1 What has changed in GDB?
2 (Organized release by release)
4 *** Changes since GDB 6.5
10 * GDB can now be configured as a cross-debugger targeting native Windows
11 (mingw32) or Cygwin. It can communicate with a remote debugging stub
12 running on a Windows system over TCP/IP to debug Windows programs.
14 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been updated to support Windows and
15 Cygwin debugging. Both single-threaded and multi-threaded programs are
18 * The "set trust-readonly-sections" command works again. This command was
19 broken in GDB 6.3, 6.4, and 6.5.
21 * Support for GNU/Linux Thread Local Storage (TLS, per-thread variables) no
22 longer requires symbolic debug information (e.g. DWARF-2).
29 Manage a list of substitution rules that GDB uses to rewrite the name
30 of the directories where the sources are located. This can be useful
31 for instance when the sources were moved to a different location
32 between compilation and debugging.
36 Print each CLI command as it is executed. Each command is prefixed with
37 a number of `+' symbols representing the nesting depth.
38 The source command now has a `-v' option to enable the same feature.
42 The ARM Demon monitor support (RDP protocol, "target rdp").
44 Kernel Object Display, an embedded debugging feature which only worked with
45 an obsolete version of Cisco IOS.
47 The 'set download-write-size' and 'show download-write-size' commands.
52 Tell a stub about GDB client features, and request remote target features.
53 The first feature implemented is PacketSize, which allows the target to
54 specify the size of packets it can handle - to minimize the number of
55 packets required and improve performance when connected to a remote
59 Fetch an OS auxilliary vector from the remote stub. This packet is a
60 more efficient replacement for qPart:auxv:read.
62 * Removed remote packets
65 This packet has been replaced by qXfer:auxv:read. Only GDB 6.4 and 6.5
66 used it, and only gdbserver implemented it.
68 *** Changes in GDB 6.5
72 Renesas M32C/M16C m32c-elf
74 Morpho Technologies ms1 ms1-elf
78 init-if-undefined Initialize a convenience variable, but
79 only if it doesn't already have a value.
81 The following commands are presently only implemented for native GNU/Linux:
83 checkpoint Save a snapshot of the program state.
85 restart <n> Return the program state to a
86 previously saved state.
88 info checkpoints List currently saved checkpoints.
90 delete-checkpoint <n> Delete a previously saved checkpoint.
92 set|show detach-on-fork Tell gdb whether to detach from a newly
93 forked process, or to keep debugging it.
95 info forks List forks of the user program that
96 are available to be debugged.
98 fork <n> Switch to debugging one of several
99 forks of the user program that are
100 available to be debugged.
102 delete-fork <n> Delete a fork from the list of forks
103 that are available to be debugged (and
104 kill the forked process).
106 detach-fork <n> Delete a fork from the list of forks
107 that are available to be debugged (and
108 allow the process to continue).
112 Morpho Technologies ms2 ms1-elf
114 * Improved Windows host support
116 GDB now builds as a cross debugger hosted on i686-mingw32, including
117 native console support, and remote communications using either
118 network sockets or serial ports.
120 * Improved Modula-2 language support
122 GDB can now print most types in the Modula-2 syntax. This includes:
123 basic types, set types, record types, enumerated types, range types,
124 pointer types and ARRAY types. Procedure var parameters are correctly
125 printed and hexadecimal addresses and character constants are also
126 written in the Modula-2 syntax. Best results can be obtained by using
127 GNU Modula-2 together with the -gdwarf-2 command line option.
131 The ARM rdi-share module.
133 The Netware NLM debug server.
135 *** Changes in GDB 6.4
137 * New native configurations
139 OpenBSD/arm arm*-*-openbsd*
140 OpenBSD/mips64 mips64-*-openbsd*
144 Morpho Technologies ms1 ms1-elf
146 * New command line options
148 --batch-silent As for --batch, but totally silent.
149 --return-child-result The debugger will exist with the same value
150 the child (debugged) program exited with.
151 --eval-command COMMAND, -ex COMMAND
152 Execute a single GDB CLI command. This may be
153 specified multiple times and in conjunction
154 with the --command (-x) option.
156 * Deprecated commands removed
158 The following commands, that were deprecated in 2000, have been
162 set|show arm disassembly-flavor set|show arm disassembler
163 othernames set arm disassembler
164 set|show remotedebug set|show debug remote
165 set|show archdebug set|show debug arch
166 set|show eventdebug set|show debug event
169 * New BSD user-level threads support
171 It is now possible to debug programs using the user-level threads
172 library on OpenBSD and FreeBSD. Currently supported (target)
175 FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
176 FreeBSD/i386 i386-*-freebsd*
177 OpenBSD/i386 i386-*-openbsd*
179 Note that the new kernel threads libraries introduced in FreeBSD 5.x
180 are not yet supported.
182 * New support for Matsushita MN10300 w/sim added
183 (Work in progress). mn10300-elf.
185 * REMOVED configurations and files
187 VxWorks and the XDR protocol *-*-vxworks
188 Motorola MCORE mcore-*-*
189 National Semiconductor NS32000 ns32k-*-*
191 * New "set print array-indexes" command
193 After turning this setting "on", GDB prints the index of each element
194 when displaying arrays. The default is "off" to preserve the previous
197 * VAX floating point support
199 GDB now supports the not-quite-ieee VAX F and D floating point formats.
201 * User-defined command support
203 In addition to using $arg0..$arg9 for argument passing, it is now possible
204 to use $argc to determine now many arguments have been passed. See the
205 section on user-defined commands in the user manual for more information.
207 *** Changes in GDB 6.3:
209 * New command line option
211 GDB now accepts -l followed by a number to set the timeout for remote
214 * GDB works with GCC -feliminate-dwarf2-dups
216 GDB now supports a more compact representation of DWARF-2 debug
217 information using DW_FORM_ref_addr references. These are produced
218 by GCC with the option -feliminate-dwarf2-dups and also by some
219 proprietary compilers. With GCC, you must use GCC 3.3.4 or later
220 to use -feliminate-dwarf2-dups.
222 * Internationalization
224 When supported by the host system, GDB will be built with
225 internationalization (libintl). The task of marking up the sources is
226 continued, we're looking forward to our first translation.
230 Initial support for debugging programs compiled with the GNAT
231 implementation of the Ada programming language has been integrated
232 into GDB. In this release, support is limited to expression evaluation.
234 * New native configurations
236 GNU/Linux/m32r m32r-*-linux-gnu
240 GDB's remote protocol now includes support for the 'p' packet. This
241 packet is used to fetch individual registers from a remote inferior.
243 * END-OF-LIFE registers[] compatibility module
245 GDB's internal register infrastructure has been completely rewritten.
246 The new infrastructure making possible the implementation of key new
247 features including 32x64 (e.g., 64-bit amd64 GDB debugging a 32-bit
250 GDB 6.3 will be the last release to include the the registers[]
251 compatibility module that allowed out-of-date configurations to
252 continue to work. This change directly impacts the following
264 Unless there is activity to revive these configurations, they will be
265 made OBSOLETE in GDB 6.4, and REMOVED from GDB 6.5.
267 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
269 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
270 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
271 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
281 *** Changes in GDB 6.2.1:
283 * MIPS `break main; run' gave an heuristic-fence-post warning
285 When attempting to run even a simple program, a warning about
286 heuristic-fence-post being hit would be reported. This problem has
289 * MIPS IRIX 'long double' crashed GDB
291 When examining a long double variable, GDB would get a segmentation
292 fault. The crash has been fixed (but GDB 6.2 cannot correctly examine
293 IRIX long double values).
297 A bug in the VAX stack code was causing problems with the "next"
298 command. This problem has been fixed.
300 *** Changes in GDB 6.2:
302 * Fix for ``many threads''
304 On GNU/Linux systems that use the NPTL threads library, a program
305 rapidly creating and deleting threads would confuse GDB leading to the
308 ptrace: No such process.
309 thread_db_get_info: cannot get thread info: generic error
311 This problem has been fixed.
313 * "-async" and "-noasync" options removed.
315 Support for the broken "-noasync" option has been removed (it caused
318 * New ``start'' command.
320 This command runs the program until the begining of the main procedure.
322 * New BSD Kernel Data Access Library (libkvm) interface
324 Using ``target kvm'' it is now possible to debug kernel core dumps and
325 live kernel memory images on various FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD
326 platforms. Currently supported (native-only) configurations are:
328 FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
329 FreeBSD/i386 i?86-*-freebsd*
330 NetBSD/i386 i?86-*-netbsd*
331 NetBSD/m68k m68*-*-netbsd*
332 NetBSD/sparc sparc-*-netbsd*
333 OpenBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-openbsd*
334 OpenBSD/i386 i?86-*-openbsd*
335 OpenBSD/m68k m68*-openbsd*
336 OpenBSD/sparc sparc-*-openbsd*
338 * Signal trampoline code overhauled
340 Many generic problems with GDB's signal handling code have been fixed.
341 These include: backtraces through non-contiguous stacks; recognition
342 of sa_sigaction signal trampolines; backtrace from a NULL pointer
343 call; backtrace through a signal trampoline; step into and out of
344 signal handlers; and single-stepping in the signal trampoline.
346 Please note that kernel bugs are a limiting factor here. These
347 features have been shown to work on an s390 GNU/Linux system that
348 include a 2.6.8-rc1 kernel. Ref PR breakpoints/1702.
350 * Cygwin support for DWARF 2 added.
352 * New native configurations
354 GNU/Linux/hppa hppa*-*-linux*
355 OpenBSD/hppa hppa*-*-openbsd*
356 OpenBSD/m68k m68*-*-openbsd*
357 OpenBSD/m88k m88*-*-openbsd*
358 OpenBSD/powerpc powerpc-*-openbsd*
359 NetBSD/vax vax-*-netbsd*
360 OpenBSD/vax vax-*-openbsd*
362 * END-OF-LIFE frame compatibility module
364 GDB's internal frame infrastructure has been completely rewritten.
365 The new infrastructure making it possible to support key new features
366 including DWARF 2 Call Frame Information. To aid in the task of
367 migrating old configurations to this new infrastructure, a
368 compatibility module, that allowed old configurations to continue to
369 work, was also included.
371 GDB 6.2 will be the last release to include this frame compatibility
372 module. This change directly impacts the following configurations:
382 Unless there is activity to revive these configurations, they will be
383 made OBSOLETE in GDB 6.3, and REMOVED from GDB 6.4.
385 * REMOVED configurations and files
387 Sun 3, running SunOS 3 m68*-*-sunos3*
388 Sun 3, running SunOS 4 m68*-*-sunos4*
389 Sun 2, running SunOS 3 m68000-*-sunos3*
390 Sun 2, running SunOS 4 m68000-*-sunos4*
391 Motorola 680x0 running LynxOS m68*-*-lynxos*
392 AT&T 3b1/Unix pc m68*-att-*
393 Bull DPX2 (68k, System V release 3) m68*-bull-sysv*
394 decstation mips-dec-* mips-little-*
395 riscos mips-*-riscos* mips-*-sysv*
397 sysv mips*-*-sysv4* (IRIX 5/6 not included)
399 *** Changes in GDB 6.1.1:
401 * TUI (Text-mode User Interface) built-in (also included in GDB 6.1)
403 The TUI (Text-mode User Interface) is now built as part of a default
404 GDB configuration. It is enabled by either selecting the TUI with the
405 command line option "-i=tui" or by running the separate "gdbtui"
406 program. For more information on the TUI, see the manual "Debugging
409 * Pending breakpoint support (also included in GDB 6.1)
411 Support has been added to allow you to specify breakpoints in shared
412 libraries that have not yet been loaded. If a breakpoint location
413 cannot be found, and the "breakpoint pending" option is set to auto,
414 GDB queries you if you wish to make the breakpoint pending on a future
415 shared-library load. If and when GDB resolves the breakpoint symbol,
416 the pending breakpoint is removed as one or more regular breakpoints
419 Pending breakpoints are very useful for GCJ Java debugging.
421 * Fixed ISO-C build problems
423 The files bfd/elf-bfd.h, gdb/dictionary.c and gdb/types.c contained
424 non ISO-C code that stopped them being built using a more strict ISO-C
425 compiler (e.g., IBM's C compiler).
