7bfb9640a8bfb5f99fea4688c04b3e43fcfb4f88
[deliverable/binutils-gdb.git] / gdb / doc / gdb.texinfo
1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
2 @c Copyright (C) 1988-1996, 1998-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 @c
4 @c %**start of header
5 @c makeinfo ignores cmds prev to setfilename, so its arg cannot make use
6 @c of @set vars. However, you can override filename with makeinfo -o.
7 @setfilename gdb.info
8 @c
9 @include gdb-cfg.texi
10 @c
11 @settitle Debugging with @value{GDBN}
12 @setchapternewpage odd
13 @c %**end of header
14
15 @iftex
16 @c @smallbook
17 @c @cropmarks
18 @end iftex
19
20 @finalout
21 @syncodeindex ky cp
22 @syncodeindex tp cp
23
24 @c readline appendices use @vindex, @findex and @ftable,
25 @c annotate.texi and gdbmi use @findex.
26 @syncodeindex vr cp
27 @syncodeindex fn cp
28
29 @c !!set GDB manual's edition---not the same as GDB version!
30 @c This is updated by GNU Press.
31 @set EDITION Tenth
32
33 @c !!set GDB edit command default editor
34 @set EDITOR /bin/ex
35
36 @c THIS MANUAL REQUIRES TEXINFO 4.0 OR LATER.
37
38 @c This is a dir.info fragment to support semi-automated addition of
39 @c manuals to an info tree.
40 @dircategory Software development
41 @direntry
42 * Gdb: (gdb). The GNU debugger.
43 @end direntry
44
45 @copying
46 Copyright @copyright{} 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996,
47 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
48 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
49
50 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
51 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
52 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
53 Invariant Sections being ``Free Software'' and ``Free Software Needs
54 Free Documentation'', with the Front-Cover Texts being ``A GNU Manual,''
55 and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below.
56
57 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You are free to copy and modify
58 this GNU Manual. Buying copies from GNU Press supports the FSF in
59 developing GNU and promoting software freedom.''
60 @end copying
61
62 @ifnottex
63 This file documents the @sc{gnu} debugger @value{GDBN}.
64
65 This is the @value{EDITION} Edition, of @cite{Debugging with
66 @value{GDBN}: the @sc{gnu} Source-Level Debugger} for @value{GDBN}
67 @ifset VERSION_PACKAGE
68 @value{VERSION_PACKAGE}
69 @end ifset
70 Version @value{GDBVN}.
71
72 @insertcopying
73 @end ifnottex
74
75 @titlepage
76 @title Debugging with @value{GDBN}
77 @subtitle The @sc{gnu} Source-Level Debugger
78 @sp 1
79 @subtitle @value{EDITION} Edition, for @value{GDBN} version @value{GDBVN}
80 @ifset VERSION_PACKAGE
81 @sp 1
82 @subtitle @value{VERSION_PACKAGE}
83 @end ifset
84 @author Richard Stallman, Roland Pesch, Stan Shebs, et al.
85 @page
86 @tex
87 {\parskip=0pt
88 \hfill (Send bugs and comments on @value{GDBN} to @value{BUGURL}.)\par
89 \hfill {\it Debugging with @value{GDBN}}\par
90 \hfill \TeX{}info \texinfoversion\par
91 }
92 @end tex
93
94 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
95 Published by the Free Software Foundation @*
96 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
97 Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA@*
98 ISBN 978-0-9831592-3-0 @*
99
100 @insertcopying
101 @end titlepage
102 @page
103
104 @ifnottex
105 @node Top, Summary, (dir), (dir)
106
107 @top Debugging with @value{GDBN}
108
109 This file describes @value{GDBN}, the @sc{gnu} symbolic debugger.
110
111 This is the @value{EDITION} Edition, for @value{GDBN}
112 @ifset VERSION_PACKAGE
113 @value{VERSION_PACKAGE}
114 @end ifset
115 Version @value{GDBVN}.
116
117 Copyright (C) 1988-2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
118
119 This edition of the GDB manual is dedicated to the memory of Fred
120 Fish. Fred was a long-standing contributor to GDB and to Free
121 software in general. We will miss him.
122
123 @menu
124 * Summary:: Summary of @value{GDBN}
125 * Sample Session:: A sample @value{GDBN} session
126
127 * Invocation:: Getting in and out of @value{GDBN}
128 * Commands:: @value{GDBN} commands
129 * Running:: Running programs under @value{GDBN}
130 * Stopping:: Stopping and continuing
131 * Reverse Execution:: Running programs backward
132 * Process Record and Replay:: Recording inferior's execution and replaying it
133 * Stack:: Examining the stack
134 * Source:: Examining source files
135 * Data:: Examining data
136 * Optimized Code:: Debugging optimized code
137 * Macros:: Preprocessor Macros
138 * Tracepoints:: Debugging remote targets non-intrusively
139 * Overlays:: Debugging programs that use overlays
140
141 * Languages:: Using @value{GDBN} with different languages
142
143 * Symbols:: Examining the symbol table
144 * Altering:: Altering execution
145 * GDB Files:: @value{GDBN} files
146 * Targets:: Specifying a debugging target
147 * Remote Debugging:: Debugging remote programs
148 * Configurations:: Configuration-specific information
149 * Controlling GDB:: Controlling @value{GDBN}
150 * Extending GDB:: Extending @value{GDBN}
151 * Interpreters:: Command Interpreters
152 * TUI:: @value{GDBN} Text User Interface
153 * Emacs:: Using @value{GDBN} under @sc{gnu} Emacs
154 * GDB/MI:: @value{GDBN}'s Machine Interface.
155 * Annotations:: @value{GDBN}'s annotation interface.
156 * JIT Interface:: Using the JIT debugging interface.
157 * In-Process Agent:: In-Process Agent
158
159 * GDB Bugs:: Reporting bugs in @value{GDBN}
160
161 @ifset SYSTEM_READLINE
162 * Command Line Editing: (rluserman). Command Line Editing
163 * Using History Interactively: (history). Using History Interactively
164 @end ifset
165 @ifclear SYSTEM_READLINE
166 * Command Line Editing:: Command Line Editing
167 * Using History Interactively:: Using History Interactively
168 @end ifclear
169 * In Memoriam:: In Memoriam
170 * Formatting Documentation:: How to format and print @value{GDBN} documentation
171 * Installing GDB:: Installing GDB
172 * Maintenance Commands:: Maintenance Commands
173 * Remote Protocol:: GDB Remote Serial Protocol
174 * Agent Expressions:: The GDB Agent Expression Mechanism
175 * Target Descriptions:: How targets can describe themselves to
176 @value{GDBN}
177 * Operating System Information:: Getting additional information from
178 the operating system
179 * Trace File Format:: GDB trace file format
180 * Index Section Format:: .gdb_index section format
181 * Copying:: GNU General Public License says
182 how you can copy and share GDB
183 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation
184 * Index:: Index
185 @end menu
186
187 @end ifnottex
188
189 @contents
190
191 @node Summary
192 @unnumbered Summary of @value{GDBN}
193
194 The purpose of a debugger such as @value{GDBN} is to allow you to see what is
195 going on ``inside'' another program while it executes---or what another
196 program was doing at the moment it crashed.
197
198 @value{GDBN} can do four main kinds of things (plus other things in support of
199 these) to help you catch bugs in the act:
200
201 @itemize @bullet
202 @item
203 Start your program, specifying anything that might affect its behavior.
204
205 @item
206 Make your program stop on specified conditions.
207
208 @item
209 Examine what has happened, when your program has stopped.
210
211 @item
212 Change things in your program, so you can experiment with correcting the
213 effects of one bug and go on to learn about another.
214 @end itemize
215
216 You can use @value{GDBN} to debug programs written in C and C@t{++}.
217 For more information, see @ref{Supported Languages,,Supported Languages}.
218 For more information, see @ref{C,,C and C++}.
219
220 Support for D is partial. For information on D, see
221 @ref{D,,D}.
222
223 @cindex Modula-2
224 Support for Modula-2 is partial. For information on Modula-2, see
225 @ref{Modula-2,,Modula-2}.
226
227 Support for OpenCL C is partial. For information on OpenCL C, see
228 @ref{OpenCL C,,OpenCL C}.
229
230 @cindex Pascal
231 Debugging Pascal programs which use sets, subranges, file variables, or
232 nested functions does not currently work. @value{GDBN} does not support
233 entering expressions, printing values, or similar features using Pascal
234 syntax.
235
236 @cindex Fortran
237 @value{GDBN} can be used to debug programs written in Fortran, although
238 it may be necessary to refer to some variables with a trailing
239 underscore.
240
241 @value{GDBN} can be used to debug programs written in Objective-C,
242 using either the Apple/NeXT or the GNU Objective-C runtime.
243
244 @menu
245 * Free Software:: Freely redistributable software
246 * Contributors:: Contributors to GDB
247 @end menu
248
249 @node Free Software
250 @unnumberedsec Free Software
251
252 @value{GDBN} is @dfn{free software}, protected by the @sc{gnu}
253 General Public License
254 (GPL). The GPL gives you the freedom to copy or adapt a licensed
255 program---but every person getting a copy also gets with it the
256 freedom to modify that copy (which means that they must get access to
257 the source code), and the freedom to distribute further copies.
258 Typical software companies use copyrights to limit your freedoms; the
259 Free Software Foundation uses the GPL to preserve these freedoms.
260
261 Fundamentally, the General Public License is a license which says that
262 you have these freedoms and that you cannot take these freedoms away
263 from anyone else.
264
265 @unnumberedsec Free Software Needs Free Documentation
266
267 The biggest deficiency in the free software community today is not in
268 the software---it is the lack of good free documentation that we can
269 include with the free software. Many of our most important
270 programs do not come with free reference manuals and free introductory
271 texts. Documentation is an essential part of any software package;
272 when an important free software package does not come with a free
273 manual and a free tutorial, that is a major gap. We have many such
274 gaps today.
275
276 Consider Perl, for instance. The tutorial manuals that people
277 normally use are non-free. How did this come about? Because the
278 authors of those manuals published them with restrictive terms---no
279 copying, no modification, source files not available---which exclude
280 them from the free software world.
281
282 That wasn't the first time this sort of thing happened, and it was far
283 from the last. Many times we have heard a GNU user eagerly describe a
284 manual that he is writing, his intended contribution to the community,
285 only to learn that he had ruined everything by signing a publication
286 contract to make it non-free.
287
288 Free documentation, like free software, is a matter of freedom, not
289 price. The problem with the non-free manual is not that publishers
290 charge a price for printed copies---that in itself is fine. (The Free
291 Software Foundation sells printed copies of manuals, too.) The
292 problem is the restrictions on the use of the manual. Free manuals
293 are available in source code form, and give you permission to copy and
294 modify. Non-free manuals do not allow this.
295
296 The criteria of freedom for a free manual are roughly the same as for
297 free software. Redistribution (including the normal kinds of
298 commercial redistribution) must be permitted, so that the manual can
299 accompany every copy of the program, both on-line and on paper.
300
301 Permission for modification of the technical content is crucial too.
302 When people modify the software, adding or changing features, if they
303 are conscientious they will change the manual too---so they can
304 provide accurate and clear documentation for the modified program. A
305 manual that leaves you no choice but to write a new manual to document
306 a changed version of the program is not really available to our
307 community.
308
309 Some kinds of limits on the way modification is handled are
310 acceptable. For example, requirements to preserve the original
311 author's copyright notice, the distribution terms, or the list of
312 authors, are ok. It is also no problem to require modified versions
313 to include notice that they were modified. Even entire sections that
314 may not be deleted or changed are acceptable, as long as they deal
315 with nontechnical topics (like this one). These kinds of restrictions
316 are acceptable because they don't obstruct the community's normal use
317 of the manual.
318
319 However, it must be possible to modify all the @emph{technical}
320 content of the manual, and then distribute the result in all the usual
321 media, through all the usual channels. Otherwise, the restrictions
322 obstruct the use of the manual, it is not free, and we need another
323 manual to replace it.
324
325 Please spread the word about this issue. Our community continues to
326 lose manuals to proprietary publishing. If we spread the word that
327 free software needs free reference manuals and free tutorials, perhaps
328 the next person who wants to contribute by writing documentation will
329 realize, before it is too late, that only free manuals contribute to
330 the free software community.
331
332 If you are writing documentation, please insist on publishing it under
333 the GNU Free Documentation License or another free documentation
334 license. Remember that this decision requires your approval---you
335 don't have to let the publisher decide. Some commercial publishers
336 will use a free license if you insist, but they will not propose the
337 option; it is up to you to raise the issue and say firmly that this is
338 what you want. If the publisher you are dealing with refuses, please
339 try other publishers. If you're not sure whether a proposed license
340 is free, write to @email{licensing@@gnu.org}.
341
342 You can encourage commercial publishers to sell more free, copylefted
343 manuals and tutorials by buying them, and particularly by buying
344 copies from the publishers that paid for their writing or for major
345 improvements. Meanwhile, try to avoid buying non-free documentation
346 at all. Check the distribution terms of a manual before you buy it,
347 and insist that whoever seeks your business must respect your freedom.
348 Check the history of the book, and try to reward the publishers that
349 have paid or pay the authors to work on it.
350
351 The Free Software Foundation maintains a list of free documentation
352 published by other publishers, at
353 @url{http://www.fsf.org/doc/other-free-books.html}.
354
355 @node Contributors
356 @unnumberedsec Contributors to @value{GDBN}
357
358 Richard Stallman was the original author of @value{GDBN}, and of many
359 other @sc{gnu} programs. Many others have contributed to its
360 development. This section attempts to credit major contributors. One
361 of the virtues of free software is that everyone is free to contribute
362 to it; with regret, we cannot actually acknowledge everyone here. The
363 file @file{ChangeLog} in the @value{GDBN} distribution approximates a
364 blow-by-blow account.
365
366 Changes much prior to version 2.0 are lost in the mists of time.
367
368 @quotation
369 @emph{Plea:} Additions to this section are particularly welcome. If you
370 or your friends (or enemies, to be evenhanded) have been unfairly
371 omitted from this list, we would like to add your names!
372 @end quotation
373
374 So that they may not regard their many labors as thankless, we
375 particularly thank those who shepherded @value{GDBN} through major
376 releases:
377 Andrew Cagney (releases 6.3, 6.2, 6.1, 6.0, 5.3, 5.2, 5.1 and 5.0);
378 Jim Blandy (release 4.18);
379 Jason Molenda (release 4.17);
380 Stan Shebs (release 4.14);
381 Fred Fish (releases 4.16, 4.15, 4.13, 4.12, 4.11, 4.10, and 4.9);
382 Stu Grossman and John Gilmore (releases 4.8, 4.7, 4.6, 4.5, and 4.4);
383 John Gilmore (releases 4.3, 4.2, 4.1, 4.0, and 3.9);
384 Jim Kingdon (releases 3.5, 3.4, and 3.3);
385 and Randy Smith (releases 3.2, 3.1, and 3.0).
386
387 Richard Stallman, assisted at various times by Peter TerMaat, Chris
388 Hanson, and Richard Mlynarik, handled releases through 2.8.
389
390 Michael Tiemann is the author of most of the @sc{gnu} C@t{++} support
391 in @value{GDBN}, with significant additional contributions from Per
392 Bothner and Daniel Berlin. James Clark wrote the @sc{gnu} C@t{++}
393 demangler. Early work on C@t{++} was by Peter TerMaat (who also did
394 much general update work leading to release 3.0).
395
396 @value{GDBN} uses the BFD subroutine library to examine multiple
397 object-file formats; BFD was a joint project of David V.
398 Henkel-Wallace, Rich Pixley, Steve Chamberlain, and John Gilmore.
399
400 David Johnson wrote the original COFF support; Pace Willison did
401 the original support for encapsulated COFF.
402
403 Brent Benson of Harris Computer Systems contributed DWARF 2 support.
404
405 Adam de Boor and Bradley Davis contributed the ISI Optimum V support.
406 Per Bothner, Noboyuki Hikichi, and Alessandro Forin contributed MIPS
407 support.
408 Jean-Daniel Fekete contributed Sun 386i support.
409 Chris Hanson improved the HP9000 support.
410 Noboyuki Hikichi and Tomoyuki Hasei contributed Sony/News OS 3 support.
411 David Johnson contributed Encore Umax support.
412 Jyrki Kuoppala contributed Altos 3068 support.
413 Jeff Law contributed HP PA and SOM support.
414 Keith Packard contributed NS32K support.
415 Doug Rabson contributed Acorn Risc Machine support.
416 Bob Rusk contributed Harris Nighthawk CX-UX support.
417 Chris Smith contributed Convex support (and Fortran debugging).
418 Jonathan Stone contributed Pyramid support.
419 Michael Tiemann contributed SPARC support.
420 Tim Tucker contributed support for the Gould NP1 and Gould Powernode.
421 Pace Willison contributed Intel 386 support.
422 Jay Vosburgh contributed Symmetry support.
423 Marko Mlinar contributed OpenRISC 1000 support.
424
425 Andreas Schwab contributed M68K @sc{gnu}/Linux support.
426
427 Rich Schaefer and Peter Schauer helped with support of SunOS shared
428 libraries.
429
430 Jay Fenlason and Roland McGrath ensured that @value{GDBN} and GAS agree
431 about several machine instruction sets.
432
433 Patrick Duval, Ted Goldstein, Vikram Koka and Glenn Engel helped develop
434 remote debugging. Intel Corporation, Wind River Systems, AMD, and ARM
435 contributed remote debugging modules for the i960, VxWorks, A29K UDI,
436 and RDI targets, respectively.
437
438 Brian Fox is the author of the readline libraries providing
439 command-line editing and command history.
440
441 Andrew Beers of SUNY Buffalo wrote the language-switching code, the
442 Modula-2 support, and contributed the Languages chapter of this manual.
443
444 Fred Fish wrote most of the support for Unix System Vr4.
445 He also enhanced the command-completion support to cover C@t{++} overloaded
446 symbols.
447
448 Hitachi America (now Renesas America), Ltd. sponsored the support for
449 H8/300, H8/500, and Super-H processors.
450
451 NEC sponsored the support for the v850, Vr4xxx, and Vr5xxx processors.
452
453 Mitsubishi (now Renesas) sponsored the support for D10V, D30V, and M32R/D
454 processors.
455
456 Toshiba sponsored the support for the TX39 Mips processor.
457
458 Matsushita sponsored the support for the MN10200 and MN10300 processors.
459
460 Fujitsu sponsored the support for SPARClite and FR30 processors.
461
462 Kung Hsu, Jeff Law, and Rick Sladkey added support for hardware
463 watchpoints.
464
465 Michael Snyder added support for tracepoints.
466
467 Stu Grossman wrote gdbserver.
468
469 Jim Kingdon, Peter Schauer, Ian Taylor, and Stu Grossman made
470 nearly innumerable bug fixes and cleanups throughout @value{GDBN}.
471
472 The following people at the Hewlett-Packard Company contributed
473 support for the PA-RISC 2.0 architecture, HP-UX 10.20, 10.30, and 11.0
474 (narrow mode), HP's implementation of kernel threads, HP's aC@t{++}
475 compiler, and the Text User Interface (nee Terminal User Interface):
476 Ben Krepp, Richard Title, John Bishop, Susan Macchia, Kathy Mann,
477 Satish Pai, India Paul, Steve Rehrauer, and Elena Zannoni. Kim Haase
478 provided HP-specific information in this manual.
479
480 DJ Delorie ported @value{GDBN} to MS-DOS, for the DJGPP project.
481 Robert Hoehne made significant contributions to the DJGPP port.
482
483 Cygnus Solutions has sponsored @value{GDBN} maintenance and much of its
484 development since 1991. Cygnus engineers who have worked on @value{GDBN}
485 fulltime include Mark Alexander, Jim Blandy, Per Bothner, Kevin
486 Buettner, Edith Epstein, Chris Faylor, Fred Fish, Martin Hunt, Jim
487 Ingham, John Gilmore, Stu Grossman, Kung Hsu, Jim Kingdon, John Metzler,
488 Fernando Nasser, Geoffrey Noer, Dawn Perchik, Rich Pixley, Zdenek
489 Radouch, Keith Seitz, Stan Shebs, David Taylor, and Elena Zannoni. In
490 addition, Dave Brolley, Ian Carmichael, Steve Chamberlain, Nick Clifton,
491 JT Conklin, Stan Cox, DJ Delorie, Ulrich Drepper, Frank Eigler, Doug
492 Evans, Sean Fagan, David Henkel-Wallace, Richard Henderson, Jeff
493 Holcomb, Jeff Law, Jim Lemke, Tom Lord, Bob Manson, Michael Meissner,
494 Jason Merrill, Catherine Moore, Drew Moseley, Ken Raeburn, Gavin
495 Romig-Koch, Rob Savoye, Jamie Smith, Mike Stump, Ian Taylor, Angela
496 Thomas, Michael Tiemann, Tom Tromey, Ron Unrau, Jim Wilson, and David
497 Zuhn have made contributions both large and small.
498
499 Andrew Cagney, Fernando Nasser, and Elena Zannoni, while working for
500 Cygnus Solutions, implemented the original @sc{gdb/mi} interface.
501
502 Jim Blandy added support for preprocessor macros, while working for Red
503 Hat.
504
505 Andrew Cagney designed @value{GDBN}'s architecture vector. Many
506 people including Andrew Cagney, Stephane Carrez, Randolph Chung, Nick
507 Duffek, Richard Henderson, Mark Kettenis, Grace Sainsbury, Kei
508 Sakamoto, Yoshinori Sato, Michael Snyder, Andreas Schwab, Jason
509 Thorpe, Corinna Vinschen, Ulrich Weigand, and Elena Zannoni, helped
510 with the migration of old architectures to this new framework.
511
512 Andrew Cagney completely re-designed and re-implemented @value{GDBN}'s
513 unwinder framework, this consisting of a fresh new design featuring
514 frame IDs, independent frame sniffers, and the sentinel frame. Mark
515 Kettenis implemented the @sc{dwarf 2} unwinder, Jeff Johnston the
516 libunwind unwinder, and Andrew Cagney the dummy, sentinel, tramp, and
517 trad unwinders. The architecture-specific changes, each involving a
518 complete rewrite of the architecture's frame code, were carried out by
519 Jim Blandy, Joel Brobecker, Kevin Buettner, Andrew Cagney, Stephane
520 Carrez, Randolph Chung, Orjan Friberg, Richard Henderson, Daniel
521 Jacobowitz, Jeff Johnston, Mark Kettenis, Theodore A. Roth, Kei
522 Sakamoto, Yoshinori Sato, Michael Snyder, Corinna Vinschen, and Ulrich
523 Weigand.
524
525 Christian Zankel, Ross Morley, Bob Wilson, and Maxim Grigoriev from
526 Tensilica, Inc.@: contributed support for Xtensa processors. Others
527 who have worked on the Xtensa port of @value{GDBN} in the past include
528 Steve Tjiang, John Newlin, and Scott Foehner.
529
530 Michael Eager and staff of Xilinx, Inc., contributed support for the
531 Xilinx MicroBlaze architecture.
532
533 @node Sample Session
534 @chapter A Sample @value{GDBN} Session
535
536 You can use this manual at your leisure to read all about @value{GDBN}.
537 However, a handful of commands are enough to get started using the
538 debugger. This chapter illustrates those commands.
539
540 @iftex
541 In this sample session, we emphasize user input like this: @b{input},
542 to make it easier to pick out from the surrounding output.
543 @end iftex
544
545 @c FIXME: this example may not be appropriate for some configs, where
546 @c FIXME...primary interest is in remote use.
547
548 One of the preliminary versions of @sc{gnu} @code{m4} (a generic macro
549 processor) exhibits the following bug: sometimes, when we change its
550 quote strings from the default, the commands used to capture one macro
551 definition within another stop working. In the following short @code{m4}
552 session, we define a macro @code{foo} which expands to @code{0000}; we
553 then use the @code{m4} built-in @code{defn} to define @code{bar} as the
554 same thing. However, when we change the open quote string to
555 @code{<QUOTE>} and the close quote string to @code{<UNQUOTE>}, the same
556 procedure fails to define a new synonym @code{baz}:
557
558 @smallexample
559 $ @b{cd gnu/m4}
560 $ @b{./m4}
561 @b{define(foo,0000)}
562
563 @b{foo}
564 0000
565 @b{define(bar,defn(`foo'))}
566
567 @b{bar}
568 0000
569 @b{changequote(<QUOTE>,<UNQUOTE>)}
570
571 @b{define(baz,defn(<QUOTE>foo<UNQUOTE>))}
572 @b{baz}
573 @b{Ctrl-d}
574 m4: End of input: 0: fatal error: EOF in string
575 @end smallexample
576
577 @noindent
578 Let us use @value{GDBN} to try to see what is going on.
579
580 @smallexample
581 $ @b{@value{GDBP} m4}
582 @c FIXME: this falsifies the exact text played out, to permit smallbook
583 @c FIXME... format to come out better.
584 @value{GDBN} is free software and you are welcome to distribute copies
585 of it under certain conditions; type "show copying" to see
586 the conditions.
587 There is absolutely no warranty for @value{GDBN}; type "show warranty"
588 for details.
589
590 @value{GDBN} @value{GDBVN}, Copyright 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc...
591 (@value{GDBP})
592 @end smallexample
593
594 @noindent
595 @value{GDBN} reads only enough symbol data to know where to find the
596 rest when needed; as a result, the first prompt comes up very quickly.
597 We now tell @value{GDBN} to use a narrower display width than usual, so
598 that examples fit in this manual.
599
600 @smallexample
601 (@value{GDBP}) @b{set width 70}
602 @end smallexample
603
604 @noindent
605 We need to see how the @code{m4} built-in @code{changequote} works.
606 Having looked at the source, we know the relevant subroutine is
607 @code{m4_changequote}, so we set a breakpoint there with the @value{GDBN}
608 @code{break} command.
609
610 @smallexample
611 (@value{GDBP}) @b{break m4_changequote}
612 Breakpoint 1 at 0x62f4: file builtin.c, line 879.
613 @end smallexample
614
615 @noindent
616 Using the @code{run} command, we start @code{m4} running under @value{GDBN}
617 control; as long as control does not reach the @code{m4_changequote}
618 subroutine, the program runs as usual:
619
620 @smallexample
621 (@value{GDBP}) @b{run}
622 Starting program: /work/Editorial/gdb/gnu/m4/m4
623 @b{define(foo,0000)}
624
625 @b{foo}
626 0000
627 @end smallexample
628
629 @noindent
630 To trigger the breakpoint, we call @code{changequote}. @value{GDBN}
631 suspends execution of @code{m4}, displaying information about the
632 context where it stops.
633
634 @smallexample
635 @b{changequote(<QUOTE>,<UNQUOTE>)}
636
637 Breakpoint 1, m4_changequote (argc=3, argv=0x33c70)
638 at builtin.c:879
639 879 if (bad_argc(TOKEN_DATA_TEXT(argv[0]),argc,1,3))
640 @end smallexample
641
642 @noindent
643 Now we use the command @code{n} (@code{next}) to advance execution to
644 the next line of the current function.
645
646 @smallexample
647 (@value{GDBP}) @b{n}
648 882 set_quotes((argc >= 2) ? TOKEN_DATA_TEXT(argv[1])\
649 : nil,
650 @end smallexample
651
652 @noindent
653 @code{set_quotes} looks like a promising subroutine. We can go into it
654 by using the command @code{s} (@code{step}) instead of @code{next}.
655 @code{step} goes to the next line to be executed in @emph{any}
656 subroutine, so it steps into @code{set_quotes}.
657
658 @smallexample
659 (@value{GDBP}) @b{s}
660 set_quotes (lq=0x34c78 "<QUOTE>", rq=0x34c88 "<UNQUOTE>")
661 at input.c:530
662 530 if (lquote != def_lquote)
663 @end smallexample
664
665 @noindent
666 The display that shows the subroutine where @code{m4} is now
667 suspended (and its arguments) is called a stack frame display. It
668 shows a summary of the stack. We can use the @code{backtrace}
669 command (which can also be spelled @code{bt}), to see where we are
670 in the stack as a whole: the @code{backtrace} command displays a
671 stack frame for each active subroutine.
672
673 @smallexample
674 (@value{GDBP}) @b{bt}
675 #0 set_quotes (lq=0x34c78 "<QUOTE>", rq=0x34c88 "<UNQUOTE>")
676 at input.c:530
677 #1 0x6344 in m4_changequote (argc=3, argv=0x33c70)
678 at builtin.c:882
679 #2 0x8174 in expand_macro (sym=0x33320) at macro.c:242
680 #3 0x7a88 in expand_token (obs=0x0, t=209696, td=0xf7fffa30)
681 at macro.c:71
682 #4 0x79dc in expand_input () at macro.c:40
683 #5 0x2930 in main (argc=0, argv=0xf7fffb20) at m4.c:195
684 @end smallexample
685
686 @noindent
687 We step through a few more lines to see what happens. The first two
688 times, we can use @samp{s}; the next two times we use @code{n} to avoid
689 falling into the @code{xstrdup} subroutine.
690
691 @smallexample
692 (@value{GDBP}) @b{s}
693 0x3b5c 532 if (rquote != def_rquote)
694 (@value{GDBP}) @b{s}
695 0x3b80 535 lquote = (lq == nil || *lq == '\0') ? \
696 def_lquote : xstrdup(lq);
697 (@value{GDBP}) @b{n}
698 536 rquote = (rq == nil || *rq == '\0') ? def_rquote\
699 : xstrdup(rq);
700 (@value{GDBP}) @b{n}
701 538 len_lquote = strlen(rquote);
702 @end smallexample
703
704 @noindent
705 The last line displayed looks a little odd; we can examine the variables
706 @code{lquote} and @code{rquote} to see if they are in fact the new left
707 and right quotes we specified. We use the command @code{p}
708 (@code{print}) to see their values.
709
710 @smallexample
711 (@value{GDBP}) @b{p lquote}
712 $1 = 0x35d40 "<QUOTE>"
713 (@value{GDBP}) @b{p rquote}
714 $2 = 0x35d50 "<UNQUOTE>"
715 @end smallexample
716
717 @noindent
718 @code{lquote} and @code{rquote} are indeed the new left and right quotes.
719 To look at some context, we can display ten lines of source
720 surrounding the current line with the @code{l} (@code{list}) command.
721
722 @smallexample
723 (@value{GDBP}) @b{l}
724 533 xfree(rquote);
725 534
726 535 lquote = (lq == nil || *lq == '\0') ? def_lquote\
727 : xstrdup (lq);
728 536 rquote = (rq == nil || *rq == '\0') ? def_rquote\
729 : xstrdup (rq);
730 537
731 538 len_lquote = strlen(rquote);
732 539 len_rquote = strlen(lquote);
733 540 @}
734 541
735 542 void
736 @end smallexample
737
738 @noindent
739 Let us step past the two lines that set @code{len_lquote} and
740 @code{len_rquote}, and then examine the values of those variables.
741
742 @smallexample
743 (@value{GDBP}) @b{n}
744 539 len_rquote = strlen(lquote);
745 (@value{GDBP}) @b{n}
746 540 @}
747 (@value{GDBP}) @b{p len_lquote}
748 $3 = 9
749 (@value{GDBP}) @b{p len_rquote}
750 $4 = 7
751 @end smallexample
752
753 @noindent
754 That certainly looks wrong, assuming @code{len_lquote} and
755 @code{len_rquote} are meant to be the lengths of @code{lquote} and
756 @code{rquote} respectively. We can set them to better values using
757 the @code{p} command, since it can print the value of
758 any expression---and that expression can include subroutine calls and
759 assignments.
760
761 @smallexample
762 (@value{GDBP}) @b{p len_lquote=strlen(lquote)}
763 $5 = 7
764 (@value{GDBP}) @b{p len_rquote=strlen(rquote)}
765 $6 = 9
766 @end smallexample
767
768 @noindent
769 Is that enough to fix the problem of using the new quotes with the
770 @code{m4} built-in @code{defn}? We can allow @code{m4} to continue
771 executing with the @code{c} (@code{continue}) command, and then try the
772 example that caused trouble initially:
773
774 @smallexample
775 (@value{GDBP}) @b{c}
776 Continuing.
777
778 @b{define(baz,defn(<QUOTE>foo<UNQUOTE>))}
779
780 baz
781 0000
782 @end smallexample
783
784 @noindent
785 Success! The new quotes now work just as well as the default ones. The
786 problem seems to have been just the two typos defining the wrong
787 lengths. We allow @code{m4} exit by giving it an EOF as input:
788
789 @smallexample
790 @b{Ctrl-d}
791 Program exited normally.
792 @end smallexample
793
794 @noindent
795 The message @samp{Program exited normally.} is from @value{GDBN}; it
796 indicates @code{m4} has finished executing. We can end our @value{GDBN}
797 session with the @value{GDBN} @code{quit} command.
798
799 @smallexample
800 (@value{GDBP}) @b{quit}
801 @end smallexample
802
803 @node Invocation
804 @chapter Getting In and Out of @value{GDBN}
805
806 This chapter discusses how to start @value{GDBN}, and how to get out of it.
807 The essentials are:
808 @itemize @bullet
809 @item
810 type @samp{@value{GDBP}} to start @value{GDBN}.
811 @item
812 type @kbd{quit} or @kbd{Ctrl-d} to exit.
813 @end itemize
814
815 @menu
816 * Invoking GDB:: How to start @value{GDBN}
817 * Quitting GDB:: How to quit @value{GDBN}
818 * Shell Commands:: How to use shell commands inside @value{GDBN}
819 * Logging Output:: How to log @value{GDBN}'s output to a file
820 @end menu
821
822 @node Invoking GDB
823 @section Invoking @value{GDBN}
824
825 Invoke @value{GDBN} by running the program @code{@value{GDBP}}. Once started,
826 @value{GDBN} reads commands from the terminal until you tell it to exit.
827
828 You can also run @code{@value{GDBP}} with a variety of arguments and options,
829 to specify more of your debugging environment at the outset.
830
831 The command-line options described here are designed
832 to cover a variety of situations; in some environments, some of these
833 options may effectively be unavailable.
834
835 The most usual way to start @value{GDBN} is with one argument,
836 specifying an executable program:
837
838 @smallexample
839 @value{GDBP} @var{program}
840 @end smallexample
841
842 @noindent
843 You can also start with both an executable program and a core file
844 specified:
845
846 @smallexample
847 @value{GDBP} @var{program} @var{core}
848 @end smallexample
849
850 You can, instead, specify a process ID as a second argument, if you want
851 to debug a running process:
852
853 @smallexample
854 @value{GDBP} @var{program} 1234
855 @end smallexample
856
857 @noindent
858 would attach @value{GDBN} to process @code{1234} (unless you also have a file
859 named @file{1234}; @value{GDBN} does check for a core file first).
860
861 Taking advantage of the second command-line argument requires a fairly
862 complete operating system; when you use @value{GDBN} as a remote
863 debugger attached to a bare board, there may not be any notion of
864 ``process'', and there is often no way to get a core dump. @value{GDBN}
865 will warn you if it is unable to attach or to read core dumps.
866
867 You can optionally have @code{@value{GDBP}} pass any arguments after the
868 executable file to the inferior using @code{--args}. This option stops
869 option processing.
870 @smallexample
871 @value{GDBP} --args gcc -O2 -c foo.c
872 @end smallexample
873 This will cause @code{@value{GDBP}} to debug @code{gcc}, and to set
874 @code{gcc}'s command-line arguments (@pxref{Arguments}) to @samp{-O2 -c foo.c}.
875
876 You can run @code{@value{GDBP}} without printing the front material, which describes
877 @value{GDBN}'s non-warranty, by specifying @code{-silent}:
878
879 @smallexample
880 @value{GDBP} -silent
881 @end smallexample
882
883 @noindent
884 You can further control how @value{GDBN} starts up by using command-line
885 options. @value{GDBN} itself can remind you of the options available.
886
887 @noindent
888 Type
889
890 @smallexample
891 @value{GDBP} -help
892 @end smallexample
893
894 @noindent
895 to display all available options and briefly describe their use
896 (@samp{@value{GDBP} -h} is a shorter equivalent).
897
898 All options and command line arguments you give are processed
899 in sequential order. The order makes a difference when the
900 @samp{-x} option is used.
901
902
903 @menu
904 * File Options:: Choosing files
905 * Mode Options:: Choosing modes
906 * Startup:: What @value{GDBN} does during startup
907 @end menu
908
909 @node File Options
910 @subsection Choosing Files
911
912 When @value{GDBN} starts, it reads any arguments other than options as
913 specifying an executable file and core file (or process ID). This is
914 the same as if the arguments were specified by the @samp{-se} and
915 @samp{-c} (or @samp{-p}) options respectively. (@value{GDBN} reads the
916 first argument that does not have an associated option flag as
917 equivalent to the @samp{-se} option followed by that argument; and the
918 second argument that does not have an associated option flag, if any, as
919 equivalent to the @samp{-c}/@samp{-p} option followed by that argument.)
920 If the second argument begins with a decimal digit, @value{GDBN} will
921 first attempt to attach to it as a process, and if that fails, attempt
922 to open it as a corefile. If you have a corefile whose name begins with
923 a digit, you can prevent @value{GDBN} from treating it as a pid by
924 prefixing it with @file{./}, e.g.@: @file{./12345}.
925
926 If @value{GDBN} has not been configured to included core file support,
927 such as for most embedded targets, then it will complain about a second
928 argument and ignore it.
929
930 Many options have both long and short forms; both are shown in the
931 following list. @value{GDBN} also recognizes the long forms if you truncate
932 them, so long as enough of the option is present to be unambiguous.
933 (If you prefer, you can flag option arguments with @samp{--} rather
934 than @samp{-}, though we illustrate the more usual convention.)
935
936 @c NOTE: the @cindex entries here use double dashes ON PURPOSE. This
937 @c way, both those who look for -foo and --foo in the index, will find
938 @c it.
939
940 @table @code
941 @item -symbols @var{file}
942 @itemx -s @var{file}
943 @cindex @code{--symbols}
944 @cindex @code{-s}
945 Read symbol table from file @var{file}.
946
947 @item -exec @var{file}
948 @itemx -e @var{file}
949 @cindex @code{--exec}
950 @cindex @code{-e}
951 Use file @var{file} as the executable file to execute when appropriate,
952 and for examining pure data in conjunction with a core dump.
953
954 @item -se @var{file}
955 @cindex @code{--se}
956 Read symbol table from file @var{file} and use it as the executable
957 file.
958
959 @item -core @var{file}
960 @itemx -c @var{file}
961 @cindex @code{--core}
962 @cindex @code{-c}
963 Use file @var{file} as a core dump to examine.
964
965 @item -pid @var{number}
966 @itemx -p @var{number}
967 @cindex @code{--pid}
968 @cindex @code{-p}
969 Connect to process ID @var{number}, as with the @code{attach} command.
970
971 @item -command @var{file}
972 @itemx -x @var{file}
973 @cindex @code{--command}
974 @cindex @code{-x}
975 Execute commands from file @var{file}. The contents of this file is
976 evaluated exactly as the @code{source} command would.
977 @xref{Command Files,, Command files}.
978
979 @item -eval-command @var{command}
980 @itemx -ex @var{command}
981 @cindex @code{--eval-command}
982 @cindex @code{-ex}
983 Execute a single @value{GDBN} command.
984
985 This option may be used multiple times to call multiple commands. It may
986 also be interleaved with @samp{-command} as required.
987
988 @smallexample
989 @value{GDBP} -ex 'target sim' -ex 'load' \
990 -x setbreakpoints -ex 'run' a.out
991 @end smallexample
992
993 @item -init-command @var{file}
994 @itemx -ix @var{file}
995 @cindex @code{--init-command}
996 @cindex @code{-ix}
997 Execute commands from file @var{file} before loading gdbinit files or the
998 inferior.
999 @xref{Startup}.
1000
1001 @item -init-eval-command @var{command}
1002 @itemx -iex @var{command}
1003 @cindex @code{--init-eval-command}
1004 @cindex @code{-iex}
1005 Execute a single @value{GDBN} command before loading gdbinit files or the
1006 inferior.
1007 @xref{Startup}.
1008
1009 @item -directory @var{directory}
1010 @itemx -d @var{directory}
1011 @cindex @code{--directory}
1012 @cindex @code{-d}
1013 Add @var{directory} to the path to search for source and script files.
1014
1015 @item -r
1016 @itemx -readnow
1017 @cindex @code{--readnow}
1018 @cindex @code{-r}
1019 Read each symbol file's entire symbol table immediately, rather than
1020 the default, which is to read it incrementally as it is needed.
1021 This makes startup slower, but makes future operations faster.
1022
1023 @end table
1024
1025 @node Mode Options
1026 @subsection Choosing Modes
1027
1028 You can run @value{GDBN} in various alternative modes---for example, in
1029 batch mode or quiet mode.
1030
1031 @table @code
1032 @anchor{-nx}
1033 @item -nx
1034 @itemx -n
1035 @cindex @code{--nx}
1036 @cindex @code{-n}
1037 Do not execute commands found in any initialization files. Normally,
1038 @value{GDBN} executes the commands in these files after all the command
1039 options and arguments have been processed. @xref{Command Files,,Command
1040 Files}.
1041
1042 @item -quiet
1043 @itemx -silent
1044 @itemx -q
1045 @cindex @code{--quiet}
1046 @cindex @code{--silent}
1047 @cindex @code{-q}
1048 ``Quiet''. Do not print the introductory and copyright messages. These
1049 messages are also suppressed in batch mode.
1050
1051 @item -batch
1052 @cindex @code{--batch}
1053 Run in batch mode. Exit with status @code{0} after processing all the
1054 command files specified with @samp{-x} (and all commands from
1055 initialization files, if not inhibited with @samp{-n}). Exit with
1056 nonzero status if an error occurs in executing the @value{GDBN} commands
1057 in the command files. Batch mode also disables pagination, sets unlimited
1058 terminal width and height @pxref{Screen Size}, and acts as if @kbd{set confirm
1059 off} were in effect (@pxref{Messages/Warnings}).
1060
1061 Batch mode may be useful for running @value{GDBN} as a filter, for
1062 example to download and run a program on another computer; in order to
1063 make this more useful, the message
1064
1065 @smallexample
1066 Program exited normally.
1067 @end smallexample
1068
1069 @noindent
1070 (which is ordinarily issued whenever a program running under
1071 @value{GDBN} control terminates) is not issued when running in batch
1072 mode.
1073
1074 @item -batch-silent
1075 @cindex @code{--batch-silent}
1076 Run in batch mode exactly like @samp{-batch}, but totally silently. All
1077 @value{GDBN} output to @code{stdout} is prevented (@code{stderr} is
1078 unaffected). This is much quieter than @samp{-silent} and would be useless
1079 for an interactive session.
1080
1081 This is particularly useful when using targets that give @samp{Loading section}
1082 messages, for example.
1083
1084 Note that targets that give their output via @value{GDBN}, as opposed to
1085 writing directly to @code{stdout}, will also be made silent.
1086
1087 @item -return-child-result
1088 @cindex @code{--return-child-result}
1089 The return code from @value{GDBN} will be the return code from the child
1090 process (the process being debugged), with the following exceptions:
1091
1092 @itemize @bullet
1093 @item
1094 @value{GDBN} exits abnormally. E.g., due to an incorrect argument or an
1095 internal error. In this case the exit code is the same as it would have been
1096 without @samp{-return-child-result}.
1097 @item
1098 The user quits with an explicit value. E.g., @samp{quit 1}.
1099 @item
1100 The child process never runs, or is not allowed to terminate, in which case
1101 the exit code will be -1.
1102 @end itemize
1103
1104 This option is useful in conjunction with @samp{-batch} or @samp{-batch-silent},
1105 when @value{GDBN} is being used as a remote program loader or simulator
1106 interface.
1107
1108 @item -nowindows
1109 @itemx -nw
1110 @cindex @code{--nowindows}
1111 @cindex @code{-nw}
1112 ``No windows''. If @value{GDBN} comes with a graphical user interface
1113 (GUI) built in, then this option tells @value{GDBN} to only use the command-line
1114 interface. If no GUI is available, this option has no effect.
1115
1116 @item -windows
1117 @itemx -w
1118 @cindex @code{--windows}
1119 @cindex @code{-w}
1120 If @value{GDBN} includes a GUI, then this option requires it to be
1121 used if possible.
1122
1123 @item -cd @var{directory}
1124 @cindex @code{--cd}
1125 Run @value{GDBN} using @var{directory} as its working directory,
1126 instead of the current directory.
1127
1128 @item -data-directory @var{directory}
1129 @cindex @code{--data-directory}
1130 Run @value{GDBN} using @var{directory} as its data directory.
1131 The data directory is where @value{GDBN} searches for its
1132 auxiliary files. @xref{Data Files}.
1133
1134 @item -fullname
1135 @itemx -f
1136 @cindex @code{--fullname}
1137 @cindex @code{-f}
1138 @sc{gnu} Emacs sets this option when it runs @value{GDBN} as a
1139 subprocess. It tells @value{GDBN} to output the full file name and line
1140 number in a standard, recognizable fashion each time a stack frame is
1141 displayed (which includes each time your program stops). This
1142 recognizable format looks like two @samp{\032} characters, followed by
1143 the file name, line number and character position separated by colons,
1144 and a newline. The Emacs-to-@value{GDBN} interface program uses the two
1145 @samp{\032} characters as a signal to display the source code for the
1146 frame.
1147
1148 @item -epoch
1149 @cindex @code{--epoch}
1150 The Epoch Emacs-@value{GDBN} interface sets this option when it runs
1151 @value{GDBN} as a subprocess. It tells @value{GDBN} to modify its print
1152 routines so as to allow Epoch to display values of expressions in a
1153 separate window.
1154
1155 @item -annotate @var{level}
1156 @cindex @code{--annotate}
1157 This option sets the @dfn{annotation level} inside @value{GDBN}. Its
1158 effect is identical to using @samp{set annotate @var{level}}
1159 (@pxref{Annotations}). The annotation @var{level} controls how much
1160 information @value{GDBN} prints together with its prompt, values of
1161 expressions, source lines, and other types of output. Level 0 is the
1162 normal, level 1 is for use when @value{GDBN} is run as a subprocess of
1163 @sc{gnu} Emacs, level 3 is the maximum annotation suitable for programs
1164 that control @value{GDBN}, and level 2 has been deprecated.
1165
1166 The annotation mechanism has largely been superseded by @sc{gdb/mi}
1167 (@pxref{GDB/MI}).
1168
1169 @item --args
1170 @cindex @code{--args}
1171 Change interpretation of command line so that arguments following the
1172 executable file are passed as command line arguments to the inferior.
1173 This option stops option processing.
1174
1175 @item -baud @var{bps}
1176 @itemx -b @var{bps}
1177 @cindex @code{--baud}
1178 @cindex @code{-b}
1179 Set the line speed (baud rate or bits per second) of any serial
1180 interface used by @value{GDBN} for remote debugging.
1181
1182 @item -l @var{timeout}
1183 @cindex @code{-l}
1184 Set the timeout (in seconds) of any communication used by @value{GDBN}
1185 for remote debugging.
1186
1187 @item -tty @var{device}
1188 @itemx -t @var{device}
1189 @cindex @code{--tty}
1190 @cindex @code{-t}
1191 Run using @var{device} for your program's standard input and output.
1192 @c FIXME: kingdon thinks there is more to -tty. Investigate.
1193
1194 @c resolve the situation of these eventually
1195 @item -tui
1196 @cindex @code{--tui}
1197 Activate the @dfn{Text User Interface} when starting. The Text User
1198 Interface manages several text windows on the terminal, showing
1199 source, assembly, registers and @value{GDBN} command outputs
1200 (@pxref{TUI, ,@value{GDBN} Text User Interface}). Do not use this
1201 option if you run @value{GDBN} from Emacs (@pxref{Emacs, ,
1202 Using @value{GDBN} under @sc{gnu} Emacs}).
1203
1204 @c @item -xdb
1205 @c @cindex @code{--xdb}
1206 @c Run in XDB compatibility mode, allowing the use of certain XDB commands.
1207 @c For information, see the file @file{xdb_trans.html}, which is usually
1208 @c installed in the directory @code{/opt/langtools/wdb/doc} on HP-UX
1209 @c systems.
1210
1211 @item -interpreter @var{interp}
1212 @cindex @code{--interpreter}
1213 Use the interpreter @var{interp} for interface with the controlling
1214 program or device. This option is meant to be set by programs which
1215 communicate with @value{GDBN} using it as a back end.
1216 @xref{Interpreters, , Command Interpreters}.
1217
1218 @samp{--interpreter=mi} (or @samp{--interpreter=mi2}) causes
1219 @value{GDBN} to use the @dfn{@sc{gdb/mi} interface} (@pxref{GDB/MI, ,
1220 The @sc{gdb/mi} Interface}) included since @value{GDBN} version 6.0. The
1221 previous @sc{gdb/mi} interface, included in @value{GDBN} version 5.3 and
1222 selected with @samp{--interpreter=mi1}, is deprecated. Earlier
1223 @sc{gdb/mi} interfaces are no longer supported.
1224
1225 @item -write
1226 @cindex @code{--write}
1227 Open the executable and core files for both reading and writing. This
1228 is equivalent to the @samp{set write on} command inside @value{GDBN}
1229 (@pxref{Patching}).
1230
1231 @item -statistics
1232 @cindex @code{--statistics}
1233 This option causes @value{GDBN} to print statistics about time and
1234 memory usage after it completes each command and returns to the prompt.
1235
1236 @item -version
1237 @cindex @code{--version}
1238 This option causes @value{GDBN} to print its version number and
1239 no-warranty blurb, and exit.
1240
1241 @item -use-deprecated-index-sections
1242 @cindex @code{--use-deprecated-index-sections}
1243 This option causes @value{GDBN} to read and use deprecated
1244 @samp{.gdb_index} sections from symbol files. This can speed up
1245 startup, but may result in some functionality being lost.
1246 @xref{Index Section Format}.
1247
1248 @end table
1249
1250 @node Startup
1251 @subsection What @value{GDBN} Does During Startup
1252 @cindex @value{GDBN} startup
1253
1254 Here's the description of what @value{GDBN} does during session startup:
1255
1256 @enumerate
1257 @item
1258 Sets up the command interpreter as specified by the command line
1259 (@pxref{Mode Options, interpreter}).
1260
1261 @anchor{Option -init-eval-command}
1262 @item
1263 Executes commands and command files specified by the @samp{-iex} and
1264 @samp{-ix} options in their specified order. Usually you should use the
1265 @samp{-ex} and @samp{-x} options instead, but this way you can apply
1266 settings before @value{GDBN} init files get executed and before inferior
1267 gets loaded.
1268
1269 @item
1270 @cindex init file
1271 Reads the system-wide @dfn{init file} (if @option{--with-system-gdbinit} was
1272 used when building @value{GDBN}; @pxref{System-wide configuration,
1273 ,System-wide configuration and settings}) and executes all the commands in
1274 that file.
1275
1276 @anchor{Home Directory Init File}
1277 @item
1278 Reads the init file (if any) in your home directory@footnote{On
1279 DOS/Windows systems, the home directory is the one pointed to by the
1280 @code{HOME} environment variable.} and executes all the commands in
1281 that file.
1282
1283 @item
1284 Processes command line options and operands.
1285
1286 @anchor{Init File in the Current Directory during Startup}
1287 @item
1288 Reads and executes the commands from init file (if any) in the current
1289 working directory as long as @samp{set auto-load local-gdbinit} is set to
1290 @samp{on} (@pxref{Init File in the Current Directory}).
1291 This is only done if the current directory is
1292 different from your home directory. Thus, you can have more than one
1293 init file, one generic in your home directory, and another, specific
1294 to the program you are debugging, in the directory where you invoke
1295 @value{GDBN}.
1296
1297 @item
1298 If the command line specified a program to debug, or a process to
1299 attach to, or a core file, @value{GDBN} loads any auto-loaded
1300 scripts provided for the program or for its loaded shared libraries.
1301 @xref{Auto-loading}.
1302
1303 If you wish to disable the auto-loading during startup,
1304 you must do something like the following:
1305
1306 @smallexample
1307 $ gdb -iex "set auto-load python-scripts off" myprogram
1308 @end smallexample
1309
1310 Option @samp{-ex} does not work because the auto-loading is then turned
1311 off too late.
1312
1313 @item
1314 Executes commands and command files specified by the @samp{-ex} and
1315 @samp{-x} options in their specified order. @xref{Command Files}, for
1316 more details about @value{GDBN} command files.
1317
1318 @item
1319 Reads the command history recorded in the @dfn{history file}.
1320 @xref{Command History}, for more details about the command history and the
1321 files where @value{GDBN} records it.
1322 @end enumerate
1323
1324 Init files use the same syntax as @dfn{command files} (@pxref{Command
1325 Files}) and are processed by @value{GDBN} in the same way. The init
1326 file in your home directory can set options (such as @samp{set
1327 complaints}) that affect subsequent processing of command line options
1328 and operands. Init files are not executed if you use the @samp{-nx}
1329 option (@pxref{Mode Options, ,Choosing Modes}).
1330
1331 To display the list of init files loaded by gdb at startup, you
1332 can use @kbd{gdb --help}.
1333
1334 @cindex init file name
1335 @cindex @file{.gdbinit}
1336 @cindex @file{gdb.ini}
1337 The @value{GDBN} init files are normally called @file{.gdbinit}.
1338 The DJGPP port of @value{GDBN} uses the name @file{gdb.ini}, due to
1339 the limitations of file names imposed by DOS filesystems. The Windows
1340 ports of @value{GDBN} use the standard name, but if they find a
1341 @file{gdb.ini} file, they warn you about that and suggest to rename
1342 the file to the standard name.
1343
1344
1345 @node Quitting GDB
1346 @section Quitting @value{GDBN}
1347 @cindex exiting @value{GDBN}
1348 @cindex leaving @value{GDBN}
1349
1350 @table @code
1351 @kindex quit @r{[}@var{expression}@r{]}
1352 @kindex q @r{(@code{quit})}
1353 @item quit @r{[}@var{expression}@r{]}
1354 @itemx q
1355 To exit @value{GDBN}, use the @code{quit} command (abbreviated
1356 @code{q}), or type an end-of-file character (usually @kbd{Ctrl-d}). If you
1357 do not supply @var{expression}, @value{GDBN} will terminate normally;
1358 otherwise it will terminate using the result of @var{expression} as the
1359 error code.
1360 @end table
1361
1362 @cindex interrupt
1363 An interrupt (often @kbd{Ctrl-c}) does not exit from @value{GDBN}, but rather
1364 terminates the action of any @value{GDBN} command that is in progress and
1365 returns to @value{GDBN} command level. It is safe to type the interrupt
1366 character at any time because @value{GDBN} does not allow it to take effect
1367 until a time when it is safe.
1368
1369 If you have been using @value{GDBN} to control an attached process or
1370 device, you can release it with the @code{detach} command
1371 (@pxref{Attach, ,Debugging an Already-running Process}).
1372
1373 @node Shell Commands
1374 @section Shell Commands
1375
1376 If you need to execute occasional shell commands during your
1377 debugging session, there is no need to leave or suspend @value{GDBN}; you can
1378 just use the @code{shell} command.
1379
1380 @table @code
1381 @kindex shell
1382 @kindex !
1383 @cindex shell escape
1384 @item shell @var{command-string}
1385 @itemx !@var{command-string}
1386 Invoke a standard shell to execute @var{command-string}.
1387 Note that no space is needed between @code{!} and @var{command-string}.
1388 If it exists, the environment variable @code{SHELL} determines which
1389 shell to run. Otherwise @value{GDBN} uses the default shell
1390 (@file{/bin/sh} on Unix systems, @file{COMMAND.COM} on MS-DOS, etc.).
1391 @end table
1392
1393 The utility @code{make} is often needed in development environments.
1394 You do not have to use the @code{shell} command for this purpose in
1395 @value{GDBN}:
1396
1397 @table @code
1398 @kindex make
1399 @cindex calling make
1400 @item make @var{make-args}
1401 Execute the @code{make} program with the specified
1402 arguments. This is equivalent to @samp{shell make @var{make-args}}.
1403 @end table
1404
1405 @node Logging Output
1406 @section Logging Output
1407 @cindex logging @value{GDBN} output
1408 @cindex save @value{GDBN} output to a file
1409
1410 You may want to save the output of @value{GDBN} commands to a file.
1411 There are several commands to control @value{GDBN}'s logging.
1412
1413 @table @code
1414 @kindex set logging
1415 @item set logging on
1416 Enable logging.
1417 @item set logging off
1418 Disable logging.
1419 @cindex logging file name
1420 @item set logging file @var{file}
1421 Change the name of the current logfile. The default logfile is @file{gdb.txt}.
1422 @item set logging overwrite [on|off]
1423 By default, @value{GDBN} will append to the logfile. Set @code{overwrite} if
1424 you want @code{set logging on} to overwrite the logfile instead.
1425 @item set logging redirect [on|off]
1426 By default, @value{GDBN} output will go to both the terminal and the logfile.
1427 Set @code{redirect} if you want output to go only to the log file.
1428 @kindex show logging
1429 @item show logging
1430 Show the current values of the logging settings.
1431 @end table
1432
1433 @node Commands
1434 @chapter @value{GDBN} Commands
1435
1436 You can abbreviate a @value{GDBN} command to the first few letters of the command
1437 name, if that abbreviation is unambiguous; and you can repeat certain
1438 @value{GDBN} commands by typing just @key{RET}. You can also use the @key{TAB}
1439 key to get @value{GDBN} to fill out the rest of a word in a command (or to
1440 show you the alternatives available, if there is more than one possibility).
1441
1442 @menu
1443 * Command Syntax:: How to give commands to @value{GDBN}
1444 * Completion:: Command completion
1445 * Help:: How to ask @value{GDBN} for help
1446 @end menu
1447
1448 @node Command Syntax
1449 @section Command Syntax
1450
1451 A @value{GDBN} command is a single line of input. There is no limit on
1452 how long it can be. It starts with a command name, which is followed by
1453 arguments whose meaning depends on the command name. For example, the
1454 command @code{step} accepts an argument which is the number of times to
1455 step, as in @samp{step 5}. You can also use the @code{step} command
1456 with no arguments. Some commands do not allow any arguments.
1457
1458 @cindex abbreviation
1459 @value{GDBN} command names may always be truncated if that abbreviation is
1460 unambiguous. Other possible command abbreviations are listed in the
1461 documentation for individual commands. In some cases, even ambiguous
1462 abbreviations are allowed; for example, @code{s} is specially defined as
1463 equivalent to @code{step} even though there are other commands whose
1464 names start with @code{s}. You can test abbreviations by using them as
1465 arguments to the @code{help} command.
1466
1467 @cindex repeating commands
1468 @kindex RET @r{(repeat last command)}
1469 A blank line as input to @value{GDBN} (typing just @key{RET}) means to
1470 repeat the previous command. Certain commands (for example, @code{run})
1471 will not repeat this way; these are commands whose unintentional
1472 repetition might cause trouble and which you are unlikely to want to
1473 repeat. User-defined commands can disable this feature; see
1474 @ref{Define, dont-repeat}.
1475
1476 The @code{list} and @code{x} commands, when you repeat them with
1477 @key{RET}, construct new arguments rather than repeating
1478 exactly as typed. This permits easy scanning of source or memory.
1479
1480 @value{GDBN} can also use @key{RET} in another way: to partition lengthy
1481 output, in a way similar to the common utility @code{more}
1482 (@pxref{Screen Size,,Screen Size}). Since it is easy to press one
1483 @key{RET} too many in this situation, @value{GDBN} disables command
1484 repetition after any command that generates this sort of display.
1485
1486 @kindex # @r{(a comment)}
1487 @cindex comment
1488 Any text from a @kbd{#} to the end of the line is a comment; it does
1489 nothing. This is useful mainly in command files (@pxref{Command
1490 Files,,Command Files}).
1491
1492 @cindex repeating command sequences
1493 @kindex Ctrl-o @r{(operate-and-get-next)}
1494 The @kbd{Ctrl-o} binding is useful for repeating a complex sequence of
1495 commands. This command accepts the current line, like @key{RET}, and
1496 then fetches the next line relative to the current line from the history
1497 for editing.
1498
1499 @node Completion
1500 @section Command Completion
1501
1502 @cindex completion
1503 @cindex word completion
1504 @value{GDBN} can fill in the rest of a word in a command for you, if there is
1505 only one possibility; it can also show you what the valid possibilities
1506 are for the next word in a command, at any time. This works for @value{GDBN}
1507 commands, @value{GDBN} subcommands, and the names of symbols in your program.
1508
1509 Press the @key{TAB} key whenever you want @value{GDBN} to fill out the rest
1510 of a word. If there is only one possibility, @value{GDBN} fills in the
1511 word, and waits for you to finish the command (or press @key{RET} to
1512 enter it). For example, if you type
1513
1514 @c FIXME "@key" does not distinguish its argument sufficiently to permit
1515 @c complete accuracy in these examples; space introduced for clarity.
1516 @c If texinfo enhancements make it unnecessary, it would be nice to
1517 @c replace " @key" by "@key" in the following...
1518 @smallexample
1519 (@value{GDBP}) info bre @key{TAB}
1520 @end smallexample
1521
1522 @noindent
1523 @value{GDBN} fills in the rest of the word @samp{breakpoints}, since that is
1524 the only @code{info} subcommand beginning with @samp{bre}:
1525
1526 @smallexample
1527 (@value{GDBP}) info breakpoints
1528 @end smallexample
1529
1530 @noindent
1531 You can either press @key{RET} at this point, to run the @code{info
1532 breakpoints} command, or backspace and enter something else, if
1533 @samp{breakpoints} does not look like the command you expected. (If you
1534 were sure you wanted @code{info breakpoints} in the first place, you
1535 might as well just type @key{RET} immediately after @samp{info bre},
1536 to exploit command abbreviations rather than command completion).
1537
1538 If there is more than one possibility for the next word when you press
1539 @key{TAB}, @value{GDBN} sounds a bell. You can either supply more
1540 characters and try again, or just press @key{TAB} a second time;
1541 @value{GDBN} displays all the possible completions for that word. For
1542 example, you might want to set a breakpoint on a subroutine whose name
1543 begins with @samp{make_}, but when you type @kbd{b make_@key{TAB}} @value{GDBN}
1544 just sounds the bell. Typing @key{TAB} again displays all the
1545 function names in your program that begin with those characters, for
1546 example:
1547
1548 @smallexample
1549 (@value{GDBP}) b make_ @key{TAB}
1550 @exdent @value{GDBN} sounds bell; press @key{TAB} again, to see:
1551 make_a_section_from_file make_environ
1552 make_abs_section make_function_type
1553 make_blockvector make_pointer_type
1554 make_cleanup make_reference_type
1555 make_command make_symbol_completion_list
1556 (@value{GDBP}) b make_
1557 @end smallexample
1558
1559 @noindent
1560 After displaying the available possibilities, @value{GDBN} copies your
1561 partial input (@samp{b make_} in the example) so you can finish the
1562 command.
1563
1564 If you just want to see the list of alternatives in the first place, you
1565 can press @kbd{M-?} rather than pressing @key{TAB} twice. @kbd{M-?}
1566 means @kbd{@key{META} ?}. You can type this either by holding down a
1567 key designated as the @key{META} shift on your keyboard (if there is
1568 one) while typing @kbd{?}, or as @key{ESC} followed by @kbd{?}.
1569
1570 @cindex quotes in commands
1571 @cindex completion of quoted strings
1572 Sometimes the string you need, while logically a ``word'', may contain
1573 parentheses or other characters that @value{GDBN} normally excludes from
1574 its notion of a word. To permit word completion to work in this
1575 situation, you may enclose words in @code{'} (single quote marks) in
1576 @value{GDBN} commands.
1577
1578 The most likely situation where you might need this is in typing the
1579 name of a C@t{++} function. This is because C@t{++} allows function
1580 overloading (multiple definitions of the same function, distinguished
1581 by argument type). For example, when you want to set a breakpoint you
1582 may need to distinguish whether you mean the version of @code{name}
1583 that takes an @code{int} parameter, @code{name(int)}, or the version
1584 that takes a @code{float} parameter, @code{name(float)}. To use the
1585 word-completion facilities in this situation, type a single quote
1586 @code{'} at the beginning of the function name. This alerts
1587 @value{GDBN} that it may need to consider more information than usual
1588 when you press @key{TAB} or @kbd{M-?} to request word completion:
1589
1590 @smallexample
1591 (@value{GDBP}) b 'bubble( @kbd{M-?}
1592 bubble(double,double) bubble(int,int)
1593 (@value{GDBP}) b 'bubble(
1594 @end smallexample
1595
1596 In some cases, @value{GDBN} can tell that completing a name requires using
1597 quotes. When this happens, @value{GDBN} inserts the quote for you (while
1598 completing as much as it can) if you do not type the quote in the first
1599 place:
1600
1601 @smallexample
1602 (@value{GDBP}) b bub @key{TAB}
1603 @exdent @value{GDBN} alters your input line to the following, and rings a bell:
1604 (@value{GDBP}) b 'bubble(
1605 @end smallexample
1606
1607 @noindent
1608 In general, @value{GDBN} can tell that a quote is needed (and inserts it) if
1609 you have not yet started typing the argument list when you ask for
1610 completion on an overloaded symbol.
1611
1612 For more information about overloaded functions, see @ref{C Plus Plus
1613 Expressions, ,C@t{++} Expressions}. You can use the command @code{set
1614 overload-resolution off} to disable overload resolution;
1615 see @ref{Debugging C Plus Plus, ,@value{GDBN} Features for C@t{++}}.
1616
1617 @cindex completion of structure field names
1618 @cindex structure field name completion
1619 @cindex completion of union field names
1620 @cindex union field name completion
1621 When completing in an expression which looks up a field in a
1622 structure, @value{GDBN} also tries@footnote{The completer can be
1623 confused by certain kinds of invalid expressions. Also, it only
1624 examines the static type of the expression, not the dynamic type.} to
1625 limit completions to the field names available in the type of the
1626 left-hand-side:
1627
1628 @smallexample
1629 (@value{GDBP}) p gdb_stdout.@kbd{M-?}
1630 magic to_fputs to_rewind
1631 to_data to_isatty to_write
1632 to_delete to_put to_write_async_safe
1633 to_flush to_read
1634 @end smallexample
1635
1636 @noindent
1637 This is because the @code{gdb_stdout} is a variable of the type
1638 @code{struct ui_file} that is defined in @value{GDBN} sources as
1639 follows:
1640
1641 @smallexample
1642 struct ui_file
1643 @{
1644 int *magic;
1645 ui_file_flush_ftype *to_flush;
1646 ui_file_write_ftype *to_write;
1647 ui_file_write_async_safe_ftype *to_write_async_safe;
1648 ui_file_fputs_ftype *to_fputs;
1649 ui_file_read_ftype *to_read;
1650 ui_file_delete_ftype *to_delete;
1651 ui_file_isatty_ftype *to_isatty;
1652 ui_file_rewind_ftype *to_rewind;
1653 ui_file_put_ftype *to_put;
1654 void *to_data;
1655 @}
1656 @end smallexample
1657
1658
1659 @node Help
1660 @section Getting Help
1661 @cindex online documentation
1662 @kindex help
1663
1664 You can always ask @value{GDBN} itself for information on its commands,
1665 using the command @code{help}.
1666
1667 @table @code
1668 @kindex h @r{(@code{help})}
1669 @item help
1670 @itemx h
1671 You can use @code{help} (abbreviated @code{h}) with no arguments to
1672 display a short list of named classes of commands:
1673
1674 @smallexample
1675 (@value{GDBP}) help
1676 List of classes of commands:
1677
1678 aliases -- Aliases of other commands
1679 breakpoints -- Making program stop at certain points
1680 data -- Examining data
1681 files -- Specifying and examining files
1682 internals -- Maintenance commands
1683 obscure -- Obscure features
1684 running -- Running the program
1685 stack -- Examining the stack
1686 status -- Status inquiries
1687 support -- Support facilities
1688 tracepoints -- Tracing of program execution without
1689 stopping the program
1690 user-defined -- User-defined commands
1691
1692 Type "help" followed by a class name for a list of
1693 commands in that class.
1694 Type "help" followed by command name for full
1695 documentation.
1696 Command name abbreviations are allowed if unambiguous.
1697 (@value{GDBP})
1698 @end smallexample
1699 @c the above line break eliminates huge line overfull...
1700
1701 @item help @var{class}
1702 Using one of the general help classes as an argument, you can get a
1703 list of the individual commands in that class. For example, here is the
1704 help display for the class @code{status}:
1705
1706 @smallexample
1707 (@value{GDBP}) help status
1708 Status inquiries.
1709
1710 List of commands:
1711
1712 @c Line break in "show" line falsifies real output, but needed
1713 @c to fit in smallbook page size.
1714 info -- Generic command for showing things
1715 about the program being debugged
1716 show -- Generic command for showing things
1717 about the debugger
1718
1719 Type "help" followed by command name for full
1720 documentation.
1721 Command name abbreviations are allowed if unambiguous.
1722 (@value{GDBP})
1723 @end smallexample
1724
1725 @item help @var{command}
1726 With a command name as @code{help} argument, @value{GDBN} displays a
1727 short paragraph on how to use that command.
1728
1729 @kindex apropos
1730 @item apropos @var{args}
1731 The @code{apropos} command searches through all of the @value{GDBN}
1732 commands, and their documentation, for the regular expression specified in
1733 @var{args}. It prints out all matches found. For example:
1734
1735 @smallexample
1736 apropos alias
1737 @end smallexample
1738
1739 @noindent
1740 results in:
1741
1742 @smallexample
1743 @c @group
1744 alias -- Define a new command that is an alias of an existing command
1745 aliases -- Aliases of other commands
1746 d -- Delete some breakpoints or auto-display expressions
1747 del -- Delete some breakpoints or auto-display expressions
1748 delete -- Delete some breakpoints or auto-display expressions
1749 @c @end group
1750 @end smallexample
1751
1752 @kindex complete
1753 @item complete @var{args}
1754 The @code{complete @var{args}} command lists all the possible completions
1755 for the beginning of a command. Use @var{args} to specify the beginning of the
1756 command you want completed. For example:
1757
1758 @smallexample
1759 complete i
1760 @end smallexample
1761
1762 @noindent results in:
1763
1764 @smallexample
1765 @group
1766 if
1767 ignore
1768 info
1769 inspect
1770 @end group
1771 @end smallexample
1772
1773 @noindent This is intended for use by @sc{gnu} Emacs.
1774 @end table
1775
1776 In addition to @code{help}, you can use the @value{GDBN} commands @code{info}
1777 and @code{show} to inquire about the state of your program, or the state
1778 of @value{GDBN} itself. Each command supports many topics of inquiry; this
1779 manual introduces each of them in the appropriate context. The listings
1780 under @code{info} and under @code{show} in the Index point to
1781 all the sub-commands. @xref{Index}.
1782
1783 @c @group
1784 @table @code
1785 @kindex info
1786 @kindex i @r{(@code{info})}
1787 @item info
1788 This command (abbreviated @code{i}) is for describing the state of your
1789 program. For example, you can show the arguments passed to a function
1790 with @code{info args}, list the registers currently in use with @code{info
1791 registers}, or list the breakpoints you have set with @code{info breakpoints}.
1792 You can get a complete list of the @code{info} sub-commands with
1793 @w{@code{help info}}.
1794
1795 @kindex set
1796 @item set
1797 You can assign the result of an expression to an environment variable with
1798 @code{set}. For example, you can set the @value{GDBN} prompt to a $-sign with
1799 @code{set prompt $}.
1800
1801 @kindex show
1802 @item show
1803 In contrast to @code{info}, @code{show} is for describing the state of
1804 @value{GDBN} itself.
1805 You can change most of the things you can @code{show}, by using the
1806 related command @code{set}; for example, you can control what number
1807 system is used for displays with @code{set radix}, or simply inquire
1808 which is currently in use with @code{show radix}.
1809
1810 @kindex info set
1811 To display all the settable parameters and their current
1812 values, you can use @code{show} with no arguments; you may also use
1813 @code{info set}. Both commands produce the same display.
1814 @c FIXME: "info set" violates the rule that "info" is for state of
1815 @c FIXME...program. Ck w/ GNU: "info set" to be called something else,
1816 @c FIXME...or change desc of rule---eg "state of prog and debugging session"?
1817 @end table
1818 @c @end group
1819
1820 Here are three miscellaneous @code{show} subcommands, all of which are
1821 exceptional in lacking corresponding @code{set} commands:
1822
1823 @table @code
1824 @kindex show version
1825 @cindex @value{GDBN} version number
1826 @item show version
1827 Show what version of @value{GDBN} is running. You should include this
1828 information in @value{GDBN} bug-reports. If multiple versions of
1829 @value{GDBN} are in use at your site, you may need to determine which
1830 version of @value{GDBN} you are running; as @value{GDBN} evolves, new
1831 commands are introduced, and old ones may wither away. Also, many
1832 system vendors ship variant versions of @value{GDBN}, and there are
1833 variant versions of @value{GDBN} in @sc{gnu}/Linux distributions as well.
1834 The version number is the same as the one announced when you start
1835 @value{GDBN}.
1836
1837 @kindex show copying
1838 @kindex info copying
1839 @cindex display @value{GDBN} copyright
1840 @item show copying
1841 @itemx info copying
1842 Display information about permission for copying @value{GDBN}.
1843
1844 @kindex show warranty
1845 @kindex info warranty
1846 @item show warranty
1847 @itemx info warranty
1848 Display the @sc{gnu} ``NO WARRANTY'' statement, or a warranty,
1849 if your version of @value{GDBN} comes with one.
1850
1851 @end table
1852
1853 @node Running
1854 @chapter Running Programs Under @value{GDBN}
1855
1856 When you run a program under @value{GDBN}, you must first generate
1857 debugging information when you compile it.
1858
1859 You may start @value{GDBN} with its arguments, if any, in an environment
1860 of your choice. If you are doing native debugging, you may redirect
1861 your program's input and output, debug an already running process, or
1862 kill a child process.
1863
1864 @menu
1865 * Compilation:: Compiling for debugging
1866 * Starting:: Starting your program
1867 * Arguments:: Your program's arguments
1868 * Environment:: Your program's environment
1869
1870 * Working Directory:: Your program's working directory
1871 * Input/Output:: Your program's input and output
1872 * Attach:: Debugging an already-running process
1873 * Kill Process:: Killing the child process
1874
1875 * Inferiors and Programs:: Debugging multiple inferiors and programs
1876 * Threads:: Debugging programs with multiple threads
1877 * Forks:: Debugging forks
1878 * Checkpoint/Restart:: Setting a @emph{bookmark} to return to later
1879 @end menu
1880
1881 @node Compilation
1882 @section Compiling for Debugging
1883
1884 In order to debug a program effectively, you need to generate
1885 debugging information when you compile it. This debugging information
1886 is stored in the object file; it describes the data type of each
1887 variable or function and the correspondence between source line numbers
1888 and addresses in the executable code.
1889
1890 To request debugging information, specify the @samp{-g} option when you run
1891 the compiler.
1892
1893 Programs that are to be shipped to your customers are compiled with
1894 optimizations, using the @samp{-O} compiler option. However, some
1895 compilers are unable to handle the @samp{-g} and @samp{-O} options
1896 together. Using those compilers, you cannot generate optimized
1897 executables containing debugging information.
1898
1899 @value{NGCC}, the @sc{gnu} C/C@t{++} compiler, supports @samp{-g} with or
1900 without @samp{-O}, making it possible to debug optimized code. We
1901 recommend that you @emph{always} use @samp{-g} whenever you compile a
1902 program. You may think your program is correct, but there is no sense
1903 in pushing your luck. For more information, see @ref{Optimized Code}.
1904
1905 Older versions of the @sc{gnu} C compiler permitted a variant option
1906 @w{@samp{-gg}} for debugging information. @value{GDBN} no longer supports this
1907 format; if your @sc{gnu} C compiler has this option, do not use it.
