1 What has changed in GDB?
2 (Organized release by release)
4 *** Changes since GDB 7.1
6 * The --batch flag now disables pagination and queries.
8 * X86 general purpose registers
10 GDB now supports reading/writing byte, word and double-word x86
11 general purpose registers directly. This means you can use, say,
12 $ah or $ax to refer, respectively, to the byte register AH and
13 16-bit word register AX that are actually portions of the 32-bit
14 register EAX or 64-bit register RAX.
18 ** The GDB Python API now has access to symbols, symbol tables, and
21 ** New methods gdb.target_charset and gdb.target_wide_charset.
25 ARM Symbian arm*-*-symbianelf*
27 *** Changes in GDB 7.1
33 GDB now supports importing of namespaces in C++. This enables the
34 user to inspect variables from imported namespaces. Support for
35 namepace aliasing has also been added. So, if a namespace is
36 aliased in the current scope (e.g. namepace C=A; ) the user can
37 print variables using the alias (e.g. (gdb) print C::x).
41 All known bugs relating to the printing of virtual base class were
42 fixed. It is now possible to call overloaded static methods using a
47 The C++ cast operators static_cast<>, dynamic_cast<>, const_cast<>,
48 and reinterpret_cast<> are now handled by the C++ expression parser.
52 Xilinx MicroBlaze microblaze-*-*
57 Xilinx MicroBlaze microblaze
60 * Multi-program debugging.
62 GDB now has support for multi-program (a.k.a. multi-executable or
63 multi-exec) debugging. This allows for debugging multiple inferiors
64 simultaneously each running a different program under the same GDB
65 session. See "Debugging Multiple Inferiors and Programs" in the
66 manual for more information. This implied some user visible changes
67 in the multi-inferior support. For example, "info inferiors" now
68 lists inferiors that are not running yet or that have exited
69 already. See also "New commands" and "New options" below.
71 * New tracing features
73 GDB's tracepoint facility now includes several new features:
75 ** Trace state variables
77 GDB tracepoints now include support for trace state variables, which
78 are variables managed by the target agent during a tracing
79 experiment. They are useful for tracepoints that trigger each
80 other, so for instance one tracepoint can count hits in a variable,
81 and then a second tracepoint has a condition that is true when the
82 count reaches a particular value. Trace state variables share the
83 $-syntax of GDB convenience variables, and can appear in both
84 tracepoint actions and condition expressions. Use the "tvariable"
85 command to create, and "info tvariables" to view; see "Trace State
86 Variables" in the manual for more detail.
90 GDB now includes an option for defining fast tracepoints, which
91 targets may implement more efficiently, such as by installing a jump
92 into the target agent rather than a trap instruction. The resulting
93 speedup can be by two orders of magnitude or more, although the
94 tradeoff is that some program locations on some target architectures
95 might not allow fast tracepoint installation, for instance if the
96 instruction to be replaced is shorter than the jump. To request a
97 fast tracepoint, use the "ftrace" command, with syntax identical to
98 the regular trace command.
100 ** Disconnected tracing
102 It is now possible to detach GDB from the target while it is running
103 a trace experiment, then reconnect later to see how the experiment
104 is going. In addition, a new variable disconnected-tracing lets you
105 tell the target agent whether to continue running a trace if the
106 connection is lost unexpectedly.
110 GDB now has the ability to save the trace buffer into a file, and
111 then use that file as a target, similarly to you can do with
112 corefiles. You can select trace frames, print data that was
113 collected in them, and use tstatus to display the state of the
114 tracing run at the moment that it was saved. To create a trace
115 file, use "tsave <filename>", and to use it, do "target tfile
118 ** Circular trace buffer
120 You can ask the target agent to handle the trace buffer as a
121 circular buffer, discarding the oldest trace frames to make room for
122 newer ones, by setting circular-trace-buffer to on. This feature may
123 not be available for all target agents.
128 The disassemble command, when invoked with two arguments, now requires
129 the arguments to be comma-separated.
132 The info variables command now displays variable definitions. Files
133 which only declare a variable are not shown.
136 The source command is now capable of sourcing Python scripts.
137 This feature is dependent on the debugger being build with Python
140 Related to this enhancement is also the introduction of a new command
141 "set script-extension" (see below).
143 * New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
145 record save [<FILENAME>]
146 Save a file (in core file format) containing the process record
147 execution log for replay debugging at a later time.
149 record restore <FILENAME>
150 Restore the process record execution log that was saved at an
151 earlier time, for replay debugging.
153 add-inferior [-copies <N>] [-exec <FILENAME>]
156 clone-inferior [-copies <N>] [ID]
157 Make a new inferior ready to execute the same program another
163 maint info program-spaces
164 List the program spaces loaded into GDB.
166 set remote interrupt-sequence [Ctrl-C | BREAK | BREAK-g]
167 show remote interrupt-sequence
168 Allow the user to select one of ^C, a BREAK signal or BREAK-g
169 as the sequence to the remote target in order to interrupt the execution.
170 Ctrl-C is a default. Some system prefers BREAK which is high level of
171 serial line for some certain time. Linux kernel prefers BREAK-g, a.k.a
172 Magic SysRq g. It is BREAK signal and character 'g'.
174 set remote interrupt-on-connect [on | off]
175 show remote interrupt-on-connect
176 When interrupt-on-connect is ON, gdb sends interrupt-sequence to
177 remote target when gdb connects to it. This is needed when you debug
180 set remotebreak [on | off]
182 Deprecated. Use "set/show remote interrupt-sequence" instead.
184 tvariable $NAME [ = EXP ]
185 Create or modify a trace state variable.
188 List trace state variables and their values.
190 delete tvariable $NAME ...
191 Delete one or more trace state variables.
194 Evaluate the given expressions without collecting anything into the
195 trace buffer. (Valid in tracepoint actions only.)
197 ftrace FN / FILE:LINE / *ADDR
198 Define a fast tracepoint at the given function, line, or address.
200 * New expression syntax
202 GDB now parses the 0b prefix of binary numbers the same way as GCC does.
203 GDB now parses 0b101010 identically with 42.
207 set follow-exec-mode new|same
208 show follow-exec-mode
209 Control whether GDB reuses the same inferior across an exec call or
210 creates a new one. This is useful to be able to restart the old
211 executable after the inferior having done an exec call.
213 set default-collect EXPR, ...
215 Define a list of expressions to be collected at each tracepoint.
216 This is a useful way to ensure essential items are not overlooked,
217 such as registers or a critical global variable.
219 set disconnected-tracing
220 show disconnected-tracing
221 If set to 1, the target is instructed to continue tracing if it
222 loses its connection to GDB. If 0, the target is to stop tracing
225 set circular-trace-buffer
226 show circular-trace-buffer
227 If set to on, the target is instructed to use a circular trace buffer
228 and discard the oldest trace frames instead of stopping the trace due
229 to a full trace buffer. If set to off, the trace stops when the buffer
230 fills up. Some targets may not support this.
232 set script-extension off|soft|strict
233 show script-extension
234 If set to "off", the debugger does not perform any script language
235 recognition, and all sourced files are assumed to be GDB scripts.
236 If set to "soft" (the default), files are sourced according to
237 filename extension, falling back to GDB scripts if the first
239 If set to "strict", files are sourced according to filename extension.
241 set ada trust-PAD-over-XVS on|off
242 show ada trust-PAD-over-XVS
243 If off, activate a workaround against a bug in the debugging information
244 generated by the compiler for PAD types (see gcc/exp_dbug.ads in
245 the GCC sources for more information about the GNAT encoding and
246 PAD types in particular). It is always safe to set this option to
247 off, but this introduces a slight performance penalty. The default
250 * Python API Improvements
252 ** GDB provides the new class gdb.LazyString. This is useful in
253 some pretty-printing cases. The new method gdb.Value.lazy_string
254 provides a simple way to create objects of this type.
256 ** The fields returned by gdb.Type.fields now have an
257 `is_base_class' attribute.
259 ** The new method gdb.Type.range returns the range of an array type.
261 ** The new method gdb.parse_and_eval can be used to parse and
262 evaluate an expression.
267 Define a trace state variable.
270 Get the current value of a trace state variable.
273 Set desired tracing behavior upon disconnection.
276 Set the trace buffer to be linear or circular.
279 Get data about the tracepoints currently in use.
283 Process record now works correctly with hardware watchpoints.
285 Multiple bug fixes have been made to the mips-irix port, making it
286 much more reliable. In particular:
287 - Debugging threaded applications is now possible again. Previously,
288 GDB would hang while starting the program, or while waiting for
289 the program to stop at a breakpoint.
290 - Attaching to a running process no longer hangs.
291 - An error occurring while loading a core file has been fixed.
292 - Changing the value of the PC register now works again. This fixes
293 problems observed when using the "jump" command, or when calling
294 a function from GDB, or even when assigning a new value to $pc.
295 - With the "finish" and "return" commands, the return value for functions
296 returning a small array is now correctly printed.
297 - It is now possible to break on shared library code which gets executed
298 during a shared library init phase (code executed while executing
299 their .init section). Previously, the breakpoint would have no effect.
300 - GDB is now able to backtrace through the signal handler for
301 non-threaded programs.
303 PIE (Position Independent Executable) programs debugging is now supported.
304 This includes debugging execution of PIC (Position Independent Code) shared
305 libraries although for that, it should be possible to run such libraries as an
308 *** Changes in GDB 7.0
310 * GDB now has an interface for JIT compilation. Applications that
311 dynamically generate code can create symbol files in memory and register
312 them with GDB. For users, the feature should work transparently, and
313 for JIT developers, the interface is documented in the GDB manual in the
314 "JIT Compilation Interface" chapter.
316 * Tracepoints may now be conditional. The syntax is as for
317 breakpoints; either an "if" clause appended to the "trace" command,
318 or the "condition" command is available. GDB sends the condition to
319 the target for evaluation using the same bytecode format as is used
320 for tracepoint actions.
322 * "disassemble" command with a /r modifier, print the raw instructions
323 in hex as well as in symbolic form.
325 * Process record and replay
327 In a architecture environment that supports ``process record and
328 replay'', ``process record and replay'' target can record a log of
329 the process execution, and replay it with both forward and reverse
332 * Reverse debugging: GDB now has new commands reverse-continue, reverse-
333 step, reverse-next, reverse-finish, reverse-stepi, reverse-nexti, and
334 set execution-direction {forward|reverse}, for targets that support
337 * GDB now supports hardware watchpoints on MIPS/Linux systems. This
338 feature is available with a native GDB running on kernel version
341 * GDB now has support for multi-byte and wide character sets on the
342 target. Strings whose character type is wchar_t, char16_t, or
343 char32_t are now correctly printed. GDB supports wide- and unicode-
344 literals in C, that is, L'x', L"string", u'x', u"string", U'x', and
345 U"string" syntax. And, GDB allows the "%ls" and "%lc" formats in
346 `printf'. This feature requires iconv to work properly; if your
347 system does not have a working iconv, GDB can use GNU libiconv. See
348 the installation instructions for more information.
350 * GDB now supports automatic retrieval of shared library files from
351 remote targets. To use this feature, specify a system root that begins
352 with the `remote:' prefix, either via the `set sysroot' command or via
353 the `--with-sysroot' configure-time option.
355 * "info sharedlibrary" now takes an optional regex of libraries to show,
356 and it now reports if a shared library has no debugging information.
358 * Commands `set debug-file-directory', `set solib-search-path' and `set args'
359 now complete on file names.
361 * When completing in expressions, gdb will attempt to limit
362 completions to allowable structure or union fields, where appropriate.
363 For instance, consider:
365 # struct example { int f1; double f2; };
366 # struct example variable;
369 If the user types TAB at the end of this command line, the available
370 completions will be "f1" and "f2".
372 * Inlined functions are now supported. They show up in backtraces, and
373 the "step", "next", and "finish" commands handle them automatically.
375 * GDB now supports the token-splicing (##) and stringification (#)
376 operators when expanding macros. It also supports variable-arity
379 * GDB now supports inspecting extra signal information, exported by
380 the new $_siginfo convenience variable. The feature is currently
381 implemented on linux ARM, i386 and amd64.
383 * GDB can now display the VFP floating point registers and NEON vector
384 registers on ARM targets. Both ARM GNU/Linux native GDB and gdbserver
385 can provide these registers (requires Linux 2.6.30 or later). Remote
386 and simulator targets may also provide them.
391 Search memory for a sequence of bytes.
394 Turn off `+'/`-' protocol acknowledgments to permit more efficient
395 operation over reliable transport links. Use of this packet is
396 controlled by the `set remote noack-packet' command.
399 Kill the process with the specified process ID. Use this in preference
400 to `k' when multiprocess protocol extensions are supported.
403 Obtains additional operating system information
407 Read or write additional signal information.
409 * Removed remote protocol undocumented extension
411 An undocumented extension to the remote protocol's `S' stop reply
412 packet that permited the stub to pass a process id was removed.
413 Remote servers should use the `T' stop reply packet instead.
415 * The "disassemble" command now supports an optional /m modifier to print mixed
418 * GDB now supports multiple function calling conventions according to the
419 DWARF-2 DW_AT_calling_convention function attribute.
421 * The SH target utilizes the aforementioned change to distinguish between gcc
422 and Renesas calling convention. It also adds the new CLI commands
423 `set/show sh calling-convention'.
425 * GDB can now read compressed debug sections, as produced by GNU gold
426 with the --compress-debug-sections=zlib flag.
428 * 64-bit core files are now supported on AIX.
430 * Thread switching is now supported on Tru64.
432 * Watchpoints can now be set on unreadable memory locations, e.g. addresses
433 which will be allocated using malloc later in program execution.
435 * The qXfer:libraries:read remote procotol packet now allows passing a
436 list of section offsets.
438 * On GNU/Linux, GDB can now attach to stopped processes. Several race
439 conditions handling signals delivered during attach or thread creation
440 have also been fixed.
442 * GDB now supports the use of DWARF boolean types for Ada's type Boolean.
443 From the user's standpoint, all unqualified instances of True and False
444 are treated as the standard definitions, regardless of context.
446 * GDB now parses C++ symbol and type names more flexibly. For
449 template<typename T> class C { };
452 GDB will now correctly handle all of:
454 ptype C<char const *>
456 ptype C<const char *>
459 * New features in the GDB remote stub, gdbserver
461 - The "--wrapper" command-line argument tells gdbserver to use a
462 wrapper program to launch programs for debugging.
464 - On PowerPC and S/390 targets, it is now possible to use a single
465 gdbserver executable to debug both 32-bit and 64-bit programs.
466 (This requires gdbserver itself to be built as a 64-bit executable.)
468 - gdbserver uses the new noack protocol mode for TCP connections to
469 reduce communications latency, if also supported and enabled in GDB.
471 - Support for the sparc64-linux-gnu target is now included in
474 - The amd64-linux build of gdbserver now supports debugging both
475 32-bit and 64-bit programs.
477 - The i386-linux, amd64-linux, and i386-win32 builds of gdbserver
478 now support hardware watchpoints, and will use them automatically
483 GDB now has support for scripting using Python. Whether this is
484 available is determined at configure time.
486 New GDB commands can now be written in Python.
488 * Ada tasking support
490 Ada tasks can now be inspected in GDB. The following commands have
494 Print the list of Ada tasks.
496 Print detailed information about task number N.
498 Print the task number of the current task.
500 Switch the context of debugging to task number N.
502 * Support for user-defined prefixed commands. The "define" command can
503 add new commands to existing prefixes, e.g. "target".
505 * Multi-inferior, multi-process debugging.
507 GDB now has generalized support for multi-inferior debugging. See
508 "Debugging Multiple Inferiors" in the manual for more information.
509 Although availability still depends on target support, the command
510 set is more uniform now. The GNU/Linux specific multi-forks support
511 has been migrated to this new framework. This implied some user
512 visible changes; see "New commands" and also "Removed commands"
515 * Target descriptions can now describe the target OS ABI. See the
516 "Target Description Format" section in the user manual for more
519 * Target descriptions can now describe "compatible" architectures
520 to indicate that the target can execute applications for a different
521 architecture in addition to those for the main target architecture.
522 See the "Target Description Format" section in the user manual for
525 * Multi-architecture debugging.
