* valarith.c (value_binop): Handle BINOP_INTDIV
[deliverable/binutils-gdb.git] / gdb / README
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5c26072a 1 README for gdb-6.3 release
caac47b8 2 Updated 20, November, 2006
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3
4This is GDB, the GNU source-level debugger.
c906108c 5
129188f6 6A summary of new features is in the file `gdb/NEWS'.
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8Check the GDB home page at http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/ for up to
9date release information, mailing list links and archives, etc.
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10
11The file `gdb/PROBLEMS' contains information on problems identified
12late in the release cycle. GDB's bug tracking data base at
13http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/ contains a more complete list of
14bugs.
6b325864 15
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16
17Unpacking and Installation -- quick overview
18==========================
19
aba7b4b6 20 In this release, the GDB debugger sources, the generic GNU include
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21files, the BFD ("binary file description") library, the readline
22library, and other libraries all have directories of their own
5c26072a 23underneath the gdb-6.3 directory. The idea is that a variety of GNU
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24tools can share a common copy of these things. Be aware of variation
25over time--for example don't try to build gdb with a copy of bfd from
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26a release other than the gdb release (such as a binutils release),
27especially if the releases are more than a few weeks apart.
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28Configuration scripts and makefiles exist to cruise up and down this
29directory tree and automatically build all the pieces in the right
30order.
31
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32 When you unpack the gdb-6.3.tar.gz file, you'll find a directory
33called `gdb-6.3', which contains:
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35 COPYING config-ml.in gettext.m4 ltconfig sim
36 COPYING.LIB config.guess include ltmain.sh src-release
37 Makefile.def config.sub install-sh md5.sum symlink-tree
38 Makefile.in configure libiberty missing texinfo
39 Makefile.tpl configure.in libtool.m4 mkinstalldirs ylwrap
40 README djunpack.bat ltcf-c.sh move-if-change
41 bfd etc ltcf-cxx.sh opcodes
42 config gdb ltcf-gcj.sh readline
c906108c 43
bec71058 44You can build GDB right in the source directory:
c906108c 45
5c26072a 46 cd gdb-6.3
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47 ./configure
48 make
49 cp gdb/gdb /usr/local/bin/gdb (or wherever you want)
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51However, we recommend that an empty directory be used instead.
52This way you do not clutter your source tree with binary files
53and will be able to create different builds with different
54configuration options.
55
56You can build GDB in any empty build directory:
57
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58 mkdir build
59 cd build
5c26072a 60 <full path to your sources>/gdb-6.3/configure
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61 make
62 cp gdb/gdb /usr/local/bin/gdb (or wherever you want)
bec71058 63
c63ce875 64(Building GDB with DJGPP tools for MS-DOS/MS-Windows is slightly
5c26072a 65different; see the file gdb-6.3/gdb/config/djgpp/README for details.)
c63ce875 66
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67 This will configure and build all the libraries as well as GDB. If
68`configure' can't determine your system type, specify one as its
69argument, e.g., `./configure sun4' or `./configure decstation'.
c906108c 70
5c26072a 71 Make sure that your 'configure' line ends in 'gdb-6.3/configure':
eaec4d85 72
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73 /berman/migchain/source/gdb-6.3/configure # RIGHT
74 /berman/migchain/source/gdb-6.3/gdb/configure # WRONG
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75
76 The gdb package contains several subdirectories, such as 'gdb',
77'bfd', and 'readline'. If your 'configure' line ends in
5c26072a 78'gdb-6.3/gdb/configure', then you are configuring only the gdb
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79subdirectory, not the whole gdb package. This leads to build errors
80such as:
81
82 make: *** No rule to make target `../bfd/bfd.h', needed by `gdb.o'. Stop.
83
84 If you get other compiler errors during this stage, see the `Reporting
aba7b4b6 85Bugs' section below; there are a few known problems.
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87 GDB requires an ISO C (ANSI C) compiler. If you do not have an ISO
88C compiler for your system, you may be able to download and install
89the GNU CC compiler. It is available via anonymous FTP from the
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90directory `ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/gcc'. GDB also requires an ISO
91C standard library. The GDB remote server, gdbserver, builds with some
92non-ISO standard libraries - e.g. for Windows CE.
