versions of gcc have a bug in how they emit debugging information for
6716 C++ methods (when using dbx-style stabs). The file 'gcc.patch' (in this
6717 directory) can be applied to gcc to fix the problem. Alternatively, if you
6718 can't fix gcc, you can #define GCC_MANGLE_BUG when compling gdb/symtab.c. The
6719 usual symptom is difficulty with setting breakpoints on methods. GDB complains
6720 about the method being non-existent. (We believe that version 2.2.2 of GCC has
6721 this problem.)
6722
6723 * New 'maintenance' command
6724
6725 All of the commands related to hacking GDB internals have been moved out of
6726 the main command set, and now live behind the 'maintenance' command. This
6727 can also be abbreviated as 'mt'. The following changes were made:
6728
6729 dump-me -> maintenance dump-me
6730 info all-breakpoints -> maintenance info breakpoints
6731 printmsyms -> maintenance print msyms
6732 printobjfiles -> maintenance print objfiles
6733 printpsyms -> maintenance print psymbols
6734 printsyms -> maintenance print symbols
6735
6736 The following commands are new:
6737
6738 maintenance demangle Call internal GDB demangler routine to
6739 demangle a C++ link name and prints the result.
6740 maintenance print type Print a type chain for a given symbol
6741
6742 * Change to .gdbinit file processing
6743
6744 We now read the $HOME/.gdbinit file before processing the argv arguments
6745 (e.g. reading symbol files or core files). This allows global parameters to
6746 be set, which will apply during the symbol reading. The ./.gdbinit is still
6747 read after argv processing.
6748
6749 * New hosts supported
6750
6751 Solaris-2.0 !!! sparc-sun-solaris2 or sun4sol2
6752
6753 GNU/Linux support i386-unknown-linux or linux
6754
6755 We are also including code to support the HP/PA running BSD and HPUX. This
6756 is almost guaranteed not to work, as we didn't have time to test or build it
6757 for this release. We are including it so that the more adventurous (or
6758 masochistic) of you can play with it. We also had major problems with the
6759 fact that the compiler that we got from HP doesn't support the -g option.
6760 It costs extra.
6761
6762 * New targets supported
6763
6764 Hitachi H8/300 h8300-hitachi-hms or h8300hms
6765
6766 * More smarts about finding #include files
6767
6768 GDB now remembers the compilation directory for all include files, and for
6769 all files from which C is generated (like yacc and lex sources). This
6770 greatly improves GDB's ability to find yacc/lex sources, and include files,
6771 especially if you are debugging your program from a directory different from
6772 the one that contains your sources.
6773
6774 We also fixed a bug which caused difficulty with listing and setting
6775 breakpoints in include files which contain C code. (In the past, you had to
6776 try twice in order to list an include file that you hadn't looked at before.)
6777
6778 * Interesting infernals change
6779
6780 GDB now deals with arbitrary numbers of sections, where the symbols for each
6781 section must be relocated relative to that section's landing place in the
6782 target's address space. This work was needed to support ELF with embedded
6783 stabs used by Solaris-2.0.
6784
6785 * Bug fixes (of course!)
6786
6787 There have been loads of fixes for the following things:
6788 mips, rs6000, 29k/udi, m68k, g++, type handling, elf/dwarf, m88k,
6789 i960, stabs, DOS(GO32), procfs, etc...
6790
6791 See the ChangeLog for details.
6792
6793 *** Changes in GDB-4.5:
6794
6795 * New machines supported (host and target)
6796
6797 IBM RS6000 running AIX rs6000-ibm-aix or rs6000
6798
6799 SGI Irix-4.x mips-sgi-irix4 or iris4
6800
6801 * New malloc package
6802
6803 GDB now uses a new memory manager called mmalloc, based on gmalloc.
6804 Mmalloc is capable of handling mutiple heaps of memory. It is also
6805 capable of saving a heap to a file, and then mapping it back in later.
6806 This can be used to greatly speedup the startup of GDB by using a
6807 pre-parsed symbol table which lives in a mmalloc managed heap. For
6808 more details, please read mmalloc/mmalloc.texi.
6809
6810 * info proc
6811
6812 The 'info proc' command (SVR4 only) has been enhanced quite a bit. See
6813 'help info proc' for details.
6814
6815 * MIPS ecoff symbol table format
6816
6817 The code that reads MIPS symbol table format is now supported on all hosts.
6818 Thanks to MIPS for releasing the sym.h and symconst.h files to make this
6819 possible.