527 GDB now includes general supports for debugging applications on
528 hybrid systems that use more than one single processor architecture
529 at the same time. Each such hybrid architecture still requires
530 specific support to be added. The only hybrid architecture supported
531 in this version of GDB is the Cell Broadband Engine.
533 * GDB now supports integrated debugging of Cell/B.E. applications that
534 use both the PPU and SPU architectures. To enable support for hybrid
535 Cell/B.E. debugging, you need to configure GDB to support both the
536 powerpc-linux or powerpc64-linux and the spu-elf targets, using the
537 --enable-targets configure option.
539 * Non-stop mode debugging.
541 For some targets, GDB now supports an optional mode of operation in
542 which you can examine stopped threads while other threads continue
543 to execute freely. This is referred to as non-stop mode, with the
544 old mode referred to as all-stop mode. See the "Non-Stop Mode"
545 section in the user manual for more information.
547 To be able to support remote non-stop debugging, a remote stub needs
548 to implement the non-stop mode remote protocol extensions, as
549 described in the "Remote Non-Stop" section of the user manual. The
550 GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been adjusted to support these
551 extensions on linux targets.
553 * New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
555 catch syscall [NAME(S) | NUMBER(S)]
556 Catch system calls. Arguments, which should be names of system
557 calls or their numbers, mean catch only those syscalls. Without
558 arguments, every syscall will be caught. When the inferior issues
559 any of the specified syscalls, GDB will stop and announce the system
560 call, both when it is called and when its call returns. This
561 feature is currently available with a native GDB running on the
562 Linux Kernel, under the following architectures: x86, x86_64,
563 PowerPC and PowerPC64.
565 find [/size-char] [/max-count] start-address, end-address|+search-space-size,
567 Search memory for a sequence of bytes.
569 maint set python print-stack
570 maint show python print-stack
571 Show a stack trace when an error is encountered in a Python script.
574 Invoke CODE by passing it to the Python interpreter.
579 These allow macros to be defined, undefined, and listed
583 Show operating system information about processes.
586 List the inferiors currently under GDB's control.
589 Switch focus to inferior number NUM.
592 Detach from inferior number NUM.
595 Kill inferior number NUM.
600 show spu stop-on-load
601 Control whether to stop for new SPE threads during Cell/B.E. debugging.
603 set spu auto-flush-cache
604 show spu auto-flush-cache
605 Control whether to automatically flush the software-managed cache
606 during Cell/B.E. debugging.
608 set sh calling-convention
609 show sh calling-convention
610 Control the calling convention used when calling SH target functions.
614 Control display of timestamps with GDB debugging output.
616 set disassemble-next-line
617 show disassemble-next-line
618 Control display of disassembled source lines or instructions when
621 set remote noack-packet
622 show remote noack-packet
623 Set/show the use of remote protocol QStartNoAckMode packet. See above
624 under "New remote packets."
626 set remote query-attached-packet
627 show remote query-attached-packet
628 Control use of remote protocol `qAttached' (query-attached) packet.
630 set remote read-siginfo-object
631 show remote read-siginfo-object
632 Control use of remote protocol `qXfer:siginfo:read' (read-siginfo-object)
635 set remote write-siginfo-object
636 show remote write-siginfo-object
637 Control use of remote protocol `qXfer:siginfo:write' (write-siginfo-object)
640 set remote reverse-continue
641 show remote reverse-continue
642 Control use of remote protocol 'bc' (reverse-continue) packet.
644 set remote reverse-step
645 show remote reverse-step
646 Control use of remote protocol 'bs' (reverse-step) packet.
648 set displaced-stepping
649 show displaced-stepping
650 Control displaced stepping mode. Displaced stepping is a way to
651 single-step over breakpoints without removing them from the debuggee.
652 Also known as "out-of-line single-stepping".
656 Control display of debugging info for displaced stepping.
658 maint set internal-error
659 maint show internal-error
660 Control what GDB does when an internal error is detected.
662 maint set internal-warning
663 maint show internal-warning
664 Control what GDB does when an internal warning is detected.
669 Use a wrapper program to launch programs for debugging.
671 set multiple-symbols (all|ask|cancel)
672 show multiple-symbols
673 The value of this variable can be changed to adjust the debugger behavior
674 when an expression or a breakpoint location contains an ambiguous symbol
675 name (an overloaded function name, for instance).
677 set breakpoint always-inserted
678 show breakpoint always-inserted
679 Keep breakpoints always inserted in the target, as opposed to inserting
680 them when resuming the target, and removing them when the target stops.
681 This option can improve debugger performance on slow remote targets.
683 set arm fallback-mode (arm|thumb|auto)
684 show arm fallback-mode
685 set arm force-mode (arm|thumb|auto)
687 These commands control how ARM GDB determines whether instructions
688 are ARM or Thumb. The default for both settings is auto, which uses
689 the current CPSR value for instructions without symbols; previous
690 versions of GDB behaved as if "set arm fallback-mode arm".
692 set disable-randomization
693 show disable-randomization
694 Standalone programs run with the virtual address space randomization enabled
695 by default on some platforms. This option keeps the addresses stable across
696 multiple debugging sessions.
700 Control whether other threads are stopped or not when some thread hits
705 Requests that asynchronous execution is enabled in the target, if available.
706 In this case, it's possible to resume target in the background, and interact
707 with GDB while the target is running. "show target-async" displays the
708 current state of asynchronous execution of the target.
710 set target-wide-charset
711 show target-wide-charset
712 The target-wide-charset is the name of the character set that GDB
713 uses when printing characters whose type is wchar_t.
715 set tcp auto-retry (on|off)
717 set tcp connect-timeout
718 show tcp connect-timeout
719 These commands allow GDB to retry failed TCP connections to a remote stub
720 with a specified timeout period; this is useful if the stub is launched
721 in parallel with GDB but may not be ready to accept connections immediately.
723 set libthread-db-search-path
724 show libthread-db-search-path
725 Control list of directories which GDB will search for appropriate
728 set schedule-multiple (on|off)
729 show schedule-multiple
730 Allow GDB to resume all threads of all processes or only threads of
735 Use more aggressive caching for accesses to the stack. This improves
736 performance of remote debugging (particularly backtraces) without
737 affecting correctness.
739 set interactive-mode (on|off|auto)
740 show interactive-mode
741 Control whether GDB runs in interactive mode (on) or not (off).
742 When in interactive mode, GDB waits for the user to answer all
743 queries. Otherwise, GDB does not wait and assumes the default
744 answer. When set to auto (the default), GDB determines which
745 mode to use based on the stdin settings.
750 For program forks, this is replaced by the new more generic `info
751 inferiors' command. To list checkpoints, you can still use the
752 `info checkpoints' command, which was an alias for the `info forks'
756 Replaced by the new `inferior' command. To switch between
757 checkpoints, you can still use the `restart' command, which was an
758 alias for the `fork' command.
761 This is removed, since some targets don't have a notion of
762 processes. To switch between processes, you can still use the
763 `inferior' command using GDB's own inferior number.
766 For program forks, this is replaced by the new more generic `kill
767 inferior' command. To delete a checkpoint, you can still use the
768 `delete checkpoint' command, which was an alias for the `delete
772 For program forks, this is replaced by the new more generic `detach
773 inferior' command. To detach a checkpoint, you can still use the
774 `detach checkpoint' command, which was an alias for the `detach
777 * New native configurations
779 x86/x86_64 Darwin i[34567]86-*-darwin*
781 x86_64 MinGW x86_64-*-mingw*
785 Lattice Mico32 lm32-*
786 x86 DICOS i[34567]86-*-dicos*
787 x86_64 DICOS x86_64-*-dicos*
790 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports x86 Windows CE
791 (mingw32ce) debugging.
797 These commands were actually not implemented on any target.
799 *** Changes in GDB 6.8
801 * New native configurations
803 NetBSD/hppa hppa*-*netbsd*
804 Xtensa GNU/Linux xtensa*-*-linux*
808 NetBSD/hppa hppa*-*-netbsd*
809 Xtensa GNU/Lunux xtensa*-*-linux*
811 * Change in command line behavior -- corefiles vs. process ids.
813 When the '-p NUMBER' or '--pid NUMBER' options are used, and
814 attaching to process NUMBER fails, GDB no longer attempts to open a
815 core file named NUMBER. Attaching to a program using the -c option
816 is no longer supported. Instead, use the '-p' or '--pid' options.
818 * GDB can now be built as a native debugger for debugging Windows x86
819 (mingw32) Portable Executable (PE) programs.
821 * Pending breakpoints no longer change their number when their address
824 * GDB now supports breakpoints with multiple locations,
825 including breakpoints on C++ constructors, inside C++ templates,
826 and in inlined functions.
828 * GDB's ability to debug optimized code has been improved. GDB more
829 accurately identifies function bodies and lexical blocks that occupy
830 more than one contiguous range of addresses.
832 * Target descriptions can now describe registers for PowerPC.
834 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports the AltiVec and SPE
835 registers on PowerPC targets.
837 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports thread debugging on GNU/Linux
838 targets even when the libthread_db library is not available.
840 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports the new file transfer
841 commands (remote put, remote get, and remote delete).
843 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports run and attach in
844 extended-remote mode.
846 * hppa*64*-*-hpux11* target broken
847 The debugger is unable to start a program and fails with the following
848 error: "Error trying to get information about dynamic linker".
849 The gdb-6.7 release is also affected.
851 * GDB now supports the --enable-targets= configure option to allow
852 building a single GDB executable that supports multiple remote
853 target architectures.
855 * GDB now supports debugging C and C++ programs which use the
856 Decimal Floating Point extension. In addition, the PowerPC target
857 now has a set of pseudo-registers to inspect decimal float values
858 stored in two consecutive float registers.
860 * The -break-insert MI command can optionally create pending
863 * Improved support for debugging Ada
864 Many improvements to the Ada language support have been made. These
866 - Better support for Ada2005 interface types
867 - Improved handling of arrays and slices in general
868 - Better support for Taft-amendment types
869 - The '{type} ADDRESS' expression is now allowed on the left hand-side
871 - Improved command completion in Ada
874 * GDB on GNU/Linux and HP/UX can now debug through "exec" of a new
879 set print frame-arguments (all|scalars|none)
880 show print frame-arguments
881 The value of this variable can be changed to control which argument
882 values should be printed by the debugger when displaying a frame.
887 Transfer files to and from a remote target, and delete remote files.
894 Transfer files to and from a remote target, and delete remote files.
903 Open, close, read, write, and delete files on the remote system.
906 Attach to an existing process on the remote system, in extended-remote
910 Run a new process on the remote system, in extended-remote mode.
912 *** Changes in GDB 6.7
914 * Resolved 101 resource leaks, null pointer dereferences, etc. in gdb,
915 bfd, libiberty and opcodes, as revealed by static analysis donated by
916 Coverity, Inc. (http://scan.coverity.com).
918 * When looking up multiply-defined global symbols, GDB will now prefer the
919 symbol definition in the current shared library if it was built using the
920 -Bsymbolic linker option.
922 * When the Text User Interface (TUI) is not configured, GDB will now
923 recognize the -tui command-line option and print a message that the TUI
926 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now has lower overhead for high
927 frequency signals (e.g. SIGALRM) via the QPassSignals packet.
929 * GDB for MIPS targets now autodetects whether a remote target provides
930 32-bit or 64-bit register values.
932 * Support for C++ member pointers has been improved.
934 * GDB now understands XML target descriptions, which specify the
935 target's overall architecture. GDB can read a description from
936 a local file or over the remote serial protocol.
938 * Vectors of single-byte data use a new integer type which is not
939 automatically displayed as character or string data.
941 * The /s format now works with the print command. It displays
942 arrays of single-byte integers and pointers to single-byte integers
945 * Target descriptions can now describe target-specific registers,
946 for architectures which have implemented the support (currently
947 only ARM, M68K, and MIPS).
949 * GDB and the GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now support the XScale
952 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been updated to support
953 ARM Windows CE (mingw32ce) debugging, and GDB Windows CE support
954 has been rewritten to use the standard GDB remote protocol.
956 * GDB can now step into C++ functions which are called through thunks.
958 * GDB for the Cell/B.E. SPU now supports overlay debugging.
960 * The GDB remote protocol "qOffsets" packet can now honor ELF segment
961 layout. It also supports a TextSeg= and DataSeg= response when only
962 segment base addresses (rather than offsets) are available.
964 * The /i format now outputs any trailing branch delay slot instructions
965 immediately following the last instruction within the count specified.
967 * The GDB remote protocol "T" stop reply packet now supports a
968 "library" response. Combined with the new "qXfer:libraries:read"
969 packet, this response allows GDB to debug shared libraries on targets
970 where the operating system manages the list of loaded libraries (e.g.
971 Windows and SymbianOS).
973 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports dynamic link libraries
974 (DLLs) on Windows and Windows CE targets.
976 * GDB now supports a faster verification that a .debug file matches its binary
977 according to its build-id signature, if the signature is present.
983 Enable or disable hardware flow control (RTS/CTS) on the serial port
984 when debugging using remote targets.
986 set mem inaccessible-by-default
987 show mem inaccessible-by-default
988 If the target supplies a memory map, for instance via the remote
989 protocol's "qXfer:memory-map:read" packet, setting this variable
990 prevents GDB from accessing memory outside the memory map. This
991 is useful for targets with memory mapped registers or which react
992 badly to accesses of unmapped address space.
994 set breakpoint auto-hw
995 show breakpoint auto-hw
996 If the target supplies a memory map, for instance via the remote
997 protocol's "qXfer:memory-map:read" packet, setting this variable
998 lets GDB use hardware breakpoints automatically for memory regions
999 where it can not use software breakpoints. This covers both the
1000 "break" command and internal breakpoints used for other commands
1001 including "next" and "finish".
1004 catch exception unhandled
1005 Stop the program execution when Ada exceptions are raised.
1008 Stop the program execution when an Ada assertion failed.
1012 Set an alternate system root for target files. This is a more
1013 general version of "set solib-absolute-prefix", which is now
1014 an alias to "set sysroot".
1017 Provide extended SPU facility status information. This set of
1018 commands is available only when debugging the Cell/B.E. SPU
1021 * New native configurations
1023 OpenBSD/sh sh*-*openbsd*
1026 unset tdesc filename
1028 Use the specified local file as an XML target description, and do
1029 not query the target for its built-in description.
1033 OpenBSD/sh sh*-*-openbsd*
1034 MIPS64 GNU/Linux (gdbserver) mips64-linux-gnu
1035 Toshiba Media Processor mep-elf
1037 * New remote packets
1040 Ignore the specified signals; pass them directly to the debugged program
1041 without stopping other threads or reporting them to GDB.
1043 qXfer:features:read:
1044 Read an XML target description from the target, which describes its
1049 Read or write contents of an spufs file on the target system. These
1050 packets are available only on the Cell/B.E. SPU architecture.
1052 qXfer:libraries:read:
1053 Report the loaded shared libraries. Combined with new "T" packet
1054 response, this packet allows GDB to debug shared libraries on
1055 targets where the operating system manages the list of loaded
1056 libraries (e.g. Windows and SymbianOS).
1060 Support for these obsolete configurations has been removed.
1068 i[34567]86-*-lynxos*
1069 i[34567]86-*-netware*
1070 i[34567]86-*-sco3.2v5*
1071 i[34567]86-*-sco3.2v4*
1073 i[34567]86-*-sysv4.2*
1076 i[34567]86-*-unixware2*
1077 i[34567]86-*-unixware*
1086 * Other removed features
1093 Various m68k-only ROM monitors.
1100 Various Renesas ROM monitors and debugging interfaces for SH and
1105 Support for a Macraigor serial interface to on-chip debugging.
1106 GDB does not directly support the newer parallel or USB
1111 A debug information format. The predecessor to DWARF 2 and
1112 DWARF 3, which are still supported.
1114 Support for the HP aCC compiler on HP-UX/PA-RISC
1116 SOM-encapsulated symbolic debugging information, automatic
1117 invocation of pxdb, and the aCC custom C++ ABI. This does not
1118 affect HP-UX for Itanium or GCC for HP-UX/PA-RISC. Code compiled
1119 with aCC can still be debugged on an assembly level.
1121 MIPS ".pdr" sections
1123 A MIPS-specific format used to describe stack frame layout
1124 in debugging information.
1128 GDB could work with an older version of Guile to debug
1129 the interpreter and Scheme programs running in it.
