2004-03-17 Andrew Cagney <cagney@redhat.com>

[deliverable/binutils-gdb.git] / gdb / PROBLEMS

			Known problems in GDB 6.1

		See also: http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/

mips*-*-*
powerpc*-*-*
sparc*-*-*

GDB's SPARC, MIPS and PowerPC targets, in 6.0, have not been updated
to use the new frame mechanism.

People encountering problems with these targets should consult GDB's
web pages and mailing lists (http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/) to see
if there is an update.

arm-*-*

GDB's ARM target, in 6.0, has not been updated to use the new frame
mechanism.

Fortunately the ARM target, in the GDB's mainline sources, has been
updated so people encountering problems should consider downloading a
more current GDB (http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/current).

*** Regressions since gdb 6.0

gdb/826: variables in C++ namespaces have to be enclosed in quotes

When referring to a variable in C++ code that is inside a
namespace, you have to put it inside single quotes.

gdb/931: GDB could be more generous when reading types C++ templates on input

When the user types a template, GDB frequently requires the type to be
typed in a certain way (e.g. "const char*" as opposed to "const char *"
or "char const *" or "char const*").

gdb/1505: [regression] gdb prints a bad backtrace for a thread

When backtracing a thread, gdb doesn't stop until it hits garbage.
This is sensitive to the operating system and thread library.

gdb/1512: no canonical way to output names of C++ types

We currently don't have any canonical way to output names of C++ types.
E.g. "const char *" versus "char const *"; more subtleties arise when
dealing with templates.

gdb/1516: [regression] local classes, gcc 2.95.3, dwarf-2

With gcc 2.95.3 and the dwarf-2 debugging format, classes which are
defined locally to a function include the demangled name of the function
as part of their name.  For example, if a function "foobar" contains a
local class definition "Local", gdb will say that the name of the class
type is "foobar__Fi.0:Local".

This applies only to classes where the class type is defined inside a
function, not to variables defined with types that are defined somewhere
outside any function (which most types are).

gdb/1560: Control-C does not always interrupt GDB.

When GDB is busy processing a command which takes a long time to
complete, hitting Control-C does not have the expected effect.
The command execution is not aborted, and the "QUIT" message confirming
the abortion is displayed only after the command has been completed.

*** Regressions since gdb 5.3

gdb/1091: Constructor breakpoints ignored
gdb/1193: g++ 3.3 creates multiple constructors: gdb 5.3 can't set breakpoints

When gcc 3.x compiles a C++ constructor or C++ destructor, it generates
2 or 3 different versions of the object code.  These versions have
unique mangled names (they have to, in order for linking to work), but
they have identical source code names, which leads to a great deal of
confusion.  Specifically, if you set a breakpoint in a constructor or a
destructor, gdb will put a breakpoint in one of the versions, but your
program may execute the other version.  This makes it impossible to set
breakpoints reliably in constructors or destructors.

gcc 3.x generates these multiple object code functions in order to
implement virtual base classes.  gcc 2.x generated just one object code
function with a hidden parameter, but gcc 3.x conforms to a multi-vendor
ABI for C++ which requires multiple object code functions.