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94 GDB uses Expat, an XML parsing library, to implement some target-specific
95features. Expat will be linked in if it is available at build time, or
96those features will be disabled. The latest version of Expat should be
97available from `http://expat.sourceforge.net'.
98
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99 GDB can be used as a cross-debugger, running on a machine of one
100type while debugging a program running on a machine of another type.
101See below.
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102
103
104More Documentation
105******************
106
107 All the documentation for GDB comes as part of the machine-readable
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108distribution. The documentation is written in Texinfo format, which
109is a documentation system that uses a single source file to produce
110both on-line information and a printed manual. You can use one of the
111Info formatting commands to create the on-line version of the
112documentation and TeX (or `texi2roff') to typeset the printed version.
113
114 GDB includes an already formatted copy of the on-line Info version
115of this manual in the `gdb/doc' subdirectory. The main Info file is
5c26072a 116`gdb-6.3/gdb/doc/gdb.info', and it refers to subordinate files
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117matching `gdb.info*' in the same directory. If necessary, you can
118print out these files, or read them with any editor; but they are
119easier to read using the `info' subsystem in GNU Emacs or the
120standalone `info' program, available as part of the GNU Texinfo
121distribution.
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122
123 If you want to format these Info files yourself, you need one of the
124Info formatting programs, such as `texinfo-format-buffer' or
125`makeinfo'.
126
127 If you have `makeinfo' installed, and are in the top level GDB
5c26072a 128source directory (`gdb-6.3', in the case of version 6.3), you can make
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129the Info file by typing:
130
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131 cd gdb/doc
132 make info
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133
134 If you want to typeset and print copies of this manual, you need
135TeX, a program to print its DVI output files, and `texinfo.tex', the
136Texinfo definitions file. This file is included in the GDB
5c26072a 137distribution, in the directory `gdb-6.3/texinfo'.
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138
139 TeX is a typesetting program; it does not print files directly, but
140produces output files called DVI files. To print a typeset document,
141you need a program to print DVI files. If your system has TeX
142installed, chances are it has such a program. The precise command to
143use depends on your system; `lpr -d' is common; another (for PostScript
144devices) is `dvips'. The DVI print command may require a file name
145without any extension or a `.dvi' extension.
146
147 TeX also requires a macro definitions file called `texinfo.tex'.
148This file tells TeX how to typeset a document written in Texinfo
149format. On its own, TeX cannot read, much less typeset a Texinfo file.
150 `texinfo.tex' is distributed with GDB and is located in the
5c26072a 151`gdb-6.3/texinfo' directory.
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152
153 If you have TeX and a DVI printer program installed, you can typeset
154and print this manual. First switch to the the `gdb' subdirectory of
5c26072a 155the main source directory (for example, to `gdb-6.3/gdb') and then type:
c906108c 156
34f47bc4 157 make doc/gdb.dvi
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158
159 If you prefer to have the manual in PDF format, type this from the
160`gdb/doc' subdirectory of the main source directory:
161
34f47bc4 162 make gdb.pdf
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163
164For this to work, you will need the PDFTeX package to be installed.
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165
166
167Installing GDB
168**************
169
170 GDB comes with a `configure' script that automates the process of
171preparing GDB for installation; you can then use `make' to build the
172`gdb' program.
173
174 The GDB distribution includes all the source code you need for GDB in
175a single directory, whose name is usually composed by appending the
176version number to `gdb'.
177
5c26072a 178 For example, the GDB version 6.3 distribution is in the `gdb-6.3'
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179directory. That directory contains:
180
5c26072a 181`gdb-6.3/{COPYING,COPYING.LIB}'
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182 Standard GNU license files. Please read them.
183
5c26072a 184`gdb-6.3/bfd'
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185 source for the Binary File Descriptor library
186
5c26072a 187`gdb-6.3/config*'
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188 script for configuring GDB, along with other support files
189
5c26072a 190`gdb-6.3/gdb'
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191 the source specific to GDB itself
192
5c26072a 193`gdb-6.3/include'
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194 GNU include files
195
5c26072a 196`gdb-6.3/libiberty'
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197 source for the `-liberty' free software library
198
5c26072a 199`gdb-6.3/opcodes'
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200 source for the library of opcode tables and disassemblers
201
5c26072a 202`gdb-6.3/readline'
c906108c 203 source for the GNU command-line interface
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204 NOTE: The readline library is compiled for use by GDB, but will
205 not be installed on your system when "make install" is issued.
c906108c 206
5c26072a 207`gdb-6.3/sim'
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208 source for some simulators (ARM, D10V, SPARC, M32R, MIPS, PPC, V850, etc)
209
5c26072a 210`gdb-6.3/texinfo'
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211 The `texinfo.tex' file, which you need in order to make a printed
212 manual using TeX.