1131 set mips stack-arg-size
1132 set mips saved-gpreg-size
1134 Use "set mips abi" to control parameter passing for MIPS.
1136 *** Changes in GDB 6.6
1141 Cell Broadband Engine SPU spu-elf
1143 * GDB can now be configured as a cross-debugger targeting native Windows
1144 (mingw32) or Cygwin. It can communicate with a remote debugging stub
1145 running on a Windows system over TCP/IP to debug Windows programs.
1147 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been updated to support Windows and
1148 Cygwin debugging. Both single-threaded and multi-threaded programs are
1151 * The "set trust-readonly-sections" command works again. This command was
1152 broken in GDB 6.3, 6.4, and 6.5.
1154 * The "load" command now supports writing to flash memory, if the remote
1155 stub provides the required support.
1157 * Support for GNU/Linux Thread Local Storage (TLS, per-thread variables) no
1158 longer requires symbolic debug information (e.g. DWARF-2).
1163 unset substitute-path
1164 show substitute-path
1165 Manage a list of substitution rules that GDB uses to rewrite the name
1166 of the directories where the sources are located. This can be useful
1167 for instance when the sources were moved to a different location
1168 between compilation and debugging.
1172 Print each CLI command as it is executed. Each command is prefixed with
1173 a number of `+' symbols representing the nesting depth.
1174 The source command now has a `-v' option to enable the same feature.
1178 The ARM Demon monitor support (RDP protocol, "target rdp").
1180 Kernel Object Display, an embedded debugging feature which only worked with
1181 an obsolete version of Cisco IOS.
1183 The 'set download-write-size' and 'show download-write-size' commands.
1185 * New remote packets
1188 Tell a stub about GDB client features, and request remote target features.
1189 The first feature implemented is PacketSize, which allows the target to
1190 specify the size of packets it can handle - to minimize the number of
1191 packets required and improve performance when connected to a remote
1195 Fetch an OS auxilliary vector from the remote stub. This packet is a
1196 more efficient replacement for qPart:auxv:read.
1198 qXfer:memory-map:read:
1199 Fetch a memory map from the remote stub, including information about
1200 RAM, ROM, and flash memory devices.
1205 Erase and program a flash memory device.
1207 * Removed remote packets
1210 This packet has been replaced by qXfer:auxv:read. Only GDB 6.4 and 6.5
1211 used it, and only gdbserver implemented it.
1213 *** Changes in GDB 6.5
1217 Renesas M32C/M16C m32c-elf
1219 Morpho Technologies ms1 ms1-elf
1223 init-if-undefined Initialize a convenience variable, but
1224 only if it doesn't already have a value.
1226 The following commands are presently only implemented for native GNU/Linux:
1228 checkpoint Save a snapshot of the program state.
1230 restart <n> Return the program state to a
1231 previously saved state.
1233 info checkpoints List currently saved checkpoints.
1235 delete-checkpoint <n> Delete a previously saved checkpoint.
1237 set|show detach-on-fork Tell gdb whether to detach from a newly
1238 forked process, or to keep debugging it.
1240 info forks List forks of the user program that
1241 are available to be debugged.
1243 fork <n> Switch to debugging one of several
1244 forks of the user program that are
1245 available to be debugged.
1247 delete-fork <n> Delete a fork from the list of forks
1248 that are available to be debugged (and
1249 kill the forked process).
1251 detach-fork <n> Delete a fork from the list of forks
1252 that are available to be debugged (and
1253 allow the process to continue).
1257 Morpho Technologies ms2 ms1-elf
1259 * Improved Windows host support
1261 GDB now builds as a cross debugger hosted on i686-mingw32, including
1262 native console support, and remote communications using either
1263 network sockets or serial ports.
1265 * Improved Modula-2 language support
1267 GDB can now print most types in the Modula-2 syntax. This includes:
1268 basic types, set types, record types, enumerated types, range types,
1269 pointer types and ARRAY types. Procedure var parameters are correctly
1270 printed and hexadecimal addresses and character constants are also
1271 written in the Modula-2 syntax. Best results can be obtained by using
1272 GNU Modula-2 together with the -gdwarf-2 command line option.
1276 The ARM rdi-share module.
1278 The Netware NLM debug server.
1280 *** Changes in GDB 6.4
1282 * New native configurations
1284 OpenBSD/arm arm*-*-openbsd*
1285 OpenBSD/mips64 mips64-*-openbsd*
1289 Morpho Technologies ms1 ms1-elf
1291 * New command line options
1293 --batch-silent As for --batch, but totally silent.
1294 --return-child-result The debugger will exist with the same value
1295 the child (debugged) program exited with.
1296 --eval-command COMMAND, -ex COMMAND
1297 Execute a single GDB CLI command. This may be
1298 specified multiple times and in conjunction
1299 with the --command (-x) option.
1301 * Deprecated commands removed
1303 The following commands, that were deprecated in 2000, have been
1307 set|show arm disassembly-flavor set|show arm disassembler
1308 othernames set arm disassembler
1309 set|show remotedebug set|show debug remote
1310 set|show archdebug set|show debug arch
1311 set|show eventdebug set|show debug event
1314 * New BSD user-level threads support
1316 It is now possible to debug programs using the user-level threads
1317 library on OpenBSD and FreeBSD. Currently supported (target)
1320 FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
1321 FreeBSD/i386 i386-*-freebsd*
1322 OpenBSD/i386 i386-*-openbsd*
1324 Note that the new kernel threads libraries introduced in FreeBSD 5.x
1325 are not yet supported.
1327 * New support for Matsushita MN10300 w/sim added
1328 (Work in progress). mn10300-elf.
1330 * REMOVED configurations and files
1332 VxWorks and the XDR protocol *-*-vxworks
1333 Motorola MCORE mcore-*-*
1334 National Semiconductor NS32000 ns32k-*-*
1336 * New "set print array-indexes" command
1338 After turning this setting "on", GDB prints the index of each element
1339 when displaying arrays. The default is "off" to preserve the previous
1342 * VAX floating point support
1344 GDB now supports the not-quite-ieee VAX F and D floating point formats.
1346 * User-defined command support
1348 In addition to using $arg0..$arg9 for argument passing, it is now possible
1349 to use $argc to determine now many arguments have been passed. See the
1350 section on user-defined commands in the user manual for more information.
1352 *** Changes in GDB 6.3:
1354 * New command line option
1356 GDB now accepts -l followed by a number to set the timeout for remote
1359 * GDB works with GCC -feliminate-dwarf2-dups
1361 GDB now supports a more compact representation of DWARF-2 debug
1362 information using DW_FORM_ref_addr references. These are produced
1363 by GCC with the option -feliminate-dwarf2-dups and also by some
1364 proprietary compilers. With GCC, you must use GCC 3.3.4 or later
1365 to use -feliminate-dwarf2-dups.
1367 * Internationalization
1369 When supported by the host system, GDB will be built with
1370 internationalization (libintl). The task of marking up the sources is
1371 continued, we're looking forward to our first translation.
1375 Initial support for debugging programs compiled with the GNAT
1376 implementation of the Ada programming language has been integrated
1377 into GDB. In this release, support is limited to expression evaluation.
1379 * New native configurations
1381 GNU/Linux/m32r m32r-*-linux-gnu
1385 GDB's remote protocol now includes support for the 'p' packet. This
1386 packet is used to fetch individual registers from a remote inferior.
1388 * END-OF-LIFE registers[] compatibility module
1390 GDB's internal register infrastructure has been completely rewritten.
1391 The new infrastructure making possible the implementation of key new
1392 features including 32x64 (e.g., 64-bit amd64 GDB debugging a 32-bit
1395 GDB 6.3 will be the last release to include the the registers[]
1396 compatibility module that allowed out-of-date configurations to
1397 continue to work. This change directly impacts the following
1407 powerpc bdm protocol
1409 Unless there is activity to revive these configurations, they will be
1410 made OBSOLETE in GDB 6.4, and REMOVED from GDB 6.5.
1412 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
1414 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
1415 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
1416 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
1417 permanently REMOVED.
1426 *** Changes in GDB 6.2.1:
1428 * MIPS `break main; run' gave an heuristic-fence-post warning
1430 When attempting to run even a simple program, a warning about
1431 heuristic-fence-post being hit would be reported. This problem has
1434 * MIPS IRIX 'long double' crashed GDB
1436 When examining a long double variable, GDB would get a segmentation
1437 fault. The crash has been fixed (but GDB 6.2 cannot correctly examine
1438 IRIX long double values).
1442 A bug in the VAX stack code was causing problems with the "next"
1443 command. This problem has been fixed.
1445 *** Changes in GDB 6.2:
1447 * Fix for ``many threads''
1449 On GNU/Linux systems that use the NPTL threads library, a program
1450 rapidly creating and deleting threads would confuse GDB leading to the
1453 ptrace: No such process.
1454 thread_db_get_info: cannot get thread info: generic error
1456 This problem has been fixed.
1458 * "-async" and "-noasync" options removed.
1460 Support for the broken "-noasync" option has been removed (it caused
1463 * New ``start'' command.
1465 This command runs the program until the begining of the main procedure.
1467 * New BSD Kernel Data Access Library (libkvm) interface
1469 Using ``target kvm'' it is now possible to debug kernel core dumps and
1470 live kernel memory images on various FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD
1471 platforms. Currently supported (native-only) configurations are:
1473 FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
1474 FreeBSD/i386 i?86-*-freebsd*
1475 NetBSD/i386 i?86-*-netbsd*
1476 NetBSD/m68k m68*-*-netbsd*
1477 NetBSD/sparc sparc-*-netbsd*
1478 OpenBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-openbsd*
1479 OpenBSD/i386 i?86-*-openbsd*
1480 OpenBSD/m68k m68*-openbsd*
1481 OpenBSD/sparc sparc-*-openbsd*
1483 * Signal trampoline code overhauled
1485 Many generic problems with GDB's signal handling code have been fixed.
1486 These include: backtraces through non-contiguous stacks; recognition
1487 of sa_sigaction signal trampolines; backtrace from a NULL pointer
1488 call; backtrace through a signal trampoline; step into and out of
1489 signal handlers; and single-stepping in the signal trampoline.
1491 Please note that kernel bugs are a limiting factor here. These
1492 features have been shown to work on an s390 GNU/Linux system that
1493 include a 2.6.8-rc1 kernel. Ref PR breakpoints/1702.
1495 * Cygwin support for DWARF 2 added.
1497 * New native configurations
1499 GNU/Linux/hppa hppa*-*-linux*
1500 OpenBSD/hppa hppa*-*-openbsd*
1501 OpenBSD/m68k m68*-*-openbsd*
1502 OpenBSD/m88k m88*-*-openbsd*
1503 OpenBSD/powerpc powerpc-*-openbsd*
1504 NetBSD/vax vax-*-netbsd*
1505 OpenBSD/vax vax-*-openbsd*
1507 * END-OF-LIFE frame compatibility module
1509 GDB's internal frame infrastructure has been completely rewritten.
1510 The new infrastructure making it possible to support key new features
1511 including DWARF 2 Call Frame Information. To aid in the task of
1512 migrating old configurations to this new infrastructure, a
1513 compatibility module, that allowed old configurations to continue to
1514 work, was also included.
1516 GDB 6.2 will be the last release to include this frame compatibility
1517 module. This change directly impacts the following configurations:
1527 Unless there is activity to revive these configurations, they will be
1528 made OBSOLETE in GDB 6.3, and REMOVED from GDB 6.4.
1530 * REMOVED configurations and files
1532 Sun 3, running SunOS 3 m68*-*-sunos3*
1533 Sun 3, running SunOS 4 m68*-*-sunos4*
1534 Sun 2, running SunOS 3 m68000-*-sunos3*
1535 Sun 2, running SunOS 4 m68000-*-sunos4*
1536 Motorola 680x0 running LynxOS m68*-*-lynxos*
1537 AT&T 3b1/Unix pc m68*-att-*
1538 Bull DPX2 (68k, System V release 3) m68*-bull-sysv*
1539 decstation mips-dec-* mips-little-*
1540 riscos mips-*-riscos* mips-*-sysv*
1541 sonymips mips-sony-*
1542 sysv mips*-*-sysv4* (IRIX 5/6 not included)
1544 *** Changes in GDB 6.1.1:
1546 * TUI (Text-mode User Interface) built-in (also included in GDB 6.1)
1548 The TUI (Text-mode User Interface) is now built as part of a default
1549 GDB configuration. It is enabled by either selecting the TUI with the
1550 command line option "-i=tui" or by running the separate "gdbtui"
1551 program. For more information on the TUI, see the manual "Debugging
1554 * Pending breakpoint support (also included in GDB 6.1)
1556 Support has been added to allow you to specify breakpoints in shared
1557 libraries that have not yet been loaded. If a breakpoint location
1558 cannot be found, and the "breakpoint pending" option is set to auto,
1559 GDB queries you if you wish to make the breakpoint pending on a future
1560 shared-library load. If and when GDB resolves the breakpoint symbol,
1561 the pending breakpoint is removed as one or more regular breakpoints
1564 Pending breakpoints are very useful for GCJ Java debugging.
1566 * Fixed ISO-C build problems
1568 The files bfd/elf-bfd.h, gdb/dictionary.c and gdb/types.c contained
1569 non ISO-C code that stopped them being built using a more strict ISO-C
1570 compiler (e.g., IBM's C compiler).
1572 * Fixed build problem on IRIX 5
1574 Due to header problems with <sys/proc.h>, the file gdb/proc-api.c
1575 wasn't able to compile compile on an IRIX 5 system.
1577 * Added execute permission to gdb/gdbserver/configure
1579 The shell script gdb/testsuite/gdb.stabs/configure lacked execute
1580 permission. This bug would cause configure to fail on a number of
1581 systems (Solaris, IRIX). Ref: server/519.
1583 * Fixed build problem on hpux2.0w-hp-hpux11.00 using the HP ANSI C compiler
1585 Older HPUX ANSI C compilers did not accept variable array sizes. somsolib.c
1586 has been updated to use constant array sizes.
1588 * Fixed a panic in the DWARF Call Frame Info code on Solaris 2.7
1590 GCC 3.3.2, on Solaris 2.7, includes the DW_EH_PE_funcrel encoding in
1591 its generated DWARF Call Frame Info. This encoding was causing GDB to
1592 panic, that panic has been fixed. Ref: gdb/1628.
1594 * Fixed a problem when examining parameters in shared library code.
1596 When examining parameters in optimized shared library code generated
1597 by a mainline GCC, GDB would incorrectly report ``Variable "..." is
1598 not available''. GDB now correctly displays the variable's value.
1600 *** Changes in GDB 6.1:
1602 * Removed --with-mmalloc
1604 Support for the mmalloc memory manager has been removed, as it
1605 conflicted with the internal gdb byte cache.
1607 * Changes in AMD64 configurations
1609 The AMD64 target now includes the %cs and %ss registers. As a result
1610 the AMD64 remote protocol has changed; this affects the floating-point
1611 and SSE registers. If you rely on those registers for your debugging,
1612 you should upgrade gdbserver on the remote side.
1614 * Revised SPARC target
1616 The SPARC target has been completely revised, incorporating the
1617 FreeBSD/sparc64 support that was added for GDB 6.0. As a result
1618 support for LynxOS and SunOS 4 has been dropped. Calling functions
1619 from within GDB on operating systems with a non-executable stack
1620 (Solaris, OpenBSD) now works.
1624 GDB has a new C++ demangler which does a better job on the mangled
1625 names generated by current versions of g++. It also runs faster, so
1626 with this and other changes gdb should now start faster on large C++
1629 * DWARF 2 Location Expressions
1631 GDB support for location expressions has been extended to support function
1632 arguments and frame bases. Older versions of GDB could crash when they
1635 * C++ nested types and namespaces
1637 GDB's support for nested types and namespaces in C++ has been
1638 improved, especially if you use the DWARF 2 debugging format. (This
1639 is the default for recent versions of GCC on most platforms.)