1908
1909 @value{GDBN} knows about preprocessor macros and can show you their
1910 expansion (@pxref{Macros}). Most compilers do not include information
1911 about preprocessor macros in the debugging information if you specify
1912 the @option{-g} flag alone. Version 3.1 and later of @value{NGCC},
1913 the @sc{gnu} C compiler, provides macro information if you are using
1914 the DWARF debugging format, and specify the option @option{-g3}.
1915
1916 @xref{Debugging Options,,Options for Debugging Your Program or GCC,
1917 gcc.info, Using the @sc{gnu} Compiler Collection (GCC)}, for more
1918 information on @value{NGCC} options affecting debug information.
1919
1920 You will have the best debugging experience if you use the latest
1921 version of the DWARF debugging format that your compiler supports.
1922 DWARF is currently the most expressive and best supported debugging
1923 format in @value{GDBN}.
1924
1925 @need 2000
1926 @node Starting
1927 @section Starting your Program
1928 @cindex starting
1929 @cindex running
1930
1931 @table @code
1932 @kindex run
1933 @kindex r @r{(@code{run})}
1934 @item run
1935 @itemx r
1936 Use the @code{run} command to start your program under @value{GDBN}.
1937 You must first specify the program name (except on VxWorks) with an
1938 argument to @value{GDBN} (@pxref{Invocation, ,Getting In and Out of
1939 @value{GDBN}}), or by using the @code{file} or @code{exec-file} command
1940 (@pxref{Files, ,Commands to Specify Files}).
1941
1942 @end table
1943
1944 If you are running your program in an execution environment that
1945 supports processes, @code{run} creates an inferior process and makes
1946 that process run your program. In some environments without processes,
1947 @code{run} jumps to the start of your program. Other targets,
1948 like @samp{remote}, are always running. If you get an error
1949 message like this one:
1950
1951 @smallexample
1952 The "remote" target does not support "run".
1953 Try "help target" or "continue".
1954 @end smallexample
1955
1956 @noindent
1957 then use @code{continue} to run your program. You may need @code{load}
1958 first (@pxref{load}).
1959
1960 The execution of a program is affected by certain information it
1961 receives from its superior. @value{GDBN} provides ways to specify this
1962 information, which you must do @emph{before} starting your program. (You
1963 can change it after starting your program, but such changes only affect
1964 your program the next time you start it.) This information may be
1965 divided into four categories:
1966
1967 @table @asis
1968 @item The @emph{arguments.}
1969 Specify the arguments to give your program as the arguments of the
1970 @code{run} command. If a shell is available on your target, the shell
1971 is used to pass the arguments, so that you may use normal conventions
1972 (such as wildcard expansion or variable substitution) in describing
1973 the arguments.
1974 In Unix systems, you can control which shell is used with the
1975 @code{SHELL} environment variable.
1976 @xref{Arguments, ,Your Program's Arguments}.
1977
1978 @item The @emph{environment.}
1979 Your program normally inherits its environment from @value{GDBN}, but you can
1980 use the @value{GDBN} commands @code{set environment} and @code{unset
1981 environment} to change parts of the environment that affect
1982 your program. @xref{Environment, ,Your Program's Environment}.
1983
1984 @item The @emph{working directory.}
1985 Your program inherits its working directory from @value{GDBN}. You can set
1986 the @value{GDBN} working directory with the @code{cd} command in @value{GDBN}.
1987 @xref{Working Directory, ,Your Program's Working Directory}.
1988
1989 @item The @emph{standard input and output.}
1990 Your program normally uses the same device for standard input and
1991 standard output as @value{GDBN} is using. You can redirect input and output
1992 in the @code{run} command line, or you can use the @code{tty} command to
1993 set a different device for your program.
1994 @xref{Input/Output, ,Your Program's Input and Output}.
1995
1996 @cindex pipes
1997 @emph{Warning:} While input and output redirection work, you cannot use
1998 pipes to pass the output of the program you are debugging to another
1999 program; if you attempt this, @value{GDBN} is likely to wind up debugging the
2000 wrong program.
2001 @end table
2002
2003 When you issue the @code{run} command, your program begins to execute
2004 immediately. @xref{Stopping, ,Stopping and Continuing}, for discussion
2005 of how to arrange for your program to stop. Once your program has
2006 stopped, you may call functions in your program, using the @code{print}
2007 or @code{call} commands. @xref{Data, ,Examining Data}.
2008
2009 If the modification time of your symbol file has changed since the last
2010 time @value{GDBN} read its symbols, @value{GDBN} discards its symbol
2011 table, and reads it again. When it does this, @value{GDBN} tries to retain
2012 your current breakpoints.
2013
2014 @table @code
2015 @kindex start
2016 @item start
2017 @cindex run to main procedure
2018 The name of the main procedure can vary from language to language.
2019 With C or C@t{++}, the main procedure name is always @code{main}, but
2020 other languages such as Ada do not require a specific name for their
2021 main procedure. The debugger provides a convenient way to start the
2022 execution of the program and to stop at the beginning of the main
2023 procedure, depending on the language used.
2024
2025 The @samp{start} command does the equivalent of setting a temporary
2026 breakpoint at the beginning of the main procedure and then invoking
2027 the @samp{run} command.
2028
2029 @cindex elaboration phase
2030 Some programs contain an @dfn{elaboration} phase where some startup code is
2031 executed before the main procedure is called. This depends on the
2032 languages used to write your program. In C@t{++}, for instance,
2033 constructors for static and global objects are executed before
2034 @code{main} is called. It is therefore possible that the debugger stops
2035 before reaching the main procedure. However, the temporary breakpoint
2036 will remain to halt execution.
2037
2038 Specify the arguments to give to your program as arguments to the
2039 @samp{start} command. These arguments will be given verbatim to the
2040 underlying @samp{run} command. Note that the same arguments will be
2041 reused if no argument is provided during subsequent calls to
2042 @samp{start} or @samp{run}.
2043
2044 It is sometimes necessary to debug the program during elaboration. In
2045 these cases, using the @code{start} command would stop the execution of
2046 your program too late, as the program would have already completed the
2047 elaboration phase. Under these circumstances, insert breakpoints in your
2048 elaboration code before running your program.
2049
2050 @kindex set exec-wrapper
2051 @item set exec-wrapper @var{wrapper}
2052 @itemx show exec-wrapper
2053 @itemx unset exec-wrapper
2054 When @samp{exec-wrapper} is set, the specified wrapper is used to
2055 launch programs for debugging. @value{GDBN} starts your program
2056 with a shell command of the form @kbd{exec @var{wrapper}
2057 @var{program}}. Quoting is added to @var{program} and its
2058 arguments, but not to @var{wrapper}, so you should add quotes if
2059 appropriate for your shell. The wrapper runs until it executes
2060 your program, and then @value{GDBN} takes control.
2061
2062 You can use any program that eventually calls @code{execve} with
2063 its arguments as a wrapper. Several standard Unix utilities do
2064 this, e.g.@: @code{env} and @code{nohup}. Any Unix shell script ending
2065 with @code{exec "$@@"} will also work.
2066
2067 For example, you can use @code{env} to pass an environment variable to
2068 the debugged program, without setting the variable in your shell's
2069 environment:
2070
2071 @smallexample
2072 (@value{GDBP}) set exec-wrapper env 'LD_PRELOAD=libtest.so'
2073 (@value{GDBP}) run
2074 @end smallexample
2075
2076 This command is available when debugging locally on most targets, excluding
2077 @sc{djgpp}, Cygwin, MS Windows, and QNX Neutrino.
2078
2079 @kindex set disable-randomization
2080 @item set disable-randomization
2081 @itemx set disable-randomization on
2082 This option (enabled by default in @value{GDBN}) will turn off the native
2083 randomization of the virtual address space of the started program. This option
2084 is useful for multiple debugging sessions to make the execution better
2085 reproducible and memory addresses reusable across debugging sessions.
2086
2087 This feature is implemented only on certain targets, including @sc{gnu}/Linux.
2088 On @sc{gnu}/Linux you can get the same behavior using
2089
2090 @smallexample
2091 (@value{GDBP}) set exec-wrapper setarch `uname -m` -R
2092 @end smallexample
2093
2094 @item set disable-randomization off
2095 Leave the behavior of the started executable unchanged. Some bugs rear their
2096 ugly heads only when the program is loaded at certain addresses. If your bug
2097 disappears when you run the program under @value{GDBN}, that might be because
2098 @value{GDBN} by default disables the address randomization on platforms, such
2099 as @sc{gnu}/Linux, which do that for stand-alone programs. Use @kbd{set
2100 disable-randomization off} to try to reproduce such elusive bugs.
2101
2102 On targets where it is available, virtual address space randomization
2103 protects the programs against certain kinds of security attacks. In these
2104 cases the attacker needs to know the exact location of a concrete executable
2105 code. Randomizing its location makes it impossible to inject jumps misusing
2106 a code at its expected addresses.
2107
2108 Prelinking shared libraries provides a startup performance advantage but it
2109 makes addresses in these libraries predictable for privileged processes by
2110 having just unprivileged access at the target system. Reading the shared
2111 library binary gives enough information for assembling the malicious code
2112 misusing it. Still even a prelinked shared library can get loaded at a new
2113 random address just requiring the regular relocation process during the
2114 startup. Shared libraries not already prelinked are always loaded at
2115 a randomly chosen address.
2116
2117 Position independent executables (PIE) contain position independent code
2118 similar to the shared libraries and therefore such executables get loaded at
2119 a randomly chosen address upon startup. PIE executables always load even
2120 already prelinked shared libraries at a random address. You can build such
2121 executable using @command{gcc -fPIE -pie}.
2122
2123 Heap (malloc storage), stack and custom mmap areas are always placed randomly
2124 (as long as the randomization is enabled).
2125
2126 @item show disable-randomization
2127 Show the current setting of the explicit disable of the native randomization of
2128 the virtual address space of the started program.
2129
2130 @end table
2131
2132 @node Arguments
2133 @section Your Program's Arguments
2134
2135 @cindex arguments (to your program)
2136 The arguments to your program can be specified by the arguments of the
2137 @code{run} command.
2138 They are passed to a shell, which expands wildcard characters and
2139 performs redirection of I/O, and thence to your program. Your
2140 @code{SHELL} environment variable (if it exists) specifies what shell
2141 @value{GDBN} uses. If you do not define @code{SHELL}, @value{GDBN} uses
2142 the default shell (@file{/bin/sh} on Unix).
2143
2144 On non-Unix systems, the program is usually invoked directly by
2145 @value{GDBN}, which emulates I/O redirection via the appropriate system
2146 calls, and the wildcard characters are expanded by the startup code of
2147 the program, not by the shell.
2148
2149 @code{run} with no arguments uses the same arguments used by the previous
2150 @code{run}, or those set by the @code{set args} command.
2151
2152 @table @code
2153 @kindex set args
2154 @item set args
2155 Specify the arguments to be used the next time your program is run. If
2156 @code{set args} has no arguments, @code{run} executes your program
2157 with no arguments. Once you have run your program with arguments,
2158 using @code{set args} before the next @code{run} is the only way to run
2159 it again without arguments.
2160
2161 @kindex show args
2162 @item show args
2163 Show the arguments to give your program when it is started.
2164 @end table
2165
2166 @node Environment
2167 @section Your Program's Environment
2168
2169 @cindex environment (of your program)
2170 The @dfn{environment} consists of a set of environment variables and
2171 their values. Environment variables conventionally record such things as
2172 your user name, your home directory, your terminal type, and your search
2173 path for programs to run. Usually you set up environment variables with
2174 the shell and they are inherited by all the other programs you run. When
2175 debugging, it can be useful to try running your program with a modified
2176 environment without having to start @value{GDBN} over again.
2177
2178 @table @code
2179 @kindex path
2180 @item path @var{directory}
2181 Add @var{directory} to the front of the @code{PATH} environment variable
2182 (the search path for executables) that will be passed to your program.
2183 The value of @code{PATH} used by @value{GDBN} does not change.
2184 You may specify several directory names, separated by whitespace or by a
2185 system-dependent separator character (@samp{:} on Unix, @samp{;} on
2186 MS-DOS and MS-Windows). If @var{directory} is already in the path, it
2187 is moved to the front, so it is searched sooner.
2188
2189 You can use the string @samp{$cwd} to refer to whatever is the current
2190 working directory at the time @value{GDBN} searches the path. If you
2191 use @samp{.} instead, it refers to the directory where you executed the
2192 @code{path} command. @value{GDBN} replaces @samp{.} in the
2193 @var{directory} argument (with the current path) before adding
2194 @var{directory} to the search path.
2195 @c 'path' is explicitly nonrepeatable, but RMS points out it is silly to
2196 @c document that, since repeating it would be a no-op.
2197
2198 @kindex show paths
2199 @item show paths
2200 Display the list of search paths for executables (the @code{PATH}
2201 environment variable).
2202
2203 @kindex show environment
2204 @item show environment @r{[}@var{varname}@r{]}
2205 Print the value of environment variable @var{varname} to be given to
2206 your program when it starts. If you do not supply @var{varname},
2207 print the names and values of all environment variables to be given to
2208 your program. You can abbreviate @code{environment} as @code{env}.
2209
2210 @kindex set environment
2211 @item set environment @var{varname} @r{[}=@var{value}@r{]}
2212 Set environment variable @var{varname} to @var{value}. The value
2213 changes for your program only, not for @value{GDBN} itself. @var{value} may
2214 be any string; the values of environment variables are just strings, and
2215 any interpretation is supplied by your program itself. The @var{value}
2216 parameter is optional; if it is eliminated, the variable is set to a
2217 null value.
2218 @c "any string" here does not include leading, trailing
2219 @c blanks. Gnu asks: does anyone care?
2220
2221 For example, this command:
2222
2223 @smallexample
2224 set env USER = foo
2225 @end smallexample
2226
2227 @noindent
2228 tells the debugged program, when subsequently run, that its user is named
2229 @samp{foo}. (The spaces around @samp{=} are used for clarity here; they
2230 are not actually required.)
2231
2232 @kindex unset environment
2233 @item unset environment @var{varname}
2234 Remove variable @var{varname} from the environment to be passed to your
2235 program. This is different from @samp{set env @var{varname} =};
2236 @code{unset environment} removes the variable from the environment,
2237 rather than assigning it an empty value.
2238 @end table
2239
2240 @emph{Warning:} On Unix systems, @value{GDBN} runs your program using
2241 the shell indicated
2242 by your @code{SHELL} environment variable if it exists (or
2243 @code{/bin/sh} if not). If your @code{SHELL} variable names a shell
2244 that runs an initialization file---such as @file{.cshrc} for C-shell, or
2245 @file{.bashrc} for BASH---any variables you set in that file affect
2246 your program. You may wish to move setting of environment variables to
2247 files that are only run when you sign on, such as @file{.login} or
2248 @file{.profile}.
2249
2250 @node Working Directory
2251 @section Your Program's Working Directory
2252
2253 @cindex working directory (of your program)
2254 Each time you start your program with @code{run}, it inherits its
2255 working directory from the current working directory of @value{GDBN}.
2256 The @value{GDBN} working directory is initially whatever it inherited
2257 from its parent process (typically the shell), but you can specify a new
2258 working directory in @value{GDBN} with the @code{cd} command.
2259
2260 The @value{GDBN} working directory also serves as a default for the commands
2261 that specify files for @value{GDBN} to operate on. @xref{Files, ,Commands to
2262 Specify Files}.
2263
2264 @table @code
2265 @kindex cd
2266 @cindex change working directory
2267 @item cd @var{directory}
2268 Set the @value{GDBN} working directory to @var{directory}.
2269
2270 @kindex pwd
2271 @item pwd
2272 Print the @value{GDBN} working directory.
2273 @end table
2274
2275 It is generally impossible to find the current working directory of
2276 the process being debugged (since a program can change its directory
2277 during its run). If you work on a system where @value{GDBN} is
2278 configured with the @file{/proc} support, you can use the @code{info
2279 proc} command (@pxref{SVR4 Process Information}) to find out the
2280 current working directory of the debuggee.
2281
2282 @node Input/Output
2283 @section Your Program's Input and Output
2284
2285 @cindex redirection
2286 @cindex i/o
2287 @cindex terminal
2288 By default, the program you run under @value{GDBN} does input and output to
2289 the same terminal that @value{GDBN} uses. @value{GDBN} switches the terminal
2290 to its own terminal modes to interact with you, but it records the terminal
2291 modes your program was using and switches back to them when you continue
2292 running your program.
2293
2294 @table @code
2295 @kindex info terminal
2296 @item info terminal
2297 Displays information recorded by @value{GDBN} about the terminal modes your
2298 program is using.
2299 @end table
2300
2301 You can redirect your program's input and/or output using shell
2302 redirection with the @code{run} command. For example,
2303
2304 @smallexample
2305 run > outfile
2306 @end smallexample
2307
2308 @noindent
2309 starts your program, diverting its output to the file @file{outfile}.
2310
2311 @kindex tty
2312 @cindex controlling terminal
2313 Another way to specify where your program should do input and output is
2314 with the @code{tty} command. This command accepts a file name as
2315 argument, and causes this file to be the default for future @code{run}
2316 commands. It also resets the controlling terminal for the child
2317 process, for future @code{run} commands. For example,
2318
2319 @smallexample
2320 tty /dev/ttyb
2321 @end smallexample
2322
2323 @noindent
2324 directs that processes started with subsequent @code{run} commands
2325 default to do input and output on the terminal @file{/dev/ttyb} and have
2326 that as their controlling terminal.
2327
2328 An explicit redirection in @code{run} overrides the @code{tty} command's
2329 effect on the input/output device, but not its effect on the controlling
2330 terminal.
2331
2332 When you use the @code{tty} command or redirect input in the @code{run}
2333 command, only the input @emph{for your program} is affected. The input
2334 for @value{GDBN} still comes from your terminal. @code{tty} is an alias
2335 for @code{set inferior-tty}.
2336
2337 @cindex inferior tty
2338 @cindex set inferior controlling terminal
2339 You can use the @code{show inferior-tty} command to tell @value{GDBN} to
2340 display the name of the terminal that will be used for future runs of your
2341 program.
2342
2343 @table @code
2344 @item set inferior-tty /dev/ttyb
2345 @kindex set inferior-tty
2346 Set the tty for the program being debugged to /dev/ttyb.
2347
2348 @item show inferior-tty
2349 @kindex show inferior-tty
2350 Show the current tty for the program being debugged.
2351 @end table
2352
2353 @node Attach
2354 @section Debugging an Already-running Process
2355 @kindex attach
2356 @cindex attach
2357
2358 @table @code
2359 @item attach @var{process-id}
2360 This command attaches to a running process---one that was started
2361 outside @value{GDBN}. (@code{info files} shows your active
2362 targets.) The command takes as argument a process ID. The usual way to
2363 find out the @var{process-id} of a Unix process is with the @code{ps} utility,
2364 or with the @samp{jobs -l} shell command.
2365
2366 @code{attach} does not repeat if you press @key{RET} a second time after
2367 executing the command.
2368 @end table
2369
2370 To use @code{attach}, your program must be running in an environment
2371 which supports processes; for example, @code{attach} does not work for
2372 programs on bare-board targets that lack an operating system. You must
2373 also have permission to send the process a signal.
2374
2375 When you use @code{attach}, the debugger finds the program running in
2376 the process first by looking in the current working directory, then (if
2377 the program is not found) by using the source file search path
2378 (@pxref{Source Path, ,Specifying Source Directories}). You can also use
2379 the @code{file} command to load the program. @xref{Files, ,Commands to
2380 Specify Files}.
2381
2382 The first thing @value{GDBN} does after arranging to debug the specified
2383 process is to stop it. You can examine and modify an attached process
2384 with all the @value{GDBN} commands that are ordinarily available when
2385 you start processes with @code{run}. You can insert breakpoints; you
2386 can step and continue; you can modify storage. If you would rather the
2387 process continue running, you may use the @code{continue} command after
2388 attaching @value{GDBN} to the process.
2389
2390 @table @code
2391 @kindex detach
2392 @item detach
2393 When you have finished debugging the attached process, you can use the
2394 @code{detach} command to release it from @value{GDBN} control. Detaching
2395 the process continues its execution. After the @code{detach} command,
2396 that process and @value{GDBN} become completely independent once more, and you
2397 are ready to @code{attach} another process or start one with @code{run}.
2398 @code{detach} does not repeat if you press @key{RET} again after
2399 executing the command.
2400 @end table
2401
2402 If you exit @value{GDBN} while you have an attached process, you detach
2403 that process. If you use the @code{run} command, you kill that process.
2404 By default, @value{GDBN} asks for confirmation if you try to do either of these
2405 things; you can control whether or not you need to confirm by using the
2406 @code{set confirm} command (@pxref{Messages/Warnings, ,Optional Warnings and
2407 Messages}).
2408
2409 @node Kill Process
2410 @section Killing the Child Process
2411
2412 @table @code
2413 @kindex kill
2414 @item kill
2415 Kill the child process in which your program is running under @value{GDBN}.
2416 @end table
2417
2418 This command is useful if you wish to debug a core dump instead of a
2419 running process. @value{GDBN} ignores any core dump file while your program
2420 is running.
2421
2422 On some operating systems, a program cannot be executed outside @value{GDBN}
2423 while you have breakpoints set on it inside @value{GDBN}. You can use the
2424 @code{kill} command in this situation to permit running your program
2425 outside the debugger.
2426
2427 The @code{kill} command is also useful if you wish to recompile and
2428 relink your program, since on many systems it is impossible to modify an
2429 executable file while it is running in a process. In this case, when you
2430 next type @code{run}, @value{GDBN} notices that the file has changed, and
2431 reads the symbol table again (while trying to preserve your current
2432 breakpoint settings).
2433
2434 @node Inferiors and Programs
2435 @section Debugging Multiple Inferiors and Programs
2436
2437 @value{GDBN} lets you run and debug multiple programs in a single
2438 session. In addition, @value{GDBN} on some systems may let you run
2439 several programs simultaneously (otherwise you have to exit from one
2440 before starting another). In the most general case, you can have
2441 multiple threads of execution in each of multiple processes, launched
2442 from multiple executables.
2443
2444 @cindex inferior
2445 @value{GDBN} represents the state of each program execution with an
2446 object called an @dfn{inferior}. An inferior typically corresponds to
2447 a process, but is more general and applies also to targets that do not
2448 have processes. Inferiors may be created before a process runs, and
2449 may be retained after a process exits. Inferiors have unique
2450 identifiers that are different from process ids. Usually each
2451 inferior will also have its own distinct address space, although some
2452 embedded targets may have several inferiors running in different parts
2453 of a single address space. Each inferior may in turn have multiple
2454 threads running in it.
2455
2456 To find out what inferiors exist at any moment, use @w{@code{info
2457 inferiors}}:
2458
2459 @table @code
2460 @kindex info inferiors
2461 @item info inferiors
2462 Print a list of all inferiors currently being managed by @value{GDBN}.
2463
2464 @value{GDBN} displays for each inferior (in this order):
2465
2466 @enumerate
2467 @item
2468 the inferior number assigned by @value{GDBN}
2469
2470 @item
2471 the target system's inferior identifier
2472
2473 @item
2474 the name of the executable the inferior is running.
2475
2476 @end enumerate
2477
2478 @noindent
2479 An asterisk @samp{*} preceding the @value{GDBN} inferior number
2480 indicates the current inferior.
2481
2482 For example,
2483 @end table
2484 @c end table here to get a little more width for example
2485
2486 @smallexample
2487 (@value{GDBP}) info inferiors
2488 Num Description Executable
2489 2 process 2307 hello
2490 * 1 process 3401 goodbye
2491 @end smallexample
2492
2493 To switch focus between inferiors, use the @code{inferior} command:
2494
2495 @table @code
2496 @kindex inferior @var{infno}
2497 @item inferior @var{infno}
2498 Make inferior number @var{infno} the current inferior. The argument
2499 @var{infno} is the inferior number assigned by @value{GDBN}, as shown
2500 in the first field of the @samp{info inferiors} display.
2501 @end table
2502
2503
2504 You can get multiple executables into a debugging session via the
2505 @code{add-inferior} and @w{@code{clone-inferior}} commands. On some
2506 systems @value{GDBN} can add inferiors to the debug session
2507 automatically by following calls to @code{fork} and @code{exec}. To
2508 remove inferiors from the debugging session use the
2509 @w{@code{remove-inferiors}} command.
2510
2511 @table @code
2512 @kindex add-inferior
2513 @item add-inferior [ -copies @var{n} ] [ -exec @var{executable} ]
2514 Adds @var{n} inferiors to be run using @var{executable} as the
2515 executable. @var{n} defaults to 1. If no executable is specified,
2516 the inferiors begins empty, with no program. You can still assign or
2517 change the program assigned to the inferior at any time by using the
2518 @code{file} command with the executable name as its argument.
2519
2520 @kindex clone-inferior
2521 @item clone-inferior [ -copies @var{n} ] [ @var{infno} ]
2522 Adds @var{n} inferiors ready to execute the same program as inferior
2523 @var{infno}. @var{n} defaults to 1. @var{infno} defaults to the
2524 number of the current inferior. This is a convenient command when you
2525 want to run another instance of the inferior you are debugging.
2526
2527 @smallexample
2528 (@value{GDBP}) info inferiors
2529 Num Description Executable
2530 * 1 process 29964 helloworld
2531 (@value{GDBP}) clone-inferior
2532 Added inferior 2.
2533 1 inferiors added.
2534 (@value{GDBP}) info inferiors
2535 Num Description Executable
2536 2 <null> helloworld
2537 * 1 process 29964 helloworld
2538 @end smallexample
2539
2540 You can now simply switch focus to inferior 2 and run it.
2541
2542 @kindex remove-inferiors
2543 @item remove-inferiors @var{infno}@dots{}
2544 Removes the inferior or inferiors @var{infno}@dots{}. It is not
2545 possible to remove an inferior that is running with this command. For
2546 those, use the @code{kill} or @code{detach} command first.
2547
2548 @end table
2549
2550 To quit debugging one of the running inferiors that is not the current
2551 inferior, you can either detach from it by using the @w{@code{detach
2552 inferior}} command (allowing it to run independently), or kill it
2553 using the @w{@code{kill inferiors}} command:
2554
2555 @table @code
2556 @kindex detach inferiors @var{infno}@dots{}
2557 @item detach inferior @var{infno}@dots{}
2558 Detach from the inferior or inferiors identified by @value{GDBN}
2559 inferior number(s) @var{infno}@dots{}. Note that the inferior's entry
2560 still stays on the list of inferiors shown by @code{info inferiors},
2561 but its Description will show @samp{<null>}.
2562
2563 @kindex kill inferiors @var{infno}@dots{}
2564 @item kill inferiors @var{infno}@dots{}
2565 Kill the inferior or inferiors identified by @value{GDBN} inferior
2566 number(s) @var{infno}@dots{}. Note that the inferior's entry still
2567 stays on the list of inferiors shown by @code{info inferiors}, but its
2568 Description will show @samp{<null>}.
2569 @end table
2570
2571 After the successful completion of a command such as @code{detach},
2572 @code{detach inferiors}, @code{kill} or @code{kill inferiors}, or after
2573 a normal process exit, the inferior is still valid and listed with
2574 @code{info inferiors}, ready to be restarted.
2575
2576
2577 To be notified when inferiors are started or exit under @value{GDBN}'s
2578 control use @w{@code{set print inferior-events}}:
2579
2580 @table @code
2581 @kindex set print inferior-events
2582 @cindex print messages on inferior start and exit
2583 @item set print inferior-events
2584 @itemx set print inferior-events on
2585 @itemx set print inferior-events off
2586 The @code{set print inferior-events} command allows you to enable or
2587 disable printing of messages when @value{GDBN} notices that new
2588 inferiors have started or that inferiors have exited or have been
2589 detached. By default, these messages will not be printed.
2590
2591 @kindex show print inferior-events
2592 @item show print inferior-events
2593 Show whether messages will be printed when @value{GDBN} detects that
2594 inferiors have started, exited or have been detached.
2595 @end table
2596
2597 Many commands will work the same with multiple programs as with a
2598 single program: e.g., @code{print myglobal} will simply display the
2599 value of @code{myglobal} in the current inferior.
2600
2601
2602 Occasionaly, when debugging @value{GDBN} itself, it may be useful to
2603 get more info about the relationship of inferiors, programs, address
2604 spaces in a debug session. You can do that with the @w{@code{maint
2605 info program-spaces}} command.
2606
2607 @table @code
2608 @kindex maint info program-spaces
2609 @item maint info program-spaces
2610 Print a list of all program spaces currently being managed by
2611 @value{GDBN}.
2612
2613 @value{GDBN} displays for each program space (in this order):
2614
2615 @enumerate
2616 @item
2617 the program space number assigned by @value{GDBN}
2618
2619 @item
2620 the name of the executable loaded into the program space, with e.g.,
2621 the @code{file} command.
2622
2623 @end enumerate
2624
2625 @noindent
2626 An asterisk @samp{*} preceding the @value{GDBN} program space number
2627 indicates the current program space.
2628
2629 In addition, below each program space line, @value{GDBN} prints extra
2630 information that isn't suitable to display in tabular form. For
2631 example, the list of inferiors bound to the program space.
2632
2633 @smallexample
2634 (@value{GDBP}) maint info program-spaces
2635 Id Executable
2636 2 goodbye
2637 Bound inferiors: ID 1 (process 21561)
2638 * 1 hello
2639 @end smallexample
2640
2641 Here we can see that no inferior is running the program @code{hello},
2642 while @code{process 21561} is running the program @code{goodbye}. On
2643 some targets, it is possible that multiple inferiors are bound to the
2644 same program space. The most common example is that of debugging both
2645 the parent and child processes of a @code{vfork} call. For example,
2646
2647 @smallexample
2648 (@value{GDBP}) maint info program-spaces
2649 Id Executable
2650 * 1 vfork-test
2651 Bound inferiors: ID 2 (process 18050), ID 1 (process 18045)
2652 @end smallexample
2653
2654 Here, both inferior 2 and inferior 1 are running in the same program
2655 space as a result of inferior 1 having executed a @code{vfork} call.
2656 @end table
2657
2658 @node Threads
2659 @section Debugging Programs with Multiple Threads
2660
2661 @cindex threads of execution
2662 @cindex multiple threads
2663 @cindex switching threads
2664 In some operating systems, such as HP-UX and Solaris, a single program
2665 may have more than one @dfn{thread} of execution. The precise semantics
2666 of threads differ from one operating system to another, but in general
2667 the threads of a single program are akin to multiple processes---except
2668 that they share one address space (that is, they can all examine and
2669 modify the same variables). On the other hand, each thread has its own
2670 registers and execution stack, and perhaps private memory.
2671
2672 @value{GDBN} provides these facilities for debugging multi-thread
2673 programs:
2674
2675 @itemize @bullet
2676 @item automatic notification of new threads
2677 @item @samp{thread @var{threadno}}, a command to switch among threads
2678 @item @samp{info threads}, a command to inquire about existing threads
2679 @item @samp{thread apply [@var{threadno}] [@var{all}] @var{args}},
2680 a command to apply a command to a list of threads
2681 @item thread-specific breakpoints
2682 @item @samp{set print thread-events}, which controls printing of
2683 messages on thread start and exit.
2684 @item @samp{set libthread-db-search-path @var{path}}, which lets
2685 the user specify which @code{libthread_db} to use if the default choice
2686 isn't compatible with the program.
2687 @end itemize
2688
2689 @quotation
2690 @emph{Warning:} These facilities are not yet available on every
2691 @value{GDBN} configuration where the operating system supports threads.
2692 If your @value{GDBN} does not support threads, these commands have no
2693 effect. For example, a system without thread support shows no output
2694 from @samp{info threads}, and always rejects the @code{thread} command,
2695 like this:
2696
2697 @smallexample
2698 (@value{GDBP}) info threads
2699 (@value{GDBP}) thread 1
2700 Thread ID 1 not known. Use the "info threads" command to
2701 see the IDs of currently known threads.
2702 @end smallexample
2703 @c FIXME to implementors: how hard would it be to say "sorry, this GDB
2704 @c doesn't support threads"?
2705 @end quotation
2706
2707 @cindex focus of debugging
2708 @cindex current thread
2709 The @value{GDBN} thread debugging facility allows you to observe all
2710 threads while your program runs---but whenever @value{GDBN} takes
2711 control, one thread in particular is always the focus of debugging.
2712 This thread is called the @dfn{current thread}. Debugging commands show
2713 program information from the perspective of the current thread.
2714
2715 @cindex @code{New} @var{systag} message
2716 @cindex thread identifier (system)
2717 @c FIXME-implementors!! It would be more helpful if the [New...] message
2718 @c included GDB's numeric thread handle, so you could just go to that
2719 @c thread without first checking `info threads'.
2720 Whenever @value{GDBN} detects a new thread in your program, it displays
2721 the target system's identification for the thread with a message in the
2722 form @samp{[New @var{systag}]}. @var{systag} is a thread identifier
2723 whose form varies depending on the particular system. For example, on
2724 @sc{gnu}/Linux, you might see
2725
2726 @smallexample
2727 [New Thread 0x41e02940 (LWP 25582)]
2728 @end smallexample
2729
2730 @noindent
2731 when @value{GDBN} notices a new thread. In contrast, on an SGI system,
2732 the @var{systag} is simply something like @samp{process 368}, with no
2733 further qualifier.
2734
2735 @c FIXME!! (1) Does the [New...] message appear even for the very first
2736 @c thread of a program, or does it only appear for the
2737 @c second---i.e.@: when it becomes obvious we have a multithread
2738 @c program?
2739 @c (2) *Is* there necessarily a first thread always? Or do some
2740 @c multithread systems permit starting a program with multiple
2741 @c threads ab initio?
2742
2743 @cindex thread number
2744 @cindex thread identifier (GDB)
2745 For debugging purposes, @value{GDBN} associates its own thread
2746 number---always a single integer---with each thread in your program.
2747
2748 @table @code
2749 @kindex info threads
2750 @item info threads @r{[}@var{id}@dots{}@r{]}
2751 Display a summary of all threads currently in your program. Optional
2752 argument @var{id}@dots{} is one or more thread ids separated by spaces, and
2753 means to print information only about the specified thread or threads.
2754 @value{GDBN} displays for each thread (in this order):
2755
2756 @enumerate
2757 @item
2758 the thread number assigned by @value{GDBN}
2759
2760 @item
2761 the target system's thread identifier (@var{systag})
2762
2763 @item
2764 the thread's name, if one is known. A thread can either be named by
2765 the user (see @code{thread name}, below), or, in some cases, by the
2766 program itself.
2767
2768 @item
2769 the current stack frame summary for that thread
2770 @end enumerate
2771
2772 @noindent
2773 An asterisk @samp{*} to the left of the @value{GDBN} thread number
2774 indicates the current thread.
2775
2776 For example,
2777 @end table
2778 @c end table here to get a little more width for example
2779
2780 @smallexample
2781 (@value{GDBP}) info threads
2782 Id Target Id Frame
2783 3 process 35 thread 27 0x34e5 in sigpause ()
2784 2 process 35 thread 23 0x34e5 in sigpause ()
2785 * 1 process 35 thread 13 main (argc=1, argv=0x7ffffff8)
2786 at threadtest.c:68
2787 @end smallexample
2788
2789 On Solaris, you can display more information about user threads with a
2790 Solaris-specific command:
2791
2792 @table @code
2793 @item maint info sol-threads
2794 @kindex maint info sol-threads
2795 @cindex thread info (Solaris)
2796 Display info on Solaris user threads.
2797 @end table
2798
2799 @table @code
2800 @kindex thread @var{threadno}
2801 @item thread @var{threadno}
2802 Make thread number @var{threadno} the current thread. The command
2803 argument @var{threadno} is the internal @value{GDBN} thread number, as
2804 shown in the first field of the @samp{info threads} display.
2805 @value{GDBN} responds by displaying the system identifier of the thread
2806 you selected, and its current stack frame summary:
2807
2808 @smallexample
2809 (@value{GDBP}) thread 2
2810 [Switching to thread 2 (Thread 0xb7fdab70 (LWP 12747))]
2811 #0 some_function (ignore=0x0) at example.c:8
2812 8 printf ("hello\n");
2813 @end smallexample
2814
2815 @noindent
2816 As with the @samp{[New @dots{}]} message, the form of the text after
2817 @samp{Switching to} depends on your system's conventions for identifying
2818 threads.
2819
2820 @vindex $_thread@r{, convenience variable}
2821 The debugger convenience variable @samp{$_thread} contains the number
2822 of the current thread. You may find this useful in writing breakpoint
2823 conditional expressions, command scripts, and so forth. See
2824 @xref{Convenience Vars,, Convenience Variables}, for general
2825 information on convenience variables.
2826
2827 @kindex thread apply
2828 @cindex apply command to several threads
2829 @item thread apply [@var{threadno} | all] @var{command}
2830 The @code{thread apply} command allows you to apply the named
2831 @var{command} to one or more threads. Specify the numbers of the
2832 threads that you want affected with the command argument
2833 @var{threadno}. It can be a single thread number, one of the numbers
2834 shown in the first field of the @samp{info threads} display; or it
2835 could be a range of thread numbers, as in @code{2-4}. To apply a
2836 command to all threads, type @kbd{thread apply all @var{command}}.
2837
2838 @kindex thread name
2839 @cindex name a thread
2840 @item thread name [@var{name}]
2841 This command assigns a name to the current thread. If no argument is
2842 given, any existing user-specified name is removed. The thread name
2843 appears in the @samp{info threads} display.
2844
2845 On some systems, such as @sc{gnu}/Linux, @value{GDBN} is able to
2846 determine the name of the thread as given by the OS. On these
2847 systems, a name specified with @samp{thread name} will override the
2848 system-give name, and removing the user-specified name will cause
2849 @value{GDBN} to once again display the system-specified name.
2850
2851 @kindex thread find
2852 @cindex search for a thread
2853 @item thread find [@var{regexp}]
2854 Search for and display thread ids whose name or @var{systag}
2855 matches the supplied regular expression.
2856
2857 As well as being the complement to the @samp{thread name} command,
2858 this command also allows you to identify a thread by its target
2859 @var{systag}. For instance, on @sc{gnu}/Linux, the target @var{systag}
2860 is the LWP id.
2861
2862 @smallexample
2863 (@value{GDBN}) thread find 26688
2864 Thread 4 has target id 'Thread 0x41e02940 (LWP 26688)'
2865 (@value{GDBN}) info thread 4
2866 Id Target Id Frame
2867 4 Thread 0x41e02940 (LWP 26688) 0x00000031ca6cd372 in select ()
2868 @end smallexample
2869
2870 @kindex set print thread-events
2871 @cindex print messages on thread start and exit
2872 @item set print thread-events
2873 @itemx set print thread-events on
2874 @itemx set print thread-events off
2875 The @code{set print thread-events} command allows you to enable or
2876 disable printing of messages when @value{GDBN} notices that new threads have
2877 started or that threads have exited. By default, these messages will
2878 be printed if detection of these events is supported by the target.
2879 Note that these messages cannot be disabled on all targets.
2880
2881 @kindex show print thread-events
2882 @item show print thread-events
2883 Show whether messages will be printed when @value{GDBN} detects that threads
2884 have started and exited.
2885 @end table
2886
2887 @xref{Thread Stops,,Stopping and Starting Multi-thread Programs}, for
2888 more information about how @value{GDBN} behaves when you stop and start
2889 programs with multiple threads.
2890
2891 @xref{Set Watchpoints,,Setting Watchpoints}, for information about
2892 watchpoints in programs with multiple threads.
2893
2894 @anchor{set libthread-db-search-path}
2895 @table @code
2896 @kindex set libthread-db-search-path
2897 @cindex search path for @code{libthread_db}
2898 @item set libthread-db-search-path @r{[}@var{path}@r{]}
2899 If this variable is set, @var{path} is a colon-separated list of
2900 directories @value{GDBN} will use to search for @code{libthread_db}.
2901 If you omit @var{path}, @samp{libthread-db-search-path} will be reset to
2902 its default value (@code{$sdir:$pdir} on @sc{gnu}/Linux and Solaris systems).
2903 Internally, the default value comes from the @code{LIBTHREAD_DB_SEARCH_PATH}
2904 macro.
2905
2906 On @sc{gnu}/Linux and Solaris systems, @value{GDBN} uses a ``helper''
2907 @code{libthread_db} library to obtain information about threads in the
2908 inferior process. @value{GDBN} will use @samp{libthread-db-search-path}
2909 to find @code{libthread_db}. @value{GDBN} also consults first if inferior
2910 specific thread debugging library loading is enabled
2911 by @samp{set auto-load libthread-db} (@pxref{libthread_db.so.1 file}).
2912
2913 A special entry @samp{$sdir} for @samp{libthread-db-search-path}
2914 refers to the default system directories that are
2915 normally searched for loading shared libraries. The @samp{$sdir} entry
2916 is the only kind not needing to be enabled by @samp{set auto-load libthread-db}
2917 (@pxref{libthread_db.so.1 file}).
2918
2919 A special entry @samp{$pdir} for @samp{libthread-db-search-path}
2920 refers to the directory from which @code{libpthread}
2921 was loaded in the inferior process.
2922
2923 For any @code{libthread_db} library @value{GDBN} finds in above directories,
2924 @value{GDBN} attempts to initialize it with the current inferior process.
2925 If this initialization fails (which could happen because of a version
2926 mismatch between @code{libthread_db} and @code{libpthread}), @value{GDBN}
2927 will unload @code{libthread_db}, and continue with the next directory.
2928 If none of @code{libthread_db} libraries initialize successfully,
2929 @value{GDBN} will issue a warning and thread debugging will be disabled.
2930
2931 Setting @code{libthread-db-search-path} is currently implemented
2932 only on some platforms.
2933
2934 @kindex show libthread-db-search-path
2935 @item show libthread-db-search-path
2936 Display current libthread_db search path.
2937
2938 @kindex set debug libthread-db
2939 @kindex show debug libthread-db
2940 @cindex debugging @code{libthread_db}
2941 @item set debug libthread-db
2942 @itemx show debug libthread-db
2943 Turns on or off display of @code{libthread_db}-related events.
2944 Use @code{1} to enable, @code{0} to disable.
2945 @end table
2946
2947 @node Forks
2948 @section Debugging Forks
2949
2950 @cindex fork, debugging programs which call
2951 @cindex multiple processes
2952 @cindex processes, multiple
2953 On most systems, @value{GDBN} has no special support for debugging
2954 programs which create additional processes using the @code{fork}
2955 function. When a program forks, @value{GDBN} will continue to debug the
2956 parent process and the child process will run unimpeded. If you have
2957 set a breakpoint in any code which the child then executes, the child
2958 will get a @code{SIGTRAP} signal which (unless it catches the signal)
2959 will cause it to terminate.
2960
2961 However, if you want to debug the child process there is a workaround
2962 which isn't too painful. Put a call to @code{sleep} in the code which
2963 the child process executes after the fork. It may be useful to sleep
2964 only if a certain environment variable is set, or a certain file exists,
2965 so that the delay need not occur when you don't want to run @value{GDBN}
2966 on the child. While the child is sleeping, use the @code{ps} program to
2967 get its process ID. Then tell @value{GDBN} (a new invocation of
2968 @value{GDBN} if you are also debugging the parent process) to attach to
2969 the child process (@pxref{Attach}). From that point on you can debug
2970 the child process just like any other process which you attached to.
2971
2972 On some systems, @value{GDBN} provides support for debugging programs that
2973 create additional processes using the @code{fork} or @code{vfork} functions.
2974 Currently, the only platforms with this feature are HP-UX (11.x and later
2975 only?) and @sc{gnu}/Linux (kernel version 2.5.60 and later).
2976
2977 By default, when a program forks, @value{GDBN} will continue to debug
2978 the parent process and the child process will run unimpeded.
2979
2980 If you want to follow the child process instead of the parent process,
2981 use the command @w{@code{set follow-fork-mode}}.
2982
2983 @table @code
2984 @kindex set follow-fork-mode
2985 @item set follow-fork-mode @var{mode}
2986 Set the debugger response to a program call of @code{fork} or
2987 @code{vfork}. A call to @code{fork} or @code{vfork} creates a new
2988 process. The @var{mode} argument can be:
2989
2990 @table @code
2991 @item parent
2992 The original process is debugged after a fork. The child process runs
2993 unimpeded. This is the default.
2994
2995 @item child
2996 The new process is debugged after a fork. The parent process runs
2997 unimpeded.
2998
2999 @end table
3000
3001 @kindex show follow-fork-mode
3002 @item show follow-fork-mode
3003 Display the current debugger response to a @code{fork} or @code{vfork} call.
3004 @end table
3005
3006 @cindex debugging multiple processes
3007 On Linux, if you want to debug both the parent and child processes, use the
3008 command @w{@code{set detach-on-fork}}.
3009
3010 @table @code
3011 @kindex set detach-on-fork
3012 @item set detach-on-fork @var{mode}
3013 Tells gdb whether to detach one of the processes after a fork, or
3014 retain debugger control over them both.
3015
3016 @table @code
3017 @item on
3018 The child process (or parent process, depending on the value of
3019 @code{follow-fork-mode}) will be detached and allowed to run
3020 independently. This is the default.
3021
3022 @item off
3023 Both processes will be held under the control of @value{GDBN}.
3024 One process (child or parent, depending on the value of
3025 @code{follow-fork-mode}) is debugged as usual, while the other
3026 is held suspended.
3027
3028 @end table
3029
3030 @kindex show detach-on-fork
3031 @item show detach-on-fork
3032 Show whether detach-on-fork mode is on/off.
3033 @end table
3034
3035 If you choose to set @samp{detach-on-fork} mode off, then @value{GDBN}
3036 will retain control of all forked processes (including nested forks).
3037 You can list the forked processes under the control of @value{GDBN} by
3038 using the @w{@code{info inferiors}} command, and switch from one fork
3039 to another by using the @code{inferior} command (@pxref{Inferiors and
3040 Programs, ,Debugging Multiple Inferiors and Programs}).
3041
3042 To quit debugging one of the forked processes, you can either detach
3043 from it by using the @w{@code{detach inferiors}} command (allowing it
3044 to run independently), or kill it using the @w{@code{kill inferiors}}
3045 command. @xref{Inferiors and Programs, ,Debugging Multiple Inferiors
3046 and Programs}.
3047
3048 If you ask to debug a child process and a @code{vfork} is followed by an
3049 @code{exec}, @value{GDBN} executes the new target up to the first
3050 breakpoint in the new target. If you have a breakpoint set on
3051 @code{main} in your original program, the breakpoint will also be set on
3052 the child process's @code{main}.
3053
3054 On some systems, when a child process is spawned by @code{vfork}, you
3055 cannot debug the child or parent until an @code{exec} call completes.
3056
3057 If you issue a @code{run} command to @value{GDBN} after an @code{exec}
3058 call executes, the new target restarts. To restart the parent
3059 process, use the @code{file} command with the parent executable name
3060 as its argument. By default, after an @code{exec} call executes,
3061 @value{GDBN} discards the symbols of the previous executable image.
3062 You can change this behaviour with the @w{@code{set follow-exec-mode}}
3063 command.
3064
3065 @table @code
3066 @kindex set follow-exec-mode
3067 @item set follow-exec-mode @var{mode}
3068
3069 Set debugger response to a program call of @code{exec}. An
3070 @code{exec} call replaces the program image of a process.
3071
3072 @code{follow-exec-mode} can be:
3073
3074 @table @code
3075 @item new
3076 @value{GDBN} creates a new inferior and rebinds the process to this
3077 new inferior. The program the process was running before the
3078 @code{exec} call can be restarted afterwards by restarting the
3079 original inferior.
3080
3081 For example:
3082
3083 @smallexample
3084 (@value{GDBP}) info inferiors
3085 (gdb) info inferior
3086 Id Description Executable
3087 * 1 <null> prog1
3088 (@value{GDBP}) run
3089 process 12020 is executing new program: prog2
3090 Program exited normally.
3091 (@value{GDBP}) info inferiors
3092 Id Description Executable
3093 * 2 <null> prog2
3094 1 <null> prog1
3095 @end smallexample
3096
3097 @item same
3098 @value{GDBN} keeps the process bound to the same inferior. The new
3099 executable image replaces the previous executable loaded in the
3100 inferior. Restarting the inferior after the @code{exec} call, with
3101 e.g., the @code{run} command, restarts the executable the process was
3102 running after the @code{exec} call. This is the default mode.
3103
3104 For example:
3105
3106 @smallexample
3107 (@value{GDBP}) info inferiors
3108 Id Description Executable
3109 * 1 <null> prog1
3110 (@value{GDBP}) run
3111 process 12020 is executing new program: prog2
3112 Program exited normally.
3113 (@value{GDBP}) info inferiors
3114 Id Description Executable
3115 * 1 <null> prog2
3116 @end smallexample
3117
3118 @end table
3119 @end table
3120
3121 You can use the @code{catch} command to make @value{GDBN} stop whenever
3122 a @code{fork}, @code{vfork}, or @code{exec} call is made. @xref{Set
3123 Catchpoints, ,Setting Catchpoints}.
3124
3125 @node Checkpoint/Restart
3126 @section Setting a @emph{Bookmark} to Return to Later
3127
3128 @cindex checkpoint
3129 @cindex restart
3130 @cindex bookmark
3131 @cindex snapshot of a process
3132 @cindex rewind program state
3133
3134 On certain operating systems@footnote{Currently, only
3135 @sc{gnu}/Linux.}, @value{GDBN} is able to save a @dfn{snapshot} of a
3136 program's state, called a @dfn{checkpoint}, and come back to it
3137 later.
3138
3139 Returning to a checkpoint effectively undoes everything that has
3140 happened in the program since the @code{checkpoint} was saved. This
3141 includes changes in memory, registers, and even (within some limits)
3142 system state. Effectively, it is like going back in time to the
3143 moment when the checkpoint was saved.
3144
3145 Thus, if you're stepping thru a program and you think you're
3146 getting close to the point where things go wrong, you can save
3147 a checkpoint. Then, if you accidentally go too far and miss
3148 the critical statement, instead of having to restart your program
3149 from the beginning, you can just go back to the checkpoint and
3150 start again from there.
3151
3152 This can be especially useful if it takes a lot of time or
3153 steps to reach the point where you think the bug occurs.
3154
3155 To use the @code{checkpoint}/@code{restart} method of debugging:
3156
3157 @table @code
3158 @kindex checkpoint
3159 @item checkpoint
3160 Save a snapshot of the debugged program's current execution state.
3161 The @code{checkpoint} command takes no arguments, but each checkpoint
3162 is assigned a small integer id, similar to a breakpoint id.
3163
3164 @kindex info checkpoints
3165 @item info checkpoints
3166 List the checkpoints that have been saved in the current debugging
3167 session. For each checkpoint, the following information will be
3168 listed:
3169
3170 @table @code
3171 @item Checkpoint ID
3172 @item Process ID
3173 @item Code Address
3174 @item Source line, or label
3175 @end table
3176
3177 @kindex restart @var{checkpoint-id}
3178 @item restart @var{checkpoint-id}
3179 Restore the program state that was saved as checkpoint number
3180 @var{checkpoint-id}. All program variables, registers, stack frames
3181 etc.@: will be returned to the values that they had when the checkpoint
3182 was saved. In essence, gdb will ``wind back the clock'' to the point
3183 in time when the checkpoint was saved.
3184
3185 Note that breakpoints, @value{GDBN} variables, command history etc.
3186 are not affected by restoring a checkpoint. In general, a checkpoint
3187 only restores things that reside in the program being debugged, not in
3188 the debugger.
3189
3190 @kindex delete checkpoint @var{checkpoint-id}
3191 @item delete checkpoint @var{checkpoint-id}
3192 Delete the previously-saved checkpoint identified by @var{checkpoint-id}.
3193
3194 @end table
3195
3196 Returning to a previously saved checkpoint will restore the user state
3197 of the program being debugged, plus a significant subset of the system
3198 (OS) state, including file pointers. It won't ``un-write'' data from
3199 a file, but it will rewind the file pointer to the previous location,
3200 so that the previously written data can be overwritten. For files
3201 opened in read mode, the pointer will also be restored so that the
3202 previously read data can be read again.
3203
3204 Of course, characters that have been sent to a printer (or other
3205 external device) cannot be ``snatched back'', and characters received
3206 from eg.@: a serial device can be removed from internal program buffers,
3207 but they cannot be ``pushed back'' into the serial pipeline, ready to
3208 be received again. Similarly, the actual contents of files that have
3209 been changed cannot be restored (at this time).
3210
3211 However, within those constraints, you actually can ``rewind'' your
3212 program to a previously saved point in time, and begin debugging it
3213 again --- and you can change the course of events so as to debug a
3214 different execution path this time.
3215
3216 @cindex checkpoints and process id
3217 Finally, there is one bit of internal program state that will be
3218 different when you return to a checkpoint --- the program's process
3219 id. Each checkpoint will have a unique process id (or @var{pid}),
3220 and each will be different from the program's original @var{pid}.
3221 If your program has saved a local copy of its process id, this could
3222 potentially pose a problem.
3223
3224 @subsection A Non-obvious Benefit of Using Checkpoints
3225
3226 On some systems such as @sc{gnu}/Linux, address space randomization
3227 is performed on new processes for security reasons. This makes it
3228 difficult or impossible to set a breakpoint, or watchpoint, on an
3229 absolute address if you have to restart the program, since the
3230 absolute location of a symbol will change from one execution to the
3231 next.
3232
3233 A checkpoint, however, is an @emph{identical} copy of a process.
3234 Therefore if you create a checkpoint at (eg.@:) the start of main,
3235 and simply return to that checkpoint instead of restarting the
3236 process, you can avoid the effects of address randomization and
3237 your symbols will all stay in the same place.
3238
3239 @node Stopping
3240 @chapter Stopping and Continuing
3241
3242 The principal purposes of using a debugger are so that you can stop your
3243 program before it terminates; or so that, if your program runs into
3244 trouble, you can investigate and find out why.
3245
3246 Inside @value{GDBN}, your program may stop for any of several reasons,
3247 such as a signal, a breakpoint, or reaching a new line after a
3248 @value{GDBN} command such as @code{step}. You may then examine and
3249 change variables, set new breakpoints or remove old ones, and then
3250 continue execution. Usually, the messages shown by @value{GDBN} provide
3251 ample explanation of the status of your program---but you can also
3252 explicitly request this information at any time.
3253
3254 @table @code
3255 @kindex info program
3256 @item info program
3257 Display information about the status of your program: whether it is
3258 running or not, what process it is, and why it stopped.
3259 @end table
3260
3261 @menu
3262 * Breakpoints:: Breakpoints, watchpoints, and catchpoints
3263 * Continuing and Stepping:: Resuming execution
3264 * Skipping Over Functions and Files::
3265 Skipping over functions and files
3266 * Signals:: Signals
3267 * Thread Stops:: Stopping and starting multi-thread programs
3268 @end menu
3269
3270 @node Breakpoints
3271 @section Breakpoints, Watchpoints, and Catchpoints
3272
3273 @cindex breakpoints
3274 A @dfn{breakpoint} makes your program stop whenever a certain point in
3275 the program is reached. For each breakpoint, you can add conditions to
3276 control in finer detail whether your program stops. You can set
3277 breakpoints with the @code{break} command and its variants (@pxref{Set
3278 Breaks, ,Setting Breakpoints}), to specify the place where your program
3279 should stop by line number, function name or exact address in the
3280 program.
3281
3282 On some systems, you can set breakpoints in shared libraries before
3283 the executable is run. There is a minor limitation on HP-UX systems:
3284 you must wait until the executable is run in order to set breakpoints
3285 in shared library routines that are not called directly by the program
3286 (for example, routines that are arguments in a @code{pthread_create}
3287 call).
3288
3289 @cindex watchpoints
3290 @cindex data breakpoints
3291 @cindex memory tracing
3292 @cindex breakpoint on memory address
3293 @cindex breakpoint on variable modification
3294 A @dfn{watchpoint} is a special breakpoint that stops your program
3295 when the value of an expression changes. The expression may be a value
3296 of a variable, or it could involve values of one or more variables
3297 combined by operators, such as @samp{a + b}. This is sometimes called
3298 @dfn{data breakpoints}. You must use a different command to set
3299 watchpoints (@pxref{Set Watchpoints, ,Setting Watchpoints}), but aside
3300 from that, you can manage a watchpoint like any other breakpoint: you
3301 enable, disable, and delete both breakpoints and watchpoints using the
3302 same commands.
3303
3304 You can arrange to have values from your program displayed automatically
3305 whenever @value{GDBN} stops at a breakpoint. @xref{Auto Display,,
3306 Automatic Display}.
3307
3308 @cindex catchpoints
3309 @cindex breakpoint on events
3310 A @dfn{catchpoint} is another special breakpoint that stops your program
3311 when a certain kind of event occurs, such as the throwing of a C@t{++}
3312 exception or the loading of a library. As with watchpoints, you use a
3313 different command to set a catchpoint (@pxref{Set Catchpoints, ,Setting
3314 Catchpoints}), but aside from that, you can manage a catchpoint like any
3315 other breakpoint. (To stop when your program receives a signal, use the
3316 @code{handle} command; see @ref{Signals, ,Signals}.)
3317
3318 @cindex breakpoint numbers
3319 @cindex numbers for breakpoints
3320 @value{GDBN} assigns a number to each breakpoint, watchpoint, or
3321 catchpoint when you create it; these numbers are successive integers
3322 starting with one. In many of the commands for controlling various
3323 features of breakpoints you use the breakpoint number to say which
3324 breakpoint you want to change. Each breakpoint may be @dfn{enabled} or
3325 @dfn{disabled}; if disabled, it has no effect on your program until you
3326 enable it again.
3327
3328 @cindex breakpoint ranges
3329 @cindex ranges of breakpoints
3330 Some @value{GDBN} commands accept a range of breakpoints on which to
3331 operate. A breakpoint range is either a single breakpoint number, like
3332 @samp{5}, or two such numbers, in increasing order, separated by a
3333 hyphen, like @samp{5-7}. When a breakpoint range is given to a command,
3334 all breakpoints in that range are operated on.
3335
3336 @menu
3337 * Set Breaks:: Setting breakpoints
3338 * Set Watchpoints:: Setting watchpoints
3339 * Set Catchpoints:: Setting catchpoints
3340 * Delete Breaks:: Deleting breakpoints
3341 * Disabling:: Disabling breakpoints
3342 * Conditions:: Break conditions
3343 * Break Commands:: Breakpoint command lists
3344 * Dynamic Printf:: Dynamic printf
3345 * Save Breakpoints:: How to save breakpoints in a file
3346 * Static Probe Points:: Listing static probe points
3347 * Error in Breakpoints:: ``Cannot insert breakpoints''
3348 * Breakpoint-related Warnings:: ``Breakpoint address adjusted...''
3349 @end menu
3350
3351 @node Set Breaks
3352 @subsection Setting Breakpoints
3353
3354 @c FIXME LMB what does GDB do if no code on line of breakpt?
3355 @c consider in particular declaration with/without initialization.
3356 @c
3357 @c FIXME 2 is there stuff on this already? break at fun start, already init?
3358
3359 @kindex break
3360 @kindex b @r{(@code{break})}
3361 @vindex $bpnum@r{, convenience variable}
3362 @cindex latest breakpoint
3363 Breakpoints are set with the @code{break} command (abbreviated
3364 @code{b}). The debugger convenience variable @samp{$bpnum} records the
3365 number of the breakpoint you've set most recently; see @ref{Convenience
3366 Vars,, Convenience Variables}, for a discussion of what you can do with
3367 convenience variables.
3368
3369 @table @code
3370 @item break @var{location}
3371 Set a breakpoint at the given @var{location}, which can specify a
3372 function name, a line number, or an address of an instruction.
3373 (@xref{Specify Location}, for a list of all the possible ways to
3374 specify a @var{location}.) The breakpoint will stop your program just
3375 before it executes any of the code in the specified @var{location}.
3376
3377 When using source languages that permit overloading of symbols, such as
3378 C@t{++}, a function name may refer to more than one possible place to break.
3379 @xref{Ambiguous Expressions,,Ambiguous Expressions}, for a discussion of
3380 that situation.
3381
3382 It is also possible to insert a breakpoint that will stop the program
3383 only if a specific thread (@pxref{Thread-Specific Breakpoints})
3384 or a specific task (@pxref{Ada Tasks}) hits that breakpoint.
3385
3386 @item break
3387 When called without any arguments, @code{break} sets a breakpoint at
3388 the next instruction to be executed in the selected stack frame
3389 (@pxref{Stack, ,Examining the Stack}). In any selected frame but the
3390 innermost, this makes your program stop as soon as control
3391 returns to that frame. This is similar to the effect of a
3392 @code{finish} command in the frame inside the selected frame---except
3393 that @code{finish} does not leave an active breakpoint. If you use
3394 @code{break} without an argument in the innermost frame, @value{GDBN} stops
3395 the next time it reaches the current location; this may be useful
3396 inside loops.
3397
3398 @value{GDBN} normally ignores breakpoints when it resumes execution, until at
3399 least one instruction has been executed. If it did not do this, you
3400 would be unable to proceed past a breakpoint without first disabling the
3401 breakpoint. This rule applies whether or not the breakpoint already
3402 existed when your program stopped.
3403
3404 @item break @dots{} if @var{cond}
3405 Set a breakpoint with condition @var{cond}; evaluate the expression
3406 @var{cond} each time the breakpoint is reached, and stop only if the
3407 value is nonzero---that is, if @var{cond} evaluates as true.
3408 @samp{@dots{}} stands for one of the possible arguments described
3409 above (or no argument) specifying where to break. @xref{Conditions,
3410 ,Break Conditions}, for more information on breakpoint conditions.
3411
3412 @kindex tbreak
3413 @item tbreak @var{args}
3414 Set a breakpoint enabled only for one stop. @var{args} are the
3415 same as for the @code{break} command, and the breakpoint is set in the same
3416 way, but the breakpoint is automatically deleted after the first time your
3417 program stops there. @xref{Disabling, ,Disabling Breakpoints}.
3418
3419 @kindex hbreak
3420 @cindex hardware breakpoints
3421 @item hbreak @var{args}
3422 Set a hardware-assisted breakpoint. @var{args} are the same as for the
3423 @code{break} command and the breakpoint is set in the same way, but the
3424 breakpoint requires hardware support and some target hardware may not
3425 have this support. The main purpose of this is EPROM/ROM code
3426 debugging, so you can set a breakpoint at an instruction without
3427 changing the instruction. This can be used with the new trap-generation
3428 provided by SPARClite DSU and most x86-based targets. These targets
3429 will generate traps when a program accesses some data or instruction
3430 address that is assigned to the debug registers. However the hardware
3431 breakpoint registers can take a limited number of breakpoints. For
3432 example, on the DSU, only two data breakpoints can be set at a time, and
3433 @value{GDBN} will reject this command if more than two are used. Delete
3434 or disable unused hardware breakpoints before setting new ones
3435 (@pxref{Disabling, ,Disabling Breakpoints}).
3436 @xref{Conditions, ,Break Conditions}.
3437 For remote targets, you can restrict the number of hardware
3438 breakpoints @value{GDBN} will use, see @ref{set remote
3439 hardware-breakpoint-limit}.
3440
3441 @kindex thbreak
3442 @item thbreak @var{args}
3443 Set a hardware-assisted breakpoint enabled only for one stop. @var{args}
3444 are the same as for the @code{hbreak} command and the breakpoint is set in
3445 the same way. However, like the @code{tbreak} command,
3446 the breakpoint is automatically deleted after the
3447 first time your program stops there. Also, like the @code{hbreak}
3448 command, the breakpoint requires hardware support and some target hardware
3449 may not have this support. @xref{Disabling, ,Disabling Breakpoints}.
3450 See also @ref{Conditions, ,Break Conditions}.
3451
3452 @kindex rbreak
3453 @cindex regular expression
3454 @cindex breakpoints at functions matching a regexp
3455 @cindex set breakpoints in many functions
3456 @item rbreak @var{regex}
3457 Set breakpoints on all functions matching the regular expression
3458 @var{regex}. This command sets an unconditional breakpoint on all
3459 matches, printing a list of all breakpoints it set. Once these
3460 breakpoints are set, they are treated just like the breakpoints set with
3461 the @code{break} command. You can delete them, disable them, or make
3462 them conditional the same way as any other breakpoint.
3463
3464 The syntax of the regular expression is the standard one used with tools
3465 like @file{grep}. Note that this is different from the syntax used by
3466 shells, so for instance @code{foo*} matches all functions that include
3467 an @code{fo} followed by zero or more @code{o}s. There is an implicit
3468 @code{.*} leading and trailing the regular expression you supply, so to
3469 match only functions that begin with @code{foo}, use @code{^foo}.
3470
3471 @cindex non-member C@t{++} functions, set breakpoint in
3472 When debugging C@t{++} programs, @code{rbreak} is useful for setting
3473 breakpoints on overloaded functions that are not members of any special
3474 classes.
3475
3476 @cindex set breakpoints on all functions
3477 The @code{rbreak} command can be used to set breakpoints in
3478 @strong{all} the functions in a program, like this:
3479
3480 @smallexample
3481 (@value{GDBP}) rbreak .
3482 @end smallexample
3483
3484 @item rbreak @var{file}:@var{regex}
3485 If @code{rbreak} is called with a filename qualification, it limits
3486 the search for functions matching the given regular expression to the
3487 specified @var{file}. This can be used, for example, to set breakpoints on
3488 every function in a given file:
3489
3490 @smallexample
3491 (@value{GDBP}) rbreak file.c:.
3492 @end smallexample
3493
3494 The colon separating the filename qualifier from the regex may
3495 optionally be surrounded by spaces.
3496
3497 @kindex info breakpoints
3498 @cindex @code{$_} and @code{info breakpoints}
3499 @item info breakpoints @r{[}@var{n}@dots{}@r{]}
3500 @itemx info break @r{[}@var{n}@dots{}@r{]}
3501 Print a table of all breakpoints, watchpoints, and catchpoints set and
3502 not deleted. Optional argument @var{n} means print information only
3503 about the specified breakpoint(s) (or watchpoint(s) or catchpoint(s)).
3504 For each breakpoint, following columns are printed:
3505
3506 @table @emph
3507 @item Breakpoint Numbers
3508 @item Type
3509 Breakpoint, watchpoint, or catchpoint.
3510 @item Disposition
3511 Whether the breakpoint is marked to be disabled or deleted when hit.
3512 @item Enabled or Disabled
3513 Enabled breakpoints are marked with @samp{y}. @samp{n} marks breakpoints
3514 that are not enabled.
3515 @item Address
3516 Where the breakpoint is in your program, as a memory address. For a
3517 pending breakpoint whose address is not yet known, this field will
3518 contain @samp{<PENDING>}. Such breakpoint won't fire until a shared
3519 library that has the symbol or line referred by breakpoint is loaded.
3520 See below for details. A breakpoint with several locations will
3521 have @samp{<MULTIPLE>} in this field---see below for details.
3522 @item What
3523 Where the breakpoint is in the source for your program, as a file and
3524 line number. For a pending breakpoint, the original string passed to
3525 the breakpoint command will be listed as it cannot be resolved until
3526 the appropriate shared library is loaded in the future.
3527 @end table
3528
3529 @noindent
3530 If a breakpoint is conditional, there are two evaluation modes: ``host'' and
3531 ``target''. If mode is ``host'', breakpoint condition evaluation is done by
3532 @value{GDBN} on the host's side. If it is ``target'', then the condition
3533 is evaluated by the target. The @code{info break} command shows
3534 the condition on the line following the affected breakpoint, together with
3535 its condition evaluation mode in between parentheses.
3536
3537 Breakpoint commands, if any, are listed after that. A pending breakpoint is
3538 allowed to have a condition specified for it. The condition is not parsed for
3539 validity until a shared library is loaded that allows the pending
3540 breakpoint to resolve to a valid location.
3541
3542 @noindent
3543 @code{info break} with a breakpoint
3544 number @var{n} as argument lists only that breakpoint. The
3545 convenience variable @code{$_} and the default examining-address for
3546 the @code{x} command are set to the address of the last breakpoint
3547 listed (@pxref{Memory, ,Examining Memory}).
3548
3549 @noindent
3550 @code{info break} displays a count of the number of times the breakpoint
3551 has been hit. This is especially useful in conjunction with the
3552 @code{ignore} command. You can ignore a large number of breakpoint
3553 hits, look at the breakpoint info to see how many times the breakpoint
3554 was hit, and then run again, ignoring one less than that number. This
3555 will get you quickly to the last hit of that breakpoint.
3556
3557 @noindent
3558 For a breakpoints with an enable count (xref) greater than 1,
3559 @code{info break} also displays that count.
3560
3561 @end table
3562
3563 @value{GDBN} allows you to set any number of breakpoints at the same place in
3564 your program. There is nothing silly or meaningless about this. When
3565 the breakpoints are conditional, this is even useful
3566 (@pxref{Conditions, ,Break Conditions}).
3567
3568 @cindex multiple locations, breakpoints
3569 @cindex breakpoints, multiple locations
3570 It is possible that a breakpoint corresponds to several locations
3571 in your program. Examples of this situation are:
3572
3573 @itemize @bullet
3574 @item
3575 Multiple functions in the program may have the same name.
3576
3577 @item
3578 For a C@t{++} constructor, the @value{NGCC} compiler generates several
3579 instances of the function body, used in different cases.
3580
3581 @item
3582 For a C@t{++} template function, a given line in the function can
3583 correspond to any number of instantiations.
3584
3585 @item
3586 For an inlined function, a given source line can correspond to
3587 several places where that function is inlined.
3588 @end itemize
3589
3590 In all those cases, @value{GDBN} will insert a breakpoint at all
3591 the relevant locations.
3592
3593 A breakpoint with multiple locations is displayed in the breakpoint
3594 table using several rows---one header row, followed by one row for
3595 each breakpoint location. The header row has @samp{<MULTIPLE>} in the
3596 address column. The rows for individual locations contain the actual
3597 addresses for locations, and show the functions to which those
3598 locations belong. The number column for a location is of the form
3599 @var{breakpoint-number}.@var{location-number}.
3600
3601 For example:
3602
3603 @smallexample
3604 Num Type Disp Enb Address What
3605 1 breakpoint keep y <MULTIPLE>
3606 stop only if i==1
3607 breakpoint already hit 1 time
3608 1.1 y 0x080486a2 in void foo<int>() at t.cc:8
3609 1.2 y 0x080486ca in void foo<double>() at t.cc:8
3610 @end smallexample
3611
3612 Each location can be individually enabled or disabled by passing
3613 @var{breakpoint-number}.@var{location-number} as argument to the
3614 @code{enable} and @code{disable} commands. Note that you cannot
3615 delete the individual locations from the list, you can only delete the
3616 entire list of locations that belong to their parent breakpoint (with
3617 the @kbd{delete @var{num}} command, where @var{num} is the number of
3618 the parent breakpoint, 1 in the above example). Disabling or enabling
3619 the parent breakpoint (@pxref{Disabling}) affects all of the locations
3620 that belong to that breakpoint.
3621
3622 @cindex pending breakpoints
3623 It's quite common to have a breakpoint inside a shared library.
3624 Shared libraries can be loaded and unloaded explicitly,
3625 and possibly repeatedly, as the program is executed. To support
3626 this use case, @value{GDBN} updates breakpoint locations whenever
3627 any shared library is loaded or unloaded. Typically, you would
3628 set a breakpoint in a shared library at the beginning of your
3629 debugging session, when the library is not loaded, and when the
3630 symbols from the library are not available. When you try to set
3631 breakpoint, @value{GDBN} will ask you if you want to set
3632 a so called @dfn{pending breakpoint}---breakpoint whose address
3633 is not yet resolved.
3634
3635 After the program is run, whenever a new shared library is loaded,
3636 @value{GDBN} reevaluates all the breakpoints. When a newly loaded
3637 shared library contains the symbol or line referred to by some
3638 pending breakpoint, that breakpoint is resolved and becomes an
3639 ordinary breakpoint. When a library is unloaded, all breakpoints
3640 that refer to its symbols or source lines become pending again.
3641
3642 This logic works for breakpoints with multiple locations, too. For
3643 example, if you have a breakpoint in a C@t{++} template function, and
3644 a newly loaded shared library has an instantiation of that template,
3645 a new location is added to the list of locations for the breakpoint.
3646
3647 Except for having unresolved address, pending breakpoints do not
3648 differ from regular breakpoints. You can set conditions or commands,
3649 enable and disable them and perform other breakpoint operations.
3650
3651 @value{GDBN} provides some additional commands for controlling what
3652 happens when the @samp{break} command cannot resolve breakpoint
3653 address specification to an address:
3654
3655 @kindex set breakpoint pending
3656 @kindex show breakpoint pending
3657 @table @code
3658 @item set breakpoint pending auto
3659 This is the default behavior. When @value{GDBN} cannot find the breakpoint
3660 location, it queries you whether a pending breakpoint should be created.
3661
3662 @item set breakpoint pending on
3663 This indicates that an unrecognized breakpoint location should automatically
3664 result in a pending breakpoint being created.
3665
3666 @item set breakpoint pending off
3667 This indicates that pending breakpoints are not to be created. Any
3668 unrecognized breakpoint location results in an error. This setting does
3669 not affect any pending breakpoints previously created.
3670
3671 @item show breakpoint pending
3672 Show the current behavior setting for creating pending breakpoints.
3673 @end table
3674
3675 The settings above only affect the @code{break} command and its
3676 variants. Once breakpoint is set, it will be automatically updated
3677 as shared libraries are loaded and unloaded.
3678
3679 @cindex automatic hardware breakpoints
3680 For some targets, @value{GDBN} can automatically decide if hardware or
3681 software breakpoints should be used, depending on whether the
3682 breakpoint address is read-only or read-write. This applies to
3683 breakpoints set with the @code{break} command as well as to internal
3684 breakpoints set by commands like @code{next} and @code{finish}. For
3685 breakpoints set with @code{hbreak}, @value{GDBN} will always use hardware
3686 breakpoints.
3687
3688 You can control this automatic behaviour with the following commands::
3689
3690 @kindex set breakpoint auto-hw
3691 @kindex show breakpoint auto-hw
3692 @table @code
3693 @item set breakpoint auto-hw on
3694 This is the default behavior. When @value{GDBN} sets a breakpoint, it
3695 will try to use the target memory map to decide if software or hardware
3696 breakpoint must be used.
3697
3698 @item set breakpoint auto-hw off
3699 This indicates @value{GDBN} should not automatically select breakpoint
3700 type. If the target provides a memory map, @value{GDBN} will warn when
3701 trying to set software breakpoint at a read-only address.
3702 @end table
3703
3704 @value{GDBN} normally implements breakpoints by replacing the program code
3705 at the breakpoint address with a special instruction, which, when
3706 executed, given control to the debugger. By default, the program
3707 code is so modified only when the program is resumed. As soon as
3708 the program stops, @value{GDBN} restores the original instructions. This
3709 behaviour guards against leaving breakpoints inserted in the
3710 target should gdb abrubptly disconnect. However, with slow remote
3711 targets, inserting and removing breakpoint can reduce the performance.
3712 This behavior can be controlled with the following commands::
3713
3714 @kindex set breakpoint always-inserted
3715 @kindex show breakpoint always-inserted
3716 @table @code
3717 @item set breakpoint always-inserted off
3718 All breakpoints, including newly added by the user, are inserted in
3719 the target only when the target is resumed. All breakpoints are
3720 removed from the target when it stops.
3721
3722 @item set breakpoint always-inserted on
3723 Causes all breakpoints to be inserted in the target at all times. If
3724 the user adds a new breakpoint, or changes an existing breakpoint, the
3725 breakpoints in the target are updated immediately. A breakpoint is
3726 removed from the target only when breakpoint itself is removed.