213
5c26072a 214`gdb-6.3/etc'
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215 Coding standards, useful files for editing GDB, and other
216 miscellanea.
217
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218 Note: the following instructions are for building GDB on Unix or
219Unix-like systems. Instructions for building with DJGPP for
220MS-DOS/MS-Windows are in the file gdb/config/djgpp/README.
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221
222 The simplest way to configure and build GDB is to run `configure'
223from the `gdb-VERSION-NUMBER' source directory, which in this example
5c26072a 224is the `gdb-6.3' directory.
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225
226 First switch to the `gdb-VERSION-NUMBER' source directory if you are
227not already in it; then run `configure'.
228
229 For example:
230
5c26072a 231 cd gdb-6.3
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232 ./configure
233 make
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234
235 Running `configure' followed by `make' builds the `bfd',
236`readline', `mmalloc', and `libiberty' libraries, then `gdb' itself.
237The configured source files, and the binaries, are left in the
238corresponding source directories.
239
240 `configure' is a Bourne-shell (`/bin/sh') script; if your system
241does not recognize this automatically when you run a different shell,
242you may need to run `sh' on it explicitly:
243
34f47bc4 244 sh configure
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245
246 If you run `configure' from a directory that contains source
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247directories for multiple libraries or programs, such as the `gdb-6.3'
248source directory for version 6.3, `configure' creates configuration
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249files for every directory level underneath (unless you tell it not to,
250with the `--norecursion' option).
251
252 You can run the `configure' script from any of the subordinate
253directories in the GDB distribution, if you only want to configure that
254subdirectory; but be sure to specify a path to it.
255
5c26072a 256 For example, with version 6.3, type the following to configure only
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257the `bfd' subdirectory:
258
5c26072a 259 cd gdb-6.3/bfd
34f47bc4 260 ../configure
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261
262 You can install `gdb' anywhere; it has no hardwired paths. However,
263you should make sure that the shell on your path (named by the `SHELL'
264environment variable) is publicly readable. Remember that GDB uses the
265shell to start your program--some systems refuse to let GDB debug child
266processes whose programs are not readable.
267
268
269Compiling GDB in another directory
270==================================
271
272 If you want to run GDB versions for several host or target machines,
273you need a different `gdb' compiled for each combination of host and
274target. `configure' is designed to make this easy by allowing you to
275generate each configuration in a separate subdirectory, rather than in
276the source directory. If your `make' program handles the `VPATH'
277feature correctly (GNU `make' and SunOS 'make' are two that should),
278running `make' in each of these directories builds the `gdb' program
279specified there.
280
281 To build `gdb' in a separate directory, run `configure' with the
282`--srcdir' option to specify where to find the source. (You also need
283to specify a path to find `configure' itself from your working
284directory. If the path to `configure' would be the same as the
285argument to `--srcdir', you can leave out the `--srcdir' option; it
286will be assumed.)
287
5c26072a 288 For example, with version 6.3, you can build GDB in a separate
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289directory for a Sun 4 like this:
290
5c26072a 291 cd gdb-6.3
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292 mkdir ../gdb-sun4
293 cd ../gdb-sun4
5c26072a 294 ../gdb-6.3/configure
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295 make
296
297 When `configure' builds a configuration using a remote source
298directory, it creates a tree for the binaries with the same structure
299(and using the same names) as the tree under the source directory. In
300the example, you'd find the Sun 4 library `libiberty.a' in the
301directory `gdb-sun4/libiberty', and GDB itself in `gdb-sun4/gdb'.
302
303 One popular reason to build several GDB configurations in separate
304directories is to configure GDB for cross-compiling (where GDB runs on
305one machine--the host--while debugging programs that run on another
306machine--the target). You specify a cross-debugging target by giving
307the `--target=TARGET' option to `configure'.
308
309 When you run `make' to build a program or library, you must run it
310in a configured directory--whatever directory you were in when you
311called `configure' (or one of its subdirectories).