1640 Specifically, if you have a class "Inner" defined within a class or
1641 namespace "Outer", then GDB realizes that the class's name is
1642 "Outer::Inner", not simply "Inner". This should greatly reduce the
1643 frequency of complaints about not finding RTTI symbols. In addition,
1644 if you are stopped at inside of a function defined within a namespace,
1645 GDB modifies its name lookup accordingly.
1647 * New native configurations
1649 NetBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-netbsd*
1650 OpenBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-openbsd*
1651 OpenBSD/alpha alpha*-*-openbsd*
1652 OpenBSD/sparc sparc-*-openbsd*
1653 OpenBSD/sparc64 sparc64-*-openbsd*
1655 * New debugging protocols
1657 M32R with SDI protocol m32r-*-elf*
1659 * "set prompt-escape-char" command deleted.
1661 The command "set prompt-escape-char" has been deleted. This command,
1662 and its very obscure effet on GDB's prompt, was never documented,
1663 tested, nor mentioned in the NEWS file.
1665 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
1667 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
1668 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
1669 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
1670 permanently REMOVED.
1672 Sun 3, running SunOS 3 m68*-*-sunos3*
1673 Sun 3, running SunOS 4 m68*-*-sunos4*
1674 Sun 2, running SunOS 3 m68000-*-sunos3*
1675 Sun 2, running SunOS 4 m68000-*-sunos4*
1676 Motorola 680x0 running LynxOS m68*-*-lynxos*
1677 AT&T 3b1/Unix pc m68*-att-*
1678 Bull DPX2 (68k, System V release 3) m68*-bull-sysv*
1679 decstation mips-dec-* mips-little-*
1680 riscos mips-*-riscos* mips-*-sysv*
1681 sonymips mips-sony-*
1682 sysv mips*-*-sysv4* (IRIX 5/6 not included)
1684 * REMOVED configurations and files
1686 SGI Irix-4.x mips-sgi-irix4 or iris4
1687 SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris
1688 Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
1689 Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
1690 H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
1691 HP/PA running BSD hppa*-*-bsd*
1692 HP/PA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
1693 HP/PA Pro target hppa*-*-pro*
1694 PMAX (MIPS) running Mach 3.0 mips*-*-mach3*
1695 386BSD i[3456]86-*-bsd*
1696 Sequent family i[3456]86-sequent-sysv4*
1697 i[3456]86-sequent-sysv*
1698 i[3456]86-sequent-bsd*
1699 SPARC running LynxOS sparc-*-lynxos*
1700 SPARC running SunOS 4 sparc-*-sunos4*
1701 Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
1702 Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
1704 *** Changes in GDB 6.0:
1708 Support for debugging the Objective-C programming language has been
1709 integrated into GDB.
1711 * New backtrace mechanism (includes DWARF 2 Call Frame Information).
1713 DWARF 2's Call Frame Information makes available compiler generated
1714 information that more exactly describes the program's run-time stack.
1715 By using this information, GDB is able to provide more robust stack
1718 The i386, amd64 (nee, x86-64), Alpha, m68hc11, ia64, and m32r targets
1719 have been updated to use a new backtrace mechanism which includes
1720 DWARF 2 CFI support.
1724 GDB's remote protocol has been extended to include support for hosted
1725 file I/O (where the remote target uses GDB's file system). See GDB's
1726 remote protocol documentation for details.
1728 * All targets using the new architecture framework.
1730 All of GDB's targets have been updated to use the new internal
1731 architecture framework. The way is now open for future GDB releases
1732 to include cross-architecture native debugging support (i386 on amd64,
1735 * GNU/Linux's Thread Local Storage (TLS)
1737 GDB now includes support for for the GNU/Linux implementation of
1738 per-thread variables.
1740 * GNU/Linux's Native POSIX Thread Library (NPTL)
1742 GDB's thread code has been updated to work with either the new
1743 GNU/Linux NPTL thread library or the older "LinuxThreads" library.
1745 * Separate debug info.
1747 GDB, in conjunction with BINUTILS, now supports a mechanism for
1748 automatically loading debug information from a separate file. Instead
1749 of shipping full debug and non-debug versions of system libraries,
1750 system integrators can now instead ship just the stripped libraries
1751 and optional debug files.
1753 * DWARF 2 Location Expressions
1755 DWARF 2 Location Expressions allow the compiler to more completely
1756 describe the location of variables (even in optimized code) to the
1759 GDB now includes preliminary support for location expressions (support
1760 for DW_OP_piece is still missing).
1764 A number of long standing bugs that caused GDB to die while starting a
1765 Java application have been fixed. GDB's Java support is now
1766 considered "useable".
1768 * GNU/Linux support for fork, vfork, and exec.
1770 The "catch fork", "catch exec", "catch vfork", and "set follow-fork-mode"
1771 commands are now implemented for GNU/Linux. They require a 2.5.x or later
1774 * GDB supports logging output to a file
1776 There are two new commands, "set logging" and "show logging", which can be
1777 used to capture GDB's output to a file.
1779 * The meaning of "detach" has changed for gdbserver
1781 The "detach" command will now resume the application, as documented. To
1782 disconnect from gdbserver and leave it stopped, use the new "disconnect"
1785 * d10v, m68hc11 `regs' command deprecated
1787 The `info registers' command has been updated so that it displays the
1788 registers using a format identical to the old `regs' command.
1792 A new command, "maint set profile on/off", has been added. This command can
1793 be used to enable or disable profiling while running GDB, to profile a
1794 session or a set of commands. In addition there is a new configure switch,
1795 "--enable-profiling", which will cause GDB to be compiled with profiling
1796 data, for more informative profiling results.
1798 * Default MI syntax changed to "mi2".
1800 The default MI (machine interface) syntax, enabled by the command line
1801 option "-i=mi", has been changed to "mi2". The previous MI syntax,
1802 "mi1", can be enabled by specifying the option "-i=mi1".
1804 Support for the original "mi0" syntax (included in GDB 5.0) has been
1807 Fix for gdb/192: removed extraneous space when displaying frame level.
1808 Fix for gdb/672: update changelist is now output in mi list format.
1809 Fix for gdb/702: a -var-assign that updates the value now shows up
1810 in a subsequent -var-update.
1812 * New native configurations.
1814 FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
1816 * Multi-arched targets.
1818 HP/PA HPUX11 hppa*-*-hpux*
1819 Renesas M32R/D w/simulator m32r-*-elf*
1821 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
1823 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
1824 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
1825 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
1826 permanently REMOVED.
1828 Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
1829 Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
1830 H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
1831 HP/PA running BSD hppa*-*-bsd*
1832 HP/PA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
1833 HP/PA Pro target hppa*-*-pro*
1834 PMAX (MIPS) running Mach 3.0 mips*-*-mach3*
1835 Sequent family i[3456]86-sequent-sysv4*
1836 i[3456]86-sequent-sysv*
1837 i[3456]86-sequent-bsd*
1838 Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
1839 Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
1841 * REMOVED configurations and files
1844 Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
1845 IBM AIX PS/2 i[3456]86-*-aix
1846 i386 running Mach 3.0 i[3456]86-*-mach3*
1847 i386 running Mach i[3456]86-*-mach*
1848 i386 running OSF/1 i[3456]86-*osf1mk*
1849 HP/Apollo 68k Family m68*-apollo*-sysv*,
1851 m68*-hp-bsd*, m68*-hp-hpux*
1852 Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
1853 Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
1854 Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
1855 OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
1856 I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
1858 * MIPS $fp behavior changed
1860 The convenience variable $fp, for the MIPS, now consistently returns
1861 the address of the current frame's base. Previously, depending on the
1862 context, $fp could refer to either $sp or the current frame's base
1863 address. See ``8.10 Registers'' in the manual ``Debugging with GDB:
1864 The GNU Source-Level Debugger''.
1866 *** Changes in GDB 5.3:
1868 * GNU/Linux shared library multi-threaded performance improved.
1870 When debugging a multi-threaded application on GNU/Linux, GDB now uses
1871 `/proc', in preference to `ptrace' for memory reads. This may result
1872 in an improvement in the start-up time of multi-threaded, shared
1873 library applications when run under GDB. One GDB user writes: ``loads
1874 shared libs like mad''.
1876 * ``gdbserver'' now supports multi-threaded applications on some targets
1878 Support for debugging multi-threaded applications which use
1879 the GNU/Linux LinuxThreads package has been added for
1880 arm*-*-linux*-gnu*, i[3456]86-*-linux*-gnu*, mips*-*-linux*-gnu*,
1881 powerpc*-*-linux*-gnu*, and sh*-*-linux*-gnu*.
1883 * GDB now supports C/C++ preprocessor macros.
1885 GDB now expands preprocessor macro invocations in C/C++ expressions,
1886 and provides various commands for showing macro definitions and how
1889 The new command `macro expand EXPRESSION' expands any macro
1890 invocations in expression, and shows the result.
1892 The new command `show macro MACRO-NAME' shows the definition of the
1893 macro named MACRO-NAME, and where it was defined.
1895 Most compilers don't include information about macros in the debugging
1896 information by default. In GCC 3.1, for example, you need to compile
1897 your program with the options `-gdwarf-2 -g3'. If the macro
1898 information is present in the executable, GDB will read it.
1900 * Multi-arched targets.
1902 DEC Alpha (partial) alpha*-*-*
1903 DEC VAX (partial) vax-*-*
1905 National Semiconductor NS32000 (partial) ns32k-*-*
1906 Motorola 68000 (partial) m68k-*-*
1907 Motorola MCORE mcore-*-*
1911 Fujitsu FRV architecture added by Red Hat frv*-*-*
1914 * New native configurations
1916 Alpha NetBSD alpha*-*-netbsd*
1917 SH NetBSD sh*-*-netbsdelf*
1918 MIPS NetBSD mips*-*-netbsd*
1919 UltraSPARC NetBSD sparc64-*-netbsd*
1921 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
1923 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
1924 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
1925 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
1926 permanently REMOVED.
1928 Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
1929 OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
1930 IBM AIX PS/2 i[3456]86-*-aix
1931 Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
1932 Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
1933 Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
1934 i386 running Mach 3.0 i[3456]86-*-mach3*
1935 i386 running Mach i[3456]86-*-mach*
1936 i386 running OSF/1 i[3456]86-*osf1mk*
1937 HP/Apollo 68k Family m68*-apollo*-sysv*,
1939 m68*-hp-bsd*, m68*-hp-hpux*
1940 I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
1942 * OBSOLETE languages
1944 CHILL, a Pascal like language used by telecommunications companies.
1946 * REMOVED configurations and files
1948 AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi, udi29k
1949 A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
1950 AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
1951 AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
1952 AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
1954 testsuite/gdb.hp/gdb.threads-hp/ directory
1956 * New command "set max-user-call-depth <nnn>"
1958 This command allows the user to limit the call depth of user-defined
1959 commands. The default is 1024.
1961 * Changes in FreeBSD/i386 native debugging.
1963 Support for the "generate-core-file" has been added.
1965 * New commands "dump", "append", and "restore".
1967 These commands allow data to be copied from target memory
1968 to a bfd-format or binary file (dump and append), and back
1969 from a file into memory (restore).
1971 * Improved "next/step" support on multi-processor Alpha Tru64.
1973 The previous single-step mechanism could cause unpredictable problems,
1974 including the random appearance of SIGSEGV or SIGTRAP signals. The use
1975 of a software single-step mechanism prevents this.
1977 *** Changes in GDB 5.2.1:
1985 gdb/182: gdb/323: gdb/237: On alpha, gdb was reporting:
1986 mdebugread.c:2443: gdb-internal-error: sect_index_data not initialized
1987 Fix, by Joel Brobecker imported from mainline.
1989 gdb/439: gdb/291: On some ELF object files, gdb was reporting:
1990 dwarf2read.c:1072: gdb-internal-error: sect_index_text not initialize
1991 Fix, by Fred Fish, imported from mainline.
1993 Dwarf2 .debug_frame & .eh_frame handler improved in many ways.
1994 Surprisingly enough, it works now.
1995 By Michal Ludvig, imported from mainline.
1997 i386 hardware watchpoint support:
1998 avoid misses on second run for some targets.
1999 By Pierre Muller, imported from mainline.
2001 *** Changes in GDB 5.2:
2003 * New command "set trust-readonly-sections on[off]".
2005 This command is a hint that tells gdb that read-only sections
2006 really are read-only (ie. that their contents will not change).
2007 In this mode, gdb will go to the object file rather than the
2008 target to read memory from read-only sections (such as ".text").
2009 This can be a significant performance improvement on some
2010 (notably embedded) targets.
2012 * New command "generate-core-file" (or "gcore").
2014 This new gdb command allows the user to drop a core file of the child
2015 process state at any time. So far it's been implemented only for
2016 GNU/Linux and Solaris, but should be relatively easily ported to other
2017 hosts. Argument is core file name (defaults to core.<pid>).
2019 * New command line option
2021 GDB now accepts --pid or -p followed by a process id.
2023 * Change in command line behavior -- corefiles vs. process ids.
2025 There is a subtle behavior in the way in which GDB handles
2026 command line arguments. The first non-flag argument is always
2027 a program to debug, but the second non-flag argument may either
2028 be a corefile or a process id. Previously, GDB would attempt to
2029 open the second argument as a corefile, and if that failed, would
2030 issue a superfluous error message and then attempt to attach it as
2031 a process. Now, if the second argument begins with a non-digit,
2032 it will be treated as a corefile. If it begins with a digit,
2033 GDB will attempt to attach it as a process, and if no such process
2034 is found, will then attempt to open it as a corefile.
2036 * Changes in ARM configurations.
2038 Multi-arch support is enabled for all ARM configurations. The ARM/NetBSD
2039 configuration is fully multi-arch.
2041 * New native configurations
2043 ARM NetBSD arm*-*-netbsd*
2044 x86 OpenBSD i[3456]86-*-openbsd*
2045 AMD x86-64 running GNU/Linux x86_64-*-linux-*
2046 Sparc64 running FreeBSD sparc64-*-freebsd*
2050 Sanyo XStormy16 xstormy16-elf
2052 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
2054 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
2055 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
2056 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
2057 permanently REMOVED.
2059 AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi, udi29k
2060 A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
2061 AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
2062 AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
2063 AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
2065 testsuite/gdb.hp/gdb.threads-hp/ directory
2067 * REMOVED configurations and files
2069 TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
2071 PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
2072 PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
2073 PowerPC Netware powerpc-*-netware*
2074 Harris/CXUX m88k m88*-harris-cxux*
2075 Most ns32k hosts and targets ns32k-*-mach3* ns32k-umax-*
2076 ns32k-utek-sysv* ns32k-utek-*
2077 SunOS 4.0.Xi on i386 i[3456]86-*-sunos*
2078 Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1 a29k-nyu-sym1 a29k-*-kern*
2079 Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x m68*-sony-sysv news
2080 ISI Optimum V (3.05) under 4.3bsd. m68*-isi-*
2081 Apple Macintosh (MPW) host and target N/A host, powerpc-*-macos*
2083 * Changes to command line processing
2085 The new `--args' feature can be used to specify command-line arguments
2086 for the inferior from gdb's command line.
2088 * Changes to key bindings
2090 There is a new `operate-and-get-next' function bound to `C-o'.
2092 *** Changes in GDB 5.1.1
2094 Fix compile problem on DJGPP.
2096 Fix a problem with floating-point registers on the i386 being
2099 Fix to stop GDB crashing on .debug_str debug info.
2101 Numerous documentation fixes.
2103 Numerous testsuite fixes.
2105 *** Changes in GDB 5.1:
2107 * New native configurations
2109 Alpha FreeBSD alpha*-*-freebsd*
2110 x86 FreeBSD 3.x and 4.x i[3456]86*-freebsd[34]*
2111 MIPS GNU/Linux mips*-*-linux*
2112 MIPS SGI Irix 6.x mips*-sgi-irix6*
2113 ia64 AIX ia64-*-aix*
2114 s390 and s390x GNU/Linux {s390,s390x}-*-linux*
2118 Motorola 68HC11 and 68HC12 m68hc11-elf
2120 UltraSparc running GNU/Linux sparc64-*-linux*
2122 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
2124 x86 FreeBSD before 2.2 i[3456]86*-freebsd{1,2.[01]}*,
2125 Harris/CXUX m88k m88*-harris-cxux*
2126 Most ns32k hosts and targets ns32k-*-mach3* ns32k-umax-*
2127 ns32k-utek-sysv* ns32k-utek-*
2128 TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
2130 Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1 a29k-nyu-sym1 a29k-*-kern*
2131 PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
2132 PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
2133 PowerPC Netware powerpc-*-netware*
2134 SunOS 4.0.Xi on i386 i[3456]86-*-sunos*
2135 Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x m68*-sony-sysv news
2136 ISI Optimum V (3.05) under 4.3bsd. m68*-isi-*
2137 Apple Macintosh (MPW) host N/A
2139 stuff.c (Program to stuff files into a specially prepared space in kdb)
2140 kdb-start.c (Main loop for the standalone kernel debugger)
2142 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
2143 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
2144 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
2145 permanently REMOVED.