427 * Fixed build problem on IRIX 5
429 Due to header problems with <sys/proc.h>, the file gdb/proc-api.c
430 wasn't able to compile compile on an IRIX 5 system.
432 * Added execute permission to gdb/gdbserver/configure
434 The shell script gdb/testsuite/gdb.stabs/configure lacked execute
435 permission. This bug would cause configure to fail on a number of
436 systems (Solaris, IRIX). Ref: server/519.
438 * Fixed build problem on hpux2.0w-hp-hpux11.00 using the HP ANSI C compiler
440 Older HPUX ANSI C compilers did not accept variable array sizes. somsolib.c
441 has been updated to use constant array sizes.
443 * Fixed a panic in the DWARF Call Frame Info code on Solaris 2.7
445 GCC 3.3.2, on Solaris 2.7, includes the DW_EH_PE_funcrel encoding in
446 its generated DWARF Call Frame Info. This encoding was causing GDB to
447 panic, that panic has been fixed. Ref: gdb/1628.
449 * Fixed a problem when examining parameters in shared library code.
451 When examining parameters in optimized shared library code generated
452 by a mainline GCC, GDB would incorrectly report ``Variable "..." is
453 not available''. GDB now correctly displays the variable's value.
455 *** Changes in GDB 6.1:
457 * Removed --with-mmalloc
459 Support for the mmalloc memory manager has been removed, as it
460 conflicted with the internal gdb byte cache.
462 * Changes in AMD64 configurations
464 The AMD64 target now includes the %cs and %ss registers. As a result
465 the AMD64 remote protocol has changed; this affects the floating-point
466 and SSE registers. If you rely on those registers for your debugging,
467 you should upgrade gdbserver on the remote side.
469 * Revised SPARC target
471 The SPARC target has been completely revised, incorporating the
472 FreeBSD/sparc64 support that was added for GDB 6.0. As a result
473 support for LynxOS and SunOS 4 has been dropped. Calling functions
474 from within GDB on operating systems with a non-executable stack
475 (Solaris, OpenBSD) now works.
479 GDB has a new C++ demangler which does a better job on the mangled
480 names generated by current versions of g++. It also runs faster, so
481 with this and other changes gdb should now start faster on large C++
484 * DWARF 2 Location Expressions
486 GDB support for location expressions has been extended to support function
487 arguments and frame bases. Older versions of GDB could crash when they
490 * C++ nested types and namespaces
492 GDB's support for nested types and namespaces in C++ has been
493 improved, especially if you use the DWARF 2 debugging format. (This
494 is the default for recent versions of GCC on most platforms.)
495 Specifically, if you have a class "Inner" defined within a class or
496 namespace "Outer", then GDB realizes that the class's name is
497 "Outer::Inner", not simply "Inner". This should greatly reduce the
498 frequency of complaints about not finding RTTI symbols. In addition,
499 if you are stopped at inside of a function defined within a namespace,
500 GDB modifies its name lookup accordingly.
502 * New native configurations
504 NetBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-netbsd*
505 OpenBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-openbsd*
506 OpenBSD/alpha alpha*-*-openbsd*
507 OpenBSD/sparc sparc-*-openbsd*
508 OpenBSD/sparc64 sparc64-*-openbsd*
510 * New debugging protocols
512 M32R with SDI protocol m32r-*-elf*
514 * "set prompt-escape-char" command deleted.
516 The command "set prompt-escape-char" has been deleted. This command,
517 and its very obscure effet on GDB's prompt, was never documented,
518 tested, nor mentioned in the NEWS file.
520 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
522 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
523 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
524 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
527 Sun 3, running SunOS 3 m68*-*-sunos3*
528 Sun 3, running SunOS 4 m68*-*-sunos4*
529 Sun 2, running SunOS 3 m68000-*-sunos3*
530 Sun 2, running SunOS 4 m68000-*-sunos4*
531 Motorola 680x0 running LynxOS m68*-*-lynxos*
532 AT&T 3b1/Unix pc m68*-att-*
533 Bull DPX2 (68k, System V release 3) m68*-bull-sysv*
534 decstation mips-dec-* mips-little-*
535 riscos mips-*-riscos* mips-*-sysv*
537 sysv mips*-*-sysv4* (IRIX 5/6 not included)
539 * REMOVED configurations and files
541 SGI Irix-4.x mips-sgi-irix4 or iris4
542 SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris
543 Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
544 Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
545 H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
546 HP/PA running BSD hppa*-*-bsd*
547 HP/PA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
548 HP/PA Pro target hppa*-*-pro*
549 PMAX (MIPS) running Mach 3.0 mips*-*-mach3*
550 386BSD i[3456]86-*-bsd*
551 Sequent family i[3456]86-sequent-sysv4*
552 i[3456]86-sequent-sysv*
553 i[3456]86-sequent-bsd*
554 SPARC running LynxOS sparc-*-lynxos*
555 SPARC running SunOS 4 sparc-*-sunos4*
556 Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
557 Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
559 *** Changes in GDB 6.0:
563 Support for debugging the Objective-C programming language has been
566 * New backtrace mechanism (includes DWARF 2 Call Frame Information).
568 DWARF 2's Call Frame Information makes available compiler generated
569 information that more exactly describes the program's run-time stack.
570 By using this information, GDB is able to provide more robust stack
573 The i386, amd64 (nee, x86-64), Alpha, m68hc11, ia64, and m32r targets
574 have been updated to use a new backtrace mechanism which includes
579 GDB's remote protocol has been extended to include support for hosted
580 file I/O (where the remote target uses GDB's file system). See GDB's
581 remote protocol documentation for details.
583 * All targets using the new architecture framework.
585 All of GDB's targets have been updated to use the new internal
586 architecture framework. The way is now open for future GDB releases
587 to include cross-architecture native debugging support (i386 on amd64,
590 * GNU/Linux's Thread Local Storage (TLS)
592 GDB now includes support for for the GNU/Linux implementation of
593 per-thread variables.
595 * GNU/Linux's Native POSIX Thread Library (NPTL)
597 GDB's thread code has been updated to work with either the new
598 GNU/Linux NPTL thread library or the older "LinuxThreads" library.
600 * Separate debug info.
602 GDB, in conjunction with BINUTILS, now supports a mechanism for
603 automatically loading debug information from a separate file. Instead
604 of shipping full debug and non-debug versions of system libraries,
605 system integrators can now instead ship just the stripped libraries
606 and optional debug files.
608 * DWARF 2 Location Expressions
610 DWARF 2 Location Expressions allow the compiler to more completely
611 describe the location of variables (even in optimized code) to the
614 GDB now includes preliminary support for location expressions (support
615 for DW_OP_piece is still missing).
619 A number of long standing bugs that caused GDB to die while starting a
620 Java application have been fixed. GDB's Java support is now
621 considered "useable".
623 * GNU/Linux support for fork, vfork, and exec.
625 The "catch fork", "catch exec", "catch vfork", and "set follow-fork-mode"
626 commands are now implemented for GNU/Linux. They require a 2.5.x or later
629 * GDB supports logging output to a file
631 There are two new commands, "set logging" and "show logging", which can be
632 used to capture GDB's output to a file.
634 * The meaning of "detach" has changed for gdbserver
636 The "detach" command will now resume the application, as documented. To
637 disconnect from gdbserver and leave it stopped, use the new "disconnect"
640 * d10v, m68hc11 `regs' command deprecated
642 The `info registers' command has been updated so that it displays the
643 registers using a format identical to the old `regs' command.
647 A new command, "maint set profile on/off", has been added. This command can
648 be used to enable or disable profiling while running GDB, to profile a
649 session or a set of commands. In addition there is a new configure switch,
650 "--enable-profiling", which will cause GDB to be compiled with profiling
651 data, for more informative profiling results.
653 * Default MI syntax changed to "mi2".
655 The default MI (machine interface) syntax, enabled by the command line
656 option "-i=mi", has been changed to "mi2". The previous MI syntax,
657 "mi1", can be enabled by specifying the option "-i=mi1".
659 Support for the original "mi0" syntax (included in GDB 5.0) has been
662 Fix for gdb/192: removed extraneous space when displaying frame level.
663 Fix for gdb/672: update changelist is now output in mi list format.
664 Fix for gdb/702: a -var-assign that updates the value now shows up
665 in a subsequent -var-update.
667 * New native configurations.
669 FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
671 * Multi-arched targets.
673 HP/PA HPUX11 hppa*-*-hpux*
674 Renesas M32R/D w/simulator m32r-*-elf*
676 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
678 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
679 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
680 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
683 Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
684 Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
685 H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
686 HP/PA running BSD hppa*-*-bsd*
687 HP/PA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
688 HP/PA Pro target hppa*-*-pro*
689 PMAX (MIPS) running Mach 3.0 mips*-*-mach3*
690 Sequent family i[3456]86-sequent-sysv4*
691 i[3456]86-sequent-sysv*
692 i[3456]86-sequent-bsd*
693 Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
694 Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
696 * REMOVED configurations and files
699 Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
700 IBM AIX PS/2 i[3456]86-*-aix
701 i386 running Mach 3.0 i[3456]86-*-mach3*
702 i386 running Mach i[3456]86-*-mach*
703 i386 running OSF/1 i[3456]86-*osf1mk*
704 HP/Apollo 68k Family m68*-apollo*-sysv*,
706 m68*-hp-bsd*, m68*-hp-hpux*
707 Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
708 Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
709 Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
710 OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
711 I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
713 * MIPS $fp behavior changed
715 The convenience variable $fp, for the MIPS, now consistently returns
716 the address of the current frame's base. Previously, depending on the
717 context, $fp could refer to either $sp or the current frame's base
718 address. See ``8.10 Registers'' in the manual ``Debugging with GDB:
719 The GNU Source-Level Debugger''.
721 *** Changes in GDB 5.3:
723 * GNU/Linux shared library multi-threaded performance improved.
725 When debugging a multi-threaded application on GNU/Linux, GDB now uses
726 `/proc', in preference to `ptrace' for memory reads. This may result
727 in an improvement in the start-up time of multi-threaded, shared
728 library applications when run under GDB. One GDB user writes: ``loads
729 shared libs like mad''.
731 * ``gdbserver'' now supports multi-threaded applications on some targets
733 Support for debugging multi-threaded applications which use
734 the GNU/Linux LinuxThreads package has been added for
735 arm*-*-linux*-gnu*, i[3456]86-*-linux*-gnu*, mips*-*-linux*-gnu*,
736 powerpc*-*-linux*-gnu*, and sh*-*-linux*-gnu*.
738 * GDB now supports C/C++ preprocessor macros.
740 GDB now expands preprocessor macro invocations in C/C++ expressions,
741 and provides various commands for showing macro definitions and how
744 The new command `macro expand EXPRESSION' expands any macro
745 invocations in expression, and shows the result.
747 The new command `show macro MACRO-NAME' shows the definition of the
748 macro named MACRO-NAME, and where it was defined.
750 Most compilers don't include information about macros in the debugging
751 information by default. In GCC 3.1, for example, you need to compile
752 your program with the options `-gdwarf-2 -g3'. If the macro
753 information is present in the executable, GDB will read it.
755 * Multi-arched targets.