312
313 The `Makefile' that `configure' generates in each source directory
314also runs recursively. If you type `make' in a source directory such
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315as `gdb-6.3' (or in a separate configured directory configured with
316`--srcdir=PATH/gdb-6.3'), you will build all the required libraries,
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317and then build GDB.
318
319 When you have multiple hosts or targets configured in separate
320directories, you can run `make' on them in parallel (for example, if
321they are NFS-mounted on each of the hosts); they will not interfere
322with each other.
323
324
325Specifying names for hosts and targets
326======================================
327
328 The specifications used for hosts and targets in the `configure'
329script are based on a three-part naming scheme, but some short
330predefined aliases are also supported. The full naming scheme encodes
331three pieces of information in the following pattern:
332
333 ARCHITECTURE-VENDOR-OS
334
335 For example, you can use the alias `sun4' as a HOST argument or in a
336`--target=TARGET' option. The equivalent full name is
337`sparc-sun-sunos4'.
338
339 The `configure' script accompanying GDB does not provide any query
340facility to list all supported host and target names or aliases.
341`configure' calls the Bourne shell script `config.sub' to map
342abbreviations to full names; you can read the script, if you wish, or
343you can use it to test your guesses on abbreviations--for example:
344
345 % sh config.sub sun4
346 sparc-sun-sunos4.1.1
347 % sh config.sub sun3
348 m68k-sun-sunos4.1.1
349 % sh config.sub decstation
350 mips-dec-ultrix4.2
351 % sh config.sub hp300bsd
352 m68k-hp-bsd
353 % sh config.sub i386v
354 i386-pc-sysv
355 % sh config.sub i786v
356 Invalid configuration `i786v': machine `i786v' not recognized
357
358`config.sub' is also distributed in the GDB source directory
5c26072a 359(`gdb-6.3', for version 6.3).
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360
361
362`configure' options
363===================
364
365 Here is a summary of the `configure' options and arguments that are
366most often useful for building GDB. `configure' also has several other
367options not listed here. *note : (configure.info)What Configure Does,
368for a full explanation of `configure'.
369
370 configure [--help]
371 [--prefix=DIR]
372 [--srcdir=PATH]
373 [--norecursion] [--rm]
374 [--enable-build-warnings]
375 [--target=TARGET]
376 [--host=HOST]
377 [HOST]
378
379You may introduce options with a single `-' rather than `--' if you
380prefer; but you may abbreviate option names if you use `--'.
381
382`--help'
383 Display a quick summary of how to invoke `configure'.
384
385`-prefix=DIR'
386 Configure the source to install programs and files under directory
387 `DIR'.
388
389`--srcdir=PATH'
390 *Warning: using this option requires GNU `make', or another `make'
391 that compatibly implements the `VPATH' feature.*
392 Use this option to make configurations in directories separate
393 from the GDB source directories. Among other things, you can use
394 this to build (or maintain) several configurations simultaneously,
395 in separate directories. `configure' writes configuration
396 specific files in the current directory, but arranges for them to
397 use the source in the directory PATH. `configure' will create
398 directories under the working directory in parallel to the source
399 directories below PATH.
400
401`--norecursion'
402 Configure only the directory level where `configure' is executed;
403 do not propagate configuration to subdirectories.
404
405`--rm'
406 Remove the configuration that the other arguments specify.
407
408`--enable-build-warnings'
409 When building the GDB sources, ask the compiler to warn about any
410 code which looks even vaguely suspicious. You should only using
411 this feature if you're compiling with GNU CC. It passes the
412 following flags:
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413 -Wimplicit
414 -Wreturn-type
415 -Wcomment
416 -Wtrigraphs
417 -Wformat
418 -Wparentheses
c906108c 419 -Wpointer-arith
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420
421`--target=TARGET'
422 Configure GDB for cross-debugging programs running on the specified
423 TARGET. Without this option, GDB is configured to debug programs
424 that run on the same machine (HOST) as GDB itself.
425
426 There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available
427 targets.
428
429`--host=HOST'
430 Configure GDB to run on the specified HOST.
431
432 There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available
433 hosts.
434
435`HOST ...'
436 Same as `--host=HOST'. If you omit this, GDB will guess; it's
437 quite accurate.