6820
6821 * File name changes for MS-DOS
6822
6823 Many files in the config directories have been renamed to make it easier to
6824 support GDB on MS-DOSe systems (which have very restrictive file name
6825 conventions :-( ). MS-DOSe host support (under DJ Delorie's GO32
6826 environment) is close to working but has some remaining problems. Note
6827 that debugging of DOS programs is not supported, due to limitations
6828 in the ``operating system'', but it can be used to host cross-debugging.
6829
6830 * Cross byte order fixes
6831
6832 Many fixes have been made to support cross debugging of Sparc and MIPS
6833 targets from hosts whose byte order differs.
6834
6835 * New -mapped and -readnow options
6836
6837 If memory-mapped files are available on your system through the 'mmap'
6838 system call, you can use the -mapped option on the `file' or
6839 `symbol-file' commands to cause GDB to write the symbols from your
6840 program into a reusable file. If the program you are debugging is
6841 called `/path/fred', the mapped symbol file will be `./fred.syms'.
6842 Future GDB debugging sessions will notice the presence of this file,
6843 and will quickly map in symbol information from it, rather than reading
6844 the symbol table from the executable program. Using the '-mapped'
6845 option in a GDB `file' or `symbol-file' command has the same effect as
6846 starting GDB with the '-mapped' command-line option.
6847
6848 You can cause GDB to read the entire symbol table immediately by using
6849 the '-readnow' option with any of the commands that load symbol table
6850 information (or on the GDB command line). This makes the command
6851 slower, but makes future operations faster.
6852
6853 The -mapped and -readnow options are typically combined in order to
6854 build a `fred.syms' file that contains complete symbol information.
6855 A simple GDB invocation to do nothing but build a `.syms' file for future
6856 use is:
6857
6858 gdb -batch -nx -mapped -readnow programname
6859
6860 The `.syms' file is specific to the host machine on which GDB is run.
6861 It holds an exact image of GDB's internal symbol table. It cannot be
6862 shared across multiple host platforms.
6863
6864 * longjmp() handling
6865
6866 GDB is now capable of stepping and nexting over longjmp(), _longjmp(), and
6867 siglongjmp() without losing control. This feature has not yet been ported to
6868 all systems. It currently works on many 386 platforms, all MIPS-based
6869 platforms (SGI, DECstation, etc), and Sun3/4.
6870
6871 * Solaris 2.0
6872
6873 Preliminary work has been put in to support the new Solaris OS from Sun. At
6874 this time, it can control and debug processes, but it is not capable of
6875 reading symbols.
6876
6877 * Bug fixes
6878
6879 As always, many many bug fixes. The major areas were with g++, and mipsread.
6880 People using the MIPS-based platforms should experience fewer mysterious
6881 crashes and trashed symbol tables.
6882
6883 *** Changes in GDB-4.4:
6884
6885 * New machines supported (host and target)
6886
6887 SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco
6888 (except core files)
6889 BSD Reno on Vax vax-dec-bsd
6890 Ultrix on Vax vax-dec-ultrix
6891
6892 * New machines supported (target)
6893
6894 AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
6895
6896 * C++ support
6897
6898 GDB continues to improve its handling of C++. `References' work better.
6899 The demangler has also been improved, and now deals with symbols mangled as
6900 per the Annotated C++ Reference Guide.
6901
6902 GDB also now handles `stabs' symbol information embedded in MIPS
6903 `ecoff' symbol tables. Since the ecoff format was not easily
6904 extensible to handle new languages such as C++, this appeared to be a
6905 good way to put C++ debugging info into MIPS binaries. This option
6906 will be supported in the GNU C compiler, version 2, when it is
6907 released.
6908
6909 * New features for SVR4
6910
6911 GDB now handles SVR4 shared libraries, in the same fashion as SunOS
6912 shared libraries. Debugging dynamically linked programs should present
6913 only minor differences from debugging statically linked programs.
6914
6915 The `info proc' command will print out information about any process
6916 on an SVR4 system (including the one you are debugging). At the moment,
6917 it prints the address mappings of the process.
6918
6919 If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please send mail to
6920 bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were reqired (if any).
6921
6922 * Better dynamic linking support in SunOS
6923
6924 Reading symbols from shared libraries which contain debugging symbols
6925 now works properly. However, there remain issues such as automatic
6926 skipping of `transfer vector' code during function calls, which
6927 make it harder to debug code in a shared library, than to debug the
6928 same code linked statically.