3727
3728 @cindex non-stop mode, and @code{breakpoint always-inserted}
3729 @item set breakpoint always-inserted auto
3730 This is the default mode. If @value{GDBN} is controlling the inferior
3731 in non-stop mode (@pxref{Non-Stop Mode}), gdb behaves as if
3732 @code{breakpoint always-inserted} mode is on. If @value{GDBN} is
3733 controlling the inferior in all-stop mode, @value{GDBN} behaves as if
3734 @code{breakpoint always-inserted} mode is off.
3735 @end table
3736
3737 @value{GDBN} handles conditional breakpoints by evaluating these conditions
3738 when a breakpoint breaks. If the condition is true, then the process being
3739 debugged stops, otherwise the process is resumed.
3740
3741 If the target supports evaluating conditions on its end, @value{GDBN} may
3742 download the breakpoint, together with its conditions, to it.
3743
3744 This feature can be controlled via the following commands:
3745
3746 @kindex set breakpoint condition-evaluation
3747 @kindex show breakpoint condition-evaluation
3748 @table @code
3749 @item set breakpoint condition-evaluation host
3750 This option commands @value{GDBN} to evaluate the breakpoint
3751 conditions on the host's side. Unconditional breakpoints are sent to
3752 the target which in turn receives the triggers and reports them back to GDB
3753 for condition evaluation. This is the standard evaluation mode.
3754
3755 @item set breakpoint condition-evaluation target
3756 This option commands @value{GDBN} to download breakpoint conditions
3757 to the target at the moment of their insertion. The target
3758 is responsible for evaluating the conditional expression and reporting
3759 breakpoint stop events back to @value{GDBN} whenever the condition
3760 is true. Due to limitations of target-side evaluation, some conditions
3761 cannot be evaluated there, e.g., conditions that depend on local data
3762 that is only known to the host. Examples include
3763 conditional expressions involving convenience variables, complex types
3764 that cannot be handled by the agent expression parser and expressions
3765 that are too long to be sent over to the target, specially when the
3766 target is a remote system. In these cases, the conditions will be
3767 evaluated by @value{GDBN}.
3768
3769 @item set breakpoint condition-evaluation auto
3770 This is the default mode. If the target supports evaluating breakpoint
3771 conditions on its end, @value{GDBN} will download breakpoint conditions to
3772 the target (limitations mentioned previously apply). If the target does
3773 not support breakpoint condition evaluation, then @value{GDBN} will fallback
3774 to evaluating all these conditions on the host's side.
3775 @end table
3776
3777
3778 @cindex negative breakpoint numbers
3779 @cindex internal @value{GDBN} breakpoints
3780 @value{GDBN} itself sometimes sets breakpoints in your program for
3781 special purposes, such as proper handling of @code{longjmp} (in C
3782 programs). These internal breakpoints are assigned negative numbers,
3783 starting with @code{-1}; @samp{info breakpoints} does not display them.
3784 You can see these breakpoints with the @value{GDBN} maintenance command
3785 @samp{maint info breakpoints} (@pxref{maint info breakpoints}).
3786
3787
3788 @node Set Watchpoints
3789 @subsection Setting Watchpoints
3790
3791 @cindex setting watchpoints
3792 You can use a watchpoint to stop execution whenever the value of an
3793 expression changes, without having to predict a particular place where
3794 this may happen. (This is sometimes called a @dfn{data breakpoint}.)
3795 The expression may be as simple as the value of a single variable, or
3796 as complex as many variables combined by operators. Examples include:
3797
3798 @itemize @bullet
3799 @item
3800 A reference to the value of a single variable.
3801
3802 @item
3803 An address cast to an appropriate data type. For example,
3804 @samp{*(int *)0x12345678} will watch a 4-byte region at the specified
3805 address (assuming an @code{int} occupies 4 bytes).
3806
3807 @item
3808 An arbitrarily complex expression, such as @samp{a*b + c/d}. The
3809 expression can use any operators valid in the program's native
3810 language (@pxref{Languages}).
3811 @end itemize
3812
3813 You can set a watchpoint on an expression even if the expression can
3814 not be evaluated yet. For instance, you can set a watchpoint on
3815 @samp{*global_ptr} before @samp{global_ptr} is initialized.
3816 @value{GDBN} will stop when your program sets @samp{global_ptr} and
3817 the expression produces a valid value. If the expression becomes
3818 valid in some other way than changing a variable (e.g.@: if the memory
3819 pointed to by @samp{*global_ptr} becomes readable as the result of a
3820 @code{malloc} call), @value{GDBN} may not stop until the next time
3821 the expression changes.
3822
3823 @cindex software watchpoints
3824 @cindex hardware watchpoints
3825 Depending on your system, watchpoints may be implemented in software or
3826 hardware. @value{GDBN} does software watchpointing by single-stepping your
3827 program and testing the variable's value each time, which is hundreds of
3828 times slower than normal execution. (But this may still be worth it, to
3829 catch errors where you have no clue what part of your program is the
3830 culprit.)
3831
3832 On some systems, such as HP-UX, PowerPC, @sc{gnu}/Linux and most other
3833 x86-based targets, @value{GDBN} includes support for hardware
3834 watchpoints, which do not slow down the running of your program.
3835
3836 @table @code
3837 @kindex watch
3838 @item watch @r{[}-l@r{|}-location@r{]} @var{expr} @r{[}thread @var{threadnum}@r{]} @r{[}mask @var{maskvalue}@r{]}
3839 Set a watchpoint for an expression. @value{GDBN} will break when the
3840 expression @var{expr} is written into by the program and its value
3841 changes. The simplest (and the most popular) use of this command is
3842 to watch the value of a single variable:
3843
3844 @smallexample
3845 (@value{GDBP}) watch foo
3846 @end smallexample
3847
3848 If the command includes a @code{@r{[}thread @var{threadnum}@r{]}}
3849 argument, @value{GDBN} breaks only when the thread identified by
3850 @var{threadnum} changes the value of @var{expr}. If any other threads
3851 change the value of @var{expr}, @value{GDBN} will not break. Note
3852 that watchpoints restricted to a single thread in this way only work
3853 with Hardware Watchpoints.
3854
3855 Ordinarily a watchpoint respects the scope of variables in @var{expr}
3856 (see below). The @code{-location} argument tells @value{GDBN} to
3857 instead watch the memory referred to by @var{expr}. In this case,
3858 @value{GDBN} will evaluate @var{expr}, take the address of the result,
3859 and watch the memory at that address. The type of the result is used
3860 to determine the size of the watched memory. If the expression's
3861 result does not have an address, then @value{GDBN} will print an
3862 error.
3863
3864 The @code{@r{[}mask @var{maskvalue}@r{]}} argument allows creation
3865 of masked watchpoints, if the current architecture supports this
3866 feature (e.g., PowerPC Embedded architecture, see @ref{PowerPC
3867 Embedded}.) A @dfn{masked watchpoint} specifies a mask in addition
3868 to an address to watch. The mask specifies that some bits of an address
3869 (the bits which are reset in the mask) should be ignored when matching
3870 the address accessed by the inferior against the watchpoint address.
3871 Thus, a masked watchpoint watches many addresses simultaneously---those
3872 addresses whose unmasked bits are identical to the unmasked bits in the
3873 watchpoint address. The @code{mask} argument implies @code{-location}.
3874 Examples:
3875
3876 @smallexample
3877 (@value{GDBP}) watch foo mask 0xffff00ff
3878 (@value{GDBP}) watch *0xdeadbeef mask 0xffffff00
3879 @end smallexample
3880
3881 @kindex rwatch
3882 @item rwatch @r{[}-l@r{|}-location@r{]} @var{expr} @r{[}thread @var{threadnum}@r{]} @r{[}mask @var{maskvalue}@r{]}
3883 Set a watchpoint that will break when the value of @var{expr} is read
3884 by the program.
3885
3886 @kindex awatch
3887 @item awatch @r{[}-l@r{|}-location@r{]} @var{expr} @r{[}thread @var{threadnum}@r{]} @r{[}mask @var{maskvalue}@r{]}
3888 Set a watchpoint that will break when @var{expr} is either read from
3889 or written into by the program.
3890
3891 @kindex info watchpoints @r{[}@var{n}@dots{}@r{]}
3892 @item info watchpoints @r{[}@var{n}@dots{}@r{]}
3893 This command prints a list of watchpoints, using the same format as
3894 @code{info break} (@pxref{Set Breaks}).
3895 @end table
3896
3897 If you watch for a change in a numerically entered address you need to
3898 dereference it, as the address itself is just a constant number which will
3899 never change. @value{GDBN} refuses to create a watchpoint that watches
3900 a never-changing value:
3901
3902 @smallexample
3903 (@value{GDBP}) watch 0x600850
3904 Cannot watch constant value 0x600850.
3905 (@value{GDBP}) watch *(int *) 0x600850
3906 Watchpoint 1: *(int *) 6293584
3907 @end smallexample
3908
3909 @value{GDBN} sets a @dfn{hardware watchpoint} if possible. Hardware
3910 watchpoints execute very quickly, and the debugger reports a change in
3911 value at the exact instruction where the change occurs. If @value{GDBN}
3912 cannot set a hardware watchpoint, it sets a software watchpoint, which
3913 executes more slowly and reports the change in value at the next
3914 @emph{statement}, not the instruction, after the change occurs.
3915
3916 @cindex use only software watchpoints
3917 You can force @value{GDBN} to use only software watchpoints with the
3918 @kbd{set can-use-hw-watchpoints 0} command. With this variable set to
3919 zero, @value{GDBN} will never try to use hardware watchpoints, even if
3920 the underlying system supports them. (Note that hardware-assisted
3921 watchpoints that were set @emph{before} setting
3922 @code{can-use-hw-watchpoints} to zero will still use the hardware
3923 mechanism of watching expression values.)
3924
3925 @table @code
3926 @item set can-use-hw-watchpoints
3927 @kindex set can-use-hw-watchpoints
3928 Set whether or not to use hardware watchpoints.
3929
3930 @item show can-use-hw-watchpoints
3931 @kindex show can-use-hw-watchpoints
3932 Show the current mode of using hardware watchpoints.
3933 @end table
3934
3935 For remote targets, you can restrict the number of hardware
3936 watchpoints @value{GDBN} will use, see @ref{set remote
3937 hardware-breakpoint-limit}.
3938
3939 When you issue the @code{watch} command, @value{GDBN} reports
3940
3941 @smallexample
3942 Hardware watchpoint @var{num}: @var{expr}
3943 @end smallexample
3944
3945 @noindent
3946 if it was able to set a hardware watchpoint.
3947
3948 Currently, the @code{awatch} and @code{rwatch} commands can only set
3949 hardware watchpoints, because accesses to data that don't change the
3950 value of the watched expression cannot be detected without examining
3951 every instruction as it is being executed, and @value{GDBN} does not do
3952 that currently. If @value{GDBN} finds that it is unable to set a
3953 hardware breakpoint with the @code{awatch} or @code{rwatch} command, it
3954 will print a message like this:
3955
3956 @smallexample
3957 Expression cannot be implemented with read/access watchpoint.
3958 @end smallexample
3959
3960 Sometimes, @value{GDBN} cannot set a hardware watchpoint because the
3961 data type of the watched expression is wider than what a hardware
3962 watchpoint on the target machine can handle. For example, some systems
3963 can only watch regions that are up to 4 bytes wide; on such systems you
3964 cannot set hardware watchpoints for an expression that yields a
3965 double-precision floating-point number (which is typically 8 bytes
3966 wide). As a work-around, it might be possible to break the large region
3967 into a series of smaller ones and watch them with separate watchpoints.
3968
3969 If you set too many hardware watchpoints, @value{GDBN} might be unable
3970 to insert all of them when you resume the execution of your program.
3971 Since the precise number of active watchpoints is unknown until such
3972 time as the program is about to be resumed, @value{GDBN} might not be
3973 able to warn you about this when you set the watchpoints, and the
3974 warning will be printed only when the program is resumed:
3975
3976 @smallexample
3977 Hardware watchpoint @var{num}: Could not insert watchpoint
3978 @end smallexample
3979
3980 @noindent
3981 If this happens, delete or disable some of the watchpoints.
3982
3983 Watching complex expressions that reference many variables can also
3984 exhaust the resources available for hardware-assisted watchpoints.
3985 That's because @value{GDBN} needs to watch every variable in the
3986 expression with separately allocated resources.
3987
3988 If you call a function interactively using @code{print} or @code{call},
3989 any watchpoints you have set will be inactive until @value{GDBN} reaches another
3990 kind of breakpoint or the call completes.
3991
3992 @value{GDBN} automatically deletes watchpoints that watch local
3993 (automatic) variables, or expressions that involve such variables, when
3994 they go out of scope, that is, when the execution leaves the block in
3995 which these variables were defined. In particular, when the program
3996 being debugged terminates, @emph{all} local variables go out of scope,
3997 and so only watchpoints that watch global variables remain set. If you
3998 rerun the program, you will need to set all such watchpoints again. One
3999 way of doing that would be to set a code breakpoint at the entry to the
4000 @code{main} function and when it breaks, set all the watchpoints.
4001
4002 @cindex watchpoints and threads
4003 @cindex threads and watchpoints
4004 In multi-threaded programs, watchpoints will detect changes to the
4005 watched expression from every thread.
4006
4007 @quotation
4008 @emph{Warning:} In multi-threaded programs, software watchpoints
4009 have only limited usefulness. If @value{GDBN} creates a software
4010 watchpoint, it can only watch the value of an expression @emph{in a
4011 single thread}. If you are confident that the expression can only
4012 change due to the current thread's activity (and if you are also
4013 confident that no other thread can become current), then you can use
4014 software watchpoints as usual. However, @value{GDBN} may not notice
4015 when a non-current thread's activity changes the expression. (Hardware
4016 watchpoints, in contrast, watch an expression in all threads.)
4017 @end quotation
4018
4019 @xref{set remote hardware-watchpoint-limit}.
4020
4021 @node Set Catchpoints
4022 @subsection Setting Catchpoints
4023 @cindex catchpoints, setting
4024 @cindex exception handlers
4025 @cindex event handling
4026
4027 You can use @dfn{catchpoints} to cause the debugger to stop for certain
4028 kinds of program events, such as C@t{++} exceptions or the loading of a
4029 shared library. Use the @code{catch} command to set a catchpoint.
4030
4031 @table @code
4032 @kindex catch
4033 @item catch @var{event}
4034 Stop when @var{event} occurs. @var{event} can be any of the following:
4035 @table @code
4036 @item throw
4037 @cindex stop on C@t{++} exceptions
4038 The throwing of a C@t{++} exception.
4039
4040 @item catch
4041 The catching of a C@t{++} exception.
4042
4043 @item exception
4044 @cindex Ada exception catching
4045 @cindex catch Ada exceptions
4046 An Ada exception being raised. If an exception name is specified
4047 at the end of the command (eg @code{catch exception Program_Error}),
4048 the debugger will stop only when this specific exception is raised.
4049 Otherwise, the debugger stops execution when any Ada exception is raised.
4050
4051 When inserting an exception catchpoint on a user-defined exception whose
4052 name is identical to one of the exceptions defined by the language, the
4053 fully qualified name must be used as the exception name. Otherwise,
4054 @value{GDBN} will assume that it should stop on the pre-defined exception
4055 rather than the user-defined one. For instance, assuming an exception
4056 called @code{Constraint_Error} is defined in package @code{Pck}, then
4057 the command to use to catch such exceptions is @kbd{catch exception
4058 Pck.Constraint_Error}.
4059
4060 @item exception unhandled
4061 An exception that was raised but is not handled by the program.
4062
4063 @item assert
4064 A failed Ada assertion.
4065
4066 @item exec
4067 @cindex break on fork/exec
4068 A call to @code{exec}. This is currently only available for HP-UX
4069 and @sc{gnu}/Linux.
4070
4071 @item syscall
4072 @itemx syscall @r{[}@var{name} @r{|} @var{number}@r{]} @dots{}
4073 @cindex break on a system call.
4074 A call to or return from a system call, a.k.a.@: @dfn{syscall}. A
4075 syscall is a mechanism for application programs to request a service
4076 from the operating system (OS) or one of the OS system services.
4077 @value{GDBN} can catch some or all of the syscalls issued by the
4078 debuggee, and show the related information for each syscall. If no
4079 argument is specified, calls to and returns from all system calls
4080 will be caught.
4081
4082 @var{name} can be any system call name that is valid for the
4083 underlying OS. Just what syscalls are valid depends on the OS. On
4084 GNU and Unix systems, you can find the full list of valid syscall
4085 names on @file{/usr/include/asm/unistd.h}.
4086
4087 @c For MS-Windows, the syscall names and the corresponding numbers
4088 @c can be found, e.g., on this URL:
4089 @c http://www.metasploit.com/users/opcode/syscalls.html
4090 @c but we don't support Windows syscalls yet.
4091
4092 Normally, @value{GDBN} knows in advance which syscalls are valid for
4093 each OS, so you can use the @value{GDBN} command-line completion
4094 facilities (@pxref{Completion,, command completion}) to list the
4095 available choices.
4096
4097 You may also specify the system call numerically. A syscall's
4098 number is the value passed to the OS's syscall dispatcher to
4099 identify the requested service. When you specify the syscall by its
4100 name, @value{GDBN} uses its database of syscalls to convert the name
4101 into the corresponding numeric code, but using the number directly
4102 may be useful if @value{GDBN}'s database does not have the complete
4103 list of syscalls on your system (e.g., because @value{GDBN} lags
4104 behind the OS upgrades).
4105
4106 The example below illustrates how this command works if you don't provide
4107 arguments to it:
4108
4109 @smallexample
4110 (@value{GDBP}) catch syscall
4111 Catchpoint 1 (syscall)
4112 (@value{GDBP}) r
4113 Starting program: /tmp/catch-syscall
4114
4115 Catchpoint 1 (call to syscall 'close'), \
4116 0xffffe424 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
4117 (@value{GDBP}) c
4118 Continuing.
4119
4120 Catchpoint 1 (returned from syscall 'close'), \
4121 0xffffe424 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
4122 (@value{GDBP})
4123 @end smallexample
4124
4125 Here is an example of catching a system call by name:
4126
4127 @smallexample
4128 (@value{GDBP}) catch syscall chroot
4129 Catchpoint 1 (syscall 'chroot' [61])
4130 (@value{GDBP}) r
4131 Starting program: /tmp/catch-syscall
4132
4133 Catchpoint 1 (call to syscall 'chroot'), \
4134 0xffffe424 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
4135 (@value{GDBP}) c
4136 Continuing.
4137
4138 Catchpoint 1 (returned from syscall 'chroot'), \
4139 0xffffe424 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
4140 (@value{GDBP})
4141 @end smallexample
4142
4143 An example of specifying a system call numerically. In the case
4144 below, the syscall number has a corresponding entry in the XML
4145 file, so @value{GDBN} finds its name and prints it:
4146
4147 @smallexample
4148 (@value{GDBP}) catch syscall 252
4149 Catchpoint 1 (syscall(s) 'exit_group')
4150 (@value{GDBP}) r
4151 Starting program: /tmp/catch-syscall
4152
4153 Catchpoint 1 (call to syscall 'exit_group'), \
4154 0xffffe424 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
4155 (@value{GDBP}) c
4156 Continuing.
4157
4158 Program exited normally.
4159 (@value{GDBP})
4160 @end smallexample
4161
4162 However, there can be situations when there is no corresponding name
4163 in XML file for that syscall number. In this case, @value{GDBN} prints
4164 a warning message saying that it was not able to find the syscall name,
4165 but the catchpoint will be set anyway. See the example below:
4166
4167 @smallexample
4168 (@value{GDBP}) catch syscall 764
4169 warning: The number '764' does not represent a known syscall.
4170 Catchpoint 2 (syscall 764)
4171 (@value{GDBP})
4172 @end smallexample
4173
4174 If you configure @value{GDBN} using the @samp{--without-expat} option,
4175 it will not be able to display syscall names. Also, if your
4176 architecture does not have an XML file describing its system calls,
4177 you will not be able to see the syscall names. It is important to
4178 notice that these two features are used for accessing the syscall
4179 name database. In either case, you will see a warning like this:
4180
4181 @smallexample
4182 (@value{GDBP}) catch syscall
4183 warning: Could not open "syscalls/i386-linux.xml"
4184 warning: Could not load the syscall XML file 'syscalls/i386-linux.xml'.
4185 GDB will not be able to display syscall names.
4186 Catchpoint 1 (syscall)
4187 (@value{GDBP})
4188 @end smallexample
4189
4190 Of course, the file name will change depending on your architecture and system.
4191
4192 Still using the example above, you can also try to catch a syscall by its
4193 number. In this case, you would see something like:
4194
4195 @smallexample
4196 (@value{GDBP}) catch syscall 252
4197 Catchpoint 1 (syscall(s) 252)
4198 @end smallexample
4199
4200 Again, in this case @value{GDBN} would not be able to display syscall's names.
4201
4202 @item fork
4203 A call to @code{fork}. This is currently only available for HP-UX
4204 and @sc{gnu}/Linux.
4205
4206 @item vfork
4207 A call to @code{vfork}. This is currently only available for HP-UX
4208 and @sc{gnu}/Linux.
4209
4210 @item load @r{[}regexp@r{]}
4211 @itemx unload @r{[}regexp@r{]}
4212 The loading or unloading of a shared library. If @var{regexp} is
4213 given, then the catchpoint will stop only if the regular expression
4214 matches one of the affected libraries.
4215
4216 @end table
4217
4218 @item tcatch @var{event}
4219 Set a catchpoint that is enabled only for one stop. The catchpoint is
4220 automatically deleted after the first time the event is caught.
4221
4222 @end table
4223
4224 Use the @code{info break} command to list the current catchpoints.
4225
4226 There are currently some limitations to C@t{++} exception handling
4227 (@code{catch throw} and @code{catch catch}) in @value{GDBN}:
4228
4229 @itemize @bullet
4230 @item
4231 If you call a function interactively, @value{GDBN} normally returns
4232 control to you when the function has finished executing. If the call
4233 raises an exception, however, the call may bypass the mechanism that
4234 returns control to you and cause your program either to abort or to
4235 simply continue running until it hits a breakpoint, catches a signal
4236 that @value{GDBN} is listening for, or exits. This is the case even if
4237 you set a catchpoint for the exception; catchpoints on exceptions are
4238 disabled within interactive calls.
4239
4240 @item
4241 You cannot raise an exception interactively.
4242
4243 @item
4244 You cannot install an exception handler interactively.
4245 @end itemize
4246
4247 @cindex raise exceptions
4248 Sometimes @code{catch} is not the best way to debug exception handling:
4249 if you need to know exactly where an exception is raised, it is better to
4250 stop @emph{before} the exception handler is called, since that way you
4251 can see the stack before any unwinding takes place. If you set a
4252 breakpoint in an exception handler instead, it may not be easy to find
4253 out where the exception was raised.
4254
4255 To stop just before an exception handler is called, you need some
4256 knowledge of the implementation. In the case of @sc{gnu} C@t{++}, exceptions are
4257 raised by calling a library function named @code{__raise_exception}
4258 which has the following ANSI C interface:
4259
4260 @smallexample
4261 /* @var{addr} is where the exception identifier is stored.
4262 @var{id} is the exception identifier. */
4263 void __raise_exception (void **addr, void *id);
4264 @end smallexample
4265
4266 @noindent
4267 To make the debugger catch all exceptions before any stack
4268 unwinding takes place, set a breakpoint on @code{__raise_exception}
4269 (@pxref{Breakpoints, ,Breakpoints; Watchpoints; and Exceptions}).
4270
4271 With a conditional breakpoint (@pxref{Conditions, ,Break Conditions})
4272 that depends on the value of @var{id}, you can stop your program when
4273 a specific exception is raised. You can use multiple conditional
4274 breakpoints to stop your program when any of a number of exceptions are
4275 raised.
4276
4277
4278 @node Delete Breaks
4279 @subsection Deleting Breakpoints
4280
4281 @cindex clearing breakpoints, watchpoints, catchpoints
4282 @cindex deleting breakpoints, watchpoints, catchpoints
4283 It is often necessary to eliminate a breakpoint, watchpoint, or
4284 catchpoint once it has done its job and you no longer want your program
4285 to stop there. This is called @dfn{deleting} the breakpoint. A
4286 breakpoint that has been deleted no longer exists; it is forgotten.
4287
4288 With the @code{clear} command you can delete breakpoints according to
4289 where they are in your program. With the @code{delete} command you can
4290 delete individual breakpoints, watchpoints, or catchpoints by specifying
4291 their breakpoint numbers.
4292
4293 It is not necessary to delete a breakpoint to proceed past it. @value{GDBN}
4294 automatically ignores breakpoints on the first instruction to be executed
4295 when you continue execution without changing the execution address.
4296
4297 @table @code
4298 @kindex clear
4299 @item clear
4300 Delete any breakpoints at the next instruction to be executed in the
4301 selected stack frame (@pxref{Selection, ,Selecting a Frame}). When
4302 the innermost frame is selected, this is a good way to delete a
4303 breakpoint where your program just stopped.
4304
4305 @item clear @var{location}
4306 Delete any breakpoints set at the specified @var{location}.
4307 @xref{Specify Location}, for the various forms of @var{location}; the
4308 most useful ones are listed below:
4309
4310 @table @code
4311 @item clear @var{function}
4312 @itemx clear @var{filename}:@var{function}
4313 Delete any breakpoints set at entry to the named @var{function}.
4314
4315 @item clear @var{linenum}
4316 @itemx clear @var{filename}:@var{linenum}
4317 Delete any breakpoints set at or within the code of the specified
4318 @var{linenum} of the specified @var{filename}.
4319 @end table
4320
4321 @cindex delete breakpoints
4322 @kindex delete
4323 @kindex d @r{(@code{delete})}
4324 @item delete @r{[}breakpoints@r{]} @r{[}@var{range}@dots{}@r{]}
4325 Delete the breakpoints, watchpoints, or catchpoints of the breakpoint
4326 ranges specified as arguments. If no argument is specified, delete all
4327 breakpoints (@value{GDBN} asks confirmation, unless you have @code{set
4328 confirm off}). You can abbreviate this command as @code{d}.
4329 @end table
4330
4331 @node Disabling
4332 @subsection Disabling Breakpoints
4333
4334 @cindex enable/disable a breakpoint
4335 Rather than deleting a breakpoint, watchpoint, or catchpoint, you might
4336 prefer to @dfn{disable} it. This makes the breakpoint inoperative as if
4337 it had been deleted, but remembers the information on the breakpoint so
4338 that you can @dfn{enable} it again later.
4339
4340 You disable and enable breakpoints, watchpoints, and catchpoints with
4341 the @code{enable} and @code{disable} commands, optionally specifying
4342 one or more breakpoint numbers as arguments. Use @code{info break} to
4343 print a list of all breakpoints, watchpoints, and catchpoints if you
4344 do not know which numbers to use.
4345
4346 Disabling and enabling a breakpoint that has multiple locations
4347 affects all of its locations.
4348
4349 A breakpoint, watchpoint, or catchpoint can have any of several
4350 different states of enablement:
4351
4352 @itemize @bullet
4353 @item
4354 Enabled. The breakpoint stops your program. A breakpoint set
4355 with the @code{break} command starts out in this state.
4356 @item
4357 Disabled. The breakpoint has no effect on your program.
4358 @item
4359 Enabled once. The breakpoint stops your program, but then becomes
4360 disabled.
4361 @item
4362 Enabled for a count. The breakpoint stops your program for the next
4363 N times, then becomes disabled.
4364 @item
4365 Enabled for deletion. The breakpoint stops your program, but
4366 immediately after it does so it is deleted permanently. A breakpoint
4367 set with the @code{tbreak} command starts out in this state.
4368 @end itemize
4369
4370 You can use the following commands to enable or disable breakpoints,
4371 watchpoints, and catchpoints:
4372
4373 @table @code
4374 @kindex disable
4375 @kindex dis @r{(@code{disable})}
4376 @item disable @r{[}breakpoints@r{]} @r{[}@var{range}@dots{}@r{]}
4377 Disable the specified breakpoints---or all breakpoints, if none are
4378 listed. A disabled breakpoint has no effect but is not forgotten. All
4379 options such as ignore-counts, conditions and commands are remembered in
4380 case the breakpoint is enabled again later. You may abbreviate
4381 @code{disable} as @code{dis}.
4382
4383 @kindex enable
4384 @item enable @r{[}breakpoints@r{]} @r{[}@var{range}@dots{}@r{]}
4385 Enable the specified breakpoints (or all defined breakpoints). They
4386 become effective once again in stopping your program.
4387
4388 @item enable @r{[}breakpoints@r{]} once @var{range}@dots{}
4389 Enable the specified breakpoints temporarily. @value{GDBN} disables any
4390 of these breakpoints immediately after stopping your program.
4391
4392 @item enable @r{[}breakpoints@r{]} count @var{count} @var{range}@dots{}
4393 Enable the specified breakpoints temporarily. @value{GDBN} records
4394 @var{count} with each of the specified breakpoints, and decrements a
4395 breakpoint's count when it is hit. When any count reaches 0,
4396 @value{GDBN} disables that breakpoint. If a breakpoint has an ignore
4397 count (@pxref{Conditions, ,Break Conditions}), that will be
4398 decremented to 0 before @var{count} is affected.
4399
4400 @item enable @r{[}breakpoints@r{]} delete @var{range}@dots{}
4401 Enable the specified breakpoints to work once, then die. @value{GDBN}
4402 deletes any of these breakpoints as soon as your program stops there.
4403 Breakpoints set by the @code{tbreak} command start out in this state.
4404 @end table
4405
4406 @c FIXME: I think the following ``Except for [...] @code{tbreak}'' is
4407 @c confusing: tbreak is also initially enabled.
4408 Except for a breakpoint set with @code{tbreak} (@pxref{Set Breaks,
4409 ,Setting Breakpoints}), breakpoints that you set are initially enabled;
4410 subsequently, they become disabled or enabled only when you use one of
4411 the commands above. (The command @code{until} can set and delete a
4412 breakpoint of its own, but it does not change the state of your other
4413 breakpoints; see @ref{Continuing and Stepping, ,Continuing and
4414 Stepping}.)
4415
4416 @node Conditions
4417 @subsection Break Conditions
4418 @cindex conditional breakpoints
4419 @cindex breakpoint conditions
4420
4421 @c FIXME what is scope of break condition expr? Context where wanted?
4422 @c in particular for a watchpoint?
4423 The simplest sort of breakpoint breaks every time your program reaches a
4424 specified place. You can also specify a @dfn{condition} for a
4425 breakpoint. A condition is just a Boolean expression in your
4426 programming language (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}). A breakpoint with
4427 a condition evaluates the expression each time your program reaches it,
4428 and your program stops only if the condition is @emph{true}.
4429
4430 This is the converse of using assertions for program validation; in that
4431 situation, you want to stop when the assertion is violated---that is,
4432 when the condition is false. In C, if you want to test an assertion expressed
4433 by the condition @var{assert}, you should set the condition
4434 @samp{! @var{assert}} on the appropriate breakpoint.
4435
4436 Conditions are also accepted for watchpoints; you may not need them,
4437 since a watchpoint is inspecting the value of an expression anyhow---but
4438 it might be simpler, say, to just set a watchpoint on a variable name,
4439 and specify a condition that tests whether the new value is an interesting
4440 one.
4441
4442 Break conditions can have side effects, and may even call functions in
4443 your program. This can be useful, for example, to activate functions
4444 that log program progress, or to use your own print functions to
4445 format special data structures. The effects are completely predictable
4446 unless there is another enabled breakpoint at the same address. (In
4447 that case, @value{GDBN} might see the other breakpoint first and stop your
4448 program without checking the condition of this one.) Note that
4449 breakpoint commands are usually more convenient and flexible than break
4450 conditions for the
4451 purpose of performing side effects when a breakpoint is reached
4452 (@pxref{Break Commands, ,Breakpoint Command Lists}).
4453
4454 Breakpoint conditions can also be evaluated on the target's side if
4455 the target supports it. Instead of evaluating the conditions locally,
4456 @value{GDBN} encodes the expression into an agent expression
4457 (@pxref{Agent Expressions}) suitable for execution on the target,
4458 independently of @value{GDBN}. Global variables become raw memory
4459 locations, locals become stack accesses, and so forth.
4460
4461 In this case, @value{GDBN} will only be notified of a breakpoint trigger
4462 when its condition evaluates to true. This mechanism may provide faster
4463 response times depending on the performance characteristics of the target
4464 since it does not need to keep @value{GDBN} informed about
4465 every breakpoint trigger, even those with false conditions.
4466
4467 Break conditions can be specified when a breakpoint is set, by using
4468 @samp{if} in the arguments to the @code{break} command. @xref{Set
4469 Breaks, ,Setting Breakpoints}. They can also be changed at any time
4470 with the @code{condition} command.
4471
4472 You can also use the @code{if} keyword with the @code{watch} command.
4473 The @code{catch} command does not recognize the @code{if} keyword;
4474 @code{condition} is the only way to impose a further condition on a
4475 catchpoint.
4476
4477 @table @code
4478 @kindex condition
4479 @item condition @var{bnum} @var{expression}
4480 Specify @var{expression} as the break condition for breakpoint,
4481 watchpoint, or catchpoint number @var{bnum}. After you set a condition,
4482 breakpoint @var{bnum} stops your program only if the value of
4483 @var{expression} is true (nonzero, in C). When you use
4484 @code{condition}, @value{GDBN} checks @var{expression} immediately for
4485 syntactic correctness, and to determine whether symbols in it have
4486 referents in the context of your breakpoint. If @var{expression} uses
4487 symbols not referenced in the context of the breakpoint, @value{GDBN}
4488 prints an error message:
4489
4490 @smallexample
4491 No symbol "foo" in current context.
4492 @end smallexample
4493
4494 @noindent
4495 @value{GDBN} does
4496 not actually evaluate @var{expression} at the time the @code{condition}
4497 command (or a command that sets a breakpoint with a condition, like
4498 @code{break if @dots{}}) is given, however. @xref{Expressions, ,Expressions}.
4499
4500 @item condition @var{bnum}
4501 Remove the condition from breakpoint number @var{bnum}. It becomes
4502 an ordinary unconditional breakpoint.
4503 @end table
4504
4505 @cindex ignore count (of breakpoint)
4506 A special case of a breakpoint condition is to stop only when the
4507 breakpoint has been reached a certain number of times. This is so
4508 useful that there is a special way to do it, using the @dfn{ignore
4509 count} of the breakpoint. Every breakpoint has an ignore count, which
4510 is an integer. Most of the time, the ignore count is zero, and
4511 therefore has no effect. But if your program reaches a breakpoint whose
4512 ignore count is positive, then instead of stopping, it just decrements
4513 the ignore count by one and continues. As a result, if the ignore count
4514 value is @var{n}, the breakpoint does not stop the next @var{n} times
4515 your program reaches it.
4516
4517 @table @code
4518 @kindex ignore
4519 @item ignore @var{bnum} @var{count}
4520 Set the ignore count of breakpoint number @var{bnum} to @var{count}.
4521 The next @var{count} times the breakpoint is reached, your program's
4522 execution does not stop; other than to decrement the ignore count, @value{GDBN}
4523 takes no action.
4524
4525 To make the breakpoint stop the next time it is reached, specify
4526 a count of zero.
4527
4528 When you use @code{continue} to resume execution of your program from a
4529 breakpoint, you can specify an ignore count directly as an argument to
4530 @code{continue}, rather than using @code{ignore}. @xref{Continuing and
4531 Stepping,,Continuing and Stepping}.
4532
4533 If a breakpoint has a positive ignore count and a condition, the
4534 condition is not checked. Once the ignore count reaches zero,
4535 @value{GDBN} resumes checking the condition.
4536
4537 You could achieve the effect of the ignore count with a condition such
4538 as @w{@samp{$foo-- <= 0}} using a debugger convenience variable that
4539 is decremented each time. @xref{Convenience Vars, ,Convenience
4540 Variables}.
4541 @end table
4542
4543 Ignore counts apply to breakpoints, watchpoints, and catchpoints.
4544
4545
4546 @node Break Commands
4547 @subsection Breakpoint Command Lists
4548
4549 @cindex breakpoint commands
4550 You can give any breakpoint (or watchpoint or catchpoint) a series of
4551 commands to execute when your program stops due to that breakpoint. For
4552 example, you might want to print the values of certain expressions, or
4553 enable other breakpoints.
4554
4555 @table @code
4556 @kindex commands
4557 @kindex end@r{ (breakpoint commands)}
4558 @item commands @r{[}@var{range}@dots{}@r{]}
4559 @itemx @dots{} @var{command-list} @dots{}
4560 @itemx end
4561 Specify a list of commands for the given breakpoints. The commands
4562 themselves appear on the following lines. Type a line containing just
4563 @code{end} to terminate the commands.
4564
4565 To remove all commands from a breakpoint, type @code{commands} and
4566 follow it immediately with @code{end}; that is, give no commands.
4567
4568 With no argument, @code{commands} refers to the last breakpoint,
4569 watchpoint, or catchpoint set (not to the breakpoint most recently
4570 encountered). If the most recent breakpoints were set with a single
4571 command, then the @code{commands} will apply to all the breakpoints
4572 set by that command. This applies to breakpoints set by
4573 @code{rbreak}, and also applies when a single @code{break} command
4574 creates multiple breakpoints (@pxref{Ambiguous Expressions,,Ambiguous
4575 Expressions}).
4576 @end table
4577
4578 Pressing @key{RET} as a means of repeating the last @value{GDBN} command is
4579 disabled within a @var{command-list}.
4580
4581 You can use breakpoint commands to start your program up again. Simply
4582 use the @code{continue} command, or @code{step}, or any other command
4583 that resumes execution.
4584
4585 Any other commands in the command list, after a command that resumes
4586 execution, are ignored. This is because any time you resume execution
4587 (even with a simple @code{next} or @code{step}), you may encounter
4588 another breakpoint---which could have its own command list, leading to
4589 ambiguities about which list to execute.
4590
4591 @kindex silent
4592 If the first command you specify in a command list is @code{silent}, the
4593 usual message about stopping at a breakpoint is not printed. This may
4594 be desirable for breakpoints that are to print a specific message and
4595 then continue. If none of the remaining commands print anything, you
4596 see no sign that the breakpoint was reached. @code{silent} is
4597 meaningful only at the beginning of a breakpoint command list.
4598
4599 The commands @code{echo}, @code{output}, and @code{printf} allow you to
4600 print precisely controlled output, and are often useful in silent
4601 breakpoints. @xref{Output, ,Commands for Controlled Output}.
4602
4603 For example, here is how you could use breakpoint commands to print the
4604 value of @code{x} at entry to @code{foo} whenever @code{x} is positive.
4605
4606 @smallexample
4607 break foo if x>0
4608 commands
4609 silent
4610 printf "x is %d\n",x
4611 cont
4612 end
4613 @end smallexample
4614
4615 One application for breakpoint commands is to compensate for one bug so
4616 you can test for another. Put a breakpoint just after the erroneous line
4617 of code, give it a condition to detect the case in which something
4618 erroneous has been done, and give it commands to assign correct values
4619 to any variables that need them. End with the @code{continue} command
4620 so that your program does not stop, and start with the @code{silent}
4621 command so that no output is produced. Here is an example:
4622
4623 @smallexample
4624 break 403
4625 commands
4626 silent
4627 set x = y + 4
4628 cont
4629 end
4630 @end smallexample
4631
4632 @node Dynamic Printf
4633 @subsection Dynamic Printf
4634
4635 @cindex dynamic printf
4636 @cindex dprintf
4637 The dynamic printf command @code{dprintf} combines a breakpoint with
4638 formatted printing of your program's data to give you the effect of
4639 inserting @code{printf} calls into your program on-the-fly, without
4640 having to recompile it.
4641
4642 In its most basic form, the output goes to the GDB console. However,
4643 you can set the variable @code{dprintf-style} for alternate handling.
4644 For instance, you can ask to format the output by calling your
4645 program's @code{printf} function. This has the advantage that the
4646 characters go to the program's output device, so they can recorded in
4647 redirects to files and so forth.
4648
4649 @table @code
4650 @kindex dprintf
4651 @item dprintf @var{location},@var{template},@var{expression}[,@var{expression}@dots{}]
4652 Whenever execution reaches @var{location}, print the values of one or
4653 more @var{expressions} under the control of the string @var{template}.
4654 To print several values, separate them with commas.
4655
4656 @item set dprintf-style @var{style}
4657 Set the dprintf output to be handled in one of several different
4658 styles enumerated below. A change of style affects all existing
4659 dynamic printfs immediately. (If you need individual control over the
4660 print commands, simply define normal breakpoints with
4661 explicitly-supplied command lists.)
4662
4663 @item gdb
4664 @kindex dprintf-style gdb
4665 Handle the output using the @value{GDBN} @code{printf} command.
4666
4667 @item call
4668 @kindex dprintf-style call
4669 Handle the output by calling a function in your program (normally
4670 @code{printf}).
4671
4672 @item set dprintf-function @var{function}
4673 Set the function to call if the dprintf style is @code{call}. By
4674 default its value is @code{printf}. You may set it to any expression.
4675 that @value{GDBN} can evaluate to a function, as per the @code{call}
4676 command.
4677
4678 @item set dprintf-channel @var{channel}
4679 Set a ``channel'' for dprintf. If set to a non-empty value,
4680 @value{GDBN} will evaluate it as an expression and pass the result as
4681 a first argument to the @code{dprintf-function}, in the manner of
4682 @code{fprintf} and similar functions. Otherwise, the dprintf format
4683 string will be the first argument, in the manner of @code{printf}.
4684
4685 As an example, if you wanted @code{dprintf} output to go to a logfile
4686 that is a standard I/O stream assigned to the variable @code{mylog},
4687 you could do the following:
4688
4689 @example
4690 (gdb) set dprintf-style call
4691 (gdb) set dprintf-function fprintf
4692 (gdb) set dprintf-channel mylog
4693 (gdb) dprintf 25,"at line 25, glob=%d\n",glob
4694 Dprintf 1 at 0x123456: file main.c, line 25.
4695 (gdb) info break
4696 1 dprintf keep y 0x00123456 in main at main.c:25
4697 call (void) fprintf (mylog,"at line 25, glob=%d\n",glob)
4698 continue
4699 (gdb)
4700 @end example
4701
4702 Note that the @code{info break} displays the dynamic printf commands
4703 as normal breakpoint commands; you can thus easily see the effect of
4704 the variable settings.
4705
4706 @end table
4707
4708 @value{GDBN} does not check the validity of function and channel,
4709 relying on you to supply values that are meaningful for the contexts
4710 in which they are being used. For instance, the function and channel
4711 may be the values of local variables, but if that is the case, then
4712 all enabled dynamic prints must be at locations within the scope of
4713 those locals. If evaluation fails, @value{GDBN} will report an error.
4714
4715 @node Save Breakpoints
4716 @subsection How to save breakpoints to a file
4717
4718 To save breakpoint definitions to a file use the @w{@code{save
4719 breakpoints}} command.
4720
4721 @table @code
4722 @kindex save breakpoints
4723 @cindex save breakpoints to a file for future sessions
4724 @item save breakpoints [@var{filename}]
4725 This command saves all current breakpoint definitions together with
4726 their commands and ignore counts, into a file @file{@var{filename}}
4727 suitable for use in a later debugging session. This includes all
4728 types of breakpoints (breakpoints, watchpoints, catchpoints,
4729 tracepoints). To read the saved breakpoint definitions, use the
4730 @code{source} command (@pxref{Command Files}). Note that watchpoints
4731 with expressions involving local variables may fail to be recreated
4732 because it may not be possible to access the context where the
4733 watchpoint is valid anymore. Because the saved breakpoint definitions
4734 are simply a sequence of @value{GDBN} commands that recreate the
4735 breakpoints, you can edit the file in your favorite editing program,
4736 and remove the breakpoint definitions you're not interested in, or
4737 that can no longer be recreated.
4738 @end table
4739
4740 @node Static Probe Points
4741 @subsection Static Probe Points
4742
4743 @cindex static probe point, SystemTap
4744 @value{GDBN} supports @dfn{SDT} probes in the code. @acronym{SDT} stands
4745 for Statically Defined Tracing, and the probes are designed to have a tiny
4746 runtime code and data footprint, and no dynamic relocations. They are
4747 usable from assembly, C and C@t{++} languages. See
4748 @uref{http://sourceware.org/systemtap/wiki/UserSpaceProbeImplementation}
4749 for a good reference on how the @acronym{SDT} probes are implemented.
4750
4751 Currently, @code{SystemTap} (@uref{http://sourceware.org/systemtap/})
4752 @acronym{SDT} probes are supported on ELF-compatible systems. See
4753 @uref{http://sourceware.org/systemtap/wiki/AddingUserSpaceProbingToApps}
4754 for more information on how to add @code{SystemTap} @acronym{SDT} probes
4755 in your applications.
4756
4757 @cindex semaphores on static probe points
4758 Some probes have an associated semaphore variable; for instance, this
4759 happens automatically if you defined your probe using a DTrace-style
4760 @file{.d} file. If your probe has a semaphore, @value{GDBN} will
4761 automatically enable it when you specify a breakpoint using the
4762 @samp{-probe-stap} notation. But, if you put a breakpoint at a probe's
4763 location by some other method (e.g., @code{break file:line}), then
4764 @value{GDBN} will not automatically set the semaphore.
4765
4766 You can examine the available static static probes using @code{info
4767 probes}, with optional arguments:
4768
4769 @table @code
4770 @kindex info probes
4771 @item info probes stap @r{[}@var{provider} @r{[}@var{name} @r{[}@var{objfile}@r{]}@r{]}@r{]}
4772 If given, @var{provider} is a regular expression used to match against provider
4773 names when selecting which probes to list. If omitted, probes by all
4774 probes from all providers are listed.
4775
4776 If given, @var{name} is a regular expression to match against probe names
4777 when selecting which probes to list. If omitted, probe names are not
4778 considered when deciding whether to display them.
4779
4780 If given, @var{objfile} is a regular expression used to select which
4781 object files (executable or shared libraries) to examine. If not
4782 given, all object files are considered.
4783
4784 @item info probes all
4785 List the available static probes, from all types.
4786 @end table
4787
4788 @vindex $_probe_arg@r{, convenience variable}
4789 A probe may specify up to twelve arguments. These are available at the
4790 point at which the probe is defined---that is, when the current PC is
4791 at the probe's location. The arguments are available using the
4792 convenience variables (@pxref{Convenience Vars})
4793 @code{$_probe_arg0}@dots{}@code{$_probe_arg11}. Each probe argument is
4794 an integer of the appropriate size; types are not preserved. The
4795 convenience variable @code{$_probe_argc} holds the number of arguments
4796 at the current probe point.
4797
4798 These variables are always available, but attempts to access them at
4799 any location other than a probe point will cause @value{GDBN} to give
4800 an error message.
4801
4802
4803 @c @ifclear BARETARGET
4804 @node Error in Breakpoints
4805 @subsection ``Cannot insert breakpoints''
4806
4807 If you request too many active hardware-assisted breakpoints and
4808 watchpoints, you will see this error message:
4809
4810 @c FIXME: the precise wording of this message may change; the relevant
4811 @c source change is not committed yet (Sep 3, 1999).
4812 @smallexample
4813 Stopped; cannot insert breakpoints.
4814 You may have requested too many hardware breakpoints and watchpoints.
4815 @end smallexample
4816
4817 @noindent
4818 This message is printed when you attempt to resume the program, since
4819 only then @value{GDBN} knows exactly how many hardware breakpoints and
4820 watchpoints it needs to insert.
4821
4822 When this message is printed, you need to disable or remove some of the
4823 hardware-assisted breakpoints and watchpoints, and then continue.
4824
4825 @node Breakpoint-related Warnings
4826 @subsection ``Breakpoint address adjusted...''
4827 @cindex breakpoint address adjusted
4828
4829 Some processor architectures place constraints on the addresses at
4830 which breakpoints may be placed. For architectures thus constrained,
4831 @value{GDBN} will attempt to adjust the breakpoint's address to comply
4832 with the constraints dictated by the architecture.
4833
4834 One example of such an architecture is the Fujitsu FR-V. The FR-V is
4835 a VLIW architecture in which a number of RISC-like instructions may be
4836 bundled together for parallel execution. The FR-V architecture
4837 constrains the location of a breakpoint instruction within such a
4838 bundle to the instruction with the lowest address. @value{GDBN}
4839 honors this constraint by adjusting a breakpoint's address to the
4840 first in the bundle.
4841
4842 It is not uncommon for optimized code to have bundles which contain
4843 instructions from different source statements, thus it may happen that
4844 a breakpoint's address will be adjusted from one source statement to
4845 another. Since this adjustment may significantly alter @value{GDBN}'s
4846 breakpoint related behavior from what the user expects, a warning is
4847 printed when the breakpoint is first set and also when the breakpoint
4848 is hit.
4849
4850 A warning like the one below is printed when setting a breakpoint
4851 that's been subject to address adjustment:
4852
4853 @smallexample
4854 warning: Breakpoint address adjusted from 0x00010414 to 0x00010410.
4855 @end smallexample
4856
4857 Such warnings are printed both for user settable and @value{GDBN}'s
4858 internal breakpoints. If you see one of these warnings, you should
4859 verify that a breakpoint set at the adjusted address will have the
4860 desired affect. If not, the breakpoint in question may be removed and
4861 other breakpoints may be set which will have the desired behavior.
4862 E.g., it may be sufficient to place the breakpoint at a later
4863 instruction. A conditional breakpoint may also be useful in some
4864 cases to prevent the breakpoint from triggering too often.
4865
4866 @value{GDBN} will also issue a warning when stopping at one of these
4867 adjusted breakpoints:
4868
4869 @smallexample
4870 warning: Breakpoint 1 address previously adjusted from 0x00010414
4871 to 0x00010410.
4872 @end smallexample
4873
4874 When this warning is encountered, it may be too late to take remedial
4875 action except in cases where the breakpoint is hit earlier or more
4876 frequently than expected.
4877
4878 @node Continuing and Stepping
4879 @section Continuing and Stepping
4880
4881 @cindex stepping
4882 @cindex continuing
4883 @cindex resuming execution
4884 @dfn{Continuing} means resuming program execution until your program
4885 completes normally. In contrast, @dfn{stepping} means executing just
4886 one more ``step'' of your program, where ``step'' may mean either one
4887 line of source code, or one machine instruction (depending on what
4888 particular command you use). Either when continuing or when stepping,
4889 your program may stop even sooner, due to a breakpoint or a signal. (If
4890 it stops due to a signal, you may want to use @code{handle}, or use
4891 @samp{signal 0} to resume execution. @xref{Signals, ,Signals}.)
4892
4893 @table @code
4894 @kindex continue
4895 @kindex c @r{(@code{continue})}
4896 @kindex fg @r{(resume foreground execution)}
4897 @item continue @r{[}@var{ignore-count}@r{]}
4898 @itemx c @r{[}@var{ignore-count}@r{]}
4899 @itemx fg @r{[}@var{ignore-count}@r{]}
4900 Resume program execution, at the address where your program last stopped;
4901 any breakpoints set at that address are bypassed. The optional argument
4902 @var{ignore-count} allows you to specify a further number of times to
4903 ignore a breakpoint at this location; its effect is like that of
4904 @code{ignore} (@pxref{Conditions, ,Break Conditions}).
4905
4906 The argument @var{ignore-count} is meaningful only when your program
4907 stopped due to a breakpoint. At other times, the argument to
4908 @code{continue} is ignored.
4909
4910 The synonyms @code{c} and @code{fg} (for @dfn{foreground}, as the
4911 debugged program is deemed to be the foreground program) are provided
4912 purely for convenience, and have exactly the same behavior as
4913 @code{continue}.
4914 @end table
4915
4916 To resume execution at a different place, you can use @code{return}
4917 (@pxref{Returning, ,Returning from a Function}) to go back to the
4918 calling function; or @code{jump} (@pxref{Jumping, ,Continuing at a
4919 Different Address}) to go to an arbitrary location in your program.
4920
4921 A typical technique for using stepping is to set a breakpoint
4922 (@pxref{Breakpoints, ,Breakpoints; Watchpoints; and Catchpoints}) at the
4923 beginning of the function or the section of your program where a problem
4924 is believed to lie, run your program until it stops at that breakpoint,
4925 and then step through the suspect area, examining the variables that are
4926 interesting, until you see the problem happen.
4927
4928 @table @code
4929 @kindex step
4930 @kindex s @r{(@code{step})}
4931 @item step
4932 Continue running your program until control reaches a different source
4933 line, then stop it and return control to @value{GDBN}. This command is
4934 abbreviated @code{s}.
4935
4936 @quotation
4937 @c "without debugging information" is imprecise; actually "without line
4938 @c numbers in the debugging information". (gcc -g1 has debugging info but
4939 @c not line numbers). But it seems complex to try to make that
4940 @c distinction here.
4941 @emph{Warning:} If you use the @code{step} command while control is
4942 within a function that was compiled without debugging information,
4943 execution proceeds until control reaches a function that does have
4944 debugging information. Likewise, it will not step into a function which
4945 is compiled without debugging information. To step through functions
4946 without debugging information, use the @code{stepi} command, described
4947 below.
4948 @end quotation
4949
4950 The @code{step} command only stops at the first instruction of a source
4951 line. This prevents the multiple stops that could otherwise occur in
4952 @code{switch} statements, @code{for} loops, etc. @code{step} continues
4953 to stop if a function that has debugging information is called within
4954 the line. In other words, @code{step} @emph{steps inside} any functions
4955 called within the line.
4956
4957 Also, the @code{step} command only enters a function if there is line
4958 number information for the function. Otherwise it acts like the
4959 @code{next} command. This avoids problems when using @code{cc -gl}
4960 on MIPS machines. Previously, @code{step} entered subroutines if there
4961 was any debugging information about the routine.
4962
4963 @item step @var{count}
4964 Continue running as in @code{step}, but do so @var{count} times. If a
4965 breakpoint is reached, or a signal not related to stepping occurs before
4966 @var{count} steps, stepping stops right away.
4967
4968 @kindex next
4969 @kindex n @r{(@code{next})}
4970 @item next @r{[}@var{count}@r{]}
4971 Continue to the next source line in the current (innermost) stack frame.
4972 This is similar to @code{step}, but function calls that appear within
4973 the line of code are executed without stopping. Execution stops when
4974 control reaches a different line of code at the original stack level
4975 that was executing when you gave the @code{next} command. This command
4976 is abbreviated @code{n}.
4977
4978 An argument @var{count} is a repeat count, as for @code{step}.
4979
4980
4981 @c FIX ME!! Do we delete this, or is there a way it fits in with
4982 @c the following paragraph? --- Vctoria
4983 @c
4984 @c @code{next} within a function that lacks debugging information acts like
4985 @c @code{step}, but any function calls appearing within the code of the
4986 @c function are executed without stopping.
4987
4988 The @code{next} command only stops at the first instruction of a
4989 source line. This prevents multiple stops that could otherwise occur in
4990 @code{switch} statements, @code{for} loops, etc.
4991
4992 @kindex set step-mode
4993 @item set step-mode
4994 @cindex functions without line info, and stepping
4995 @cindex stepping into functions with no line info
4996 @itemx set step-mode on
4997 The @code{set step-mode on} command causes the @code{step} command to
4998 stop at the first instruction of a function which contains no debug line
4999 information rather than stepping over it.
5000
5001 This is useful in cases where you may be interested in inspecting the
5002 machine instructions of a function which has no symbolic info and do not
5003 want @value{GDBN} to automatically skip over this function.
5004
5005 @item set step-mode off
5006 Causes the @code{step} command to step over any functions which contains no
5007 debug information. This is the default.
5008
5009 @item show step-mode
5010 Show whether @value{GDBN} will stop in or step over functions without
5011 source line debug information.
5012
5013 @kindex finish
5014 @kindex fin @r{(@code{finish})}
5015 @item finish
5016 Continue running until just after function in the selected stack frame
5017 returns. Print the returned value (if any). This command can be
5018 abbreviated as @code{fin}.
5019
5020 Contrast this with the @code{return} command (@pxref{Returning,
5021 ,Returning from a Function}).
5022
5023 @kindex until
5024 @kindex u @r{(@code{until})}
5025 @cindex run until specified location
5026 @item until
5027 @itemx u
5028 Continue running until a source line past the current line, in the
5029 current stack frame, is reached. This command is used to avoid single
5030 stepping through a loop more than once. It is like the @code{next}
5031 command, except that when @code{until} encounters a jump, it
5032 automatically continues execution until the program counter is greater
5033 than the address of the jump.
5034
5035 This means that when you reach the end of a loop after single stepping
5036 though it, @code{until} makes your program continue execution until it
5037 exits the loop. In contrast, a @code{next} command at the end of a loop
5038 simply steps back to the beginning of the loop, which forces you to step
5039 through the next iteration.
5040
5041 @code{until} always stops your program if it attempts to exit the current
5042 stack frame.
5043
5044 @code{until} may produce somewhat counterintuitive results if the order
5045 of machine code does not match the order of the source lines. For
5046 example, in the following excerpt from a debugging session, the @code{f}
5047 (@code{frame}) command shows that execution is stopped at line
5048 @code{206}; yet when we use @code{until}, we get to line @code{195}:
5049
5050 @smallexample
5051 (@value{GDBP}) f
5052 #0 main (argc=4, argv=0xf7fffae8) at m4.c:206
5053 206 expand_input();
5054 (@value{GDBP}) until
5055 195 for ( ; argc > 0; NEXTARG) @{
5056 @end smallexample
5057
5058 This happened because, for execution efficiency, the compiler had
5059 generated code for the loop closure test at the end, rather than the
5060 start, of the loop---even though the test in a C @code{for}-loop is
5061 written before the body of the loop. The @code{until} command appeared
5062 to step back to the beginning of the loop when it advanced to this
5063 expression; however, it has not really gone to an earlier
5064 statement---not in terms of the actual machine code.
5065
5066 @code{until} with no argument works by means of single
5067 instruction stepping, and hence is slower than @code{until} with an
5068 argument.
5069
5070 @item until @var{location}
5071 @itemx u @var{location}
5072 Continue running your program until either the specified location is
5073 reached, or the current stack frame returns. @var{location} is any of
5074 the forms described in @ref{Specify Location}.
5075 This form of the command uses temporary breakpoints, and
5076 hence is quicker than @code{until} without an argument. The specified
5077 location is actually reached only if it is in the current frame. This
5078 implies that @code{until} can be used to skip over recursive function
5079 invocations. For instance in the code below, if the current location is
5080 line @code{96}, issuing @code{until 99} will execute the program up to
5081 line @code{99} in the same invocation of factorial, i.e., after the inner
5082 invocations have returned.
5083
5084 @smallexample
5085 94 int factorial (int value)
5086 95 @{
5087 96 if (value > 1) @{
5088 97 value *= factorial (value - 1);
5089 98 @}
5090 99 return (value);
5091 100 @}
5092 @end smallexample
5093
5094
5095 @kindex advance @var{location}
5096 @itemx advance @var{location}
5097 Continue running the program up to the given @var{location}. An argument is
5098 required, which should be of one of the forms described in
5099 @ref{Specify Location}.
5100 Execution will also stop upon exit from the current stack
5101 frame. This command is similar to @code{until}, but @code{advance} will
5102 not skip over recursive function calls, and the target location doesn't
5103 have to be in the same frame as the current one.
5104
5105
5106 @kindex stepi
5107 @kindex si @r{(@code{stepi})}
5108 @item stepi
5109 @itemx stepi @var{arg}
5110 @itemx si
5111 Execute one machine instruction, then stop and return to the debugger.
5112
5113 It is often useful to do @samp{display/i $pc} when stepping by machine
5114 instructions. This makes @value{GDBN} automatically display the next
5115 instruction to be executed, each time your program stops. @xref{Auto
5116 Display,, Automatic Display}.
5117
5118 An argument is a repeat count, as in @code{step}.
5119
5120 @need 750
5121 @kindex nexti
5122 @kindex ni @r{(@code{nexti})}
5123 @item nexti
5124 @itemx nexti @var{arg}
5125 @itemx ni
5126 Execute one machine instruction, but if it is a function call,
5127 proceed until the function returns.
5128
5129 An argument is a repeat count, as in @code{next}.
5130 @end table
5131
5132 @node Skipping Over Functions and Files
5133 @section Skipping Over Functions and Files
5134 @cindex skipping over functions and files
5135
5136 The program you are debugging may contain some functions which are
5137 uninteresting to debug. The @code{skip} comand lets you tell @value{GDBN} to
5138 skip a function or all functions in a file when stepping.
5139
5140 For example, consider the following C function:
5141
5142 @smallexample
5143 101 int func()
5144 102 @{
5145 103 foo(boring());
5146 104 bar(boring());
5147 105 @}
5148 @end smallexample
5149
5150 @noindent
5151 Suppose you wish to step into the functions @code{foo} and @code{bar}, but you
5152 are not interested in stepping through @code{boring}. If you run @code{step}
5153 at line 103, you'll enter @code{boring()}, but if you run @code{next}, you'll
5154 step over both @code{foo} and @code{boring}!
5155
5156 One solution is to @code{step} into @code{boring} and use the @code{finish}
5157 command to immediately exit it. But this can become tedious if @code{boring}
5158 is called from many places.
5159
5160 A more flexible solution is to execute @kbd{skip boring}. This instructs
5161 @value{GDBN} never to step into @code{boring}. Now when you execute
5162 @code{step} at line 103, you'll step over @code{boring} and directly into
5163 @code{foo}.
5164
5165 You can also instruct @value{GDBN} to skip all functions in a file, with, for
5166 example, @code{skip file boring.c}.
5167
5168 @table @code
5169 @kindex skip function
5170 @item skip @r{[}@var{linespec}@r{]}
5171 @itemx skip function @r{[}@var{linespec}@r{]}
5172 After running this command, the function named by @var{linespec} or the
5173 function containing the line named by @var{linespec} will be skipped over when
5174 stepping. @xref{Specify Location}.
5175
5176 If you do not specify @var{linespec}, the function you're currently debugging
5177 will be skipped.
5178
5179 (If you have a function called @code{file} that you want to skip, use
5180 @kbd{skip function file}.)
5181
5182 @kindex skip file
5183 @item skip file @r{[}@var{filename}@r{]}
5184 After running this command, any function whose source lives in @var{filename}
5185 will be skipped over when stepping.
5186
5187 If you do not specify @var{filename}, functions whose source lives in the file
5188 you're currently debugging will be skipped.
5189 @end table
5190
5191 Skips can be listed, deleted, disabled, and enabled, much like breakpoints.
5192 These are the commands for managing your list of skips:
5193
5194 @table @code
5195 @kindex info skip
5196 @item info skip @r{[}@var{range}@r{]}
5197 Print details about the specified skip(s). If @var{range} is not specified,
5198 print a table with details about all functions and files marked for skipping.
5199 @code{info skip} prints the following information about each skip:
5200
5201 @table @emph
5202 @item Identifier
5203 A number identifying this skip.
5204 @item Type
5205 The type of this skip, either @samp{function} or @samp{file}.
5206 @item Enabled or Disabled
5207 Enabled skips are marked with @samp{y}. Disabled skips are marked with @samp{n}.
5208 @item Address
5209 For function skips, this column indicates the address in memory of the function
5210 being skipped. If you've set a function skip on a function which has not yet
5211 been loaded, this field will contain @samp{<PENDING>}. Once a shared library
5212 which has the function is loaded, @code{info skip} will show the function's
5213 address here.
5214 @item What
5215 For file skips, this field contains the filename being skipped. For functions
5216 skips, this field contains the function name and its line number in the file
5217 where it is defined.
5218 @end table
5219
5220 @kindex skip delete
5221 @item skip delete @r{[}@var{range}@r{]}
5222 Delete the specified skip(s). If @var{range} is not specified, delete all
5223 skips.
5224
5225 @kindex skip enable
5226 @item skip enable @r{[}@var{range}@r{]}
5227 Enable the specified skip(s). If @var{range} is not specified, enable all
5228 skips.
5229
5230 @kindex skip disable
5231 @item skip disable @r{[}@var{range}@r{]}
5232 Disable the specified skip(s). If @var{range} is not specified, disable all
5233 skips.
5234
5235 @end table
5236
5237 @node Signals
5238 @section Signals
5239 @cindex signals
5240
5241 A signal is an asynchronous event that can happen in a program. The
5242 operating system defines the possible kinds of signals, and gives each
5243 kind a name and a number. For example, in Unix @code{SIGINT} is the
5244 signal a program gets when you type an interrupt character (often @kbd{Ctrl-c});
5245 @code{SIGSEGV} is the signal a program gets from referencing a place in
5246 memory far away from all the areas in use; @code{SIGALRM} occurs when
5247 the alarm clock timer goes off (which happens only if your program has
5248 requested an alarm).
5249
5250 @cindex fatal signals
5251 Some signals, including @code{SIGALRM}, are a normal part of the
5252 functioning of your program. Others, such as @code{SIGSEGV}, indicate
5253 errors; these signals are @dfn{fatal} (they kill your program immediately) if the
5254 program has not specified in advance some other way to handle the signal.
5255 @code{SIGINT} does not indicate an error in your program, but it is normally
5256 fatal so it can carry out the purpose of the interrupt: to kill the program.
5257
5258 @value{GDBN} has the ability to detect any occurrence of a signal in your
5259 program. You can tell @value{GDBN} in advance what to do for each kind of
5260 signal.
5261
5262 @cindex handling signals
5263 Normally, @value{GDBN} is set up to let the non-erroneous signals like
5264 @code{SIGALRM} be silently passed to your program
5265 (so as not to interfere with their role in the program's functioning)
5266 but to stop your program immediately whenever an error signal happens.
5267 You can change these settings with the @code{handle} command.
5268
5269 @table @code
5270 @kindex info signals
5271 @kindex info handle
5272 @item info signals
5273 @itemx info handle
5274 Print a table of all the kinds of signals and how @value{GDBN} has been told to
5275 handle each one. You can use this to see the signal numbers of all
5276 the defined types of signals.
5277
5278 @item info signals @var{sig}
5279 Similar, but print information only about the specified signal number.
5280
5281 @code{info handle} is an alias for @code{info signals}.
5282
5283 @kindex handle
5284 @item handle @var{signal} @r{[}@var{keywords}@dots{}@r{]}
5285 Change the way @value{GDBN} handles signal @var{signal}. @var{signal}
5286 can be the number of a signal or its name (with or without the
5287 @samp{SIG} at the beginning); a list of signal numbers of the form
5288 @samp{@var{low}-@var{high}}; or the word @samp{all}, meaning all the
5289 known signals. Optional arguments @var{keywords}, described below,
5290 say what change to make.
5291 @end table
5292
5293 @c @group
5294 The keywords allowed by the @code{handle} command can be abbreviated.
5295 Their full names are:
5296
5297 @table @code
5298 @item nostop
5299 @value{GDBN} should not stop your program when this signal happens. It may
5300 still print a message telling you that the signal has come in.
5301
5302 @item stop
5303 @value{GDBN} should stop your program when this signal happens. This implies
5304 the @code{print} keyword as well.
5305
5306 @item print
5307 @value{GDBN} should print a message when this signal happens.
5308
5309 @item noprint
5310 @value{GDBN} should not mention the occurrence of the signal at all. This
5311 implies the @code{nostop} keyword as well.
5312
5313 @item pass
5314 @itemx noignore
5315 @value{GDBN} should allow your program to see this signal; your program
5316 can handle the signal, or else it may terminate if the signal is fatal
5317 and not handled. @code{pass} and @code{noignore} are synonyms.
5318
5319 @item nopass
5320 @itemx ignore
5321 @value{GDBN} should not allow your program to see this signal.
5322 @code{nopass} and @code{ignore} are synonyms.
5323 @end table
5324 @c @end group
5325
5326 When a signal stops your program, the signal is not visible to the
5327 program until you
5328 continue. Your program sees the signal then, if @code{pass} is in
5329 effect for the signal in question @emph{at that time}. In other words,
5330 after @value{GDBN} reports a signal, you can use the @code{handle}
5331 command with @code{pass} or @code{nopass} to control whether your
5332 program sees that signal when you continue.
5333
5334 The default is set to @code{nostop}, @code{noprint}, @code{pass} for
5335 non-erroneous signals such as @code{SIGALRM}, @code{SIGWINCH} and
5336 @code{SIGCHLD}, and to @code{stop}, @code{print}, @code{pass} for the
5337 erroneous signals.
5338
5339 You can also use the @code{signal} command to prevent your program from
5340 seeing a signal, or cause it to see a signal it normally would not see,
5341 or to give it any signal at any time. For example, if your program stopped
5342 due to some sort of memory reference error, you might store correct
5343 values into the erroneous variables and continue, hoping to see more
5344 execution; but your program would probably terminate immediately as
5345 a result of the fatal signal once it saw the signal. To prevent this,
5346 you can continue with @samp{signal 0}. @xref{Signaling, ,Giving your
5347 Program a Signal}.
5348
5349 @cindex extra signal information
5350 @anchor{extra signal information}
5351
5352 On some targets, @value{GDBN} can inspect extra signal information
5353 associated with the intercepted signal, before it is actually
5354 delivered to the program being debugged. This information is exported
5355 by the convenience variable @code{$_siginfo}, and consists of data
5356 that is passed by the kernel to the signal handler at the time of the
5357 receipt of a signal. The data type of the information itself is
5358 target dependent. You can see the data type using the @code{ptype
5359 $_siginfo} command. On Unix systems, it typically corresponds to the
5360 standard @code{siginfo_t} type, as defined in the @file{signal.h}
5361 system header.
5362
5363 Here's an example, on a @sc{gnu}/Linux system, printing the stray
5364 referenced address that raised a segmentation fault.
5365
5366 @smallexample
5367 @group
5368 (@value{GDBP}) continue
5369 Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
5370 0x0000000000400766 in main ()
5371 69 *(int *)p = 0;
5372 (@value{GDBP}) ptype $_siginfo
5373 type = struct @{
5374 int si_signo;
5375 int si_errno;
5376 int si_code;
5377 union @{
5378 int _pad[28];
5379 struct @{...@} _kill;
5380 struct @{...@} _timer;
5381 struct @{...@} _rt;
5382 struct @{...@} _sigchld;
5383 struct @{...@} _sigfault;
5384 struct @{...@} _sigpoll;
5385 @} _sifields;
5386 @}
5387 (@value{GDBP}) ptype $_siginfo._sifields._sigfault
5388 type = struct @{
5389 void *si_addr;
5390 @}
5391 (@value{GDBP}) p $_siginfo._sifields._sigfault.si_addr
5392 $1 = (void *) 0x7ffff7ff7000
5393 @end group
5394 @end smallexample
5395
5396 Depending on target support, @code{$_siginfo} may also be writable.
5397
5398 @node Thread Stops
5399 @section Stopping and Starting Multi-thread Programs
5400
5401 @cindex stopped threads
5402 @cindex threads, stopped
5403
5404 @cindex continuing threads
5405 @cindex threads, continuing
5406
5407 @value{GDBN} supports debugging programs with multiple threads
5408 (@pxref{Threads,, Debugging Programs with Multiple Threads}). There
5409 are two modes of controlling execution of your program within the
5410 debugger. In the default mode, referred to as @dfn{all-stop mode},
5411 when any thread in your program stops (for example, at a breakpoint
5412 or while being stepped), all other threads in the program are also stopped by
5413 @value{GDBN}. On some targets, @value{GDBN} also supports
5414 @dfn{non-stop mode}, in which other threads can continue to run freely while
5415 you examine the stopped thread in the debugger.
5416
5417 @menu
5418 * All-Stop Mode:: All threads stop when GDB takes control
5419 * Non-Stop Mode:: Other threads continue to execute
5420 * Background Execution:: Running your program asynchronously
5421 * Thread-Specific Breakpoints:: Controlling breakpoints
5422 * Interrupted System Calls:: GDB may interfere with system calls
5423 * Observer Mode:: GDB does not alter program behavior
5424 @end menu
5425
5426 @node All-Stop Mode
5427 @subsection All-Stop Mode
5428
5429 @cindex all-stop mode
5430
5431 In all-stop mode, whenever your program stops under @value{GDBN} for any reason,
5432 @emph{all} threads of execution stop, not just the current thread. This
5433 allows you to examine the overall state of the program, including
5434 switching between threads, without worrying that things may change
5435 underfoot.
5436
5437 Conversely, whenever you restart the program, @emph{all} threads start
5438 executing. @emph{This is true even when single-stepping} with commands
5439 like @code{step} or @code{next}.
5440
5441 In particular, @value{GDBN} cannot single-step all threads in lockstep.
5442 Since thread scheduling is up to your debugging target's operating
5443 system (not controlled by @value{GDBN}), other threads may
5444 execute more than one statement while the current thread completes a
5445 single step. Moreover, in general other threads stop in the middle of a
5446 statement, rather than at a clean statement boundary, when the program
5447 stops.
5448
5449 You might even find your program stopped in another thread after
5450 continuing or even single-stepping. This happens whenever some other
5451 thread runs into a breakpoint, a signal, or an exception before the
5452 first thread completes whatever you requested.
5453
5454 @cindex automatic thread selection
5455 @cindex switching threads automatically
5456 @cindex threads, automatic switching
5457 Whenever @value{GDBN} stops your program, due to a breakpoint or a
5458 signal, it automatically selects the thread where that breakpoint or
5459 signal happened. @value{GDBN} alerts you to the context switch with a
5460 message such as @samp{[Switching to Thread @var{n}]} to identify the
5461 thread.
5462
5463 On some OSes, you can modify @value{GDBN}'s default behavior by
5464 locking the OS scheduler to allow only a single thread to run.
5465
5466 @table @code
5467 @item set scheduler-locking @var{mode}
5468 @cindex scheduler locking mode
5469 @cindex lock scheduler
5470 Set the scheduler locking mode. If it is @code{off}, then there is no
5471 locking and any thread may run at any time. If @code{on}, then only the
5472 current thread may run when the inferior is resumed. The @code{step}
5473 mode optimizes for single-stepping; it prevents other threads
5474 from preempting the current thread while you are stepping, so that
5475 the focus of debugging does not change unexpectedly.
5476 Other threads only rarely (or never) get a chance to run
5477 when you step. They are more likely to run when you @samp{next} over a
5478 function call, and they are completely free to run when you use commands
5479 like @samp{continue}, @samp{until}, or @samp{finish}. However, unless another
5480 thread hits a breakpoint during its timeslice, @value{GDBN} does not change
5481 the current thread away from the thread that you are debugging.
5482
5483 @item show scheduler-locking
5484 Display the current scheduler locking mode.
5485 @end table
5486
5487 @cindex resume threads of multiple processes simultaneously
5488 By default, when you issue one of the execution commands such as
5489 @code{continue}, @code{next} or @code{step}, @value{GDBN} allows only
5490 threads of the current inferior to run. For example, if @value{GDBN}
5491 is attached to two inferiors, each with two threads, the
5492 @code{continue} command resumes only the two threads of the current
5493 inferior. This is useful, for example, when you debug a program that
5494 forks and you want to hold the parent stopped (so that, for instance,
5495 it doesn't run to exit), while you debug the child. In other
5496 situations, you may not be interested in inspecting the current state
5497 of any of the processes @value{GDBN} is attached to, and you may want
5498 to resume them all until some breakpoint is hit. In the latter case,
5499 you can instruct @value{GDBN} to allow all threads of all the
5500 inferiors to run with the @w{@code{set schedule-multiple}} command.
5501
5502 @table @code
5503 @kindex set schedule-multiple
5504 @item set schedule-multiple
5505 Set the mode for allowing threads of multiple processes to be resumed
5506 when an execution command is issued. When @code{on}, all threads of
5507 all processes are allowed to run. When @code{off}, only the threads
5508 of the current process are resumed. The default is @code{off}. The
5509 @code{scheduler-locking} mode takes precedence when set to @code{on},
5510 or while you are stepping and set to @code{step}.