757 DEC Alpha (partial) alpha*-*-*
758 DEC VAX (partial) vax-*-*
760 National Semiconductor NS32000 (partial) ns32k-*-*
761 Motorola 68000 (partial) m68k-*-*
762 Motorola MCORE mcore-*-*
766 Fujitsu FRV architecture added by Red Hat frv*-*-*
769 * New native configurations
771 Alpha NetBSD alpha*-*-netbsd*
772 SH NetBSD sh*-*-netbsdelf*
773 MIPS NetBSD mips*-*-netbsd*
774 UltraSPARC NetBSD sparc64-*-netbsd*
776 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
778 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
779 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
780 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
783 Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
784 OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
785 IBM AIX PS/2 i[3456]86-*-aix
786 Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
787 Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
788 Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
789 i386 running Mach 3.0 i[3456]86-*-mach3*
790 i386 running Mach i[3456]86-*-mach*
791 i386 running OSF/1 i[3456]86-*osf1mk*
792 HP/Apollo 68k Family m68*-apollo*-sysv*,
794 m68*-hp-bsd*, m68*-hp-hpux*
795 I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
799 CHILL, a Pascal like language used by telecommunications companies.
801 * REMOVED configurations and files
803 AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi, udi29k
804 A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
805 AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
806 AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
807 AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
809 testsuite/gdb.hp/gdb.threads-hp/ directory
811 * New command "set max-user-call-depth <nnn>"
813 This command allows the user to limit the call depth of user-defined
814 commands. The default is 1024.
816 * Changes in FreeBSD/i386 native debugging.
818 Support for the "generate-core-file" has been added.
820 * New commands "dump", "append", and "restore".
822 These commands allow data to be copied from target memory
823 to a bfd-format or binary file (dump and append), and back
824 from a file into memory (restore).
826 * Improved "next/step" support on multi-processor Alpha Tru64.
828 The previous single-step mechanism could cause unpredictable problems,
829 including the random appearance of SIGSEGV or SIGTRAP signals. The use
830 of a software single-step mechanism prevents this.
832 *** Changes in GDB 5.2.1:
840 gdb/182: gdb/323: gdb/237: On alpha, gdb was reporting:
841 mdebugread.c:2443: gdb-internal-error: sect_index_data not initialized
842 Fix, by Joel Brobecker imported from mainline.
844 gdb/439: gdb/291: On some ELF object files, gdb was reporting:
845 dwarf2read.c:1072: gdb-internal-error: sect_index_text not initialize
846 Fix, by Fred Fish, imported from mainline.
848 Dwarf2 .debug_frame & .eh_frame handler improved in many ways.
849 Surprisingly enough, it works now.
850 By Michal Ludvig, imported from mainline.
852 i386 hardware watchpoint support:
853 avoid misses on second run for some targets.
854 By Pierre Muller, imported from mainline.
856 *** Changes in GDB 5.2:
858 * New command "set trust-readonly-sections on[off]".
860 This command is a hint that tells gdb that read-only sections
861 really are read-only (ie. that their contents will not change).
862 In this mode, gdb will go to the object file rather than the
863 target to read memory from read-only sections (such as ".text").
864 This can be a significant performance improvement on some
865 (notably embedded) targets.
867 * New command "generate-core-file" (or "gcore").
869 This new gdb command allows the user to drop a core file of the child
870 process state at any time. So far it's been implemented only for
871 GNU/Linux and Solaris, but should be relatively easily ported to other
872 hosts. Argument is core file name (defaults to core.<pid>).
874 * New command line option
876 GDB now accepts --pid or -p followed by a process id.
878 * Change in command line behavior -- corefiles vs. process ids.
880 There is a subtle behavior in the way in which GDB handles
881 command line arguments. The first non-flag argument is always
882 a program to debug, but the second non-flag argument may either
883 be a corefile or a process id. Previously, GDB would attempt to
884 open the second argument as a corefile, and if that failed, would
885 issue a superfluous error message and then attempt to attach it as
886 a process. Now, if the second argument begins with a non-digit,
887 it will be treated as a corefile. If it begins with a digit,
888 GDB will attempt to attach it as a process, and if no such process
889 is found, will then attempt to open it as a corefile.
891 * Changes in ARM configurations.
893 Multi-arch support is enabled for all ARM configurations. The ARM/NetBSD
894 configuration is fully multi-arch.
896 * New native configurations
898 ARM NetBSD arm*-*-netbsd*
899 x86 OpenBSD i[3456]86-*-openbsd*
900 AMD x86-64 running GNU/Linux x86_64-*-linux-*
901 Sparc64 running FreeBSD sparc64-*-freebsd*
905 Sanyo XStormy16 xstormy16-elf
907 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
909 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
910 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
911 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
914 AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi, udi29k
915 A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
916 AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
917 AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
918 AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
920 testsuite/gdb.hp/gdb.threads-hp/ directory
922 * REMOVED configurations and files
924 TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
926 PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
927 PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
928 PowerPC Netware powerpc-*-netware*
929 Harris/CXUX m88k m88*-harris-cxux*
930 Most ns32k hosts and targets ns32k-*-mach3* ns32k-umax-*
931 ns32k-utek-sysv* ns32k-utek-*
932 SunOS 4.0.Xi on i386 i[3456]86-*-sunos*
933 Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1 a29k-nyu-sym1 a29k-*-kern*
934 Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x m68*-sony-sysv news
935 ISI Optimum V (3.05) under 4.3bsd. m68*-isi-*
936 Apple Macintosh (MPW) host and target N/A host, powerpc-*-macos*
938 * Changes to command line processing
940 The new `--args' feature can be used to specify command-line arguments
941 for the inferior from gdb's command line.
943 * Changes to key bindings
945 There is a new `operate-and-get-next' function bound to `C-o'.
947 *** Changes in GDB 5.1.1
949 Fix compile problem on DJGPP.
951 Fix a problem with floating-point registers on the i386 being
954 Fix to stop GDB crashing on .debug_str debug info.
956 Numerous documentation fixes.
958 Numerous testsuite fixes.
960 *** Changes in GDB 5.1:
962 * New native configurations
964 Alpha FreeBSD alpha*-*-freebsd*
965 x86 FreeBSD 3.x and 4.x i[3456]86*-freebsd[34]*
966 MIPS GNU/Linux mips*-*-linux*
967 MIPS SGI Irix 6.x mips*-sgi-irix6*
969 s390 and s390x GNU/Linux {s390,s390x}-*-linux*
973 Motorola 68HC11 and 68HC12 m68hc11-elf
975 UltraSparc running GNU/Linux sparc64-*-linux*
977 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
979 x86 FreeBSD before 2.2 i[3456]86*-freebsd{1,2.[01]}*,
980 Harris/CXUX m88k m88*-harris-cxux*
981 Most ns32k hosts and targets ns32k-*-mach3* ns32k-umax-*
982 ns32k-utek-sysv* ns32k-utek-*
983 TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
985 Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1 a29k-nyu-sym1 a29k-*-kern*
986 PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
987 PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
988 PowerPC Netware powerpc-*-netware*
989 SunOS 4.0.Xi on i386 i[3456]86-*-sunos*
990 Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x m68*-sony-sysv news
991 ISI Optimum V (3.05) under 4.3bsd. m68*-isi-*
992 Apple Macintosh (MPW) host N/A
994 stuff.c (Program to stuff files into a specially prepared space in kdb)
995 kdb-start.c (Main loop for the standalone kernel debugger)
997 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
998 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
999 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
1000 permanently REMOVED.
1002 * REMOVED configurations and files
1004 Altos 3068 m68*-altos-*
1005 Convex c1-*-*, c2-*-*
1007 ARM RISCix arm-*-* (as host)
1011 * GDB has been converted to ISO C.
1013 GDB's source code has been converted to ISO C. In particular, the
1014 sources are fully protoized, and rely on standard headers being
1019 * "info symbol" works on platforms which use COFF, ECOFF, XCOFF, and NLM.
1021 * The MI enabled by default.
1023 The new machine oriented interface (MI) introduced in GDB 5.0 has been
1024 revised and enabled by default. Packages which use GDB as a debugging
1025 engine behind a UI or another front end are encouraged to switch to
1026 using the GDB/MI interface, instead of the old annotations interface
1027 which is now deprecated.
1029 * Support for debugging Pascal programs.
1031 GDB now includes support for debugging Pascal programs. The following
1032 main features are supported:
1034 - Pascal-specific data types such as sets;
1036 - automatic recognition of Pascal sources based on file-name
1039 - Pascal-style display of data types, variables, and functions;
1041 - a Pascal expression parser.
1043 However, some important features are not yet supported.
1045 - Pascal string operations are not supported at all;
1047 - there are some problems with boolean types;
1049 - Pascal type hexadecimal constants are not supported
1050 because they conflict with the internal variables format;
1052 - support for Pascal objects and classes is not full yet;
1054 - unlike Pascal, GDB is case-sensitive for symbol names.
1056 * Changes in completion.
1058 Commands such as `shell', `run' and `set args', which pass arguments
1059 to inferior programs, now complete on file names, similar to what
1060 users expect at the shell prompt.
1062 Commands which accept locations, such as `disassemble', `print',
1063 `breakpoint', `until', etc. now complete on filenames as well as
1064 program symbols. Thus, if you type "break foob TAB", and the source
1065 files linked into the programs include `foobar.c', that file name will
1066 be one of the candidates for completion. However, file names are not
1067 considered for completion after you typed a colon that delimits a file
1068 name from a name of a function in that file, as in "break foo.c:bar".
1070 `set demangle-style' completes on available demangling styles.
1072 * New platform-independent commands:
1074 It is now possible to define a post-hook for a command as well as a
1075 hook that runs before the command. For more details, see the
1076 documentation of `hookpost' in the GDB manual.
1078 * Changes in GNU/Linux native debugging.
1080 Support for debugging multi-threaded programs has been completely
1081 revised for all platforms except m68k and sparc. You can now debug as
1082 many threads as your system allows you to have.
1084 Attach/detach is supported for multi-threaded programs.
1086 Support for SSE registers was added for x86. This doesn't work for
1087 multi-threaded programs though.
1089 * Changes in MIPS configurations.
1091 Multi-arch support is enabled for all MIPS configurations.
1093 GDB can now be built as native debugger on SGI Irix 6.x systems for
1094 debugging n32 executables. (Debugging 64-bit executables is not yet
1097 * Unified support for hardware watchpoints in all x86 configurations.
1099 Most (if not all) native x86 configurations support hardware-assisted
1100 breakpoints and watchpoints in a unified manner. This support
1101 implements debug register sharing between watchpoints, which allows to
1102 put a virtually infinite number of watchpoints on the same address,
1103 and also supports watching regions up to 16 bytes with several debug
1106 The new maintenance command `maintenance show-debug-regs' toggles
1107 debugging print-outs in functions that insert, remove, and test
1108 watchpoints and hardware breakpoints.
1110 * Changes in the DJGPP native configuration.
1112 New command ``info dos sysinfo'' displays assorted information about
1113 the CPU, OS, memory, and DPMI server.
1115 New commands ``info dos gdt'', ``info dos ldt'', and ``info dos idt''
1116 display information about segment descriptors stored in GDT, LDT, and
1119 New commands ``info dos pde'' and ``info dos pte'' display entries
1120 from Page Directory and Page Tables (for now works with CWSDPMI only).
1121 New command ``info dos address-pte'' displays the Page Table entry for
1122 a given linear address.
1124 GDB can now pass command lines longer than 126 characters to the
1125 program being debugged (requires an update to the libdbg.a library
1126 which is part of the DJGPP development kit).
1128 DWARF2 debug info is now supported.
1130 It is now possible to `step' and `next' through calls to `longjmp'.
1132 * Changes in documentation.
1134 All GDB documentation was converted to GFDL, the GNU Free
1135 Documentation License.
1137 Tracepoints-related commands are now fully documented in the GDB
1140 TUI, the Text-mode User Interface, is now documented in the manual.
1142 Tracepoints-related commands are now fully documented in the GDB
1145 The "GDB Internals" manual now has an index. It also includes
1146 documentation of `ui_out' functions, GDB coding standards, x86
1147 hardware watchpoints, and memory region attributes.
1149 * GDB's version number moved to ``version.in''
1151 The Makefile variable VERSION has been replaced by the file
1152 ``version.in''. People creating GDB distributions should update the
1153 contents of this file.
1157 GUD support is now a standard part of the EMACS distribution.
1159 *** Changes in GDB 5.0:
1161 * Improved support for debugging FP programs on x86 targets
1163 Unified and much-improved support for debugging floating-point
1164 programs on all x86 targets. In particular, ``info float'' now
1165 displays the FP registers in the same format on all x86 targets, with
1166 greater level of detail.