438
439`configure' accepts other options, for compatibility with configuring
440other GNU tools recursively; but these are the only options that affect
441GDB or its supporting libraries.
442
443
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444Remote debugging
445=================
446
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447 The files m68k-stub.c, i386-stub.c, and sparc-stub.c are examples
448of remote stubs to be used with remote.c. They are designed to run
449standalone on an m68k, i386, or SPARC cpu and communicate properly
450with the remote.c stub over a serial line.
c906108c 451
aba7b4b6 452 The directory gdb/gdbserver/ contains `gdbserver', a program that
c906108c 453allows remote debugging for Unix applications. gdbserver is only
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454supported for some native configurations, including Sun 3, Sun 4, and
455Linux.
c906108c 456
aba7b4b6 457 There are a number of remote interfaces for talking to existing ROM
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458monitors and other hardware:
459
c906108c 460 remote-mips.c MIPS remote debugging protocol
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461 remote-sds.c PowerPC SDS monitor
462 remote-sim.c Generalized simulator protocol
c906108c 463
c906108c 464
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465Reporting Bugs in GDB
466=====================
467
468 There are several ways of reporting bugs in GDB. The prefered
469method is to use the World Wide Web:
470
471 http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/
472
473As an alternative, the bug report can be submitted, via e-mail, to the
474address "bug-gdb@gnu.org".
c906108c 475
129188f6 476 When submitting a bug, please include the GDB version number (e.g.,
5c26072a 477gdb-6.3), and how you configured it (e.g., "sun4" or "mach386 host,
129188f6 478i586-intel-synopsys target"). Since GDB now supports so many
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479different configurations, it is important that you be precise about
480this. If at all possible, you should include the actual banner that
481GDB prints when it starts up, or failing that, the actual configure
482command that you used when configuring GDB.
c906108c 483
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484 For more information on how/whether to report bugs, see the
485Reporting Bugs chapter of the GDB manual (gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo).
c906108c 486
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487
488Graphical interface to GDB -- X Windows, MS Windows
489==========================
c906108c 490
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491 Several graphical interfaces to GDB are available. You should
492check:
c906108c 493
d99ba314 494 http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/links/
c906108c 495
aba7b4b6 496for an up-to-date list.
c906108c 497
aba7b4b6 498 Emacs users will very likely enjoy the Grand Unified Debugger mode;
f032fb6e 499try typing `M-x gdb RET'.
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500
501
502Writing Code for GDB
503=====================
504
aba7b4b6 505 There is a lot of information about writing code for GDB in the
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506internals manual, distributed with GDB in gdb/doc/gdbint.texinfo. You
507can read it by hand, print it by using TeX and texinfo, or process it
508into an `info' file for use with Emacs' info mode or the standalone
509`info' program.
510
aba7b4b6 511 If you are pondering writing anything but a short patch, especially
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512take note of the information about copyrights in the node Submitting
513Patches. It can take quite a while to get all the paperwork done, so
514we encourage you to start that process as soon as you decide you are
515planning to work on something, or at least well ahead of when you
516think you will be ready to submit the patches.
517
518
519GDB Testsuite
520=============
521
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522 Included with the GDB distribution is a DejaGNU based testsuite
523that can either be used to test your newly built GDB, or for
524regression testing a GDB with local modifications.
525
526 Running the testsuite requires the prior installation of DejaGNU,
527which is generally available via ftp. The directory
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528ftp://sources.redhat.com/pub/dejagnu/ will contain a recent snapshot.
529Once DejaGNU is installed, you can run the tests in one of the
530following ways:
c906108c 531
5c26072a 532 (1) cd gdb-6.3
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533 make check-gdb
534
535or
c906108c 536
5c26072a 537 (2) cd gdb-6.3/gdb
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538 make check
539
540or
541
5c26072a 542 (3) cd gdb-6.3/gdb/testsuite
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543 make site.exp (builds the site specific file)
544 runtest -tool gdb GDB=../gdb (or GDB=<somepath> as appropriate)
545
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546The last method gives you slightly more control in case of problems
547with building one or more test executables or if you are using the
548testsuite `standalone', without it being part of the GDB source tree.
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549
550See the DejaGNU documentation for further details.
551
552\f
553(this is for editing this file with GNU emacs)
554Local Variables:
555mode: text
556End:
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