5511
5512 @item show schedule-multiple
5513 Display the current mode for resuming the execution of threads of
5514 multiple processes.
5515 @end table
5516
5517 @node Non-Stop Mode
5518 @subsection Non-Stop Mode
5519
5520 @cindex non-stop mode
5521
5522 @c This section is really only a place-holder, and needs to be expanded
5523 @c with more details.
5524
5525 For some multi-threaded targets, @value{GDBN} supports an optional
5526 mode of operation in which you can examine stopped program threads in
5527 the debugger while other threads continue to execute freely. This
5528 minimizes intrusion when debugging live systems, such as programs
5529 where some threads have real-time constraints or must continue to
5530 respond to external events. This is referred to as @dfn{non-stop} mode.
5531
5532 In non-stop mode, when a thread stops to report a debugging event,
5533 @emph{only} that thread is stopped; @value{GDBN} does not stop other
5534 threads as well, in contrast to the all-stop mode behavior. Additionally,
5535 execution commands such as @code{continue} and @code{step} apply by default
5536 only to the current thread in non-stop mode, rather than all threads as
5537 in all-stop mode. This allows you to control threads explicitly in
5538 ways that are not possible in all-stop mode --- for example, stepping
5539 one thread while allowing others to run freely, stepping
5540 one thread while holding all others stopped, or stepping several threads
5541 independently and simultaneously.
5542
5543 To enter non-stop mode, use this sequence of commands before you run
5544 or attach to your program:
5545
5546 @smallexample
5547 # Enable the async interface.
5548 set target-async 1
5549
5550 # If using the CLI, pagination breaks non-stop.
5551 set pagination off
5552
5553 # Finally, turn it on!
5554 set non-stop on
5555 @end smallexample
5556
5557 You can use these commands to manipulate the non-stop mode setting:
5558
5559 @table @code
5560 @kindex set non-stop
5561 @item set non-stop on
5562 Enable selection of non-stop mode.
5563 @item set non-stop off
5564 Disable selection of non-stop mode.
5565 @kindex show non-stop
5566 @item show non-stop
5567 Show the current non-stop enablement setting.
5568 @end table
5569
5570 Note these commands only reflect whether non-stop mode is enabled,
5571 not whether the currently-executing program is being run in non-stop mode.
5572 In particular, the @code{set non-stop} preference is only consulted when
5573 @value{GDBN} starts or connects to the target program, and it is generally
5574 not possible to switch modes once debugging has started. Furthermore,
5575 since not all targets support non-stop mode, even when you have enabled
5576 non-stop mode, @value{GDBN} may still fall back to all-stop operation by
5577 default.
5578
5579 In non-stop mode, all execution commands apply only to the current thread
5580 by default. That is, @code{continue} only continues one thread.
5581 To continue all threads, issue @code{continue -a} or @code{c -a}.
5582
5583 You can use @value{GDBN}'s background execution commands
5584 (@pxref{Background Execution}) to run some threads in the background
5585 while you continue to examine or step others from @value{GDBN}.
5586 The MI execution commands (@pxref{GDB/MI Program Execution}) are
5587 always executed asynchronously in non-stop mode.
5588
5589 Suspending execution is done with the @code{interrupt} command when
5590 running in the background, or @kbd{Ctrl-c} during foreground execution.
5591 In all-stop mode, this stops the whole process;
5592 but in non-stop mode the interrupt applies only to the current thread.
5593 To stop the whole program, use @code{interrupt -a}.
5594
5595 Other execution commands do not currently support the @code{-a} option.
5596
5597 In non-stop mode, when a thread stops, @value{GDBN} doesn't automatically make
5598 that thread current, as it does in all-stop mode. This is because the
5599 thread stop notifications are asynchronous with respect to @value{GDBN}'s
5600 command interpreter, and it would be confusing if @value{GDBN} unexpectedly
5601 changed to a different thread just as you entered a command to operate on the
5602 previously current thread.
5603
5604 @node Background Execution
5605 @subsection Background Execution
5606
5607 @cindex foreground execution
5608 @cindex background execution
5609 @cindex asynchronous execution
5610 @cindex execution, foreground, background and asynchronous
5611
5612 @value{GDBN}'s execution commands have two variants: the normal
5613 foreground (synchronous) behavior, and a background
5614 (asynchronous) behavior. In foreground execution, @value{GDBN} waits for
5615 the program to report that some thread has stopped before prompting for
5616 another command. In background execution, @value{GDBN} immediately gives
5617 a command prompt so that you can issue other commands while your program runs.
5618
5619 You need to explicitly enable asynchronous mode before you can use
5620 background execution commands. You can use these commands to
5621 manipulate the asynchronous mode setting:
5622
5623 @table @code
5624 @kindex set target-async
5625 @item set target-async on
5626 Enable asynchronous mode.
5627 @item set target-async off
5628 Disable asynchronous mode.
5629 @kindex show target-async
5630 @item show target-async
5631 Show the current target-async setting.
5632 @end table
5633
5634 If the target doesn't support async mode, @value{GDBN} issues an error
5635 message if you attempt to use the background execution commands.
5636
5637 To specify background execution, add a @code{&} to the command. For example,
5638 the background form of the @code{continue} command is @code{continue&}, or
5639 just @code{c&}. The execution commands that accept background execution
5640 are:
5641
5642 @table @code
5643 @kindex run&
5644 @item run
5645 @xref{Starting, , Starting your Program}.
5646
5647 @item attach
5648 @kindex attach&
5649 @xref{Attach, , Debugging an Already-running Process}.
5650
5651 @item step
5652 @kindex step&
5653 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, step}.
5654
5655 @item stepi
5656 @kindex stepi&
5657 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, stepi}.
5658
5659 @item next
5660 @kindex next&
5661 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, next}.
5662
5663 @item nexti
5664 @kindex nexti&
5665 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, nexti}.
5666
5667 @item continue
5668 @kindex continue&
5669 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, continue}.
5670
5671 @item finish
5672 @kindex finish&
5673 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, finish}.
5674
5675 @item until
5676 @kindex until&
5677 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, until}.
5678
5679 @end table
5680
5681 Background execution is especially useful in conjunction with non-stop
5682 mode for debugging programs with multiple threads; see @ref{Non-Stop Mode}.
5683 However, you can also use these commands in the normal all-stop mode with
5684 the restriction that you cannot issue another execution command until the
5685 previous one finishes. Examples of commands that are valid in all-stop
5686 mode while the program is running include @code{help} and @code{info break}.
5687
5688 You can interrupt your program while it is running in the background by
5689 using the @code{interrupt} command.
5690
5691 @table @code
5692 @kindex interrupt
5693 @item interrupt
5694 @itemx interrupt -a
5695
5696 Suspend execution of the running program. In all-stop mode,
5697 @code{interrupt} stops the whole process, but in non-stop mode, it stops
5698 only the current thread. To stop the whole program in non-stop mode,
5699 use @code{interrupt -a}.
5700 @end table
5701
5702 @node Thread-Specific Breakpoints
5703 @subsection Thread-Specific Breakpoints
5704
5705 When your program has multiple threads (@pxref{Threads,, Debugging
5706 Programs with Multiple Threads}), you can choose whether to set
5707 breakpoints on all threads, or on a particular thread.
5708
5709 @table @code
5710 @cindex breakpoints and threads
5711 @cindex thread breakpoints
5712 @kindex break @dots{} thread @var{threadno}
5713 @item break @var{linespec} thread @var{threadno}
5714 @itemx break @var{linespec} thread @var{threadno} if @dots{}
5715 @var{linespec} specifies source lines; there are several ways of
5716 writing them (@pxref{Specify Location}), but the effect is always to
5717 specify some source line.
5718
5719 Use the qualifier @samp{thread @var{threadno}} with a breakpoint command
5720 to specify that you only want @value{GDBN} to stop the program when a
5721 particular thread reaches this breakpoint. @var{threadno} is one of the
5722 numeric thread identifiers assigned by @value{GDBN}, shown in the first
5723 column of the @samp{info threads} display.
5724
5725 If you do not specify @samp{thread @var{threadno}} when you set a
5726 breakpoint, the breakpoint applies to @emph{all} threads of your
5727 program.
5728
5729 You can use the @code{thread} qualifier on conditional breakpoints as
5730 well; in this case, place @samp{thread @var{threadno}} before or
5731 after the breakpoint condition, like this:
5732
5733 @smallexample
5734 (@value{GDBP}) break frik.c:13 thread 28 if bartab > lim
5735 @end smallexample
5736
5737 @end table
5738
5739 @node Interrupted System Calls
5740 @subsection Interrupted System Calls
5741
5742 @cindex thread breakpoints and system calls
5743 @cindex system calls and thread breakpoints
5744 @cindex premature return from system calls
5745 There is an unfortunate side effect when using @value{GDBN} to debug
5746 multi-threaded programs. If one thread stops for a
5747 breakpoint, or for some other reason, and another thread is blocked in a
5748 system call, then the system call may return prematurely. This is a
5749 consequence of the interaction between multiple threads and the signals
5750 that @value{GDBN} uses to implement breakpoints and other events that
5751 stop execution.
5752
5753 To handle this problem, your program should check the return value of
5754 each system call and react appropriately. This is good programming
5755 style anyways.
5756
5757 For example, do not write code like this:
5758
5759 @smallexample
5760 sleep (10);
5761 @end smallexample
5762
5763 The call to @code{sleep} will return early if a different thread stops
5764 at a breakpoint or for some other reason.
5765
5766 Instead, write this:
5767
5768 @smallexample
5769 int unslept = 10;
5770 while (unslept > 0)
5771 unslept = sleep (unslept);
5772 @end smallexample
5773
5774 A system call is allowed to return early, so the system is still
5775 conforming to its specification. But @value{GDBN} does cause your
5776 multi-threaded program to behave differently than it would without
5777 @value{GDBN}.
5778
5779 Also, @value{GDBN} uses internal breakpoints in the thread library to
5780 monitor certain events such as thread creation and thread destruction.
5781 When such an event happens, a system call in another thread may return
5782 prematurely, even though your program does not appear to stop.
5783
5784 @node Observer Mode
5785 @subsection Observer Mode
5786
5787 If you want to build on non-stop mode and observe program behavior
5788 without any chance of disruption by @value{GDBN}, you can set
5789 variables to disable all of the debugger's attempts to modify state,
5790 whether by writing memory, inserting breakpoints, etc. These operate
5791 at a low level, intercepting operations from all commands.
5792
5793 When all of these are set to @code{off}, then @value{GDBN} is said to
5794 be @dfn{observer mode}. As a convenience, the variable
5795 @code{observer} can be set to disable these, plus enable non-stop
5796 mode.
5797
5798 Note that @value{GDBN} will not prevent you from making nonsensical
5799 combinations of these settings. For instance, if you have enabled
5800 @code{may-insert-breakpoints} but disabled @code{may-write-memory},
5801 then breakpoints that work by writing trap instructions into the code
5802 stream will still not be able to be placed.
5803
5804 @table @code
5805
5806 @kindex observer
5807 @item set observer on
5808 @itemx set observer off
5809 When set to @code{on}, this disables all the permission variables
5810 below (except for @code{insert-fast-tracepoints}), plus enables
5811 non-stop debugging. Setting this to @code{off} switches back to
5812 normal debugging, though remaining in non-stop mode.
5813
5814 @item show observer
5815 Show whether observer mode is on or off.
5816
5817 @kindex may-write-registers
5818 @item set may-write-registers on
5819 @itemx set may-write-registers off
5820 This controls whether @value{GDBN} will attempt to alter the values of
5821 registers, such as with assignment expressions in @code{print}, or the
5822 @code{jump} command. It defaults to @code{on}.
5823
5824 @item show may-write-registers
5825 Show the current permission to write registers.
5826
5827 @kindex may-write-memory
5828 @item set may-write-memory on
5829 @itemx set may-write-memory off
5830 This controls whether @value{GDBN} will attempt to alter the contents
5831 of memory, such as with assignment expressions in @code{print}. It
5832 defaults to @code{on}.
5833
5834 @item show may-write-memory
5835 Show the current permission to write memory.
5836
5837 @kindex may-insert-breakpoints
5838 @item set may-insert-breakpoints on
5839 @itemx set may-insert-breakpoints off
5840 This controls whether @value{GDBN} will attempt to insert breakpoints.
5841 This affects all breakpoints, including internal breakpoints defined
5842 by @value{GDBN}. It defaults to @code{on}.
5843
5844 @item show may-insert-breakpoints
5845 Show the current permission to insert breakpoints.
5846
5847 @kindex may-insert-tracepoints
5848 @item set may-insert-tracepoints on
5849 @itemx set may-insert-tracepoints off
5850 This controls whether @value{GDBN} will attempt to insert (regular)
5851 tracepoints at the beginning of a tracing experiment. It affects only
5852 non-fast tracepoints, fast tracepoints being under the control of
5853 @code{may-insert-fast-tracepoints}. It defaults to @code{on}.
5854
5855 @item show may-insert-tracepoints
5856 Show the current permission to insert tracepoints.
5857
5858 @kindex may-insert-fast-tracepoints
5859 @item set may-insert-fast-tracepoints on
5860 @itemx set may-insert-fast-tracepoints off
5861 This controls whether @value{GDBN} will attempt to insert fast
5862 tracepoints at the beginning of a tracing experiment. It affects only
5863 fast tracepoints, regular (non-fast) tracepoints being under the
5864 control of @code{may-insert-tracepoints}. It defaults to @code{on}.
5865
5866 @item show may-insert-fast-tracepoints
5867 Show the current permission to insert fast tracepoints.
5868
5869 @kindex may-interrupt
5870 @item set may-interrupt on
5871 @itemx set may-interrupt off
5872 This controls whether @value{GDBN} will attempt to interrupt or stop
5873 program execution. When this variable is @code{off}, the
5874 @code{interrupt} command will have no effect, nor will
5875 @kbd{Ctrl-c}. It defaults to @code{on}.
5876
5877 @item show may-interrupt
5878 Show the current permission to interrupt or stop the program.
5879
5880 @end table
5881
5882 @node Reverse Execution
5883 @chapter Running programs backward
5884 @cindex reverse execution
5885 @cindex running programs backward
5886
5887 When you are debugging a program, it is not unusual to realize that
5888 you have gone too far, and some event of interest has already happened.
5889 If the target environment supports it, @value{GDBN} can allow you to
5890 ``rewind'' the program by running it backward.
5891
5892 A target environment that supports reverse execution should be able
5893 to ``undo'' the changes in machine state that have taken place as the
5894 program was executing normally. Variables, registers etc.@: should
5895 revert to their previous values. Obviously this requires a great
5896 deal of sophistication on the part of the target environment; not
5897 all target environments can support reverse execution.
5898
5899 When a program is executed in reverse, the instructions that
5900 have most recently been executed are ``un-executed'', in reverse
5901 order. The program counter runs backward, following the previous
5902 thread of execution in reverse. As each instruction is ``un-executed'',
5903 the values of memory and/or registers that were changed by that
5904 instruction are reverted to their previous states. After executing
5905 a piece of source code in reverse, all side effects of that code
5906 should be ``undone'', and all variables should be returned to their
5907 prior values@footnote{
5908 Note that some side effects are easier to undo than others. For instance,
5909 memory and registers are relatively easy, but device I/O is hard. Some
5910 targets may be able undo things like device I/O, and some may not.
5911
5912 The contract between @value{GDBN} and the reverse executing target
5913 requires only that the target do something reasonable when
5914 @value{GDBN} tells it to execute backwards, and then report the
5915 results back to @value{GDBN}. Whatever the target reports back to
5916 @value{GDBN}, @value{GDBN} will report back to the user. @value{GDBN}
5917 assumes that the memory and registers that the target reports are in a
5918 consistant state, but @value{GDBN} accepts whatever it is given.
5919 }.
5920
5921 If you are debugging in a target environment that supports
5922 reverse execution, @value{GDBN} provides the following commands.
5923
5924 @table @code
5925 @kindex reverse-continue
5926 @kindex rc @r{(@code{reverse-continue})}
5927 @item reverse-continue @r{[}@var{ignore-count}@r{]}
5928 @itemx rc @r{[}@var{ignore-count}@r{]}
5929 Beginning at the point where your program last stopped, start executing
5930 in reverse. Reverse execution will stop for breakpoints and synchronous
5931 exceptions (signals), just like normal execution. Behavior of
5932 asynchronous signals depends on the target environment.
5933
5934 @kindex reverse-step
5935 @kindex rs @r{(@code{step})}
5936 @item reverse-step @r{[}@var{count}@r{]}
5937 Run the program backward until control reaches the start of a
5938 different source line; then stop it, and return control to @value{GDBN}.
5939
5940 Like the @code{step} command, @code{reverse-step} will only stop
5941 at the beginning of a source line. It ``un-executes'' the previously
5942 executed source line. If the previous source line included calls to
5943 debuggable functions, @code{reverse-step} will step (backward) into
5944 the called function, stopping at the beginning of the @emph{last}
5945 statement in the called function (typically a return statement).
5946
5947 Also, as with the @code{step} command, if non-debuggable functions are
5948 called, @code{reverse-step} will run thru them backward without stopping.
5949
5950 @kindex reverse-stepi
5951 @kindex rsi @r{(@code{reverse-stepi})}
5952 @item reverse-stepi @r{[}@var{count}@r{]}
5953 Reverse-execute one machine instruction. Note that the instruction
5954 to be reverse-executed is @emph{not} the one pointed to by the program
5955 counter, but the instruction executed prior to that one. For instance,
5956 if the last instruction was a jump, @code{reverse-stepi} will take you
5957 back from the destination of the jump to the jump instruction itself.
5958
5959 @kindex reverse-next
5960 @kindex rn @r{(@code{reverse-next})}
5961 @item reverse-next @r{[}@var{count}@r{]}
5962 Run backward to the beginning of the previous line executed in
5963 the current (innermost) stack frame. If the line contains function
5964 calls, they will be ``un-executed'' without stopping. Starting from
5965 the first line of a function, @code{reverse-next} will take you back
5966 to the caller of that function, @emph{before} the function was called,
5967 just as the normal @code{next} command would take you from the last
5968 line of a function back to its return to its caller
5969 @footnote{Unless the code is too heavily optimized.}.
5970
5971 @kindex reverse-nexti
5972 @kindex rni @r{(@code{reverse-nexti})}
5973 @item reverse-nexti @r{[}@var{count}@r{]}
5974 Like @code{nexti}, @code{reverse-nexti} executes a single instruction
5975 in reverse, except that called functions are ``un-executed'' atomically.
5976 That is, if the previously executed instruction was a return from
5977 another function, @code{reverse-nexti} will continue to execute
5978 in reverse until the call to that function (from the current stack
5979 frame) is reached.
5980
5981 @kindex reverse-finish
5982 @item reverse-finish
5983 Just as the @code{finish} command takes you to the point where the
5984 current function returns, @code{reverse-finish} takes you to the point
5985 where it was called. Instead of ending up at the end of the current
5986 function invocation, you end up at the beginning.
5987
5988 @kindex set exec-direction
5989 @item set exec-direction
5990 Set the direction of target execution.
5991 @itemx set exec-direction reverse
5992 @cindex execute forward or backward in time
5993 @value{GDBN} will perform all execution commands in reverse, until the
5994 exec-direction mode is changed to ``forward''. Affected commands include
5995 @code{step, stepi, next, nexti, continue, and finish}. The @code{return}
5996 command cannot be used in reverse mode.
5997 @item set exec-direction forward
5998 @value{GDBN} will perform all execution commands in the normal fashion.
5999 This is the default.
6000 @end table
6001
6002
6003 @node Process Record and Replay
6004 @chapter Recording Inferior's Execution and Replaying It
6005 @cindex process record and replay
6006 @cindex recording inferior's execution and replaying it
6007
6008 On some platforms, @value{GDBN} provides a special @dfn{process record
6009 and replay} target that can record a log of the process execution, and
6010 replay it later with both forward and reverse execution commands.
6011
6012 @cindex replay mode
6013 When this target is in use, if the execution log includes the record
6014 for the next instruction, @value{GDBN} will debug in @dfn{replay
6015 mode}. In the replay mode, the inferior does not really execute code
6016 instructions. Instead, all the events that normally happen during
6017 code execution are taken from the execution log. While code is not
6018 really executed in replay mode, the values of registers (including the
6019 program counter register) and the memory of the inferior are still
6020 changed as they normally would. Their contents are taken from the
6021 execution log.
6022
6023 @cindex record mode
6024 If the record for the next instruction is not in the execution log,
6025 @value{GDBN} will debug in @dfn{record mode}. In this mode, the
6026 inferior executes normally, and @value{GDBN} records the execution log
6027 for future replay.
6028
6029 The process record and replay target supports reverse execution
6030 (@pxref{Reverse Execution}), even if the platform on which the
6031 inferior runs does not. However, the reverse execution is limited in
6032 this case by the range of the instructions recorded in the execution
6033 log. In other words, reverse execution on platforms that don't
6034 support it directly can only be done in the replay mode.
6035
6036 When debugging in the reverse direction, @value{GDBN} will work in
6037 replay mode as long as the execution log includes the record for the
6038 previous instruction; otherwise, it will work in record mode, if the
6039 platform supports reverse execution, or stop if not.
6040
6041 For architecture environments that support process record and replay,
6042 @value{GDBN} provides the following commands:
6043
6044 @table @code
6045 @kindex target record
6046 @kindex record
6047 @kindex rec
6048 @item target record
6049 This command starts the process record and replay target. The process
6050 record and replay target can only debug a process that is already
6051 running. Therefore, you need first to start the process with the
6052 @kbd{run} or @kbd{start} commands, and then start the recording with
6053 the @kbd{target record} command.
6054
6055 Both @code{record} and @code{rec} are aliases of @code{target record}.
6056
6057 @cindex displaced stepping, and process record and replay
6058 Displaced stepping (@pxref{Maintenance Commands,, displaced stepping})
6059 will be automatically disabled when process record and replay target
6060 is started. That's because the process record and replay target
6061 doesn't support displaced stepping.
6062
6063 @cindex non-stop mode, and process record and replay
6064 @cindex asynchronous execution, and process record and replay
6065 If the inferior is in the non-stop mode (@pxref{Non-Stop Mode}) or in
6066 the asynchronous execution mode (@pxref{Background Execution}), the
6067 process record and replay target cannot be started because it doesn't
6068 support these two modes.
6069
6070 @kindex record stop
6071 @kindex rec s
6072 @item record stop
6073 Stop the process record and replay target. When process record and
6074 replay target stops, the entire execution log will be deleted and the
6075 inferior will either be terminated, or will remain in its final state.
6076
6077 When you stop the process record and replay target in record mode (at
6078 the end of the execution log), the inferior will be stopped at the
6079 next instruction that would have been recorded. In other words, if
6080 you record for a while and then stop recording, the inferior process
6081 will be left in the same state as if the recording never happened.
6082
6083 On the other hand, if the process record and replay target is stopped
6084 while in replay mode (that is, not at the end of the execution log,
6085 but at some earlier point), the inferior process will become ``live''
6086 at that earlier state, and it will then be possible to continue the
6087 usual ``live'' debugging of the process from that state.
6088
6089 When the inferior process exits, or @value{GDBN} detaches from it,
6090 process record and replay target will automatically stop itself.
6091
6092 @kindex record save
6093 @item record save @var{filename}
6094 Save the execution log to a file @file{@var{filename}}.
6095 Default filename is @file{gdb_record.@var{process_id}}, where
6096 @var{process_id} is the process ID of the inferior.
6097
6098 @kindex record restore
6099 @item record restore @var{filename}
6100 Restore the execution log from a file @file{@var{filename}}.
6101 File must have been created with @code{record save}.
6102
6103 @kindex set record insn-number-max
6104 @item set record insn-number-max @var{limit}
6105 Set the limit of instructions to be recorded. Default value is 200000.
6106
6107 If @var{limit} is a positive number, then @value{GDBN} will start
6108 deleting instructions from the log once the number of the record
6109 instructions becomes greater than @var{limit}. For every new recorded
6110 instruction, @value{GDBN} will delete the earliest recorded
6111 instruction to keep the number of recorded instructions at the limit.
6112 (Since deleting recorded instructions loses information, @value{GDBN}
6113 lets you control what happens when the limit is reached, by means of
6114 the @code{stop-at-limit} option, described below.)
6115
6116 If @var{limit} is zero, @value{GDBN} will never delete recorded
6117 instructions from the execution log. The number of recorded
6118 instructions is unlimited in this case.
6119
6120 @kindex show record insn-number-max
6121 @item show record insn-number-max
6122 Show the limit of instructions to be recorded.
6123
6124 @kindex set record stop-at-limit
6125 @item set record stop-at-limit
6126 Control the behavior when the number of recorded instructions reaches
6127 the limit. If ON (the default), @value{GDBN} will stop when the limit
6128 is reached for the first time and ask you whether you want to stop the
6129 inferior or continue running it and recording the execution log. If
6130 you decide to continue recording, each new recorded instruction will
6131 cause the oldest one to be deleted.
6132
6133 If this option is OFF, @value{GDBN} will automatically delete the
6134 oldest record to make room for each new one, without asking.
6135
6136 @kindex show record stop-at-limit
6137 @item show record stop-at-limit
6138 Show the current setting of @code{stop-at-limit}.
6139
6140 @kindex set record memory-query
6141 @item set record memory-query
6142 Control the behavior when @value{GDBN} is unable to record memory
6143 changes caused by an instruction. If ON, @value{GDBN} will query
6144 whether to stop the inferior in that case.
6145
6146 If this option is OFF (the default), @value{GDBN} will automatically
6147 ignore the effect of such instructions on memory. Later, when
6148 @value{GDBN} replays this execution log, it will mark the log of this
6149 instruction as not accessible, and it will not affect the replay
6150 results.
6151
6152 @kindex show record memory-query
6153 @item show record memory-query
6154 Show the current setting of @code{memory-query}.
6155
6156 @kindex info record
6157 @item info record
6158 Show various statistics about the state of process record and its
6159 in-memory execution log buffer, including:
6160
6161 @itemize @bullet
6162 @item
6163 Whether in record mode or replay mode.
6164 @item
6165 Lowest recorded instruction number (counting from when the current execution log started recording instructions).
6166 @item
6167 Highest recorded instruction number.
6168 @item
6169 Current instruction about to be replayed (if in replay mode).
6170 @item
6171 Number of instructions contained in the execution log.
6172 @item
6173 Maximum number of instructions that may be contained in the execution log.
6174 @end itemize
6175
6176 @kindex record delete
6177 @kindex rec del
6178 @item record delete
6179 When record target runs in replay mode (``in the past''), delete the
6180 subsequent execution log and begin to record a new execution log starting
6181 from the current address. This means you will abandon the previously
6182 recorded ``future'' and begin recording a new ``future''.
6183 @end table
6184
6185
6186 @node Stack
6187 @chapter Examining the Stack
6188
6189 When your program has stopped, the first thing you need to know is where it
6190 stopped and how it got there.
6191
6192 @cindex call stack
6193 Each time your program performs a function call, information about the call
6194 is generated.
6195 That information includes the location of the call in your program,
6196 the arguments of the call,
6197 and the local variables of the function being called.
6198 The information is saved in a block of data called a @dfn{stack frame}.
6199 The stack frames are allocated in a region of memory called the @dfn{call
6200 stack}.
6201
6202 When your program stops, the @value{GDBN} commands for examining the
6203 stack allow you to see all of this information.
6204
6205 @cindex selected frame
6206 One of the stack frames is @dfn{selected} by @value{GDBN} and many
6207 @value{GDBN} commands refer implicitly to the selected frame. In
6208 particular, whenever you ask @value{GDBN} for the value of a variable in
6209 your program, the value is found in the selected frame. There are
6210 special @value{GDBN} commands to select whichever frame you are
6211 interested in. @xref{Selection, ,Selecting a Frame}.
6212
6213 When your program stops, @value{GDBN} automatically selects the
6214 currently executing frame and describes it briefly, similar to the
6215 @code{frame} command (@pxref{Frame Info, ,Information about a Frame}).
6216
6217 @menu
6218 * Frames:: Stack frames
6219 * Backtrace:: Backtraces
6220 * Selection:: Selecting a frame
6221 * Frame Info:: Information on a frame
6222
6223 @end menu
6224
6225 @node Frames
6226 @section Stack Frames
6227
6228 @cindex frame, definition
6229 @cindex stack frame
6230 The call stack is divided up into contiguous pieces called @dfn{stack
6231 frames}, or @dfn{frames} for short; each frame is the data associated
6232 with one call to one function. The frame contains the arguments given
6233 to the function, the function's local variables, and the address at
6234 which the function is executing.
6235
6236 @cindex initial frame
6237 @cindex outermost frame
6238 @cindex innermost frame
6239 When your program is started, the stack has only one frame, that of the
6240 function @code{main}. This is called the @dfn{initial} frame or the
6241 @dfn{outermost} frame. Each time a function is called, a new frame is
6242 made. Each time a function returns, the frame for that function invocation
6243 is eliminated. If a function is recursive, there can be many frames for
6244 the same function. The frame for the function in which execution is
6245 actually occurring is called the @dfn{innermost} frame. This is the most
6246 recently created of all the stack frames that still exist.
6247
6248 @cindex frame pointer
6249 Inside your program, stack frames are identified by their addresses. A
6250 stack frame consists of many bytes, each of which has its own address; each
6251 kind of computer has a convention for choosing one byte whose
6252 address serves as the address of the frame. Usually this address is kept
6253 in a register called the @dfn{frame pointer register}
6254 (@pxref{Registers, $fp}) while execution is going on in that frame.
6255
6256 @cindex frame number
6257 @value{GDBN} assigns numbers to all existing stack frames, starting with
6258 zero for the innermost frame, one for the frame that called it,
6259 and so on upward. These numbers do not really exist in your program;
6260 they are assigned by @value{GDBN} to give you a way of designating stack
6261 frames in @value{GDBN} commands.
6262
6263 @c The -fomit-frame-pointer below perennially causes hbox overflow
6264 @c underflow problems.
6265 @cindex frameless execution
6266 Some compilers provide a way to compile functions so that they operate
6267 without stack frames. (For example, the @value{NGCC} option
6268 @smallexample
6269 @samp{-fomit-frame-pointer}
6270 @end smallexample
6271 generates functions without a frame.)
6272 This is occasionally done with heavily used library functions to save
6273 the frame setup time. @value{GDBN} has limited facilities for dealing
6274 with these function invocations. If the innermost function invocation
6275 has no stack frame, @value{GDBN} nevertheless regards it as though
6276 it had a separate frame, which is numbered zero as usual, allowing
6277 correct tracing of the function call chain. However, @value{GDBN} has
6278 no provision for frameless functions elsewhere in the stack.
6279
6280 @table @code
6281 @kindex frame@r{, command}
6282 @cindex current stack frame
6283 @item frame @var{args}
6284 The @code{frame} command allows you to move from one stack frame to another,
6285 and to print the stack frame you select. @var{args} may be either the
6286 address of the frame or the stack frame number. Without an argument,
6287 @code{frame} prints the current stack frame.
6288
6289 @kindex select-frame
6290 @cindex selecting frame silently
6291 @item select-frame
6292 The @code{select-frame} command allows you to move from one stack frame
6293 to another without printing the frame. This is the silent version of
6294 @code{frame}.
6295 @end table
6296
6297 @node Backtrace
6298 @section Backtraces
6299
6300 @cindex traceback
6301 @cindex call stack traces
6302 A backtrace is a summary of how your program got where it is. It shows one
6303 line per frame, for many frames, starting with the currently executing
6304 frame (frame zero), followed by its caller (frame one), and on up the
6305 stack.
6306
6307 @table @code
6308 @kindex backtrace
6309 @kindex bt @r{(@code{backtrace})}
6310 @item backtrace
6311 @itemx bt
6312 Print a backtrace of the entire stack: one line per frame for all
6313 frames in the stack.
6314
6315 You can stop the backtrace at any time by typing the system interrupt
6316 character, normally @kbd{Ctrl-c}.
6317
6318 @item backtrace @var{n}
6319 @itemx bt @var{n}
6320 Similar, but print only the innermost @var{n} frames.
6321
6322 @item backtrace -@var{n}
6323 @itemx bt -@var{n}
6324 Similar, but print only the outermost @var{n} frames.
6325
6326 @item backtrace full
6327 @itemx bt full
6328 @itemx bt full @var{n}
6329 @itemx bt full -@var{n}
6330 Print the values of the local variables also. @var{n} specifies the
6331 number of frames to print, as described above.
6332 @end table
6333
6334 @kindex where
6335 @kindex info stack
6336 The names @code{where} and @code{info stack} (abbreviated @code{info s})
6337 are additional aliases for @code{backtrace}.
6338
6339 @cindex multiple threads, backtrace
6340 In a multi-threaded program, @value{GDBN} by default shows the
6341 backtrace only for the current thread. To display the backtrace for
6342 several or all of the threads, use the command @code{thread apply}
6343 (@pxref{Threads, thread apply}). For example, if you type @kbd{thread
6344 apply all backtrace}, @value{GDBN} will display the backtrace for all
6345 the threads; this is handy when you debug a core dump of a
6346 multi-threaded program.
6347
6348 Each line in the backtrace shows the frame number and the function name.
6349 The program counter value is also shown---unless you use @code{set
6350 print address off}. The backtrace also shows the source file name and
6351 line number, as well as the arguments to the function. The program
6352 counter value is omitted if it is at the beginning of the code for that
6353 line number.
6354
6355 Here is an example of a backtrace. It was made with the command
6356 @samp{bt 3}, so it shows the innermost three frames.
6357
6358 @smallexample
6359 @group
6360 #0 m4_traceon (obs=0x24eb0, argc=1, argv=0x2b8c8)
6361 at builtin.c:993
6362 #1 0x6e38 in expand_macro (sym=0x2b600, data=...) at macro.c:242
6363 #2 0x6840 in expand_token (obs=0x0, t=177664, td=0xf7fffb08)
6364 at macro.c:71
6365 (More stack frames follow...)
6366 @end group
6367 @end smallexample
6368
6369 @noindent
6370 The display for frame zero does not begin with a program counter
6371 value, indicating that your program has stopped at the beginning of the
6372 code for line @code{993} of @code{builtin.c}.
6373
6374 @noindent
6375 The value of parameter @code{data} in frame 1 has been replaced by
6376 @code{@dots{}}. By default, @value{GDBN} prints the value of a parameter
6377 only if it is a scalar (integer, pointer, enumeration, etc). See command
6378 @kbd{set print frame-arguments} in @ref{Print Settings} for more details
6379 on how to configure the way function parameter values are printed.
6380
6381 @cindex optimized out, in backtrace
6382 @cindex function call arguments, optimized out
6383 If your program was compiled with optimizations, some compilers will
6384 optimize away arguments passed to functions if those arguments are
6385 never used after the call. Such optimizations generate code that
6386 passes arguments through registers, but doesn't store those arguments
6387 in the stack frame. @value{GDBN} has no way of displaying such
6388 arguments in stack frames other than the innermost one. Here's what
6389 such a backtrace might look like:
6390
6391 @smallexample
6392 @group
6393 #0 m4_traceon (obs=0x24eb0, argc=1, argv=0x2b8c8)
6394 at builtin.c:993
6395 #1 0x6e38 in expand_macro (sym=<optimized out>) at macro.c:242
6396 #2 0x6840 in expand_token (obs=0x0, t=<optimized out>, td=0xf7fffb08)
6397 at macro.c:71
6398 (More stack frames follow...)
6399 @end group
6400 @end smallexample
6401
6402 @noindent
6403 The values of arguments that were not saved in their stack frames are
6404 shown as @samp{<optimized out>}.
6405
6406 If you need to display the values of such optimized-out arguments,
6407 either deduce that from other variables whose values depend on the one
6408 you are interested in, or recompile without optimizations.
6409
6410 @cindex backtrace beyond @code{main} function
6411 @cindex program entry point
6412 @cindex startup code, and backtrace
6413 Most programs have a standard user entry point---a place where system
6414 libraries and startup code transition into user code. For C this is
6415 @code{main}@footnote{
6416 Note that embedded programs (the so-called ``free-standing''
6417 environment) are not required to have a @code{main} function as the
6418 entry point. They could even have multiple entry points.}.
6419 When @value{GDBN} finds the entry function in a backtrace
6420 it will terminate the backtrace, to avoid tracing into highly
6421 system-specific (and generally uninteresting) code.
6422
6423 If you need to examine the startup code, or limit the number of levels
6424 in a backtrace, you can change this behavior:
6425
6426 @table @code
6427 @item set backtrace past-main
6428 @itemx set backtrace past-main on
6429 @kindex set backtrace
6430 Backtraces will continue past the user entry point.
6431
6432 @item set backtrace past-main off
6433 Backtraces will stop when they encounter the user entry point. This is the
6434 default.
6435
6436 @item show backtrace past-main
6437 @kindex show backtrace
6438 Display the current user entry point backtrace policy.
6439
6440 @item set backtrace past-entry
6441 @itemx set backtrace past-entry on
6442 Backtraces will continue past the internal entry point of an application.
6443 This entry point is encoded by the linker when the application is built,
6444 and is likely before the user entry point @code{main} (or equivalent) is called.
6445
6446 @item set backtrace past-entry off
6447 Backtraces will stop when they encounter the internal entry point of an
6448 application. This is the default.
6449
6450 @item show backtrace past-entry
6451 Display the current internal entry point backtrace policy.
6452
6453 @item set backtrace limit @var{n}
6454 @itemx set backtrace limit 0
6455 @cindex backtrace limit
6456 Limit the backtrace to @var{n} levels. A value of zero means
6457 unlimited.
6458
6459 @item show backtrace limit
6460 Display the current limit on backtrace levels.
6461 @end table
6462
6463 @node Selection
6464 @section Selecting a Frame
6465
6466 Most commands for examining the stack and other data in your program work on
6467 whichever stack frame is selected at the moment. Here are the commands for
6468 selecting a stack frame; all of them finish by printing a brief description
6469 of the stack frame just selected.
6470
6471 @table @code
6472 @kindex frame@r{, selecting}
6473 @kindex f @r{(@code{frame})}
6474 @item frame @var{n}
6475 @itemx f @var{n}
6476 Select frame number @var{n}. Recall that frame zero is the innermost
6477 (currently executing) frame, frame one is the frame that called the
6478 innermost one, and so on. The highest-numbered frame is the one for
6479 @code{main}.
6480
6481 @item frame @var{addr}
6482 @itemx f @var{addr}
6483 Select the frame at address @var{addr}. This is useful mainly if the
6484 chaining of stack frames has been damaged by a bug, making it
6485 impossible for @value{GDBN} to assign numbers properly to all frames. In
6486 addition, this can be useful when your program has multiple stacks and
6487 switches between them.
6488
6489 On the SPARC architecture, @code{frame} needs two addresses to
6490 select an arbitrary frame: a frame pointer and a stack pointer.
6491
6492 On the MIPS and Alpha architecture, it needs two addresses: a stack
6493 pointer and a program counter.
6494
6495 On the 29k architecture, it needs three addresses: a register stack
6496 pointer, a program counter, and a memory stack pointer.
6497
6498 @kindex up
6499 @item up @var{n}
6500 Move @var{n} frames up the stack. For positive numbers @var{n}, this
6501 advances toward the outermost frame, to higher frame numbers, to frames
6502 that have existed longer. @var{n} defaults to one.
6503
6504 @kindex down
6505 @kindex do @r{(@code{down})}
6506 @item down @var{n}
6507 Move @var{n} frames down the stack. For positive numbers @var{n}, this
6508 advances toward the innermost frame, to lower frame numbers, to frames
6509 that were created more recently. @var{n} defaults to one. You may
6510 abbreviate @code{down} as @code{do}.
6511 @end table
6512
6513 All of these commands end by printing two lines of output describing the
6514 frame. The first line shows the frame number, the function name, the
6515 arguments, and the source file and line number of execution in that
6516 frame. The second line shows the text of that source line.
6517
6518 @need 1000
6519 For example:
6520
6521 @smallexample
6522 @group
6523 (@value{GDBP}) up
6524 #1 0x22f0 in main (argc=1, argv=0xf7fffbf4, env=0xf7fffbfc)
6525 at env.c:10
6526 10 read_input_file (argv[i]);
6527 @end group
6528 @end smallexample
6529
6530 After such a printout, the @code{list} command with no arguments
6531 prints ten lines centered on the point of execution in the frame.
6532 You can also edit the program at the point of execution with your favorite
6533 editing program by typing @code{edit}.
6534 @xref{List, ,Printing Source Lines},
6535 for details.
6536
6537 @table @code
6538 @kindex down-silently
6539 @kindex up-silently
6540 @item up-silently @var{n}
6541 @itemx down-silently @var{n}
6542 These two commands are variants of @code{up} and @code{down},
6543 respectively; they differ in that they do their work silently, without
6544 causing display of the new frame. They are intended primarily for use
6545 in @value{GDBN} command scripts, where the output might be unnecessary and
6546 distracting.
6547 @end table
6548
6549 @node Frame Info
6550 @section Information About a Frame
6551
6552 There are several other commands to print information about the selected
6553 stack frame.
6554
6555 @table @code
6556 @item frame
6557 @itemx f
6558 When used without any argument, this command does not change which
6559 frame is selected, but prints a brief description of the currently
6560 selected stack frame. It can be abbreviated @code{f}. With an
6561 argument, this command is used to select a stack frame.
6562 @xref{Selection, ,Selecting a Frame}.
6563
6564 @kindex info frame
6565 @kindex info f @r{(@code{info frame})}
6566 @item info frame
6567 @itemx info f
6568 This command prints a verbose description of the selected stack frame,
6569 including:
6570
6571 @itemize @bullet
6572 @item
6573 the address of the frame
6574 @item
6575 the address of the next frame down (called by this frame)
6576 @item
6577 the address of the next frame up (caller of this frame)
6578 @item
6579 the language in which the source code corresponding to this frame is written
6580 @item
6581 the address of the frame's arguments
6582 @item
6583 the address of the frame's local variables
6584 @item
6585 the program counter saved in it (the address of execution in the caller frame)
6586 @item
6587 which registers were saved in the frame
6588 @end itemize
6589
6590 @noindent The verbose description is useful when
6591 something has gone wrong that has made the stack format fail to fit
6592 the usual conventions.
6593
6594 @item info frame @var{addr}
6595 @itemx info f @var{addr}
6596 Print a verbose description of the frame at address @var{addr}, without
6597 selecting that frame. The selected frame remains unchanged by this
6598 command. This requires the same kind of address (more than one for some
6599 architectures) that you specify in the @code{frame} command.
6600 @xref{Selection, ,Selecting a Frame}.
6601
6602 @kindex info args
6603 @item info args
6604 Print the arguments of the selected frame, each on a separate line.
6605
6606 @item info locals
6607 @kindex info locals
6608 Print the local variables of the selected frame, each on a separate
6609 line. These are all variables (declared either static or automatic)
6610 accessible at the point of execution of the selected frame.
6611
6612 @end table
6613
6614
6615 @node Source
6616 @chapter Examining Source Files
6617
6618 @value{GDBN} can print parts of your program's source, since the debugging
6619 information recorded in the program tells @value{GDBN} what source files were
6620 used to build it. When your program stops, @value{GDBN} spontaneously prints
6621 the line where it stopped. Likewise, when you select a stack frame
6622 (@pxref{Selection, ,Selecting a Frame}), @value{GDBN} prints the line where
6623 execution in that frame has stopped. You can print other portions of
6624 source files by explicit command.
6625
6626 If you use @value{GDBN} through its @sc{gnu} Emacs interface, you may
6627 prefer to use Emacs facilities to view source; see @ref{Emacs, ,Using
6628 @value{GDBN} under @sc{gnu} Emacs}.
6629
6630 @menu
6631 * List:: Printing source lines
6632 * Specify Location:: How to specify code locations
6633 * Edit:: Editing source files
6634 * Search:: Searching source files
6635 * Source Path:: Specifying source directories
6636 * Machine Code:: Source and machine code
6637 @end menu
6638
6639 @node List
6640 @section Printing Source Lines
6641
6642 @kindex list
6643 @kindex l @r{(@code{list})}
6644 To print lines from a source file, use the @code{list} command
6645 (abbreviated @code{l}). By default, ten lines are printed.
6646 There are several ways to specify what part of the file you want to
6647 print; see @ref{Specify Location}, for the full list.
6648
6649 Here are the forms of the @code{list} command most commonly used:
6650
6651 @table @code
6652 @item list @var{linenum}
6653 Print lines centered around line number @var{linenum} in the
6654 current source file.
6655
6656 @item list @var{function}
6657 Print lines centered around the beginning of function
6658 @var{function}.
6659
6660 @item list
6661 Print more lines. If the last lines printed were printed with a
6662 @code{list} command, this prints lines following the last lines
6663 printed; however, if the last line printed was a solitary line printed
6664 as part of displaying a stack frame (@pxref{Stack, ,Examining the
6665 Stack}), this prints lines centered around that line.
6666
6667 @item list -
6668 Print lines just before the lines last printed.
6669 @end table
6670
6671 @cindex @code{list}, how many lines to display
6672 By default, @value{GDBN} prints ten source lines with any of these forms of
6673 the @code{list} command. You can change this using @code{set listsize}:
6674
6675 @table @code
6676 @kindex set listsize
6677 @item set listsize @var{count}
6678 Make the @code{list} command display @var{count} source lines (unless
6679 the @code{list} argument explicitly specifies some other number).
6680
6681 @kindex show listsize
6682 @item show listsize
6683 Display the number of lines that @code{list} prints.
6684 @end table
6685
6686 Repeating a @code{list} command with @key{RET} discards the argument,
6687 so it is equivalent to typing just @code{list}. This is more useful
6688 than listing the same lines again. An exception is made for an
6689 argument of @samp{-}; that argument is preserved in repetition so that
6690 each repetition moves up in the source file.
6691
6692 In general, the @code{list} command expects you to supply zero, one or two
6693 @dfn{linespecs}. Linespecs specify source lines; there are several ways
6694 of writing them (@pxref{Specify Location}), but the effect is always
6695 to specify some source line.
6696
6697 Here is a complete description of the possible arguments for @code{list}:
6698
6699 @table @code
6700 @item list @var{linespec}
6701 Print lines centered around the line specified by @var{linespec}.
6702
6703 @item list @var{first},@var{last}
6704 Print lines from @var{first} to @var{last}. Both arguments are
6705 linespecs. When a @code{list} command has two linespecs, and the
6706 source file of the second linespec is omitted, this refers to
6707 the same source file as the first linespec.
6708
6709 @item list ,@var{last}
6710 Print lines ending with @var{last}.
6711
6712 @item list @var{first},
6713 Print lines starting with @var{first}.
6714
6715 @item list +
6716 Print lines just after the lines last printed.
6717
6718 @item list -
6719 Print lines just before the lines last printed.
6720
6721 @item list
6722 As described in the preceding table.
6723 @end table
6724
6725 @node Specify Location
6726 @section Specifying a Location
6727 @cindex specifying location
6728 @cindex linespec
6729
6730 Several @value{GDBN} commands accept arguments that specify a location
6731 of your program's code. Since @value{GDBN} is a source-level
6732 debugger, a location usually specifies some line in the source code;
6733 for that reason, locations are also known as @dfn{linespecs}.
6734
6735 Here are all the different ways of specifying a code location that
6736 @value{GDBN} understands:
6737
6738 @table @code
6739 @item @var{linenum}
6740 Specifies the line number @var{linenum} of the current source file.
6741
6742 @item -@var{offset}
6743 @itemx +@var{offset}
6744 Specifies the line @var{offset} lines before or after the @dfn{current
6745 line}. For the @code{list} command, the current line is the last one
6746 printed; for the breakpoint commands, this is the line at which
6747 execution stopped in the currently selected @dfn{stack frame}
6748 (@pxref{Frames, ,Frames}, for a description of stack frames.) When
6749 used as the second of the two linespecs in a @code{list} command,
6750 this specifies the line @var{offset} lines up or down from the first
6751 linespec.
6752
6753 @item @var{filename}:@var{linenum}
6754 Specifies the line @var{linenum} in the source file @var{filename}.
6755 If @var{filename} is a relative file name, then it will match any
6756 source file name with the same trailing components. For example, if
6757 @var{filename} is @samp{gcc/expr.c}, then it will match source file
6758 name of @file{/build/trunk/gcc/expr.c}, but not
6759 @file{/build/trunk/libcpp/expr.c} or @file{/build/trunk/gcc/x-expr.c}.
6760
6761 @item @var{function}
6762 Specifies the line that begins the body of the function @var{function}.
6763 For example, in C, this is the line with the open brace.
6764
6765 @item @var{function}:@var{label}
6766 Specifies the line where @var{label} appears in @var{function}.
6767
6768 @item @var{filename}:@var{function}
6769 Specifies the line that begins the body of the function @var{function}
6770 in the file @var{filename}. You only need the file name with a
6771 function name to avoid ambiguity when there are identically named
6772 functions in different source files.
6773
6774 @item @var{label}
6775 Specifies the line at which the label named @var{label} appears.
6776 @value{GDBN} searches for the label in the function corresponding to
6777 the currently selected stack frame. If there is no current selected
6778 stack frame (for instance, if the inferior is not running), then
6779 @value{GDBN} will not search for a label.
6780
6781 @item *@var{address}
6782 Specifies the program address @var{address}. For line-oriented
6783 commands, such as @code{list} and @code{edit}, this specifies a source
6784 line that contains @var{address}. For @code{break} and other
6785 breakpoint oriented commands, this can be used to set breakpoints in
6786 parts of your program which do not have debugging information or
6787 source files.
6788
6789 Here @var{address} may be any expression valid in the current working
6790 language (@pxref{Languages, working language}) that specifies a code
6791 address. In addition, as a convenience, @value{GDBN} extends the
6792 semantics of expressions used in locations to cover the situations
6793 that frequently happen during debugging. Here are the various forms
6794 of @var{address}:
6795
6796 @table @code
6797 @item @var{expression}
6798 Any expression valid in the current working language.
6799
6800 @item @var{funcaddr}
6801 An address of a function or procedure derived from its name. In C,
6802 C@t{++}, Java, Objective-C, Fortran, minimal, and assembly, this is
6803 simply the function's name @var{function} (and actually a special case
6804 of a valid expression). In Pascal and Modula-2, this is
6805 @code{&@var{function}}. In Ada, this is @code{@var{function}'Address}
6806 (although the Pascal form also works).
6807
6808 This form specifies the address of the function's first instruction,
6809 before the stack frame and arguments have been set up.
6810
6811 @item '@var{filename}'::@var{funcaddr}
6812 Like @var{funcaddr} above, but also specifies the name of the source
6813 file explicitly. This is useful if the name of the function does not
6814 specify the function unambiguously, e.g., if there are several
6815 functions with identical names in different source files.
6816 @end table
6817
6818 @cindex breakpoint at static probe point
6819 @item -pstap|-probe-stap @r{[}@var{objfile}:@r{[}@var{provider}:@r{]}@r{]}@var{name}
6820 The @sc{gnu}/Linux tool @code{SystemTap} provides a way for
6821 applications to embed static probes. @xref{Static Probe Points}, for more
6822 information on finding and using static probes. This form of linespec
6823 specifies the location of such a static probe.
6824
6825 If @var{objfile} is given, only probes coming from that shared library
6826 or executable matching @var{objfile} as a regular expression are considered.
6827 If @var{provider} is given, then only probes from that provider are considered.
6828 If several probes match the spec, @value{GDBN} will insert a breakpoint at
6829 each one of those probes.
6830
6831 @end table
6832
6833
6834 @node Edit
6835 @section Editing Source Files
6836 @cindex editing source files
6837
6838 @kindex edit
6839 @kindex e @r{(@code{edit})}
6840 To edit the lines in a source file, use the @code{edit} command.
6841 The editing program of your choice
6842 is invoked with the current line set to
6843 the active line in the program.
6844 Alternatively, there are several ways to specify what part of the file you
6845 want to print if you want to see other parts of the program:
6846
6847 @table @code
6848 @item edit @var{location}
6849 Edit the source file specified by @code{location}. Editing starts at
6850 that @var{location}, e.g., at the specified source line of the
6851 specified file. @xref{Specify Location}, for all the possible forms
6852 of the @var{location} argument; here are the forms of the @code{edit}
6853 command most commonly used:
6854
6855 @table @code
6856 @item edit @var{number}
6857 Edit the current source file with @var{number} as the active line number.
6858
6859 @item edit @var{function}
6860 Edit the file containing @var{function} at the beginning of its definition.
6861 @end table
6862
6863 @end table
6864
6865 @subsection Choosing your Editor
6866 You can customize @value{GDBN} to use any editor you want
6867 @footnote{
6868 The only restriction is that your editor (say @code{ex}), recognizes the
6869 following command-line syntax:
6870 @smallexample
6871 ex +@var{number} file
6872 @end smallexample
6873 The optional numeric value +@var{number} specifies the number of the line in
6874 the file where to start editing.}.
6875 By default, it is @file{@value{EDITOR}}, but you can change this
6876 by setting the environment variable @code{EDITOR} before using
6877 @value{GDBN}. For example, to configure @value{GDBN} to use the
6878 @code{vi} editor, you could use these commands with the @code{sh} shell:
6879 @smallexample
6880 EDITOR=/usr/bin/vi
6881 export EDITOR
6882 gdb @dots{}
6883 @end smallexample
6884 or in the @code{csh} shell,
6885 @smallexample
6886 setenv EDITOR /usr/bin/vi
6887 gdb @dots{}
6888 @end smallexample
6889
6890 @node Search
6891 @section Searching Source Files
6892 @cindex searching source files
6893
6894 There are two commands for searching through the current source file for a
6895 regular expression.
6896
6897 @table @code
6898 @kindex search
6899 @kindex forward-search
6900 @item forward-search @var{regexp}
6901 @itemx search @var{regexp}
6902 The command @samp{forward-search @var{regexp}} checks each line,
6903 starting with the one following the last line listed, for a match for
6904 @var{regexp}. It lists the line that is found. You can use the
6905 synonym @samp{search @var{regexp}} or abbreviate the command name as
6906 @code{fo}.
6907
6908 @kindex reverse-search
6909 @item reverse-search @var{regexp}
6910 The command @samp{reverse-search @var{regexp}} checks each line, starting
6911 with the one before the last line listed and going backward, for a match
6912 for @var{regexp}. It lists the line that is found. You can abbreviate
6913 this command as @code{rev}.
6914 @end table
6915
6916 @node Source Path
6917 @section Specifying Source Directories
6918
6919 @cindex source path
6920 @cindex directories for source files
6921 Executable programs sometimes do not record the directories of the source
6922 files from which they were compiled, just the names. Even when they do,
6923 the directories could be moved between the compilation and your debugging
6924 session. @value{GDBN} has a list of directories to search for source files;
6925 this is called the @dfn{source path}. Each time @value{GDBN} wants a source file,
6926 it tries all the directories in the list, in the order they are present
6927 in the list, until it finds a file with the desired name.
6928
6929 For example, suppose an executable references the file
6930 @file{/usr/src/foo-1.0/lib/foo.c}, and our source path is
6931 @file{/mnt/cross}. The file is first looked up literally; if this
6932 fails, @file{/mnt/cross/usr/src/foo-1.0/lib/foo.c} is tried; if this
6933 fails, @file{/mnt/cross/foo.c} is opened; if this fails, an error
6934 message is printed. @value{GDBN} does not look up the parts of the
6935 source file name, such as @file{/mnt/cross/src/foo-1.0/lib/foo.c}.
6936 Likewise, the subdirectories of the source path are not searched: if
6937 the source path is @file{/mnt/cross}, and the binary refers to
6938 @file{foo.c}, @value{GDBN} would not find it under
6939 @file{/mnt/cross/usr/src/foo-1.0/lib}.
6940
6941 Plain file names, relative file names with leading directories, file
6942 names containing dots, etc.@: are all treated as described above; for
6943 instance, if the source path is @file{/mnt/cross}, and the source file
6944 is recorded as @file{../lib/foo.c}, @value{GDBN} would first try
6945 @file{../lib/foo.c}, then @file{/mnt/cross/../lib/foo.c}, and after
6946 that---@file{/mnt/cross/foo.c}.
6947
6948 Note that the executable search path is @emph{not} used to locate the
6949 source files.
6950
6951 Whenever you reset or rearrange the source path, @value{GDBN} clears out
6952 any information it has cached about where source files are found and where
6953 each line is in the file.
6954
6955 @kindex directory
6956 @kindex dir
6957 When you start @value{GDBN}, its source path includes only @samp{cdir}
6958 and @samp{cwd}, in that order.
6959 To add other directories, use the @code{directory} command.
6960
6961 The search path is used to find both program source files and @value{GDBN}
6962 script files (read using the @samp{-command} option and @samp{source} command).
6963
6964 In addition to the source path, @value{GDBN} provides a set of commands
6965 that manage a list of source path substitution rules. A @dfn{substitution
6966 rule} specifies how to rewrite source directories stored in the program's
6967 debug information in case the sources were moved to a different
6968 directory between compilation and debugging. A rule is made of
6969 two strings, the first specifying what needs to be rewritten in
6970 the path, and the second specifying how it should be rewritten.
6971 In @ref{set substitute-path}, we name these two parts @var{from} and
6972 @var{to} respectively. @value{GDBN} does a simple string replacement
6973 of @var{from} with @var{to} at the start of the directory part of the
6974 source file name, and uses that result instead of the original file
6975 name to look up the sources.
6976
6977 Using the previous example, suppose the @file{foo-1.0} tree has been
6978 moved from @file{/usr/src} to @file{/mnt/cross}, then you can tell
6979 @value{GDBN} to replace @file{/usr/src} in all source path names with
6980 @file{/mnt/cross}. The first lookup will then be
6981 @file{/mnt/cross/foo-1.0/lib/foo.c} in place of the original location
6982 of @file{/usr/src/foo-1.0/lib/foo.c}. To define a source path
6983 substitution rule, use the @code{set substitute-path} command
6984 (@pxref{set substitute-path}).
6985
6986 To avoid unexpected substitution results, a rule is applied only if the
6987 @var{from} part of the directory name ends at a directory separator.
6988 For instance, a rule substituting @file{/usr/source} into
6989 @file{/mnt/cross} will be applied to @file{/usr/source/foo-1.0} but
6990 not to @file{/usr/sourceware/foo-2.0}. And because the substitution
6991 is applied only at the beginning of the directory name, this rule will
6992 not be applied to @file{/root/usr/source/baz.c} either.
6993
6994 In many cases, you can achieve the same result using the @code{directory}
6995 command. However, @code{set substitute-path} can be more efficient in
6996 the case where the sources are organized in a complex tree with multiple
6997 subdirectories. With the @code{directory} command, you need to add each
6998 subdirectory of your project. If you moved the entire tree while
6999 preserving its internal organization, then @code{set substitute-path}
7000 allows you to direct the debugger to all the sources with one single
7001 command.
7002
7003 @code{set substitute-path} is also more than just a shortcut command.
7004 The source path is only used if the file at the original location no
7005 longer exists. On the other hand, @code{set substitute-path} modifies
7006 the debugger behavior to look at the rewritten location instead. So, if
7007 for any reason a source file that is not relevant to your executable is
7008 located at the original location, a substitution rule is the only
7009 method available to point @value{GDBN} at the new location.
7010
7011 @cindex @samp{--with-relocated-sources}
7012 @cindex default source path substitution
7013 You can configure a default source path substitution rule by
7014 configuring @value{GDBN} with the
7015 @samp{--with-relocated-sources=@var{dir}} option. The @var{dir}
7016 should be the name of a directory under @value{GDBN}'s configured
7017 prefix (set with @samp{--prefix} or @samp{--exec-prefix}), and
7018 directory names in debug information under @var{dir} will be adjusted
7019 automatically if the installed @value{GDBN} is moved to a new
7020 location. This is useful if @value{GDBN}, libraries or executables
7021 with debug information and corresponding source code are being moved
7022 together.
7023
7024 @table @code
7025 @item directory @var{dirname} @dots{}
7026 @item dir @var{dirname} @dots{}
7027 Add directory @var{dirname} to the front of the source path. Several
7028 directory names may be given to this command, separated by @samp{:}
7029 (@samp{;} on MS-DOS and MS-Windows, where @samp{:} usually appears as
7030 part of absolute file names) or
7031 whitespace. You may specify a directory that is already in the source
7032 path; this moves it forward, so @value{GDBN} searches it sooner.
7033
7034 @kindex cdir
7035 @kindex cwd
7036 @vindex $cdir@r{, convenience variable}
7037 @vindex $cwd@r{, convenience variable}
7038 @cindex compilation directory
7039 @cindex current directory
7040 @cindex working directory
7041 @cindex directory, current
7042 @cindex directory, compilation
7043 You can use the string @samp{$cdir} to refer to the compilation
7044 directory (if one is recorded), and @samp{$cwd} to refer to the current
7045 working directory. @samp{$cwd} is not the same as @samp{.}---the former
7046 tracks the current working directory as it changes during your @value{GDBN}
7047 session, while the latter is immediately expanded to the current
7048 directory at the time you add an entry to the source path.
7049
7050 @item directory
7051 Reset the source path to its default value (@samp{$cdir:$cwd} on Unix systems). This requires confirmation.
7052
7053 @c RET-repeat for @code{directory} is explicitly disabled, but since
7054 @c repeating it would be a no-op we do not say that. (thanks to RMS)
7055
7056 @item set directories @var{path-list}
7057 @kindex set directories
7058 Set the source path to @var{path-list}.
7059 @samp{$cdir:$cwd} are added if missing.
7060
7061 @item show directories
7062 @kindex show directories
7063 Print the source path: show which directories it contains.
7064
7065 @anchor{set substitute-path}
7066 @item set substitute-path @var{from} @var{to}
7067 @kindex set substitute-path
7068 Define a source path substitution rule, and add it at the end of the
7069 current list of existing substitution rules. If a rule with the same
7070 @var{from} was already defined, then the old rule is also deleted.
7071
7072 For example, if the file @file{/foo/bar/baz.c} was moved to
7073 @file{/mnt/cross/baz.c}, then the command
7074
7075 @smallexample
7076 (@value{GDBP}) set substitute-path /usr/src /mnt/cross
7077 @end smallexample
7078
7079 @noindent
7080 will tell @value{GDBN} to replace @samp{/usr/src} with
7081 @samp{/mnt/cross}, which will allow @value{GDBN} to find the file
7082 @file{baz.c} even though it was moved.
7083
7084 In the case when more than one substitution rule have been defined,
7085 the rules are evaluated one by one in the order where they have been
7086 defined. The first one matching, if any, is selected to perform
7087 the substitution.
7088
7089 For instance, if we had entered the following commands:
7090
7091 @smallexample
7092 (@value{GDBP}) set substitute-path /usr/src/include /mnt/include
7093 (@value{GDBP}) set substitute-path /usr/src /mnt/src
7094 @end smallexample
7095
7096 @noindent
7097 @value{GDBN} would then rewrite @file{/usr/src/include/defs.h} into
7098 @file{/mnt/include/defs.h} by using the first rule. However, it would
7099 use the second rule to rewrite @file{/usr/src/lib/foo.c} into
7100 @file{/mnt/src/lib/foo.c}.
7101
7102
7103 @item unset substitute-path [path]
7104 @kindex unset substitute-path
7105 If a path is specified, search the current list of substitution rules
7106 for a rule that would rewrite that path. Delete that rule if found.
7107 A warning is emitted by the debugger if no rule could be found.
7108
7109 If no path is specified, then all substitution rules are deleted.
7110
7111 @item show substitute-path [path]
7112 @kindex show substitute-path
7113 If a path is specified, then print the source path substitution rule
7114 which would rewrite that path, if any.
7115
7116 If no path is specified, then print all existing source path substitution
7117 rules.
7118
7119 @end table
7120
7121 If your source path is cluttered with directories that are no longer of
7122 interest, @value{GDBN} may sometimes cause confusion by finding the wrong
7123 versions of source. You can correct the situation as follows:
7124
7125 @enumerate
7126 @item
7127 Use @code{directory} with no argument to reset the source path to its default value.
7128
7129 @item
7130 Use @code{directory} with suitable arguments to reinstall the
7131 directories you want in the source path. You can add all the
7132 directories in one command.
7133 @end enumerate
7134
7135 @node Machine Code
7136 @section Source and Machine Code
7137 @cindex source line and its code address
7138
7139 You can use the command @code{info line} to map source lines to program
7140 addresses (and vice versa), and the command @code{disassemble} to display
7141 a range of addresses as machine instructions. You can use the command
7142 @code{set disassemble-next-line} to set whether to disassemble next
7143 source line when execution stops. When run under @sc{gnu} Emacs
7144 mode, the @code{info line} command causes the arrow to point to the
7145 line specified. Also, @code{info line} prints addresses in symbolic form as
7146 well as hex.
7147
7148 @table @code
7149 @kindex info line
7150 @item info line @var{linespec}
7151 Print the starting and ending addresses of the compiled code for
7152 source line @var{linespec}. You can specify source lines in any of
7153 the ways documented in @ref{Specify Location}.
7154 @end table
7155
7156 For example, we can use @code{info line} to discover the location of
7157 the object code for the first line of function
7158 @code{m4_changequote}:
7159
7160 @c FIXME: I think this example should also show the addresses in
7161 @c symbolic form, as they usually would be displayed.
7162 @smallexample
7163 (@value{GDBP}) info line m4_changequote
7164 Line 895 of "builtin.c" starts at pc 0x634c and ends at 0x6350.
7165 @end smallexample
7166
7167 @noindent
7168 @cindex code address and its source line
7169 We can also inquire (using @code{*@var{addr}} as the form for
7170 @var{linespec}) what source line covers a particular address:
7171 @smallexample
7172 (@value{GDBP}) info line *0x63ff
7173 Line 926 of "builtin.c" starts at pc 0x63e4 and ends at 0x6404.
7174 @end smallexample
7175
7176 @cindex @code{$_} and @code{info line}
7177 @cindex @code{x} command, default address
7178 @kindex x@r{(examine), and} info line
7179 After @code{info line}, the default address for the @code{x} command
7180 is changed to the starting address of the line, so that @samp{x/i} is
7181 sufficient to begin examining the machine code (@pxref{Memory,
7182 ,Examining Memory}). Also, this address is saved as the value of the
7183 convenience variable @code{$_} (@pxref{Convenience Vars, ,Convenience
7184 Variables}).
7185
7186 @table @code
7187 @kindex disassemble
7188 @cindex assembly instructions
7189 @cindex instructions, assembly
7190 @cindex machine instructions
7191 @cindex listing machine instructions
7192 @item disassemble
7193 @itemx disassemble /m
7194 @itemx disassemble /r
7195 This specialized command dumps a range of memory as machine
7196 instructions. It can also print mixed source+disassembly by specifying
7197 the @code{/m} modifier and print the raw instructions in hex as well as
7198 in symbolic form by specifying the @code{/r}.
7199 The default memory range is the function surrounding the
7200 program counter of the selected frame. A single argument to this
7201 command is a program counter value; @value{GDBN} dumps the function
7202 surrounding this value. When two arguments are given, they should
7203 be separated by a comma, possibly surrounded by whitespace. The
7204 arguments specify a range of addresses to dump, in one of two forms:
7205
7206 @table @code
7207 @item @var{start},@var{end}
7208 the addresses from @var{start} (inclusive) to @var{end} (exclusive)
7209 @item @var{start},+@var{length}
7210 the addresses from @var{start} (inclusive) to
7211 @code{@var{start}+@var{length}} (exclusive).
7212 @end table
7213
7214 @noindent
7215 When 2 arguments are specified, the name of the function is also
7216 printed (since there could be several functions in the given range).
7217
7218 The argument(s) can be any expression yielding a numeric value, such as
7219 @samp{0x32c4}, @samp{&main+10} or @samp{$pc - 8}.
7220
7221 If the range of memory being disassembled contains current program counter,
7222 the instruction at that location is shown with a @code{=>} marker.
7223 @end table
7224
7225 The following example shows the disassembly of a range of addresses of
7226 HP PA-RISC 2.0 code:
7227
7228 @smallexample
7229 (@value{GDBP}) disas 0x32c4, 0x32e4
7230 Dump of assembler code from 0x32c4 to 0x32e4:
7231 0x32c4 <main+204>: addil 0,dp
7232 0x32c8 <main+208>: ldw 0x22c(sr0,r1),r26
7233 0x32cc <main+212>: ldil 0x3000,r31
7234 0x32d0 <main+216>: ble 0x3f8(sr4,r31)
7235 0x32d4 <main+220>: ldo 0(r31),rp
7236 0x32d8 <main+224>: addil -0x800,dp
7237 0x32dc <main+228>: ldo 0x588(r1),r26
7238 0x32e0 <main+232>: ldil 0x3000,r31
7239 End of assembler dump.
7240 @end smallexample
7241
7242 Here is an example showing mixed source+assembly for Intel x86, when the
7243 program is stopped just after function prologue:
7244
7245 @smallexample
7246 (@value{GDBP}) disas /m main
7247 Dump of assembler code for function main:
7248 5 @{
7249 0x08048330 <+0>: push %ebp
7250 0x08048331 <+1>: mov %esp,%ebp
7251 0x08048333 <+3>: sub $0x8,%esp
7252 0x08048336 <+6>: and $0xfffffff0,%esp
7253 0x08048339 <+9>: sub $0x10,%esp
7254
7255 6 printf ("Hello.\n");
7256 => 0x0804833c <+12>: movl $0x8048440,(%esp)
7257 0x08048343 <+19>: call 0x8048284 <puts@@plt>
7258
7259 7 return 0;
7260 8 @}
7261 0x08048348 <+24>: mov $0x0,%eax
7262 0x0804834d <+29>: leave
7263 0x0804834e <+30>: ret
7264
7265 End of assembler dump.
7266 @end smallexample
7267
7268 Here is another example showing raw instructions in hex for AMD x86-64,
7269
7270 @smallexample
7271 (gdb) disas /r 0x400281,+10
7272 Dump of assembler code from 0x400281 to 0x40028b:
7273 0x0000000000400281: 38 36 cmp %dh,(%rsi)
7274 0x0000000000400283: 2d 36 34 2e 73 sub $0x732e3436,%eax
7275 0x0000000000400288: 6f outsl %ds:(%rsi),(%dx)
7276 0x0000000000400289: 2e 32 00 xor %cs:(%rax),%al
7277 End of assembler dump.
7278 @end smallexample
7279
7280 Some architectures have more than one commonly-used set of instruction
7281 mnemonics or other syntax.
7282
7283 For programs that were dynamically linked and use shared libraries,
7284 instructions that call functions or branch to locations in the shared
7285 libraries might show a seemingly bogus location---it's actually a
7286 location of the relocation table. On some architectures, @value{GDBN}
7287 might be able to resolve these to actual function names.
7288
7289 @table @code
7290 @kindex set disassembly-flavor
7291 @cindex Intel disassembly flavor
7292 @cindex AT&T disassembly flavor
7293 @item set disassembly-flavor @var{instruction-set}
7294 Select the instruction set to use when disassembling the
7295 program via the @code{disassemble} or @code{x/i} commands.
7296
7297 Currently this command is only defined for the Intel x86 family. You
7298 can set @var{instruction-set} to either @code{intel} or @code{att}.
7299 The default is @code{att}, the AT&T flavor used by default by Unix
7300 assemblers for x86-based targets.
7301
7302 @kindex show disassembly-flavor
7303 @item show disassembly-flavor
7304 Show the current setting of the disassembly flavor.
7305 @end table
7306
7307 @table @code
7308 @kindex set disassemble-next-line
7309 @kindex show disassemble-next-line
7310 @item set disassemble-next-line
7311 @itemx show disassemble-next-line
7312 Control whether or not @value{GDBN} will disassemble the next source
7313 line or instruction when execution stops. If ON, @value{GDBN} will
7314 display disassembly of the next source line when execution of the
7315 program being debugged stops. This is @emph{in addition} to
7316 displaying the source line itself, which @value{GDBN} always does if
7317 possible. If the next source line cannot be displayed for some reason
7318 (e.g., if @value{GDBN} cannot find the source file, or there's no line
7319 info in the debug info), @value{GDBN} will display disassembly of the
7320 next @emph{instruction} instead of showing the next source line. If
7321 AUTO, @value{GDBN} will display disassembly of next instruction only
7322 if the source line cannot be displayed. This setting causes
7323 @value{GDBN} to display some feedback when you step through a function
7324 with no line info or whose source file is unavailable. The default is
7325 OFF, which means never display the disassembly of the next line or
7326 instruction.
7327 @end table
7328
7329
7330 @node Data
7331 @chapter Examining Data
7332
7333 @cindex printing data
7334 @cindex examining data
7335 @kindex print
7336 @kindex inspect
7337 @c "inspect" is not quite a synonym if you are using Epoch, which we do not
7338 @c document because it is nonstandard... Under Epoch it displays in a
7339 @c different window or something like that.
7340 The usual way to examine data in your program is with the @code{print}
7341 command (abbreviated @code{p}), or its synonym @code{inspect}. It
7342 evaluates and prints the value of an expression of the language your
7343 program is written in (@pxref{Languages, ,Using @value{GDBN} with
7344 Different Languages}). It may also print the expression using a
7345 Python-based pretty-printer (@pxref{Pretty Printing}).
7346
7347 @table @code
7348 @item print @var{expr}
7349 @itemx print /@var{f} @var{expr}
7350 @var{expr} is an expression (in the source language). By default the
7351 value of @var{expr} is printed in a format appropriate to its data type;
7352 you can choose a different format by specifying @samp{/@var{f}}, where
7353 @var{f} is a letter specifying the format; see @ref{Output Formats,,Output
7354 Formats}.
7355
7356 @item print
7357 @itemx print /@var{f}
7358 @cindex reprint the last value
7359 If you omit @var{expr}, @value{GDBN} displays the last value again (from the
7360 @dfn{value history}; @pxref{Value History, ,Value History}). This allows you to
7361 conveniently inspect the same value in an alternative format.
7362 @end table
7363
7364 A more low-level way of examining data is with the @code{x} command.
7365 It examines data in memory at a specified address and prints it in a
7366 specified format. @xref{Memory, ,Examining Memory}.
7367
7368 If you are interested in information about types, or about how the
7369 fields of a struct or a class are declared, use the @code{ptype @var{exp}}
7370 command rather than @code{print}. @xref{Symbols, ,Examining the Symbol
7371 Table}.
7372
7373 @cindex exploring hierarchical data structures
7374 @kindex explore
7375 Another way of examining values of expressions and type information is
7376 through the Python extension command @code{explore} (available only if
7377 the @value{GDBN} build is configured with @code{--with-python}). It
7378 offers an interactive way to start at the highest level (or, the most
7379 abstract level) of the data type of an expression (or, the data type
7380 itself) and explore all the way down to leaf scalar values/fields
7381 embedded in the higher level data types.
7382
7383 @table @code
7384 @item explore @var{arg}
7385 @var{arg} is either an expression (in the source language), or a type
7386 visible in the current context of the program being debugged.
7387 @end table
7388
7389 The working of the @code{explore} command can be illustrated with an
7390 example. If a data type @code{struct ComplexStruct} is defined in your
7391 C program as
7392
7393 @smallexample
7394 struct SimpleStruct
7395 @{
7396 int i;
7397 double d;
7398 @};
7399
7400 struct ComplexStruct
7401 @{
7402 struct SimpleStruct *ss_p;
7403 int arr[10];
7404 @};
7405 @end smallexample
7406
7407 @noindent
7408 followed by variable declarations as
7409
7410 @smallexample
7411 struct SimpleStruct ss = @{ 10, 1.11 @};
7412 struct ComplexStruct cs = @{ &ss, @{ 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 @} @};
7413 @end smallexample
7414
7415 @noindent
7416 then, the value of the variable @code{cs} can be explored using the
7417 @code{explore} command as follows.