2147 * REMOVED configurations and files
2149 Altos 3068 m68*-altos-*
2150 Convex c1-*-*, c2-*-*
2152 ARM RISCix arm-*-* (as host)
2156 * GDB has been converted to ISO C.
2158 GDB's source code has been converted to ISO C. In particular, the
2159 sources are fully protoized, and rely on standard headers being
2164 * "info symbol" works on platforms which use COFF, ECOFF, XCOFF, and NLM.
2166 * The MI enabled by default.
2168 The new machine oriented interface (MI) introduced in GDB 5.0 has been
2169 revised and enabled by default. Packages which use GDB as a debugging
2170 engine behind a UI or another front end are encouraged to switch to
2171 using the GDB/MI interface, instead of the old annotations interface
2172 which is now deprecated.
2174 * Support for debugging Pascal programs.
2176 GDB now includes support for debugging Pascal programs. The following
2177 main features are supported:
2179 - Pascal-specific data types such as sets;
2181 - automatic recognition of Pascal sources based on file-name
2184 - Pascal-style display of data types, variables, and functions;
2186 - a Pascal expression parser.
2188 However, some important features are not yet supported.
2190 - Pascal string operations are not supported at all;
2192 - there are some problems with boolean types;
2194 - Pascal type hexadecimal constants are not supported
2195 because they conflict with the internal variables format;
2197 - support for Pascal objects and classes is not full yet;
2199 - unlike Pascal, GDB is case-sensitive for symbol names.
2201 * Changes in completion.
2203 Commands such as `shell', `run' and `set args', which pass arguments
2204 to inferior programs, now complete on file names, similar to what
2205 users expect at the shell prompt.
2207 Commands which accept locations, such as `disassemble', `print',
2208 `breakpoint', `until', etc. now complete on filenames as well as
2209 program symbols. Thus, if you type "break foob TAB", and the source
2210 files linked into the programs include `foobar.c', that file name will
2211 be one of the candidates for completion. However, file names are not
2212 considered for completion after you typed a colon that delimits a file
2213 name from a name of a function in that file, as in "break foo.c:bar".
2215 `set demangle-style' completes on available demangling styles.
2217 * New platform-independent commands:
2219 It is now possible to define a post-hook for a command as well as a
2220 hook that runs before the command. For more details, see the
2221 documentation of `hookpost' in the GDB manual.
2223 * Changes in GNU/Linux native debugging.
2225 Support for debugging multi-threaded programs has been completely
2226 revised for all platforms except m68k and sparc. You can now debug as
2227 many threads as your system allows you to have.
2229 Attach/detach is supported for multi-threaded programs.
2231 Support for SSE registers was added for x86. This doesn't work for
2232 multi-threaded programs though.
2234 * Changes in MIPS configurations.
2236 Multi-arch support is enabled for all MIPS configurations.
2238 GDB can now be built as native debugger on SGI Irix 6.x systems for
2239 debugging n32 executables. (Debugging 64-bit executables is not yet
2242 * Unified support for hardware watchpoints in all x86 configurations.
2244 Most (if not all) native x86 configurations support hardware-assisted
2245 breakpoints and watchpoints in a unified manner. This support
2246 implements debug register sharing between watchpoints, which allows to
2247 put a virtually infinite number of watchpoints on the same address,
2248 and also supports watching regions up to 16 bytes with several debug
2251 The new maintenance command `maintenance show-debug-regs' toggles
2252 debugging print-outs in functions that insert, remove, and test
2253 watchpoints and hardware breakpoints.
2255 * Changes in the DJGPP native configuration.
2257 New command ``info dos sysinfo'' displays assorted information about
2258 the CPU, OS, memory, and DPMI server.
2260 New commands ``info dos gdt'', ``info dos ldt'', and ``info dos idt''
2261 display information about segment descriptors stored in GDT, LDT, and
2264 New commands ``info dos pde'' and ``info dos pte'' display entries
2265 from Page Directory and Page Tables (for now works with CWSDPMI only).
2266 New command ``info dos address-pte'' displays the Page Table entry for
2267 a given linear address.
2269 GDB can now pass command lines longer than 126 characters to the
2270 program being debugged (requires an update to the libdbg.a library
2271 which is part of the DJGPP development kit).
2273 DWARF2 debug info is now supported.
2275 It is now possible to `step' and `next' through calls to `longjmp'.
2277 * Changes in documentation.
2279 All GDB documentation was converted to GFDL, the GNU Free
2280 Documentation License.
2282 Tracepoints-related commands are now fully documented in the GDB
2285 TUI, the Text-mode User Interface, is now documented in the manual.
2287 Tracepoints-related commands are now fully documented in the GDB
2290 The "GDB Internals" manual now has an index. It also includes
2291 documentation of `ui_out' functions, GDB coding standards, x86
2292 hardware watchpoints, and memory region attributes.
2294 * GDB's version number moved to ``version.in''
2296 The Makefile variable VERSION has been replaced by the file
2297 ``version.in''. People creating GDB distributions should update the
2298 contents of this file.
2302 GUD support is now a standard part of the EMACS distribution.
2304 *** Changes in GDB 5.0:
2306 * Improved support for debugging FP programs on x86 targets
2308 Unified and much-improved support for debugging floating-point
2309 programs on all x86 targets. In particular, ``info float'' now
2310 displays the FP registers in the same format on all x86 targets, with
2311 greater level of detail.
2313 * Improvements and bugfixes in hardware-assisted watchpoints
2315 It is now possible to watch array elements, struct members, and
2316 bitfields with hardware-assisted watchpoints. Data-read watchpoints
2317 on x86 targets no longer erroneously trigger when the address is
2320 * Improvements in the native DJGPP version of GDB
2322 The distribution now includes all the scripts and auxiliary files
2323 necessary to build the native DJGPP version on MS-DOS/MS-Windows
2324 machines ``out of the box''.
2326 The DJGPP version can now debug programs that use signals. It is
2327 possible to catch signals that happened in the debuggee, deliver
2328 signals to it, interrupt it with Ctrl-C, etc. (Previously, a signal
2329 would kill the program being debugged.) Programs that hook hardware
2330 interrupts (keyboard, timer, etc.) can also be debugged.
2332 It is now possible to debug DJGPP programs that redirect their
2333 standard handles or switch them to raw (as opposed to cooked) mode, or
2334 even close them. The command ``run < foo > bar'' works as expected,
2335 and ``info terminal'' reports useful information about the debuggee's
2336 terminal, including raw/cooked mode, redirection, etc.
2338 The DJGPP version now uses termios functions for console I/O, which
2339 enables debugging graphics programs. Interrupting GDB with Ctrl-C
2342 DOS-style file names with drive letters are now fully supported by
2345 It is now possible to debug DJGPP programs that switch their working
2346 directory. It is also possible to rerun the debuggee any number of
2347 times without restarting GDB; thus, you can use the same setup,
2348 breakpoints, etc. for many debugging sessions.
2350 * New native configurations
2352 ARM GNU/Linux arm*-*-linux*
2353 PowerPC GNU/Linux powerpc-*-linux*
2357 Motorola MCore mcore-*-*
2358 x86 VxWorks i[3456]86-*-vxworks*
2359 PowerPC VxWorks powerpc-*-vxworks*
2360 TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
2362 * OBSOLETE configurations
2364 Altos 3068 m68*-altos-*
2365 Convex c1-*-*, c2-*-*
2367 ARM RISCix arm-*-* (as host)
2370 Configurations that have been declared obsolete will be commented out,
2371 but the code will be left in place. If there is no activity to revive
2372 these configurations before the next release of GDB, the sources will
2373 be permanently REMOVED.
2375 * Gould support removed
2377 Support for the Gould PowerNode and NP1 has been removed.
2379 * New features for SVR4
2381 On SVR4 native platforms (such as Solaris), if you attach to a process
2382 without first loading a symbol file, GDB will now attempt to locate and
2383 load symbols from the running process's executable file.
2385 * Many C++ enhancements
2387 C++ support has been greatly improved. Overload resolution now works properly
2388 in almost all cases. RTTI support is on the way.
2390 * Remote targets can connect to a sub-program
2392 A popen(3) style serial-device has been added. This device starts a
2393 sub-process (such as a stand-alone simulator) and then communicates
2394 with that. The sub-program to run is specified using the syntax
2395 ``|<program> <args>'' vis:
2397 (gdb) set remotedebug 1
2398 (gdb) target extended-remote |mn10300-elf-sim program-args
2400 * MIPS 64 remote protocol
2402 A long standing bug in the mips64 remote protocol where by GDB
2403 expected certain 32 bit registers (ex SR) to be transfered as 32
2404 instead of 64 bits has been fixed.
2406 The command ``set remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs on'' has been
2407 added to provide backward compatibility with older versions of GDB.
2409 * ``set remotebinarydownload'' replaced by ``set remote X-packet''
2411 The command ``set remotebinarydownload'' command has been replaced by
2412 ``set remote X-packet''. Other commands in ``set remote'' family
2413 include ``set remote P-packet''.
2415 * Breakpoint commands accept ranges.
2417 The breakpoint commands ``enable'', ``disable'', and ``delete'' now
2418 accept a range of breakpoints, e.g. ``5-7''. The tracepoint command
2419 ``tracepoint passcount'' also accepts a range of tracepoints.
2421 * ``apropos'' command added.
2423 The ``apropos'' command searches through command names and
2424 documentation strings, printing out matches, making it much easier to
2425 try to find a command that does what you are looking for.
2429 A new machine oriented interface (MI) has been added to GDB. This
2430 interface is designed for debug environments running GDB as a separate
2431 process. This is part of the long term libGDB project. See the
2432 "GDB/MI" chapter of the GDB manual for further information. It can be
2433 enabled by configuring with:
2435 .../configure --enable-gdbmi
2437 *** Changes in GDB-4.18:
2439 * New native configurations
2441 HP-UX 10.20 hppa*-*-hpux10.20
2442 HP-UX 11.x hppa*-*-hpux11.0*
2443 M68K GNU/Linux m68*-*-linux*
2447 Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
2448 Intel StrongARM strongarm-*-*
2449 Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
2451 * OBSOLETE configurations
2453 Gould PowerNode, NP1 np1-*-*, pn-*-*
2455 Configurations that have been declared obsolete will be commented out,
2456 but the code will be left in place. If there is no activity to revive
2457 these configurations before the next release of GDB, the sources will
2458 be permanently REMOVED.
2462 As a compatibility experiment, GDB's source files buildsym.h and
2463 buildsym.c have been converted to pure standard C, no longer
2464 containing any K&R compatibility code. We believe that all systems in
2465 use today either come with a standard C compiler, or have a GCC port
2466 available. If this is not true, please report the affected
2467 configuration to bug-gdb@gnu.org immediately. See the README file for
2468 information about getting a standard C compiler if you don't have one
2473 GDB now uses readline 2.2.
2475 * set extension-language
2477 You can now control the mapping between filename extensions and source
2478 languages by using the `set extension-language' command. For instance,
2479 you can ask GDB to treat .c files as C++ by saying
2480 set extension-language .c c++
2481 The command `info extensions' lists all of the recognized extensions
2482 and their associated languages.
2484 * Setting processor type for PowerPC and RS/6000
2486 When GDB is configured for a powerpc*-*-* or an rs6000*-*-* target,
2487 you can use the `set processor' command to specify what variant of the
2488 PowerPC family you are debugging. The command
2492 sets the PowerPC/RS6000 variant to NAME. GDB knows about the
2493 following PowerPC and RS6000 variants:
2495 ppc-uisa PowerPC UISA - a PPC processor as viewed by user-level code
2496 rs6000 IBM RS6000 ("POWER") architecture, user-level view
2498 403GC IBM PowerPC 403GC
2499 505 Motorola PowerPC 505
2500 860 Motorola PowerPC 860 or 850
2501 601 Motorola PowerPC 601
2502 602 Motorola PowerPC 602
2503 603 Motorola/IBM PowerPC 603 or 603e
2504 604 Motorola PowerPC 604 or 604e
2505 750 Motorola/IBM PowerPC 750 or 750
2507 At the moment, this command just tells GDB what to name the
2508 special-purpose processor registers. Since almost all the affected
2509 registers are inaccessible to user-level programs, this command is
2510 only useful for remote debugging in its present form.
2514 Thanks to a major code donation from Hewlett-Packard, GDB now has much
2515 more extensive support for HP-UX. Added features include shared
2516 library support, kernel threads and hardware watchpoints for 11.00,
2517 support for HP's ANSI C and C++ compilers, and a compatibility mode
2518 for xdb and dbx commands.
2522 HP's donation includes the new concept of catchpoints, which is a
2523 generalization of the old catch command. On HP-UX, it is now possible
2524 to catch exec, fork, and vfork, as well as library loading.
2526 This means that the existing catch command has changed; its first
2527 argument now specifies the type of catch to be set up. See the
2528 output of "help catch" for a list of catchpoint types.
2530 * Debugging across forks
2532 On HP-UX, you can choose which process to debug when a fork() happens
2537 HP has donated a curses-based terminal user interface (TUI). To get
2538 it, build with --enable-tui. Although this can be enabled for any
2539 configuration, at present it only works for native HP debugging.
2541 * GDB remote protocol additions
2543 A new protocol packet 'X' that writes binary data is now available.
2544 Default behavior is to try 'X', then drop back to 'M' if the stub
2545 fails to respond. The settable variable `remotebinarydownload'
2546 allows explicit control over the use of 'X'.
2548 For 64-bit targets, the memory packets ('M' and 'm') can now contain a
2549 full 64-bit address. The command
2551 set remoteaddresssize 32
2553 can be used to revert to the old behaviour. For existing remote stubs
2554 the change should not be noticed, as the additional address information
2557 In order to assist in debugging stubs, you may use the maintenance
2558 command `packet' to send any text string to the stub. For instance,
2560 maint packet heythere
2562 sends the packet "$heythere#<checksum>". Note that it is very easy to
2563 disrupt a debugging session by sending the wrong packet at the wrong
2566 The compare-sections command allows you to compare section data on the
2567 target to what is in the executable file without uploading or
2568 downloading, by comparing CRC checksums.
2570 * Tracing can collect general expressions
2572 You may now collect general expressions at tracepoints. This requires
2573 further additions to the target-side stub; see tracepoint.c and
2574 doc/agentexpr.texi for further details.
2576 * mask-address variable for Mips
2578 For Mips targets, you may control the zeroing of the upper 32 bits of
2579 a 64-bit address by entering `set mask-address on'. This is mainly
2580 of interest to users of embedded R4xxx and R5xxx processors.
2582 * Higher serial baud rates
2584 GDB's serial code now allows you to specify baud rates 57600, 115200,
2585 230400, and 460800 baud. (Note that your host system may not be able
2586 to achieve all of these rates.)
2590 The i960 configuration now includes an initial implementation of a
2591 builtin simulator, contributed by Jim Wilson.
2594 *** Changes in GDB-4.17:
2596 * New native configurations
2598 Alpha GNU/Linux alpha*-*-linux*
2599 Unixware 2.x i[3456]86-unixware2*
2600 Irix 6.x mips*-sgi-irix6*
2601 PowerPC GNU/Linux powerpc-*-linux*
2602 PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
2603 Sparc GNU/Linux sparc-*-linux*
2604 Motorola sysV68 R3V7.1 m68k-motorola-sysv
2608 Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
2609 Hitachi H8/300S h8300*-*-*
2610 Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
2611 Matsushita MN10300 w/simulator mn10300-*-*
2612 MIPS NEC VR4100 mips64*vr4100*{,el}-*-elf*
2613 MIPS NEC VR5000 mips64*vr5000*{,el}-*-elf*
2614 MIPS Toshiba TX39 mips64*tx39*{,el}-*-elf*
2615 Mitsubishi D10V w/simulator d10v-*-*
2616 Mitsubishi M32R/D w/simulator m32r-*-elf*
2617 Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
2618 NEC V850 w/simulator v850-*-*
2620 * New debugging protocols
2622 ARM with RDI protocol arm*-*-*
2623 M68K with dBUG monitor m68*-*-{aout,coff,elf}
2624 DDB and LSI variants of PMON protocol mips*-*-*
2625 PowerPC with DINK32 monitor powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
2626 PowerPC with SDS protocol powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
2627 Macraigor OCD (Wiggler) devices powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
2631 All configurations can now understand and use the DWARF 2 debugging
2632 format. The choice is automatic, if the symbol file contains DWARF 2
2637 GDB now includes basic Java language support. This support is
2638 only useful with Java compilers that produce native machine code.