1168 * Improvements and bugfixes in hardware-assisted watchpoints
1170 It is now possible to watch array elements, struct members, and
1171 bitfields with hardware-assisted watchpoints. Data-read watchpoints
1172 on x86 targets no longer erroneously trigger when the address is
1175 * Improvements in the native DJGPP version of GDB
1177 The distribution now includes all the scripts and auxiliary files
1178 necessary to build the native DJGPP version on MS-DOS/MS-Windows
1179 machines ``out of the box''.
1181 The DJGPP version can now debug programs that use signals. It is
1182 possible to catch signals that happened in the debuggee, deliver
1183 signals to it, interrupt it with Ctrl-C, etc. (Previously, a signal
1184 would kill the program being debugged.) Programs that hook hardware
1185 interrupts (keyboard, timer, etc.) can also be debugged.
1187 It is now possible to debug DJGPP programs that redirect their
1188 standard handles or switch them to raw (as opposed to cooked) mode, or
1189 even close them. The command ``run < foo > bar'' works as expected,
1190 and ``info terminal'' reports useful information about the debuggee's
1191 terminal, including raw/cooked mode, redirection, etc.
1193 The DJGPP version now uses termios functions for console I/O, which
1194 enables debugging graphics programs. Interrupting GDB with Ctrl-C
1197 DOS-style file names with drive letters are now fully supported by
1200 It is now possible to debug DJGPP programs that switch their working
1201 directory. It is also possible to rerun the debuggee any number of
1202 times without restarting GDB; thus, you can use the same setup,
1203 breakpoints, etc. for many debugging sessions.
1205 * New native configurations
1207 ARM GNU/Linux arm*-*-linux*
1208 PowerPC GNU/Linux powerpc-*-linux*
1212 Motorola MCore mcore-*-*
1213 x86 VxWorks i[3456]86-*-vxworks*
1214 PowerPC VxWorks powerpc-*-vxworks*
1215 TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
1217 * OBSOLETE configurations
1219 Altos 3068 m68*-altos-*
1220 Convex c1-*-*, c2-*-*
1222 ARM RISCix arm-*-* (as host)
1225 Configurations that have been declared obsolete will be commented out,
1226 but the code will be left in place. If there is no activity to revive
1227 these configurations before the next release of GDB, the sources will
1228 be permanently REMOVED.
1230 * Gould support removed
1232 Support for the Gould PowerNode and NP1 has been removed.
1234 * New features for SVR4
1236 On SVR4 native platforms (such as Solaris), if you attach to a process
1237 without first loading a symbol file, GDB will now attempt to locate and
1238 load symbols from the running process's executable file.
1240 * Many C++ enhancements
1242 C++ support has been greatly improved. Overload resolution now works properly
1243 in almost all cases. RTTI support is on the way.
1245 * Remote targets can connect to a sub-program
1247 A popen(3) style serial-device has been added. This device starts a
1248 sub-process (such as a stand-alone simulator) and then communicates
1249 with that. The sub-program to run is specified using the syntax
1250 ``|<program> <args>'' vis:
1252 (gdb) set remotedebug 1
1253 (gdb) target extended-remote |mn10300-elf-sim program-args
1255 * MIPS 64 remote protocol
1257 A long standing bug in the mips64 remote protocol where by GDB
1258 expected certain 32 bit registers (ex SR) to be transfered as 32
1259 instead of 64 bits has been fixed.
1261 The command ``set remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs on'' has been
1262 added to provide backward compatibility with older versions of GDB.
1264 * ``set remotebinarydownload'' replaced by ``set remote X-packet''
1266 The command ``set remotebinarydownload'' command has been replaced by
1267 ``set remote X-packet''. Other commands in ``set remote'' family
1268 include ``set remote P-packet''.
1270 * Breakpoint commands accept ranges.
1272 The breakpoint commands ``enable'', ``disable'', and ``delete'' now
1273 accept a range of breakpoints, e.g. ``5-7''. The tracepoint command
1274 ``tracepoint passcount'' also accepts a range of tracepoints.
1276 * ``apropos'' command added.
1278 The ``apropos'' command searches through command names and
1279 documentation strings, printing out matches, making it much easier to
1280 try to find a command that does what you are looking for.
1284 A new machine oriented interface (MI) has been added to GDB. This
1285 interface is designed for debug environments running GDB as a separate
1286 process. This is part of the long term libGDB project. See the
1287 "GDB/MI" chapter of the GDB manual for further information. It can be
1288 enabled by configuring with:
1290 .../configure --enable-gdbmi
1292 *** Changes in GDB-4.18:
1294 * New native configurations
1296 HP-UX 10.20 hppa*-*-hpux10.20
1297 HP-UX 11.x hppa*-*-hpux11.0*
1298 M68K GNU/Linux m68*-*-linux*
1302 Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
1303 Intel StrongARM strongarm-*-*
1304 Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
1306 * OBSOLETE configurations
1308 Gould PowerNode, NP1 np1-*-*, pn-*-*
1310 Configurations that have been declared obsolete will be commented out,
1311 but the code will be left in place. If there is no activity to revive
1312 these configurations before the next release of GDB, the sources will
1313 be permanently REMOVED.
1317 As a compatibility experiment, GDB's source files buildsym.h and
1318 buildsym.c have been converted to pure standard C, no longer
1319 containing any K&R compatibility code. We believe that all systems in
1320 use today either come with a standard C compiler, or have a GCC port
1321 available. If this is not true, please report the affected
1322 configuration to bug-gdb@gnu.org immediately. See the README file for
1323 information about getting a standard C compiler if you don't have one
1328 GDB now uses readline 2.2.
1330 * set extension-language
1332 You can now control the mapping between filename extensions and source
1333 languages by using the `set extension-language' command. For instance,
1334 you can ask GDB to treat .c files as C++ by saying
1335 set extension-language .c c++
1336 The command `info extensions' lists all of the recognized extensions
1337 and their associated languages.
1339 * Setting processor type for PowerPC and RS/6000
1341 When GDB is configured for a powerpc*-*-* or an rs6000*-*-* target,
1342 you can use the `set processor' command to specify what variant of the
1343 PowerPC family you are debugging. The command
1347 sets the PowerPC/RS6000 variant to NAME. GDB knows about the
1348 following PowerPC and RS6000 variants:
1350 ppc-uisa PowerPC UISA - a PPC processor as viewed by user-level code
1351 rs6000 IBM RS6000 ("POWER") architecture, user-level view
1353 403GC IBM PowerPC 403GC
1354 505 Motorola PowerPC 505
1355 860 Motorola PowerPC 860 or 850
1356 601 Motorola PowerPC 601
1357 602 Motorola PowerPC 602
1358 603 Motorola/IBM PowerPC 603 or 603e
1359 604 Motorola PowerPC 604 or 604e
1360 750 Motorola/IBM PowerPC 750 or 750
1362 At the moment, this command just tells GDB what to name the
1363 special-purpose processor registers. Since almost all the affected
1364 registers are inaccessible to user-level programs, this command is
1365 only useful for remote debugging in its present form.
1369 Thanks to a major code donation from Hewlett-Packard, GDB now has much
1370 more extensive support for HP-UX. Added features include shared
1371 library support, kernel threads and hardware watchpoints for 11.00,
1372 support for HP's ANSI C and C++ compilers, and a compatibility mode
1373 for xdb and dbx commands.
1377 HP's donation includes the new concept of catchpoints, which is a
1378 generalization of the old catch command. On HP-UX, it is now possible
1379 to catch exec, fork, and vfork, as well as library loading.
1381 This means that the existing catch command has changed; its first
1382 argument now specifies the type of catch to be set up. See the
1383 output of "help catch" for a list of catchpoint types.
1385 * Debugging across forks
1387 On HP-UX, you can choose which process to debug when a fork() happens
1392 HP has donated a curses-based terminal user interface (TUI). To get
1393 it, build with --enable-tui. Although this can be enabled for any
1394 configuration, at present it only works for native HP debugging.
1396 * GDB remote protocol additions
1398 A new protocol packet 'X' that writes binary data is now available.
1399 Default behavior is to try 'X', then drop back to 'M' if the stub
1400 fails to respond. The settable variable `remotebinarydownload'
1401 allows explicit control over the use of 'X'.
1403 For 64-bit targets, the memory packets ('M' and 'm') can now contain a
1404 full 64-bit address. The command
1406 set remoteaddresssize 32
1408 can be used to revert to the old behaviour. For existing remote stubs
1409 the change should not be noticed, as the additional address information
1412 In order to assist in debugging stubs, you may use the maintenance
1413 command `packet' to send any text string to the stub. For instance,
1415 maint packet heythere
1417 sends the packet "$heythere#<checksum>". Note that it is very easy to
1418 disrupt a debugging session by sending the wrong packet at the wrong
1421 The compare-sections command allows you to compare section data on the
1422 target to what is in the executable file without uploading or
1423 downloading, by comparing CRC checksums.
1425 * Tracing can collect general expressions
1427 You may now collect general expressions at tracepoints. This requires
1428 further additions to the target-side stub; see tracepoint.c and
1429 doc/agentexpr.texi for further details.
1431 * mask-address variable for Mips
1433 For Mips targets, you may control the zeroing of the upper 32 bits of
1434 a 64-bit address by entering `set mask-address on'. This is mainly
1435 of interest to users of embedded R4xxx and R5xxx processors.
1437 * Higher serial baud rates
1439 GDB's serial code now allows you to specify baud rates 57600, 115200,
1440 230400, and 460800 baud. (Note that your host system may not be able
1441 to achieve all of these rates.)
1445 The i960 configuration now includes an initial implementation of a
1446 builtin simulator, contributed by Jim Wilson.
1449 *** Changes in GDB-4.17:
1451 * New native configurations
1453 Alpha GNU/Linux alpha*-*-linux*
1454 Unixware 2.x i[3456]86-unixware2*
1455 Irix 6.x mips*-sgi-irix6*
1456 PowerPC GNU/Linux powerpc-*-linux*
1457 PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
1458 Sparc GNU/Linux sparc-*-linux*
1459 Motorola sysV68 R3V7.1 m68k-motorola-sysv
1463 Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
1464 Hitachi H8/300S h8300*-*-*
1465 Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
1466 Matsushita MN10300 w/simulator mn10300-*-*
1467 MIPS NEC VR4100 mips64*vr4100*{,el}-*-elf*
1468 MIPS NEC VR5000 mips64*vr5000*{,el}-*-elf*
1469 MIPS Toshiba TX39 mips64*tx39*{,el}-*-elf*
1470 Mitsubishi D10V w/simulator d10v-*-*
1471 Mitsubishi M32R/D w/simulator m32r-*-elf*
1472 Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
1473 NEC V850 w/simulator v850-*-*
1475 * New debugging protocols
1477 ARM with RDI protocol arm*-*-*
1478 M68K with dBUG monitor m68*-*-{aout,coff,elf}
1479 DDB and LSI variants of PMON protocol mips*-*-*
1480 PowerPC with DINK32 monitor powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
1481 PowerPC with SDS protocol powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
1482 Macraigor OCD (Wiggler) devices powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
1486 All configurations can now understand and use the DWARF 2 debugging
1487 format. The choice is automatic, if the symbol file contains DWARF 2
1492 GDB now includes basic Java language support. This support is
1493 only useful with Java compilers that produce native machine code.
1495 * solib-absolute-prefix and solib-search-path
1497 For SunOS and SVR4 shared libraries, you may now set the prefix for
1498 loading absolute shared library symbol files, and the search path for
1499 locating non-absolute shared library symbol files.
1501 * Live range splitting
1503 GDB can now effectively debug code for which GCC has performed live
1504 range splitting as part of its optimization. See gdb/doc/LRS for
1505 more details on the expected format of the stabs information.
1509 GDB's support for the GNU Hurd, including thread debugging, has been
1510 updated to work with current versions of the Hurd.