7418
7419 @smallexample
7420 (gdb) explore cs
7421 The value of `cs' is a struct/class of type `struct ComplexStruct' with
7422 the following fields:
7423
7424 ss_p = <Enter 0 to explore this field of type `struct SimpleStruct *'>
7425 arr = <Enter 1 to explore this field of type `int [10]'>
7426
7427 Enter the field number of choice:
7428 @end smallexample
7429
7430 @noindent
7431 Since the fields of @code{cs} are not scalar values, you are being
7432 prompted to chose the field you want to explore. Let's say you choose
7433 the field @code{ss_p} by entering @code{0}. Then, since this field is a
7434 pointer, you will be asked if it is pointing to a single value. From
7435 the declaration of @code{cs} above, it is indeed pointing to a single
7436 value, hence you enter @code{y}. If you enter @code{n}, then you will
7437 be asked if it were pointing to an array of values, in which case this
7438 field will be explored as if it were an array.
7439
7440 @smallexample
7441 `cs.ss_p' is a pointer to a value of type `struct SimpleStruct'
7442 Continue exploring it as a pointer to a single value [y/n]: y
7443 The value of `*(cs.ss_p)' is a struct/class of type `struct
7444 SimpleStruct' with the following fields:
7445
7446 i = 10 .. (Value of type `int')
7447 d = 1.1100000000000001 .. (Value of type `double')
7448
7449 Press enter to return to parent value:
7450 @end smallexample
7451
7452 @noindent
7453 If the field @code{arr} of @code{cs} was chosen for exploration by
7454 entering @code{1} earlier, then since it is as array, you will be
7455 prompted to enter the index of the element in the array that you want
7456 to explore.
7457
7458 @smallexample
7459 `cs.arr' is an array of `int'.
7460 Enter the index of the element you want to explore in `cs.arr': 5
7461
7462 `(cs.arr)[5]' is a scalar value of type `int'.
7463
7464 (cs.arr)[5] = 4
7465
7466 Press enter to return to parent value:
7467 @end smallexample
7468
7469 In general, at any stage of exploration, you can go deeper towards the
7470 leaf values by responding to the prompts appropriately, or hit the
7471 return key to return to the enclosing data structure (the @i{higher}
7472 level data structure).
7473
7474 Similar to exploring values, you can use the @code{explore} command to
7475 explore types. Instead of specifying a value (which is typically a
7476 variable name or an expression valid in the current context of the
7477 program being debugged), you specify a type name. If you consider the
7478 same example as above, your can explore the type
7479 @code{struct ComplexStruct} by passing the argument
7480 @code{struct ComplexStruct} to the @code{explore} command.
7481
7482 @smallexample
7483 (gdb) explore struct ComplexStruct
7484 @end smallexample
7485
7486 @noindent
7487 By responding to the prompts appropriately in the subsequent interactive
7488 session, you can explore the type @code{struct ComplexStruct} in a
7489 manner similar to how the value @code{cs} was explored in the above
7490 example.
7491
7492 The @code{explore} command also has two sub-commands,
7493 @code{explore value} and @code{explore type}. The former sub-command is
7494 a way to explicitly specify that value exploration of the argument is
7495 being invoked, while the latter is a way to explicitly specify that type
7496 exploration of the argument is being invoked.
7497
7498 @table @code
7499 @item explore value @var{expr}
7500 @cindex explore value
7501 This sub-command of @code{explore} explores the value of the
7502 expression @var{expr} (if @var{expr} is an expression valid in the
7503 current context of the program being debugged). The behavior of this
7504 command is identical to that of the behavior of the @code{explore}
7505 command being passed the argument @var{expr}.
7506
7507 @item explore type @var{arg}
7508 @cindex explore type
7509 This sub-command of @code{explore} explores the type of @var{arg} (if
7510 @var{arg} is a type visible in the current context of program being
7511 debugged), or the type of the value/expression @var{arg} (if @var{arg}
7512 is an expression valid in the current context of the program being
7513 debugged). If @var{arg} is a type, then the behavior of this command is
7514 identical to that of the @code{explore} command being passed the
7515 argument @var{arg}. If @var{arg} is an expression, then the behavior of
7516 this command will be identical to that of the @code{explore} command
7517 being passed the type of @var{arg} as the argument.
7518 @end table
7519
7520 @menu
7521 * Expressions:: Expressions
7522 * Ambiguous Expressions:: Ambiguous Expressions
7523 * Variables:: Program variables
7524 * Arrays:: Artificial arrays
7525 * Output Formats:: Output formats
7526 * Memory:: Examining memory
7527 * Auto Display:: Automatic display
7528 * Print Settings:: Print settings
7529 * Pretty Printing:: Python pretty printing
7530 * Value History:: Value history
7531 * Convenience Vars:: Convenience variables
7532 * Registers:: Registers
7533 * Floating Point Hardware:: Floating point hardware
7534 * Vector Unit:: Vector Unit
7535 * OS Information:: Auxiliary data provided by operating system
7536 * Memory Region Attributes:: Memory region attributes
7537 * Dump/Restore Files:: Copy between memory and a file
7538 * Core File Generation:: Cause a program dump its core
7539 * Character Sets:: Debugging programs that use a different
7540 character set than GDB does
7541 * Caching Remote Data:: Data caching for remote targets
7542 * Searching Memory:: Searching memory for a sequence of bytes
7543 @end menu
7544
7545 @node Expressions
7546 @section Expressions
7547
7548 @cindex expressions
7549 @code{print} and many other @value{GDBN} commands accept an expression and
7550 compute its value. Any kind of constant, variable or operator defined
7551 by the programming language you are using is valid in an expression in
7552 @value{GDBN}. This includes conditional expressions, function calls,
7553 casts, and string constants. It also includes preprocessor macros, if
7554 you compiled your program to include this information; see
7555 @ref{Compilation}.
7556
7557 @cindex arrays in expressions
7558 @value{GDBN} supports array constants in expressions input by
7559 the user. The syntax is @{@var{element}, @var{element}@dots{}@}. For example,
7560 you can use the command @code{print @{1, 2, 3@}} to create an array
7561 of three integers. If you pass an array to a function or assign it
7562 to a program variable, @value{GDBN} copies the array to memory that
7563 is @code{malloc}ed in the target program.
7564
7565 Because C is so widespread, most of the expressions shown in examples in
7566 this manual are in C. @xref{Languages, , Using @value{GDBN} with Different
7567 Languages}, for information on how to use expressions in other
7568 languages.
7569
7570 In this section, we discuss operators that you can use in @value{GDBN}
7571 expressions regardless of your programming language.
7572
7573 @cindex casts, in expressions
7574 Casts are supported in all languages, not just in C, because it is so
7575 useful to cast a number into a pointer in order to examine a structure
7576 at that address in memory.
7577 @c FIXME: casts supported---Mod2 true?
7578
7579 @value{GDBN} supports these operators, in addition to those common
7580 to programming languages:
7581
7582 @table @code
7583 @item @@
7584 @samp{@@} is a binary operator for treating parts of memory as arrays.
7585 @xref{Arrays, ,Artificial Arrays}, for more information.
7586
7587 @item ::
7588 @samp{::} allows you to specify a variable in terms of the file or
7589 function where it is defined. @xref{Variables, ,Program Variables}.
7590
7591 @cindex @{@var{type}@}
7592 @cindex type casting memory
7593 @cindex memory, viewing as typed object
7594 @cindex casts, to view memory
7595 @item @{@var{type}@} @var{addr}
7596 Refers to an object of type @var{type} stored at address @var{addr} in
7597 memory. @var{addr} may be any expression whose value is an integer or
7598 pointer (but parentheses are required around binary operators, just as in
7599 a cast). This construct is allowed regardless of what kind of data is
7600 normally supposed to reside at @var{addr}.
7601 @end table
7602
7603 @node Ambiguous Expressions
7604 @section Ambiguous Expressions
7605 @cindex ambiguous expressions
7606
7607 Expressions can sometimes contain some ambiguous elements. For instance,
7608 some programming languages (notably Ada, C@t{++} and Objective-C) permit
7609 a single function name to be defined several times, for application in
7610 different contexts. This is called @dfn{overloading}. Another example
7611 involving Ada is generics. A @dfn{generic package} is similar to C@t{++}
7612 templates and is typically instantiated several times, resulting in
7613 the same function name being defined in different contexts.
7614
7615 In some cases and depending on the language, it is possible to adjust
7616 the expression to remove the ambiguity. For instance in C@t{++}, you
7617 can specify the signature of the function you want to break on, as in
7618 @kbd{break @var{function}(@var{types})}. In Ada, using the fully
7619 qualified name of your function often makes the expression unambiguous
7620 as well.
7621
7622 When an ambiguity that needs to be resolved is detected, the debugger
7623 has the capability to display a menu of numbered choices for each
7624 possibility, and then waits for the selection with the prompt @samp{>}.
7625 The first option is always @samp{[0] cancel}, and typing @kbd{0 @key{RET}}
7626 aborts the current command. If the command in which the expression was
7627 used allows more than one choice to be selected, the next option in the
7628 menu is @samp{[1] all}, and typing @kbd{1 @key{RET}} selects all possible
7629 choices.
7630
7631 For example, the following session excerpt shows an attempt to set a
7632 breakpoint at the overloaded symbol @code{String::after}.
7633 We choose three particular definitions of that function name:
7634
7635 @c FIXME! This is likely to change to show arg type lists, at least
7636 @smallexample
7637 @group
7638 (@value{GDBP}) b String::after
7639 [0] cancel
7640 [1] all
7641 [2] file:String.cc; line number:867
7642 [3] file:String.cc; line number:860
7643 [4] file:String.cc; line number:875
7644 [5] file:String.cc; line number:853
7645 [6] file:String.cc; line number:846
7646 [7] file:String.cc; line number:735
7647 > 2 4 6
7648 Breakpoint 1 at 0xb26c: file String.cc, line 867.
7649 Breakpoint 2 at 0xb344: file String.cc, line 875.
7650 Breakpoint 3 at 0xafcc: file String.cc, line 846.
7651 Multiple breakpoints were set.
7652 Use the "delete" command to delete unwanted
7653 breakpoints.
7654 (@value{GDBP})
7655 @end group
7656 @end smallexample
7657
7658 @table @code
7659 @kindex set multiple-symbols
7660 @item set multiple-symbols @var{mode}
7661 @cindex multiple-symbols menu
7662
7663 This option allows you to adjust the debugger behavior when an expression
7664 is ambiguous.
7665
7666 By default, @var{mode} is set to @code{all}. If the command with which
7667 the expression is used allows more than one choice, then @value{GDBN}
7668 automatically selects all possible choices. For instance, inserting
7669 a breakpoint on a function using an ambiguous name results in a breakpoint
7670 inserted on each possible match. However, if a unique choice must be made,
7671 then @value{GDBN} uses the menu to help you disambiguate the expression.
7672 For instance, printing the address of an overloaded function will result
7673 in the use of the menu.
7674
7675 When @var{mode} is set to @code{ask}, the debugger always uses the menu
7676 when an ambiguity is detected.
7677
7678 Finally, when @var{mode} is set to @code{cancel}, the debugger reports
7679 an error due to the ambiguity and the command is aborted.
7680
7681 @kindex show multiple-symbols
7682 @item show multiple-symbols
7683 Show the current value of the @code{multiple-symbols} setting.
7684 @end table
7685
7686 @node Variables
7687 @section Program Variables
7688
7689 The most common kind of expression to use is the name of a variable
7690 in your program.
7691
7692 Variables in expressions are understood in the selected stack frame
7693 (@pxref{Selection, ,Selecting a Frame}); they must be either:
7694
7695 @itemize @bullet
7696 @item
7697 global (or file-static)
7698 @end itemize
7699
7700 @noindent or
7701
7702 @itemize @bullet
7703 @item
7704 visible according to the scope rules of the
7705 programming language from the point of execution in that frame
7706 @end itemize
7707
7708 @noindent This means that in the function
7709
7710 @smallexample
7711 foo (a)
7712 int a;
7713 @{
7714 bar (a);
7715 @{
7716 int b = test ();
7717 bar (b);
7718 @}
7719 @}
7720 @end smallexample
7721
7722 @noindent
7723 you can examine and use the variable @code{a} whenever your program is
7724 executing within the function @code{foo}, but you can only use or
7725 examine the variable @code{b} while your program is executing inside
7726 the block where @code{b} is declared.
7727
7728 @cindex variable name conflict
7729 There is an exception: you can refer to a variable or function whose
7730 scope is a single source file even if the current execution point is not
7731 in this file. But it is possible to have more than one such variable or
7732 function with the same name (in different source files). If that
7733 happens, referring to that name has unpredictable effects. If you wish,
7734 you can specify a static variable in a particular function or file by
7735 using the colon-colon (@code{::}) notation:
7736
7737 @cindex colon-colon, context for variables/functions
7738 @ifnotinfo
7739 @c info cannot cope with a :: index entry, but why deprive hard copy readers?
7740 @cindex @code{::}, context for variables/functions
7741 @end ifnotinfo
7742 @smallexample
7743 @var{file}::@var{variable}
7744 @var{function}::@var{variable}
7745 @end smallexample
7746
7747 @noindent
7748 Here @var{file} or @var{function} is the name of the context for the
7749 static @var{variable}. In the case of file names, you can use quotes to
7750 make sure @value{GDBN} parses the file name as a single word---for example,
7751 to print a global value of @code{x} defined in @file{f2.c}:
7752
7753 @smallexample
7754 (@value{GDBP}) p 'f2.c'::x
7755 @end smallexample
7756
7757 The @code{::} notation is normally used for referring to
7758 static variables, since you typically disambiguate uses of local variables
7759 in functions by selecting the appropriate frame and using the
7760 simple name of the variable. However, you may also use this notation
7761 to refer to local variables in frames enclosing the selected frame:
7762
7763 @smallexample
7764 void
7765 foo (int a)
7766 @{
7767 if (a < 10)
7768 bar (a);
7769 else
7770 process (a); /* Stop here */
7771 @}
7772
7773 int
7774 bar (int a)
7775 @{
7776 foo (a + 5);
7777 @}
7778 @end smallexample
7779
7780 @noindent
7781 For example, if there is a breakpoint at the commented line,
7782 here is what you might see
7783 when the program stops after executing the call @code{bar(0)}:
7784
7785 @smallexample
7786 (@value{GDBP}) p a
7787 $1 = 10
7788 (@value{GDBP}) p bar::a
7789 $2 = 5
7790 (@value{GDBP}) up 2
7791 #2 0x080483d0 in foo (a=5) at foobar.c:12
7792 (@value{GDBP}) p a
7793 $3 = 5
7794 (@value{GDBP}) p bar::a
7795 $4 = 0
7796 @end smallexample
7797
7798 @cindex C@t{++} scope resolution
7799 These uses of @samp{::} are very rarely in conflict with the very similar
7800 use of the same notation in C@t{++}. @value{GDBN} also supports use of the C@t{++}
7801 scope resolution operator in @value{GDBN} expressions.
7802 @c FIXME: Um, so what happens in one of those rare cases where it's in
7803 @c conflict?? --mew
7804
7805 @cindex wrong values
7806 @cindex variable values, wrong
7807 @cindex function entry/exit, wrong values of variables
7808 @cindex optimized code, wrong values of variables
7809 @quotation
7810 @emph{Warning:} Occasionally, a local variable may appear to have the
7811 wrong value at certain points in a function---just after entry to a new
7812 scope, and just before exit.
7813 @end quotation
7814 You may see this problem when you are stepping by machine instructions.
7815 This is because, on most machines, it takes more than one instruction to
7816 set up a stack frame (including local variable definitions); if you are
7817 stepping by machine instructions, variables may appear to have the wrong
7818 values until the stack frame is completely built. On exit, it usually
7819 also takes more than one machine instruction to destroy a stack frame;
7820 after you begin stepping through that group of instructions, local
7821 variable definitions may be gone.
7822
7823 This may also happen when the compiler does significant optimizations.
7824 To be sure of always seeing accurate values, turn off all optimization
7825 when compiling.
7826
7827 @cindex ``No symbol "foo" in current context''
7828 Another possible effect of compiler optimizations is to optimize
7829 unused variables out of existence, or assign variables to registers (as
7830 opposed to memory addresses). Depending on the support for such cases
7831 offered by the debug info format used by the compiler, @value{GDBN}
7832 might not be able to display values for such local variables. If that
7833 happens, @value{GDBN} will print a message like this:
7834
7835 @smallexample
7836 No symbol "foo" in current context.
7837 @end smallexample
7838
7839 To solve such problems, either recompile without optimizations, or use a
7840 different debug info format, if the compiler supports several such
7841 formats. @xref{Compilation}, for more information on choosing compiler
7842 options. @xref{C, ,C and C@t{++}}, for more information about debug
7843 info formats that are best suited to C@t{++} programs.
7844
7845 If you ask to print an object whose contents are unknown to
7846 @value{GDBN}, e.g., because its data type is not completely specified
7847 by the debug information, @value{GDBN} will say @samp{<incomplete
7848 type>}. @xref{Symbols, incomplete type}, for more about this.
7849
7850 If you append @kbd{@@entry} string to a function parameter name you get its
7851 value at the time the function got called. If the value is not available an
7852 error message is printed. Entry values are available only with some compilers.
7853 Entry values are normally also printed at the function parameter list according
7854 to @ref{set print entry-values}.
7855
7856 @smallexample
7857 Breakpoint 1, d (i=30) at gdb.base/entry-value.c:29
7858 29 i++;
7859 (gdb) next
7860 30 e (i);
7861 (gdb) print i
7862 $1 = 31
7863 (gdb) print i@@entry
7864 $2 = 30
7865 @end smallexample
7866
7867 Strings are identified as arrays of @code{char} values without specified
7868 signedness. Arrays of either @code{signed char} or @code{unsigned char} get
7869 printed as arrays of 1 byte sized integers. @code{-fsigned-char} or
7870 @code{-funsigned-char} @value{NGCC} options have no effect as @value{GDBN}
7871 defines literal string type @code{"char"} as @code{char} without a sign.
7872 For program code
7873
7874 @smallexample
7875 char var0[] = "A";
7876 signed char var1[] = "A";
7877 @end smallexample
7878
7879 You get during debugging
7880 @smallexample
7881 (gdb) print var0
7882 $1 = "A"
7883 (gdb) print var1
7884 $2 = @{65 'A', 0 '\0'@}
7885 @end smallexample
7886
7887 @node Arrays
7888 @section Artificial Arrays
7889
7890 @cindex artificial array
7891 @cindex arrays
7892 @kindex @@@r{, referencing memory as an array}
7893 It is often useful to print out several successive objects of the
7894 same type in memory; a section of an array, or an array of
7895 dynamically determined size for which only a pointer exists in the
7896 program.
7897
7898 You can do this by referring to a contiguous span of memory as an
7899 @dfn{artificial array}, using the binary operator @samp{@@}. The left
7900 operand of @samp{@@} should be the first element of the desired array
7901 and be an individual object. The right operand should be the desired length
7902 of the array. The result is an array value whose elements are all of
7903 the type of the left argument. The first element is actually the left
7904 argument; the second element comes from bytes of memory immediately
7905 following those that hold the first element, and so on. Here is an
7906 example. If a program says
7907
7908 @smallexample
7909 int *array = (int *) malloc (len * sizeof (int));
7910 @end smallexample
7911
7912 @noindent
7913 you can print the contents of @code{array} with
7914
7915 @smallexample
7916 p *array@@len
7917 @end smallexample
7918
7919 The left operand of @samp{@@} must reside in memory. Array values made
7920 with @samp{@@} in this way behave just like other arrays in terms of
7921 subscripting, and are coerced to pointers when used in expressions.
7922 Artificial arrays most often appear in expressions via the value history
7923 (@pxref{Value History, ,Value History}), after printing one out.
7924
7925 Another way to create an artificial array is to use a cast.
7926 This re-interprets a value as if it were an array.
7927 The value need not be in memory:
7928 @smallexample
7929 (@value{GDBP}) p/x (short[2])0x12345678
7930 $1 = @{0x1234, 0x5678@}
7931 @end smallexample
7932
7933 As a convenience, if you leave the array length out (as in
7934 @samp{(@var{type}[])@var{value}}) @value{GDBN} calculates the size to fill
7935 the value (as @samp{sizeof(@var{value})/sizeof(@var{type})}:
7936 @smallexample
7937 (@value{GDBP}) p/x (short[])0x12345678
7938 $2 = @{0x1234, 0x5678@}
7939 @end smallexample
7940
7941 Sometimes the artificial array mechanism is not quite enough; in
7942 moderately complex data structures, the elements of interest may not
7943 actually be adjacent---for example, if you are interested in the values
7944 of pointers in an array. One useful work-around in this situation is
7945 to use a convenience variable (@pxref{Convenience Vars, ,Convenience
7946 Variables}) as a counter in an expression that prints the first
7947 interesting value, and then repeat that expression via @key{RET}. For
7948 instance, suppose you have an array @code{dtab} of pointers to
7949 structures, and you are interested in the values of a field @code{fv}
7950 in each structure. Here is an example of what you might type:
7951
7952 @smallexample
7953 set $i = 0
7954 p dtab[$i++]->fv
7955 @key{RET}
7956 @key{RET}
7957 @dots{}
7958 @end smallexample
7959
7960 @node Output Formats
7961 @section Output Formats
7962
7963 @cindex formatted output
7964 @cindex output formats
7965 By default, @value{GDBN} prints a value according to its data type. Sometimes
7966 this is not what you want. For example, you might want to print a number
7967 in hex, or a pointer in decimal. Or you might want to view data in memory
7968 at a certain address as a character string or as an instruction. To do
7969 these things, specify an @dfn{output format} when you print a value.
7970
7971 The simplest use of output formats is to say how to print a value
7972 already computed. This is done by starting the arguments of the
7973 @code{print} command with a slash and a format letter. The format
7974 letters supported are:
7975
7976 @table @code
7977 @item x
7978 Regard the bits of the value as an integer, and print the integer in
7979 hexadecimal.
7980
7981 @item d
7982 Print as integer in signed decimal.
7983
7984 @item u
7985 Print as integer in unsigned decimal.
7986
7987 @item o
7988 Print as integer in octal.
7989
7990 @item t
7991 Print as integer in binary. The letter @samp{t} stands for ``two''.
7992 @footnote{@samp{b} cannot be used because these format letters are also
7993 used with the @code{x} command, where @samp{b} stands for ``byte'';
7994 see @ref{Memory,,Examining Memory}.}
7995
7996 @item a
7997 @cindex unknown address, locating
7998 @cindex locate address
7999 Print as an address, both absolute in hexadecimal and as an offset from
8000 the nearest preceding symbol. You can use this format used to discover
8001 where (in what function) an unknown address is located:
8002
8003 @smallexample
8004 (@value{GDBP}) p/a 0x54320
8005 $3 = 0x54320 <_initialize_vx+396>
8006 @end smallexample
8007
8008 @noindent
8009 The command @code{info symbol 0x54320} yields similar results.
8010 @xref{Symbols, info symbol}.
8011
8012 @item c
8013 Regard as an integer and print it as a character constant. This
8014 prints both the numerical value and its character representation. The
8015 character representation is replaced with the octal escape @samp{\nnn}
8016 for characters outside the 7-bit @sc{ascii} range.
8017
8018 Without this format, @value{GDBN} displays @code{char},
8019 @w{@code{unsigned char}}, and @w{@code{signed char}} data as character
8020 constants. Single-byte members of vectors are displayed as integer
8021 data.
8022
8023 @item f
8024 Regard the bits of the value as a floating point number and print
8025 using typical floating point syntax.
8026
8027 @item s
8028 @cindex printing strings
8029 @cindex printing byte arrays
8030 Regard as a string, if possible. With this format, pointers to single-byte
8031 data are displayed as null-terminated strings and arrays of single-byte data
8032 are displayed as fixed-length strings. Other values are displayed in their
8033 natural types.
8034
8035 Without this format, @value{GDBN} displays pointers to and arrays of
8036 @code{char}, @w{@code{unsigned char}}, and @w{@code{signed char}} as
8037 strings. Single-byte members of a vector are displayed as an integer
8038 array.
8039
8040 @item r
8041 @cindex raw printing
8042 Print using the @samp{raw} formatting. By default, @value{GDBN} will
8043 use a Python-based pretty-printer, if one is available (@pxref{Pretty
8044 Printing}). This typically results in a higher-level display of the
8045 value's contents. The @samp{r} format bypasses any Python
8046 pretty-printer which might exist.
8047 @end table
8048
8049 For example, to print the program counter in hex (@pxref{Registers}), type
8050
8051 @smallexample
8052 p/x $pc
8053 @end smallexample
8054
8055 @noindent
8056 Note that no space is required before the slash; this is because command
8057 names in @value{GDBN} cannot contain a slash.
8058
8059 To reprint the last value in the value history with a different format,
8060 you can use the @code{print} command with just a format and no
8061 expression. For example, @samp{p/x} reprints the last value in hex.
8062
8063 @node Memory
8064 @section Examining Memory
8065
8066 You can use the command @code{x} (for ``examine'') to examine memory in
8067 any of several formats, independently of your program's data types.
8068
8069 @cindex examining memory
8070 @table @code
8071 @kindex x @r{(examine memory)}
8072 @item x/@var{nfu} @var{addr}
8073 @itemx x @var{addr}
8074 @itemx x
8075 Use the @code{x} command to examine memory.
8076 @end table
8077
8078 @var{n}, @var{f}, and @var{u} are all optional parameters that specify how
8079 much memory to display and how to format it; @var{addr} is an
8080 expression giving the address where you want to start displaying memory.
8081 If you use defaults for @var{nfu}, you need not type the slash @samp{/}.
8082 Several commands set convenient defaults for @var{addr}.
8083
8084 @table @r
8085 @item @var{n}, the repeat count
8086 The repeat count is a decimal integer; the default is 1. It specifies
8087 how much memory (counting by units @var{u}) to display.
8088 @c This really is **decimal**; unaffected by 'set radix' as of GDB
8089 @c 4.1.2.
8090
8091 @item @var{f}, the display format
8092 The display format is one of the formats used by @code{print}
8093 (@samp{x}, @samp{d}, @samp{u}, @samp{o}, @samp{t}, @samp{a}, @samp{c},
8094 @samp{f}, @samp{s}), and in addition @samp{i} (for machine instructions).
8095 The default is @samp{x} (hexadecimal) initially. The default changes
8096 each time you use either @code{x} or @code{print}.
8097
8098 @item @var{u}, the unit size
8099 The unit size is any of
8100
8101 @table @code
8102 @item b
8103 Bytes.
8104 @item h
8105 Halfwords (two bytes).
8106 @item w
8107 Words (four bytes). This is the initial default.
8108 @item g
8109 Giant words (eight bytes).
8110 @end table
8111
8112 Each time you specify a unit size with @code{x}, that size becomes the
8113 default unit the next time you use @code{x}. For the @samp{i} format,
8114 the unit size is ignored and is normally not written. For the @samp{s} format,
8115 the unit size defaults to @samp{b}, unless it is explicitly given.
8116 Use @kbd{x /hs} to display 16-bit char strings and @kbd{x /ws} to display
8117 32-bit strings. The next use of @kbd{x /s} will again display 8-bit strings.
8118 Note that the results depend on the programming language of the
8119 current compilation unit. If the language is C, the @samp{s}
8120 modifier will use the UTF-16 encoding while @samp{w} will use
8121 UTF-32. The encoding is set by the programming language and cannot
8122 be altered.
8123
8124 @item @var{addr}, starting display address
8125 @var{addr} is the address where you want @value{GDBN} to begin displaying
8126 memory. The expression need not have a pointer value (though it may);
8127 it is always interpreted as an integer address of a byte of memory.
8128 @xref{Expressions, ,Expressions}, for more information on expressions. The default for
8129 @var{addr} is usually just after the last address examined---but several
8130 other commands also set the default address: @code{info breakpoints} (to
8131 the address of the last breakpoint listed), @code{info line} (to the
8132 starting address of a line), and @code{print} (if you use it to display
8133 a value from memory).
8134 @end table
8135
8136 For example, @samp{x/3uh 0x54320} is a request to display three halfwords
8137 (@code{h}) of memory, formatted as unsigned decimal integers (@samp{u}),
8138 starting at address @code{0x54320}. @samp{x/4xw $sp} prints the four
8139 words (@samp{w}) of memory above the stack pointer (here, @samp{$sp};
8140 @pxref{Registers, ,Registers}) in hexadecimal (@samp{x}).
8141
8142 Since the letters indicating unit sizes are all distinct from the
8143 letters specifying output formats, you do not have to remember whether
8144 unit size or format comes first; either order works. The output
8145 specifications @samp{4xw} and @samp{4wx} mean exactly the same thing.
8146 (However, the count @var{n} must come first; @samp{wx4} does not work.)
8147
8148 Even though the unit size @var{u} is ignored for the formats @samp{s}
8149 and @samp{i}, you might still want to use a count @var{n}; for example,
8150 @samp{3i} specifies that you want to see three machine instructions,
8151 including any operands. For convenience, especially when used with
8152 the @code{display} command, the @samp{i} format also prints branch delay
8153 slot instructions, if any, beyond the count specified, which immediately
8154 follow the last instruction that is within the count. The command
8155 @code{disassemble} gives an alternative way of inspecting machine
8156 instructions; see @ref{Machine Code,,Source and Machine Code}.
8157
8158 All the defaults for the arguments to @code{x} are designed to make it
8159 easy to continue scanning memory with minimal specifications each time
8160 you use @code{x}. For example, after you have inspected three machine
8161 instructions with @samp{x/3i @var{addr}}, you can inspect the next seven
8162 with just @samp{x/7}. If you use @key{RET} to repeat the @code{x} command,
8163 the repeat count @var{n} is used again; the other arguments default as
8164 for successive uses of @code{x}.
8165
8166 When examining machine instructions, the instruction at current program
8167 counter is shown with a @code{=>} marker. For example:
8168
8169 @smallexample
8170 (@value{GDBP}) x/5i $pc-6
8171 0x804837f <main+11>: mov %esp,%ebp
8172 0x8048381 <main+13>: push %ecx
8173 0x8048382 <main+14>: sub $0x4,%esp
8174 => 0x8048385 <main+17>: movl $0x8048460,(%esp)
8175 0x804838c <main+24>: call 0x80482d4 <puts@@plt>
8176 @end smallexample
8177
8178 @cindex @code{$_}, @code{$__}, and value history
8179 The addresses and contents printed by the @code{x} command are not saved
8180 in the value history because there is often too much of them and they
8181 would get in the way. Instead, @value{GDBN} makes these values available for
8182 subsequent use in expressions as values of the convenience variables
8183 @code{$_} and @code{$__}. After an @code{x} command, the last address
8184 examined is available for use in expressions in the convenience variable
8185 @code{$_}. The contents of that address, as examined, are available in
8186 the convenience variable @code{$__}.
8187
8188 If the @code{x} command has a repeat count, the address and contents saved
8189 are from the last memory unit printed; this is not the same as the last
8190 address printed if several units were printed on the last line of output.
8191
8192 @cindex remote memory comparison
8193 @cindex verify remote memory image
8194 When you are debugging a program running on a remote target machine
8195 (@pxref{Remote Debugging}), you may wish to verify the program's image in the
8196 remote machine's memory against the executable file you downloaded to
8197 the target. The @code{compare-sections} command is provided for such
8198 situations.
8199
8200 @table @code
8201 @kindex compare-sections
8202 @item compare-sections @r{[}@var{section-name}@r{]}
8203 Compare the data of a loadable section @var{section-name} in the
8204 executable file of the program being debugged with the same section in
8205 the remote machine's memory, and report any mismatches. With no
8206 arguments, compares all loadable sections. This command's
8207 availability depends on the target's support for the @code{"qCRC"}
8208 remote request.
8209 @end table
8210
8211 @node Auto Display
8212 @section Automatic Display
8213 @cindex automatic display
8214 @cindex display of expressions
8215
8216 If you find that you want to print the value of an expression frequently
8217 (to see how it changes), you might want to add it to the @dfn{automatic
8218 display list} so that @value{GDBN} prints its value each time your program stops.
8219 Each expression added to the list is given a number to identify it;
8220 to remove an expression from the list, you specify that number.
8221 The automatic display looks like this:
8222
8223 @smallexample
8224 2: foo = 38
8225 3: bar[5] = (struct hack *) 0x3804
8226 @end smallexample
8227
8228 @noindent
8229 This display shows item numbers, expressions and their current values. As with
8230 displays you request manually using @code{x} or @code{print}, you can
8231 specify the output format you prefer; in fact, @code{display} decides
8232 whether to use @code{print} or @code{x} depending your format
8233 specification---it uses @code{x} if you specify either the @samp{i}
8234 or @samp{s} format, or a unit size; otherwise it uses @code{print}.
8235
8236 @table @code
8237 @kindex display
8238 @item display @var{expr}
8239 Add the expression @var{expr} to the list of expressions to display
8240 each time your program stops. @xref{Expressions, ,Expressions}.
8241
8242 @code{display} does not repeat if you press @key{RET} again after using it.
8243
8244 @item display/@var{fmt} @var{expr}
8245 For @var{fmt} specifying only a display format and not a size or
8246 count, add the expression @var{expr} to the auto-display list but
8247 arrange to display it each time in the specified format @var{fmt}.
8248 @xref{Output Formats,,Output Formats}.
8249
8250 @item display/@var{fmt} @var{addr}
8251 For @var{fmt} @samp{i} or @samp{s}, or including a unit-size or a
8252 number of units, add the expression @var{addr} as a memory address to
8253 be examined each time your program stops. Examining means in effect
8254 doing @samp{x/@var{fmt} @var{addr}}. @xref{Memory, ,Examining Memory}.
8255 @end table
8256
8257 For example, @samp{display/i $pc} can be helpful, to see the machine
8258 instruction about to be executed each time execution stops (@samp{$pc}
8259 is a common name for the program counter; @pxref{Registers, ,Registers}).
8260
8261 @table @code
8262 @kindex delete display
8263 @kindex undisplay
8264 @item undisplay @var{dnums}@dots{}
8265 @itemx delete display @var{dnums}@dots{}
8266 Remove items from the list of expressions to display. Specify the
8267 numbers of the displays that you want affected with the command
8268 argument @var{dnums}. It can be a single display number, one of the
8269 numbers shown in the first field of the @samp{info display} display;
8270 or it could be a range of display numbers, as in @code{2-4}.
8271
8272 @code{undisplay} does not repeat if you press @key{RET} after using it.
8273 (Otherwise you would just get the error @samp{No display number @dots{}}.)
8274
8275 @kindex disable display
8276 @item disable display @var{dnums}@dots{}
8277 Disable the display of item numbers @var{dnums}. A disabled display
8278 item is not printed automatically, but is not forgotten. It may be
8279 enabled again later. Specify the numbers of the displays that you
8280 want affected with the command argument @var{dnums}. It can be a
8281 single display number, one of the numbers shown in the first field of
8282 the @samp{info display} display; or it could be a range of display
8283 numbers, as in @code{2-4}.
8284
8285 @kindex enable display
8286 @item enable display @var{dnums}@dots{}
8287 Enable display of item numbers @var{dnums}. It becomes effective once
8288 again in auto display of its expression, until you specify otherwise.
8289 Specify the numbers of the displays that you want affected with the
8290 command argument @var{dnums}. It can be a single display number, one
8291 of the numbers shown in the first field of the @samp{info display}
8292 display; or it could be a range of display numbers, as in @code{2-4}.
8293
8294 @item display
8295 Display the current values of the expressions on the list, just as is
8296 done when your program stops.
8297
8298 @kindex info display
8299 @item info display
8300 Print the list of expressions previously set up to display
8301 automatically, each one with its item number, but without showing the
8302 values. This includes disabled expressions, which are marked as such.
8303 It also includes expressions which would not be displayed right now
8304 because they refer to automatic variables not currently available.
8305 @end table
8306
8307 @cindex display disabled out of scope
8308 If a display expression refers to local variables, then it does not make
8309 sense outside the lexical context for which it was set up. Such an
8310 expression is disabled when execution enters a context where one of its
8311 variables is not defined. For example, if you give the command
8312 @code{display last_char} while inside a function with an argument
8313 @code{last_char}, @value{GDBN} displays this argument while your program
8314 continues to stop inside that function. When it stops elsewhere---where
8315 there is no variable @code{last_char}---the display is disabled
8316 automatically. The next time your program stops where @code{last_char}
8317 is meaningful, you can enable the display expression once again.
8318
8319 @node Print Settings
8320 @section Print Settings
8321
8322 @cindex format options
8323 @cindex print settings
8324 @value{GDBN} provides the following ways to control how arrays, structures,
8325 and symbols are printed.
8326
8327 @noindent
8328 These settings are useful for debugging programs in any language:
8329
8330 @table @code
8331 @kindex set print
8332 @item set print address
8333 @itemx set print address on
8334 @cindex print/don't print memory addresses
8335 @value{GDBN} prints memory addresses showing the location of stack
8336 traces, structure values, pointer values, breakpoints, and so forth,
8337 even when it also displays the contents of those addresses. The default
8338 is @code{on}. For example, this is what a stack frame display looks like with
8339 @code{set print address on}:
8340
8341 @smallexample
8342 @group
8343 (@value{GDBP}) f
8344 #0 set_quotes (lq=0x34c78 "<<", rq=0x34c88 ">>")
8345 at input.c:530
8346 530 if (lquote != def_lquote)
8347 @end group
8348 @end smallexample
8349
8350 @item set print address off
8351 Do not print addresses when displaying their contents. For example,
8352 this is the same stack frame displayed with @code{set print address off}:
8353
8354 @smallexample
8355 @group
8356 (@value{GDBP}) set print addr off
8357 (@value{GDBP}) f
8358 #0 set_quotes (lq="<<", rq=">>") at input.c:530
8359 530 if (lquote != def_lquote)
8360 @end group
8361 @end smallexample
8362
8363 You can use @samp{set print address off} to eliminate all machine
8364 dependent displays from the @value{GDBN} interface. For example, with
8365 @code{print address off}, you should get the same text for backtraces on
8366 all machines---whether or not they involve pointer arguments.
8367
8368 @kindex show print
8369 @item show print address
8370 Show whether or not addresses are to be printed.
8371 @end table
8372
8373 When @value{GDBN} prints a symbolic address, it normally prints the
8374 closest earlier symbol plus an offset. If that symbol does not uniquely
8375 identify the address (for example, it is a name whose scope is a single
8376 source file), you may need to clarify. One way to do this is with
8377 @code{info line}, for example @samp{info line *0x4537}. Alternately,
8378 you can set @value{GDBN} to print the source file and line number when
8379 it prints a symbolic address:
8380
8381 @table @code
8382 @item set print symbol-filename on
8383 @cindex source file and line of a symbol
8384 @cindex symbol, source file and line
8385 Tell @value{GDBN} to print the source file name and line number of a
8386 symbol in the symbolic form of an address.
8387
8388 @item set print symbol-filename off
8389 Do not print source file name and line number of a symbol. This is the
8390 default.
8391
8392 @item show print symbol-filename
8393 Show whether or not @value{GDBN} will print the source file name and
8394 line number of a symbol in the symbolic form of an address.
8395 @end table
8396
8397 Another situation where it is helpful to show symbol filenames and line
8398 numbers is when disassembling code; @value{GDBN} shows you the line
8399 number and source file that corresponds to each instruction.
8400
8401 Also, you may wish to see the symbolic form only if the address being
8402 printed is reasonably close to the closest earlier symbol:
8403
8404 @table @code
8405 @item set print max-symbolic-offset @var{max-offset}
8406 @cindex maximum value for offset of closest symbol
8407 Tell @value{GDBN} to only display the symbolic form of an address if the
8408 offset between the closest earlier symbol and the address is less than
8409 @var{max-offset}. The default is 0, which tells @value{GDBN}
8410 to always print the symbolic form of an address if any symbol precedes it.
8411
8412 @item show print max-symbolic-offset
8413 Ask how large the maximum offset is that @value{GDBN} prints in a
8414 symbolic address.
8415 @end table
8416
8417 @cindex wild pointer, interpreting
8418 @cindex pointer, finding referent
8419 If you have a pointer and you are not sure where it points, try
8420 @samp{set print symbol-filename on}. Then you can determine the name
8421 and source file location of the variable where it points, using
8422 @samp{p/a @var{pointer}}. This interprets the address in symbolic form.
8423 For example, here @value{GDBN} shows that a variable @code{ptt} points
8424 at another variable @code{t}, defined in @file{hi2.c}:
8425
8426 @smallexample
8427 (@value{GDBP}) set print symbol-filename on
8428 (@value{GDBP}) p/a ptt
8429 $4 = 0xe008 <t in hi2.c>
8430 @end smallexample
8431
8432 @quotation
8433 @emph{Warning:} For pointers that point to a local variable, @samp{p/a}
8434 does not show the symbol name and filename of the referent, even with
8435 the appropriate @code{set print} options turned on.
8436 @end quotation
8437
8438 Other settings control how different kinds of objects are printed:
8439
8440 @table @code
8441 @item set print array
8442 @itemx set print array on
8443 @cindex pretty print arrays
8444 Pretty print arrays. This format is more convenient to read,
8445 but uses more space. The default is off.
8446
8447 @item set print array off
8448 Return to compressed format for arrays.
8449
8450 @item show print array
8451 Show whether compressed or pretty format is selected for displaying
8452 arrays.
8453
8454 @cindex print array indexes
8455 @item set print array-indexes
8456 @itemx set print array-indexes on
8457 Print the index of each element when displaying arrays. May be more
8458 convenient to locate a given element in the array or quickly find the
8459 index of a given element in that printed array. The default is off.
8460
8461 @item set print array-indexes off
8462 Stop printing element indexes when displaying arrays.
8463
8464 @item show print array-indexes
8465 Show whether the index of each element is printed when displaying
8466 arrays.
8467
8468 @item set print elements @var{number-of-elements}
8469 @cindex number of array elements to print
8470 @cindex limit on number of printed array elements
8471 Set a limit on how many elements of an array @value{GDBN} will print.
8472 If @value{GDBN} is printing a large array, it stops printing after it has
8473 printed the number of elements set by the @code{set print elements} command.
8474 This limit also applies to the display of strings.
8475 When @value{GDBN} starts, this limit is set to 200.
8476 Setting @var{number-of-elements} to zero means that the printing is unlimited.
8477
8478 @item show print elements
8479 Display the number of elements of a large array that @value{GDBN} will print.
8480 If the number is 0, then the printing is unlimited.
8481
8482 @item set print frame-arguments @var{value}
8483 @kindex set print frame-arguments
8484 @cindex printing frame argument values
8485 @cindex print all frame argument values
8486 @cindex print frame argument values for scalars only
8487 @cindex do not print frame argument values
8488 This command allows to control how the values of arguments are printed
8489 when the debugger prints a frame (@pxref{Frames}). The possible
8490 values are:
8491
8492 @table @code
8493 @item all
8494 The values of all arguments are printed.
8495
8496 @item scalars
8497 Print the value of an argument only if it is a scalar. The value of more
8498 complex arguments such as arrays, structures, unions, etc, is replaced
8499 by @code{@dots{}}. This is the default. Here is an example where
8500 only scalar arguments are shown:
8501
8502 @smallexample
8503 #1 0x08048361 in call_me (i=3, s=@dots{}, ss=0xbf8d508c, u=@dots{}, e=green)
8504 at frame-args.c:23
8505 @end smallexample
8506
8507 @item none
8508 None of the argument values are printed. Instead, the value of each argument
8509 is replaced by @code{@dots{}}. In this case, the example above now becomes:
8510
8511 @smallexample
8512 #1 0x08048361 in call_me (i=@dots{}, s=@dots{}, ss=@dots{}, u=@dots{}, e=@dots{})
8513 at frame-args.c:23
8514 @end smallexample
8515 @end table
8516
8517 By default, only scalar arguments are printed. This command can be used
8518 to configure the debugger to print the value of all arguments, regardless
8519 of their type. However, it is often advantageous to not print the value
8520 of more complex parameters. For instance, it reduces the amount of
8521 information printed in each frame, making the backtrace more readable.
8522 Also, it improves performance when displaying Ada frames, because
8523 the computation of large arguments can sometimes be CPU-intensive,
8524 especially in large applications. Setting @code{print frame-arguments}
8525 to @code{scalars} (the default) or @code{none} avoids this computation,
8526 thus speeding up the display of each Ada frame.
8527
8528 @item show print frame-arguments
8529 Show how the value of arguments should be displayed when printing a frame.
8530
8531 @anchor{set print entry-values}
8532 @item set print entry-values @var{value}
8533 @kindex set print entry-values
8534 Set printing of frame argument values at function entry. In some cases
8535 @value{GDBN} can determine the value of function argument which was passed by
8536 the function caller, even if the value was modified inside the called function
8537 and therefore is different. With optimized code, the current value could be
8538 unavailable, but the entry value may still be known.
8539
8540 The default value is @code{default} (see below for its description). Older
8541 @value{GDBN} behaved as with the setting @code{no}. Compilers not supporting
8542 this feature will behave in the @code{default} setting the same way as with the
8543 @code{no} setting.
8544
8545 This functionality is currently supported only by DWARF 2 debugging format and
8546 the compiler has to produce @samp{DW_TAG_GNU_call_site} tags. With
8547 @value{NGCC}, you need to specify @option{-O -g} during compilation, to get
8548 this information.
8549
8550 The @var{value} parameter can be one of the following:
8551
8552 @table @code
8553 @item no
8554 Print only actual parameter values, never print values from function entry
8555 point.
8556 @smallexample
8557 #0 equal (val=5)
8558 #0 different (val=6)
8559 #0 lost (val=<optimized out>)
8560 #0 born (val=10)
8561 #0 invalid (val=<optimized out>)
8562 @end smallexample
8563
8564 @item only
8565 Print only parameter values from function entry point. The actual parameter
8566 values are never printed.
8567 @smallexample
8568 #0 equal (val@@entry=5)
8569 #0 different (val@@entry=5)
8570 #0 lost (val@@entry=5)
8571 #0 born (val@@entry=<optimized out>)
8572 #0 invalid (val@@entry=<optimized out>)
8573 @end smallexample
8574
8575 @item preferred
8576 Print only parameter values from function entry point. If value from function
8577 entry point is not known while the actual value is known, print the actual
8578 value for such parameter.
8579 @smallexample
8580 #0 equal (val@@entry=5)
8581 #0 different (val@@entry=5)
8582 #0 lost (val@@entry=5)
8583 #0 born (val=10)
8584 #0 invalid (val@@entry=<optimized out>)
8585 @end smallexample
8586
8587 @item if-needed
8588 Print actual parameter values. If actual parameter value is not known while
8589 value from function entry point is known, print the entry point value for such
8590 parameter.
8591 @smallexample
8592 #0 equal (val=5)
8593 #0 different (val=6)
8594 #0 lost (val@@entry=5)
8595 #0 born (val=10)
8596 #0 invalid (val=<optimized out>)
8597 @end smallexample
8598
8599 @item both
8600 Always print both the actual parameter value and its value from function entry
8601 point, even if values of one or both are not available due to compiler
8602 optimizations.
8603 @smallexample
8604 #0 equal (val=5, val@@entry=5)
8605 #0 different (val=6, val@@entry=5)
8606 #0 lost (val=<optimized out>, val@@entry=5)
8607 #0 born (val=10, val@@entry=<optimized out>)
8608 #0 invalid (val=<optimized out>, val@@entry=<optimized out>)
8609 @end smallexample
8610
8611 @item compact
8612 Print the actual parameter value if it is known and also its value from
8613 function entry point if it is known. If neither is known, print for the actual
8614 value @code{<optimized out>}. If not in MI mode (@pxref{GDB/MI}) and if both
8615 values are known and identical, print the shortened
8616 @code{param=param@@entry=VALUE} notation.
8617 @smallexample
8618 #0 equal (val=val@@entry=5)
8619 #0 different (val=6, val@@entry=5)
8620 #0 lost (val@@entry=5)
8621 #0 born (val=10)
8622 #0 invalid (val=<optimized out>)
8623 @end smallexample
8624
8625 @item default
8626 Always print the actual parameter value. Print also its value from function
8627 entry point, but only if it is known. If not in MI mode (@pxref{GDB/MI}) and
8628 if both values are known and identical, print the shortened
8629 @code{param=param@@entry=VALUE} notation.
8630 @smallexample
8631 #0 equal (val=val@@entry=5)
8632 #0 different (val=6, val@@entry=5)
8633 #0 lost (val=<optimized out>, val@@entry=5)
8634 #0 born (val=10)
8635 #0 invalid (val=<optimized out>)
8636 @end smallexample
8637 @end table
8638
8639 For analysis messages on possible failures of frame argument values at function
8640 entry resolution see @ref{set debug entry-values}.
8641
8642 @item show print entry-values
8643 Show the method being used for printing of frame argument values at function
8644 entry.
8645
8646 @item set print repeats
8647 @cindex repeated array elements
8648 Set the threshold for suppressing display of repeated array
8649 elements. When the number of consecutive identical elements of an
8650 array exceeds the threshold, @value{GDBN} prints the string
8651 @code{"<repeats @var{n} times>"}, where @var{n} is the number of
8652 identical repetitions, instead of displaying the identical elements
8653 themselves. Setting the threshold to zero will cause all elements to
8654 be individually printed. The default threshold is 10.
8655
8656 @item show print repeats
8657 Display the current threshold for printing repeated identical
8658 elements.
8659
8660 @item set print null-stop
8661 @cindex @sc{null} elements in arrays
8662 Cause @value{GDBN} to stop printing the characters of an array when the first
8663 @sc{null} is encountered. This is useful when large arrays actually
8664 contain only short strings.
8665 The default is off.
8666
8667 @item show print null-stop
8668 Show whether @value{GDBN} stops printing an array on the first
8669 @sc{null} character.
8670
8671 @item set print pretty on
8672 @cindex print structures in indented form
8673 @cindex indentation in structure display
8674 Cause @value{GDBN} to print structures in an indented format with one member
8675 per line, like this:
8676
8677 @smallexample
8678 @group
8679 $1 = @{
8680 next = 0x0,
8681 flags = @{
8682 sweet = 1,
8683 sour = 1
8684 @},
8685 meat = 0x54 "Pork"
8686 @}
8687 @end group
8688 @end smallexample
8689
8690 @item set print pretty off
8691 Cause @value{GDBN} to print structures in a compact format, like this:
8692
8693 @smallexample
8694 @group
8695 $1 = @{next = 0x0, flags = @{sweet = 1, sour = 1@}, \
8696 meat = 0x54 "Pork"@}
8697 @end group
8698 @end smallexample
8699
8700 @noindent
8701 This is the default format.
8702
8703 @item show print pretty
8704 Show which format @value{GDBN} is using to print structures.
8705
8706 @item set print sevenbit-strings on
8707 @cindex eight-bit characters in strings
8708 @cindex octal escapes in strings
8709 Print using only seven-bit characters; if this option is set,
8710 @value{GDBN} displays any eight-bit characters (in strings or
8711 character values) using the notation @code{\}@var{nnn}. This setting is
8712 best if you are working in English (@sc{ascii}) and you use the
8713 high-order bit of characters as a marker or ``meta'' bit.
8714
8715 @item set print sevenbit-strings off
8716 Print full eight-bit characters. This allows the use of more
8717 international character sets, and is the default.
8718
8719 @item show print sevenbit-strings
8720 Show whether or not @value{GDBN} is printing only seven-bit characters.
8721
8722 @item set print union on
8723 @cindex unions in structures, printing
8724 Tell @value{GDBN} to print unions which are contained in structures
8725 and other unions. This is the default setting.
8726
8727 @item set print union off
8728 Tell @value{GDBN} not to print unions which are contained in
8729 structures and other unions. @value{GDBN} will print @code{"@{...@}"}
8730 instead.
8731
8732 @item show print union
8733 Ask @value{GDBN} whether or not it will print unions which are contained in
8734 structures and other unions.
8735
8736 For example, given the declarations
8737
8738 @smallexample
8739 typedef enum @{Tree, Bug@} Species;
8740 typedef enum @{Big_tree, Acorn, Seedling@} Tree_forms;
8741 typedef enum @{Caterpillar, Cocoon, Butterfly@}
8742 Bug_forms;
8743
8744 struct thing @{
8745 Species it;
8746 union @{
8747 Tree_forms tree;
8748 Bug_forms bug;
8749 @} form;
8750 @};
8751
8752 struct thing foo = @{Tree, @{Acorn@}@};
8753 @end smallexample
8754
8755 @noindent
8756 with @code{set print union on} in effect @samp{p foo} would print
8757
8758 @smallexample
8759 $1 = @{it = Tree, form = @{tree = Acorn, bug = Cocoon@}@}
8760 @end smallexample
8761
8762 @noindent
8763 and with @code{set print union off} in effect it would print
8764
8765 @smallexample
8766 $1 = @{it = Tree, form = @{...@}@}
8767 @end smallexample
8768
8769 @noindent
8770 @code{set print union} affects programs written in C-like languages
8771 and in Pascal.
8772 @end table
8773
8774 @need 1000
8775 @noindent
8776 These settings are of interest when debugging C@t{++} programs:
8777
8778 @table @code
8779 @cindex demangling C@t{++} names
8780 @item set print demangle
8781 @itemx set print demangle on
8782 Print C@t{++} names in their source form rather than in the encoded
8783 (``mangled'') form passed to the assembler and linker for type-safe
8784 linkage. The default is on.
8785
8786 @item show print demangle
8787 Show whether C@t{++} names are printed in mangled or demangled form.
8788
8789 @item set print asm-demangle
8790 @itemx set print asm-demangle on
8791 Print C@t{++} names in their source form rather than their mangled form, even
8792 in assembler code printouts such as instruction disassemblies.
8793 The default is off.
8794
8795 @item show print asm-demangle
8796 Show whether C@t{++} names in assembly listings are printed in mangled
8797 or demangled form.
8798
8799 @cindex C@t{++} symbol decoding style
8800 @cindex symbol decoding style, C@t{++}
8801 @kindex set demangle-style
8802 @item set demangle-style @var{style}
8803 Choose among several encoding schemes used by different compilers to
8804 represent C@t{++} names. The choices for @var{style} are currently:
8805
8806 @table @code
8807 @item auto
8808 Allow @value{GDBN} to choose a decoding style by inspecting your program.
8809
8810 @item gnu
8811 Decode based on the @sc{gnu} C@t{++} compiler (@code{g++}) encoding algorithm.
8812 This is the default.
8813
8814 @item hp
8815 Decode based on the HP ANSI C@t{++} (@code{aCC}) encoding algorithm.
8816
8817 @item lucid
8818 Decode based on the Lucid C@t{++} compiler (@code{lcc}) encoding algorithm.
8819
8820 @item arm
8821 Decode using the algorithm in the @cite{C@t{++} Annotated Reference Manual}.
8822 @strong{Warning:} this setting alone is not sufficient to allow
8823 debugging @code{cfront}-generated executables. @value{GDBN} would
8824 require further enhancement to permit that.
8825
8826 @end table
8827 If you omit @var{style}, you will see a list of possible formats.
8828
8829 @item show demangle-style
8830 Display the encoding style currently in use for decoding C@t{++} symbols.
8831
8832 @item set print object
8833 @itemx set print object on
8834 @cindex derived type of an object, printing
8835 @cindex display derived types
8836 When displaying a pointer to an object, identify the @emph{actual}
8837 (derived) type of the object rather than the @emph{declared} type, using
8838 the virtual function table. Note that the virtual function table is
8839 required---this feature can only work for objects that have run-time
8840 type identification; a single virtual method in the object's declared
8841 type is sufficient. Note that this setting is also taken into account when
8842 working with variable objects via MI (@pxref{GDB/MI}).
8843
8844 @item set print object off
8845 Display only the declared type of objects, without reference to the
8846 virtual function table. This is the default setting.
8847
8848 @item show print object
8849 Show whether actual, or declared, object types are displayed.
8850
8851 @item set print static-members
8852 @itemx set print static-members on
8853 @cindex static members of C@t{++} objects
8854 Print static members when displaying a C@t{++} object. The default is on.
8855
8856 @item set print static-members off
8857 Do not print static members when displaying a C@t{++} object.
8858
8859 @item show print static-members
8860 Show whether C@t{++} static members are printed or not.
8861
8862 @item set print pascal_static-members
8863 @itemx set print pascal_static-members on
8864 @cindex static members of Pascal objects
8865 @cindex Pascal objects, static members display
8866 Print static members when displaying a Pascal object. The default is on.
8867
8868 @item set print pascal_static-members off
8869 Do not print static members when displaying a Pascal object.
8870
8871 @item show print pascal_static-members
8872 Show whether Pascal static members are printed or not.
8873
8874 @c These don't work with HP ANSI C++ yet.
8875 @item set print vtbl
8876 @itemx set print vtbl on
8877 @cindex pretty print C@t{++} virtual function tables
8878 @cindex virtual functions (C@t{++}) display
8879 @cindex VTBL display
8880 Pretty print C@t{++} virtual function tables. The default is off.
8881 (The @code{vtbl} commands do not work on programs compiled with the HP
8882 ANSI C@t{++} compiler (@code{aCC}).)
8883
8884 @item set print vtbl off
8885 Do not pretty print C@t{++} virtual function tables.
8886
8887 @item show print vtbl
8888 Show whether C@t{++} virtual function tables are pretty printed, or not.
8889 @end table
8890
8891 @node Pretty Printing
8892 @section Pretty Printing
8893
8894 @value{GDBN} provides a mechanism to allow pretty-printing of values using
8895 Python code. It greatly simplifies the display of complex objects. This
8896 mechanism works for both MI and the CLI.
8897
8898 @menu
8899 * Pretty-Printer Introduction:: Introduction to pretty-printers
8900 * Pretty-Printer Example:: An example pretty-printer
8901 * Pretty-Printer Commands:: Pretty-printer commands
8902 @end menu
8903
8904 @node Pretty-Printer Introduction
8905 @subsection Pretty-Printer Introduction
8906
8907 When @value{GDBN} prints a value, it first sees if there is a pretty-printer
8908 registered for the value. If there is then @value{GDBN} invokes the
8909 pretty-printer to print the value. Otherwise the value is printed normally.
8910
8911 Pretty-printers are normally named. This makes them easy to manage.
8912 The @samp{info pretty-printer} command will list all the installed
8913 pretty-printers with their names.
8914 If a pretty-printer can handle multiple data types, then its
8915 @dfn{subprinters} are the printers for the individual data types.
8916 Each such subprinter has its own name.
8917 The format of the name is @var{printer-name};@var{subprinter-name}.
8918
8919 Pretty-printers are installed by @dfn{registering} them with @value{GDBN}.
8920 Typically they are automatically loaded and registered when the corresponding
8921 debug information is loaded, thus making them available without having to
8922 do anything special.
8923
8924 There are three places where a pretty-printer can be registered.
8925
8926 @itemize @bullet
8927 @item
8928 Pretty-printers registered globally are available when debugging
8929 all inferiors.
8930
8931 @item
8932 Pretty-printers registered with a program space are available only
8933 when debugging that program.
8934 @xref{Progspaces In Python}, for more details on program spaces in Python.
8935
8936 @item
8937 Pretty-printers registered with an objfile are loaded and unloaded
8938 with the corresponding objfile (e.g., shared library).
8939 @xref{Objfiles In Python}, for more details on objfiles in Python.
8940 @end itemize
8941
8942 @xref{Selecting Pretty-Printers}, for further information on how
8943 pretty-printers are selected,
8944
8945 @xref{Writing a Pretty-Printer}, for implementing pretty printers
8946 for new types.
8947
8948 @node Pretty-Printer Example
8949 @subsection Pretty-Printer Example
8950
8951 Here is how a C@t{++} @code{std::string} looks without a pretty-printer:
8952
8953 @smallexample
8954 (@value{GDBP}) print s
8955 $1 = @{
8956 static npos = 4294967295,
8957 _M_dataplus = @{
8958 <std::allocator<char>> = @{
8959 <__gnu_cxx::new_allocator<char>> = @{
8960 <No data fields>@}, <No data fields>
8961 @},
8962 members of std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>,
8963 std::allocator<char> >::_Alloc_hider:
8964 _M_p = 0x804a014 "abcd"
8965 @}
8966 @}
8967 @end smallexample
8968
8969 With a pretty-printer for @code{std::string} only the contents are printed:
8970
8971 @smallexample
8972 (@value{GDBP}) print s
8973 $2 = "abcd"
8974 @end smallexample
8975
8976 @node Pretty-Printer Commands
8977 @subsection Pretty-Printer Commands
8978 @cindex pretty-printer commands
8979
8980 @table @code
8981 @kindex info pretty-printer
8982 @item info pretty-printer [@var{object-regexp} [@var{name-regexp}]]
8983 Print the list of installed pretty-printers.
8984 This includes disabled pretty-printers, which are marked as such.
8985
8986 @var{object-regexp} is a regular expression matching the objects
8987 whose pretty-printers to list.
8988 Objects can be @code{global}, the program space's file
8989 (@pxref{Progspaces In Python}),
8990 and the object files within that program space (@pxref{Objfiles In Python}).
8991 @xref{Selecting Pretty-Printers}, for details on how @value{GDBN}
8992 looks up a printer from these three objects.
8993
8994 @var{name-regexp} is a regular expression matching the name of the printers
8995 to list.
8996
8997 @kindex disable pretty-printer
8998 @item disable pretty-printer [@var{object-regexp} [@var{name-regexp}]]
8999 Disable pretty-printers matching @var{object-regexp} and @var{name-regexp}.
9000 A disabled pretty-printer is not forgotten, it may be enabled again later.
9001
9002 @kindex enable pretty-printer
9003 @item enable pretty-printer [@var{object-regexp} [@var{name-regexp}]]
9004 Enable pretty-printers matching @var{object-regexp} and @var{name-regexp}.
9005 @end table
9006
9007 Example:
9008
9009 Suppose we have three pretty-printers installed: one from library1.so
9010 named @code{foo} that prints objects of type @code{foo}, and
9011 another from library2.so named @code{bar} that prints two types of objects,
9012 @code{bar1} and @code{bar2}.
9013
9014 @smallexample
9015 (gdb) info pretty-printer
9016 library1.so:
9017 foo
9018 library2.so:
9019 bar
9020 bar1
9021 bar2
9022 (gdb) info pretty-printer library2
9023 library2.so:
9024 bar
9025 bar1
9026 bar2
9027 (gdb) disable pretty-printer library1
9028 1 printer disabled
9029 2 of 3 printers enabled
9030 (gdb) info pretty-printer
9031 library1.so:
9032 foo [disabled]
9033 library2.so:
9034 bar
9035 bar1
9036 bar2
9037 (gdb) disable pretty-printer library2 bar:bar1
9038 1 printer disabled
9039 1 of 3 printers enabled
9040 (gdb) info pretty-printer library2
9041 library1.so:
9042 foo [disabled]
9043 library2.so:
9044 bar
9045 bar1 [disabled]
9046 bar2
9047 (gdb) disable pretty-printer library2 bar
9048 1 printer disabled
9049 0 of 3 printers enabled
9050 (gdb) info pretty-printer library2
9051 library1.so:
9052 foo [disabled]
9053 library2.so:
9054 bar [disabled]
9055 bar1 [disabled]
9056 bar2
9057 @end smallexample
9058
9059 Note that for @code{bar} the entire printer can be disabled,
9060 as can each individual subprinter.
9061
9062 @node Value History
9063 @section Value History
9064
9065 @cindex value history
9066 @cindex history of values printed by @value{GDBN}
9067 Values printed by the @code{print} command are saved in the @value{GDBN}
9068 @dfn{value history}. This allows you to refer to them in other expressions.
9069 Values are kept until the symbol table is re-read or discarded
9070 (for example with the @code{file} or @code{symbol-file} commands).
9071 When the symbol table changes, the value history is discarded,
9072 since the values may contain pointers back to the types defined in the
9073 symbol table.
9074
9075 @cindex @code{$}
9076 @cindex @code{$$}
9077 @cindex history number
9078 The values printed are given @dfn{history numbers} by which you can
9079 refer to them. These are successive integers starting with one.
9080 @code{print} shows you the history number assigned to a value by
9081 printing @samp{$@var{num} = } before the value; here @var{num} is the
9082 history number.
9083
9084 To refer to any previous value, use @samp{$} followed by the value's
9085 history number. The way @code{print} labels its output is designed to
9086 remind you of this. Just @code{$} refers to the most recent value in
9087 the history, and @code{$$} refers to the value before that.
9088 @code{$$@var{n}} refers to the @var{n}th value from the end; @code{$$2}
9089 is the value just prior to @code{$$}, @code{$$1} is equivalent to
9090 @code{$$}, and @code{$$0} is equivalent to @code{$}.
9091
9092 For example, suppose you have just printed a pointer to a structure and
9093 want to see the contents of the structure. It suffices to type
9094
9095 @smallexample
9096 p *$
9097 @end smallexample
9098
9099 If you have a chain of structures where the component @code{next} points
9100 to the next one, you can print the contents of the next one with this:
9101
9102 @smallexample
9103 p *$.next
9104 @end smallexample
9105
9106 @noindent
9107 You can print successive links in the chain by repeating this
9108 command---which you can do by just typing @key{RET}.
9109
9110 Note that the history records values, not expressions. If the value of
9111 @code{x} is 4 and you type these commands:
9112
9113 @smallexample
9114 print x
9115 set x=5
9116 @end smallexample
9117
9118 @noindent
9119 then the value recorded in the value history by the @code{print} command
9120 remains 4 even though the value of @code{x} has changed.
9121
9122 @table @code
9123 @kindex show values
9124 @item show values
9125 Print the last ten values in the value history, with their item numbers.
9126 This is like @samp{p@ $$9} repeated ten times, except that @code{show
9127 values} does not change the history.
9128
9129 @item show values @var{n}
9130 Print ten history values centered on history item number @var{n}.
9131
9132 @item show values +
9133 Print ten history values just after the values last printed. If no more
9134 values are available, @code{show values +} produces no display.
9135 @end table
9136
9137 Pressing @key{RET} to repeat @code{show values @var{n}} has exactly the
9138 same effect as @samp{show values +}.
9139
9140 @node Convenience Vars
9141 @section Convenience Variables
9142
9143 @cindex convenience variables
9144 @cindex user-defined variables
9145 @value{GDBN} provides @dfn{convenience variables} that you can use within
9146 @value{GDBN} to hold on to a value and refer to it later. These variables
9147 exist entirely within @value{GDBN}; they are not part of your program, and
9148 setting a convenience variable has no direct effect on further execution
9149 of your program. That is why you can use them freely.
9150
9151 Convenience variables are prefixed with @samp{$}. Any name preceded by
9152 @samp{$} can be used for a convenience variable, unless it is one of
9153 the predefined machine-specific register names (@pxref{Registers, ,Registers}).
9154 (Value history references, in contrast, are @emph{numbers} preceded
9155 by @samp{$}. @xref{Value History, ,Value History}.)
9156
9157 You can save a value in a convenience variable with an assignment
9158 expression, just as you would set a variable in your program.
9159 For example:
9160
9161 @smallexample
9162 set $foo = *object_ptr
9163 @end smallexample
9164
9165 @noindent
9166 would save in @code{$foo} the value contained in the object pointed to by
9167 @code{object_ptr}.
9168
9169 Using a convenience variable for the first time creates it, but its
9170 value is @code{void} until you assign a new value. You can alter the
9171 value with another assignment at any time.
9172
9173 Convenience variables have no fixed types. You can assign a convenience
9174 variable any type of value, including structures and arrays, even if
9175 that variable already has a value of a different type. The convenience
9176 variable, when used as an expression, has the type of its current value.
9177
9178 @table @code
9179 @kindex show convenience
9180 @cindex show all user variables
9181 @item show convenience
9182 Print a list of convenience variables used so far, and their values.
9183 Abbreviated @code{show conv}.
9184
9185 @kindex init-if-undefined
9186 @cindex convenience variables, initializing
9187 @item init-if-undefined $@var{variable} = @var{expression}
9188 Set a convenience variable if it has not already been set. This is useful
9189 for user-defined commands that keep some state. It is similar, in concept,
9190 to using local static variables with initializers in C (except that
9191 convenience variables are global). It can also be used to allow users to
9192 override default values used in a command script.
9193
9194 If the variable is already defined then the expression is not evaluated so
9195 any side-effects do not occur.
9196 @end table
9197
9198 One of the ways to use a convenience variable is as a counter to be
9199 incremented or a pointer to be advanced. For example, to print
9200 a field from successive elements of an array of structures:
9201
9202 @smallexample
9203 set $i = 0
9204 print bar[$i++]->contents
9205 @end smallexample
9206
9207 @noindent
9208 Repeat that command by typing @key{RET}.
9209
9210 Some convenience variables are created automatically by @value{GDBN} and given
9211 values likely to be useful.
9212
9213 @table @code
9214 @vindex $_@r{, convenience variable}
9215 @item $_
9216 The variable @code{$_} is automatically set by the @code{x} command to
9217 the last address examined (@pxref{Memory, ,Examining Memory}). Other
9218 commands which provide a default address for @code{x} to examine also
9219 set @code{$_} to that address; these commands include @code{info line}
9220 and @code{info breakpoint}. The type of @code{$_} is @code{void *}
9221 except when set by the @code{x} command, in which case it is a pointer
9222 to the type of @code{$__}.
9223
9224 @vindex $__@r{, convenience variable}
9225 @item $__
9226 The variable @code{$__} is automatically set by the @code{x} command
9227 to the value found in the last address examined. Its type is chosen
9228 to match the format in which the data was printed.
9229
9230 @item $_exitcode
9231 @vindex $_exitcode@r{, convenience variable}
9232 The variable @code{$_exitcode} is automatically set to the exit code when
9233 the program being debugged terminates.
9234
9235 @item $_probe_argc
9236 @itemx $_probe_arg0@dots{}$_probe_arg11
9237 Arguments to a static probe. @xref{Static Probe Points}.
9238
9239 @item $_sdata
9240 @vindex $_sdata@r{, inspect, convenience variable}
9241 The variable @code{$_sdata} contains extra collected static tracepoint
9242 data. @xref{Tracepoint Actions,,Tracepoint Action Lists}. Note that
9243 @code{$_sdata} could be empty, if not inspecting a trace buffer, or
9244 if extra static tracepoint data has not been collected.
9245
9246 @item $_siginfo
9247 @vindex $_siginfo@r{, convenience variable}
9248 The variable @code{$_siginfo} contains extra signal information
9249 (@pxref{extra signal information}). Note that @code{$_siginfo}
9250 could be empty, if the application has not yet received any signals.
9251 For example, it will be empty before you execute the @code{run} command.
9252
9253 @item $_tlb
9254 @vindex $_tlb@r{, convenience variable}
9255 The variable @code{$_tlb} is automatically set when debugging
9256 applications running on MS-Windows in native mode or connected to
9257 gdbserver that supports the @code{qGetTIBAddr} request.
9258 @xref{General Query Packets}.
9259 This variable contains the address of the thread information block.
9260
9261 @end table
9262
9263 On HP-UX systems, if you refer to a function or variable name that
9264 begins with a dollar sign, @value{GDBN} searches for a user or system
9265 name first, before it searches for a convenience variable.
9266
9267 @cindex convenience functions
9268 @value{GDBN} also supplies some @dfn{convenience functions}. These
9269 have a syntax similar to convenience variables. A convenience
9270 function can be used in an expression just like an ordinary function;
9271 however, a convenience function is implemented internally to
9272 @value{GDBN}.
9273
9274 @table @code
9275 @item help function
9276 @kindex help function
9277 @cindex show all convenience functions
9278 Print a list of all convenience functions.
9279 @end table
9280
9281 @node Registers
9282 @section Registers
9283
9284 @cindex registers
9285 You can refer to machine register contents, in expressions, as variables
9286 with names starting with @samp{$}. The names of registers are different
9287 for each machine; use @code{info registers} to see the names used on
9288 your machine.
9289
9290 @table @code
9291 @kindex info registers
9292 @item info registers
9293 Print the names and values of all registers except floating-point
9294 and vector registers (in the selected stack frame).
9295
9296 @kindex info all-registers
9297 @cindex floating point registers
9298 @item info all-registers
9299 Print the names and values of all registers, including floating-point
9300 and vector registers (in the selected stack frame).
9301
9302 @item info registers @var{regname} @dots{}
9303 Print the @dfn{relativized} value of each specified register @var{regname}.
9304 As discussed in detail below, register values are normally relative to
9305 the selected stack frame. @var{regname} may be any register name valid on
9306 the machine you are using, with or without the initial @samp{$}.
9307 @end table
9308
9309 @cindex stack pointer register
9310 @cindex program counter register
9311 @cindex process status register
9312 @cindex frame pointer register
9313 @cindex standard registers
9314 @value{GDBN} has four ``standard'' register names that are available (in
9315 expressions) on most machines---whenever they do not conflict with an
9316 architecture's canonical mnemonics for registers. The register names
9317 @code{$pc} and @code{$sp} are used for the program counter register and
9318 the stack pointer. @code{$fp} is used for a register that contains a
9319 pointer to the current stack frame, and @code{$ps} is used for a
9320 register that contains the processor status. For example,
9321 you could print the program counter in hex with
9322
9323 @smallexample
9324 p/x $pc
9325 @end smallexample
9326
9327 @noindent
9328 or print the instruction to be executed next with
9329
9330 @smallexample
9331 x/i $pc
9332 @end smallexample
9333
9334 @noindent
9335 or add four to the stack pointer@footnote{This is a way of removing
9336 one word from the stack, on machines where stacks grow downward in
9337 memory (most machines, nowadays). This assumes that the innermost
9338 stack frame is selected; setting @code{$sp} is not allowed when other
9339 stack frames are selected. To pop entire frames off the stack,
9340 regardless of machine architecture, use @code{return};
9341 see @ref{Returning, ,Returning from a Function}.} with
9342
9343 @smallexample
9344 set $sp += 4
9345 @end smallexample
9346
9347 Whenever possible, these four standard register names are available on
9348 your machine even though the machine has different canonical mnemonics,
9349 so long as there is no conflict. The @code{info registers} command
9350 shows the canonical names. For example, on the SPARC, @code{info
9351 registers} displays the processor status register as @code{$psr} but you
9352 can also refer to it as @code{$ps}; and on x86-based machines @code{$ps}
9353 is an alias for the @sc{eflags} register.
9354
9355 @value{GDBN} always considers the contents of an ordinary register as an
9356 integer when the register is examined in this way. Some machines have
9357 special registers which can hold nothing but floating point; these
9358 registers are considered to have floating point values. There is no way
9359 to refer to the contents of an ordinary register as floating point value
9360 (although you can @emph{print} it as a floating point value with
9361 @samp{print/f $@var{regname}}).
9362
9363 Some registers have distinct ``raw'' and ``virtual'' data formats. This
9364 means that the data format in which the register contents are saved by
9365 the operating system is not the same one that your program normally
9366 sees. For example, the registers of the 68881 floating point
9367 coprocessor are always saved in ``extended'' (raw) format, but all C
9368 programs expect to work with ``double'' (virtual) format. In such
9369 cases, @value{GDBN} normally works with the virtual format only (the format
9370 that makes sense for your program), but the @code{info registers} command
9371 prints the data in both formats.