2640 * solib-absolute-prefix and solib-search-path
2642 For SunOS and SVR4 shared libraries, you may now set the prefix for
2643 loading absolute shared library symbol files, and the search path for
2644 locating non-absolute shared library symbol files.
2646 * Live range splitting
2648 GDB can now effectively debug code for which GCC has performed live
2649 range splitting as part of its optimization. See gdb/doc/LRS for
2650 more details on the expected format of the stabs information.
2654 GDB's support for the GNU Hurd, including thread debugging, has been
2655 updated to work with current versions of the Hurd.
2659 GDB's ARM target configuration now handles the ARM7T (Thumb) 16-bit
2660 instruction set. ARM GDB automatically detects when Thumb
2661 instructions are in use, and adjusts disassembly and backtracing
2666 GDB's MIPS target configurations now handle the MIP16 16-bit
2671 GDB now includes support for overlays; if an executable has been
2672 linked such that multiple sections are based at the same address, GDB
2673 will decide which section to use for symbolic info. You can choose to
2674 control the decision manually, using overlay commands, or implement
2675 additional target-side support and use "overlay load-target" to bring
2676 in the overlay mapping. Do "help overlay" for more detail.
2680 The command "info symbol <address>" displays information about
2681 the symbol at the specified address.
2685 The standard remote protocol now includes an extension that allows
2686 asynchronous collection and display of trace data. This requires
2687 extensive support in the target-side debugging stub. Tracing mode
2688 includes a new interaction mode in GDB and new commands: see the
2689 file tracepoint.c for more details.
2693 Configurations for embedded MIPS now include a simulator contributed
2694 by Cygnus Solutions. The simulator supports the instruction sets
2695 of most MIPS variants.
2699 Sparc configurations may now include the ERC32 simulator contributed
2700 by the European Space Agency. The simulator is not built into
2701 Sparc targets by default; configure with --enable-sim to include it.
2705 For target configurations that may include multiple variants of a
2706 basic architecture (such as MIPS and SH), you may now set the
2707 architecture explicitly. "set arch" sets, "info arch" lists
2708 the possible architectures.
2710 *** Changes in GDB-4.16:
2712 * New native configurations
2714 Windows 95, x86 Windows NT i[345]86-*-cygwin32
2715 M68K NetBSD m68k-*-netbsd*
2716 PowerPC AIX 4.x powerpc-*-aix*
2717 PowerPC MacOS powerpc-*-macos*
2718 PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
2719 RS/6000 AIX 4.x rs6000-*-aix4*
2723 ARM with RDP protocol arm-*-*
2724 I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
2725 MIPS VxWorks mips*-*-vxworks*
2726 MIPS VR4300 with PMON mips64*vr4300{,el}-*-elf*
2727 PowerPC with PPCBUG monitor powerpc{,le}-*-eabi*
2729 Matra Sparclet sparclet-*-*
2733 The powerpc-eabi configuration now includes the PSIM simulator,
2734 contributed by Andrew Cagney, with assistance from Mike Meissner.
2735 PSIM is a very elaborate model of the PowerPC, including not only
2736 basic instruction set execution, but also details of execution unit
2737 performance and I/O hardware. See sim/ppc/README for more details.
2741 GDB now works with Solaris 2.5.
2743 * Windows 95/NT native
2745 GDB will now work as a native debugger on Windows 95 and Windows NT.
2746 To build it from source, you must use the "gnu-win32" environment,
2747 which uses a DLL to emulate enough of Unix to run the GNU tools.
2748 Further information, binaries, and sources are available at
2749 ftp.cygnus.com, under pub/gnu-win32.
2751 * dont-repeat command
2753 If a user-defined command includes the command `dont-repeat', then the
2754 command will not be repeated if the user just types return. This is
2755 useful if the command is time-consuming to run, so that accidental
2756 extra keystrokes don't run the same command many times.
2758 * Send break instead of ^C
2760 The standard remote protocol now includes an option to send a break
2761 rather than a ^C to the target in order to interrupt it. By default,
2762 GDB will send ^C; to send a break, set the variable `remotebreak' to 1.
2764 * Remote protocol timeout
2766 The standard remote protocol includes a new variable `remotetimeout'
2767 that allows you to set the number of seconds before GDB gives up trying
2768 to read from the target. The default value is 2.
2770 * Automatic tracking of dynamic object loading (HPUX and Solaris only)
2772 By default GDB will automatically keep track of objects as they are
2773 loaded and unloaded by the dynamic linker. By using the command `set
2774 stop-on-solib-events 1' you can arrange for GDB to stop the inferior
2775 when shared library events occur, thus allowing you to set breakpoints
2776 in shared libraries which are explicitly loaded by the inferior.
2778 Note this feature does not work on hpux8. On hpux9 you must link
2779 /usr/lib/end.o into your program. This feature should work
2780 automatically on hpux10.
2782 * Irix 5.x hardware watchpoint support
2784 Irix 5 configurations now support the use of hardware watchpoints.
2786 * Mips protocol "SYN garbage limit"
2788 When debugging a Mips target using the `target mips' protocol, you
2789 may set the number of characters that GDB will ignore by setting
2790 the `syn-garbage-limit'. A value of -1 means that GDB will ignore
2791 every character. The default value is 1050.
2793 * Recording and replaying remote debug sessions
2795 If you set `remotelogfile' to the name of a file, gdb will write to it
2796 a recording of a remote debug session. This recording may then be
2797 replayed back to gdb using "gdbreplay". See gdbserver/README for
2798 details. This is useful when you have a problem with GDB while doing
2799 remote debugging; you can make a recording of the session and send it
2800 to someone else, who can then recreate the problem.
2802 * Speedups for remote debugging
2804 GDB includes speedups for downloading and stepping MIPS systems using
2805 the IDT monitor, fast downloads to the Hitachi SH E7000 emulator,
2806 and more efficient S-record downloading.
2808 * Memory use reductions and statistics collection
2810 GDB now uses less memory and reports statistics about memory usage.
2811 Try the `maint print statistics' command, for example.
2813 *** Changes in GDB-4.15:
2815 * Psymtabs for XCOFF
2817 The symbol reader for AIX GDB now uses partial symbol tables. This
2818 can greatly improve startup time, especially for large executables.
2820 * Remote targets use caching
2822 Remote targets now use a data cache to speed up communication with the
2823 remote side. The data cache could lead to incorrect results because
2824 it doesn't know about volatile variables, thus making it impossible to
2825 debug targets which use memory mapped I/O devices. `set remotecache
2826 off' turns the the data cache off.
2828 * Remote targets may have threads
2830 The standard remote protocol now includes support for multiple threads
2831 in the target system, using new protocol commands 'H' and 'T'. See
2832 gdb/remote.c for details.
2836 If GDB is configured with `--enable-netrom', then it will include
2837 support for the NetROM ROM emulator from XLNT Designs. The NetROM
2838 acts as though it is a bank of ROM on the target board, but you can
2839 write into it over the network. GDB's support consists only of
2840 support for fast loading into the emulated ROM; to debug, you must use
2841 another protocol, such as standard remote protocol. The usual
2842 sequence is something like
2844 target nrom <netrom-hostname>
2846 target remote <netrom-hostname>:1235
2850 GDB now includes support for the Apple Macintosh, as a host only. It
2851 may be run as either an MPW tool or as a standalone application, and
2852 it can debug through the serial port. All the usual GDB commands are
2853 available, but to the target command, you must supply "serial" as the
2854 device type instead of "/dev/ttyXX". See mpw-README in the main
2855 directory for more information on how to build. The MPW configuration
2856 scripts */mpw-config.in support only a few targets, and only the
2857 mips-idt-ecoff target has been tested.
2861 GDB configuration now uses autoconf. This is not user-visible,
2862 but does simplify configuration and building.
2866 GDB now supports hpux10.
2868 *** Changes in GDB-4.14:
2870 * New native configurations
2872 x86 FreeBSD i[345]86-*-freebsd
2873 x86 NetBSD i[345]86-*-netbsd
2874 NS32k NetBSD ns32k-*-netbsd
2875 Sparc NetBSD sparc-*-netbsd
2879 A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
2880 HP PA PRO embedded (WinBond W89K & Oki OP50N) hppa*-*-pro*
2881 CPU32 EST-300 emulator m68*-*-est*
2882 PowerPC ELF powerpc-*-elf
2885 * Alpha OSF/1 support for procfs
2887 GDB now supports procfs under OSF/1-2.x and higher, which makes it
2888 possible to attach to running processes. As the mounting of the /proc
2889 filesystem is optional on the Alpha, GDB automatically determines
2890 the availability of /proc during startup. This can lead to problems
2891 if /proc is unmounted after GDB has been started.
2893 * Arguments to user-defined commands
2895 User commands may accept up to 10 arguments separated by whitespace.
2896 Arguments are accessed within the user command via $arg0..$arg9. A
2899 print $arg0 + $arg1 + $arg2
2901 To execute the command use:
2904 Defines the command "adder" which prints the sum of its three arguments.
2905 Note the arguments are text substitutions, so they may reference variables,
2906 use complex expressions, or even perform inferior function calls.
2908 * New `if' and `while' commands
2910 This makes it possible to write more sophisticated user-defined
2911 commands. Both commands take a single argument, which is the
2912 expression to evaluate, and must be followed by the commands to
2913 execute, one per line, if the expression is nonzero, the list being
2914 terminated by the word `end'. The `if' command list may include an
2915 `else' word, which causes the following commands to be executed only
2916 if the expression is zero.
2918 * Fortran source language mode
2920 GDB now includes partial support for Fortran 77. It will recognize
2921 Fortran programs and can evaluate a subset of Fortran expressions, but
2922 variables and functions may not be handled correctly. GDB will work
2923 with G77, but does not yet know much about symbols emitted by other
2926 * Better HPUX support
2928 Most debugging facilities now work on dynamic executables for HPPAs
2929 running hpux9 or later. You can attach to running dynamically linked
2930 processes, but by default the dynamic libraries will be read-only, so
2931 for instance you won't be able to put breakpoints in them. To change
2932 that behavior do the following before running the program:
2938 This will cause the libraries to be mapped private and read-write.
2939 To revert to the normal behavior, do this:
2945 You cannot set breakpoints or examine data in the library until after
2946 the library is loaded if the function/data symbols do not have
2949 GDB can now also read debug symbols produced by the HP C compiler on
2950 HPPAs (sorry, no C++, Fortran or 68k support).
2952 * Target byte order now dynamically selectable
2954 You can choose which byte order to use with a target system, via the
2955 commands "set endian big" and "set endian little", and you can see the
2956 current setting by using "show endian". You can also give the command
2957 "set endian auto", in which case GDB will use the byte order
2958 associated with the executable. Currently, only embedded MIPS
2959 configurations support dynamic selection of target byte order.
2961 * New DOS host serial code
2963 This version uses DPMI interrupts to handle buffered I/O, so you
2964 no longer need to run asynctsr when debugging boards connected to
2967 *** Changes in GDB-4.13:
2969 * New "complete" command
2971 This lists all the possible completions for the rest of the line, if it
2972 were to be given as a command itself. This is intended for use by emacs.
2974 * Trailing space optional in prompt
2976 "set prompt" no longer adds a space for you after the prompt you set. This
2977 allows you to set a prompt which ends in a space or one that does not.
2979 * Breakpoint hit counts
2981 "info break" now displays a count of the number of times the breakpoint
2982 has been hit. This is especially useful in conjunction with "ignore"; you
2983 can ignore a large number of breakpoint hits, look at the breakpoint info
2984 to see how many times the breakpoint was hit, then run again, ignoring one
2985 less than that number, and this will get you quickly to the last hit of
2988 * Ability to stop printing at NULL character
2990 "set print null-stop" will cause GDB to stop printing the characters of
2991 an array when the first NULL is encountered. This is useful when large
2992 arrays actually contain only short strings.
2994 * Shared library breakpoints
2996 In SunOS 4.x, SVR4, and Alpha OSF/1 configurations, you can now set
2997 breakpoints in shared libraries before the executable is run.
2999 * Hardware watchpoints
3001 There is a new hardware breakpoint for the watch command for sparclite
3002 targets. See gdb/sparclite/hw_breakpoint.note.
3004 Hardware watchpoints are also now supported under GNU/Linux.
3008 Annotations have been added. These are for use with graphical interfaces,
3009 and are still experimental. Currently only gdba.el uses these.
3011 * Improved Irix 5 support
3013 GDB now works properly with Irix 5.2.
3015 * Improved HPPA support
3017 GDB now works properly with the latest GCC and GAS.
3019 * New native configurations
3021 Sequent PTX4 i[34]86-sequent-ptx4
3022 HPPA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
3023 Atari TT running SVR4 m68*-*-sysv4*
3024 RS/6000 LynxOS rs6000-*-lynxos*
3028 OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
3029 MIPS R4000 mips64*{,el}-*-{ecoff,elf}
3032 * Hitachi SH7000 and E7000-PC ICE support
3034 There is now support for communicating with the Hitachi E7000-PC ICE.
3035 This is available automatically when GDB is configured for the SH.
3039 As usual, a variety of small fixes and improvements, both generic
3040 and configuration-specific. See the ChangeLog for more detail.
3042 *** Changes in GDB-4.12:
3044 * Irix 5 is now supported
3048 GDB-4.12 on the HPPA has a number of changes which make it unable
3049 to debug the output from the currently released versions of GCC and
3050 GAS (GCC 2.5.8 and GAS-2.2 or PAGAS-1.36). Until the next major release
3051 of GCC and GAS, versions of these tools designed to work with GDB-4.12
3052 can be retrieved via anonymous ftp from jaguar.cs.utah.edu:/dist.
3055 *** Changes in GDB-4.11:
3057 * User visible changes:
3061 The "set remotedebug" option is now consistent between the mips remote
3062 target, remote targets using the gdb-specific protocol, UDI (AMD's
3063 debug protocol for the 29k) and the 88k bug monitor. It is now an
3064 integer specifying a debug level (normally 0 or 1, but 2 means more
3065 debugging info for the mips target).
3067 * DEC Alpha native support
3069 GDB now works on the DEC Alpha. GCC 2.4.5 does not produce usable
3070 debug info, but GDB works fairly well with the DEC compiler and should
3071 work with a future GCC release. See the README file for a few
3072 Alpha-specific notes.
3074 * Preliminary thread implementation
3076 GDB now has preliminary thread support for both SGI/Irix and LynxOS.
3078 * LynxOS native and target support for 386
3080 This release has been hosted on LynxOS 2.2, and also can be configured
3081 to remotely debug programs running under LynxOS (see gdb/gdbserver/README
3084 * Improvements in C++ mangling/demangling.
3086 This release has much better g++ debugging, specifically in name
3087 mangling/demangling, virtual function calls, print virtual table,
3088 call methods, ...etc.
3090 *** Changes in GDB-4.10:
3092 * User visible changes:
3094 Remote debugging using the GDB-specific (`target remote') protocol now
3095 supports the `load' command. This is only useful if you have some
3096 other way of getting the stub to the target system, and you can put it
3097 somewhere in memory where it won't get clobbered by the download.
3099 Filename completion now works.
3101 When run under emacs mode, the "info line" command now causes the
3102 arrow to point to the line specified. Also, "info line" prints
3103 addresses in symbolic form (as well as hex).
3105 All vxworks based targets now support a user settable option, called
3106 vxworks-timeout. This option represents the number of seconds gdb
3107 should wait for responses to rpc's. You might want to use this if
3108 your vxworks target is, perhaps, a slow software simulator or happens
3109 to be on the far side of a thin network line.
3113 This release contains support for using a DEC alpha as a GDB host for
3114 cross debugging. Native alpha debugging is not supported yet.