6929
6930 * New Getopt
6931
6932 GDB is now using the latest `getopt' routines from the FSF. This
6933 version accepts the -- prefix for options with long names. GDB will
6934 continue to accept the old forms (-option and +option) as well.
6935 Various single letter abbreviations for options have been explicity
6936 added to the option table so that they won't get overshadowed in the
6937 future by other options that begin with the same letter.
6938
6939 * Bugs fixed
6940
6941 The `cleanup_undefined_types' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed.
6942 Many assorted bugs have been handled. Many more remain to be handled.
6943 See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details.
6944
6945
6946 *** Changes in GDB-4.3:
6947
6948 * New machines supported (host and target)
6949
6950 Amiga 3000 running Amix m68k-cbm-svr4 or amix
6951 NCR 3000 386 running SVR4 i386-ncr-svr4 or ncr3000
6952 Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
6953
6954 * Almost SCO Unix support
6955
6956 We had hoped to support:
6957 SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco
6958 (except for core file support), but we discovered very late in the release
6959 that it has problems with process groups that render gdb unusable. Sorry
6960 about that. I encourage people to fix it and post the fixes.
6961
6962 * Preliminary ELF and DWARF support
6963
6964 GDB can read ELF object files on System V Release 4, and can handle
6965 debugging records for C, in DWARF format, in ELF files. This support
6966 is preliminary. If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please
6967 send mail to bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were
6968 reqired (if any).
6969
6970 * New Readline
6971
6972 GDB now uses the latest `readline' library. One user-visible change
6973 is that two tabs will list possible command completions, which previously
6974 required typing M-? (meta-question mark, or ESC ?).
6975
6976 * Bugs fixed
6977
6978 The `stepi' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed.
6979 Many bugs in C++ have been handled. Many more remain to be handled.
6980 See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details.
6981
6982 * State of the MIPS world (in case you wondered):
6983
6984 GDB can understand the symbol tables emitted by the compilers
6985 supplied by most vendors of MIPS-based machines, including DEC. These
6986 symbol tables are in a format that essentially nobody else uses.
6987
6988 Some versions of gcc come with an assembler post-processor called
6989 mips-tfile. This program is required if you want to do source-level
6990 debugging of gcc-compiled programs. I believe FSF does not ship
6991 mips-tfile with gcc version 1, but it will eventually come with gcc
6992 version 2.
6993
6994 Debugging of g++ output remains a problem. g++ version 1.xx does not
6995 really support it at all. (If you're lucky, you should be able to get
6996 line numbers and stack traces to work, but no parameters or local
6997 variables.) With some work it should be possible to improve the
6998 situation somewhat.
6999
7000 When gcc version 2 is released, you will have somewhat better luck.
7001 However, even then you will get confusing results for inheritance and
7002 methods.
7003
7004 We will eventually provide full debugging of g++ output on
7005 DECstations. This will probably involve some kind of stabs-in-ecoff
7006 encapulation, but the details have not been worked out yet.
7007
7008
7009 *** Changes in GDB-4.2:
7010
7011 * Improved configuration
7012
7013 Only one copy of `configure' exists now, and it is not self-modifying.
7014 Porting BFD is simpler.
7015
7016 * Stepping improved
7017
7018 The `step' and `next' commands now only stop at the first instruction
7019 of a source line. This prevents the multiple stops that used to occur
7020 in switch statements, for-loops, etc. `Step' continues to stop if a
7021 function that has debugging information is called within the line.
7022
7023 * Bug fixing
7024
7025 Lots of small bugs fixed. More remain.
7026
7027 * New host supported (not target)
7028
7029 Intel 386 PC clone running Mach i386-none-mach
7030
7031
7032 *** Changes in GDB-4.1:
7033
7034 * Multiple source language support
7035
7036 GDB now has internal scaffolding to handle several source languages.
7037 It determines the type of each source file from its filename extension,
7038 and will switch expression parsing and number formatting to match the
7039 language of the function in the currently selected stack frame.
7040 You can also specifically set the language to be used, with
7041 `set language c' or `set language modula-2'.
7042
7043 * GDB and Modula-2
7044
7045 GDB now has preliminary support for the GNU Modula-2 compiler,
7046 currently under development at the State University of New York at
7047 Buffalo. Development of both GDB and the GNU Modula-2 compiler will
7048 continue through the fall of 1991 and into 1992.
7049
7050 Other Modula-2 compilers are currently not supported, and attempting to
7051 debug programs compiled with them will likely result in an error as the
7052 symbol table is read. Feel free to work on it, though!