1514 GDB's ARM target configuration now handles the ARM7T (Thumb) 16-bit
1515 instruction set. ARM GDB automatically detects when Thumb
1516 instructions are in use, and adjusts disassembly and backtracing
1521 GDB's MIPS target configurations now handle the MIP16 16-bit
1526 GDB now includes support for overlays; if an executable has been
1527 linked such that multiple sections are based at the same address, GDB
1528 will decide which section to use for symbolic info. You can choose to
1529 control the decision manually, using overlay commands, or implement
1530 additional target-side support and use "overlay load-target" to bring
1531 in the overlay mapping. Do "help overlay" for more detail.
1535 The command "info symbol <address>" displays information about
1536 the symbol at the specified address.
1540 The standard remote protocol now includes an extension that allows
1541 asynchronous collection and display of trace data. This requires
1542 extensive support in the target-side debugging stub. Tracing mode
1543 includes a new interaction mode in GDB and new commands: see the
1544 file tracepoint.c for more details.
1548 Configurations for embedded MIPS now include a simulator contributed
1549 by Cygnus Solutions. The simulator supports the instruction sets
1550 of most MIPS variants.
1554 Sparc configurations may now include the ERC32 simulator contributed
1555 by the European Space Agency. The simulator is not built into
1556 Sparc targets by default; configure with --enable-sim to include it.
1560 For target configurations that may include multiple variants of a
1561 basic architecture (such as MIPS and SH), you may now set the
1562 architecture explicitly. "set arch" sets, "info arch" lists
1563 the possible architectures.
1565 *** Changes in GDB-4.16:
1567 * New native configurations
1569 Windows 95, x86 Windows NT i[345]86-*-cygwin32
1570 M68K NetBSD m68k-*-netbsd*
1571 PowerPC AIX 4.x powerpc-*-aix*
1572 PowerPC MacOS powerpc-*-macos*
1573 PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
1574 RS/6000 AIX 4.x rs6000-*-aix4*
1578 ARM with RDP protocol arm-*-*
1579 I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
1580 MIPS VxWorks mips*-*-vxworks*
1581 MIPS VR4300 with PMON mips64*vr4300{,el}-*-elf*
1582 PowerPC with PPCBUG monitor powerpc{,le}-*-eabi*
1584 Matra Sparclet sparclet-*-*
1588 The powerpc-eabi configuration now includes the PSIM simulator,
1589 contributed by Andrew Cagney, with assistance from Mike Meissner.
1590 PSIM is a very elaborate model of the PowerPC, including not only
1591 basic instruction set execution, but also details of execution unit
1592 performance and I/O hardware. See sim/ppc/README for more details.
1596 GDB now works with Solaris 2.5.
1598 * Windows 95/NT native
1600 GDB will now work as a native debugger on Windows 95 and Windows NT.
1601 To build it from source, you must use the "gnu-win32" environment,
1602 which uses a DLL to emulate enough of Unix to run the GNU tools.
1603 Further information, binaries, and sources are available at
1604 ftp.cygnus.com, under pub/gnu-win32.
1606 * dont-repeat command
1608 If a user-defined command includes the command `dont-repeat', then the
1609 command will not be repeated if the user just types return. This is
1610 useful if the command is time-consuming to run, so that accidental
1611 extra keystrokes don't run the same command many times.
1613 * Send break instead of ^C
1615 The standard remote protocol now includes an option to send a break
1616 rather than a ^C to the target in order to interrupt it. By default,
1617 GDB will send ^C; to send a break, set the variable `remotebreak' to 1.
1619 * Remote protocol timeout
1621 The standard remote protocol includes a new variable `remotetimeout'
1622 that allows you to set the number of seconds before GDB gives up trying
1623 to read from the target. The default value is 2.
1625 * Automatic tracking of dynamic object loading (HPUX and Solaris only)
1627 By default GDB will automatically keep track of objects as they are
1628 loaded and unloaded by the dynamic linker. By using the command `set
1629 stop-on-solib-events 1' you can arrange for GDB to stop the inferior
1630 when shared library events occur, thus allowing you to set breakpoints
1631 in shared libraries which are explicitly loaded by the inferior.
1633 Note this feature does not work on hpux8. On hpux9 you must link
1634 /usr/lib/end.o into your program. This feature should work
1635 automatically on hpux10.
1637 * Irix 5.x hardware watchpoint support
1639 Irix 5 configurations now support the use of hardware watchpoints.
1641 * Mips protocol "SYN garbage limit"
1643 When debugging a Mips target using the `target mips' protocol, you
1644 may set the number of characters that GDB will ignore by setting
1645 the `syn-garbage-limit'. A value of -1 means that GDB will ignore
1646 every character. The default value is 1050.
1648 * Recording and replaying remote debug sessions
1650 If you set `remotelogfile' to the name of a file, gdb will write to it
1651 a recording of a remote debug session. This recording may then be
1652 replayed back to gdb using "gdbreplay". See gdbserver/README for
1653 details. This is useful when you have a problem with GDB while doing
1654 remote debugging; you can make a recording of the session and send it
1655 to someone else, who can then recreate the problem.
1657 * Speedups for remote debugging
1659 GDB includes speedups for downloading and stepping MIPS systems using
1660 the IDT monitor, fast downloads to the Hitachi SH E7000 emulator,
1661 and more efficient S-record downloading.
1663 * Memory use reductions and statistics collection
1665 GDB now uses less memory and reports statistics about memory usage.
1666 Try the `maint print statistics' command, for example.
1668 *** Changes in GDB-4.15:
1670 * Psymtabs for XCOFF
1672 The symbol reader for AIX GDB now uses partial symbol tables. This
1673 can greatly improve startup time, especially for large executables.
1675 * Remote targets use caching
1677 Remote targets now use a data cache to speed up communication with the
1678 remote side. The data cache could lead to incorrect results because
1679 it doesn't know about volatile variables, thus making it impossible to
1680 debug targets which use memory mapped I/O devices. `set remotecache
1681 off' turns the the data cache off.
1683 * Remote targets may have threads
1685 The standard remote protocol now includes support for multiple threads
1686 in the target system, using new protocol commands 'H' and 'T'. See
1687 gdb/remote.c for details.
1691 If GDB is configured with `--enable-netrom', then it will include
1692 support for the NetROM ROM emulator from XLNT Designs. The NetROM
1693 acts as though it is a bank of ROM on the target board, but you can
1694 write into it over the network. GDB's support consists only of
1695 support for fast loading into the emulated ROM; to debug, you must use
1696 another protocol, such as standard remote protocol. The usual
1697 sequence is something like
1699 target nrom <netrom-hostname>
1701 target remote <netrom-hostname>:1235
1705 GDB now includes support for the Apple Macintosh, as a host only. It
1706 may be run as either an MPW tool or as a standalone application, and
1707 it can debug through the serial port. All the usual GDB commands are
1708 available, but to the target command, you must supply "serial" as the
1709 device type instead of "/dev/ttyXX". See mpw-README in the main
1710 directory for more information on how to build. The MPW configuration
1711 scripts */mpw-config.in support only a few targets, and only the
1712 mips-idt-ecoff target has been tested.
1716 GDB configuration now uses autoconf. This is not user-visible,
1717 but does simplify configuration and building.
1721 GDB now supports hpux10.
1723 *** Changes in GDB-4.14:
1725 * New native configurations
1727 x86 FreeBSD i[345]86-*-freebsd
1728 x86 NetBSD i[345]86-*-netbsd
1729 NS32k NetBSD ns32k-*-netbsd
1730 Sparc NetBSD sparc-*-netbsd
1734 A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
1735 HP PA PRO embedded (WinBond W89K & Oki OP50N) hppa*-*-pro*
1736 CPU32 EST-300 emulator m68*-*-est*
1737 PowerPC ELF powerpc-*-elf
1740 * Alpha OSF/1 support for procfs
1742 GDB now supports procfs under OSF/1-2.x and higher, which makes it
1743 possible to attach to running processes. As the mounting of the /proc
1744 filesystem is optional on the Alpha, GDB automatically determines
1745 the availability of /proc during startup. This can lead to problems
1746 if /proc is unmounted after GDB has been started.
1748 * Arguments to user-defined commands
1750 User commands may accept up to 10 arguments separated by whitespace.
1751 Arguments are accessed within the user command via $arg0..$arg9. A
1754 print $arg0 + $arg1 + $arg2
1756 To execute the command use:
1759 Defines the command "adder" which prints the sum of its three arguments.
1760 Note the arguments are text substitutions, so they may reference variables,
1761 use complex expressions, or even perform inferior function calls.
1763 * New `if' and `while' commands
1765 This makes it possible to write more sophisticated user-defined
1766 commands. Both commands take a single argument, which is the
1767 expression to evaluate, and must be followed by the commands to
1768 execute, one per line, if the expression is nonzero, the list being
1769 terminated by the word `end'. The `if' command list may include an
1770 `else' word, which causes the following commands to be executed only
1771 if the expression is zero.
1773 * Fortran source language mode
1775 GDB now includes partial support for Fortran 77. It will recognize
1776 Fortran programs and can evaluate a subset of Fortran expressions, but
1777 variables and functions may not be handled correctly. GDB will work
1778 with G77, but does not yet know much about symbols emitted by other
1781 * Better HPUX support
1783 Most debugging facilities now work on dynamic executables for HPPAs
1784 running hpux9 or later. You can attach to running dynamically linked
1785 processes, but by default the dynamic libraries will be read-only, so
1786 for instance you won't be able to put breakpoints in them. To change
1787 that behavior do the following before running the program:
1793 This will cause the libraries to be mapped private and read-write.
1794 To revert to the normal behavior, do this:
1800 You cannot set breakpoints or examine data in the library until after
1801 the library is loaded if the function/data symbols do not have
1804 GDB can now also read debug symbols produced by the HP C compiler on
1805 HPPAs (sorry, no C++, Fortran or 68k support).
1807 * Target byte order now dynamically selectable
1809 You can choose which byte order to use with a target system, via the
1810 commands "set endian big" and "set endian little", and you can see the
1811 current setting by using "show endian". You can also give the command
1812 "set endian auto", in which case GDB will use the byte order
1813 associated with the executable. Currently, only embedded MIPS
1814 configurations support dynamic selection of target byte order.
1816 * New DOS host serial code
1818 This version uses DPMI interrupts to handle buffered I/O, so you
1819 no longer need to run asynctsr when debugging boards connected to
1822 *** Changes in GDB-4.13:
1824 * New "complete" command
1826 This lists all the possible completions for the rest of the line, if it
1827 were to be given as a command itself. This is intended for use by emacs.
1829 * Trailing space optional in prompt
1831 "set prompt" no longer adds a space for you after the prompt you set. This
1832 allows you to set a prompt which ends in a space or one that does not.
1834 * Breakpoint hit counts
1836 "info break" now displays a count of the number of times the breakpoint
1837 has been hit. This is especially useful in conjunction with "ignore"; you
1838 can ignore a large number of breakpoint hits, look at the breakpoint info
1839 to see how many times the breakpoint was hit, then run again, ignoring one
1840 less than that number, and this will get you quickly to the last hit of
1843 * Ability to stop printing at NULL character
1845 "set print null-stop" will cause GDB to stop printing the characters of
1846 an array when the first NULL is encountered. This is useful when large
1847 arrays actually contain only short strings.
1849 * Shared library breakpoints
1851 In SunOS 4.x, SVR4, and Alpha OSF/1 configurations, you can now set
1852 breakpoints in shared libraries before the executable is run.
1854 * Hardware watchpoints
1856 There is a new hardware breakpoint for the watch command for sparclite
1857 targets. See gdb/sparclite/hw_breakpoint.note.
1859 Hardware watchpoints are also now supported under GNU/Linux.
1863 Annotations have been added. These are for use with graphical interfaces,
1864 and are still experimental. Currently only gdba.el uses these.