3117 *** Changes in GDB-4.9:
3121 This is the first GDB release which is accompanied by a matching testsuite.
3122 The testsuite requires installation of dejagnu, which should be available
3123 via ftp from most sites that carry GNU software.
3127 'Cfront' style demangling has had its name changed to 'ARM' style, to
3128 emphasize that it was written from the specifications in the C++ Annotated
3129 Reference Manual, not necessarily to be compatible with AT&T cfront. Despite
3130 disclaimers, it still generated too much confusion with users attempting to
3131 use gdb with AT&T cfront.
3135 GDB now uses a standard remote interface to a simulator library.
3136 So far, the library contains simulators for the Zilog Z8001/2, the
3137 Hitachi H8/300, H8/500 and Super-H.
3139 * New targets supported
3141 H8/300 simulator h8300-hitachi-hms or h8300hms
3142 H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
3143 SH simulator sh-hitachi-hms or sh
3144 Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
3145 IDT MIPS board over serial line mips-idt-ecoff
3147 Cross-debugging to GO32 targets is supported. It requires a custom
3148 version of the i386-stub.c module which is integrated with the
3149 GO32 memory extender.
3151 * New remote protocols
3153 MIPS remote debugging protocol.
3155 * New source languages supported
3157 This version includes preliminary support for Chill, a Pascal like language
3158 used by telecommunications companies. Chill support is also being integrated
3159 into the GNU compiler, but we don't know when it will be publically available.
3162 *** Changes in GDB-4.8:
3164 * HP Precision Architecture supported
3166 GDB now supports HP PA-RISC machines running HPUX. A preliminary
3167 version of this support was available as a set of patches from the
3168 University of Utah. GDB does not support debugging of programs
3169 compiled with the HP compiler, because HP will not document their file
3170 format. Instead, you must use GCC (version 2.3.2 or later) and PA-GAS
3171 (as available from jaguar.cs.utah.edu:/dist/pa-gas.u4.tar.Z).
3173 Many problems in the preliminary version have been fixed.
3175 * Faster and better demangling
3177 We have improved template demangling and fixed numerous bugs in the GNU style
3178 demangler. It can now handle type modifiers such as `static' or `const'. Wide
3179 character types (wchar_t) are now supported. Demangling of each symbol is now
3180 only done once, and is cached when the symbol table for a file is read in.
3181 This results in a small increase in memory usage for C programs, a moderate
3182 increase in memory usage for C++ programs, and a fantastic speedup in
3185 `Cfront' style demangling still doesn't work with AT&T cfront. It was written
3186 from the specifications in the Annotated Reference Manual, which AT&T's
3187 compiler does not actually implement.
3189 * G++ multiple inheritance compiler problem
3191 In the 2.3.2 release of gcc/g++, how the compiler resolves multiple
3192 inheritance lattices was reworked to properly discover ambiguities. We
3193 recently found an example which causes this new algorithm to fail in a
3194 very subtle way, producing bad debug information for those classes.
3195 The file 'gcc.patch' (in this directory) can be applied to gcc to
3196 circumvent the problem. A future GCC release will contain a complete
3199 The previous G++ debug info problem (mentioned below for the gdb-4.7
3200 release) is fixed in gcc version 2.3.2.
3202 * Improved configure script
3204 The `configure' script will now attempt to guess your system type if
3205 you don't supply a host system type. The old scheme of supplying a
3206 host system triplet is preferable over using this. All the magic is
3207 done in the new `config.guess' script. Examine it for details.
3209 We have also brought our configure script much more in line with the FSF's
3210 version. It now supports the --with-xxx options. In particular,
3211 `--with-minimal-bfd' can be used to make the GDB binary image smaller.
3212 The resulting GDB will not be able to read arbitrary object file formats --
3213 only the format ``expected'' to be used on the configured target system.
3214 We hope to make this the default in a future release.
3216 * Documentation improvements
3218 There's new internal documentation on how to modify GDB, and how to
3219 produce clean changes to the code. We implore people to read it
3220 before submitting changes.
3222 The GDB manual uses new, sexy Texinfo conditionals, rather than arcane
3223 M4 macros. The new texinfo.tex is provided in this release. Pre-built
3224 `info' files are also provided. To build `info' files from scratch,
3225 you will need the latest `makeinfo' release, which will be available in
3226 a future texinfo-X.Y release.
3228 *NOTE* The new texinfo.tex can cause old versions of TeX to hang.
3229 We're not sure exactly which versions have this problem, but it has
3230 been seen in 3.0. We highly recommend upgrading to TeX version 3.141
3231 or better. If that isn't possible, there is a patch in
3232 `texinfo/tex3patch' that will modify `texinfo/texinfo.tex' to work
3233 around this problem.
3237 GDB now supports array constants that can be used in expressions typed in by
3238 the user. The syntax is `{element, element, ...}'. Ie: you can now type
3239 `print {1, 2, 3}', and it will build up an array in memory malloc'd in
3242 The new directory `gdb/sparclite' contains a program that demonstrates
3243 how the sparc-stub.c remote stub runs on a Fujitsu SPARClite processor.
3245 * New native hosts supported
3247 HP/PA-RISC under HPUX using GNU tools hppa1.1-hp-hpux
3248 386 CPUs running SCO Unix 3.2v4 i386-unknown-sco3.2v4
3250 * New targets supported
3252 AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi or udi29k
3254 * New file formats supported
3256 BFD now supports reading HP/PA-RISC executables (SOM file format?),
3257 HPUX core files, and SCO 3.2v2 core files.
3261 Attaching to processes now works again; thanks for the many bug reports.
3263 We have also stomped on a bunch of core dumps caused by
3264 printf_filtered("%s") problems.
3266 We eliminated a copyright problem on the rpc and ptrace header files
3267 for VxWorks, which was discovered at the last minute during the 4.7
3268 release. You should now be able to build a VxWorks GDB.
3270 You can now interrupt gdb while an attached process is running. This
3271 will cause the attached process to stop, and give control back to GDB.
3273 We fixed problems caused by using too many file descriptors
3274 for reading symbols from object files and libraries. This was
3275 especially a problem for programs that used many (~100) shared
3278 The `step' command now only enters a subroutine if there is line number
3279 information for the subroutine. Otherwise it acts like the `next'
3280 command. Previously, `step' would enter subroutines if there was
3281 any debugging information about the routine. This avoids problems
3282 when using `cc -g1' on MIPS machines.
3284 * Internal improvements
3286 GDB's internal interfaces have been improved to make it easier to support
3287 debugging of multiple languages in the future.
3289 GDB now uses a common structure for symbol information internally.
3290 Minimal symbols (derived from linkage symbols in object files), partial
3291 symbols (from a quick scan of debug information), and full symbols
3292 contain a common subset of information, making it easier to write
3293 shared code that handles any of them.
3295 * New command line options
3297 We now accept --silent as an alias for --quiet.
3301 The memory-mapped-malloc library is now licensed under the GNU Library
3302 General Public License.
3304 *** Changes in GDB-4.7:
3306 * Host/native/target split
3308 GDB has had some major internal surgery to untangle the support for
3309 hosts and remote targets. Now, when you configure GDB for a remote
3310 target, it will no longer load in all of the support for debugging
3311 local programs on the host. When fully completed and tested, this will
3312 ensure that arbitrary host/target combinations are possible.
3314 The primary conceptual shift is to separate the non-portable code in
3315 GDB into three categories. Host specific code is required any time GDB
3316 is compiled on that host, regardless of the target. Target specific
3317 code relates to the peculiarities of the target, but can be compiled on
3318 any host. Native specific code is everything else: it can only be
3319 built when the host and target are the same system. Child process
3320 handling and core file support are two common `native' examples.
3322 GDB's use of /proc for controlling Unix child processes is now cleaner.
3323 It has been split out into a single module under the `target_ops' vector,
3324 plus two native-dependent functions for each system that uses /proc.
3326 * New hosts supported
3328 HP/Apollo 68k (under the BSD domain) m68k-apollo-bsd or apollo68bsd
3329 386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd
3330 386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or i386sco
3332 * New targets supported
3334 Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
3335 68030 and CPU32 m68030-*-*, m68332-*-*
3337 * New native hosts supported
3339 386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd
3340 (386bsd is not well tested yet)
3341 386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or sco
3343 * New file formats supported
3345 BFD now supports COFF files for the Zilog Z8000 microprocessor. It
3346 supports reading of `a.out.adobe' object files, which are an a.out
3347 format extended with minimal information about multiple sections.
3351 `show copying' is the same as the old `info copying'.
3352 `show warranty' is the same as `info warrantee'.
3353 These were renamed for consistency. The old commands continue to work.
3355 `info handle' is a new alias for `info signals'.
3357 You can now define pre-command hooks, which attach arbitrary command
3358 scripts to any command. The commands in the hook will be executed
3359 prior to the user's command. You can also create a hook which will be
3360 executed whenever the program stops. See gdb.texinfo.
3364 We now deal with Cfront style name mangling, and can even extract type
3365 info from mangled symbols. GDB can automatically figure out which
3366 symbol mangling style your C++ compiler uses.
3368 Calling of methods and virtual functions has been improved as well.
3372 The crash that occured when debugging Sun Ansi-C compiled binaries is
3373 fixed. This was due to mishandling of the extra N_SO stabs output
3376 We also finally got Ultrix 4.2 running in house, and fixed core file
3377 support, with help from a dozen people on the net.
3379 John M. Farrell discovered that the reason that single-stepping was so
3380 slow on all of the Mips based platforms (primarily SGI and DEC) was
3381 that we were trying to demangle and lookup a symbol used for internal
3382 purposes on every instruction that was being stepped through. Changing
3383 the name of that symbol so that it couldn't be mistaken for a C++
3384 mangled symbol sped things up a great deal.
3386 Rich Pixley sped up symbol lookups in general by getting much smarter
3387 about when C++ symbol mangling is necessary. This should make symbol
3388 completion (TAB on the command line) much faster. It's not as fast as
3389 we'd like, but it's significantly faster than gdb-4.6.
3393 A new user controllable variable 'call_scratch_address' can
3394 specify the location of a scratch area to be used when GDB
3395 calls a function in the target. This is necessary because the
3396 usual method of putting the scratch area on the stack does not work
3397 in systems that have separate instruction and data spaces.
3399 We integrated changes to support the 29k UDI (Universal Debugger
3400 Interface), but discovered at the last minute that we didn't have all
3401 of the appropriate copyright paperwork. We are working with AMD to
3402 resolve this, and hope to have it available soon.
3406 We have sped up the remote serial line protocol, especially for targets
3407 with lots of registers. It now supports a new `expedited status' ('T')
3408 message which can be used in place of the existing 'S' status message.
3409 This allows the remote stub to send only the registers that GDB
3410 needs to make a quick decision about single-stepping or conditional
3411 breakpoints, eliminating the need to fetch the entire register set for
3412 each instruction being stepped through.
3414 The GDB remote serial protocol now implements a write-through cache for
3415 registers, only re-reading the registers if the target has run.
3417 There is also a new remote serial stub for SPARC processors. You can
3418 find it in gdb-4.7/gdb/sparc-stub.c. This was written to support the
3419 Fujitsu SPARClite processor, but will run on any stand-alone SPARC
3420 processor with a serial port.
3424 Configure.in files have become much easier to read and modify. A new
3425 `table driven' format makes it more obvious what configurations are
3426 supported, and what files each one uses.
3430 There is a new opcodes library which will eventually contain all of the
3431 disassembly routines and opcode tables. At present, it only contains
3432 Sparc and Z8000 routines. This will allow the assembler, debugger, and
3433 disassembler (binutils/objdump) to share these routines.
3435 The libiberty library is now copylefted under the GNU Library General
3436 Public License. This allows more liberal use, and was done so libg++
3437 can use it. This makes no difference to GDB, since the Library License
3438 grants all the rights from the General Public License.
3442 The file gdb-4.7/gdb/doc/stabs.texinfo is a (relatively) complete
3443 reference to the stabs symbol info used by the debugger. It is (as far
3444 as we know) the only published document on this fascinating topic. We
3445 encourage you to read it, compare it to the stabs information on your
3446 system, and send improvements on the document in general (to
3447 bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu).
3449 And, of course, many bugs have been fixed.
3452 *** Changes in GDB-4.6:
3454 * Better support for C++ function names
3456 GDB now accepts as input the "demangled form" of C++ overloaded function
3457 names and member function names, and can do command completion on such names
3458 (using TAB, TAB-TAB, and ESC-?). The names have to be quoted with a pair of
3459 single quotes. Examples are 'func (int, long)' and 'obj::operator==(obj&)'.
3460 Make use of command completion, it is your friend.
3462 GDB also now accepts a variety of C++ mangled symbol formats. They are
3463 the GNU g++ style, the Cfront (ARM) style, and the Lucid (lcc) style.
3464 You can tell GDB which format to use by doing a 'set demangle-style {gnu,
3465 lucid, cfront, auto}'. 'gnu' is the default. Do a 'set demangle-style foo'
3466 for the list of formats.
3468 * G++ symbol mangling problem
3470 Recent versions of gcc have a bug in how they emit debugging information for
3471 C++ methods (when using dbx-style stabs). The file 'gcc.patch' (in this
3472 directory) can be applied to gcc to fix the problem. Alternatively, if you
3473 can't fix gcc, you can #define GCC_MANGLE_BUG when compling gdb/symtab.c. The
3474 usual symptom is difficulty with setting breakpoints on methods. GDB complains
3475 about the method being non-existent. (We believe that version 2.2.2 of GCC has
3478 * New 'maintenance' command
3480 All of the commands related to hacking GDB internals have been moved out of
3481 the main command set, and now live behind the 'maintenance' command. This
3482 can also be abbreviated as 'mt'. The following changes were made:
3484 dump-me -> maintenance dump-me
3485 info all-breakpoints -> maintenance info breakpoints
3486 printmsyms -> maintenance print msyms
3487 printobjfiles -> maintenance print objfiles
3488 printpsyms -> maintenance print psymbols
3489 printsyms -> maintenance print symbols
3491 The following commands are new:
3493 maintenance demangle Call internal GDB demangler routine to
3494 demangle a C++ link name and prints the result.
3495 maintenance print type Print a type chain for a given symbol
3497 * Change to .gdbinit file processing
3499 We now read the $HOME/.gdbinit file before processing the argv arguments
3500 (e.g. reading symbol files or core files). This allows global parameters to
3501 be set, which will apply during the symbol reading. The ./.gdbinit is still
3502 read after argv processing.
3504 * New hosts supported
3506 Solaris-2.0 !!! sparc-sun-solaris2 or sun4sol2
3508 GNU/Linux support i386-unknown-linux or linux
3510 We are also including code to support the HP/PA running BSD and HPUX. This
3511 is almost guaranteed not to work, as we didn't have time to test or build it
3512 for this release. We are including it so that the more adventurous (or
3513 masochistic) of you can play with it. We also had major problems with the
3514 fact that the compiler that we got from HP doesn't support the -g option.
3517 * New targets supported
3519 Hitachi H8/300 h8300-hitachi-hms or h8300hms
3521 * More smarts about finding #include files
3523 GDB now remembers the compilation directory for all include files, and for
3524 all files from which C is generated (like yacc and lex sources). This
3525 greatly improves GDB's ability to find yacc/lex sources, and include files,
3526 especially if you are debugging your program from a directory different from
3527 the one that contains your sources.
3529 We also fixed a bug which caused difficulty with listing and setting
3530 breakpoints in include files which contain C code. (In the past, you had to
3531 try twice in order to list an include file that you hadn't looked at before.)
3533 * Interesting infernals change
3535 GDB now deals with arbitrary numbers of sections, where the symbols for each
3536 section must be relocated relative to that section's landing place in the
3537 target's address space. This work was needed to support ELF with embedded
3538 stabs used by Solaris-2.0.
3540 * Bug fixes (of course!)
3542 There have been loads of fixes for the following things:
3543 mips, rs6000, 29k/udi, m68k, g++, type handling, elf/dwarf, m88k,
3544 i960, stabs, DOS(GO32), procfs, etc...