7053
7054 There are hooks in GDB for strict type checking and range checking,
7055 in the `Modula-2 philosophy', but they do not currently work.
7056
7057 * set write on/off
7058
7059 GDB can now write to executable and core files (e.g. patch
7060 a variable's value). You must turn this switch on, specify
7061 the file ("exec foo" or "core foo"), *then* modify it, e.g.
7062 by assigning a new value to a variable. Modifications take
7063 effect immediately.
7064
7065 * Automatic SunOS shared library reading
7066
7067 When you run your program, GDB automatically determines where its
7068 shared libraries (if any) have been loaded, and reads their symbols.
7069 The `share' command is no longer needed. This also works when
7070 examining core files.
7071
7072 * set listsize
7073
7074 You can specify the number of lines that the `list' command shows.
7075 The default is 10.
7076
7077 * New machines supported (host and target)
7078
7079 SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris
7080 Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x: m68k-sony-sysv or news
7081 Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1: a29k-nyu-sym1 or ultra3
7082
7083 * New hosts supported (not targets)
7084
7085 IBM RT/PC: romp-ibm-aix or rtpc
7086
7087 * New targets supported (not hosts)
7088
7089 AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
7090 AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
7091 Ultracomputer remote kernel debug a29k-nyu-kern
7092
7093 * New remote interfaces
7094
7095 AMD 29000 Adapt
7096 AMD 29000 Minimon
7097
7098
7099 *** Changes in GDB-4.0:
7100
7101 * New Facilities
7102
7103 Wide output is wrapped at good places to make the output more readable.
7104
7105 Gdb now supports cross-debugging from a host machine of one type to a
7106 target machine of another type. Communication with the target system
7107 is over serial lines. The ``target'' command handles connecting to the
7108 remote system; the ``load'' command will download a program into the
7109 remote system. Serial stubs for the m68k and i386 are provided. Gdb
7110 also supports debugging of realtime processes running under VxWorks,
7111 using SunRPC Remote Procedure Calls over TCP/IP to talk to a debugger
7112 stub on the target system.
7113
7114 New CPUs supported include the AMD 29000 and Intel 960.
7115
7116 GDB now reads object files and symbol tables via a ``binary file''
7117 library, which allows a single copy of GDB to debug programs of multiple
7118 object file types such as a.out and coff.
7119
7120 There is now a GDB reference card in "doc/refcard.tex". (Make targets
7121 refcard.dvi and refcard.ps are available to format it).
7122
7123
7124 * Control-Variable user interface simplified
7125
7126 All variables that control the operation of the debugger can be set
7127 by the ``set'' command, and displayed by the ``show'' command.
7128
7129 For example, ``set prompt new-gdb=>'' will change your prompt to new-gdb=>.
7130 ``Show prompt'' produces the response:
7131 Gdb's prompt is new-gdb=>.
7132
7133 What follows are the NEW set commands. The command ``help set'' will
7134 print a complete list of old and new set commands. ``help set FOO''
7135 will give a longer description of the variable FOO. ``show'' will show
7136 all of the variable descriptions and their current settings.
7137
7138 confirm on/off: Enables warning questions for operations that are
7139 hard to recover from, e.g. rerunning the program while
7140 it is already running. Default is ON.
7141
7142 editing on/off: Enables EMACS style command line editing
7143 of input. Previous lines can be recalled with
7144 control-P, the current line can be edited with control-B,
7145 you can search for commands with control-R, etc.
7146 Default is ON.
7147
7148 history filename NAME: NAME is where the gdb command history
7149 will be stored. The default is .gdb_history,
7150 or the value of the environment variable
7151 GDBHISTFILE.
7152
7153 history size N: The size, in commands, of the command history. The
7154 default is 256, or the value of the environment variable
7155 HISTSIZE.
7156
7157 history save on/off: If this value is set to ON, the history file will
7158 be saved after exiting gdb. If set to OFF, the
7159 file will not be saved. The default is OFF.
7160
7161 history expansion on/off: If this value is set to ON, then csh-like
7162 history expansion will be performed on
7163 command line input. The default is OFF.
7164
7165 radix N: Sets the default radix for input and output. It can be set
7166 to 8, 10, or 16. Note that the argument to "radix" is interpreted
7167 in the current radix, so "set radix 10" is always a no-op.
7168
7169 height N: This integer value is the number of lines on a page. Default
7170 is 24, the current `stty rows'' setting, or the ``li#''
7171 setting from the termcap entry matching the environment
7172 variable TERM.