1866 * Improved Irix 5 support
1868 GDB now works properly with Irix 5.2.
1870 * Improved HPPA support
1872 GDB now works properly with the latest GCC and GAS.
1874 * New native configurations
1876 Sequent PTX4 i[34]86-sequent-ptx4
1877 HPPA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
1878 Atari TT running SVR4 m68*-*-sysv4*
1879 RS/6000 LynxOS rs6000-*-lynxos*
1883 OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
1884 MIPS R4000 mips64*{,el}-*-{ecoff,elf}
1887 * Hitachi SH7000 and E7000-PC ICE support
1889 There is now support for communicating with the Hitachi E7000-PC ICE.
1890 This is available automatically when GDB is configured for the SH.
1894 As usual, a variety of small fixes and improvements, both generic
1895 and configuration-specific. See the ChangeLog for more detail.
1897 *** Changes in GDB-4.12:
1899 * Irix 5 is now supported
1903 GDB-4.12 on the HPPA has a number of changes which make it unable
1904 to debug the output from the currently released versions of GCC and
1905 GAS (GCC 2.5.8 and GAS-2.2 or PAGAS-1.36). Until the next major release
1906 of GCC and GAS, versions of these tools designed to work with GDB-4.12
1907 can be retrieved via anonymous ftp from jaguar.cs.utah.edu:/dist.
1910 *** Changes in GDB-4.11:
1912 * User visible changes:
1916 The "set remotedebug" option is now consistent between the mips remote
1917 target, remote targets using the gdb-specific protocol, UDI (AMD's
1918 debug protocol for the 29k) and the 88k bug monitor. It is now an
1919 integer specifying a debug level (normally 0 or 1, but 2 means more
1920 debugging info for the mips target).
1922 * DEC Alpha native support
1924 GDB now works on the DEC Alpha. GCC 2.4.5 does not produce usable
1925 debug info, but GDB works fairly well with the DEC compiler and should
1926 work with a future GCC release. See the README file for a few
1927 Alpha-specific notes.
1929 * Preliminary thread implementation
1931 GDB now has preliminary thread support for both SGI/Irix and LynxOS.
1933 * LynxOS native and target support for 386
1935 This release has been hosted on LynxOS 2.2, and also can be configured
1936 to remotely debug programs running under LynxOS (see gdb/gdbserver/README
1939 * Improvements in C++ mangling/demangling.
1941 This release has much better g++ debugging, specifically in name
1942 mangling/demangling, virtual function calls, print virtual table,
1943 call methods, ...etc.
1945 *** Changes in GDB-4.10:
1947 * User visible changes:
1949 Remote debugging using the GDB-specific (`target remote') protocol now
1950 supports the `load' command. This is only useful if you have some
1951 other way of getting the stub to the target system, and you can put it
1952 somewhere in memory where it won't get clobbered by the download.
1954 Filename completion now works.
1956 When run under emacs mode, the "info line" command now causes the
1957 arrow to point to the line specified. Also, "info line" prints
1958 addresses in symbolic form (as well as hex).
1960 All vxworks based targets now support a user settable option, called
1961 vxworks-timeout. This option represents the number of seconds gdb
1962 should wait for responses to rpc's. You might want to use this if
1963 your vxworks target is, perhaps, a slow software simulator or happens
1964 to be on the far side of a thin network line.
1968 This release contains support for using a DEC alpha as a GDB host for
1969 cross debugging. Native alpha debugging is not supported yet.
1972 *** Changes in GDB-4.9:
1976 This is the first GDB release which is accompanied by a matching testsuite.
1977 The testsuite requires installation of dejagnu, which should be available
1978 via ftp from most sites that carry GNU software.
1982 'Cfront' style demangling has had its name changed to 'ARM' style, to
1983 emphasize that it was written from the specifications in the C++ Annotated
1984 Reference Manual, not necessarily to be compatible with AT&T cfront. Despite
1985 disclaimers, it still generated too much confusion with users attempting to
1986 use gdb with AT&T cfront.
1990 GDB now uses a standard remote interface to a simulator library.
1991 So far, the library contains simulators for the Zilog Z8001/2, the
1992 Hitachi H8/300, H8/500 and Super-H.
1994 * New targets supported
1996 H8/300 simulator h8300-hitachi-hms or h8300hms
1997 H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
1998 SH simulator sh-hitachi-hms or sh
1999 Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
2000 IDT MIPS board over serial line mips-idt-ecoff
2002 Cross-debugging to GO32 targets is supported. It requires a custom
2003 version of the i386-stub.c module which is integrated with the
2004 GO32 memory extender.
2006 * New remote protocols
2008 MIPS remote debugging protocol.
2010 * New source languages supported
2012 This version includes preliminary support for Chill, a Pascal like language
2013 used by telecommunications companies. Chill support is also being integrated
2014 into the GNU compiler, but we don't know when it will be publically available.
2017 *** Changes in GDB-4.8:
2019 * HP Precision Architecture supported
2021 GDB now supports HP PA-RISC machines running HPUX. A preliminary
2022 version of this support was available as a set of patches from the
2023 University of Utah. GDB does not support debugging of programs
2024 compiled with the HP compiler, because HP will not document their file
2025 format. Instead, you must use GCC (version 2.3.2 or later) and PA-GAS
2026 (as available from jaguar.cs.utah.edu:/dist/pa-gas.u4.tar.Z).
2028 Many problems in the preliminary version have been fixed.
2030 * Faster and better demangling
2032 We have improved template demangling and fixed numerous bugs in the GNU style
2033 demangler. It can now handle type modifiers such as `static' or `const'. Wide
2034 character types (wchar_t) are now supported. Demangling of each symbol is now
2035 only done once, and is cached when the symbol table for a file is read in.
2036 This results in a small increase in memory usage for C programs, a moderate
2037 increase in memory usage for C++ programs, and a fantastic speedup in
2040 `Cfront' style demangling still doesn't work with AT&T cfront. It was written
2041 from the specifications in the Annotated Reference Manual, which AT&T's
2042 compiler does not actually implement.
2044 * G++ multiple inheritance compiler problem
2046 In the 2.3.2 release of gcc/g++, how the compiler resolves multiple
2047 inheritance lattices was reworked to properly discover ambiguities. We
2048 recently found an example which causes this new algorithm to fail in a
2049 very subtle way, producing bad debug information for those classes.
2050 The file 'gcc.patch' (in this directory) can be applied to gcc to
2051 circumvent the problem. A future GCC release will contain a complete
2054 The previous G++ debug info problem (mentioned below for the gdb-4.7
2055 release) is fixed in gcc version 2.3.2.
2057 * Improved configure script
2059 The `configure' script will now attempt to guess your system type if
2060 you don't supply a host system type. The old scheme of supplying a
2061 host system triplet is preferable over using this. All the magic is
2062 done in the new `config.guess' script. Examine it for details.
2064 We have also brought our configure script much more in line with the FSF's
2065 version. It now supports the --with-xxx options. In particular,
2066 `--with-minimal-bfd' can be used to make the GDB binary image smaller.
2067 The resulting GDB will not be able to read arbitrary object file formats --
2068 only the format ``expected'' to be used on the configured target system.
2069 We hope to make this the default in a future release.
2071 * Documentation improvements
2073 There's new internal documentation on how to modify GDB, and how to
2074 produce clean changes to the code. We implore people to read it
2075 before submitting changes.
2077 The GDB manual uses new, sexy Texinfo conditionals, rather than arcane
2078 M4 macros. The new texinfo.tex is provided in this release. Pre-built
2079 `info' files are also provided. To build `info' files from scratch,
2080 you will need the latest `makeinfo' release, which will be available in
2081 a future texinfo-X.Y release.
2083 *NOTE* The new texinfo.tex can cause old versions of TeX to hang.
2084 We're not sure exactly which versions have this problem, but it has
2085 been seen in 3.0. We highly recommend upgrading to TeX version 3.141
2086 or better. If that isn't possible, there is a patch in
2087 `texinfo/tex3patch' that will modify `texinfo/texinfo.tex' to work
2088 around this problem.
2092 GDB now supports array constants that can be used in expressions typed in by
2093 the user. The syntax is `{element, element, ...}'. Ie: you can now type
2094 `print {1, 2, 3}', and it will build up an array in memory malloc'd in
2097 The new directory `gdb/sparclite' contains a program that demonstrates
2098 how the sparc-stub.c remote stub runs on a Fujitsu SPARClite processor.
2100 * New native hosts supported
2102 HP/PA-RISC under HPUX using GNU tools hppa1.1-hp-hpux
2103 386 CPUs running SCO Unix 3.2v4 i386-unknown-sco3.2v4
2105 * New targets supported
2107 AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi or udi29k
2109 * New file formats supported
2111 BFD now supports reading HP/PA-RISC executables (SOM file format?),
2112 HPUX core files, and SCO 3.2v2 core files.
2116 Attaching to processes now works again; thanks for the many bug reports.
2118 We have also stomped on a bunch of core dumps caused by
2119 printf_filtered("%s") problems.
2121 We eliminated a copyright problem on the rpc and ptrace header files
2122 for VxWorks, which was discovered at the last minute during the 4.7
2123 release. You should now be able to build a VxWorks GDB.
2125 You can now interrupt gdb while an attached process is running. This
2126 will cause the attached process to stop, and give control back to GDB.
2128 We fixed problems caused by using too many file descriptors
2129 for reading symbols from object files and libraries. This was
2130 especially a problem for programs that used many (~100) shared
2133 The `step' command now only enters a subroutine if there is line number
2134 information for the subroutine. Otherwise it acts like the `next'
2135 command. Previously, `step' would enter subroutines if there was
2136 any debugging information about the routine. This avoids problems
2137 when using `cc -g1' on MIPS machines.
2139 * Internal improvements
2141 GDB's internal interfaces have been improved to make it easier to support
2142 debugging of multiple languages in the future.
2144 GDB now uses a common structure for symbol information internally.
2145 Minimal symbols (derived from linkage symbols in object files), partial
2146 symbols (from a quick scan of debug information), and full symbols
2147 contain a common subset of information, making it easier to write
2148 shared code that handles any of them.
2150 * New command line options
2152 We now accept --silent as an alias for --quiet.
2156 The memory-mapped-malloc library is now licensed under the GNU Library
2157 General Public License.
2159 *** Changes in GDB-4.7:
2161 * Host/native/target split
2163 GDB has had some major internal surgery to untangle the support for
2164 hosts and remote targets. Now, when you configure GDB for a remote
2165 target, it will no longer load in all of the support for debugging
2166 local programs on the host. When fully completed and tested, this will
2167 ensure that arbitrary host/target combinations are possible.
2169 The primary conceptual shift is to separate the non-portable code in
2170 GDB into three categories. Host specific code is required any time GDB
2171 is compiled on that host, regardless of the target. Target specific
2172 code relates to the peculiarities of the target, but can be compiled on
2173 any host. Native specific code is everything else: it can only be
2174 built when the host and target are the same system. Child process
2175 handling and core file support are two common `native' examples.
2177 GDB's use of /proc for controlling Unix child processes is now cleaner.
2178 It has been split out into a single module under the `target_ops' vector,
2179 plus two native-dependent functions for each system that uses /proc.
2181 * New hosts supported
2183 HP/Apollo 68k (under the BSD domain) m68k-apollo-bsd or apollo68bsd
2184 386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd
2185 386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or i386sco
2187 * New targets supported
2189 Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
2190 68030 and CPU32 m68030-*-*, m68332-*-*
2192 * New native hosts supported
2194 386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd
2195 (386bsd is not well tested yet)
2196 386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or sco
2198 * New file formats supported
2200 BFD now supports COFF files for the Zilog Z8000 microprocessor. It
2201 supports reading of `a.out.adobe' object files, which are an a.out
2202 format extended with minimal information about multiple sections.
2206 `show copying' is the same as the old `info copying'.
2207 `show warranty' is the same as `info warrantee'.
2208 These were renamed for consistency. The old commands continue to work.
2210 `info handle' is a new alias for `info signals'.
2212 You can now define pre-command hooks, which attach arbitrary command
2213 scripts to any command. The commands in the hook will be executed
2214 prior to the user's command. You can also create a hook which will be
2215 executed whenever the program stops. See gdb.texinfo.