9372
9373 @cindex SSE registers (x86)
9374 @cindex MMX registers (x86)
9375 Some machines have special registers whose contents can be interpreted
9376 in several different ways. For example, modern x86-based machines
9377 have SSE and MMX registers that can hold several values packed
9378 together in several different formats. @value{GDBN} refers to such
9379 registers in @code{struct} notation:
9380
9381 @smallexample
9382 (@value{GDBP}) print $xmm1
9383 $1 = @{
9384 v4_float = @{0, 3.43859137e-038, 1.54142831e-044, 1.821688e-044@},
9385 v2_double = @{9.92129282474342e-303, 2.7585945287983262e-313@},
9386 v16_int8 = "\000\000\000\000\3706;\001\v\000\000\000\r\000\000",
9387 v8_int16 = @{0, 0, 14072, 315, 11, 0, 13, 0@},
9388 v4_int32 = @{0, 20657912, 11, 13@},
9389 v2_int64 = @{88725056443645952, 55834574859@},
9390 uint128 = 0x0000000d0000000b013b36f800000000
9391 @}
9392 @end smallexample
9393
9394 @noindent
9395 To set values of such registers, you need to tell @value{GDBN} which
9396 view of the register you wish to change, as if you were assigning
9397 value to a @code{struct} member:
9398
9399 @smallexample
9400 (@value{GDBP}) set $xmm1.uint128 = 0x000000000000000000000000FFFFFFFF
9401 @end smallexample
9402
9403 Normally, register values are relative to the selected stack frame
9404 (@pxref{Selection, ,Selecting a Frame}). This means that you get the
9405 value that the register would contain if all stack frames farther in
9406 were exited and their saved registers restored. In order to see the
9407 true contents of hardware registers, you must select the innermost
9408 frame (with @samp{frame 0}).
9409
9410 However, @value{GDBN} must deduce where registers are saved, from the machine
9411 code generated by your compiler. If some registers are not saved, or if
9412 @value{GDBN} is unable to locate the saved registers, the selected stack
9413 frame makes no difference.
9414
9415 @node Floating Point Hardware
9416 @section Floating Point Hardware
9417 @cindex floating point
9418
9419 Depending on the configuration, @value{GDBN} may be able to give
9420 you more information about the status of the floating point hardware.
9421
9422 @table @code
9423 @kindex info float
9424 @item info float
9425 Display hardware-dependent information about the floating
9426 point unit. The exact contents and layout vary depending on the
9427 floating point chip. Currently, @samp{info float} is supported on
9428 the ARM and x86 machines.
9429 @end table
9430
9431 @node Vector Unit
9432 @section Vector Unit
9433 @cindex vector unit
9434
9435 Depending on the configuration, @value{GDBN} may be able to give you
9436 more information about the status of the vector unit.
9437
9438 @table @code
9439 @kindex info vector
9440 @item info vector
9441 Display information about the vector unit. The exact contents and
9442 layout vary depending on the hardware.
9443 @end table
9444
9445 @node OS Information
9446 @section Operating System Auxiliary Information
9447 @cindex OS information
9448
9449 @value{GDBN} provides interfaces to useful OS facilities that can help
9450 you debug your program.
9451
9452 @cindex @code{ptrace} system call
9453 @cindex @code{struct user} contents
9454 When @value{GDBN} runs on a @dfn{Posix system} (such as GNU or Unix
9455 machines), it interfaces with the inferior via the @code{ptrace}
9456 system call. The operating system creates a special sata structure,
9457 called @code{struct user}, for this interface. You can use the
9458 command @code{info udot} to display the contents of this data
9459 structure.
9460
9461 @table @code
9462 @item info udot
9463 @kindex info udot
9464 Display the contents of the @code{struct user} maintained by the OS
9465 kernel for the program being debugged. @value{GDBN} displays the
9466 contents of @code{struct user} as a list of hex numbers, similar to
9467 the @code{examine} command.
9468 @end table
9469
9470 @cindex auxiliary vector
9471 @cindex vector, auxiliary
9472 Some operating systems supply an @dfn{auxiliary vector} to programs at
9473 startup. This is akin to the arguments and environment that you
9474 specify for a program, but contains a system-dependent variety of
9475 binary values that tell system libraries important details about the
9476 hardware, operating system, and process. Each value's purpose is
9477 identified by an integer tag; the meanings are well-known but system-specific.
9478 Depending on the configuration and operating system facilities,
9479 @value{GDBN} may be able to show you this information. For remote
9480 targets, this functionality may further depend on the remote stub's
9481 support of the @samp{qXfer:auxv:read} packet, see
9482 @ref{qXfer auxiliary vector read}.
9483
9484 @table @code
9485 @kindex info auxv
9486 @item info auxv
9487 Display the auxiliary vector of the inferior, which can be either a
9488 live process or a core dump file. @value{GDBN} prints each tag value
9489 numerically, and also shows names and text descriptions for recognized
9490 tags. Some values in the vector are numbers, some bit masks, and some
9491 pointers to strings or other data. @value{GDBN} displays each value in the
9492 most appropriate form for a recognized tag, and in hexadecimal for
9493 an unrecognized tag.
9494 @end table
9495
9496 On some targets, @value{GDBN} can access operating system-specific
9497 information and show it to you. The types of information available
9498 will differ depending on the type of operating system running on the
9499 target. The mechanism used to fetch the data is described in
9500 @ref{Operating System Information}. For remote targets, this
9501 functionality depends on the remote stub's support of the
9502 @samp{qXfer:osdata:read} packet, see @ref{qXfer osdata read}.
9503
9504 @table @code
9505 @kindex info os
9506 @item info os @var{infotype}
9507
9508 Display OS information of the requested type.
9509
9510 On @sc{gnu}/Linux, the following values of @var{infotype} are valid:
9511
9512 @anchor{linux info os infotypes}
9513 @table @code
9514 @kindex info os processes
9515 @item processes
9516 Display the list of processes on the target. For each process,
9517 @value{GDBN} prints the process identifier, the name of the user, the
9518 command corresponding to the process, and the list of processor cores
9519 that the process is currently running on. (To understand what these
9520 properties mean, for this and the following info types, please consult
9521 the general @sc{gnu}/Linux documentation.)
9522
9523 @kindex info os procgroups
9524 @item procgroups
9525 Display the list of process groups on the target. For each process,
9526 @value{GDBN} prints the identifier of the process group that it belongs
9527 to, the command corresponding to the process group leader, the process
9528 identifier, and the command line of the process. The list is sorted
9529 first by the process group identifier, then by the process identifier,
9530 so that processes belonging to the same process group are grouped together
9531 and the process group leader is listed first.
9532
9533 @kindex info os threads
9534 @item threads
9535 Display the list of threads running on the target. For each thread,
9536 @value{GDBN} prints the identifier of the process that the thread
9537 belongs to, the command of the process, the thread identifier, and the
9538 processor core that it is currently running on. The main thread of a
9539 process is not listed.
9540
9541 @kindex info os files
9542 @item files
9543 Display the list of open file descriptors on the target. For each
9544 file descriptor, @value{GDBN} prints the identifier of the process
9545 owning the descriptor, the command of the owning process, the value
9546 of the descriptor, and the target of the descriptor.
9547
9548 @kindex info os sockets
9549 @item sockets
9550 Display the list of Internet-domain sockets on the target. For each
9551 socket, @value{GDBN} prints the address and port of the local and
9552 remote endpoints, the current state of the connection, the creator of
9553 the socket, the IP address family of the socket, and the type of the
9554 connection.
9555
9556 @kindex info os shm
9557 @item shm
9558 Display the list of all System V shared-memory regions on the target.
9559 For each shared-memory region, @value{GDBN} prints the region key,
9560 the shared-memory identifier, the access permissions, the size of the
9561 region, the process that created the region, the process that last
9562 attached to or detached from the region, the current number of live
9563 attaches to the region, and the times at which the region was last
9564 attached to, detach from, and changed.
9565
9566 @kindex info os semaphores
9567 @item semaphores
9568 Display the list of all System V semaphore sets on the target. For each
9569 semaphore set, @value{GDBN} prints the semaphore set key, the semaphore
9570 set identifier, the access permissions, the number of semaphores in the
9571 set, the user and group of the owner and creator of the semaphore set,
9572 and the times at which the semaphore set was operated upon and changed.
9573
9574 @kindex info os msg
9575 @item msg
9576 Display the list of all System V message queues on the target. For each
9577 message queue, @value{GDBN} prints the message queue key, the message
9578 queue identifier, the access permissions, the current number of bytes
9579 on the queue, the current number of messages on the queue, the processes
9580 that last sent and received a message on the queue, the user and group
9581 of the owner and creator of the message queue, the times at which a
9582 message was last sent and received on the queue, and the time at which
9583 the message queue was last changed.
9584
9585 @kindex info os modules
9586 @item modules
9587 Display the list of all loaded kernel modules on the target. For each
9588 module, @value{GDBN} prints the module name, the size of the module in
9589 bytes, the number of times the module is used, the dependencies of the
9590 module, the status of the module, and the address of the loaded module
9591 in memory.
9592 @end table
9593
9594 @item info os
9595 If @var{infotype} is omitted, then list the possible values for
9596 @var{infotype} and the kind of OS information available for each
9597 @var{infotype}. If the target does not return a list of possible
9598 types, this command will report an error.
9599 @end table
9600
9601 @node Memory Region Attributes
9602 @section Memory Region Attributes
9603 @cindex memory region attributes
9604
9605 @dfn{Memory region attributes} allow you to describe special handling
9606 required by regions of your target's memory. @value{GDBN} uses
9607 attributes to determine whether to allow certain types of memory
9608 accesses; whether to use specific width accesses; and whether to cache
9609 target memory. By default the description of memory regions is
9610 fetched from the target (if the current target supports this), but the
9611 user can override the fetched regions.
9612
9613 Defined memory regions can be individually enabled and disabled. When a
9614 memory region is disabled, @value{GDBN} uses the default attributes when
9615 accessing memory in that region. Similarly, if no memory regions have
9616 been defined, @value{GDBN} uses the default attributes when accessing
9617 all memory.
9618
9619 When a memory region is defined, it is given a number to identify it;
9620 to enable, disable, or remove a memory region, you specify that number.
9621
9622 @table @code
9623 @kindex mem
9624 @item mem @var{lower} @var{upper} @var{attributes}@dots{}
9625 Define a memory region bounded by @var{lower} and @var{upper} with
9626 attributes @var{attributes}@dots{}, and add it to the list of regions
9627 monitored by @value{GDBN}. Note that @var{upper} == 0 is a special
9628 case: it is treated as the target's maximum memory address.
9629 (0xffff on 16 bit targets, 0xffffffff on 32 bit targets, etc.)
9630
9631 @item mem auto
9632 Discard any user changes to the memory regions and use target-supplied
9633 regions, if available, or no regions if the target does not support.
9634
9635 @kindex delete mem
9636 @item delete mem @var{nums}@dots{}
9637 Remove memory regions @var{nums}@dots{} from the list of regions
9638 monitored by @value{GDBN}.
9639
9640 @kindex disable mem
9641 @item disable mem @var{nums}@dots{}
9642 Disable monitoring of memory regions @var{nums}@dots{}.
9643 A disabled memory region is not forgotten.
9644 It may be enabled again later.
9645
9646 @kindex enable mem
9647 @item enable mem @var{nums}@dots{}
9648 Enable monitoring of memory regions @var{nums}@dots{}.
9649
9650 @kindex info mem
9651 @item info mem
9652 Print a table of all defined memory regions, with the following columns
9653 for each region:
9654
9655 @table @emph
9656 @item Memory Region Number
9657 @item Enabled or Disabled.
9658 Enabled memory regions are marked with @samp{y}.
9659 Disabled memory regions are marked with @samp{n}.
9660
9661 @item Lo Address
9662 The address defining the inclusive lower bound of the memory region.
9663
9664 @item Hi Address
9665 The address defining the exclusive upper bound of the memory region.
9666
9667 @item Attributes
9668 The list of attributes set for this memory region.
9669 @end table
9670 @end table
9671
9672
9673 @subsection Attributes
9674
9675 @subsubsection Memory Access Mode
9676 The access mode attributes set whether @value{GDBN} may make read or
9677 write accesses to a memory region.
9678
9679 While these attributes prevent @value{GDBN} from performing invalid
9680 memory accesses, they do nothing to prevent the target system, I/O DMA,
9681 etc.@: from accessing memory.
9682
9683 @table @code
9684 @item ro
9685 Memory is read only.
9686 @item wo
9687 Memory is write only.
9688 @item rw
9689 Memory is read/write. This is the default.
9690 @end table
9691
9692 @subsubsection Memory Access Size
9693 The access size attribute tells @value{GDBN} to use specific sized
9694 accesses in the memory region. Often memory mapped device registers
9695 require specific sized accesses. If no access size attribute is
9696 specified, @value{GDBN} may use accesses of any size.
9697
9698 @table @code
9699 @item 8
9700 Use 8 bit memory accesses.
9701 @item 16
9702 Use 16 bit memory accesses.
9703 @item 32
9704 Use 32 bit memory accesses.
9705 @item 64
9706 Use 64 bit memory accesses.
9707 @end table
9708
9709 @c @subsubsection Hardware/Software Breakpoints
9710 @c The hardware/software breakpoint attributes set whether @value{GDBN}
9711 @c will use hardware or software breakpoints for the internal breakpoints
9712 @c used by the step, next, finish, until, etc. commands.
9713 @c
9714 @c @table @code
9715 @c @item hwbreak
9716 @c Always use hardware breakpoints
9717 @c @item swbreak (default)
9718 @c @end table
9719
9720 @subsubsection Data Cache
9721 The data cache attributes set whether @value{GDBN} will cache target
9722 memory. While this generally improves performance by reducing debug
9723 protocol overhead, it can lead to incorrect results because @value{GDBN}
9724 does not know about volatile variables or memory mapped device
9725 registers.
9726
9727 @table @code
9728 @item cache
9729 Enable @value{GDBN} to cache target memory.
9730 @item nocache
9731 Disable @value{GDBN} from caching target memory. This is the default.
9732 @end table
9733
9734 @subsection Memory Access Checking
9735 @value{GDBN} can be instructed to refuse accesses to memory that is
9736 not explicitly described. This can be useful if accessing such
9737 regions has undesired effects for a specific target, or to provide
9738 better error checking. The following commands control this behaviour.
9739
9740 @table @code
9741 @kindex set mem inaccessible-by-default
9742 @item set mem inaccessible-by-default [on|off]
9743 If @code{on} is specified, make @value{GDBN} treat memory not
9744 explicitly described by the memory ranges as non-existent and refuse accesses
9745 to such memory. The checks are only performed if there's at least one
9746 memory range defined. If @code{off} is specified, make @value{GDBN}
9747 treat the memory not explicitly described by the memory ranges as RAM.
9748 The default value is @code{on}.
9749 @kindex show mem inaccessible-by-default
9750 @item show mem inaccessible-by-default
9751 Show the current handling of accesses to unknown memory.
9752 @end table
9753
9754
9755 @c @subsubsection Memory Write Verification
9756 @c The memory write verification attributes set whether @value{GDBN}
9757 @c will re-reads data after each write to verify the write was successful.
9758 @c
9759 @c @table @code
9760 @c @item verify
9761 @c @item noverify (default)
9762 @c @end table
9763
9764 @node Dump/Restore Files
9765 @section Copy Between Memory and a File
9766 @cindex dump/restore files
9767 @cindex append data to a file
9768 @cindex dump data to a file
9769 @cindex restore data from a file
9770
9771 You can use the commands @code{dump}, @code{append}, and
9772 @code{restore} to copy data between target memory and a file. The
9773 @code{dump} and @code{append} commands write data to a file, and the
9774 @code{restore} command reads data from a file back into the inferior's
9775 memory. Files may be in binary, Motorola S-record, Intel hex, or
9776 Tektronix Hex format; however, @value{GDBN} can only append to binary
9777 files.
9778
9779 @table @code
9780
9781 @kindex dump
9782 @item dump @r{[}@var{format}@r{]} memory @var{filename} @var{start_addr} @var{end_addr}
9783 @itemx dump @r{[}@var{format}@r{]} value @var{filename} @var{expr}
9784 Dump the contents of memory from @var{start_addr} to @var{end_addr},
9785 or the value of @var{expr}, to @var{filename} in the given format.
9786
9787 The @var{format} parameter may be any one of:
9788 @table @code
9789 @item binary
9790 Raw binary form.
9791 @item ihex
9792 Intel hex format.
9793 @item srec
9794 Motorola S-record format.
9795 @item tekhex
9796 Tektronix Hex format.
9797 @end table
9798
9799 @value{GDBN} uses the same definitions of these formats as the
9800 @sc{gnu} binary utilities, like @samp{objdump} and @samp{objcopy}. If
9801 @var{format} is omitted, @value{GDBN} dumps the data in raw binary
9802 form.
9803
9804 @kindex append
9805 @item append @r{[}binary@r{]} memory @var{filename} @var{start_addr} @var{end_addr}
9806 @itemx append @r{[}binary@r{]} value @var{filename} @var{expr}
9807 Append the contents of memory from @var{start_addr} to @var{end_addr},
9808 or the value of @var{expr}, to the file @var{filename}, in raw binary form.
9809 (@value{GDBN} can only append data to files in raw binary form.)
9810
9811 @kindex restore
9812 @item restore @var{filename} @r{[}binary@r{]} @var{bias} @var{start} @var{end}
9813 Restore the contents of file @var{filename} into memory. The
9814 @code{restore} command can automatically recognize any known @sc{bfd}
9815 file format, except for raw binary. To restore a raw binary file you
9816 must specify the optional keyword @code{binary} after the filename.
9817
9818 If @var{bias} is non-zero, its value will be added to the addresses
9819 contained in the file. Binary files always start at address zero, so
9820 they will be restored at address @var{bias}. Other bfd files have
9821 a built-in location; they will be restored at offset @var{bias}
9822 from that location.
9823
9824 If @var{start} and/or @var{end} are non-zero, then only data between
9825 file offset @var{start} and file offset @var{end} will be restored.
9826 These offsets are relative to the addresses in the file, before
9827 the @var{bias} argument is applied.
9828
9829 @end table
9830
9831 @node Core File Generation
9832 @section How to Produce a Core File from Your Program
9833 @cindex dump core from inferior
9834
9835 A @dfn{core file} or @dfn{core dump} is a file that records the memory
9836 image of a running process and its process status (register values
9837 etc.). Its primary use is post-mortem debugging of a program that
9838 crashed while it ran outside a debugger. A program that crashes
9839 automatically produces a core file, unless this feature is disabled by
9840 the user. @xref{Files}, for information on invoking @value{GDBN} in
9841 the post-mortem debugging mode.
9842
9843 Occasionally, you may wish to produce a core file of the program you
9844 are debugging in order to preserve a snapshot of its state.
9845 @value{GDBN} has a special command for that.
9846
9847 @table @code
9848 @kindex gcore
9849 @kindex generate-core-file
9850 @item generate-core-file [@var{file}]
9851 @itemx gcore [@var{file}]
9852 Produce a core dump of the inferior process. The optional argument
9853 @var{file} specifies the file name where to put the core dump. If not
9854 specified, the file name defaults to @file{core.@var{pid}}, where
9855 @var{pid} is the inferior process ID.
9856
9857 Note that this command is implemented only for some systems (as of
9858 this writing, @sc{gnu}/Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, Unixware, and S390).
9859 @end table
9860
9861 @node Character Sets
9862 @section Character Sets
9863 @cindex character sets
9864 @cindex charset
9865 @cindex translating between character sets
9866 @cindex host character set
9867 @cindex target character set
9868
9869 If the program you are debugging uses a different character set to
9870 represent characters and strings than the one @value{GDBN} uses itself,
9871 @value{GDBN} can automatically translate between the character sets for
9872 you. The character set @value{GDBN} uses we call the @dfn{host
9873 character set}; the one the inferior program uses we call the
9874 @dfn{target character set}.
9875
9876 For example, if you are running @value{GDBN} on a @sc{gnu}/Linux system, which
9877 uses the ISO Latin 1 character set, but you are using @value{GDBN}'s
9878 remote protocol (@pxref{Remote Debugging}) to debug a program
9879 running on an IBM mainframe, which uses the @sc{ebcdic} character set,
9880 then the host character set is Latin-1, and the target character set is
9881 @sc{ebcdic}. If you give @value{GDBN} the command @code{set
9882 target-charset EBCDIC-US}, then @value{GDBN} translates between
9883 @sc{ebcdic} and Latin 1 as you print character or string values, or use
9884 character and string literals in expressions.
9885
9886 @value{GDBN} has no way to automatically recognize which character set
9887 the inferior program uses; you must tell it, using the @code{set
9888 target-charset} command, described below.
9889
9890 Here are the commands for controlling @value{GDBN}'s character set
9891 support:
9892
9893 @table @code
9894 @item set target-charset @var{charset}
9895 @kindex set target-charset
9896 Set the current target character set to @var{charset}. To display the
9897 list of supported target character sets, type
9898 @kbd{@w{set target-charset @key{TAB}@key{TAB}}}.
9899
9900 @item set host-charset @var{charset}
9901 @kindex set host-charset
9902 Set the current host character set to @var{charset}.
9903
9904 By default, @value{GDBN} uses a host character set appropriate to the
9905 system it is running on; you can override that default using the
9906 @code{set host-charset} command. On some systems, @value{GDBN} cannot
9907 automatically determine the appropriate host character set. In this
9908 case, @value{GDBN} uses @samp{UTF-8}.
9909
9910 @value{GDBN} can only use certain character sets as its host character
9911 set. If you type @kbd{@w{set host-charset @key{TAB}@key{TAB}}},
9912 @value{GDBN} will list the host character sets it supports.
9913
9914 @item set charset @var{charset}
9915 @kindex set charset
9916 Set the current host and target character sets to @var{charset}. As
9917 above, if you type @kbd{@w{set charset @key{TAB}@key{TAB}}},
9918 @value{GDBN} will list the names of the character sets that can be used
9919 for both host and target.
9920
9921 @item show charset
9922 @kindex show charset
9923 Show the names of the current host and target character sets.
9924
9925 @item show host-charset
9926 @kindex show host-charset
9927 Show the name of the current host character set.
9928
9929 @item show target-charset
9930 @kindex show target-charset
9931 Show the name of the current target character set.
9932
9933 @item set target-wide-charset @var{charset}
9934 @kindex set target-wide-charset
9935 Set the current target's wide character set to @var{charset}. This is
9936 the character set used by the target's @code{wchar_t} type. To
9937 display the list of supported wide character sets, type
9938 @kbd{@w{set target-wide-charset @key{TAB}@key{TAB}}}.
9939
9940 @item show target-wide-charset
9941 @kindex show target-wide-charset
9942 Show the name of the current target's wide character set.
9943 @end table
9944
9945 Here is an example of @value{GDBN}'s character set support in action.
9946 Assume that the following source code has been placed in the file
9947 @file{charset-test.c}:
9948
9949 @smallexample
9950 #include <stdio.h>
9951
9952 char ascii_hello[]
9953 = @{72, 101, 108, 108, 111, 44, 32, 119,
9954 111, 114, 108, 100, 33, 10, 0@};
9955 char ibm1047_hello[]
9956 = @{200, 133, 147, 147, 150, 107, 64, 166,
9957 150, 153, 147, 132, 90, 37, 0@};
9958
9959 main ()
9960 @{
9961 printf ("Hello, world!\n");
9962 @}
9963 @end smallexample
9964
9965 In this program, @code{ascii_hello} and @code{ibm1047_hello} are arrays
9966 containing the string @samp{Hello, world!} followed by a newline,
9967 encoded in the @sc{ascii} and @sc{ibm1047} character sets.
9968
9969 We compile the program, and invoke the debugger on it:
9970
9971 @smallexample
9972 $ gcc -g charset-test.c -o charset-test
9973 $ gdb -nw charset-test
9974 GNU gdb 2001-12-19-cvs
9975 Copyright 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
9976 @dots{}
9977 (@value{GDBP})
9978 @end smallexample
9979
9980 We can use the @code{show charset} command to see what character sets
9981 @value{GDBN} is currently using to interpret and display characters and
9982 strings:
9983
9984 @smallexample
9985 (@value{GDBP}) show charset
9986 The current host and target character set is `ISO-8859-1'.
9987 (@value{GDBP})
9988 @end smallexample
9989
9990 For the sake of printing this manual, let's use @sc{ascii} as our
9991 initial character set:
9992 @smallexample
9993 (@value{GDBP}) set charset ASCII
9994 (@value{GDBP}) show charset
9995 The current host and target character set is `ASCII'.
9996 (@value{GDBP})
9997 @end smallexample
9998
9999 Let's assume that @sc{ascii} is indeed the correct character set for our
10000 host system --- in other words, let's assume that if @value{GDBN} prints
10001 characters using the @sc{ascii} character set, our terminal will display
10002 them properly. Since our current target character set is also
10003 @sc{ascii}, the contents of @code{ascii_hello} print legibly:
10004
10005 @smallexample
10006 (@value{GDBP}) print ascii_hello
10007 $1 = 0x401698 "Hello, world!\n"
10008 (@value{GDBP}) print ascii_hello[0]
10009 $2 = 72 'H'
10010 (@value{GDBP})
10011 @end smallexample
10012
10013 @value{GDBN} uses the target character set for character and string
10014 literals you use in expressions:
10015
10016 @smallexample
10017 (@value{GDBP}) print '+'
10018 $3 = 43 '+'
10019 (@value{GDBP})
10020 @end smallexample
10021
10022 The @sc{ascii} character set uses the number 43 to encode the @samp{+}
10023 character.
10024
10025 @value{GDBN} relies on the user to tell it which character set the
10026 target program uses. If we print @code{ibm1047_hello} while our target
10027 character set is still @sc{ascii}, we get jibberish:
10028
10029 @smallexample
10030 (@value{GDBP}) print ibm1047_hello
10031 $4 = 0x4016a8 "\310\205\223\223\226k@@\246\226\231\223\204Z%"
10032 (@value{GDBP}) print ibm1047_hello[0]
10033 $5 = 200 '\310'
10034 (@value{GDBP})
10035 @end smallexample
10036
10037 If we invoke the @code{set target-charset} followed by @key{TAB}@key{TAB},
10038 @value{GDBN} tells us the character sets it supports:
10039
10040 @smallexample
10041 (@value{GDBP}) set target-charset
10042 ASCII EBCDIC-US IBM1047 ISO-8859-1
10043 (@value{GDBP}) set target-charset
10044 @end smallexample
10045
10046 We can select @sc{ibm1047} as our target character set, and examine the
10047 program's strings again. Now the @sc{ascii} string is wrong, but
10048 @value{GDBN} translates the contents of @code{ibm1047_hello} from the
10049 target character set, @sc{ibm1047}, to the host character set,
10050 @sc{ascii}, and they display correctly:
10051
10052 @smallexample
10053 (@value{GDBP}) set target-charset IBM1047
10054 (@value{GDBP}) show charset
10055 The current host character set is `ASCII'.
10056 The current target character set is `IBM1047'.
10057 (@value{GDBP}) print ascii_hello
10058 $6 = 0x401698 "\110\145%%?\054\040\167?\162%\144\041\012"
10059 (@value{GDBP}) print ascii_hello[0]
10060 $7 = 72 '\110'
10061 (@value{GDBP}) print ibm1047_hello
10062 $8 = 0x4016a8 "Hello, world!\n"
10063 (@value{GDBP}) print ibm1047_hello[0]
10064 $9 = 200 'H'
10065 (@value{GDBP})
10066 @end smallexample
10067
10068 As above, @value{GDBN} uses the target character set for character and
10069 string literals you use in expressions:
10070
10071 @smallexample
10072 (@value{GDBP}) print '+'
10073 $10 = 78 '+'
10074 (@value{GDBP})
10075 @end smallexample
10076
10077 The @sc{ibm1047} character set uses the number 78 to encode the @samp{+}
10078 character.
10079
10080 @node Caching Remote Data
10081 @section Caching Data of Remote Targets
10082 @cindex caching data of remote targets
10083
10084 @value{GDBN} caches data exchanged between the debugger and a
10085 remote target (@pxref{Remote Debugging}). Such caching generally improves
10086 performance, because it reduces the overhead of the remote protocol by
10087 bundling memory reads and writes into large chunks. Unfortunately, simply
10088 caching everything would lead to incorrect results, since @value{GDBN}
10089 does not necessarily know anything about volatile values, memory-mapped I/O
10090 addresses, etc. Furthermore, in non-stop mode (@pxref{Non-Stop Mode})
10091 memory can be changed @emph{while} a gdb command is executing.
10092 Therefore, by default, @value{GDBN} only caches data
10093 known to be on the stack@footnote{In non-stop mode, it is moderately
10094 rare for a running thread to modify the stack of a stopped thread
10095 in a way that would interfere with a backtrace, and caching of
10096 stack reads provides a significant speed up of remote backtraces.}.
10097 Other regions of memory can be explicitly marked as
10098 cacheable; see @pxref{Memory Region Attributes}.
10099
10100 @table @code
10101 @kindex set remotecache
10102 @item set remotecache on
10103 @itemx set remotecache off
10104 This option no longer does anything; it exists for compatibility
10105 with old scripts.
10106
10107 @kindex show remotecache
10108 @item show remotecache
10109 Show the current state of the obsolete remotecache flag.
10110
10111 @kindex set stack-cache
10112 @item set stack-cache on
10113 @itemx set stack-cache off
10114 Enable or disable caching of stack accesses. When @code{ON}, use
10115 caching. By default, this option is @code{ON}.
10116
10117 @kindex show stack-cache
10118 @item show stack-cache
10119 Show the current state of data caching for memory accesses.
10120
10121 @kindex info dcache
10122 @item info dcache @r{[}line@r{]}
10123 Print the information about the data cache performance. The
10124 information displayed includes the dcache width and depth, and for
10125 each cache line, its number, address, and how many times it was
10126 referenced. This command is useful for debugging the data cache
10127 operation.
10128
10129 If a line number is specified, the contents of that line will be
10130 printed in hex.
10131
10132 @item set dcache size @var{size}
10133 @cindex dcache size
10134 @kindex set dcache size
10135 Set maximum number of entries in dcache (dcache depth above).
10136
10137 @item set dcache line-size @var{line-size}
10138 @cindex dcache line-size
10139 @kindex set dcache line-size
10140 Set number of bytes each dcache entry caches (dcache width above).
10141 Must be a power of 2.
10142
10143 @item show dcache size
10144 @kindex show dcache size
10145 Show maximum number of dcache entries. See also @ref{Caching Remote Data, info dcache}.
10146
10147 @item show dcache line-size
10148 @kindex show dcache line-size
10149 Show default size of dcache lines. See also @ref{Caching Remote Data, info dcache}.
10150
10151 @end table
10152
10153 @node Searching Memory
10154 @section Search Memory
10155 @cindex searching memory
10156
10157 Memory can be searched for a particular sequence of bytes with the
10158 @code{find} command.
10159
10160 @table @code
10161 @kindex find
10162 @item find @r{[}/@var{sn}@r{]} @var{start_addr}, +@var{len}, @var{val1} @r{[}, @var{val2}, @dots{}@r{]}
10163 @itemx find @r{[}/@var{sn}@r{]} @var{start_addr}, @var{end_addr}, @var{val1} @r{[}, @var{val2}, @dots{}@r{]}
10164 Search memory for the sequence of bytes specified by @var{val1}, @var{val2},
10165 etc. The search begins at address @var{start_addr} and continues for either
10166 @var{len} bytes or through to @var{end_addr} inclusive.
10167 @end table
10168
10169 @var{s} and @var{n} are optional parameters.
10170 They may be specified in either order, apart or together.
10171
10172 @table @r
10173 @item @var{s}, search query size
10174 The size of each search query value.
10175
10176 @table @code
10177 @item b
10178 bytes
10179 @item h
10180 halfwords (two bytes)
10181 @item w
10182 words (four bytes)
10183 @item g
10184 giant words (eight bytes)
10185 @end table
10186
10187 All values are interpreted in the current language.
10188 This means, for example, that if the current source language is C/C@t{++}
10189 then searching for the string ``hello'' includes the trailing '\0'.
10190
10191 If the value size is not specified, it is taken from the
10192 value's type in the current language.
10193 This is useful when one wants to specify the search
10194 pattern as a mixture of types.
10195 Note that this means, for example, that in the case of C-like languages
10196 a search for an untyped 0x42 will search for @samp{(int) 0x42}
10197 which is typically four bytes.
10198
10199 @item @var{n}, maximum number of finds
10200 The maximum number of matches to print. The default is to print all finds.
10201 @end table
10202
10203 You can use strings as search values. Quote them with double-quotes
10204 (@code{"}).
10205 The string value is copied into the search pattern byte by byte,
10206 regardless of the endianness of the target and the size specification.
10207
10208 The address of each match found is printed as well as a count of the
10209 number of matches found.
10210
10211 The address of the last value found is stored in convenience variable
10212 @samp{$_}.
10213 A count of the number of matches is stored in @samp{$numfound}.
10214
10215 For example, if stopped at the @code{printf} in this function:
10216
10217 @smallexample
10218 void
10219 hello ()
10220 @{
10221 static char hello[] = "hello-hello";
10222 static struct @{ char c; short s; int i; @}
10223 __attribute__ ((packed)) mixed
10224 = @{ 'c', 0x1234, 0x87654321 @};
10225 printf ("%s\n", hello);
10226 @}
10227 @end smallexample
10228
10229 @noindent
10230 you get during debugging:
10231
10232 @smallexample
10233 (gdb) find &hello[0], +sizeof(hello), "hello"
10234 0x804956d <hello.1620+6>
10235 1 pattern found
10236 (gdb) find &hello[0], +sizeof(hello), 'h', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o'
10237 0x8049567 <hello.1620>
10238 0x804956d <hello.1620+6>
10239 2 patterns found
10240 (gdb) find /b1 &hello[0], +sizeof(hello), 'h', 0x65, 'l'
10241 0x8049567 <hello.1620>
10242 1 pattern found
10243 (gdb) find &mixed, +sizeof(mixed), (char) 'c', (short) 0x1234, (int) 0x87654321
10244 0x8049560 <mixed.1625>
10245 1 pattern found
10246 (gdb) print $numfound
10247 $1 = 1
10248 (gdb) print $_
10249 $2 = (void *) 0x8049560
10250 @end smallexample
10251
10252 @node Optimized Code
10253 @chapter Debugging Optimized Code
10254 @cindex optimized code, debugging
10255 @cindex debugging optimized code
10256
10257 Almost all compilers support optimization. With optimization
10258 disabled, the compiler generates assembly code that corresponds
10259 directly to your source code, in a simplistic way. As the compiler
10260 applies more powerful optimizations, the generated assembly code
10261 diverges from your original source code. With help from debugging
10262 information generated by the compiler, @value{GDBN} can map from
10263 the running program back to constructs from your original source.
10264
10265 @value{GDBN} is more accurate with optimization disabled. If you
10266 can recompile without optimization, it is easier to follow the
10267 progress of your program during debugging. But, there are many cases
10268 where you may need to debug an optimized version.
10269
10270 When you debug a program compiled with @samp{-g -O}, remember that the
10271 optimizer has rearranged your code; the debugger shows you what is
10272 really there. Do not be too surprised when the execution path does not
10273 exactly match your source file! An extreme example: if you define a
10274 variable, but never use it, @value{GDBN} never sees that
10275 variable---because the compiler optimizes it out of existence.
10276
10277 Some things do not work as well with @samp{-g -O} as with just
10278 @samp{-g}, particularly on machines with instruction scheduling. If in
10279 doubt, recompile with @samp{-g} alone, and if this fixes the problem,
10280 please report it to us as a bug (including a test case!).
10281 @xref{Variables}, for more information about debugging optimized code.
10282
10283 @menu
10284 * Inline Functions:: How @value{GDBN} presents inlining
10285 * Tail Call Frames:: @value{GDBN} analysis of jumps to functions
10286 @end menu
10287
10288 @node Inline Functions
10289 @section Inline Functions
10290 @cindex inline functions, debugging
10291
10292 @dfn{Inlining} is an optimization that inserts a copy of the function
10293 body directly at each call site, instead of jumping to a shared
10294 routine. @value{GDBN} displays inlined functions just like
10295 non-inlined functions. They appear in backtraces. You can view their
10296 arguments and local variables, step into them with @code{step}, skip
10297 them with @code{next}, and escape from them with @code{finish}.
10298 You can check whether a function was inlined by using the
10299 @code{info frame} command.
10300
10301 For @value{GDBN} to support inlined functions, the compiler must
10302 record information about inlining in the debug information ---
10303 @value{NGCC} using the @sc{dwarf 2} format does this, and several
10304 other compilers do also. @value{GDBN} only supports inlined functions
10305 when using @sc{dwarf 2}. Versions of @value{NGCC} before 4.1
10306 do not emit two required attributes (@samp{DW_AT_call_file} and
10307 @samp{DW_AT_call_line}); @value{GDBN} does not display inlined
10308 function calls with earlier versions of @value{NGCC}. It instead
10309 displays the arguments and local variables of inlined functions as
10310 local variables in the caller.
10311
10312 The body of an inlined function is directly included at its call site;
10313 unlike a non-inlined function, there are no instructions devoted to
10314 the call. @value{GDBN} still pretends that the call site and the
10315 start of the inlined function are different instructions. Stepping to
10316 the call site shows the call site, and then stepping again shows
10317 the first line of the inlined function, even though no additional
10318 instructions are executed.
10319
10320 This makes source-level debugging much clearer; you can see both the
10321 context of the call and then the effect of the call. Only stepping by
10322 a single instruction using @code{stepi} or @code{nexti} does not do
10323 this; single instruction steps always show the inlined body.
10324
10325 There are some ways that @value{GDBN} does not pretend that inlined
10326 function calls are the same as normal calls:
10327
10328 @itemize @bullet
10329 @item
10330 Setting breakpoints at the call site of an inlined function may not
10331 work, because the call site does not contain any code. @value{GDBN}
10332 may incorrectly move the breakpoint to the next line of the enclosing
10333 function, after the call. This limitation will be removed in a future
10334 version of @value{GDBN}; until then, set a breakpoint on an earlier line
10335 or inside the inlined function instead.
10336
10337 @item
10338 @value{GDBN} cannot locate the return value of inlined calls after
10339 using the @code{finish} command. This is a limitation of compiler-generated
10340 debugging information; after @code{finish}, you can step to the next line
10341 and print a variable where your program stored the return value.
10342
10343 @end itemize
10344
10345 @node Tail Call Frames
10346 @section Tail Call Frames
10347 @cindex tail call frames, debugging
10348
10349 Function @code{B} can call function @code{C} in its very last statement. In
10350 unoptimized compilation the call of @code{C} is immediately followed by return
10351 instruction at the end of @code{B} code. Optimizing compiler may replace the
10352 call and return in function @code{B} into one jump to function @code{C}
10353 instead. Such use of a jump instruction is called @dfn{tail call}.
10354
10355 During execution of function @code{C}, there will be no indication in the
10356 function call stack frames that it was tail-called from @code{B}. If function
10357 @code{A} regularly calls function @code{B} which tail-calls function @code{C},
10358 then @value{GDBN} will see @code{A} as the caller of @code{C}. However, in
10359 some cases @value{GDBN} can determine that @code{C} was tail-called from
10360 @code{B}, and it will then create fictitious call frame for that, with the
10361 return address set up as if @code{B} called @code{C} normally.
10362
10363 This functionality is currently supported only by DWARF 2 debugging format and
10364 the compiler has to produce @samp{DW_TAG_GNU_call_site} tags. With
10365 @value{NGCC}, you need to specify @option{-O -g} during compilation, to get
10366 this information.
10367
10368 @kbd{info frame} command (@pxref{Frame Info}) will indicate the tail call frame
10369 kind by text @code{tail call frame} such as in this sample @value{GDBN} output:
10370
10371 @smallexample
10372 (gdb) x/i $pc - 2
10373 0x40066b <b(int, double)+11>: jmp 0x400640 <c(int, double)>
10374 (gdb) info frame
10375 Stack level 1, frame at 0x7fffffffda30:
10376 rip = 0x40066d in b (amd64-entry-value.cc:59); saved rip 0x4004c5
10377 tail call frame, caller of frame at 0x7fffffffda30
10378 source language c++.
10379 Arglist at unknown address.
10380 Locals at unknown address, Previous frame's sp is 0x7fffffffda30
10381 @end smallexample
10382
10383 The detection of all the possible code path executions can find them ambiguous.
10384 There is no execution history stored (possible @ref{Reverse Execution} is never
10385 used for this purpose) and the last known caller could have reached the known
10386 callee by multiple different jump sequences. In such case @value{GDBN} still
10387 tries to show at least all the unambiguous top tail callers and all the
10388 unambiguous bottom tail calees, if any.
10389
10390 @table @code
10391 @anchor{set debug entry-values}
10392 @item set debug entry-values
10393 @kindex set debug entry-values
10394 When set to on, enables printing of analysis messages for both frame argument
10395 values at function entry and tail calls. It will show all the possible valid
10396 tail calls code paths it has considered. It will also print the intersection
10397 of them with the final unambiguous (possibly partial or even empty) code path
10398 result.
10399
10400 @item show debug entry-values
10401 @kindex show debug entry-values
10402 Show the current state of analysis messages printing for both frame argument
10403 values at function entry and tail calls.
10404 @end table
10405
10406 The analysis messages for tail calls can for example show why the virtual tail
10407 call frame for function @code{c} has not been recognized (due to the indirect
10408 reference by variable @code{x}):
10409
10410 @smallexample
10411 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) c (void);
10412 void (*x) (void) = c;
10413 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) a (void) @{ x++; @}
10414 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) c (void) @{ a (); @}
10415 int main (void) @{ x (); return 0; @}
10416
10417 Breakpoint 1, DW_OP_GNU_entry_value resolving cannot find
10418 DW_TAG_GNU_call_site 0x40039a in main
10419 a () at t.c:3
10420 3 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) a (void) @{ x++; @}
10421 (gdb) bt
10422 #0 a () at t.c:3
10423 #1 0x000000000040039a in main () at t.c:5
10424 @end smallexample
10425
10426 Another possibility is an ambiguous virtual tail call frames resolution:
10427
10428 @smallexample
10429 int i;
10430 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) f (void) @{ i++; @}
10431 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) e (void) @{ f (); @}
10432 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) d (void) @{ f (); @}
10433 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) c (void) @{ d (); @}
10434 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) b (void)
10435 @{ if (i) c (); else e (); @}
10436 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) a (void) @{ b (); @}
10437 int main (void) @{ a (); return 0; @}
10438
10439 tailcall: initial: 0x4004d2(a) 0x4004ce(b) 0x4004b2(c) 0x4004a2(d)
10440 tailcall: compare: 0x4004d2(a) 0x4004cc(b) 0x400492(e)
10441 tailcall: reduced: 0x4004d2(a) |
10442 (gdb) bt
10443 #0 f () at t.c:2
10444 #1 0x00000000004004d2 in a () at t.c:8
10445 #2 0x0000000000400395 in main () at t.c:9
10446 @end smallexample
10447
10448 @set CALLSEQ1A @code{main@value{ARROW}a@value{ARROW}b@value{ARROW}c@value{ARROW}d@value{ARROW}f}
10449 @set CALLSEQ2A @code{main@value{ARROW}a@value{ARROW}b@value{ARROW}e@value{ARROW}f}
10450
10451 @c Convert CALLSEQ#A to CALLSEQ#B depending on HAVE_MAKEINFO_CLICK.
10452 @ifset HAVE_MAKEINFO_CLICK
10453 @set ARROW @click{}
10454 @set CALLSEQ1B @clicksequence{@value{CALLSEQ1A}}
10455 @set CALLSEQ2B @clicksequence{@value{CALLSEQ2A}}
10456 @end ifset
10457 @ifclear HAVE_MAKEINFO_CLICK
10458 @set ARROW ->
10459 @set CALLSEQ1B @value{CALLSEQ1A}
10460 @set CALLSEQ2B @value{CALLSEQ2A}
10461 @end ifclear
10462
10463 Frames #0 and #2 are real, #1 is a virtual tail call frame.
10464 The code can have possible execution paths @value{CALLSEQ1B} or
10465 @value{CALLSEQ2B}, @value{GDBN} cannot find which one from the inferior state.
10466
10467 @code{initial:} state shows some random possible calling sequence @value{GDBN}
10468 has found. It then finds another possible calling sequcen - that one is
10469 prefixed by @code{compare:}. The non-ambiguous intersection of these two is
10470 printed as the @code{reduced:} calling sequence. That one could have many
10471 futher @code{compare:} and @code{reduced:} statements as long as there remain
10472 any non-ambiguous sequence entries.
10473
10474 For the frame of function @code{b} in both cases there are different possible
10475 @code{$pc} values (@code{0x4004cc} or @code{0x4004ce}), therefore this frame is
10476 also ambigous. The only non-ambiguous frame is the one for function @code{a},
10477 therefore this one is displayed to the user while the ambiguous frames are
10478 omitted.
10479
10480 There can be also reasons why printing of frame argument values at function
10481 entry may fail:
10482
10483 @smallexample
10484 int v;
10485 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) c (int i) @{ v++; @}
10486 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) a (int i);
10487 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) b (int i) @{ a (i); @}
10488 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) a (int i)
10489 @{ if (i) b (i - 1); else c (0); @}
10490 int main (void) @{ a (5); return 0; @}
10491
10492 (gdb) bt
10493 #0 c (i=i@@entry=0) at t.c:2
10494 #1 0x0000000000400428 in a (DW_OP_GNU_entry_value resolving has found
10495 function "a" at 0x400420 can call itself via tail calls
10496 i=<optimized out>) at t.c:6
10497 #2 0x000000000040036e in main () at t.c:7
10498 @end smallexample
10499
10500 @value{GDBN} cannot find out from the inferior state if and how many times did
10501 function @code{a} call itself (via function @code{b}) as these calls would be
10502 tail calls. Such tail calls would modify thue @code{i} variable, therefore
10503 @value{GDBN} cannot be sure the value it knows would be right - @value{GDBN}
10504 prints @code{<optimized out>} instead.
10505
10506 @node Macros
10507 @chapter C Preprocessor Macros
10508
10509 Some languages, such as C and C@t{++}, provide a way to define and invoke
10510 ``preprocessor macros'' which expand into strings of tokens.
10511 @value{GDBN} can evaluate expressions containing macro invocations, show
10512 the result of macro expansion, and show a macro's definition, including
10513 where it was defined.
10514
10515 You may need to compile your program specially to provide @value{GDBN}
10516 with information about preprocessor macros. Most compilers do not
10517 include macros in their debugging information, even when you compile
10518 with the @option{-g} flag. @xref{Compilation}.
10519
10520 A program may define a macro at one point, remove that definition later,
10521 and then provide a different definition after that. Thus, at different
10522 points in the program, a macro may have different definitions, or have
10523 no definition at all. If there is a current stack frame, @value{GDBN}
10524 uses the macros in scope at that frame's source code line. Otherwise,
10525 @value{GDBN} uses the macros in scope at the current listing location;
10526 see @ref{List}.
10527
10528 Whenever @value{GDBN} evaluates an expression, it always expands any
10529 macro invocations present in the expression. @value{GDBN} also provides
10530 the following commands for working with macros explicitly.
10531
10532 @table @code
10533
10534 @kindex macro expand
10535 @cindex macro expansion, showing the results of preprocessor
10536 @cindex preprocessor macro expansion, showing the results of
10537 @cindex expanding preprocessor macros
10538 @item macro expand @var{expression}
10539 @itemx macro exp @var{expression}
10540 Show the results of expanding all preprocessor macro invocations in
10541 @var{expression}. Since @value{GDBN} simply expands macros, but does
10542 not parse the result, @var{expression} need not be a valid expression;
10543 it can be any string of tokens.
10544
10545 @kindex macro exp1
10546 @item macro expand-once @var{expression}
10547 @itemx macro exp1 @var{expression}
10548 @cindex expand macro once
10549 @i{(This command is not yet implemented.)} Show the results of
10550 expanding those preprocessor macro invocations that appear explicitly in
10551 @var{expression}. Macro invocations appearing in that expansion are
10552 left unchanged. This command allows you to see the effect of a
10553 particular macro more clearly, without being confused by further
10554 expansions. Since @value{GDBN} simply expands macros, but does not
10555 parse the result, @var{expression} need not be a valid expression; it
10556 can be any string of tokens.
10557
10558 @kindex info macro
10559 @cindex macro definition, showing
10560 @cindex definition of a macro, showing
10561 @cindex macros, from debug info
10562 @item info macro [-a|-all] [--] @var{macro}
10563 Show the current definition or all definitions of the named @var{macro},
10564 and describe the source location or compiler command-line where that
10565 definition was established. The optional double dash is to signify the end of
10566 argument processing and the beginning of @var{macro} for non C-like macros where
10567 the macro may begin with a hyphen.
10568
10569 @kindex info macros
10570 @item info macros @var{linespec}
10571 Show all macro definitions that are in effect at the location specified
10572 by @var{linespec}, and describe the source location or compiler
10573 command-line where those definitions were established.
10574
10575 @kindex macro define
10576 @cindex user-defined macros
10577 @cindex defining macros interactively
10578 @cindex macros, user-defined
10579 @item macro define @var{macro} @var{replacement-list}
10580 @itemx macro define @var{macro}(@var{arglist}) @var{replacement-list}
10581 Introduce a definition for a preprocessor macro named @var{macro},
10582 invocations of which are replaced by the tokens given in
10583 @var{replacement-list}. The first form of this command defines an
10584 ``object-like'' macro, which takes no arguments; the second form
10585 defines a ``function-like'' macro, which takes the arguments given in
10586 @var{arglist}.
10587
10588 A definition introduced by this command is in scope in every
10589 expression evaluated in @value{GDBN}, until it is removed with the
10590 @code{macro undef} command, described below. The definition overrides
10591 all definitions for @var{macro} present in the program being debugged,
10592 as well as any previous user-supplied definition.
10593
10594 @kindex macro undef
10595 @item macro undef @var{macro}
10596 Remove any user-supplied definition for the macro named @var{macro}.
10597 This command only affects definitions provided with the @code{macro
10598 define} command, described above; it cannot remove definitions present
10599 in the program being debugged.
10600
10601 @kindex macro list
10602 @item macro list
10603 List all the macros defined using the @code{macro define} command.
10604 @end table
10605
10606 @cindex macros, example of debugging with
10607 Here is a transcript showing the above commands in action. First, we
10608 show our source files:
10609
10610 @smallexample
10611 $ cat sample.c
10612 #include <stdio.h>
10613 #include "sample.h"
10614
10615 #define M 42
10616 #define ADD(x) (M + x)
10617
10618 main ()
10619 @{
10620 #define N 28
10621 printf ("Hello, world!\n");
10622 #undef N
10623 printf ("We're so creative.\n");
10624 #define N 1729
10625 printf ("Goodbye, world!\n");
10626 @}
10627 $ cat sample.h
10628 #define Q <
10629 $
10630 @end smallexample
10631
10632 Now, we compile the program using the @sc{gnu} C compiler,
10633 @value{NGCC}. We pass the @option{-gdwarf-2}@footnote{This is the
10634 minimum. Recent versions of @value{NGCC} support @option{-gdwarf-3}
10635 and @option{-gdwarf-4}; we recommend always choosing the most recent
10636 version of DWARF.} @emph{and} @option{-g3} flags to ensure the compiler
10637 includes information about preprocessor macros in the debugging
10638 information.
10639
10640 @smallexample
10641 $ gcc -gdwarf-2 -g3 sample.c -o sample
10642 $
10643 @end smallexample
10644
10645 Now, we start @value{GDBN} on our sample program:
10646
10647 @smallexample
10648 $ gdb -nw sample
10649 GNU gdb 2002-05-06-cvs
10650 Copyright 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
10651 GDB is free software, @dots{}
10652 (@value{GDBP})
10653 @end smallexample
10654
10655 We can expand macros and examine their definitions, even when the
10656 program is not running. @value{GDBN} uses the current listing position
10657 to decide which macro definitions are in scope:
10658
10659 @smallexample
10660 (@value{GDBP}) list main
10661 3
10662 4 #define M 42
10663 5 #define ADD(x) (M + x)
10664 6
10665 7 main ()
10666 8 @{
10667 9 #define N 28
10668 10 printf ("Hello, world!\n");
10669 11 #undef N
10670 12 printf ("We're so creative.\n");
10671 (@value{GDBP}) info macro ADD
10672 Defined at /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample.c:5
10673 #define ADD(x) (M + x)
10674 (@value{GDBP}) info macro Q
10675 Defined at /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample.h:1
10676 included at /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample.c:2
10677 #define Q <
10678 (@value{GDBP}) macro expand ADD(1)
10679 expands to: (42 + 1)
10680 (@value{GDBP}) macro expand-once ADD(1)
10681 expands to: once (M + 1)
10682 (@value{GDBP})
10683 @end smallexample
10684
10685 In the example above, note that @code{macro expand-once} expands only
10686 the macro invocation explicit in the original text --- the invocation of
10687 @code{ADD} --- but does not expand the invocation of the macro @code{M},
10688 which was introduced by @code{ADD}.
10689
10690 Once the program is running, @value{GDBN} uses the macro definitions in
10691 force at the source line of the current stack frame:
10692
10693 @smallexample
10694 (@value{GDBP}) break main
10695 Breakpoint 1 at 0x8048370: file sample.c, line 10.
10696 (@value{GDBP}) run
10697 Starting program: /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample
10698
10699 Breakpoint 1, main () at sample.c:10
10700 10 printf ("Hello, world!\n");
10701 (@value{GDBP})
10702 @end smallexample
10703
10704 At line 10, the definition of the macro @code{N} at line 9 is in force:
10705
10706 @smallexample
10707 (@value{GDBP}) info macro N
10708 Defined at /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample.c:9
10709 #define N 28
10710 (@value{GDBP}) macro expand N Q M
10711 expands to: 28 < 42
10712 (@value{GDBP}) print N Q M
10713 $1 = 1
10714 (@value{GDBP})
10715 @end smallexample
10716
10717 As we step over directives that remove @code{N}'s definition, and then
10718 give it a new definition, @value{GDBN} finds the definition (or lack
10719 thereof) in force at each point:
10720
10721 @smallexample
10722 (@value{GDBP}) next
10723 Hello, world!
10724 12 printf ("We're so creative.\n");
10725 (@value{GDBP}) info macro N
10726 The symbol `N' has no definition as a C/C++ preprocessor macro
10727 at /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample.c:12
10728 (@value{GDBP}) next
10729 We're so creative.
10730 14 printf ("Goodbye, world!\n");
10731 (@value{GDBP}) info macro N
10732 Defined at /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample.c:13
10733 #define N 1729
10734 (@value{GDBP}) macro expand N Q M
10735 expands to: 1729 < 42
10736 (@value{GDBP}) print N Q M
10737 $2 = 0
10738 (@value{GDBP})
10739 @end smallexample
10740
10741 In addition to source files, macros can be defined on the compilation command
10742 line using the @option{-D@var{name}=@var{value}} syntax. For macros defined in
10743 such a way, @value{GDBN} displays the location of their definition as line zero
10744 of the source file submitted to the compiler.
10745
10746 @smallexample
10747 (@value{GDBP}) info macro __STDC__
10748 Defined at /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample.c:0
10749 -D__STDC__=1
10750 (@value{GDBP})
10751 @end smallexample
10752
10753
10754 @node Tracepoints
10755 @chapter Tracepoints
10756 @c This chapter is based on the documentation written by Michael
10757 @c Snyder, David Taylor, Jim Blandy, and Elena Zannoni.
10758
10759 @cindex tracepoints
10760 In some applications, it is not feasible for the debugger to interrupt
10761 the program's execution long enough for the developer to learn
10762 anything helpful about its behavior. If the program's correctness
10763 depends on its real-time behavior, delays introduced by a debugger
10764 might cause the program to change its behavior drastically, or perhaps
10765 fail, even when the code itself is correct. It is useful to be able
10766 to observe the program's behavior without interrupting it.
10767
10768 Using @value{GDBN}'s @code{trace} and @code{collect} commands, you can
10769 specify locations in the program, called @dfn{tracepoints}, and
10770 arbitrary expressions to evaluate when those tracepoints are reached.
10771 Later, using the @code{tfind} command, you can examine the values
10772 those expressions had when the program hit the tracepoints. The
10773 expressions may also denote objects in memory---structures or arrays,
10774 for example---whose values @value{GDBN} should record; while visiting
10775 a particular tracepoint, you may inspect those objects as if they were
10776 in memory at that moment. However, because @value{GDBN} records these
10777 values without interacting with you, it can do so quickly and
10778 unobtrusively, hopefully not disturbing the program's behavior.
10779
10780 The tracepoint facility is currently available only for remote
10781 targets. @xref{Targets}. In addition, your remote target must know
10782 how to collect trace data. This functionality is implemented in the
10783 remote stub; however, none of the stubs distributed with @value{GDBN}
10784 support tracepoints as of this writing. The format of the remote
10785 packets used to implement tracepoints are described in @ref{Tracepoint
10786 Packets}.
10787
10788 It is also possible to get trace data from a file, in a manner reminiscent
10789 of corefiles; you specify the filename, and use @code{tfind} to search
10790 through the file. @xref{Trace Files}, for more details.
10791
10792 This chapter describes the tracepoint commands and features.
10793
10794 @menu
10795 * Set Tracepoints::
10796 * Analyze Collected Data::
10797 * Tracepoint Variables::
10798 * Trace Files::
10799 @end menu
10800
10801 @node Set Tracepoints
10802 @section Commands to Set Tracepoints
10803
10804 Before running such a @dfn{trace experiment}, an arbitrary number of
10805 tracepoints can be set. A tracepoint is actually a special type of
10806 breakpoint (@pxref{Set Breaks}), so you can manipulate it using
10807 standard breakpoint commands. For instance, as with breakpoints,
10808 tracepoint numbers are successive integers starting from one, and many
10809 of the commands associated with tracepoints take the tracepoint number
10810 as their argument, to identify which tracepoint to work on.
10811
10812 For each tracepoint, you can specify, in advance, some arbitrary set
10813 of data that you want the target to collect in the trace buffer when
10814 it hits that tracepoint. The collected data can include registers,
10815 local variables, or global data. Later, you can use @value{GDBN}
10816 commands to examine the values these data had at the time the
10817 tracepoint was hit.
10818
10819 Tracepoints do not support every breakpoint feature. Ignore counts on
10820 tracepoints have no effect, and tracepoints cannot run @value{GDBN}
10821 commands when they are hit. Tracepoints may not be thread-specific
10822 either.
10823
10824 @cindex fast tracepoints
10825 Some targets may support @dfn{fast tracepoints}, which are inserted in
10826 a different way (such as with a jump instead of a trap), that is
10827 faster but possibly restricted in where they may be installed.
10828
10829 @cindex static tracepoints
10830 @cindex markers, static tracepoints
10831 @cindex probing markers, static tracepoints
10832 Regular and fast tracepoints are dynamic tracing facilities, meaning
10833 that they can be used to insert tracepoints at (almost) any location
10834 in the target. Some targets may also support controlling @dfn{static
10835 tracepoints} from @value{GDBN}. With static tracing, a set of
10836 instrumentation points, also known as @dfn{markers}, are embedded in
10837 the target program, and can be activated or deactivated by name or
10838 address. These are usually placed at locations which facilitate
10839 investigating what the target is actually doing. @value{GDBN}'s
10840 support for static tracing includes being able to list instrumentation
10841 points, and attach them with @value{GDBN} defined high level
10842 tracepoints that expose the whole range of convenience of
10843 @value{GDBN}'s tracepoints support. Namely, support for collecting
10844 registers values and values of global or local (to the instrumentation
10845 point) variables; tracepoint conditions and trace state variables.
10846 The act of installing a @value{GDBN} static tracepoint on an
10847 instrumentation point, or marker, is referred to as @dfn{probing} a
10848 static tracepoint marker.
10849
10850 @code{gdbserver} supports tracepoints on some target systems.
10851 @xref{Server,,Tracepoints support in @code{gdbserver}}.
10852
10853 This section describes commands to set tracepoints and associated
10854 conditions and actions.
10855
10856 @menu
10857 * Create and Delete Tracepoints::
10858 * Enable and Disable Tracepoints::
10859 * Tracepoint Passcounts::
10860 * Tracepoint Conditions::
10861 * Trace State Variables::
10862 * Tracepoint Actions::
10863 * Listing Tracepoints::
10864 * Listing Static Tracepoint Markers::
10865 * Starting and Stopping Trace Experiments::
10866 * Tracepoint Restrictions::
10867 @end menu
10868
10869 @node Create and Delete Tracepoints
10870 @subsection Create and Delete Tracepoints
10871
10872 @table @code
10873 @cindex set tracepoint
10874 @kindex trace
10875 @item trace @var{location}
10876 The @code{trace} command is very similar to the @code{break} command.
10877 Its argument @var{location} can be a source line, a function name, or
10878 an address in the target program. @xref{Specify Location}. The
10879 @code{trace} command defines a tracepoint, which is a point in the
10880 target program where the debugger will briefly stop, collect some
10881 data, and then allow the program to continue. Setting a tracepoint or
10882 changing its actions takes effect immediately if the remote stub
10883 supports the @samp{InstallInTrace} feature (@pxref{install tracepoint
10884 in tracing}).
10885 If remote stub doesn't support the @samp{InstallInTrace} feature, all
10886 these changes don't take effect until the next @code{tstart}
10887 command, and once a trace experiment is running, further changes will
10888 not have any effect until the next trace experiment starts. In addition,
10889 @value{GDBN} supports @dfn{pending tracepoints}---tracepoints whose
10890 address is not yet resolved. (This is similar to pending breakpoints.)
10891 Pending tracepoints are not downloaded to the target and not installed
10892 until they are resolved. The resolution of pending tracepoints requires
10893 @value{GDBN} support---when debugging with the remote target, and
10894 @value{GDBN} disconnects from the remote stub (@pxref{disconnected
10895 tracing}), pending tracepoints can not be resolved (and downloaded to
10896 the remote stub) while @value{GDBN} is disconnected.
10897
10898 Here are some examples of using the @code{trace} command:
10899
10900 @smallexample
10901 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace foo.c:121} // a source file and line number
10902
10903 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace +2} // 2 lines forward
10904
10905 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace my_function} // first source line of function
10906
10907 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace *my_function} // EXACT start address of function
10908
10909 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace *0x2117c4} // an address
10910 @end smallexample
10911
10912 @noindent
10913 You can abbreviate @code{trace} as @code{tr}.
10914
10915 @item trace @var{location} if @var{cond}
10916 Set a tracepoint with condition @var{cond}; evaluate the expression
10917 @var{cond} each time the tracepoint is reached, and collect data only
10918 if the value is nonzero---that is, if @var{cond} evaluates as true.
10919 @xref{Tracepoint Conditions, ,Tracepoint Conditions}, for more
10920 information on tracepoint conditions.
10921
10922 @item ftrace @var{location} [ if @var{cond} ]
10923 @cindex set fast tracepoint
10924 @cindex fast tracepoints, setting
10925 @kindex ftrace
10926 The @code{ftrace} command sets a fast tracepoint. For targets that
10927 support them, fast tracepoints will use a more efficient but possibly
10928 less general technique to trigger data collection, such as a jump
10929 instruction instead of a trap, or some sort of hardware support. It
10930 may not be possible to create a fast tracepoint at the desired
10931 location, in which case the command will exit with an explanatory
10932 message.
10933
10934 @value{GDBN} handles arguments to @code{ftrace} exactly as for
10935 @code{trace}.
10936
10937 On 32-bit x86-architecture systems, fast tracepoints normally need to
10938 be placed at an instruction that is 5 bytes or longer, but can be
10939 placed at 4-byte instructions if the low 64K of memory of the target
10940 program is available to install trampolines. Some Unix-type systems,
10941 such as @sc{gnu}/Linux, exclude low addresses from the program's
10942 address space; but for instance with the Linux kernel it is possible
10943 to let @value{GDBN} use this area by doing a @command{sysctl} command
10944 to set the @code{mmap_min_addr} kernel parameter, as in
10945
10946 @example
10947 sudo sysctl -w vm.mmap_min_addr=32768
10948 @end example
10949
10950 @noindent
10951 which sets the low address to 32K, which leaves plenty of room for
10952 trampolines. The minimum address should be set to a page boundary.
10953
10954 @item strace @var{location} [ if @var{cond} ]
10955 @cindex set static tracepoint
10956 @cindex static tracepoints, setting
10957 @cindex probe static tracepoint marker
10958 @kindex strace
10959 The @code{strace} command sets a static tracepoint. For targets that
10960 support it, setting a static tracepoint probes a static
10961 instrumentation point, or marker, found at @var{location}. It may not
10962 be possible to set a static tracepoint at the desired location, in
10963 which case the command will exit with an explanatory message.
10964
10965 @value{GDBN} handles arguments to @code{strace} exactly as for
10966 @code{trace}, with the addition that the user can also specify
10967 @code{-m @var{marker}} as @var{location}. This probes the marker
10968 identified by the @var{marker} string identifier. This identifier
10969 depends on the static tracepoint backend library your program is
10970 using. You can find all the marker identifiers in the @samp{ID} field
10971 of the @code{info static-tracepoint-markers} command output.
10972 @xref{Listing Static Tracepoint Markers,,Listing Static Tracepoint
10973 Markers}. For example, in the following small program using the UST
10974 tracing engine:
10975
10976 @smallexample
10977 main ()
10978 @{
10979 trace_mark(ust, bar33, "str %s", "FOOBAZ");
10980 @}
10981 @end smallexample
10982
10983 @noindent
10984 the marker id is composed of joining the first two arguments to the
10985 @code{trace_mark} call with a slash, which translates to:
10986
10987 @smallexample
10988 (@value{GDBP}) info static-tracepoint-markers
10989 Cnt Enb ID Address What
10990 1 n ust/bar33 0x0000000000400ddc in main at stexample.c:22
10991 Data: "str %s"
10992 [etc...]
10993 @end smallexample
10994
10995 @noindent
10996 so you may probe the marker above with:
10997
10998 @smallexample
10999 (@value{GDBP}) strace -m ust/bar33
11000 @end smallexample
11001
11002 Static tracepoints accept an extra collect action --- @code{collect
11003 $_sdata}. This collects arbitrary user data passed in the probe point
11004 call to the tracing library. In the UST example above, you'll see
11005 that the third argument to @code{trace_mark} is a printf-like format
11006 string. The user data is then the result of running that formating
11007 string against the following arguments. Note that @code{info
11008 static-tracepoint-markers} command output lists that format string in
11009 the @samp{Data:} field.
11010
11011 You can inspect this data when analyzing the trace buffer, by printing
11012 the $_sdata variable like any other variable available to
11013 @value{GDBN}. @xref{Tracepoint Actions,,Tracepoint Action Lists}.
11014
11015 @vindex $tpnum
11016 @cindex last tracepoint number
11017 @cindex recent tracepoint number
11018 @cindex tracepoint number
11019 The convenience variable @code{$tpnum} records the tracepoint number
11020 of the most recently set tracepoint.
11021
11022 @kindex delete tracepoint
11023 @cindex tracepoint deletion
11024 @item delete tracepoint @r{[}@var{num}@r{]}
11025 Permanently delete one or more tracepoints. With no argument, the
11026 default is to delete all tracepoints. Note that the regular
11027 @code{delete} command can remove tracepoints also.
11028
11029 Examples:
11030
11031 @smallexample
11032 (@value{GDBP}) @b{delete trace 1 2 3} // remove three tracepoints
11033
11034 (@value{GDBP}) @b{delete trace} // remove all tracepoints
11035 @end smallexample
11036
11037 @noindent
11038 You can abbreviate this command as @code{del tr}.
11039 @end table
11040
11041 @node Enable and Disable Tracepoints
11042 @subsection Enable and Disable Tracepoints
11043
11044 These commands are deprecated; they are equivalent to plain @code{disable} and @code{enable}.
11045
11046 @table @code
11047 @kindex disable tracepoint
11048 @item disable tracepoint @r{[}@var{num}@r{]}
11049 Disable tracepoint @var{num}, or all tracepoints if no argument
11050 @var{num} is given. A disabled tracepoint will have no effect during
11051 a trace experiment, but it is not forgotten. You can re-enable
11052 a disabled tracepoint using the @code{enable tracepoint} command.
11053 If the command is issued during a trace experiment and the debug target
11054 has support for disabling tracepoints during a trace experiment, then the
11055 change will be effective immediately. Otherwise, it will be applied to the
11056 next trace experiment.
11057
11058 @kindex enable tracepoint
11059 @item enable tracepoint @r{[}@var{num}@r{]}
11060 Enable tracepoint @var{num}, or all tracepoints. If this command is
11061 issued during a trace experiment and the debug target supports enabling
11062 tracepoints during a trace experiment, then the enabled tracepoints will
11063 become effective immediately. Otherwise, they will become effective the
11064 next time a trace experiment is run.
11065 @end table
11066
11067 @node Tracepoint Passcounts
11068 @subsection Tracepoint Passcounts
11069
11070 @table @code
11071 @kindex passcount
11072 @cindex tracepoint pass count
11073 @item passcount @r{[}@var{n} @r{[}@var{num}@r{]]}
11074 Set the @dfn{passcount} of a tracepoint. The passcount is a way to
11075 automatically stop a trace experiment. If a tracepoint's passcount is
11076 @var{n}, then the trace experiment will be automatically stopped on
11077 the @var{n}'th time that tracepoint is hit. If the tracepoint number
11078 @var{num} is not specified, the @code{passcount} command sets the
11079 passcount of the most recently defined tracepoint. If no passcount is
11080 given, the trace experiment will run until stopped explicitly by the
11081 user.
11082
11083 Examples:
11084
11085 @smallexample
11086 (@value{GDBP}) @b{passcount 5 2} // Stop on the 5th execution of
11087 @exdent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @code{// tracepoint 2}
11088
11089 (@value{GDBP}) @b{passcount 12} // Stop on the 12th execution of the
11090 @exdent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @code{// most recently defined tracepoint.}
11091 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace foo}
11092 (@value{GDBP}) @b{pass 3}
11093 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace bar}
11094 (@value{GDBP}) @b{pass 2}
11095 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace baz}
11096 (@value{GDBP}) @b{pass 1} // Stop tracing when foo has been
11097 @exdent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @code{// executed 3 times OR when bar has}
11098 @exdent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @code{// been executed 2 times}
11099 @exdent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @code{// OR when baz has been executed 1 time.}
11100 @end smallexample
11101 @end table
11102
11103 @node Tracepoint Conditions
11104 @subsection Tracepoint Conditions
11105 @cindex conditional tracepoints
11106 @cindex tracepoint conditions
11107
11108 The simplest sort of tracepoint collects data every time your program
11109 reaches a specified place. You can also specify a @dfn{condition} for
11110 a tracepoint. A condition is just a Boolean expression in your
11111 programming language (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}). A
11112 tracepoint with a condition evaluates the expression each time your
11113 program reaches it, and data collection happens only if the condition
11114 is true.
11115
11116 Tracepoint conditions can be specified when a tracepoint is set, by
11117 using @samp{if} in the arguments to the @code{trace} command.
11118 @xref{Create and Delete Tracepoints, ,Setting Tracepoints}. They can
11119 also be set or changed at any time with the @code{condition} command,
11120 just as with breakpoints.
11121
11122 Unlike breakpoint conditions, @value{GDBN} does not actually evaluate
11123 the conditional expression itself. Instead, @value{GDBN} encodes the
11124 expression into an agent expression (@pxref{Agent Expressions})
11125 suitable for execution on the target, independently of @value{GDBN}.
11126 Global variables become raw memory locations, locals become stack
11127 accesses, and so forth.
11128
11129 For instance, suppose you have a function that is usually called
11130 frequently, but should not be called after an error has occurred. You
11131 could use the following tracepoint command to collect data about calls
11132 of that function that happen while the error code is propagating
11133 through the program; an unconditional tracepoint could end up
11134 collecting thousands of useless trace frames that you would have to
11135 search through.
11136
11137 @smallexample
11138 (@value{GDBP}) @kbd{trace normal_operation if errcode > 0}
11139 @end smallexample
11140
11141 @node Trace State Variables
11142 @subsection Trace State Variables
11143 @cindex trace state variables
11144
11145 A @dfn{trace state variable} is a special type of variable that is
11146 created and managed by target-side code. The syntax is the same as
11147 that for GDB's convenience variables (a string prefixed with ``$''),
11148 but they are stored on the target. They must be created explicitly,
11149 using a @code{tvariable} command. They are always 64-bit signed
11150 integers.
11151
11152 Trace state variables are remembered by @value{GDBN}, and downloaded
11153 to the target along with tracepoint information when the trace
11154 experiment starts. There are no intrinsic limits on the number of
11155 trace state variables, beyond memory limitations of the target.
11156
11157 @cindex convenience variables, and trace state variables
11158 Although trace state variables are managed by the target, you can use
11159 them in print commands and expressions as if they were convenience
11160 variables; @value{GDBN} will get the current value from the target
11161 while the trace experiment is running. Trace state variables share
11162 the same namespace as other ``$'' variables, which means that you
11163 cannot have trace state variables with names like @code{$23} or
11164 @code{$pc}, nor can you have a trace state variable and a convenience
11165 variable with the same name.
11166
11167 @table @code
11168
11169 @item tvariable $@var{name} [ = @var{expression} ]
11170 @kindex tvariable
11171 The @code{tvariable} command creates a new trace state variable named
11172 @code{$@var{name}}, and optionally gives it an initial value of
11173 @var{expression}. @var{expression} is evaluated when this command is
11174 entered; the result will be converted to an integer if possible,
11175 otherwise @value{GDBN} will report an error. A subsequent
11176 @code{tvariable} command specifying the same name does not create a
11177 variable, but instead assigns the supplied initial value to the
11178 existing variable of that name, overwriting any previous initial
11179 value. The default initial value is 0.
11180
11181 @item info tvariables
11182 @kindex info tvariables
11183 List all the trace state variables along with their initial values.
11184 Their current values may also be displayed, if the trace experiment is
11185 currently running.
11186
11187 @item delete tvariable @r{[} $@var{name} @dots{} @r{]}
11188 @kindex delete tvariable
11189 Delete the given trace state variables, or all of them if no arguments
11190 are specified.
11191
11192 @end table
11193
11194 @node Tracepoint Actions
11195 @subsection Tracepoint Action Lists
11196
11197 @table @code
11198 @kindex actions
11199 @cindex tracepoint actions
11200 @item actions @r{[}@var{num}@r{]}
11201 This command will prompt for a list of actions to be taken when the
11202 tracepoint is hit. If the tracepoint number @var{num} is not
11203 specified, this command sets the actions for the one that was most
11204 recently defined (so that you can define a tracepoint and then say
11205 @code{actions} without bothering about its number). You specify the
11206 actions themselves on the following lines, one action at a time, and
11207 terminate the actions list with a line containing just @code{end}. So
11208 far, the only defined actions are @code{collect}, @code{teval}, and
11209 @code{while-stepping}.
11210
11211 @code{actions} is actually equivalent to @code{commands} (@pxref{Break
11212 Commands, ,Breakpoint Command Lists}), except that only the defined
11213 actions are allowed; any other @value{GDBN} command is rejected.
11214
11215 @cindex remove actions from a tracepoint
11216 To remove all actions from a tracepoint, type @samp{actions @var{num}}
11217 and follow it immediately with @samp{end}.
11218
11219 @smallexample
11220 (@value{GDBP}) @b{collect @var{data}} // collect some data
11221
11222 (@value{GDBP}) @b{while-stepping 5} // single-step 5 times, collect data
11223
11224 (@value{GDBP}) @b{end} // signals the end of actions.
11225 @end smallexample
11226
11227 In the following example, the action list begins with @code{collect}
11228 commands indicating the things to be collected when the tracepoint is
11229 hit. Then, in order to single-step and collect additional data
11230 following the tracepoint, a @code{while-stepping} command is used,
11231 followed by the list of things to be collected after each step in a
11232 sequence of single steps. The @code{while-stepping} command is
11233 terminated by its own separate @code{end} command. Lastly, the action
11234 list is terminated by an @code{end} command.