7173
7174 width N: This integer value is the number of characters on a line.
7175 Default is 80, the current `stty cols'' setting, or the ``co#''
7176 setting from the termcap entry matching the environment
7177 variable TERM.
7178
7179 Note: ``set screensize'' is obsolete. Use ``set height'' and
7180 ``set width'' instead.
7181
7182 print address on/off: Print memory addresses in various command displays,
7183 such as stack traces and structure values. Gdb looks
7184 more ``symbolic'' if you turn this off; it looks more
7185 ``machine level'' with it on. Default is ON.
7186
7187 print array on/off: Prettyprint arrays. New convenient format! Default
7188 is OFF.
7189
7190 print demangle on/off: Print C++ symbols in "source" form if on,
7191 "raw" form if off.
7192
7193 print asm-demangle on/off: Same, for assembler level printouts
7194 like instructions.
7195
7196 print vtbl on/off: Prettyprint C++ virtual function tables. Default is OFF.
7197
7198
7199 * Support for Epoch Environment.
7200
7201 The epoch environment is a version of Emacs v18 with windowing. One
7202 new command, ``inspect'', is identical to ``print'', except that if you
7203 are running in the epoch environment, the value is printed in its own
7204 window.
7205
7206
7207 * Support for Shared Libraries
7208
7209 GDB can now debug programs and core files that use SunOS shared libraries.
7210 Symbols from a shared library cannot be referenced
7211 before the shared library has been linked with the program (this
7212 happens after you type ``run'' and before the function main() is entered).
7213 At any time after this linking (including when examining core files
7214 from dynamically linked programs), gdb reads the symbols from each
7215 shared library when you type the ``sharedlibrary'' command.
7216 It can be abbreviated ``share''.
7217
7218 sharedlibrary REGEXP: Load shared object library symbols for files
7219 matching a unix regular expression. No argument
7220 indicates to load symbols for all shared libraries.
7221
7222 info sharedlibrary: Status of loaded shared libraries.
7223
7224
7225 * Watchpoints
7226
7227 A watchpoint stops execution of a program whenever the value of an
7228 expression changes. Checking for this slows down execution
7229 tremendously whenever you are in the scope of the expression, but is
7230 quite useful for catching tough ``bit-spreader'' or pointer misuse
7231 problems. Some machines such as the 386 have hardware for doing this
7232 more quickly, and future versions of gdb will use this hardware.
7233
7234 watch EXP: Set a watchpoint (breakpoint) for an expression.
7235
7236 info watchpoints: Information about your watchpoints.
7237
7238 delete N: Deletes watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
7239 disable N: Temporarily turns off watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
7240 enable N: Re-enables watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
7241
7242
7243 * C++ multiple inheritance
7244
7245 When used with a GCC version 2 compiler, GDB supports multiple inheritance
7246 for C++ programs.
7247
7248 * C++ exception handling
7249
7250 Gdb now supports limited C++ exception handling. Besides the existing
7251 ability to breakpoint on an exception handler, gdb can breakpoint on
7252 the raising of an exception (before the stack is peeled back to the
7253 handler's context).
7254
7255 catch FOO: If there is a FOO exception handler in the dynamic scope,
7256 set a breakpoint to catch exceptions which may be raised there.
7257 Multiple exceptions (``catch foo bar baz'') may be caught.
7258
7259 info catch: Lists all exceptions which may be caught in the
7260 current stack frame.
7261
7262
7263 * Minor command changes
7264
7265 The command ``call func (arg, arg, ...)'' now acts like the print
7266 command, except it does not print or save a value if the function's result
7267 is void. This is similar to dbx usage.
7268
7269 The ``up'' and ``down'' commands now always print the frame they end up
7270 at; ``up-silently'' and `down-silently'' can be used in scripts to change
7271 frames without printing.
7272
7273 * New directory command
7274
7275 'dir' now adds directories to the FRONT of the source search path.
7276 The path starts off empty. Source files that contain debug information
7277 about the directory in which they were compiled can be found even
7278 with an empty path; Sun CC and GCC include this information. If GDB can't
7279 find your source file in the current directory, type "dir .".
7280
7281 * Configuring GDB for compilation
7282
7283 For normal use, type ``./configure host''. See README or gdb.texinfo
7284 for more details.
7285
7286 GDB now handles cross debugging. If you are remotely debugging between
7287 two different machines, type ``./configure host -target=targ''.
7288 Host is the machine where GDB will run; targ is the machine
7289 where the program that you are debugging will run.
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