2219 We now deal with Cfront style name mangling, and can even extract type
2220 info from mangled symbols. GDB can automatically figure out which
2221 symbol mangling style your C++ compiler uses.
2223 Calling of methods and virtual functions has been improved as well.
2227 The crash that occured when debugging Sun Ansi-C compiled binaries is
2228 fixed. This was due to mishandling of the extra N_SO stabs output
2231 We also finally got Ultrix 4.2 running in house, and fixed core file
2232 support, with help from a dozen people on the net.
2234 John M. Farrell discovered that the reason that single-stepping was so
2235 slow on all of the Mips based platforms (primarily SGI and DEC) was
2236 that we were trying to demangle and lookup a symbol used for internal
2237 purposes on every instruction that was being stepped through. Changing
2238 the name of that symbol so that it couldn't be mistaken for a C++
2239 mangled symbol sped things up a great deal.
2241 Rich Pixley sped up symbol lookups in general by getting much smarter
2242 about when C++ symbol mangling is necessary. This should make symbol
2243 completion (TAB on the command line) much faster. It's not as fast as
2244 we'd like, but it's significantly faster than gdb-4.6.
2248 A new user controllable variable 'call_scratch_address' can
2249 specify the location of a scratch area to be used when GDB
2250 calls a function in the target. This is necessary because the
2251 usual method of putting the scratch area on the stack does not work
2252 in systems that have separate instruction and data spaces.
2254 We integrated changes to support the 29k UDI (Universal Debugger
2255 Interface), but discovered at the last minute that we didn't have all
2256 of the appropriate copyright paperwork. We are working with AMD to
2257 resolve this, and hope to have it available soon.
2261 We have sped up the remote serial line protocol, especially for targets
2262 with lots of registers. It now supports a new `expedited status' ('T')
2263 message which can be used in place of the existing 'S' status message.
2264 This allows the remote stub to send only the registers that GDB
2265 needs to make a quick decision about single-stepping or conditional
2266 breakpoints, eliminating the need to fetch the entire register set for
2267 each instruction being stepped through.
2269 The GDB remote serial protocol now implements a write-through cache for
2270 registers, only re-reading the registers if the target has run.
2272 There is also a new remote serial stub for SPARC processors. You can
2273 find it in gdb-4.7/gdb/sparc-stub.c. This was written to support the
2274 Fujitsu SPARClite processor, but will run on any stand-alone SPARC
2275 processor with a serial port.
2279 Configure.in files have become much easier to read and modify. A new
2280 `table driven' format makes it more obvious what configurations are
2281 supported, and what files each one uses.
2285 There is a new opcodes library which will eventually contain all of the
2286 disassembly routines and opcode tables. At present, it only contains
2287 Sparc and Z8000 routines. This will allow the assembler, debugger, and
2288 disassembler (binutils/objdump) to share these routines.
2290 The libiberty library is now copylefted under the GNU Library General
2291 Public License. This allows more liberal use, and was done so libg++
2292 can use it. This makes no difference to GDB, since the Library License
2293 grants all the rights from the General Public License.
2297 The file gdb-4.7/gdb/doc/stabs.texinfo is a (relatively) complete
2298 reference to the stabs symbol info used by the debugger. It is (as far
2299 as we know) the only published document on this fascinating topic. We
2300 encourage you to read it, compare it to the stabs information on your
2301 system, and send improvements on the document in general (to
2302 bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu).
2304 And, of course, many bugs have been fixed.
2307 *** Changes in GDB-4.6:
2309 * Better support for C++ function names
2311 GDB now accepts as input the "demangled form" of C++ overloaded function
2312 names and member function names, and can do command completion on such names
2313 (using TAB, TAB-TAB, and ESC-?). The names have to be quoted with a pair of
2314 single quotes. Examples are 'func (int, long)' and 'obj::operator==(obj&)'.
2315 Make use of command completion, it is your friend.
2317 GDB also now accepts a variety of C++ mangled symbol formats. They are
2318 the GNU g++ style, the Cfront (ARM) style, and the Lucid (lcc) style.
2319 You can tell GDB which format to use by doing a 'set demangle-style {gnu,
2320 lucid, cfront, auto}'. 'gnu' is the default. Do a 'set demangle-style foo'
2321 for the list of formats.
2323 * G++ symbol mangling problem
2325 Recent versions of gcc have a bug in how they emit debugging information for
2326 C++ methods (when using dbx-style stabs). The file 'gcc.patch' (in this
2327 directory) can be applied to gcc to fix the problem. Alternatively, if you
2328 can't fix gcc, you can #define GCC_MANGLE_BUG when compling gdb/symtab.c. The
2329 usual symptom is difficulty with setting breakpoints on methods. GDB complains
2330 about the method being non-existent. (We believe that version 2.2.2 of GCC has
2333 * New 'maintenance' command
2335 All of the commands related to hacking GDB internals have been moved out of
2336 the main command set, and now live behind the 'maintenance' command. This
2337 can also be abbreviated as 'mt'. The following changes were made:
2339 dump-me -> maintenance dump-me
2340 info all-breakpoints -> maintenance info breakpoints
2341 printmsyms -> maintenance print msyms
2342 printobjfiles -> maintenance print objfiles
2343 printpsyms -> maintenance print psymbols
2344 printsyms -> maintenance print symbols
2346 The following commands are new:
2348 maintenance demangle Call internal GDB demangler routine to
2349 demangle a C++ link name and prints the result.
2350 maintenance print type Print a type chain for a given symbol
2352 * Change to .gdbinit file processing
2354 We now read the $HOME/.gdbinit file before processing the argv arguments
2355 (e.g. reading symbol files or core files). This allows global parameters to
2356 be set, which will apply during the symbol reading. The ./.gdbinit is still
2357 read after argv processing.
2359 * New hosts supported
2361 Solaris-2.0 !!! sparc-sun-solaris2 or sun4sol2
2363 GNU/Linux support i386-unknown-linux or linux
2365 We are also including code to support the HP/PA running BSD and HPUX. This
2366 is almost guaranteed not to work, as we didn't have time to test or build it
2367 for this release. We are including it so that the more adventurous (or
2368 masochistic) of you can play with it. We also had major problems with the
2369 fact that the compiler that we got from HP doesn't support the -g option.
2372 * New targets supported
2374 Hitachi H8/300 h8300-hitachi-hms or h8300hms
2376 * More smarts about finding #include files
2378 GDB now remembers the compilation directory for all include files, and for
2379 all files from which C is generated (like yacc and lex sources). This
2380 greatly improves GDB's ability to find yacc/lex sources, and include files,
2381 especially if you are debugging your program from a directory different from
2382 the one that contains your sources.
2384 We also fixed a bug which caused difficulty with listing and setting
2385 breakpoints in include files which contain C code. (In the past, you had to
2386 try twice in order to list an include file that you hadn't looked at before.)
2388 * Interesting infernals change
2390 GDB now deals with arbitrary numbers of sections, where the symbols for each
2391 section must be relocated relative to that section's landing place in the
2392 target's address space. This work was needed to support ELF with embedded
2393 stabs used by Solaris-2.0.
2395 * Bug fixes (of course!)
2397 There have been loads of fixes for the following things:
2398 mips, rs6000, 29k/udi, m68k, g++, type handling, elf/dwarf, m88k,
2399 i960, stabs, DOS(GO32), procfs, etc...
2401 See the ChangeLog for details.
2403 *** Changes in GDB-4.5:
2405 * New machines supported (host and target)
2407 IBM RS6000 running AIX rs6000-ibm-aix or rs6000
2409 SGI Irix-4.x mips-sgi-irix4 or iris4
2411 * New malloc package
2413 GDB now uses a new memory manager called mmalloc, based on gmalloc.
2414 Mmalloc is capable of handling mutiple heaps of memory. It is also
2415 capable of saving a heap to a file, and then mapping it back in later.
2416 This can be used to greatly speedup the startup of GDB by using a
2417 pre-parsed symbol table which lives in a mmalloc managed heap. For
2418 more details, please read mmalloc/mmalloc.texi.
2422 The 'info proc' command (SVR4 only) has been enhanced quite a bit. See
2423 'help info proc' for details.
2425 * MIPS ecoff symbol table format
2427 The code that reads MIPS symbol table format is now supported on all hosts.
2428 Thanks to MIPS for releasing the sym.h and symconst.h files to make this
2431 * File name changes for MS-DOS
2433 Many files in the config directories have been renamed to make it easier to
2434 support GDB on MS-DOSe systems (which have very restrictive file name
2435 conventions :-( ). MS-DOSe host support (under DJ Delorie's GO32
2436 environment) is close to working but has some remaining problems. Note
2437 that debugging of DOS programs is not supported, due to limitations
2438 in the ``operating system'', but it can be used to host cross-debugging.
2440 * Cross byte order fixes
2442 Many fixes have been made to support cross debugging of Sparc and MIPS
2443 targets from hosts whose byte order differs.
2445 * New -mapped and -readnow options
2447 If memory-mapped files are available on your system through the 'mmap'
2448 system call, you can use the -mapped option on the `file' or
2449 `symbol-file' commands to cause GDB to write the symbols from your
2450 program into a reusable file. If the program you are debugging is
2451 called `/path/fred', the mapped symbol file will be `./fred.syms'.
2452 Future GDB debugging sessions will notice the presence of this file,
2453 and will quickly map in symbol information from it, rather than reading
2454 the symbol table from the executable program. Using the '-mapped'
2455 option in a GDB `file' or `symbol-file' command has the same effect as
2456 starting GDB with the '-mapped' command-line option.
2458 You can cause GDB to read the entire symbol table immediately by using
2459 the '-readnow' option with any of the commands that load symbol table
2460 information (or on the GDB command line). This makes the command
2461 slower, but makes future operations faster.
2463 The -mapped and -readnow options are typically combined in order to
2464 build a `fred.syms' file that contains complete symbol information.
2465 A simple GDB invocation to do nothing but build a `.syms' file for future
2468 gdb -batch -nx -mapped -readnow programname
2470 The `.syms' file is specific to the host machine on which GDB is run.
2471 It holds an exact image of GDB's internal symbol table. It cannot be
2472 shared across multiple host platforms.
2474 * longjmp() handling
2476 GDB is now capable of stepping and nexting over longjmp(), _longjmp(), and
2477 siglongjmp() without losing control. This feature has not yet been ported to
2478 all systems. It currently works on many 386 platforms, all MIPS-based
2479 platforms (SGI, DECstation, etc), and Sun3/4.
2483 Preliminary work has been put in to support the new Solaris OS from Sun. At
2484 this time, it can control and debug processes, but it is not capable of
2489 As always, many many bug fixes. The major areas were with g++, and mipsread.
2490 People using the MIPS-based platforms should experience fewer mysterious
2491 crashes and trashed symbol tables.
2493 *** Changes in GDB-4.4:
2495 * New machines supported (host and target)
2497 SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco
2499 BSD Reno on Vax vax-dec-bsd
2500 Ultrix on Vax vax-dec-ultrix
2502 * New machines supported (target)
2504 AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
2508 GDB continues to improve its handling of C++. `References' work better.
2509 The demangler has also been improved, and now deals with symbols mangled as
2510 per the Annotated C++ Reference Guide.
2512 GDB also now handles `stabs' symbol information embedded in MIPS
2513 `ecoff' symbol tables. Since the ecoff format was not easily
2514 extensible to handle new languages such as C++, this appeared to be a
2515 good way to put C++ debugging info into MIPS binaries. This option
2516 will be supported in the GNU C compiler, version 2, when it is
2519 * New features for SVR4
2521 GDB now handles SVR4 shared libraries, in the same fashion as SunOS
2522 shared libraries. Debugging dynamically linked programs should present
2523 only minor differences from debugging statically linked programs.
2525 The `info proc' command will print out information about any process
2526 on an SVR4 system (including the one you are debugging). At the moment,
2527 it prints the address mappings of the process.