11235
11236 @smallexample
11237 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace foo}
11238 (@value{GDBP}) @b{actions}
11239 Enter actions for tracepoint 1, one per line:
11240 > collect bar,baz
11241 > collect $regs
11242 > while-stepping 12
11243 > collect $pc, arr[i]
11244 > end
11245 end
11246 @end smallexample
11247
11248 @kindex collect @r{(tracepoints)}
11249 @item collect@r{[}/@var{mods}@r{]} @var{expr1}, @var{expr2}, @dots{}
11250 Collect values of the given expressions when the tracepoint is hit.
11251 This command accepts a comma-separated list of any valid expressions.
11252 In addition to global, static, or local variables, the following
11253 special arguments are supported:
11254
11255 @table @code
11256 @item $regs
11257 Collect all registers.
11258
11259 @item $args
11260 Collect all function arguments.
11261
11262 @item $locals
11263 Collect all local variables.
11264
11265 @item $_ret
11266 Collect the return address. This is helpful if you want to see more
11267 of a backtrace.
11268
11269 @item $_probe_argc
11270 Collects the number of arguments from the static probe at which the
11271 tracepoint is located.
11272 @xref{Static Probe Points}.
11273
11274 @item $_probe_arg@var{n}
11275 @var{n} is an integer between 0 and 11. Collects the @var{n}th argument
11276 from the static probe at which the tracepoint is located.
11277 @xref{Static Probe Points}.
11278
11279 @item $_sdata
11280 @vindex $_sdata@r{, collect}
11281 Collect static tracepoint marker specific data. Only available for
11282 static tracepoints. @xref{Tracepoint Actions,,Tracepoint Action
11283 Lists}. On the UST static tracepoints library backend, an
11284 instrumentation point resembles a @code{printf} function call. The
11285 tracing library is able to collect user specified data formatted to a
11286 character string using the format provided by the programmer that
11287 instrumented the program. Other backends have similar mechanisms.
11288 Here's an example of a UST marker call:
11289
11290 @smallexample
11291 const char master_name[] = "$your_name";
11292 trace_mark(channel1, marker1, "hello %s", master_name)
11293 @end smallexample
11294
11295 In this case, collecting @code{$_sdata} collects the string
11296 @samp{hello $yourname}. When analyzing the trace buffer, you can
11297 inspect @samp{$_sdata} like any other variable available to
11298 @value{GDBN}.
11299 @end table
11300
11301 You can give several consecutive @code{collect} commands, each one
11302 with a single argument, or one @code{collect} command with several
11303 arguments separated by commas; the effect is the same.
11304
11305 The optional @var{mods} changes the usual handling of the arguments.
11306 @code{s} requests that pointers to chars be handled as strings, in
11307 particular collecting the contents of the memory being pointed at, up
11308 to the first zero. The upper bound is by default the value of the
11309 @code{print elements} variable; if @code{s} is followed by a decimal
11310 number, that is the upper bound instead. So for instance
11311 @samp{collect/s25 mystr} collects as many as 25 characters at
11312 @samp{mystr}.
11313
11314 The command @code{info scope} (@pxref{Symbols, info scope}) is
11315 particularly useful for figuring out what data to collect.
11316
11317 @kindex teval @r{(tracepoints)}
11318 @item teval @var{expr1}, @var{expr2}, @dots{}
11319 Evaluate the given expressions when the tracepoint is hit. This
11320 command accepts a comma-separated list of expressions. The results
11321 are discarded, so this is mainly useful for assigning values to trace
11322 state variables (@pxref{Trace State Variables}) without adding those
11323 values to the trace buffer, as would be the case if the @code{collect}
11324 action were used.
11325
11326 @kindex while-stepping @r{(tracepoints)}
11327 @item while-stepping @var{n}
11328 Perform @var{n} single-step instruction traces after the tracepoint,
11329 collecting new data after each step. The @code{while-stepping}
11330 command is followed by the list of what to collect while stepping
11331 (followed by its own @code{end} command):
11332
11333 @smallexample
11334 > while-stepping 12
11335 > collect $regs, myglobal
11336 > end
11337 >
11338 @end smallexample
11339
11340 @noindent
11341 Note that @code{$pc} is not automatically collected by
11342 @code{while-stepping}; you need to explicitly collect that register if
11343 you need it. You may abbreviate @code{while-stepping} as @code{ws} or
11344 @code{stepping}.
11345
11346 @item set default-collect @var{expr1}, @var{expr2}, @dots{}
11347 @kindex set default-collect
11348 @cindex default collection action
11349 This variable is a list of expressions to collect at each tracepoint
11350 hit. It is effectively an additional @code{collect} action prepended
11351 to every tracepoint action list. The expressions are parsed
11352 individually for each tracepoint, so for instance a variable named
11353 @code{xyz} may be interpreted as a global for one tracepoint, and a
11354 local for another, as appropriate to the tracepoint's location.
11355
11356 @item show default-collect
11357 @kindex show default-collect
11358 Show the list of expressions that are collected by default at each
11359 tracepoint hit.
11360
11361 @end table
11362
11363 @node Listing Tracepoints
11364 @subsection Listing Tracepoints
11365
11366 @table @code
11367 @kindex info tracepoints @r{[}@var{n}@dots{}@r{]}
11368 @kindex info tp @r{[}@var{n}@dots{}@r{]}
11369 @cindex information about tracepoints
11370 @item info tracepoints @r{[}@var{num}@dots{}@r{]}
11371 Display information about the tracepoint @var{num}. If you don't
11372 specify a tracepoint number, displays information about all the
11373 tracepoints defined so far. The format is similar to that used for
11374 @code{info breakpoints}; in fact, @code{info tracepoints} is the same
11375 command, simply restricting itself to tracepoints.
11376
11377 A tracepoint's listing may include additional information specific to
11378 tracing:
11379
11380 @itemize @bullet
11381 @item
11382 its passcount as given by the @code{passcount @var{n}} command
11383 @end itemize
11384
11385 @smallexample
11386 (@value{GDBP}) @b{info trace}
11387 Num Type Disp Enb Address What
11388 1 tracepoint keep y 0x0804ab57 in foo() at main.cxx:7
11389 while-stepping 20
11390 collect globfoo, $regs
11391 end
11392 collect globfoo2
11393 end
11394 pass count 1200
11395 (@value{GDBP})
11396 @end smallexample
11397
11398 @noindent
11399 This command can be abbreviated @code{info tp}.
11400 @end table
11401
11402 @node Listing Static Tracepoint Markers
11403 @subsection Listing Static Tracepoint Markers
11404
11405 @table @code
11406 @kindex info static-tracepoint-markers
11407 @cindex information about static tracepoint markers
11408 @item info static-tracepoint-markers
11409 Display information about all static tracepoint markers defined in the
11410 program.
11411
11412 For each marker, the following columns are printed:
11413
11414 @table @emph
11415 @item Count
11416 An incrementing counter, output to help readability. This is not a
11417 stable identifier.
11418 @item ID
11419 The marker ID, as reported by the target.
11420 @item Enabled or Disabled
11421 Probed markers are tagged with @samp{y}. @samp{n} identifies marks
11422 that are not enabled.
11423 @item Address
11424 Where the marker is in your program, as a memory address.
11425 @item What
11426 Where the marker is in the source for your program, as a file and line
11427 number. If the debug information included in the program does not
11428 allow @value{GDBN} to locate the source of the marker, this column
11429 will be left blank.
11430 @end table
11431
11432 @noindent
11433 In addition, the following information may be printed for each marker:
11434
11435 @table @emph
11436 @item Data
11437 User data passed to the tracing library by the marker call. In the
11438 UST backend, this is the format string passed as argument to the
11439 marker call.
11440 @item Static tracepoints probing the marker
11441 The list of static tracepoints attached to the marker.
11442 @end table
11443
11444 @smallexample
11445 (@value{GDBP}) info static-tracepoint-markers
11446 Cnt ID Enb Address What
11447 1 ust/bar2 y 0x0000000000400e1a in main at stexample.c:25
11448 Data: number1 %d number2 %d
11449 Probed by static tracepoints: #2
11450 2 ust/bar33 n 0x0000000000400c87 in main at stexample.c:24
11451 Data: str %s
11452 (@value{GDBP})
11453 @end smallexample
11454 @end table
11455
11456 @node Starting and Stopping Trace Experiments
11457 @subsection Starting and Stopping Trace Experiments
11458
11459 @table @code
11460 @kindex tstart [ @var{notes} ]
11461 @cindex start a new trace experiment
11462 @cindex collected data discarded
11463 @item tstart
11464 This command starts the trace experiment, and begins collecting data.
11465 It has the side effect of discarding all the data collected in the
11466 trace buffer during the previous trace experiment. If any arguments
11467 are supplied, they are taken as a note and stored with the trace
11468 experiment's state. The notes may be arbitrary text, and are
11469 especially useful with disconnected tracing in a multi-user context;
11470 the notes can explain what the trace is doing, supply user contact
11471 information, and so forth.
11472
11473 @kindex tstop [ @var{notes} ]
11474 @cindex stop a running trace experiment
11475 @item tstop
11476 This command stops the trace experiment. If any arguments are
11477 supplied, they are recorded with the experiment as a note. This is
11478 useful if you are stopping a trace started by someone else, for
11479 instance if the trace is interfering with the system's behavior and
11480 needs to be stopped quickly.
11481
11482 @strong{Note}: a trace experiment and data collection may stop
11483 automatically if any tracepoint's passcount is reached
11484 (@pxref{Tracepoint Passcounts}), or if the trace buffer becomes full.
11485
11486 @kindex tstatus
11487 @cindex status of trace data collection
11488 @cindex trace experiment, status of
11489 @item tstatus
11490 This command displays the status of the current trace data
11491 collection.
11492 @end table
11493
11494 Here is an example of the commands we described so far:
11495
11496 @smallexample
11497 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace gdb_c_test}
11498 (@value{GDBP}) @b{actions}
11499 Enter actions for tracepoint #1, one per line.
11500 > collect $regs,$locals,$args
11501 > while-stepping 11
11502 > collect $regs
11503 > end
11504 > end
11505 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tstart}
11506 [time passes @dots{}]
11507 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tstop}
11508 @end smallexample
11509
11510 @anchor{disconnected tracing}
11511 @cindex disconnected tracing
11512 You can choose to continue running the trace experiment even if
11513 @value{GDBN} disconnects from the target, voluntarily or
11514 involuntarily. For commands such as @code{detach}, the debugger will
11515 ask what you want to do with the trace. But for unexpected
11516 terminations (@value{GDBN} crash, network outage), it would be
11517 unfortunate to lose hard-won trace data, so the variable
11518 @code{disconnected-tracing} lets you decide whether the trace should
11519 continue running without @value{GDBN}.
11520
11521 @table @code
11522 @item set disconnected-tracing on
11523 @itemx set disconnected-tracing off
11524 @kindex set disconnected-tracing
11525 Choose whether a tracing run should continue to run if @value{GDBN}
11526 has disconnected from the target. Note that @code{detach} or
11527 @code{quit} will ask you directly what to do about a running trace no
11528 matter what this variable's setting, so the variable is mainly useful
11529 for handling unexpected situations, such as loss of the network.
11530
11531 @item show disconnected-tracing
11532 @kindex show disconnected-tracing
11533 Show the current choice for disconnected tracing.
11534
11535 @end table
11536
11537 When you reconnect to the target, the trace experiment may or may not
11538 still be running; it might have filled the trace buffer in the
11539 meantime, or stopped for one of the other reasons. If it is running,
11540 it will continue after reconnection.
11541
11542 Upon reconnection, the target will upload information about the
11543 tracepoints in effect. @value{GDBN} will then compare that
11544 information to the set of tracepoints currently defined, and attempt
11545 to match them up, allowing for the possibility that the numbers may
11546 have changed due to creation and deletion in the meantime. If one of
11547 the target's tracepoints does not match any in @value{GDBN}, the
11548 debugger will create a new tracepoint, so that you have a number with
11549 which to specify that tracepoint. This matching-up process is
11550 necessarily heuristic, and it may result in useless tracepoints being
11551 created; you may simply delete them if they are of no use.
11552
11553 @cindex circular trace buffer
11554 If your target agent supports a @dfn{circular trace buffer}, then you
11555 can run a trace experiment indefinitely without filling the trace
11556 buffer; when space runs out, the agent deletes already-collected trace
11557 frames, oldest first, until there is enough room to continue
11558 collecting. This is especially useful if your tracepoints are being
11559 hit too often, and your trace gets terminated prematurely because the
11560 buffer is full. To ask for a circular trace buffer, simply set
11561 @samp{circular-trace-buffer} to on. You can set this at any time,
11562 including during tracing; if the agent can do it, it will change
11563 buffer handling on the fly, otherwise it will not take effect until
11564 the next run.
11565
11566 @table @code
11567 @item set circular-trace-buffer on
11568 @itemx set circular-trace-buffer off
11569 @kindex set circular-trace-buffer
11570 Choose whether a tracing run should use a linear or circular buffer
11571 for trace data. A linear buffer will not lose any trace data, but may
11572 fill up prematurely, while a circular buffer will discard old trace
11573 data, but it will have always room for the latest tracepoint hits.
11574
11575 @item show circular-trace-buffer
11576 @kindex show circular-trace-buffer
11577 Show the current choice for the trace buffer. Note that this may not
11578 match the agent's current buffer handling, nor is it guaranteed to
11579 match the setting that might have been in effect during a past run,
11580 for instance if you are looking at frames from a trace file.
11581
11582 @end table
11583
11584 @table @code
11585 @item set trace-user @var{text}
11586 @kindex set trace-user
11587
11588 @item show trace-user
11589 @kindex show trace-user
11590
11591 @item set trace-notes @var{text}
11592 @kindex set trace-notes
11593 Set the trace run's notes.
11594
11595 @item show trace-notes
11596 @kindex show trace-notes
11597 Show the trace run's notes.
11598
11599 @item set trace-stop-notes @var{text}
11600 @kindex set trace-stop-notes
11601 Set the trace run's stop notes. The handling of the note is as for
11602 @code{tstop} arguments; the set command is convenient way to fix a
11603 stop note that is mistaken or incomplete.
11604
11605 @item show trace-stop-notes
11606 @kindex show trace-stop-notes
11607 Show the trace run's stop notes.
11608
11609 @end table
11610
11611 @node Tracepoint Restrictions
11612 @subsection Tracepoint Restrictions
11613
11614 @cindex tracepoint restrictions
11615 There are a number of restrictions on the use of tracepoints. As
11616 described above, tracepoint data gathering occurs on the target
11617 without interaction from @value{GDBN}. Thus the full capabilities of
11618 the debugger are not available during data gathering, and then at data
11619 examination time, you will be limited by only having what was
11620 collected. The following items describe some common problems, but it
11621 is not exhaustive, and you may run into additional difficulties not
11622 mentioned here.
11623
11624 @itemize @bullet
11625
11626 @item
11627 Tracepoint expressions are intended to gather objects (lvalues). Thus
11628 the full flexibility of GDB's expression evaluator is not available.
11629 You cannot call functions, cast objects to aggregate types, access
11630 convenience variables or modify values (except by assignment to trace
11631 state variables). Some language features may implicitly call
11632 functions (for instance Objective-C fields with accessors), and therefore
11633 cannot be collected either.
11634
11635 @item
11636 Collection of local variables, either individually or in bulk with
11637 @code{$locals} or @code{$args}, during @code{while-stepping} may
11638 behave erratically. The stepping action may enter a new scope (for
11639 instance by stepping into a function), or the location of the variable
11640 may change (for instance it is loaded into a register). The
11641 tracepoint data recorded uses the location information for the
11642 variables that is correct for the tracepoint location. When the
11643 tracepoint is created, it is not possible, in general, to determine
11644 where the steps of a @code{while-stepping} sequence will advance the
11645 program---particularly if a conditional branch is stepped.
11646
11647 @item
11648 Collection of an incompletely-initialized or partially-destroyed object
11649 may result in something that @value{GDBN} cannot display, or displays
11650 in a misleading way.
11651
11652 @item
11653 When @value{GDBN} displays a pointer to character it automatically
11654 dereferences the pointer to also display characters of the string
11655 being pointed to. However, collecting the pointer during tracing does
11656 not automatically collect the string. You need to explicitly
11657 dereference the pointer and provide size information if you want to
11658 collect not only the pointer, but the memory pointed to. For example,
11659 @code{*ptr@@50} can be used to collect the 50 element array pointed to
11660 by @code{ptr}.
11661
11662 @item
11663 It is not possible to collect a complete stack backtrace at a
11664 tracepoint. Instead, you may collect the registers and a few hundred
11665 bytes from the stack pointer with something like @code{*(unsigned char *)$esp@@300}
11666 (adjust to use the name of the actual stack pointer register on your
11667 target architecture, and the amount of stack you wish to capture).
11668 Then the @code{backtrace} command will show a partial backtrace when
11669 using a trace frame. The number of stack frames that can be examined
11670 depends on the sizes of the frames in the collected stack. Note that
11671 if you ask for a block so large that it goes past the bottom of the
11672 stack, the target agent may report an error trying to read from an
11673 invalid address.
11674
11675 @item
11676 If you do not collect registers at a tracepoint, @value{GDBN} can
11677 infer that the value of @code{$pc} must be the same as the address of
11678 the tracepoint and use that when you are looking at a trace frame
11679 for that tracepoint. However, this cannot work if the tracepoint has
11680 multiple locations (for instance if it was set in a function that was
11681 inlined), or if it has a @code{while-stepping} loop. In those cases
11682 @value{GDBN} will warn you that it can't infer @code{$pc}, and default
11683 it to zero.
11684
11685 @end itemize
11686
11687 @node Analyze Collected Data
11688 @section Using the Collected Data
11689
11690 After the tracepoint experiment ends, you use @value{GDBN} commands
11691 for examining the trace data. The basic idea is that each tracepoint
11692 collects a trace @dfn{snapshot} every time it is hit and another
11693 snapshot every time it single-steps. All these snapshots are
11694 consecutively numbered from zero and go into a buffer, and you can
11695 examine them later. The way you examine them is to @dfn{focus} on a
11696 specific trace snapshot. When the remote stub is focused on a trace
11697 snapshot, it will respond to all @value{GDBN} requests for memory and
11698 registers by reading from the buffer which belongs to that snapshot,
11699 rather than from @emph{real} memory or registers of the program being
11700 debugged. This means that @strong{all} @value{GDBN} commands
11701 (@code{print}, @code{info registers}, @code{backtrace}, etc.) will
11702 behave as if we were currently debugging the program state as it was
11703 when the tracepoint occurred. Any requests for data that are not in
11704 the buffer will fail.
11705
11706 @menu
11707 * tfind:: How to select a trace snapshot
11708 * tdump:: How to display all data for a snapshot
11709 * save tracepoints:: How to save tracepoints for a future run
11710 @end menu
11711
11712 @node tfind
11713 @subsection @code{tfind @var{n}}
11714
11715 @kindex tfind
11716 @cindex select trace snapshot
11717 @cindex find trace snapshot
11718 The basic command for selecting a trace snapshot from the buffer is
11719 @code{tfind @var{n}}, which finds trace snapshot number @var{n},
11720 counting from zero. If no argument @var{n} is given, the next
11721 snapshot is selected.
11722
11723 Here are the various forms of using the @code{tfind} command.
11724
11725 @table @code
11726 @item tfind start
11727 Find the first snapshot in the buffer. This is a synonym for
11728 @code{tfind 0} (since 0 is the number of the first snapshot).
11729
11730 @item tfind none
11731 Stop debugging trace snapshots, resume @emph{live} debugging.
11732
11733 @item tfind end
11734 Same as @samp{tfind none}.
11735
11736 @item tfind
11737 No argument means find the next trace snapshot.
11738
11739 @item tfind -
11740 Find the previous trace snapshot before the current one. This permits
11741 retracing earlier steps.
11742
11743 @item tfind tracepoint @var{num}
11744 Find the next snapshot associated with tracepoint @var{num}. Search
11745 proceeds forward from the last examined trace snapshot. If no
11746 argument @var{num} is given, it means find the next snapshot collected
11747 for the same tracepoint as the current snapshot.
11748
11749 @item tfind pc @var{addr}
11750 Find the next snapshot associated with the value @var{addr} of the
11751 program counter. Search proceeds forward from the last examined trace
11752 snapshot. If no argument @var{addr} is given, it means find the next
11753 snapshot with the same value of PC as the current snapshot.
11754
11755 @item tfind outside @var{addr1}, @var{addr2}
11756 Find the next snapshot whose PC is outside the given range of
11757 addresses (exclusive).
11758
11759 @item tfind range @var{addr1}, @var{addr2}
11760 Find the next snapshot whose PC is between @var{addr1} and
11761 @var{addr2} (inclusive).
11762
11763 @item tfind line @r{[}@var{file}:@r{]}@var{n}
11764 Find the next snapshot associated with the source line @var{n}. If
11765 the optional argument @var{file} is given, refer to line @var{n} in
11766 that source file. Search proceeds forward from the last examined
11767 trace snapshot. If no argument @var{n} is given, it means find the
11768 next line other than the one currently being examined; thus saying
11769 @code{tfind line} repeatedly can appear to have the same effect as
11770 stepping from line to line in a @emph{live} debugging session.
11771 @end table
11772
11773 The default arguments for the @code{tfind} commands are specifically
11774 designed to make it easy to scan through the trace buffer. For
11775 instance, @code{tfind} with no argument selects the next trace
11776 snapshot, and @code{tfind -} with no argument selects the previous
11777 trace snapshot. So, by giving one @code{tfind} command, and then
11778 simply hitting @key{RET} repeatedly you can examine all the trace
11779 snapshots in order. Or, by saying @code{tfind -} and then hitting
11780 @key{RET} repeatedly you can examine the snapshots in reverse order.
11781 The @code{tfind line} command with no argument selects the snapshot
11782 for the next source line executed. The @code{tfind pc} command with
11783 no argument selects the next snapshot with the same program counter
11784 (PC) as the current frame. The @code{tfind tracepoint} command with
11785 no argument selects the next trace snapshot collected by the same
11786 tracepoint as the current one.
11787
11788 In addition to letting you scan through the trace buffer manually,
11789 these commands make it easy to construct @value{GDBN} scripts that
11790 scan through the trace buffer and print out whatever collected data
11791 you are interested in. Thus, if we want to examine the PC, FP, and SP
11792 registers from each trace frame in the buffer, we can say this:
11793
11794 @smallexample
11795 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tfind start}
11796 (@value{GDBP}) @b{while ($trace_frame != -1)}
11797 > printf "Frame %d, PC = %08X, SP = %08X, FP = %08X\n", \
11798 $trace_frame, $pc, $sp, $fp
11799 > tfind
11800 > end
11801
11802 Frame 0, PC = 0020DC64, SP = 0030BF3C, FP = 0030BF44
11803 Frame 1, PC = 0020DC6C, SP = 0030BF38, FP = 0030BF44
11804 Frame 2, PC = 0020DC70, SP = 0030BF34, FP = 0030BF44
11805 Frame 3, PC = 0020DC74, SP = 0030BF30, FP = 0030BF44
11806 Frame 4, PC = 0020DC78, SP = 0030BF2C, FP = 0030BF44
11807 Frame 5, PC = 0020DC7C, SP = 0030BF28, FP = 0030BF44
11808 Frame 6, PC = 0020DC80, SP = 0030BF24, FP = 0030BF44
11809 Frame 7, PC = 0020DC84, SP = 0030BF20, FP = 0030BF44
11810 Frame 8, PC = 0020DC88, SP = 0030BF1C, FP = 0030BF44
11811 Frame 9, PC = 0020DC8E, SP = 0030BF18, FP = 0030BF44
11812 Frame 10, PC = 00203F6C, SP = 0030BE3C, FP = 0030BF14
11813 @end smallexample
11814
11815 Or, if we want to examine the variable @code{X} at each source line in
11816 the buffer:
11817
11818 @smallexample
11819 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tfind start}
11820 (@value{GDBP}) @b{while ($trace_frame != -1)}
11821 > printf "Frame %d, X == %d\n", $trace_frame, X
11822 > tfind line
11823 > end
11824
11825 Frame 0, X = 1
11826 Frame 7, X = 2
11827 Frame 13, X = 255
11828 @end smallexample
11829
11830 @node tdump
11831 @subsection @code{tdump}
11832 @kindex tdump
11833 @cindex dump all data collected at tracepoint
11834 @cindex tracepoint data, display
11835
11836 This command takes no arguments. It prints all the data collected at
11837 the current trace snapshot.
11838
11839 @smallexample
11840 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace 444}
11841 (@value{GDBP}) @b{actions}
11842 Enter actions for tracepoint #2, one per line:
11843 > collect $regs, $locals, $args, gdb_long_test
11844 > end
11845
11846 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tstart}
11847
11848 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tfind line 444}
11849 #0 gdb_test (p1=0x11, p2=0x22, p3=0x33, p4=0x44, p5=0x55, p6=0x66)
11850 at gdb_test.c:444
11851 444 printp( "%s: arguments = 0x%X 0x%X 0x%X 0x%X 0x%X 0x%X\n", )
11852
11853 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tdump}
11854 Data collected at tracepoint 2, trace frame 1:
11855 d0 0xc4aa0085 -995491707
11856 d1 0x18 24
11857 d2 0x80 128
11858 d3 0x33 51
11859 d4 0x71aea3d 119204413
11860 d5 0x22 34
11861 d6 0xe0 224
11862 d7 0x380035 3670069
11863 a0 0x19e24a 1696330
11864 a1 0x3000668 50333288
11865 a2 0x100 256
11866 a3 0x322000 3284992
11867 a4 0x3000698 50333336
11868 a5 0x1ad3cc 1758156
11869 fp 0x30bf3c 0x30bf3c
11870 sp 0x30bf34 0x30bf34
11871 ps 0x0 0
11872 pc 0x20b2c8 0x20b2c8
11873 fpcontrol 0x0 0
11874 fpstatus 0x0 0
11875 fpiaddr 0x0 0
11876 p = 0x20e5b4 "gdb-test"
11877 p1 = (void *) 0x11
11878 p2 = (void *) 0x22
11879 p3 = (void *) 0x33
11880 p4 = (void *) 0x44
11881 p5 = (void *) 0x55
11882 p6 = (void *) 0x66
11883 gdb_long_test = 17 '\021'
11884
11885 (@value{GDBP})
11886 @end smallexample
11887
11888 @code{tdump} works by scanning the tracepoint's current collection
11889 actions and printing the value of each expression listed. So
11890 @code{tdump} can fail, if after a run, you change the tracepoint's
11891 actions to mention variables that were not collected during the run.
11892
11893 Also, for tracepoints with @code{while-stepping} loops, @code{tdump}
11894 uses the collected value of @code{$pc} to distinguish between trace
11895 frames that were collected at the tracepoint hit, and frames that were
11896 collected while stepping. This allows it to correctly choose whether
11897 to display the basic list of collections, or the collections from the
11898 body of the while-stepping loop. However, if @code{$pc} was not collected,
11899 then @code{tdump} will always attempt to dump using the basic collection
11900 list, and may fail if a while-stepping frame does not include all the
11901 same data that is collected at the tracepoint hit.
11902 @c This is getting pretty arcane, example would be good.
11903
11904 @node save tracepoints
11905 @subsection @code{save tracepoints @var{filename}}
11906 @kindex save tracepoints
11907 @kindex save-tracepoints
11908 @cindex save tracepoints for future sessions
11909
11910 This command saves all current tracepoint definitions together with
11911 their actions and passcounts, into a file @file{@var{filename}}
11912 suitable for use in a later debugging session. To read the saved
11913 tracepoint definitions, use the @code{source} command (@pxref{Command
11914 Files}). The @w{@code{save-tracepoints}} command is a deprecated
11915 alias for @w{@code{save tracepoints}}
11916
11917 @node Tracepoint Variables
11918 @section Convenience Variables for Tracepoints
11919 @cindex tracepoint variables
11920 @cindex convenience variables for tracepoints
11921
11922 @table @code
11923 @vindex $trace_frame
11924 @item (int) $trace_frame
11925 The current trace snapshot (a.k.a.@: @dfn{frame}) number, or -1 if no
11926 snapshot is selected.
11927
11928 @vindex $tracepoint
11929 @item (int) $tracepoint
11930 The tracepoint for the current trace snapshot.
11931
11932 @vindex $trace_line
11933 @item (int) $trace_line
11934 The line number for the current trace snapshot.
11935
11936 @vindex $trace_file
11937 @item (char []) $trace_file
11938 The source file for the current trace snapshot.
11939
11940 @vindex $trace_func
11941 @item (char []) $trace_func
11942 The name of the function containing @code{$tracepoint}.
11943 @end table
11944
11945 Note: @code{$trace_file} is not suitable for use in @code{printf},
11946 use @code{output} instead.
11947
11948 Here's a simple example of using these convenience variables for
11949 stepping through all the trace snapshots and printing some of their
11950 data. Note that these are not the same as trace state variables,
11951 which are managed by the target.
11952
11953 @smallexample
11954 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tfind start}
11955
11956 (@value{GDBP}) @b{while $trace_frame != -1}
11957 > output $trace_file
11958 > printf ", line %d (tracepoint #%d)\n", $trace_line, $tracepoint
11959 > tfind
11960 > end
11961 @end smallexample
11962
11963 @node Trace Files
11964 @section Using Trace Files
11965 @cindex trace files
11966
11967 In some situations, the target running a trace experiment may no
11968 longer be available; perhaps it crashed, or the hardware was needed
11969 for a different activity. To handle these cases, you can arrange to
11970 dump the trace data into a file, and later use that file as a source
11971 of trace data, via the @code{target tfile} command.
11972
11973 @table @code
11974
11975 @kindex tsave
11976 @item tsave [ -r ] @var{filename}
11977 Save the trace data to @var{filename}. By default, this command
11978 assumes that @var{filename} refers to the host filesystem, so if
11979 necessary @value{GDBN} will copy raw trace data up from the target and
11980 then save it. If the target supports it, you can also supply the
11981 optional argument @code{-r} (``remote'') to direct the target to save
11982 the data directly into @var{filename} in its own filesystem, which may be
11983 more efficient if the trace buffer is very large. (Note, however, that
11984 @code{target tfile} can only read from files accessible to the host.)
11985
11986 @kindex target tfile
11987 @kindex tfile
11988 @item target tfile @var{filename}
11989 Use the file named @var{filename} as a source of trace data. Commands
11990 that examine data work as they do with a live target, but it is not
11991 possible to run any new trace experiments. @code{tstatus} will report
11992 the state of the trace run at the moment the data was saved, as well
11993 as the current trace frame you are examining. @var{filename} must be
11994 on a filesystem accessible to the host.
11995
11996 @end table
11997
11998 @node Overlays
11999 @chapter Debugging Programs That Use Overlays
12000 @cindex overlays
12001
12002 If your program is too large to fit completely in your target system's
12003 memory, you can sometimes use @dfn{overlays} to work around this
12004 problem. @value{GDBN} provides some support for debugging programs that
12005 use overlays.
12006
12007 @menu
12008 * How Overlays Work:: A general explanation of overlays.
12009 * Overlay Commands:: Managing overlays in @value{GDBN}.
12010 * Automatic Overlay Debugging:: @value{GDBN} can find out which overlays are
12011 mapped by asking the inferior.
12012 * Overlay Sample Program:: A sample program using overlays.
12013 @end menu
12014
12015 @node How Overlays Work
12016 @section How Overlays Work
12017 @cindex mapped overlays
12018 @cindex unmapped overlays
12019 @cindex load address, overlay's
12020 @cindex mapped address
12021 @cindex overlay area
12022
12023 Suppose you have a computer whose instruction address space is only 64
12024 kilobytes long, but which has much more memory which can be accessed by
12025 other means: special instructions, segment registers, or memory
12026 management hardware, for example. Suppose further that you want to
12027 adapt a program which is larger than 64 kilobytes to run on this system.
12028
12029 One solution is to identify modules of your program which are relatively
12030 independent, and need not call each other directly; call these modules
12031 @dfn{overlays}. Separate the overlays from the main program, and place
12032 their machine code in the larger memory. Place your main program in
12033 instruction memory, but leave at least enough space there to hold the
12034 largest overlay as well.
12035
12036 Now, to call a function located in an overlay, you must first copy that
12037 overlay's machine code from the large memory into the space set aside
12038 for it in the instruction memory, and then jump to its entry point
12039 there.
12040
12041 @c NB: In the below the mapped area's size is greater or equal to the
12042 @c size of all overlays. This is intentional to remind the developer
12043 @c that overlays don't necessarily need to be the same size.
12044
12045 @smallexample
12046 @group
12047 Data Instruction Larger
12048 Address Space Address Space Address Space
12049 +-----------+ +-----------+ +-----------+
12050 | | | | | |
12051 +-----------+ +-----------+ +-----------+<-- overlay 1
12052 | program | | main | .----| overlay 1 | load address
12053 | variables | | program | | +-----------+
12054 | and heap | | | | | |
12055 +-----------+ | | | +-----------+<-- overlay 2
12056 | | +-----------+ | | | load address
12057 +-----------+ | | | .-| overlay 2 |
12058 | | | | | |
12059 mapped --->+-----------+ | | +-----------+
12060 address | | | | | |
12061 | overlay | <-' | | |
12062 | area | <---' +-----------+<-- overlay 3
12063 | | <---. | | load address
12064 +-----------+ `--| overlay 3 |
12065 | | | |
12066 +-----------+ | |
12067 +-----------+
12068 | |
12069 +-----------+
12070
12071 @anchor{A code overlay}A code overlay
12072 @end group
12073 @end smallexample
12074
12075 The diagram (@pxref{A code overlay}) shows a system with separate data
12076 and instruction address spaces. To map an overlay, the program copies
12077 its code from the larger address space to the instruction address space.
12078 Since the overlays shown here all use the same mapped address, only one
12079 may be mapped at a time. For a system with a single address space for
12080 data and instructions, the diagram would be similar, except that the
12081 program variables and heap would share an address space with the main
12082 program and the overlay area.
12083
12084 An overlay loaded into instruction memory and ready for use is called a
12085 @dfn{mapped} overlay; its @dfn{mapped address} is its address in the
12086 instruction memory. An overlay not present (or only partially present)
12087 in instruction memory is called @dfn{unmapped}; its @dfn{load address}
12088 is its address in the larger memory. The mapped address is also called
12089 the @dfn{virtual memory address}, or @dfn{VMA}; the load address is also
12090 called the @dfn{load memory address}, or @dfn{LMA}.
12091
12092 Unfortunately, overlays are not a completely transparent way to adapt a
12093 program to limited instruction memory. They introduce a new set of
12094 global constraints you must keep in mind as you design your program:
12095
12096 @itemize @bullet
12097
12098 @item
12099 Before calling or returning to a function in an overlay, your program
12100 must make sure that overlay is actually mapped. Otherwise, the call or
12101 return will transfer control to the right address, but in the wrong
12102 overlay, and your program will probably crash.
12103
12104 @item
12105 If the process of mapping an overlay is expensive on your system, you
12106 will need to choose your overlays carefully to minimize their effect on
12107 your program's performance.
12108
12109 @item
12110 The executable file you load onto your system must contain each
12111 overlay's instructions, appearing at the overlay's load address, not its
12112 mapped address. However, each overlay's instructions must be relocated
12113 and its symbols defined as if the overlay were at its mapped address.
12114 You can use GNU linker scripts to specify different load and relocation
12115 addresses for pieces of your program; see @ref{Overlay Description,,,
12116 ld.info, Using ld: the GNU linker}.
12117
12118 @item
12119 The procedure for loading executable files onto your system must be able
12120 to load their contents into the larger address space as well as the
12121 instruction and data spaces.
12122
12123 @end itemize
12124
12125 The overlay system described above is rather simple, and could be
12126 improved in many ways:
12127
12128 @itemize @bullet
12129
12130 @item
12131 If your system has suitable bank switch registers or memory management
12132 hardware, you could use those facilities to make an overlay's load area
12133 contents simply appear at their mapped address in instruction space.
12134 This would probably be faster than copying the overlay to its mapped
12135 area in the usual way.
12136
12137 @item
12138 If your overlays are small enough, you could set aside more than one
12139 overlay area, and have more than one overlay mapped at a time.
12140
12141 @item
12142 You can use overlays to manage data, as well as instructions. In
12143 general, data overlays are even less transparent to your design than
12144 code overlays: whereas code overlays only require care when you call or
12145 return to functions, data overlays require care every time you access
12146 the data. Also, if you change the contents of a data overlay, you
12147 must copy its contents back out to its load address before you can copy a
12148 different data overlay into the same mapped area.
12149
12150 @end itemize
12151
12152
12153 @node Overlay Commands
12154 @section Overlay Commands
12155
12156 To use @value{GDBN}'s overlay support, each overlay in your program must
12157 correspond to a separate section of the executable file. The section's
12158 virtual memory address and load memory address must be the overlay's
12159 mapped and load addresses. Identifying overlays with sections allows
12160 @value{GDBN} to determine the appropriate address of a function or
12161 variable, depending on whether the overlay is mapped or not.
12162
12163 @value{GDBN}'s overlay commands all start with the word @code{overlay};
12164 you can abbreviate this as @code{ov} or @code{ovly}. The commands are:
12165
12166 @table @code
12167 @item overlay off
12168 @kindex overlay
12169 Disable @value{GDBN}'s overlay support. When overlay support is
12170 disabled, @value{GDBN} assumes that all functions and variables are
12171 always present at their mapped addresses. By default, @value{GDBN}'s
12172 overlay support is disabled.
12173
12174 @item overlay manual
12175 @cindex manual overlay debugging
12176 Enable @dfn{manual} overlay debugging. In this mode, @value{GDBN}
12177 relies on you to tell it which overlays are mapped, and which are not,
12178 using the @code{overlay map-overlay} and @code{overlay unmap-overlay}
12179 commands described below.
12180
12181 @item overlay map-overlay @var{overlay}
12182 @itemx overlay map @var{overlay}
12183 @cindex map an overlay
12184 Tell @value{GDBN} that @var{overlay} is now mapped; @var{overlay} must
12185 be the name of the object file section containing the overlay. When an
12186 overlay is mapped, @value{GDBN} assumes it can find the overlay's
12187 functions and variables at their mapped addresses. @value{GDBN} assumes
12188 that any other overlays whose mapped ranges overlap that of
12189 @var{overlay} are now unmapped.
12190
12191 @item overlay unmap-overlay @var{overlay}
12192 @itemx overlay unmap @var{overlay}
12193 @cindex unmap an overlay
12194 Tell @value{GDBN} that @var{overlay} is no longer mapped; @var{overlay}
12195 must be the name of the object file section containing the overlay.
12196 When an overlay is unmapped, @value{GDBN} assumes it can find the
12197 overlay's functions and variables at their load addresses.
12198
12199 @item overlay auto
12200 Enable @dfn{automatic} overlay debugging. In this mode, @value{GDBN}
12201 consults a data structure the overlay manager maintains in the inferior
12202 to see which overlays are mapped. For details, see @ref{Automatic
12203 Overlay Debugging}.
12204
12205 @item overlay load-target
12206 @itemx overlay load
12207 @cindex reloading the overlay table
12208 Re-read the overlay table from the inferior. Normally, @value{GDBN}
12209 re-reads the table @value{GDBN} automatically each time the inferior
12210 stops, so this command should only be necessary if you have changed the
12211 overlay mapping yourself using @value{GDBN}. This command is only
12212 useful when using automatic overlay debugging.
12213
12214 @item overlay list-overlays
12215 @itemx overlay list
12216 @cindex listing mapped overlays
12217 Display a list of the overlays currently mapped, along with their mapped
12218 addresses, load addresses, and sizes.
12219
12220 @end table
12221
12222 Normally, when @value{GDBN} prints a code address, it includes the name
12223 of the function the address falls in:
12224
12225 @smallexample
12226 (@value{GDBP}) print main
12227 $3 = @{int ()@} 0x11a0 <main>
12228 @end smallexample
12229 @noindent
12230 When overlay debugging is enabled, @value{GDBN} recognizes code in
12231 unmapped overlays, and prints the names of unmapped functions with
12232 asterisks around them. For example, if @code{foo} is a function in an
12233 unmapped overlay, @value{GDBN} prints it this way:
12234
12235 @smallexample
12236 (@value{GDBP}) overlay list
12237 No sections are mapped.
12238 (@value{GDBP}) print foo
12239 $5 = @{int (int)@} 0x100000 <*foo*>
12240 @end smallexample
12241 @noindent
12242 When @code{foo}'s overlay is mapped, @value{GDBN} prints the function's
12243 name normally:
12244
12245 @smallexample
12246 (@value{GDBP}) overlay list
12247 Section .ov.foo.text, loaded at 0x100000 - 0x100034,
12248 mapped at 0x1016 - 0x104a
12249 (@value{GDBP}) print foo
12250 $6 = @{int (int)@} 0x1016 <foo>
12251 @end smallexample
12252
12253 When overlay debugging is enabled, @value{GDBN} can find the correct
12254 address for functions and variables in an overlay, whether or not the
12255 overlay is mapped. This allows most @value{GDBN} commands, like
12256 @code{break} and @code{disassemble}, to work normally, even on unmapped
12257 code. However, @value{GDBN}'s breakpoint support has some limitations:
12258
12259 @itemize @bullet
12260 @item
12261 @cindex breakpoints in overlays
12262 @cindex overlays, setting breakpoints in
12263 You can set breakpoints in functions in unmapped overlays, as long as
12264 @value{GDBN} can write to the overlay at its load address.
12265 @item
12266 @value{GDBN} can not set hardware or simulator-based breakpoints in
12267 unmapped overlays. However, if you set a breakpoint at the end of your
12268 overlay manager (and tell @value{GDBN} which overlays are now mapped, if
12269 you are using manual overlay management), @value{GDBN} will re-set its
12270 breakpoints properly.
12271 @end itemize
12272
12273
12274 @node Automatic Overlay Debugging
12275 @section Automatic Overlay Debugging
12276 @cindex automatic overlay debugging
12277
12278 @value{GDBN} can automatically track which overlays are mapped and which
12279 are not, given some simple co-operation from the overlay manager in the
12280 inferior. If you enable automatic overlay debugging with the
12281 @code{overlay auto} command (@pxref{Overlay Commands}), @value{GDBN}
12282 looks in the inferior's memory for certain variables describing the
12283 current state of the overlays.
12284
12285 Here are the variables your overlay manager must define to support
12286 @value{GDBN}'s automatic overlay debugging:
12287
12288 @table @asis
12289
12290 @item @code{_ovly_table}:
12291 This variable must be an array of the following structures:
12292
12293 @smallexample
12294 struct
12295 @{
12296 /* The overlay's mapped address. */
12297 unsigned long vma;
12298
12299 /* The size of the overlay, in bytes. */
12300 unsigned long size;
12301
12302 /* The overlay's load address. */
12303 unsigned long lma;
12304
12305 /* Non-zero if the overlay is currently mapped;
12306 zero otherwise. */
12307 unsigned long mapped;
12308 @}
12309 @end smallexample
12310
12311 @item @code{_novlys}:
12312 This variable must be a four-byte signed integer, holding the total
12313 number of elements in @code{_ovly_table}.
12314
12315 @end table
12316
12317 To decide whether a particular overlay is mapped or not, @value{GDBN}
12318 looks for an entry in @w{@code{_ovly_table}} whose @code{vma} and
12319 @code{lma} members equal the VMA and LMA of the overlay's section in the
12320 executable file. When @value{GDBN} finds a matching entry, it consults
12321 the entry's @code{mapped} member to determine whether the overlay is
12322 currently mapped.
12323
12324 In addition, your overlay manager may define a function called
12325 @code{_ovly_debug_event}. If this function is defined, @value{GDBN}
12326 will silently set a breakpoint there. If the overlay manager then
12327 calls this function whenever it has changed the overlay table, this
12328 will enable @value{GDBN} to accurately keep track of which overlays
12329 are in program memory, and update any breakpoints that may be set
12330 in overlays. This will allow breakpoints to work even if the
12331 overlays are kept in ROM or other non-writable memory while they
12332 are not being executed.
12333
12334 @node Overlay Sample Program
12335 @section Overlay Sample Program
12336 @cindex overlay example program
12337
12338 When linking a program which uses overlays, you must place the overlays
12339 at their load addresses, while relocating them to run at their mapped
12340 addresses. To do this, you must write a linker script (@pxref{Overlay
12341 Description,,, ld.info, Using ld: the GNU linker}). Unfortunately,
12342 since linker scripts are specific to a particular host system, target
12343 architecture, and target memory layout, this manual cannot provide
12344 portable sample code demonstrating @value{GDBN}'s overlay support.
12345
12346 However, the @value{GDBN} source distribution does contain an overlaid
12347 program, with linker scripts for a few systems, as part of its test
12348 suite. The program consists of the following files from
12349 @file{gdb/testsuite/gdb.base}:
12350
12351 @table @file
12352 @item overlays.c
12353 The main program file.
12354 @item ovlymgr.c
12355 A simple overlay manager, used by @file{overlays.c}.
12356 @item foo.c
12357 @itemx bar.c
12358 @itemx baz.c
12359 @itemx grbx.c
12360 Overlay modules, loaded and used by @file{overlays.c}.
12361 @item d10v.ld
12362 @itemx m32r.ld
12363 Linker scripts for linking the test program on the @code{d10v-elf}
12364 and @code{m32r-elf} targets.
12365 @end table
12366
12367 You can build the test program using the @code{d10v-elf} GCC
12368 cross-compiler like this:
12369
12370 @smallexample
12371 $ d10v-elf-gcc -g -c overlays.c
12372 $ d10v-elf-gcc -g -c ovlymgr.c
12373 $ d10v-elf-gcc -g -c foo.c
12374 $ d10v-elf-gcc -g -c bar.c
12375 $ d10v-elf-gcc -g -c baz.c
12376 $ d10v-elf-gcc -g -c grbx.c
12377 $ d10v-elf-gcc -g overlays.o ovlymgr.o foo.o bar.o \
12378 baz.o grbx.o -Wl,-Td10v.ld -o overlays
12379 @end smallexample
12380
12381 The build process is identical for any other architecture, except that
12382 you must substitute the appropriate compiler and linker script for the
12383 target system for @code{d10v-elf-gcc} and @code{d10v.ld}.
12384
12385
12386 @node Languages
12387 @chapter Using @value{GDBN} with Different Languages
12388 @cindex languages
12389
12390 Although programming languages generally have common aspects, they are
12391 rarely expressed in the same manner. For instance, in ANSI C,
12392 dereferencing a pointer @code{p} is accomplished by @code{*p}, but in
12393 Modula-2, it is accomplished by @code{p^}. Values can also be
12394 represented (and displayed) differently. Hex numbers in C appear as
12395 @samp{0x1ae}, while in Modula-2 they appear as @samp{1AEH}.
12396
12397 @cindex working language
12398 Language-specific information is built into @value{GDBN} for some languages,
12399 allowing you to express operations like the above in your program's
12400 native language, and allowing @value{GDBN} to output values in a manner
12401 consistent with the syntax of your program's native language. The
12402 language you use to build expressions is called the @dfn{working
12403 language}.
12404
12405 @menu
12406 * Setting:: Switching between source languages
12407 * Show:: Displaying the language
12408 * Checks:: Type and range checks
12409 * Supported Languages:: Supported languages
12410 * Unsupported Languages:: Unsupported languages
12411 @end menu
12412
12413 @node Setting
12414 @section Switching Between Source Languages
12415
12416 There are two ways to control the working language---either have @value{GDBN}
12417 set it automatically, or select it manually yourself. You can use the
12418 @code{set language} command for either purpose. On startup, @value{GDBN}
12419 defaults to setting the language automatically. The working language is
12420 used to determine how expressions you type are interpreted, how values
12421 are printed, etc.
12422
12423 In addition to the working language, every source file that
12424 @value{GDBN} knows about has its own working language. For some object
12425 file formats, the compiler might indicate which language a particular
12426 source file is in. However, most of the time @value{GDBN} infers the
12427 language from the name of the file. The language of a source file
12428 controls whether C@t{++} names are demangled---this way @code{backtrace} can
12429 show each frame appropriately for its own language. There is no way to
12430 set the language of a source file from within @value{GDBN}, but you can
12431 set the language associated with a filename extension. @xref{Show, ,
12432 Displaying the Language}.
12433
12434 This is most commonly a problem when you use a program, such
12435 as @code{cfront} or @code{f2c}, that generates C but is written in
12436 another language. In that case, make the
12437 program use @code{#line} directives in its C output; that way
12438 @value{GDBN} will know the correct language of the source code of the original
12439 program, and will display that source code, not the generated C code.
12440
12441 @menu
12442 * Filenames:: Filename extensions and languages.
12443 * Manually:: Setting the working language manually
12444 * Automatically:: Having @value{GDBN} infer the source language
12445 @end menu
12446
12447 @node Filenames
12448 @subsection List of Filename Extensions and Languages
12449
12450 If a source file name ends in one of the following extensions, then
12451 @value{GDBN} infers that its language is the one indicated.
12452
12453 @table @file
12454 @item .ada
12455 @itemx .ads
12456 @itemx .adb
12457 @itemx .a
12458 Ada source file.
12459
12460 @item .c
12461 C source file
12462
12463 @item .C
12464 @itemx .cc
12465 @itemx .cp
12466 @itemx .cpp
12467 @itemx .cxx
12468 @itemx .c++
12469 C@t{++} source file
12470
12471 @item .d
12472 D source file
12473
12474 @item .m
12475 Objective-C source file
12476
12477 @item .f
12478 @itemx .F
12479 Fortran source file
12480
12481 @item .mod
12482 Modula-2 source file
12483
12484 @item .s
12485 @itemx .S
12486 Assembler source file. This actually behaves almost like C, but
12487 @value{GDBN} does not skip over function prologues when stepping.
12488 @end table
12489
12490 In addition, you may set the language associated with a filename
12491 extension. @xref{Show, , Displaying the Language}.
12492
12493 @node Manually
12494 @subsection Setting the Working Language
12495
12496 If you allow @value{GDBN} to set the language automatically,
12497 expressions are interpreted the same way in your debugging session and
12498 your program.
12499
12500 @kindex set language
12501 If you wish, you may set the language manually. To do this, issue the
12502 command @samp{set language @var{lang}}, where @var{lang} is the name of
12503 a language, such as
12504 @code{c} or @code{modula-2}.
12505 For a list of the supported languages, type @samp{set language}.
12506
12507 Setting the language manually prevents @value{GDBN} from updating the working
12508 language automatically. This can lead to confusion if you try
12509 to debug a program when the working language is not the same as the
12510 source language, when an expression is acceptable to both
12511 languages---but means different things. For instance, if the current
12512 source file were written in C, and @value{GDBN} was parsing Modula-2, a
12513 command such as:
12514
12515 @smallexample
12516 print a = b + c
12517 @end smallexample
12518
12519 @noindent
12520 might not have the effect you intended. In C, this means to add
12521 @code{b} and @code{c} and place the result in @code{a}. The result
12522 printed would be the value of @code{a}. In Modula-2, this means to compare
12523 @code{a} to the result of @code{b+c}, yielding a @code{BOOLEAN} value.
12524
12525 @node Automatically
12526 @subsection Having @value{GDBN} Infer the Source Language
12527
12528 To have @value{GDBN} set the working language automatically, use
12529 @samp{set language local} or @samp{set language auto}. @value{GDBN}
12530 then infers the working language. That is, when your program stops in a
12531 frame (usually by encountering a breakpoint), @value{GDBN} sets the
12532 working language to the language recorded for the function in that
12533 frame. If the language for a frame is unknown (that is, if the function
12534 or block corresponding to the frame was defined in a source file that
12535 does not have a recognized extension), the current working language is
12536 not changed, and @value{GDBN} issues a warning.
12537
12538 This may not seem necessary for most programs, which are written
12539 entirely in one source language. However, program modules and libraries
12540 written in one source language can be used by a main program written in
12541 a different source language. Using @samp{set language auto} in this
12542 case frees you from having to set the working language manually.
12543
12544 @node Show
12545 @section Displaying the Language
12546
12547 The following commands help you find out which language is the
12548 working language, and also what language source files were written in.
12549
12550 @table @code
12551 @item show language
12552 @kindex show language
12553 Display the current working language. This is the
12554 language you can use with commands such as @code{print} to
12555 build and compute expressions that may involve variables in your program.
12556
12557 @item info frame
12558 @kindex info frame@r{, show the source language}
12559 Display the source language for this frame. This language becomes the
12560 working language if you use an identifier from this frame.
12561 @xref{Frame Info, ,Information about a Frame}, to identify the other
12562 information listed here.
12563
12564 @item info source
12565 @kindex info source@r{, show the source language}
12566 Display the source language of this source file.
12567 @xref{Symbols, ,Examining the Symbol Table}, to identify the other
12568 information listed here.
12569 @end table
12570
12571 In unusual circumstances, you may have source files with extensions
12572 not in the standard list. You can then set the extension associated
12573 with a language explicitly:
12574
12575 @table @code
12576 @item set extension-language @var{ext} @var{language}
12577 @kindex set extension-language
12578 Tell @value{GDBN} that source files with extension @var{ext} are to be
12579 assumed as written in the source language @var{language}.
12580
12581 @item info extensions
12582 @kindex info extensions
12583 List all the filename extensions and the associated languages.
12584 @end table
12585
12586 @node Checks
12587 @section Type and Range Checking
12588
12589 @quotation
12590 @emph{Warning:} In this release, the @value{GDBN} commands for type and range
12591 checking are included, but they do not yet have any effect. This
12592 section documents the intended facilities.
12593 @end quotation
12594 @c FIXME remove warning when type/range code added
12595
12596 Some languages are designed to guard you against making seemingly common
12597 errors through a series of compile- and run-time checks. These include
12598 checking the type of arguments to functions and operators, and making
12599 sure mathematical overflows are caught at run time. Checks such as
12600 these help to ensure a program's correctness once it has been compiled
12601 by eliminating type mismatches, and providing active checks for range
12602 errors when your program is running.
12603
12604 @value{GDBN} can check for conditions like the above if you wish.
12605 Although @value{GDBN} does not check the statements in your program,
12606 it can check expressions entered directly into @value{GDBN} for
12607 evaluation via the @code{print} command, for example. As with the
12608 working language, @value{GDBN} can also decide whether or not to check
12609 automatically based on your program's source language.
12610 @xref{Supported Languages, ,Supported Languages}, for the default
12611 settings of supported languages.
12612
12613 @menu
12614 * Type Checking:: An overview of type checking
12615 * Range Checking:: An overview of range checking
12616 @end menu
12617
12618 @cindex type checking
12619 @cindex checks, type
12620 @node Type Checking
12621 @subsection An Overview of Type Checking
12622
12623 Some languages, such as Modula-2, are strongly typed, meaning that the
12624 arguments to operators and functions have to be of the correct type,
12625 otherwise an error occurs. These checks prevent type mismatch
12626 errors from ever causing any run-time problems. For example,
12627
12628 @smallexample
12629 1 + 2 @result{} 3
12630 @exdent but
12631 @error{} 1 + 2.3
12632 @end smallexample
12633
12634 The second example fails because the @code{CARDINAL} 1 is not
12635 type-compatible with the @code{REAL} 2.3.
12636
12637 For the expressions you use in @value{GDBN} commands, you can tell the
12638 @value{GDBN} type checker to skip checking;
12639 to treat any mismatches as errors and abandon the expression;
12640 or to only issue warnings when type mismatches occur,
12641 but evaluate the expression anyway. When you choose the last of
12642 these, @value{GDBN} evaluates expressions like the second example above, but
12643 also issues a warning.
12644
12645 Even if you turn type checking off, there may be other reasons
12646 related to type that prevent @value{GDBN} from evaluating an expression.
12647 For instance, @value{GDBN} does not know how to add an @code{int} and
12648 a @code{struct foo}. These particular type errors have nothing to do
12649 with the language in use, and usually arise from expressions, such as
12650 the one described above, which make little sense to evaluate anyway.
12651
12652 Each language defines to what degree it is strict about type. For
12653 instance, both Modula-2 and C require the arguments to arithmetical
12654 operators to be numbers. In C, enumerated types and pointers can be
12655 represented as numbers, so that they are valid arguments to mathematical
12656 operators. @xref{Supported Languages, ,Supported Languages}, for further
12657 details on specific languages.
12658
12659 @value{GDBN} provides some additional commands for controlling the type checker:
12660
12661 @kindex set check type
12662 @kindex show check type
12663 @table @code
12664 @item set check type auto
12665 Set type checking on or off based on the current working language.
12666 @xref{Supported Languages, ,Supported Languages}, for the default settings for
12667 each language.
12668
12669 @item set check type on
12670 @itemx set check type off
12671 Set type checking on or off, overriding the default setting for the
12672 current working language. Issue a warning if the setting does not
12673 match the language default. If any type mismatches occur in
12674 evaluating an expression while type checking is on, @value{GDBN} prints a
12675 message and aborts evaluation of the expression.
12676
12677 @item set check type warn
12678 Cause the type checker to issue warnings, but to always attempt to
12679 evaluate the expression. Evaluating the expression may still
12680 be impossible for other reasons. For example, @value{GDBN} cannot add
12681 numbers and structures.
12682
12683 @item show type
12684 Show the current setting of the type checker, and whether or not @value{GDBN}
12685 is setting it automatically.
12686 @end table
12687
12688 @cindex range checking
12689 @cindex checks, range
12690 @node Range Checking
12691 @subsection An Overview of Range Checking
12692
12693 In some languages (such as Modula-2), it is an error to exceed the
12694 bounds of a type; this is enforced with run-time checks. Such range
12695 checking is meant to ensure program correctness by making sure
12696 computations do not overflow, or indices on an array element access do
12697 not exceed the bounds of the array.
12698
12699 For expressions you use in @value{GDBN} commands, you can tell
12700 @value{GDBN} to treat range errors in one of three ways: ignore them,
12701 always treat them as errors and abandon the expression, or issue
12702 warnings but evaluate the expression anyway.
12703
12704 A range error can result from numerical overflow, from exceeding an
12705 array index bound, or when you type a constant that is not a member
12706 of any type. Some languages, however, do not treat overflows as an
12707 error. In many implementations of C, mathematical overflow causes the
12708 result to ``wrap around'' to lower values---for example, if @var{m} is
12709 the largest integer value, and @var{s} is the smallest, then
12710
12711 @smallexample
12712 @var{m} + 1 @result{} @var{s}
12713 @end smallexample
12714
12715 This, too, is specific to individual languages, and in some cases
12716 specific to individual compilers or machines. @xref{Supported Languages, ,
12717 Supported Languages}, for further details on specific languages.
12718
12719 @value{GDBN} provides some additional commands for controlling the range checker:
12720
12721 @kindex set check range
12722 @kindex show check range
12723 @table @code
12724 @item set check range auto
12725 Set range checking on or off based on the current working language.
12726 @xref{Supported Languages, ,Supported Languages}, for the default settings for
12727 each language.
12728
12729 @item set check range on
12730 @itemx set check range off
12731 Set range checking on or off, overriding the default setting for the
12732 current working language. A warning is issued if the setting does not
12733 match the language default. If a range error occurs and range checking is on,
12734 then a message is printed and evaluation of the expression is aborted.
12735
12736 @item set check range warn
12737 Output messages when the @value{GDBN} range checker detects a range error,
12738 but attempt to evaluate the expression anyway. Evaluating the
12739 expression may still be impossible for other reasons, such as accessing
12740 memory that the process does not own (a typical example from many Unix
12741 systems).
12742
12743 @item show range
12744 Show the current setting of the range checker, and whether or not it is
12745 being set automatically by @value{GDBN}.
12746 @end table
12747
12748 @node Supported Languages
12749 @section Supported Languages
12750
12751 @value{GDBN} supports C, C@t{++}, D, Go, Objective-C, Fortran, Java,
12752 OpenCL C, Pascal, assembly, Modula-2, and Ada.
12753 @c This is false ...
12754 Some @value{GDBN} features may be used in expressions regardless of the
12755 language you use: the @value{GDBN} @code{@@} and @code{::} operators,
12756 and the @samp{@{type@}addr} construct (@pxref{Expressions,
12757 ,Expressions}) can be used with the constructs of any supported
12758 language.
12759
12760 The following sections detail to what degree each source language is
12761 supported by @value{GDBN}. These sections are not meant to be language
12762 tutorials or references, but serve only as a reference guide to what the
12763 @value{GDBN} expression parser accepts, and what input and output
12764 formats should look like for different languages. There are many good
12765 books written on each of these languages; please look to these for a
12766 language reference or tutorial.
12767
12768 @menu
12769 * C:: C and C@t{++}
12770 * D:: D
12771 * Go:: Go
12772 * Objective-C:: Objective-C
12773 * OpenCL C:: OpenCL C
12774 * Fortran:: Fortran
12775 * Pascal:: Pascal
12776 * Modula-2:: Modula-2
12777 * Ada:: Ada
12778 @end menu
12779
12780 @node C
12781 @subsection C and C@t{++}
12782
12783 @cindex C and C@t{++}
12784 @cindex expressions in C or C@t{++}
12785
12786 Since C and C@t{++} are so closely related, many features of @value{GDBN} apply
12787 to both languages. Whenever this is the case, we discuss those languages
12788 together.
12789
12790 @cindex C@t{++}
12791 @cindex @code{g++}, @sc{gnu} C@t{++} compiler
12792 @cindex @sc{gnu} C@t{++}
12793 The C@t{++} debugging facilities are jointly implemented by the C@t{++}
12794 compiler and @value{GDBN}. Therefore, to debug your C@t{++} code
12795 effectively, you must compile your C@t{++} programs with a supported
12796 C@t{++} compiler, such as @sc{gnu} @code{g++}, or the HP ANSI C@t{++}
12797 compiler (@code{aCC}).
12798
12799 @menu
12800 * C Operators:: C and C@t{++} operators
12801 * C Constants:: C and C@t{++} constants
12802 * C Plus Plus Expressions:: C@t{++} expressions
12803 * C Defaults:: Default settings for C and C@t{++}
12804 * C Checks:: C and C@t{++} type and range checks
12805 * Debugging C:: @value{GDBN} and C
12806 * Debugging C Plus Plus:: @value{GDBN} features for C@t{++}
12807 * Decimal Floating Point:: Numbers in Decimal Floating Point format
12808 @end menu
12809
12810 @node C Operators
12811 @subsubsection C and C@t{++} Operators
12812
12813 @cindex C and C@t{++} operators
12814
12815 Operators must be defined on values of specific types. For instance,
12816 @code{+} is defined on numbers, but not on structures. Operators are
12817 often defined on groups of types.
12818
12819 For the purposes of C and C@t{++}, the following definitions hold:
12820
12821 @itemize @bullet
12822
12823 @item
12824 @emph{Integral types} include @code{int} with any of its storage-class
12825 specifiers; @code{char}; @code{enum}; and, for C@t{++}, @code{bool}.
12826
12827 @item
12828 @emph{Floating-point types} include @code{float}, @code{double}, and
12829 @code{long double} (if supported by the target platform).
12830
12831 @item
12832 @emph{Pointer types} include all types defined as @code{(@var{type} *)}.
12833
12834 @item
12835 @emph{Scalar types} include all of the above.
12836
12837 @end itemize
12838
12839 @noindent
12840 The following operators are supported. They are listed here
12841 in order of increasing precedence:
12842
12843 @table @code
12844 @item ,
12845 The comma or sequencing operator. Expressions in a comma-separated list
12846 are evaluated from left to right, with the result of the entire
12847 expression being the last expression evaluated.
12848
12849 @item =
12850 Assignment. The value of an assignment expression is the value
12851 assigned. Defined on scalar types.
12852
12853 @item @var{op}=
12854 Used in an expression of the form @w{@code{@var{a} @var{op}= @var{b}}},
12855 and translated to @w{@code{@var{a} = @var{a op b}}}.
12856 @w{@code{@var{op}=}} and @code{=} have the same precedence.
12857 @var{op} is any one of the operators @code{|}, @code{^}, @code{&},
12858 @code{<<}, @code{>>}, @code{+}, @code{-}, @code{*}, @code{/}, @code{%}.
12859
12860 @item ?:
12861 The ternary operator. @code{@var{a} ? @var{b} : @var{c}} can be thought
12862 of as: if @var{a} then @var{b} else @var{c}. @var{a} should be of an
12863 integral type.
12864
12865 @item ||
12866 Logical @sc{or}. Defined on integral types.
12867
12868 @item &&
12869 Logical @sc{and}. Defined on integral types.
12870
12871 @item |
12872 Bitwise @sc{or}. Defined on integral types.
12873
12874 @item ^
12875 Bitwise exclusive-@sc{or}. Defined on integral types.
12876
12877 @item &
12878 Bitwise @sc{and}. Defined on integral types.
12879
12880 @item ==@r{, }!=
12881 Equality and inequality. Defined on scalar types. The value of these
12882 expressions is 0 for false and non-zero for true.
12883
12884 @item <@r{, }>@r{, }<=@r{, }>=
12885 Less than, greater than, less than or equal, greater than or equal.
12886 Defined on scalar types. The value of these expressions is 0 for false
12887 and non-zero for true.
12888
12889 @item <<@r{, }>>
12890 left shift, and right shift. Defined on integral types.
12891
12892 @item @@
12893 The @value{GDBN} ``artificial array'' operator (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}).
12894
12895 @item +@r{, }-
12896 Addition and subtraction. Defined on integral types, floating-point types and
12897 pointer types.
12898
12899 @item *@r{, }/@r{, }%
12900 Multiplication, division, and modulus. Multiplication and division are
12901 defined on integral and floating-point types. Modulus is defined on
12902 integral types.
12903
12904 @item ++@r{, }--
12905 Increment and decrement. When appearing before a variable, the
12906 operation is performed before the variable is used in an expression;
12907 when appearing after it, the variable's value is used before the
12908 operation takes place.
12909
12910 @item *
12911 Pointer dereferencing. Defined on pointer types. Same precedence as
12912 @code{++}.
12913
12914 @item &
12915 Address operator. Defined on variables. Same precedence as @code{++}.
12916
12917 For debugging C@t{++}, @value{GDBN} implements a use of @samp{&} beyond what is
12918 allowed in the C@t{++} language itself: you can use @samp{&(&@var{ref})}
12919 to examine the address
12920 where a C@t{++} reference variable (declared with @samp{&@var{ref}}) is
12921 stored.
12922
12923 @item -
12924 Negative. Defined on integral and floating-point types. Same
12925 precedence as @code{++}.
12926
12927 @item !
12928 Logical negation. Defined on integral types. Same precedence as
12929 @code{++}.
12930
12931 @item ~
12932 Bitwise complement operator. Defined on integral types. Same precedence as
12933 @code{++}.
12934
12935
12936 @item .@r{, }->
12937 Structure member, and pointer-to-structure member. For convenience,
12938 @value{GDBN} regards the two as equivalent, choosing whether to dereference a
12939 pointer based on the stored type information.
12940 Defined on @code{struct} and @code{union} data.
12941
12942 @item .*@r{, }->*
12943 Dereferences of pointers to members.
12944
12945 @item []
12946 Array indexing. @code{@var{a}[@var{i}]} is defined as
12947 @code{*(@var{a}+@var{i})}. Same precedence as @code{->}.
12948
12949 @item ()
12950 Function parameter list. Same precedence as @code{->}.
12951
12952 @item ::
12953 C@t{++} scope resolution operator. Defined on @code{struct}, @code{union},
12954 and @code{class} types.
12955
12956 @item ::
12957 Doubled colons also represent the @value{GDBN} scope operator
12958 (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}). Same precedence as @code{::},
12959 above.
12960 @end table
12961
12962 If an operator is redefined in the user code, @value{GDBN} usually
12963 attempts to invoke the redefined version instead of using the operator's
12964 predefined meaning.
12965
12966 @node C Constants
12967 @subsubsection C and C@t{++} Constants
12968
12969 @cindex C and C@t{++} constants
12970
12971 @value{GDBN} allows you to express the constants of C and C@t{++} in the
12972 following ways:
12973
12974 @itemize @bullet
12975 @item
12976 Integer constants are a sequence of digits. Octal constants are
12977 specified by a leading @samp{0} (i.e.@: zero), and hexadecimal constants
12978 by a leading @samp{0x} or @samp{0X}. Constants may also end with a letter
12979 @samp{l}, specifying that the constant should be treated as a
12980 @code{long} value.
12981
12982 @item
12983 Floating point constants are a sequence of digits, followed by a decimal
12984 point, followed by a sequence of digits, and optionally followed by an
12985 exponent. An exponent is of the form:
12986 @samp{@w{e@r{[[}+@r{]|}-@r{]}@var{nnn}}}, where @var{nnn} is another
12987 sequence of digits. The @samp{+} is optional for positive exponents.
12988 A floating-point constant may also end with a letter @samp{f} or
12989 @samp{F}, specifying that the constant should be treated as being of
12990 the @code{float} (as opposed to the default @code{double}) type; or with
12991 a letter @samp{l} or @samp{L}, which specifies a @code{long double}
12992 constant.
12993
12994 @item
12995 Enumerated constants consist of enumerated identifiers, or their
12996 integral equivalents.
12997
12998 @item
12999 Character constants are a single character surrounded by single quotes
13000 (@code{'}), or a number---the ordinal value of the corresponding character
13001 (usually its @sc{ascii} value). Within quotes, the single character may
13002 be represented by a letter or by @dfn{escape sequences}, which are of
13003 the form @samp{\@var{nnn}}, where @var{nnn} is the octal representation
13004 of the character's ordinal value; or of the form @samp{\@var{x}}, where
13005 @samp{@var{x}} is a predefined special character---for example,
13006 @samp{\n} for newline.
13007
13008 Wide character constants can be written by prefixing a character
13009 constant with @samp{L}, as in C. For example, @samp{L'x'} is the wide
13010 form of @samp{x}. The target wide character set is used when
13011 computing the value of this constant (@pxref{Character Sets}).
13012
13013 @item
13014 String constants are a sequence of character constants surrounded by
13015 double quotes (@code{"}). Any valid character constant (as described
13016 above) may appear. Double quotes within the string must be preceded by
13017 a backslash, so for instance @samp{"a\"b'c"} is a string of five
13018 characters.
13019
13020 Wide string constants can be written by prefixing a string constant
13021 with @samp{L}, as in C. The target wide character set is used when
13022 computing the value of this constant (@pxref{Character Sets}).
13023
13024 @item
13025 Pointer constants are an integral value. You can also write pointers
13026 to constants using the C operator @samp{&}.
13027
13028 @item
13029 Array constants are comma-separated lists surrounded by braces @samp{@{}
13030 and @samp{@}}; for example, @samp{@{1,2,3@}} is a three-element array of
13031 integers, @samp{@{@{1,2@}, @{3,4@}, @{5,6@}@}} is a three-by-two array,
13032 and @samp{@{&"hi", &"there", &"fred"@}} is a three-element array of pointers.
13033 @end itemize
13034
13035 @node C Plus Plus Expressions
13036 @subsubsection C@t{++} Expressions
13037
13038 @cindex expressions in C@t{++}
13039 @value{GDBN} expression handling can interpret most C@t{++} expressions.
13040
13041 @cindex debugging C@t{++} programs
13042 @cindex C@t{++} compilers
13043 @cindex debug formats and C@t{++}
13044 @cindex @value{NGCC} and C@t{++}
13045 @quotation
13046 @emph{Warning:} @value{GDBN} can only debug C@t{++} code if you use
13047 the proper compiler and the proper debug format. Currently,
13048 @value{GDBN} works best when debugging C@t{++} code that is compiled
13049 with the most recent version of @value{NGCC} possible. The DWARF
13050 debugging format is preferred; @value{NGCC} defaults to this on most
13051 popular platforms. Other compilers and/or debug formats are likely to
13052 work badly or not at all when using @value{GDBN} to debug C@t{++}
13053 code. @xref{Compilation}.
13054 @end quotation
13055
13056 @enumerate
13057
13058 @cindex member functions
13059 @item
13060 Member function calls are allowed; you can use expressions like
13061
13062 @smallexample
13063 count = aml->GetOriginal(x, y)
13064 @end smallexample
13065
13066 @vindex this@r{, inside C@t{++} member functions}
13067 @cindex namespace in C@t{++}
13068 @item
13069 While a member function is active (in the selected stack frame), your
13070 expressions have the same namespace available as the member function;
13071 that is, @value{GDBN} allows implicit references to the class instance
13072 pointer @code{this} following the same rules as C@t{++}. @code{using}
13073 declarations in the current scope are also respected by @value{GDBN}.
13074
13075 @cindex call overloaded functions
13076 @cindex overloaded functions, calling
13077 @cindex type conversions in C@t{++}
13078 @item
13079 You can call overloaded functions; @value{GDBN} resolves the function
13080 call to the right definition, with some restrictions. @value{GDBN} does not
13081 perform overload resolution involving user-defined type conversions,
13082 calls to constructors, or instantiations of templates that do not exist
13083 in the program. It also cannot handle ellipsis argument lists or
13084 default arguments.
13085
13086 It does perform integral conversions and promotions, floating-point
13087 promotions, arithmetic conversions, pointer conversions, conversions of
13088 class objects to base classes, and standard conversions such as those of
13089 functions or arrays to pointers; it requires an exact match on the
13090 number of function arguments.
13091
13092 Overload resolution is always performed, unless you have specified
13093 @code{set overload-resolution off}. @xref{Debugging C Plus Plus,
13094 ,@value{GDBN} Features for C@t{++}}.
13095
13096 You must specify @code{set overload-resolution off} in order to use an
13097 explicit function signature to call an overloaded function, as in
13098 @smallexample
13099 p 'foo(char,int)'('x', 13)
13100 @end smallexample
13101
13102 The @value{GDBN} command-completion facility can simplify this;
13103 see @ref{Completion, ,Command Completion}.
13104
13105 @cindex reference declarations
13106 @item
13107 @value{GDBN} understands variables declared as C@t{++} references; you can use
13108 them in expressions just as you do in C@t{++} source---they are automatically
13109 dereferenced.
13110
13111 In the parameter list shown when @value{GDBN} displays a frame, the values of
13112 reference variables are not displayed (unlike other variables); this
13113 avoids clutter, since references are often used for large structures.
13114 The @emph{address} of a reference variable is always shown, unless
13115 you have specified @samp{set print address off}.
13116
13117 @item
13118 @value{GDBN} supports the C@t{++} name resolution operator @code{::}---your
13119 expressions can use it just as expressions in your program do. Since
13120 one scope may be defined in another, you can use @code{::} repeatedly if
13121 necessary, for example in an expression like
13122 @samp{@var{scope1}::@var{scope2}::@var{name}}. @value{GDBN} also allows
13123 resolving name scope by reference to source files, in both C and C@t{++}
13124 debugging (@pxref{Variables, ,Program Variables}).
13125
13126 @item
13127 @value{GDBN} performs argument-dependent lookup, following the C@t{++}
13128 specification.
13129 @end enumerate
13130
13131 @node C Defaults
13132 @subsubsection C and C@t{++} Defaults
13133
13134 @cindex C and C@t{++} defaults
13135
13136 If you allow @value{GDBN} to set type and range checking automatically, they
13137 both default to @code{off} whenever the working language changes to
13138 C or C@t{++}. This happens regardless of whether you or @value{GDBN}
13139 selects the working language.
13140
13141 If you allow @value{GDBN} to set the language automatically, it
13142 recognizes source files whose names end with @file{.c}, @file{.C}, or
13143 @file{.cc}, etc, and when @value{GDBN} enters code compiled from one of
13144 these files, it sets the working language to C or C@t{++}.
13145 @xref{Automatically, ,Having @value{GDBN} Infer the Source Language},
13146 for further details.
13147
13148 @c Type checking is (a) primarily motivated by Modula-2, and (b)
13149 @c unimplemented. If (b) changes, it might make sense to let this node
13150 @c appear even if Mod-2 does not, but meanwhile ignore it. roland 16jul93.
13151
13152 @node C Checks
13153 @subsubsection C and C@t{++} Type and Range Checks
13154
13155 @cindex C and C@t{++} checks
13156
13157 By default, when @value{GDBN} parses C or C@t{++} expressions, type checking
13158 is not used. However, if you turn type checking on, @value{GDBN}
13159 considers two variables type equivalent if:
13160
13161 @itemize @bullet
13162 @item
13163 The two variables are structured and have the same structure, union, or
13164 enumerated tag.