3546 See the ChangeLog for details.
3548 *** Changes in GDB-4.5:
3550 * New machines supported (host and target)
3552 IBM RS6000 running AIX rs6000-ibm-aix or rs6000
3554 SGI Irix-4.x mips-sgi-irix4 or iris4
3556 * New malloc package
3558 GDB now uses a new memory manager called mmalloc, based on gmalloc.
3559 Mmalloc is capable of handling mutiple heaps of memory. It is also
3560 capable of saving a heap to a file, and then mapping it back in later.
3561 This can be used to greatly speedup the startup of GDB by using a
3562 pre-parsed symbol table which lives in a mmalloc managed heap. For
3563 more details, please read mmalloc/mmalloc.texi.
3567 The 'info proc' command (SVR4 only) has been enhanced quite a bit. See
3568 'help info proc' for details.
3570 * MIPS ecoff symbol table format
3572 The code that reads MIPS symbol table format is now supported on all hosts.
3573 Thanks to MIPS for releasing the sym.h and symconst.h files to make this
3576 * File name changes for MS-DOS
3578 Many files in the config directories have been renamed to make it easier to
3579 support GDB on MS-DOSe systems (which have very restrictive file name
3580 conventions :-( ). MS-DOSe host support (under DJ Delorie's GO32
3581 environment) is close to working but has some remaining problems. Note
3582 that debugging of DOS programs is not supported, due to limitations
3583 in the ``operating system'', but it can be used to host cross-debugging.
3585 * Cross byte order fixes
3587 Many fixes have been made to support cross debugging of Sparc and MIPS
3588 targets from hosts whose byte order differs.
3590 * New -mapped and -readnow options
3592 If memory-mapped files are available on your system through the 'mmap'
3593 system call, you can use the -mapped option on the `file' or
3594 `symbol-file' commands to cause GDB to write the symbols from your
3595 program into a reusable file. If the program you are debugging is
3596 called `/path/fred', the mapped symbol file will be `./fred.syms'.
3597 Future GDB debugging sessions will notice the presence of this file,
3598 and will quickly map in symbol information from it, rather than reading
3599 the symbol table from the executable program. Using the '-mapped'
3600 option in a GDB `file' or `symbol-file' command has the same effect as
3601 starting GDB with the '-mapped' command-line option.
3603 You can cause GDB to read the entire symbol table immediately by using
3604 the '-readnow' option with any of the commands that load symbol table
3605 information (or on the GDB command line). This makes the command
3606 slower, but makes future operations faster.
3608 The -mapped and -readnow options are typically combined in order to
3609 build a `fred.syms' file that contains complete symbol information.
3610 A simple GDB invocation to do nothing but build a `.syms' file for future
3613 gdb -batch -nx -mapped -readnow programname
3615 The `.syms' file is specific to the host machine on which GDB is run.
3616 It holds an exact image of GDB's internal symbol table. It cannot be
3617 shared across multiple host platforms.
3619 * longjmp() handling
3621 GDB is now capable of stepping and nexting over longjmp(), _longjmp(), and
3622 siglongjmp() without losing control. This feature has not yet been ported to
3623 all systems. It currently works on many 386 platforms, all MIPS-based
3624 platforms (SGI, DECstation, etc), and Sun3/4.
3628 Preliminary work has been put in to support the new Solaris OS from Sun. At
3629 this time, it can control and debug processes, but it is not capable of
3634 As always, many many bug fixes. The major areas were with g++, and mipsread.
3635 People using the MIPS-based platforms should experience fewer mysterious
3636 crashes and trashed symbol tables.
3638 *** Changes in GDB-4.4:
3640 * New machines supported (host and target)
3642 SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco
3644 BSD Reno on Vax vax-dec-bsd
3645 Ultrix on Vax vax-dec-ultrix
3647 * New machines supported (target)
3649 AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
3653 GDB continues to improve its handling of C++. `References' work better.
3654 The demangler has also been improved, and now deals with symbols mangled as
3655 per the Annotated C++ Reference Guide.
3657 GDB also now handles `stabs' symbol information embedded in MIPS
3658 `ecoff' symbol tables. Since the ecoff format was not easily
3659 extensible to handle new languages such as C++, this appeared to be a
3660 good way to put C++ debugging info into MIPS binaries. This option
3661 will be supported in the GNU C compiler, version 2, when it is
3664 * New features for SVR4
3666 GDB now handles SVR4 shared libraries, in the same fashion as SunOS
3667 shared libraries. Debugging dynamically linked programs should present
3668 only minor differences from debugging statically linked programs.
3670 The `info proc' command will print out information about any process
3671 on an SVR4 system (including the one you are debugging). At the moment,
3672 it prints the address mappings of the process.
3674 If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please send mail to
3675 bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were reqired (if any).
3677 * Better dynamic linking support in SunOS
3679 Reading symbols from shared libraries which contain debugging symbols
3680 now works properly. However, there remain issues such as automatic
3681 skipping of `transfer vector' code during function calls, which
3682 make it harder to debug code in a shared library, than to debug the
3683 same code linked statically.
3687 GDB is now using the latest `getopt' routines from the FSF. This
3688 version accepts the -- prefix for options with long names. GDB will
3689 continue to accept the old forms (-option and +option) as well.
3690 Various single letter abbreviations for options have been explicity
3691 added to the option table so that they won't get overshadowed in the
3692 future by other options that begin with the same letter.
3696 The `cleanup_undefined_types' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed.
3697 Many assorted bugs have been handled. Many more remain to be handled.
3698 See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details.
3701 *** Changes in GDB-4.3:
3703 * New machines supported (host and target)
3705 Amiga 3000 running Amix m68k-cbm-svr4 or amix
3706 NCR 3000 386 running SVR4 i386-ncr-svr4 or ncr3000
3707 Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
3709 * Almost SCO Unix support
3711 We had hoped to support:
3712 SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco
3713 (except for core file support), but we discovered very late in the release
3714 that it has problems with process groups that render gdb unusable. Sorry
3715 about that. I encourage people to fix it and post the fixes.
3717 * Preliminary ELF and DWARF support
3719 GDB can read ELF object files on System V Release 4, and can handle
3720 debugging records for C, in DWARF format, in ELF files. This support
3721 is preliminary. If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please
3722 send mail to bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were
3727 GDB now uses the latest `readline' library. One user-visible change
3728 is that two tabs will list possible command completions, which previously
3729 required typing M-? (meta-question mark, or ESC ?).
3733 The `stepi' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed.
3734 Many bugs in C++ have been handled. Many more remain to be handled.
3735 See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details.
3737 * State of the MIPS world (in case you wondered):
3739 GDB can understand the symbol tables emitted by the compilers
3740 supplied by most vendors of MIPS-based machines, including DEC. These
3741 symbol tables are in a format that essentially nobody else uses.
3743 Some versions of gcc come with an assembler post-processor called
3744 mips-tfile. This program is required if you want to do source-level
3745 debugging of gcc-compiled programs. I believe FSF does not ship
3746 mips-tfile with gcc version 1, but it will eventually come with gcc
3749 Debugging of g++ output remains a problem. g++ version 1.xx does not
3750 really support it at all. (If you're lucky, you should be able to get
3751 line numbers and stack traces to work, but no parameters or local
3752 variables.) With some work it should be possible to improve the
3755 When gcc version 2 is released, you will have somewhat better luck.
3756 However, even then you will get confusing results for inheritance and
3759 We will eventually provide full debugging of g++ output on
3760 DECstations. This will probably involve some kind of stabs-in-ecoff
3761 encapulation, but the details have not been worked out yet.
3764 *** Changes in GDB-4.2:
3766 * Improved configuration
3768 Only one copy of `configure' exists now, and it is not self-modifying.
3769 Porting BFD is simpler.
3773 The `step' and `next' commands now only stop at the first instruction
3774 of a source line. This prevents the multiple stops that used to occur
3775 in switch statements, for-loops, etc. `Step' continues to stop if a
3776 function that has debugging information is called within the line.
3780 Lots of small bugs fixed. More remain.
3782 * New host supported (not target)
3784 Intel 386 PC clone running Mach i386-none-mach
3787 *** Changes in GDB-4.1:
3789 * Multiple source language support
3791 GDB now has internal scaffolding to handle several source languages.
3792 It determines the type of each source file from its filename extension,
3793 and will switch expression parsing and number formatting to match the
3794 language of the function in the currently selected stack frame.
3795 You can also specifically set the language to be used, with
3796 `set language c' or `set language modula-2'.
3800 GDB now has preliminary support for the GNU Modula-2 compiler,
3801 currently under development at the State University of New York at
3802 Buffalo. Development of both GDB and the GNU Modula-2 compiler will
3803 continue through the fall of 1991 and into 1992.
3805 Other Modula-2 compilers are currently not supported, and attempting to
3806 debug programs compiled with them will likely result in an error as the
3807 symbol table is read. Feel free to work on it, though!
3809 There are hooks in GDB for strict type checking and range checking,
3810 in the `Modula-2 philosophy', but they do not currently work.
3814 GDB can now write to executable and core files (e.g. patch
3815 a variable's value). You must turn this switch on, specify
3816 the file ("exec foo" or "core foo"), *then* modify it, e.g.
3817 by assigning a new value to a variable. Modifications take
3820 * Automatic SunOS shared library reading
3822 When you run your program, GDB automatically determines where its
3823 shared libraries (if any) have been loaded, and reads their symbols.
3824 The `share' command is no longer needed. This also works when
3825 examining core files.
3829 You can specify the number of lines that the `list' command shows.
3832 * New machines supported (host and target)
3834 SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris
3835 Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x: m68k-sony-sysv or news
3836 Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1: a29k-nyu-sym1 or ultra3
3838 * New hosts supported (not targets)
3840 IBM RT/PC: romp-ibm-aix or rtpc
3842 * New targets supported (not hosts)
3844 AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
3845 AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
3846 Ultracomputer remote kernel debug a29k-nyu-kern
3848 * New remote interfaces
3854 *** Changes in GDB-4.0:
3858 Wide output is wrapped at good places to make the output more readable.
3860 Gdb now supports cross-debugging from a host machine of one type to a
3861 target machine of another type. Communication with the target system
3862 is over serial lines. The ``target'' command handles connecting to the
3863 remote system; the ``load'' command will download a program into the
3864 remote system. Serial stubs for the m68k and i386 are provided. Gdb
3865 also supports debugging of realtime processes running under VxWorks,
3866 using SunRPC Remote Procedure Calls over TCP/IP to talk to a debugger
3867 stub on the target system.
3869 New CPUs supported include the AMD 29000 and Intel 960.
3871 GDB now reads object files and symbol tables via a ``binary file''
3872 library, which allows a single copy of GDB to debug programs of multiple
3873 object file types such as a.out and coff.
3875 There is now a GDB reference card in "doc/refcard.tex". (Make targets
3876 refcard.dvi and refcard.ps are available to format it).
3879 * Control-Variable user interface simplified
3881 All variables that control the operation of the debugger can be set
3882 by the ``set'' command, and displayed by the ``show'' command.
3884 For example, ``set prompt new-gdb=>'' will change your prompt to new-gdb=>.
3885 ``Show prompt'' produces the response:
3886 Gdb's prompt is new-gdb=>.
3888 What follows are the NEW set commands. The command ``help set'' will
3889 print a complete list of old and new set commands. ``help set FOO''
3890 will give a longer description of the variable FOO. ``show'' will show
3891 all of the variable descriptions and their current settings.
3893 confirm on/off: Enables warning questions for operations that are
3894 hard to recover from, e.g. rerunning the program while
3895 it is already running. Default is ON.
3897 editing on/off: Enables EMACS style command line editing
3898 of input. Previous lines can be recalled with
3899 control-P, the current line can be edited with control-B,
3900 you can search for commands with control-R, etc.
3903 history filename NAME: NAME is where the gdb command history
3904 will be stored. The default is .gdb_history,
3905 or the value of the environment variable
3908 history size N: The size, in commands, of the command history. The
3909 default is 256, or the value of the environment variable
3912 history save on/off: If this value is set to ON, the history file will
3913 be saved after exiting gdb. If set to OFF, the
3914 file will not be saved. The default is OFF.
3916 history expansion on/off: If this value is set to ON, then csh-like
3917 history expansion will be performed on
3918 command line input. The default is OFF.
3920 radix N: Sets the default radix for input and output. It can be set
3921 to 8, 10, or 16. Note that the argument to "radix" is interpreted
3922 in the current radix, so "set radix 10" is always a no-op.
3924 height N: This integer value is the number of lines on a page. Default
3925 is 24, the current `stty rows'' setting, or the ``li#''
3926 setting from the termcap entry matching the environment
3929 width N: This integer value is the number of characters on a line.
3930 Default is 80, the current `stty cols'' setting, or the ``co#''
3931 setting from the termcap entry matching the environment
3934 Note: ``set screensize'' is obsolete. Use ``set height'' and
3935 ``set width'' instead.
3937 print address on/off: Print memory addresses in various command displays,
3938 such as stack traces and structure values. Gdb looks
3939 more ``symbolic'' if you turn this off; it looks more
3940 ``machine level'' with it on. Default is ON.
3942 print array on/off: Prettyprint arrays. New convenient format! Default
3945 print demangle on/off: Print C++ symbols in "source" form if on,
3948 print asm-demangle on/off: Same, for assembler level printouts
3951 print vtbl on/off: Prettyprint C++ virtual function tables. Default is OFF.
3954 * Support for Epoch Environment.
3956 The epoch environment is a version of Emacs v18 with windowing. One
3957 new command, ``inspect'', is identical to ``print'', except that if you
3958 are running in the epoch environment, the value is printed in its own
3962 * Support for Shared Libraries
3964 GDB can now debug programs and core files that use SunOS shared libraries.
3965 Symbols from a shared library cannot be referenced
3966 before the shared library has been linked with the program (this
3967 happens after you type ``run'' and before the function main() is entered).
3968 At any time after this linking (including when examining core files
3969 from dynamically linked programs), gdb reads the symbols from each
3970 shared library when you type the ``sharedlibrary'' command.
3971 It can be abbreviated ``share''.
3973 sharedlibrary REGEXP: Load shared object library symbols for files
3974 matching a unix regular expression. No argument
3975 indicates to load symbols for all shared libraries.
3977 info sharedlibrary: Status of loaded shared libraries.
3982 A watchpoint stops execution of a program whenever the value of an
3983 expression changes. Checking for this slows down execution
3984 tremendously whenever you are in the scope of the expression, but is
3985 quite useful for catching tough ``bit-spreader'' or pointer misuse
3986 problems. Some machines such as the 386 have hardware for doing this
3987 more quickly, and future versions of gdb will use this hardware.
3989 watch EXP: Set a watchpoint (breakpoint) for an expression.
3991 info watchpoints: Information about your watchpoints.
3993 delete N: Deletes watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
3994 disable N: Temporarily turns off watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
3995 enable N: Re-enables watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
3998 * C++ multiple inheritance
4000 When used with a GCC version 2 compiler, GDB supports multiple inheritance
4003 * C++ exception handling
4005 Gdb now supports limited C++ exception handling. Besides the existing
4006 ability to breakpoint on an exception handler, gdb can breakpoint on
4007 the raising of an exception (before the stack is peeled back to the
4010 catch FOO: If there is a FOO exception handler in the dynamic scope,
4011 set a breakpoint to catch exceptions which may be raised there.
4012 Multiple exceptions (``catch foo bar baz'') may be caught.
4014 info catch: Lists all exceptions which may be caught in the
4015 current stack frame.
4018 * Minor command changes
4020 The command ``call func (arg, arg, ...)'' now acts like the print
4021 command, except it does not print or save a value if the function's result
4022 is void. This is similar to dbx usage.
4024 The ``up'' and ``down'' commands now always print the frame they end up
4025 at; ``up-silently'' and `down-silently'' can be used in scripts to change
4026 frames without printing.
4028 * New directory command
4030 'dir' now adds directories to the FRONT of the source search path.
4031 The path starts off empty. Source files that contain debug information
4032 about the directory in which they were compiled can be found even
4033 with an empty path; Sun CC and GCC include this information. If GDB can't
4034 find your source file in the current directory, type "dir .".
4036 * Configuring GDB for compilation
4038 For normal use, type ``./configure host''. See README or gdb.texinfo
4041 GDB now handles cross debugging. If you are remotely debugging between
4042 two different machines, type ``./configure host -target=targ''.
4043 Host is the machine where GDB will run; targ is the machine
4044 where the program that you are debugging will run.