2529 If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please send mail to
2530 bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were reqired (if any).
2532 * Better dynamic linking support in SunOS
2534 Reading symbols from shared libraries which contain debugging symbols
2535 now works properly. However, there remain issues such as automatic
2536 skipping of `transfer vector' code during function calls, which
2537 make it harder to debug code in a shared library, than to debug the
2538 same code linked statically.
2542 GDB is now using the latest `getopt' routines from the FSF. This
2543 version accepts the -- prefix for options with long names. GDB will
2544 continue to accept the old forms (-option and +option) as well.
2545 Various single letter abbreviations for options have been explicity
2546 added to the option table so that they won't get overshadowed in the
2547 future by other options that begin with the same letter.
2551 The `cleanup_undefined_types' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed.
2552 Many assorted bugs have been handled. Many more remain to be handled.
2553 See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details.
2556 *** Changes in GDB-4.3:
2558 * New machines supported (host and target)
2560 Amiga 3000 running Amix m68k-cbm-svr4 or amix
2561 NCR 3000 386 running SVR4 i386-ncr-svr4 or ncr3000
2562 Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
2564 * Almost SCO Unix support
2566 We had hoped to support:
2567 SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco
2568 (except for core file support), but we discovered very late in the release
2569 that it has problems with process groups that render gdb unusable. Sorry
2570 about that. I encourage people to fix it and post the fixes.
2572 * Preliminary ELF and DWARF support
2574 GDB can read ELF object files on System V Release 4, and can handle
2575 debugging records for C, in DWARF format, in ELF files. This support
2576 is preliminary. If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please
2577 send mail to bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were
2582 GDB now uses the latest `readline' library. One user-visible change
2583 is that two tabs will list possible command completions, which previously
2584 required typing M-? (meta-question mark, or ESC ?).
2588 The `stepi' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed.
2589 Many bugs in C++ have been handled. Many more remain to be handled.
2590 See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details.
2592 * State of the MIPS world (in case you wondered):
2594 GDB can understand the symbol tables emitted by the compilers
2595 supplied by most vendors of MIPS-based machines, including DEC. These
2596 symbol tables are in a format that essentially nobody else uses.
2598 Some versions of gcc come with an assembler post-processor called
2599 mips-tfile. This program is required if you want to do source-level
2600 debugging of gcc-compiled programs. I believe FSF does not ship
2601 mips-tfile with gcc version 1, but it will eventually come with gcc
2604 Debugging of g++ output remains a problem. g++ version 1.xx does not
2605 really support it at all. (If you're lucky, you should be able to get
2606 line numbers and stack traces to work, but no parameters or local
2607 variables.) With some work it should be possible to improve the
2610 When gcc version 2 is released, you will have somewhat better luck.
2611 However, even then you will get confusing results for inheritance and
2614 We will eventually provide full debugging of g++ output on
2615 DECstations. This will probably involve some kind of stabs-in-ecoff
2616 encapulation, but the details have not been worked out yet.
2619 *** Changes in GDB-4.2:
2621 * Improved configuration
2623 Only one copy of `configure' exists now, and it is not self-modifying.
2624 Porting BFD is simpler.
2628 The `step' and `next' commands now only stop at the first instruction
2629 of a source line. This prevents the multiple stops that used to occur
2630 in switch statements, for-loops, etc. `Step' continues to stop if a
2631 function that has debugging information is called within the line.
2635 Lots of small bugs fixed. More remain.
2637 * New host supported (not target)
2639 Intel 386 PC clone running Mach i386-none-mach
2642 *** Changes in GDB-4.1:
2644 * Multiple source language support
2646 GDB now has internal scaffolding to handle several source languages.
2647 It determines the type of each source file from its filename extension,
2648 and will switch expression parsing and number formatting to match the
2649 language of the function in the currently selected stack frame.
2650 You can also specifically set the language to be used, with
2651 `set language c' or `set language modula-2'.
2655 GDB now has preliminary support for the GNU Modula-2 compiler,
2656 currently under development at the State University of New York at
2657 Buffalo. Development of both GDB and the GNU Modula-2 compiler will
2658 continue through the fall of 1991 and into 1992.
2660 Other Modula-2 compilers are currently not supported, and attempting to
2661 debug programs compiled with them will likely result in an error as the
2662 symbol table is read. Feel free to work on it, though!
2664 There are hooks in GDB for strict type checking and range checking,
2665 in the `Modula-2 philosophy', but they do not currently work.
2669 GDB can now write to executable and core files (e.g. patch
2670 a variable's value). You must turn this switch on, specify
2671 the file ("exec foo" or "core foo"), *then* modify it, e.g.
2672 by assigning a new value to a variable. Modifications take
2675 * Automatic SunOS shared library reading
2677 When you run your program, GDB automatically determines where its
2678 shared libraries (if any) have been loaded, and reads their symbols.
2679 The `share' command is no longer needed. This also works when
2680 examining core files.
2684 You can specify the number of lines that the `list' command shows.
2687 * New machines supported (host and target)
2689 SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris
2690 Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x: m68k-sony-sysv or news
2691 Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1: a29k-nyu-sym1 or ultra3
2693 * New hosts supported (not targets)
2695 IBM RT/PC: romp-ibm-aix or rtpc
2697 * New targets supported (not hosts)
2699 AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
2700 AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
2701 Ultracomputer remote kernel debug a29k-nyu-kern
2703 * New remote interfaces
2709 *** Changes in GDB-4.0:
2713 Wide output is wrapped at good places to make the output more readable.
2715 Gdb now supports cross-debugging from a host machine of one type to a
2716 target machine of another type. Communication with the target system
2717 is over serial lines. The ``target'' command handles connecting to the
2718 remote system; the ``load'' command will download a program into the
2719 remote system. Serial stubs for the m68k and i386 are provided. Gdb
2720 also supports debugging of realtime processes running under VxWorks,
2721 using SunRPC Remote Procedure Calls over TCP/IP to talk to a debugger
2722 stub on the target system.
2724 New CPUs supported include the AMD 29000 and Intel 960.
2726 GDB now reads object files and symbol tables via a ``binary file''
2727 library, which allows a single copy of GDB to debug programs of multiple
2728 object file types such as a.out and coff.
2730 There is now a GDB reference card in "doc/refcard.tex". (Make targets
2731 refcard.dvi and refcard.ps are available to format it).
2734 * Control-Variable user interface simplified
2736 All variables that control the operation of the debugger can be set
2737 by the ``set'' command, and displayed by the ``show'' command.
2739 For example, ``set prompt new-gdb=>'' will change your prompt to new-gdb=>.
2740 ``Show prompt'' produces the response:
2741 Gdb's prompt is new-gdb=>.
2743 What follows are the NEW set commands. The command ``help set'' will
2744 print a complete list of old and new set commands. ``help set FOO''
2745 will give a longer description of the variable FOO. ``show'' will show
2746 all of the variable descriptions and their current settings.
2748 confirm on/off: Enables warning questions for operations that are
2749 hard to recover from, e.g. rerunning the program while
2750 it is already running. Default is ON.
2752 editing on/off: Enables EMACS style command line editing
2753 of input. Previous lines can be recalled with
2754 control-P, the current line can be edited with control-B,
2755 you can search for commands with control-R, etc.
2758 history filename NAME: NAME is where the gdb command history
2759 will be stored. The default is .gdb_history,
2760 or the value of the environment variable
2763 history size N: The size, in commands, of the command history. The
2764 default is 256, or the value of the environment variable
2767 history save on/off: If this value is set to ON, the history file will
2768 be saved after exiting gdb. If set to OFF, the
2769 file will not be saved. The default is OFF.
2771 history expansion on/off: If this value is set to ON, then csh-like
2772 history expansion will be performed on
2773 command line input. The default is OFF.
2775 radix N: Sets the default radix for input and output. It can be set
2776 to 8, 10, or 16. Note that the argument to "radix" is interpreted
2777 in the current radix, so "set radix 10" is always a no-op.
2779 height N: This integer value is the number of lines on a page. Default
2780 is 24, the current `stty rows'' setting, or the ``li#''
2781 setting from the termcap entry matching the environment
2784 width N: This integer value is the number of characters on a line.
2785 Default is 80, the current `stty cols'' setting, or the ``co#''
2786 setting from the termcap entry matching the environment
2789 Note: ``set screensize'' is obsolete. Use ``set height'' and
2790 ``set width'' instead.
2792 print address on/off: Print memory addresses in various command displays,
2793 such as stack traces and structure values. Gdb looks
2794 more ``symbolic'' if you turn this off; it looks more
2795 ``machine level'' with it on. Default is ON.
2797 print array on/off: Prettyprint arrays. New convenient format! Default
2800 print demangle on/off: Print C++ symbols in "source" form if on,
2803 print asm-demangle on/off: Same, for assembler level printouts
2806 print vtbl on/off: Prettyprint C++ virtual function tables. Default is OFF.
2809 * Support for Epoch Environment.
2811 The epoch environment is a version of Emacs v18 with windowing. One
2812 new command, ``inspect'', is identical to ``print'', except that if you
2813 are running in the epoch environment, the value is printed in its own
2817 * Support for Shared Libraries
2819 GDB can now debug programs and core files that use SunOS shared libraries.
2820 Symbols from a shared library cannot be referenced
2821 before the shared library has been linked with the program (this
2822 happens after you type ``run'' and before the function main() is entered).
2823 At any time after this linking (including when examining core files
2824 from dynamically linked programs), gdb reads the symbols from each
2825 shared library when you type the ``sharedlibrary'' command.
2826 It can be abbreviated ``share''.
2828 sharedlibrary REGEXP: Load shared object library symbols for files
2829 matching a unix regular expression. No argument
2830 indicates to load symbols for all shared libraries.
2832 info sharedlibrary: Status of loaded shared libraries.
2837 A watchpoint stops execution of a program whenever the value of an
2838 expression changes. Checking for this slows down execution
2839 tremendously whenever you are in the scope of the expression, but is
2840 quite useful for catching tough ``bit-spreader'' or pointer misuse
2841 problems. Some machines such as the 386 have hardware for doing this
2842 more quickly, and future versions of gdb will use this hardware.
2844 watch EXP: Set a watchpoint (breakpoint) for an expression.
2846 info watchpoints: Information about your watchpoints.
2848 delete N: Deletes watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
2849 disable N: Temporarily turns off watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
2850 enable N: Re-enables watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
2853 * C++ multiple inheritance
2855 When used with a GCC version 2 compiler, GDB supports multiple inheritance
2858 * C++ exception handling
2860 Gdb now supports limited C++ exception handling. Besides the existing
2861 ability to breakpoint on an exception handler, gdb can breakpoint on
2862 the raising of an exception (before the stack is peeled back to the
2865 catch FOO: If there is a FOO exception handler in the dynamic scope,
2866 set a breakpoint to catch exceptions which may be raised there.
2867 Multiple exceptions (``catch foo bar baz'') may be caught.
2869 info catch: Lists all exceptions which may be caught in the
2870 current stack frame.
2873 * Minor command changes
2875 The command ``call func (arg, arg, ...)'' now acts like the print
2876 command, except it does not print or save a value if the function's result
2877 is void. This is similar to dbx usage.
2879 The ``up'' and ``down'' commands now always print the frame they end up
2880 at; ``up-silently'' and `down-silently'' can be used in scripts to change
2881 frames without printing.
2883 * New directory command
2885 'dir' now adds directories to the FRONT of the source search path.
2886 The path starts off empty. Source files that contain debug information
2887 about the directory in which they were compiled can be found even
2888 with an empty path; Sun CC and GCC include this information. If GDB can't
2889 find your source file in the current directory, type "dir .".
2891 * Configuring GDB for compilation
2893 For normal use, type ``./configure host''. See README or gdb.texinfo
2896 GDB now handles cross debugging. If you are remotely debugging between
2897 two different machines, type ``./configure host -target=targ''.
2898 Host is the machine where GDB will run; targ is the machine
2899 where the program that you are debugging will run.