13165
13166 @item
13167 The two variables have the same type name, or types that have been
13168 declared equivalent through @code{typedef}.
13169
13170 @ignore
13171 @c leaving this out because neither J Gilmore nor R Pesch understand it.
13172 @c FIXME--beers?
13173 @item
13174 The two @code{struct}, @code{union}, or @code{enum} variables are
13175 declared in the same declaration. (Note: this may not be true for all C
13176 compilers.)
13177 @end ignore
13178 @end itemize
13179
13180 Range checking, if turned on, is done on mathematical operations. Array
13181 indices are not checked, since they are often used to index a pointer
13182 that is not itself an array.
13183
13184 @node Debugging C
13185 @subsubsection @value{GDBN} and C
13186
13187 The @code{set print union} and @code{show print union} commands apply to
13188 the @code{union} type. When set to @samp{on}, any @code{union} that is
13189 inside a @code{struct} or @code{class} is also printed. Otherwise, it
13190 appears as @samp{@{...@}}.
13191
13192 The @code{@@} operator aids in the debugging of dynamic arrays, formed
13193 with pointers and a memory allocation function. @xref{Expressions,
13194 ,Expressions}.
13195
13196 @node Debugging C Plus Plus
13197 @subsubsection @value{GDBN} Features for C@t{++}
13198
13199 @cindex commands for C@t{++}
13200
13201 Some @value{GDBN} commands are particularly useful with C@t{++}, and some are
13202 designed specifically for use with C@t{++}. Here is a summary:
13203
13204 @table @code
13205 @cindex break in overloaded functions
13206 @item @r{breakpoint menus}
13207 When you want a breakpoint in a function whose name is overloaded,
13208 @value{GDBN} has the capability to display a menu of possible breakpoint
13209 locations to help you specify which function definition you want.
13210 @xref{Ambiguous Expressions,,Ambiguous Expressions}.
13211
13212 @cindex overloading in C@t{++}
13213 @item rbreak @var{regex}
13214 Setting breakpoints using regular expressions is helpful for setting
13215 breakpoints on overloaded functions that are not members of any special
13216 classes.
13217 @xref{Set Breaks, ,Setting Breakpoints}.
13218
13219 @cindex C@t{++} exception handling
13220 @item catch throw
13221 @itemx catch catch
13222 Debug C@t{++} exception handling using these commands. @xref{Set
13223 Catchpoints, , Setting Catchpoints}.
13224
13225 @cindex inheritance
13226 @item ptype @var{typename}
13227 Print inheritance relationships as well as other information for type
13228 @var{typename}.
13229 @xref{Symbols, ,Examining the Symbol Table}.
13230
13231 @item info vtbl @var{expression}.
13232 The @code{info vtbl} command can be used to display the virtual
13233 method tables of the object computed by @var{expression}. This shows
13234 one entry per virtual table; there may be multiple virtual tables when
13235 multiple inheritance is in use.
13236
13237 @cindex C@t{++} symbol display
13238 @item set print demangle
13239 @itemx show print demangle
13240 @itemx set print asm-demangle
13241 @itemx show print asm-demangle
13242 Control whether C@t{++} symbols display in their source form, both when
13243 displaying code as C@t{++} source and when displaying disassemblies.
13244 @xref{Print Settings, ,Print Settings}.
13245
13246 @item set print object
13247 @itemx show print object
13248 Choose whether to print derived (actual) or declared types of objects.
13249 @xref{Print Settings, ,Print Settings}.
13250
13251 @item set print vtbl
13252 @itemx show print vtbl
13253 Control the format for printing virtual function tables.
13254 @xref{Print Settings, ,Print Settings}.
13255 (The @code{vtbl} commands do not work on programs compiled with the HP
13256 ANSI C@t{++} compiler (@code{aCC}).)
13257
13258 @kindex set overload-resolution
13259 @cindex overloaded functions, overload resolution
13260 @item set overload-resolution on
13261 Enable overload resolution for C@t{++} expression evaluation. The default
13262 is on. For overloaded functions, @value{GDBN} evaluates the arguments
13263 and searches for a function whose signature matches the argument types,
13264 using the standard C@t{++} conversion rules (see @ref{C Plus Plus
13265 Expressions, ,C@t{++} Expressions}, for details).
13266 If it cannot find a match, it emits a message.
13267
13268 @item set overload-resolution off
13269 Disable overload resolution for C@t{++} expression evaluation. For
13270 overloaded functions that are not class member functions, @value{GDBN}
13271 chooses the first function of the specified name that it finds in the
13272 symbol table, whether or not its arguments are of the correct type. For
13273 overloaded functions that are class member functions, @value{GDBN}
13274 searches for a function whose signature @emph{exactly} matches the
13275 argument types.
13276
13277 @kindex show overload-resolution
13278 @item show overload-resolution
13279 Show the current setting of overload resolution.
13280
13281 @item @r{Overloaded symbol names}
13282 You can specify a particular definition of an overloaded symbol, using
13283 the same notation that is used to declare such symbols in C@t{++}: type
13284 @code{@var{symbol}(@var{types})} rather than just @var{symbol}. You can
13285 also use the @value{GDBN} command-line word completion facilities to list the
13286 available choices, or to finish the type list for you.
13287 @xref{Completion,, Command Completion}, for details on how to do this.
13288 @end table
13289
13290 @node Decimal Floating Point
13291 @subsubsection Decimal Floating Point format
13292 @cindex decimal floating point format
13293
13294 @value{GDBN} can examine, set and perform computations with numbers in
13295 decimal floating point format, which in the C language correspond to the
13296 @code{_Decimal32}, @code{_Decimal64} and @code{_Decimal128} types as
13297 specified by the extension to support decimal floating-point arithmetic.
13298
13299 There are two encodings in use, depending on the architecture: BID (Binary
13300 Integer Decimal) for x86 and x86-64, and DPD (Densely Packed Decimal) for
13301 PowerPC. @value{GDBN} will use the appropriate encoding for the configured
13302 target.
13303
13304 Because of a limitation in @file{libdecnumber}, the library used by @value{GDBN}
13305 to manipulate decimal floating point numbers, it is not possible to convert
13306 (using a cast, for example) integers wider than 32-bit to decimal float.
13307
13308 In addition, in order to imitate @value{GDBN}'s behaviour with binary floating
13309 point computations, error checking in decimal float operations ignores
13310 underflow, overflow and divide by zero exceptions.
13311
13312 In the PowerPC architecture, @value{GDBN} provides a set of pseudo-registers
13313 to inspect @code{_Decimal128} values stored in floating point registers.
13314 See @ref{PowerPC,,PowerPC} for more details.
13315
13316 @node D
13317 @subsection D
13318
13319 @cindex D
13320 @value{GDBN} can be used to debug programs written in D and compiled with
13321 GDC, LDC or DMD compilers. Currently @value{GDBN} supports only one D
13322 specific feature --- dynamic arrays.
13323
13324 @node Go
13325 @subsection Go
13326
13327 @cindex Go (programming language)
13328 @value{GDBN} can be used to debug programs written in Go and compiled with
13329 @file{gccgo} or @file{6g} compilers.
13330
13331 Here is a summary of the Go-specific features and restrictions:
13332
13333 @table @code
13334 @cindex current Go package
13335 @item The current Go package
13336 The name of the current package does not need to be specified when
13337 specifying global variables and functions.
13338
13339 For example, given the program:
13340
13341 @example
13342 package main
13343 var myglob = "Shall we?"
13344 func main () @{
13345 // ...
13346 @}
13347 @end example
13348
13349 When stopped inside @code{main} either of these work:
13350
13351 @example
13352 (gdb) p myglob
13353 (gdb) p main.myglob
13354 @end example
13355
13356 @cindex builtin Go types
13357 @item Builtin Go types
13358 The @code{string} type is recognized by @value{GDBN} and is printed
13359 as a string.
13360
13361 @cindex builtin Go functions
13362 @item Builtin Go functions
13363 The @value{GDBN} expression parser recognizes the @code{unsafe.Sizeof}
13364 function and handles it internally.
13365
13366 @cindex restrictions on Go expressions
13367 @item Restrictions on Go expressions
13368 All Go operators are supported except @code{&^}.
13369 The Go @code{_} ``blank identifier'' is not supported.
13370 Automatic dereferencing of pointers is not supported.
13371 @end table
13372
13373 @node Objective-C
13374 @subsection Objective-C
13375
13376 @cindex Objective-C
13377 This section provides information about some commands and command
13378 options that are useful for debugging Objective-C code. See also
13379 @ref{Symbols, info classes}, and @ref{Symbols, info selectors}, for a
13380 few more commands specific to Objective-C support.
13381
13382 @menu
13383 * Method Names in Commands::
13384 * The Print Command with Objective-C::
13385 @end menu
13386
13387 @node Method Names in Commands
13388 @subsubsection Method Names in Commands
13389
13390 The following commands have been extended to accept Objective-C method
13391 names as line specifications:
13392
13393 @kindex clear@r{, and Objective-C}
13394 @kindex break@r{, and Objective-C}
13395 @kindex info line@r{, and Objective-C}
13396 @kindex jump@r{, and Objective-C}
13397 @kindex list@r{, and Objective-C}
13398 @itemize
13399 @item @code{clear}
13400 @item @code{break}
13401 @item @code{info line}
13402 @item @code{jump}
13403 @item @code{list}
13404 @end itemize
13405
13406 A fully qualified Objective-C method name is specified as
13407
13408 @smallexample
13409 -[@var{Class} @var{methodName}]
13410 @end smallexample
13411
13412 where the minus sign is used to indicate an instance method and a
13413 plus sign (not shown) is used to indicate a class method. The class
13414 name @var{Class} and method name @var{methodName} are enclosed in
13415 brackets, similar to the way messages are specified in Objective-C
13416 source code. For example, to set a breakpoint at the @code{create}
13417 instance method of class @code{Fruit} in the program currently being
13418 debugged, enter:
13419
13420 @smallexample
13421 break -[Fruit create]
13422 @end smallexample
13423
13424 To list ten program lines around the @code{initialize} class method,
13425 enter:
13426
13427 @smallexample
13428 list +[NSText initialize]
13429 @end smallexample
13430
13431 In the current version of @value{GDBN}, the plus or minus sign is
13432 required. In future versions of @value{GDBN}, the plus or minus
13433 sign will be optional, but you can use it to narrow the search. It
13434 is also possible to specify just a method name:
13435
13436 @smallexample
13437 break create
13438 @end smallexample
13439
13440 You must specify the complete method name, including any colons. If
13441 your program's source files contain more than one @code{create} method,
13442 you'll be presented with a numbered list of classes that implement that
13443 method. Indicate your choice by number, or type @samp{0} to exit if
13444 none apply.
13445
13446 As another example, to clear a breakpoint established at the
13447 @code{makeKeyAndOrderFront:} method of the @code{NSWindow} class, enter:
13448
13449 @smallexample
13450 clear -[NSWindow makeKeyAndOrderFront:]
13451 @end smallexample
13452
13453 @node The Print Command with Objective-C
13454 @subsubsection The Print Command With Objective-C
13455 @cindex Objective-C, print objects
13456 @kindex print-object
13457 @kindex po @r{(@code{print-object})}
13458
13459 The print command has also been extended to accept methods. For example:
13460
13461 @smallexample
13462 print -[@var{object} hash]
13463 @end smallexample
13464
13465 @cindex print an Objective-C object description
13466 @cindex @code{_NSPrintForDebugger}, and printing Objective-C objects
13467 @noindent
13468 will tell @value{GDBN} to send the @code{hash} message to @var{object}
13469 and print the result. Also, an additional command has been added,
13470 @code{print-object} or @code{po} for short, which is meant to print
13471 the description of an object. However, this command may only work
13472 with certain Objective-C libraries that have a particular hook
13473 function, @code{_NSPrintForDebugger}, defined.
13474
13475 @node OpenCL C
13476 @subsection OpenCL C
13477
13478 @cindex OpenCL C
13479 This section provides information about @value{GDBN}s OpenCL C support.
13480
13481 @menu
13482 * OpenCL C Datatypes::
13483 * OpenCL C Expressions::
13484 * OpenCL C Operators::
13485 @end menu
13486
13487 @node OpenCL C Datatypes
13488 @subsubsection OpenCL C Datatypes
13489
13490 @cindex OpenCL C Datatypes
13491 @value{GDBN} supports the builtin scalar and vector datatypes specified
13492 by OpenCL 1.1. In addition the half- and double-precision floating point
13493 data types of the @code{cl_khr_fp16} and @code{cl_khr_fp64} OpenCL
13494 extensions are also known to @value{GDBN}.
13495
13496 @node OpenCL C Expressions
13497 @subsubsection OpenCL C Expressions
13498
13499 @cindex OpenCL C Expressions
13500 @value{GDBN} supports accesses to vector components including the access as
13501 lvalue where possible. Since OpenCL C is based on C99 most C expressions
13502 supported by @value{GDBN} can be used as well.
13503
13504 @node OpenCL C Operators
13505 @subsubsection OpenCL C Operators
13506
13507 @cindex OpenCL C Operators
13508 @value{GDBN} supports the operators specified by OpenCL 1.1 for scalar and
13509 vector data types.
13510
13511 @node Fortran
13512 @subsection Fortran
13513 @cindex Fortran-specific support in @value{GDBN}
13514
13515 @value{GDBN} can be used to debug programs written in Fortran, but it
13516 currently supports only the features of Fortran 77 language.
13517
13518 @cindex trailing underscore, in Fortran symbols
13519 Some Fortran compilers (@sc{gnu} Fortran 77 and Fortran 95 compilers
13520 among them) append an underscore to the names of variables and
13521 functions. When you debug programs compiled by those compilers, you
13522 will need to refer to variables and functions with a trailing
13523 underscore.
13524
13525 @menu
13526 * Fortran Operators:: Fortran operators and expressions
13527 * Fortran Defaults:: Default settings for Fortran
13528 * Special Fortran Commands:: Special @value{GDBN} commands for Fortran
13529 @end menu
13530
13531 @node Fortran Operators
13532 @subsubsection Fortran Operators and Expressions
13533
13534 @cindex Fortran operators and expressions
13535
13536 Operators must be defined on values of specific types. For instance,
13537 @code{+} is defined on numbers, but not on characters or other non-
13538 arithmetic types. Operators are often defined on groups of types.
13539
13540 @table @code
13541 @item **
13542 The exponentiation operator. It raises the first operand to the power
13543 of the second one.
13544
13545 @item :
13546 The range operator. Normally used in the form of array(low:high) to
13547 represent a section of array.
13548
13549 @item %
13550 The access component operator. Normally used to access elements in derived
13551 types. Also suitable for unions. As unions aren't part of regular Fortran,
13552 this can only happen when accessing a register that uses a gdbarch-defined
13553 union type.
13554 @end table
13555
13556 @node Fortran Defaults
13557 @subsubsection Fortran Defaults
13558
13559 @cindex Fortran Defaults
13560
13561 Fortran symbols are usually case-insensitive, so @value{GDBN} by
13562 default uses case-insensitive matches for Fortran symbols. You can
13563 change that with the @samp{set case-insensitive} command, see
13564 @ref{Symbols}, for the details.
13565
13566 @node Special Fortran Commands
13567 @subsubsection Special Fortran Commands
13568
13569 @cindex Special Fortran commands
13570
13571 @value{GDBN} has some commands to support Fortran-specific features,
13572 such as displaying common blocks.
13573
13574 @table @code
13575 @cindex @code{COMMON} blocks, Fortran
13576 @kindex info common
13577 @item info common @r{[}@var{common-name}@r{]}
13578 This command prints the values contained in the Fortran @code{COMMON}
13579 block whose name is @var{common-name}. With no argument, the names of
13580 all @code{COMMON} blocks visible at the current program location are
13581 printed.
13582 @end table
13583
13584 @node Pascal
13585 @subsection Pascal
13586
13587 @cindex Pascal support in @value{GDBN}, limitations
13588 Debugging Pascal programs which use sets, subranges, file variables, or
13589 nested functions does not currently work. @value{GDBN} does not support
13590 entering expressions, printing values, or similar features using Pascal
13591 syntax.
13592
13593 The Pascal-specific command @code{set print pascal_static-members}
13594 controls whether static members of Pascal objects are displayed.
13595 @xref{Print Settings, pascal_static-members}.
13596
13597 @node Modula-2
13598 @subsection Modula-2
13599
13600 @cindex Modula-2, @value{GDBN} support
13601
13602 The extensions made to @value{GDBN} to support Modula-2 only support
13603 output from the @sc{gnu} Modula-2 compiler (which is currently being
13604 developed). Other Modula-2 compilers are not currently supported, and
13605 attempting to debug executables produced by them is most likely
13606 to give an error as @value{GDBN} reads in the executable's symbol
13607 table.
13608
13609 @cindex expressions in Modula-2
13610 @menu
13611 * M2 Operators:: Built-in operators
13612 * Built-In Func/Proc:: Built-in functions and procedures
13613 * M2 Constants:: Modula-2 constants
13614 * M2 Types:: Modula-2 types
13615 * M2 Defaults:: Default settings for Modula-2
13616 * Deviations:: Deviations from standard Modula-2
13617 * M2 Checks:: Modula-2 type and range checks
13618 * M2 Scope:: The scope operators @code{::} and @code{.}
13619 * GDB/M2:: @value{GDBN} and Modula-2
13620 @end menu
13621
13622 @node M2 Operators
13623 @subsubsection Operators
13624 @cindex Modula-2 operators
13625
13626 Operators must be defined on values of specific types. For instance,
13627 @code{+} is defined on numbers, but not on structures. Operators are
13628 often defined on groups of types. For the purposes of Modula-2, the
13629 following definitions hold:
13630
13631 @itemize @bullet
13632
13633 @item
13634 @emph{Integral types} consist of @code{INTEGER}, @code{CARDINAL}, and
13635 their subranges.
13636
13637 @item
13638 @emph{Character types} consist of @code{CHAR} and its subranges.
13639
13640 @item
13641 @emph{Floating-point types} consist of @code{REAL}.
13642
13643 @item
13644 @emph{Pointer types} consist of anything declared as @code{POINTER TO
13645 @var{type}}.
13646
13647 @item
13648 @emph{Scalar types} consist of all of the above.
13649
13650 @item
13651 @emph{Set types} consist of @code{SET} and @code{BITSET} types.
13652
13653 @item
13654 @emph{Boolean types} consist of @code{BOOLEAN}.
13655 @end itemize
13656
13657 @noindent
13658 The following operators are supported, and appear in order of
13659 increasing precedence:
13660
13661 @table @code
13662 @item ,
13663 Function argument or array index separator.
13664
13665 @item :=
13666 Assignment. The value of @var{var} @code{:=} @var{value} is
13667 @var{value}.
13668
13669 @item <@r{, }>
13670 Less than, greater than on integral, floating-point, or enumerated
13671 types.
13672
13673 @item <=@r{, }>=
13674 Less than or equal to, greater than or equal to
13675 on integral, floating-point and enumerated types, or set inclusion on
13676 set types. Same precedence as @code{<}.
13677
13678 @item =@r{, }<>@r{, }#
13679 Equality and two ways of expressing inequality, valid on scalar types.
13680 Same precedence as @code{<}. In @value{GDBN} scripts, only @code{<>} is
13681 available for inequality, since @code{#} conflicts with the script
13682 comment character.
13683
13684 @item IN
13685 Set membership. Defined on set types and the types of their members.
13686 Same precedence as @code{<}.
13687
13688 @item OR
13689 Boolean disjunction. Defined on boolean types.
13690
13691 @item AND@r{, }&
13692 Boolean conjunction. Defined on boolean types.
13693
13694 @item @@
13695 The @value{GDBN} ``artificial array'' operator (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}).
13696
13697 @item +@r{, }-
13698 Addition and subtraction on integral and floating-point types, or union
13699 and difference on set types.
13700
13701 @item *
13702 Multiplication on integral and floating-point types, or set intersection
13703 on set types.
13704
13705 @item /
13706 Division on floating-point types, or symmetric set difference on set
13707 types. Same precedence as @code{*}.
13708
13709 @item DIV@r{, }MOD
13710 Integer division and remainder. Defined on integral types. Same
13711 precedence as @code{*}.
13712
13713 @item -
13714 Negative. Defined on @code{INTEGER} and @code{REAL} data.
13715
13716 @item ^
13717 Pointer dereferencing. Defined on pointer types.
13718
13719 @item NOT
13720 Boolean negation. Defined on boolean types. Same precedence as
13721 @code{^}.
13722
13723 @item .
13724 @code{RECORD} field selector. Defined on @code{RECORD} data. Same
13725 precedence as @code{^}.
13726
13727 @item []
13728 Array indexing. Defined on @code{ARRAY} data. Same precedence as @code{^}.
13729
13730 @item ()
13731 Procedure argument list. Defined on @code{PROCEDURE} objects. Same precedence
13732 as @code{^}.
13733
13734 @item ::@r{, }.
13735 @value{GDBN} and Modula-2 scope operators.
13736 @end table
13737
13738 @quotation
13739 @emph{Warning:} Set expressions and their operations are not yet supported, so @value{GDBN}
13740 treats the use of the operator @code{IN}, or the use of operators
13741 @code{+}, @code{-}, @code{*}, @code{/}, @code{=}, , @code{<>}, @code{#},
13742 @code{<=}, and @code{>=} on sets as an error.
13743 @end quotation
13744
13745
13746 @node Built-In Func/Proc
13747 @subsubsection Built-in Functions and Procedures
13748 @cindex Modula-2 built-ins
13749
13750 Modula-2 also makes available several built-in procedures and functions.
13751 In describing these, the following metavariables are used:
13752
13753 @table @var
13754
13755 @item a
13756 represents an @code{ARRAY} variable.
13757
13758 @item c
13759 represents a @code{CHAR} constant or variable.
13760
13761 @item i
13762 represents a variable or constant of integral type.
13763
13764 @item m
13765 represents an identifier that belongs to a set. Generally used in the
13766 same function with the metavariable @var{s}. The type of @var{s} should
13767 be @code{SET OF @var{mtype}} (where @var{mtype} is the type of @var{m}).
13768
13769 @item n
13770 represents a variable or constant of integral or floating-point type.
13771
13772 @item r
13773 represents a variable or constant of floating-point type.
13774
13775 @item t
13776 represents a type.
13777
13778 @item v
13779 represents a variable.
13780
13781 @item x
13782 represents a variable or constant of one of many types. See the
13783 explanation of the function for details.
13784 @end table
13785
13786 All Modula-2 built-in procedures also return a result, described below.
13787
13788 @table @code
13789 @item ABS(@var{n})
13790 Returns the absolute value of @var{n}.
13791
13792 @item CAP(@var{c})
13793 If @var{c} is a lower case letter, it returns its upper case
13794 equivalent, otherwise it returns its argument.
13795
13796 @item CHR(@var{i})
13797 Returns the character whose ordinal value is @var{i}.
13798
13799 @item DEC(@var{v})
13800 Decrements the value in the variable @var{v} by one. Returns the new value.
13801
13802 @item DEC(@var{v},@var{i})
13803 Decrements the value in the variable @var{v} by @var{i}. Returns the
13804 new value.
13805
13806 @item EXCL(@var{m},@var{s})
13807 Removes the element @var{m} from the set @var{s}. Returns the new
13808 set.
13809
13810 @item FLOAT(@var{i})
13811 Returns the floating point equivalent of the integer @var{i}.
13812
13813 @item HIGH(@var{a})
13814 Returns the index of the last member of @var{a}.
13815
13816 @item INC(@var{v})
13817 Increments the value in the variable @var{v} by one. Returns the new value.
13818
13819 @item INC(@var{v},@var{i})
13820 Increments the value in the variable @var{v} by @var{i}. Returns the
13821 new value.
13822
13823 @item INCL(@var{m},@var{s})
13824 Adds the element @var{m} to the set @var{s} if it is not already
13825 there. Returns the new set.
13826
13827 @item MAX(@var{t})
13828 Returns the maximum value of the type @var{t}.
13829
13830 @item MIN(@var{t})
13831 Returns the minimum value of the type @var{t}.
13832
13833 @item ODD(@var{i})
13834 Returns boolean TRUE if @var{i} is an odd number.
13835
13836 @item ORD(@var{x})
13837 Returns the ordinal value of its argument. For example, the ordinal
13838 value of a character is its @sc{ascii} value (on machines supporting the
13839 @sc{ascii} character set). @var{x} must be of an ordered type, which include
13840 integral, character and enumerated types.
13841
13842 @item SIZE(@var{x})
13843 Returns the size of its argument. @var{x} can be a variable or a type.
13844
13845 @item TRUNC(@var{r})
13846 Returns the integral part of @var{r}.
13847
13848 @item TSIZE(@var{x})
13849 Returns the size of its argument. @var{x} can be a variable or a type.
13850
13851 @item VAL(@var{t},@var{i})
13852 Returns the member of the type @var{t} whose ordinal value is @var{i}.
13853 @end table
13854
13855 @quotation
13856 @emph{Warning:} Sets and their operations are not yet supported, so
13857 @value{GDBN} treats the use of procedures @code{INCL} and @code{EXCL} as
13858 an error.
13859 @end quotation
13860
13861 @cindex Modula-2 constants
13862 @node M2 Constants
13863 @subsubsection Constants
13864
13865 @value{GDBN} allows you to express the constants of Modula-2 in the following
13866 ways:
13867
13868 @itemize @bullet
13869
13870 @item
13871 Integer constants are simply a sequence of digits. When used in an
13872 expression, a constant is interpreted to be type-compatible with the
13873 rest of the expression. Hexadecimal integers are specified by a
13874 trailing @samp{H}, and octal integers by a trailing @samp{B}.
13875
13876 @item
13877 Floating point constants appear as a sequence of digits, followed by a
13878 decimal point and another sequence of digits. An optional exponent can
13879 then be specified, in the form @samp{E@r{[}+@r{|}-@r{]}@var{nnn}}, where
13880 @samp{@r{[}+@r{|}-@r{]}@var{nnn}} is the desired exponent. All of the
13881 digits of the floating point constant must be valid decimal (base 10)
13882 digits.
13883
13884 @item
13885 Character constants consist of a single character enclosed by a pair of
13886 like quotes, either single (@code{'}) or double (@code{"}). They may
13887 also be expressed by their ordinal value (their @sc{ascii} value, usually)
13888 followed by a @samp{C}.
13889
13890 @item
13891 String constants consist of a sequence of characters enclosed by a
13892 pair of like quotes, either single (@code{'}) or double (@code{"}).
13893 Escape sequences in the style of C are also allowed. @xref{C
13894 Constants, ,C and C@t{++} Constants}, for a brief explanation of escape
13895 sequences.
13896
13897 @item
13898 Enumerated constants consist of an enumerated identifier.
13899
13900 @item
13901 Boolean constants consist of the identifiers @code{TRUE} and
13902 @code{FALSE}.
13903
13904 @item
13905 Pointer constants consist of integral values only.
13906
13907 @item
13908 Set constants are not yet supported.
13909 @end itemize
13910
13911 @node M2 Types
13912 @subsubsection Modula-2 Types
13913 @cindex Modula-2 types
13914
13915 Currently @value{GDBN} can print the following data types in Modula-2
13916 syntax: array types, record types, set types, pointer types, procedure
13917 types, enumerated types, subrange types and base types. You can also
13918 print the contents of variables declared using these type.
13919 This section gives a number of simple source code examples together with
13920 sample @value{GDBN} sessions.
13921
13922 The first example contains the following section of code:
13923
13924 @smallexample
13925 VAR
13926 s: SET OF CHAR ;
13927 r: [20..40] ;
13928 @end smallexample
13929
13930 @noindent
13931 and you can request @value{GDBN} to interrogate the type and value of
13932 @code{r} and @code{s}.
13933
13934 @smallexample
13935 (@value{GDBP}) print s
13936 @{'A'..'C', 'Z'@}
13937 (@value{GDBP}) ptype s
13938 SET OF CHAR
13939 (@value{GDBP}) print r
13940 21
13941 (@value{GDBP}) ptype r
13942 [20..40]
13943 @end smallexample
13944
13945 @noindent
13946 Likewise if your source code declares @code{s} as:
13947
13948 @smallexample
13949 VAR
13950 s: SET ['A'..'Z'] ;
13951 @end smallexample
13952
13953 @noindent
13954 then you may query the type of @code{s} by:
13955
13956 @smallexample
13957 (@value{GDBP}) ptype s
13958 type = SET ['A'..'Z']
13959 @end smallexample
13960
13961 @noindent
13962 Note that at present you cannot interactively manipulate set
13963 expressions using the debugger.
13964
13965 The following example shows how you might declare an array in Modula-2
13966 and how you can interact with @value{GDBN} to print its type and contents:
13967
13968 @smallexample
13969 VAR
13970 s: ARRAY [-10..10] OF CHAR ;
13971 @end smallexample
13972
13973 @smallexample
13974 (@value{GDBP}) ptype s
13975 ARRAY [-10..10] OF CHAR
13976 @end smallexample
13977
13978 Note that the array handling is not yet complete and although the type
13979 is printed correctly, expression handling still assumes that all
13980 arrays have a lower bound of zero and not @code{-10} as in the example
13981 above.
13982
13983 Here are some more type related Modula-2 examples:
13984
13985 @smallexample
13986 TYPE
13987 colour = (blue, red, yellow, green) ;
13988 t = [blue..yellow] ;
13989 VAR
13990 s: t ;
13991 BEGIN
13992 s := blue ;
13993 @end smallexample
13994
13995 @noindent
13996 The @value{GDBN} interaction shows how you can query the data type
13997 and value of a variable.
13998
13999 @smallexample
14000 (@value{GDBP}) print s
14001 $1 = blue
14002 (@value{GDBP}) ptype t
14003 type = [blue..yellow]
14004 @end smallexample
14005
14006 @noindent
14007 In this example a Modula-2 array is declared and its contents
14008 displayed. Observe that the contents are written in the same way as
14009 their @code{C} counterparts.
14010
14011 @smallexample
14012 VAR
14013 s: ARRAY [1..5] OF CARDINAL ;
14014 BEGIN
14015 s[1] := 1 ;
14016 @end smallexample
14017
14018 @smallexample
14019 (@value{GDBP}) print s
14020 $1 = @{1, 0, 0, 0, 0@}
14021 (@value{GDBP}) ptype s
14022 type = ARRAY [1..5] OF CARDINAL
14023 @end smallexample
14024
14025 The Modula-2 language interface to @value{GDBN} also understands
14026 pointer types as shown in this example:
14027
14028 @smallexample
14029 VAR
14030 s: POINTER TO ARRAY [1..5] OF CARDINAL ;
14031 BEGIN
14032 NEW(s) ;
14033 s^[1] := 1 ;
14034 @end smallexample
14035
14036 @noindent
14037 and you can request that @value{GDBN} describes the type of @code{s}.
14038
14039 @smallexample
14040 (@value{GDBP}) ptype s
14041 type = POINTER TO ARRAY [1..5] OF CARDINAL
14042 @end smallexample
14043
14044 @value{GDBN} handles compound types as we can see in this example.
14045 Here we combine array types, record types, pointer types and subrange
14046 types:
14047
14048 @smallexample
14049 TYPE
14050 foo = RECORD
14051 f1: CARDINAL ;
14052 f2: CHAR ;
14053 f3: myarray ;
14054 END ;
14055
14056 myarray = ARRAY myrange OF CARDINAL ;
14057 myrange = [-2..2] ;
14058 VAR
14059 s: POINTER TO ARRAY myrange OF foo ;
14060 @end smallexample
14061
14062 @noindent
14063 and you can ask @value{GDBN} to describe the type of @code{s} as shown
14064 below.
14065
14066 @smallexample
14067 (@value{GDBP}) ptype s
14068 type = POINTER TO ARRAY [-2..2] OF foo = RECORD
14069 f1 : CARDINAL;
14070 f2 : CHAR;
14071 f3 : ARRAY [-2..2] OF CARDINAL;
14072 END
14073 @end smallexample
14074
14075 @node M2 Defaults
14076 @subsubsection Modula-2 Defaults
14077 @cindex Modula-2 defaults
14078
14079 If type and range checking are set automatically by @value{GDBN}, they
14080 both default to @code{on} whenever the working language changes to
14081 Modula-2. This happens regardless of whether you or @value{GDBN}
14082 selected the working language.
14083
14084 If you allow @value{GDBN} to set the language automatically, then entering
14085 code compiled from a file whose name ends with @file{.mod} sets the
14086 working language to Modula-2. @xref{Automatically, ,Having @value{GDBN}
14087 Infer the Source Language}, for further details.
14088
14089 @node Deviations
14090 @subsubsection Deviations from Standard Modula-2
14091 @cindex Modula-2, deviations from
14092
14093 A few changes have been made to make Modula-2 programs easier to debug.
14094 This is done primarily via loosening its type strictness:
14095
14096 @itemize @bullet
14097 @item
14098 Unlike in standard Modula-2, pointer constants can be formed by
14099 integers. This allows you to modify pointer variables during
14100 debugging. (In standard Modula-2, the actual address contained in a
14101 pointer variable is hidden from you; it can only be modified
14102 through direct assignment to another pointer variable or expression that
14103 returned a pointer.)
14104
14105 @item
14106 C escape sequences can be used in strings and characters to represent
14107 non-printable characters. @value{GDBN} prints out strings with these
14108 escape sequences embedded. Single non-printable characters are
14109 printed using the @samp{CHR(@var{nnn})} format.
14110
14111 @item
14112 The assignment operator (@code{:=}) returns the value of its right-hand
14113 argument.
14114
14115 @item
14116 All built-in procedures both modify @emph{and} return their argument.
14117 @end itemize
14118
14119 @node M2 Checks
14120 @subsubsection Modula-2 Type and Range Checks
14121 @cindex Modula-2 checks
14122
14123 @quotation
14124 @emph{Warning:} in this release, @value{GDBN} does not yet perform type or
14125 range checking.
14126 @end quotation
14127 @c FIXME remove warning when type/range checks added
14128
14129 @value{GDBN} considers two Modula-2 variables type equivalent if:
14130
14131 @itemize @bullet
14132 @item
14133 They are of types that have been declared equivalent via a @code{TYPE
14134 @var{t1} = @var{t2}} statement
14135
14136 @item
14137 They have been declared on the same line. (Note: This is true of the
14138 @sc{gnu} Modula-2 compiler, but it may not be true of other compilers.)
14139 @end itemize
14140
14141 As long as type checking is enabled, any attempt to combine variables
14142 whose types are not equivalent is an error.
14143
14144 Range checking is done on all mathematical operations, assignment, array
14145 index bounds, and all built-in functions and procedures.
14146
14147 @node M2 Scope
14148 @subsubsection The Scope Operators @code{::} and @code{.}
14149 @cindex scope
14150 @cindex @code{.}, Modula-2 scope operator
14151 @cindex colon, doubled as scope operator
14152 @ifinfo
14153 @vindex colon-colon@r{, in Modula-2}
14154 @c Info cannot handle :: but TeX can.
14155 @end ifinfo
14156 @ifnotinfo
14157 @vindex ::@r{, in Modula-2}
14158 @end ifnotinfo
14159
14160 There are a few subtle differences between the Modula-2 scope operator
14161 (@code{.}) and the @value{GDBN} scope operator (@code{::}). The two have
14162 similar syntax:
14163
14164 @smallexample
14165
14166 @var{module} . @var{id}
14167 @var{scope} :: @var{id}
14168 @end smallexample
14169
14170 @noindent
14171 where @var{scope} is the name of a module or a procedure,
14172 @var{module} the name of a module, and @var{id} is any declared
14173 identifier within your program, except another module.
14174
14175 Using the @code{::} operator makes @value{GDBN} search the scope
14176 specified by @var{scope} for the identifier @var{id}. If it is not
14177 found in the specified scope, then @value{GDBN} searches all scopes
14178 enclosing the one specified by @var{scope}.
14179
14180 Using the @code{.} operator makes @value{GDBN} search the current scope for
14181 the identifier specified by @var{id} that was imported from the
14182 definition module specified by @var{module}. With this operator, it is
14183 an error if the identifier @var{id} was not imported from definition
14184 module @var{module}, or if @var{id} is not an identifier in
14185 @var{module}.
14186
14187 @node GDB/M2
14188 @subsubsection @value{GDBN} and Modula-2
14189
14190 Some @value{GDBN} commands have little use when debugging Modula-2 programs.
14191 Five subcommands of @code{set print} and @code{show print} apply
14192 specifically to C and C@t{++}: @samp{vtbl}, @samp{demangle},
14193 @samp{asm-demangle}, @samp{object}, and @samp{union}. The first four
14194 apply to C@t{++}, and the last to the C @code{union} type, which has no direct
14195 analogue in Modula-2.
14196
14197 The @code{@@} operator (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}), while available
14198 with any language, is not useful with Modula-2. Its
14199 intent is to aid the debugging of @dfn{dynamic arrays}, which cannot be
14200 created in Modula-2 as they can in C or C@t{++}. However, because an
14201 address can be specified by an integral constant, the construct
14202 @samp{@{@var{type}@}@var{adrexp}} is still useful.
14203
14204 @cindex @code{#} in Modula-2
14205 In @value{GDBN} scripts, the Modula-2 inequality operator @code{#} is
14206 interpreted as the beginning of a comment. Use @code{<>} instead.
14207
14208 @node Ada
14209 @subsection Ada
14210 @cindex Ada
14211
14212 The extensions made to @value{GDBN} for Ada only support
14213 output from the @sc{gnu} Ada (GNAT) compiler.
14214 Other Ada compilers are not currently supported, and
14215 attempting to debug executables produced by them is most likely
14216 to be difficult.
14217
14218
14219 @cindex expressions in Ada
14220 @menu
14221 * Ada Mode Intro:: General remarks on the Ada syntax
14222 and semantics supported by Ada mode
14223 in @value{GDBN}.
14224 * Omissions from Ada:: Restrictions on the Ada expression syntax.
14225 * Additions to Ada:: Extensions of the Ada expression syntax.
14226 * Stopping Before Main Program:: Debugging the program during elaboration.
14227 * Ada Tasks:: Listing and setting breakpoints in tasks.
14228 * Ada Tasks and Core Files:: Tasking Support when Debugging Core Files
14229 * Ravenscar Profile:: Tasking Support when using the Ravenscar
14230 Profile
14231 * Ada Glitches:: Known peculiarities of Ada mode.
14232 @end menu
14233
14234 @node Ada Mode Intro
14235 @subsubsection Introduction
14236 @cindex Ada mode, general
14237
14238 The Ada mode of @value{GDBN} supports a fairly large subset of Ada expression
14239 syntax, with some extensions.
14240 The philosophy behind the design of this subset is
14241
14242 @itemize @bullet
14243 @item
14244 That @value{GDBN} should provide basic literals and access to operations for
14245 arithmetic, dereferencing, field selection, indexing, and subprogram calls,
14246 leaving more sophisticated computations to subprograms written into the
14247 program (which therefore may be called from @value{GDBN}).
14248
14249 @item
14250 That type safety and strict adherence to Ada language restrictions
14251 are not particularly important to the @value{GDBN} user.
14252
14253 @item
14254 That brevity is important to the @value{GDBN} user.
14255 @end itemize
14256
14257 Thus, for brevity, the debugger acts as if all names declared in
14258 user-written packages are directly visible, even if they are not visible
14259 according to Ada rules, thus making it unnecessary to fully qualify most
14260 names with their packages, regardless of context. Where this causes
14261 ambiguity, @value{GDBN} asks the user's intent.
14262
14263 The debugger will start in Ada mode if it detects an Ada main program.
14264 As for other languages, it will enter Ada mode when stopped in a program that
14265 was translated from an Ada source file.
14266
14267 While in Ada mode, you may use `@t{--}' for comments. This is useful
14268 mostly for documenting command files. The standard @value{GDBN} comment
14269 (@samp{#}) still works at the beginning of a line in Ada mode, but not in the
14270 middle (to allow based literals).
14271
14272 The debugger supports limited overloading. Given a subprogram call in which
14273 the function symbol has multiple definitions, it will use the number of
14274 actual parameters and some information about their types to attempt to narrow
14275 the set of definitions. It also makes very limited use of context, preferring
14276 procedures to functions in the context of the @code{call} command, and
14277 functions to procedures elsewhere.
14278
14279 @node Omissions from Ada
14280 @subsubsection Omissions from Ada
14281 @cindex Ada, omissions from
14282
14283 Here are the notable omissions from the subset:
14284
14285 @itemize @bullet
14286 @item
14287 Only a subset of the attributes are supported:
14288
14289 @itemize @minus
14290 @item
14291 @t{'First}, @t{'Last}, and @t{'Length}
14292 on array objects (not on types and subtypes).
14293
14294 @item
14295 @t{'Min} and @t{'Max}.
14296
14297 @item
14298 @t{'Pos} and @t{'Val}.
14299
14300 @item
14301 @t{'Tag}.
14302
14303 @item
14304 @t{'Range} on array objects (not subtypes), but only as the right
14305 operand of the membership (@code{in}) operator.
14306
14307 @item
14308 @t{'Access}, @t{'Unchecked_Access}, and
14309 @t{'Unrestricted_Access} (a GNAT extension).
14310
14311 @item
14312 @t{'Address}.
14313 @end itemize
14314
14315 @item
14316 The names in
14317 @code{Characters.Latin_1} are not available and
14318 concatenation is not implemented. Thus, escape characters in strings are
14319 not currently available.
14320
14321 @item
14322 Equality tests (@samp{=} and @samp{/=}) on arrays test for bitwise
14323 equality of representations. They will generally work correctly
14324 for strings and arrays whose elements have integer or enumeration types.
14325 They may not work correctly for arrays whose element
14326 types have user-defined equality, for arrays of real values
14327 (in particular, IEEE-conformant floating point, because of negative
14328 zeroes and NaNs), and for arrays whose elements contain unused bits with
14329 indeterminate values.
14330
14331 @item
14332 The other component-by-component array operations (@code{and}, @code{or},
14333 @code{xor}, @code{not}, and relational tests other than equality)
14334 are not implemented.
14335
14336 @item
14337 @cindex array aggregates (Ada)
14338 @cindex record aggregates (Ada)
14339 @cindex aggregates (Ada)
14340 There is limited support for array and record aggregates. They are
14341 permitted only on the right sides of assignments, as in these examples:
14342
14343 @smallexample
14344 (@value{GDBP}) set An_Array := (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
14345 (@value{GDBP}) set An_Array := (1, others => 0)
14346 (@value{GDBP}) set An_Array := (0|4 => 1, 1..3 => 2, 5 => 6)
14347 (@value{GDBP}) set A_2D_Array := ((1, 2, 3), (4, 5, 6), (7, 8, 9))
14348 (@value{GDBP}) set A_Record := (1, "Peter", True);
14349 (@value{GDBP}) set A_Record := (Name => "Peter", Id => 1, Alive => True)
14350 @end smallexample
14351
14352 Changing a
14353 discriminant's value by assigning an aggregate has an
14354 undefined effect if that discriminant is used within the record.
14355 However, you can first modify discriminants by directly assigning to
14356 them (which normally would not be allowed in Ada), and then performing an
14357 aggregate assignment. For example, given a variable @code{A_Rec}
14358 declared to have a type such as:
14359
14360 @smallexample
14361 type Rec (Len : Small_Integer := 0) is record
14362 Id : Integer;
14363 Vals : IntArray (1 .. Len);
14364 end record;
14365 @end smallexample
14366
14367 you can assign a value with a different size of @code{Vals} with two
14368 assignments:
14369
14370 @smallexample
14371 (@value{GDBP}) set A_Rec.Len := 4
14372 (@value{GDBP}) set A_Rec := (Id => 42, Vals => (1, 2, 3, 4))
14373 @end smallexample
14374
14375 As this example also illustrates, @value{GDBN} is very loose about the usual
14376 rules concerning aggregates. You may leave out some of the
14377 components of an array or record aggregate (such as the @code{Len}
14378 component in the assignment to @code{A_Rec} above); they will retain their
14379 original values upon assignment. You may freely use dynamic values as
14380 indices in component associations. You may even use overlapping or
14381 redundant component associations, although which component values are
14382 assigned in such cases is not defined.
14383
14384 @item
14385 Calls to dispatching subprograms are not implemented.
14386
14387 @item
14388 The overloading algorithm is much more limited (i.e., less selective)
14389 than that of real Ada. It makes only limited use of the context in
14390 which a subexpression appears to resolve its meaning, and it is much
14391 looser in its rules for allowing type matches. As a result, some
14392 function calls will be ambiguous, and the user will be asked to choose
14393 the proper resolution.
14394
14395 @item
14396 The @code{new} operator is not implemented.
14397
14398 @item
14399 Entry calls are not implemented.
14400
14401 @item
14402 Aside from printing, arithmetic operations on the native VAX floating-point
14403 formats are not supported.
14404
14405 @item
14406 It is not possible to slice a packed array.
14407
14408 @item
14409 The names @code{True} and @code{False}, when not part of a qualified name,
14410 are interpreted as if implicitly prefixed by @code{Standard}, regardless of
14411 context.
14412 Should your program
14413 redefine these names in a package or procedure (at best a dubious practice),
14414 you will have to use fully qualified names to access their new definitions.
14415 @end itemize
14416
14417 @node Additions to Ada
14418 @subsubsection Additions to Ada
14419 @cindex Ada, deviations from
14420
14421 As it does for other languages, @value{GDBN} makes certain generic
14422 extensions to Ada (@pxref{Expressions}):
14423
14424 @itemize @bullet
14425 @item
14426 If the expression @var{E} is a variable residing in memory (typically
14427 a local variable or array element) and @var{N} is a positive integer,
14428 then @code{@var{E}@@@var{N}} displays the values of @var{E} and the
14429 @var{N}-1 adjacent variables following it in memory as an array. In
14430 Ada, this operator is generally not necessary, since its prime use is
14431 in displaying parts of an array, and slicing will usually do this in
14432 Ada. However, there are occasional uses when debugging programs in
14433 which certain debugging information has been optimized away.
14434
14435 @item
14436 @code{@var{B}::@var{var}} means ``the variable named @var{var} that
14437 appears in function or file @var{B}.'' When @var{B} is a file name,
14438 you must typically surround it in single quotes.
14439
14440 @item
14441 The expression @code{@{@var{type}@} @var{addr}} means ``the variable of type
14442 @var{type} that appears at address @var{addr}.''
14443
14444 @item
14445 A name starting with @samp{$} is a convenience variable
14446 (@pxref{Convenience Vars}) or a machine register (@pxref{Registers}).
14447 @end itemize
14448
14449 In addition, @value{GDBN} provides a few other shortcuts and outright
14450 additions specific to Ada:
14451
14452 @itemize @bullet
14453 @item
14454 The assignment statement is allowed as an expression, returning
14455 its right-hand operand as its value. Thus, you may enter
14456
14457 @smallexample
14458 (@value{GDBP}) set x := y + 3
14459 (@value{GDBP}) print A(tmp := y + 1)
14460 @end smallexample
14461
14462 @item
14463 The semicolon is allowed as an ``operator,'' returning as its value
14464 the value of its right-hand operand.
14465 This allows, for example,
14466 complex conditional breaks:
14467
14468 @smallexample
14469 (@value{GDBP}) break f
14470 (@value{GDBP}) condition 1 (report(i); k += 1; A(k) > 100)
14471 @end smallexample
14472
14473 @item
14474 Rather than use catenation and symbolic character names to introduce special
14475 characters into strings, one may instead use a special bracket notation,
14476 which is also used to print strings. A sequence of characters of the form
14477 @samp{["@var{XX}"]} within a string or character literal denotes the
14478 (single) character whose numeric encoding is @var{XX} in hexadecimal. The
14479 sequence of characters @samp{["""]} also denotes a single quotation mark
14480 in strings. For example,
14481 @smallexample
14482 "One line.["0a"]Next line.["0a"]"
14483 @end smallexample
14484 @noindent
14485 contains an ASCII newline character (@code{Ada.Characters.Latin_1.LF})
14486 after each period.
14487
14488 @item
14489 The subtype used as a prefix for the attributes @t{'Pos}, @t{'Min}, and
14490 @t{'Max} is optional (and is ignored in any case). For example, it is valid
14491 to write
14492
14493 @smallexample
14494 (@value{GDBP}) print 'max(x, y)
14495 @end smallexample
14496
14497 @item
14498 When printing arrays, @value{GDBN} uses positional notation when the
14499 array has a lower bound of 1, and uses a modified named notation otherwise.
14500 For example, a one-dimensional array of three integers with a lower bound
14501 of 3 might print as
14502
14503 @smallexample
14504 (3 => 10, 17, 1)
14505 @end smallexample
14506
14507 @noindent
14508 That is, in contrast to valid Ada, only the first component has a @code{=>}
14509 clause.
14510
14511 @item
14512 You may abbreviate attributes in expressions with any unique,
14513 multi-character subsequence of
14514 their names (an exact match gets preference).
14515 For example, you may use @t{a'len}, @t{a'gth}, or @t{a'lh}
14516 in place of @t{a'length}.
14517
14518 @item
14519 @cindex quoting Ada internal identifiers
14520 Since Ada is case-insensitive, the debugger normally maps identifiers you type
14521 to lower case. The GNAT compiler uses upper-case characters for
14522 some of its internal identifiers, which are normally of no interest to users.
14523 For the rare occasions when you actually have to look at them,
14524 enclose them in angle brackets to avoid the lower-case mapping.
14525 For example,
14526 @smallexample
14527 (@value{GDBP}) print <JMPBUF_SAVE>[0]
14528 @end smallexample
14529
14530 @item
14531 Printing an object of class-wide type or dereferencing an
14532 access-to-class-wide value will display all the components of the object's
14533 specific type (as indicated by its run-time tag). Likewise, component
14534 selection on such a value will operate on the specific type of the
14535 object.
14536
14537 @end itemize
14538
14539 @node Stopping Before Main Program
14540 @subsubsection Stopping at the Very Beginning
14541
14542 @cindex breakpointing Ada elaboration code
14543 It is sometimes necessary to debug the program during elaboration, and
14544 before reaching the main procedure.
14545 As defined in the Ada Reference
14546 Manual, the elaboration code is invoked from a procedure called
14547 @code{adainit}. To run your program up to the beginning of
14548 elaboration, simply use the following two commands:
14549 @code{tbreak adainit} and @code{run}.
14550
14551 @node Ada Tasks
14552 @subsubsection Extensions for Ada Tasks
14553 @cindex Ada, tasking
14554
14555 Support for Ada tasks is analogous to that for threads (@pxref{Threads}).
14556 @value{GDBN} provides the following task-related commands:
14557
14558 @table @code
14559 @kindex info tasks
14560 @item info tasks
14561 This command shows a list of current Ada tasks, as in the following example:
14562
14563
14564 @smallexample
14565 @iftex
14566 @leftskip=0.5cm
14567 @end iftex
14568 (@value{GDBP}) info tasks
14569 ID TID P-ID Pri State Name
14570 1 8088000 0 15 Child Activation Wait main_task
14571 2 80a4000 1 15 Accept Statement b
14572 3 809a800 1 15 Child Activation Wait a
14573 * 4 80ae800 3 15 Runnable c
14574
14575 @end smallexample
14576
14577 @noindent
14578 In this listing, the asterisk before the last task indicates it to be the
14579 task currently being inspected.
14580
14581 @table @asis
14582 @item ID
14583 Represents @value{GDBN}'s internal task number.
14584
14585 @item TID
14586 The Ada task ID.
14587
14588 @item P-ID
14589 The parent's task ID (@value{GDBN}'s internal task number).
14590
14591 @item Pri
14592 The base priority of the task.
14593
14594 @item State
14595 Current state of the task.
14596
14597 @table @code
14598 @item Unactivated
14599 The task has been created but has not been activated. It cannot be
14600 executing.
14601
14602 @item Runnable
14603 The task is not blocked for any reason known to Ada. (It may be waiting
14604 for a mutex, though.) It is conceptually "executing" in normal mode.
14605
14606 @item Terminated
14607 The task is terminated, in the sense of ARM 9.3 (5). Any dependents
14608 that were waiting on terminate alternatives have been awakened and have
14609 terminated themselves.
14610
14611 @item Child Activation Wait
14612 The task is waiting for created tasks to complete activation.
14613
14614 @item Accept Statement
14615 The task is waiting on an accept or selective wait statement.
14616
14617 @item Waiting on entry call
14618 The task is waiting on an entry call.
14619
14620 @item Async Select Wait
14621 The task is waiting to start the abortable part of an asynchronous
14622 select statement.
14623
14624 @item Delay Sleep
14625 The task is waiting on a select statement with only a delay
14626 alternative open.
14627
14628 @item Child Termination Wait
14629 The task is sleeping having completed a master within itself, and is
14630 waiting for the tasks dependent on that master to become terminated or
14631 waiting on a terminate Phase.
14632
14633 @item Wait Child in Term Alt
14634 The task is sleeping waiting for tasks on terminate alternatives to
14635 finish terminating.
14636
14637 @item Accepting RV with @var{taskno}
14638 The task is accepting a rendez-vous with the task @var{taskno}.
14639 @end table
14640
14641 @item Name
14642 Name of the task in the program.
14643
14644 @end table
14645
14646 @kindex info task @var{taskno}
14647 @item info task @var{taskno}
14648 This command shows detailled informations on the specified task, as in
14649 the following example:
14650 @smallexample
14651 @iftex
14652 @leftskip=0.5cm
14653 @end iftex
14654 (@value{GDBP}) info tasks
14655 ID TID P-ID Pri State Name
14656 1 8077880 0 15 Child Activation Wait main_task
14657 * 2 807c468 1 15 Runnable task_1
14658 (@value{GDBP}) info task 2
14659 Ada Task: 0x807c468
14660 Name: task_1
14661 Thread: 0x807f378
14662 Parent: 1 (main_task)
14663 Base Priority: 15
14664 State: Runnable
14665 @end smallexample
14666
14667 @item task
14668 @kindex task@r{ (Ada)}
14669 @cindex current Ada task ID
14670 This command prints the ID of the current task.
14671
14672 @smallexample
14673 @iftex
14674 @leftskip=0.5cm
14675 @end iftex
14676 (@value{GDBP}) info tasks
14677 ID TID P-ID Pri State Name
14678 1 8077870 0 15 Child Activation Wait main_task
14679 * 2 807c458 1 15 Runnable t
14680 (@value{GDBP}) task
14681 [Current task is 2]
14682 @end smallexample
14683
14684 @item task @var{taskno}
14685 @cindex Ada task switching
14686 This command is like the @code{thread @var{threadno}}
14687 command (@pxref{Threads}). It switches the context of debugging
14688 from the current task to the given task.
14689
14690 @smallexample
14691 @iftex
14692 @leftskip=0.5cm
14693 @end iftex
14694 (@value{GDBP}) info tasks
14695 ID TID P-ID Pri State Name
14696 1 8077870 0 15 Child Activation Wait main_task
14697 * 2 807c458 1 15 Runnable t
14698 (@value{GDBP}) task 1
14699 [Switching to task 1]
14700 #0 0x8067726 in pthread_cond_wait ()
14701 (@value{GDBP}) bt
14702 #0 0x8067726 in pthread_cond_wait ()
14703 #1 0x8056714 in system.os_interface.pthread_cond_wait ()
14704 #2 0x805cb63 in system.task_primitives.operations.sleep ()
14705 #3 0x806153e in system.tasking.stages.activate_tasks ()
14706 #4 0x804aacc in un () at un.adb:5
14707 @end smallexample
14708
14709 @item break @var{linespec} task @var{taskno}
14710 @itemx break @var{linespec} task @var{taskno} if @dots{}
14711 @cindex breakpoints and tasks, in Ada
14712 @cindex task breakpoints, in Ada
14713 @kindex break @dots{} task @var{taskno}@r{ (Ada)}
14714 These commands are like the @code{break @dots{} thread @dots{}}
14715 command (@pxref{Thread Stops}).
14716 @var{linespec} specifies source lines, as described
14717 in @ref{Specify Location}.
14718
14719 Use the qualifier @samp{task @var{taskno}} with a breakpoint command
14720 to specify that you only want @value{GDBN} to stop the program when a
14721 particular Ada task reaches this breakpoint. @var{taskno} is one of the
14722 numeric task identifiers assigned by @value{GDBN}, shown in the first
14723 column of the @samp{info tasks} display.
14724
14725 If you do not specify @samp{task @var{taskno}} when you set a
14726 breakpoint, the breakpoint applies to @emph{all} tasks of your
14727 program.
14728
14729 You can use the @code{task} qualifier on conditional breakpoints as
14730 well; in this case, place @samp{task @var{taskno}} before the
14731 breakpoint condition (before the @code{if}).
14732
14733 For example,
14734
14735 @smallexample
14736 @iftex
14737 @leftskip=0.5cm
14738 @end iftex
14739 (@value{GDBP}) info tasks
14740 ID TID P-ID Pri State Name
14741 1 140022020 0 15 Child Activation Wait main_task
14742 2 140045060 1 15 Accept/Select Wait t2
14743 3 140044840 1 15 Runnable t1
14744 * 4 140056040 1 15 Runnable t3
14745 (@value{GDBP}) b 15 task 2
14746 Breakpoint 5 at 0x120044cb0: file test_task_debug.adb, line 15.
14747 (@value{GDBP}) cont
14748 Continuing.
14749 task # 1 running
14750 task # 2 running
14751
14752 Breakpoint 5, test_task_debug () at test_task_debug.adb:15
14753 15 flush;
14754 (@value{GDBP}) info tasks
14755 ID TID P-ID Pri State Name
14756 1 140022020 0 15 Child Activation Wait main_task
14757 * 2 140045060 1 15 Runnable t2
14758 3 140044840 1 15 Runnable t1
14759 4 140056040 1 15 Delay Sleep t3
14760 @end smallexample
14761 @end table
14762
14763 @node Ada Tasks and Core Files
14764 @subsubsection Tasking Support when Debugging Core Files
14765 @cindex Ada tasking and core file debugging
14766
14767 When inspecting a core file, as opposed to debugging a live program,
14768 tasking support may be limited or even unavailable, depending on
14769 the platform being used.
14770 For instance, on x86-linux, the list of tasks is available, but task
14771 switching is not supported. On Tru64, however, task switching will work
14772 as usual.
14773
14774 On certain platforms, including Tru64, the debugger needs to perform some
14775 memory writes in order to provide Ada tasking support. When inspecting
14776 a core file, this means that the core file must be opened with read-write
14777 privileges, using the command @samp{"set write on"} (@pxref{Patching}).
14778 Under these circumstances, you should make a backup copy of the core
14779 file before inspecting it with @value{GDBN}.
14780
14781 @node Ravenscar Profile
14782 @subsubsection Tasking Support when using the Ravenscar Profile
14783 @cindex Ravenscar Profile
14784
14785 The @dfn{Ravenscar Profile} is a subset of the Ada tasking features,
14786 specifically designed for systems with safety-critical real-time
14787 requirements.
14788
14789 @table @code
14790 @kindex set ravenscar task-switching on
14791 @cindex task switching with program using Ravenscar Profile
14792 @item set ravenscar task-switching on
14793 Allows task switching when debugging a program that uses the Ravenscar
14794 Profile. This is the default.
14795
14796 @kindex set ravenscar task-switching off
14797 @item set ravenscar task-switching off
14798 Turn off task switching when debugging a program that uses the Ravenscar
14799 Profile. This is mostly intended to disable the code that adds support
14800 for the Ravenscar Profile, in case a bug in either @value{GDBN} or in
14801 the Ravenscar runtime is preventing @value{GDBN} from working properly.
14802 To be effective, this command should be run before the program is started.
14803
14804 @kindex show ravenscar task-switching
14805 @item show ravenscar task-switching
14806 Show whether it is possible to switch from task to task in a program
14807 using the Ravenscar Profile.
14808
14809 @end table
14810
14811 @node Ada Glitches
14812 @subsubsection Known Peculiarities of Ada Mode
14813 @cindex Ada, problems
14814
14815 Besides the omissions listed previously (@pxref{Omissions from Ada}),
14816 we know of several problems with and limitations of Ada mode in
14817 @value{GDBN},
14818 some of which will be fixed with planned future releases of the debugger
14819 and the GNU Ada compiler.
14820
14821 @itemize @bullet
14822 @item
14823 Static constants that the compiler chooses not to materialize as objects in
14824 storage are invisible to the debugger.
14825
14826 @item
14827 Named parameter associations in function argument lists are ignored (the
14828 argument lists are treated as positional).
14829
14830 @item
14831 Many useful library packages are currently invisible to the debugger.
14832
14833 @item
14834 Fixed-point arithmetic, conversions, input, and output is carried out using
14835 floating-point arithmetic, and may give results that only approximate those on
14836 the host machine.
14837
14838 @item
14839 The GNAT compiler never generates the prefix @code{Standard} for any of
14840 the standard symbols defined by the Ada language. @value{GDBN} knows about
14841 this: it will strip the prefix from names when you use it, and will never
14842 look for a name you have so qualified among local symbols, nor match against
14843 symbols in other packages or subprograms. If you have
14844 defined entities anywhere in your program other than parameters and
14845 local variables whose simple names match names in @code{Standard},
14846 GNAT's lack of qualification here can cause confusion. When this happens,
14847 you can usually resolve the confusion
14848 by qualifying the problematic names with package
14849 @code{Standard} explicitly.
14850 @end itemize
14851
14852 Older versions of the compiler sometimes generate erroneous debugging
14853 information, resulting in the debugger incorrectly printing the value
14854 of affected entities. In some cases, the debugger is able to work
14855 around an issue automatically. In other cases, the debugger is able
14856 to work around the issue, but the work-around has to be specifically
14857 enabled.
14858
14859 @kindex set ada trust-PAD-over-XVS
14860 @kindex show ada trust-PAD-over-XVS
14861 @table @code
14862
14863 @item set ada trust-PAD-over-XVS on
14864 Configure GDB to strictly follow the GNAT encoding when computing the
14865 value of Ada entities, particularly when @code{PAD} and @code{PAD___XVS}
14866 types are involved (see @code{ada/exp_dbug.ads} in the GCC sources for
14867 a complete description of the encoding used by the GNAT compiler).
14868 This is the default.
14869
14870 @item set ada trust-PAD-over-XVS off
14871 This is related to the encoding using by the GNAT compiler. If @value{GDBN}
14872 sometimes prints the wrong value for certain entities, changing @code{ada
14873 trust-PAD-over-XVS} to @code{off} activates a work-around which may fix
14874 the issue. It is always safe to set @code{ada trust-PAD-over-XVS} to
14875 @code{off}, but this incurs a slight performance penalty, so it is
14876 recommended to leave this setting to @code{on} unless necessary.
14877
14878 @end table
14879
14880 @node Unsupported Languages
14881 @section Unsupported Languages
14882
14883 @cindex unsupported languages
14884 @cindex minimal language
14885 In addition to the other fully-supported programming languages,
14886 @value{GDBN} also provides a pseudo-language, called @code{minimal}.
14887 It does not represent a real programming language, but provides a set
14888 of capabilities close to what the C or assembly languages provide.
14889 This should allow most simple operations to be performed while debugging
14890 an application that uses a language currently not supported by @value{GDBN}.
14891
14892 If the language is set to @code{auto}, @value{GDBN} will automatically
14893 select this language if the current frame corresponds to an unsupported
14894 language.
14895
14896 @node Symbols
14897 @chapter Examining the Symbol Table
14898
14899 The commands described in this chapter allow you to inquire about the
14900 symbols (names of variables, functions and types) defined in your
14901 program. This information is inherent in the text of your program and
14902 does not change as your program executes. @value{GDBN} finds it in your
14903 program's symbol table, in the file indicated when you started @value{GDBN}
14904 (@pxref{File Options, ,Choosing Files}), or by one of the
14905 file-management commands (@pxref{Files, ,Commands to Specify Files}).
14906
14907 @cindex symbol names
14908 @cindex names of symbols
14909 @cindex quoting names
14910 Occasionally, you may need to refer to symbols that contain unusual
14911 characters, which @value{GDBN} ordinarily treats as word delimiters. The
14912 most frequent case is in referring to static variables in other
14913 source files (@pxref{Variables,,Program Variables}). File names
14914 are recorded in object files as debugging symbols, but @value{GDBN} would
14915 ordinarily parse a typical file name, like @file{foo.c}, as the three words
14916 @samp{foo} @samp{.} @samp{c}. To allow @value{GDBN} to recognize
14917 @samp{foo.c} as a single symbol, enclose it in single quotes; for example,
14918
14919 @smallexample
14920 p 'foo.c'::x
14921 @end smallexample
14922
14923 @noindent
14924 looks up the value of @code{x} in the scope of the file @file{foo.c}.
14925
14926 @table @code
14927 @cindex case-insensitive symbol names
14928 @cindex case sensitivity in symbol names
14929 @kindex set case-sensitive
14930 @item set case-sensitive on
14931 @itemx set case-sensitive off
14932 @itemx set case-sensitive auto
14933 Normally, when @value{GDBN} looks up symbols, it matches their names
14934 with case sensitivity determined by the current source language.
14935 Occasionally, you may wish to control that. The command @code{set
14936 case-sensitive} lets you do that by specifying @code{on} for
14937 case-sensitive matches or @code{off} for case-insensitive ones. If
14938 you specify @code{auto}, case sensitivity is reset to the default
14939 suitable for the source language. The default is case-sensitive
14940 matches for all languages except for Fortran, for which the default is
14941 case-insensitive matches.
14942
14943 @kindex show case-sensitive
14944 @item show case-sensitive
14945 This command shows the current setting of case sensitivity for symbols
14946 lookups.
14947
14948 @kindex info address
14949 @cindex address of a symbol
14950 @item info address @var{symbol}
14951 Describe where the data for @var{symbol} is stored. For a register
14952 variable, this says which register it is kept in. For a non-register
14953 local variable, this prints the stack-frame offset at which the variable
14954 is always stored.
14955
14956 Note the contrast with @samp{print &@var{symbol}}, which does not work
14957 at all for a register variable, and for a stack local variable prints
14958 the exact address of the current instantiation of the variable.
14959
14960 @kindex info symbol
14961 @cindex symbol from address
14962 @cindex closest symbol and offset for an address
14963 @item info symbol @var{addr}
14964 Print the name of a symbol which is stored at the address @var{addr}.
14965 If no symbol is stored exactly at @var{addr}, @value{GDBN} prints the
14966 nearest symbol and an offset from it:
14967
14968 @smallexample
14969 (@value{GDBP}) info symbol 0x54320
14970 _initialize_vx + 396 in section .text
14971 @end smallexample
14972
14973 @noindent
14974 This is the opposite of the @code{info address} command. You can use
14975 it to find out the name of a variable or a function given its address.
14976
14977 For dynamically linked executables, the name of executable or shared
14978 library containing the symbol is also printed:
14979
14980 @smallexample
14981 (@value{GDBP}) info symbol 0x400225
14982 _start + 5 in section .text of /tmp/a.out
14983 (@value{GDBP}) info symbol 0x2aaaac2811cf
14984 __read_nocancel + 6 in section .text of /usr/lib64/libc.so.6
14985 @end smallexample
14986
14987 @kindex whatis
14988 @item whatis [@var{arg}]
14989 Print the data type of @var{arg}, which can be either an expression
14990 or a name of a data type. With no argument, print the data type of
14991 @code{$}, the last value in the value history.
14992
14993 If @var{arg} is an expression (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}), it
14994 is not actually evaluated, and any side-effecting operations (such as
14995 assignments or function calls) inside it do not take place.
14996
14997 If @var{arg} is a variable or an expression, @code{whatis} prints its
14998 literal type as it is used in the source code. If the type was
14999 defined using a @code{typedef}, @code{whatis} will @emph{not} print
15000 the data type underlying the @code{typedef}. If the type of the
15001 variable or the expression is a compound data type, such as
15002 @code{struct} or @code{class}, @code{whatis} never prints their
15003 fields or methods. It just prints the @code{struct}/@code{class}
15004 name (a.k.a.@: its @dfn{tag}). If you want to see the members of
15005 such a compound data type, use @code{ptype}.
15006
15007 If @var{arg} is a type name that was defined using @code{typedef},
15008 @code{whatis} @dfn{unrolls} only one level of that @code{typedef}.
15009 Unrolling means that @code{whatis} will show the underlying type used
15010 in the @code{typedef} declaration of @var{arg}. However, if that
15011 underlying type is also a @code{typedef}, @code{whatis} will not
15012 unroll it.
15013
15014 For C code, the type names may also have the form @samp{class
15015 @var{class-name}}, @samp{struct @var{struct-tag}}, @samp{union
15016 @var{union-tag}} or @samp{enum @var{enum-tag}}.
15017
15018 @kindex ptype
15019 @item ptype [@var{arg}]
15020 @code{ptype} accepts the same arguments as @code{whatis}, but prints a
15021 detailed description of the type, instead of just the name of the type.
15022 @xref{Expressions, ,Expressions}.
15023
15024 Contrary to @code{whatis}, @code{ptype} always unrolls any
15025 @code{typedef}s in its argument declaration, whether the argument is
15026 a variable, expression, or a data type. This means that @code{ptype}
15027 of a variable or an expression will not print literally its type as
15028 present in the source code---use @code{whatis} for that. @code{typedef}s at
15029 the pointer or reference targets are also unrolled. Only @code{typedef}s of
15030 fields, methods and inner @code{class typedef}s of @code{struct}s,
15031 @code{class}es and @code{union}s are not unrolled even with @code{ptype}.
15032
15033 For example, for this variable declaration:
15034
15035 @smallexample
15036 typedef double real_t;
15037 struct complex @{ real_t real; double imag; @};
15038 typedef struct complex complex_t;
15039 complex_t var;
15040 real_t *real_pointer_var;
15041 @end smallexample
15042
15043 @noindent
15044 the two commands give this output:
15045
15046 @smallexample
15047 @group
15048 (@value{GDBP}) whatis var
15049 type = complex_t
15050 (@value{GDBP}) ptype var
15051 type = struct complex @{
15052 real_t real;
15053 double imag;
15054 @}
15055 (@value{GDBP}) whatis complex_t
15056 type = struct complex
15057 (@value{GDBP}) whatis struct complex
15058 type = struct complex
15059 (@value{GDBP}) ptype struct complex
15060 type = struct complex @{
15061 real_t real;
15062 double imag;
15063 @}
15064 (@value{GDBP}) whatis real_pointer_var
15065 type = real_t *
15066 (@value{GDBP}) ptype real_pointer_var
15067 type = double *
15068 @end group
15069 @end smallexample
15070
15071 @noindent
15072 As with @code{whatis}, using @code{ptype} without an argument refers to
15073 the type of @code{$}, the last value in the value history.
15074
15075 @cindex incomplete type
15076 Sometimes, programs use opaque data types or incomplete specifications
15077 of complex data structure. If the debug information included in the
15078 program does not allow @value{GDBN} to display a full declaration of
15079 the data type, it will say @samp{<incomplete type>}. For example,
15080 given these declarations:
15081
15082 @smallexample
15083 struct foo;
15084 struct foo *fooptr;
15085 @end smallexample
15086
15087 @noindent
15088 but no definition for @code{struct foo} itself, @value{GDBN} will say:
15089
15090 @smallexample
15091 (@value{GDBP}) ptype foo
15092 $1 = <incomplete type>
15093 @end smallexample
15094
15095 @noindent
15096 ``Incomplete type'' is C terminology for data types that are not
15097 completely specified.
15098
15099 @kindex info types
15100 @item info types @var{regexp}
15101 @itemx info types
15102 Print a brief description of all types whose names match the regular
15103 expression @var{regexp} (or all types in your program, if you supply
15104 no argument). Each complete typename is matched as though it were a
15105 complete line; thus, @samp{i type value} gives information on all
15106 types in your program whose names include the string @code{value}, but
15107 @samp{i type ^value$} gives information only on types whose complete
15108 name is @code{value}.
15109
15110 This command differs from @code{ptype} in two ways: first, like
15111 @code{whatis}, it does not print a detailed description; second, it
15112 lists all source files where a type is defined.
15113
15114 @kindex info scope
15115 @cindex local variables
15116 @item info scope @var{location}
15117 List all the variables local to a particular scope. This command
15118 accepts a @var{location} argument---a function name, a source line, or
15119 an address preceded by a @samp{*}, and prints all the variables local
15120 to the scope defined by that location. (@xref{Specify Location}, for
15121 details about supported forms of @var{location}.) For example:
15122
15123 @smallexample
15124 (@value{GDBP}) @b{info scope command_line_handler}
15125 Scope for command_line_handler:
15126 Symbol rl is an argument at stack/frame offset 8, length 4.
15127 Symbol linebuffer is in static storage at address 0x150a18, length 4.
15128 Symbol linelength is in static storage at address 0x150a1c, length 4.
15129 Symbol p is a local variable in register $esi, length 4.
15130 Symbol p1 is a local variable in register $ebx, length 4.
15131 Symbol nline is a local variable in register $edx, length 4.
15132 Symbol repeat is a local variable at frame offset -8, length 4.
15133 @end smallexample
15134
15135 @noindent
15136 This command is especially useful for determining what data to collect
15137 during a @dfn{trace experiment}, see @ref{Tracepoint Actions,
15138 collect}.
15139
15140 @kindex info source
15141 @item info source
15142 Show information about the current source file---that is, the source file for
15143 the function containing the current point of execution:
15144 @itemize @bullet
15145 @item
15146 the name of the source file, and the directory containing it,
15147 @item
15148 the directory it was compiled in,
15149 @item
15150 its length, in lines,
15151 @item
15152 which programming language it is written in,
15153 @item
15154 whether the executable includes debugging information for that file, and
15155 if so, what format the information is in (e.g., STABS, Dwarf 2, etc.), and
15156 @item
15157 whether the debugging information includes information about
15158 preprocessor macros.
15159 @end itemize
15160
15161
15162 @kindex info sources
15163 @item info sources
15164 Print the names of all source files in your program for which there is
15165 debugging information, organized into two lists: files whose symbols
15166 have already been read, and files whose symbols will be read when needed.
15167
15168 @kindex info functions
15169 @item info functions
15170 Print the names and data types of all defined functions.
15171
15172 @item info functions @var{regexp}
15173 Print the names and data types of all defined functions
15174 whose names contain a match for regular expression @var{regexp}.
15175 Thus, @samp{info fun step} finds all functions whose names
15176 include @code{step}; @samp{info fun ^step} finds those whose names
15177 start with @code{step}. If a function name contains characters
15178 that conflict with the regular expression language (e.g.@:
15179 @samp{operator*()}), they may be quoted with a backslash.
15180
15181 @kindex info variables
15182 @item info variables
15183 Print the names and data types of all variables that are defined
15184 outside of functions (i.e.@: excluding local variables).
15185
15186 @item info variables @var{regexp}
15187 Print the names and data types of all variables (except for local
15188 variables) whose names contain a match for regular expression
15189 @var{regexp}.
15190
15191 @kindex info classes
15192 @cindex Objective-C, classes and selectors
15193 @item info classes
15194 @itemx info classes @var{regexp}
15195 Display all Objective-C classes in your program, or
15196 (with the @var{regexp} argument) all those matching a particular regular
15197 expression.
15198
15199 @kindex info selectors
15200 @item info selectors
15201 @itemx info selectors @var{regexp}
15202 Display all Objective-C selectors in your program, or
15203 (with the @var{regexp} argument) all those matching a particular regular
15204 expression.
15205
15206 @ignore
15207 This was never implemented.
15208 @kindex info methods
15209 @item info methods
15210 @itemx info methods @var{regexp}
15211 The @code{info methods} command permits the user to examine all defined
15212 methods within C@t{++} program, or (with the @var{regexp} argument) a
15213 specific set of methods found in the various C@t{++} classes. Many
15214 C@t{++} classes provide a large number of methods. Thus, the output
15215 from the @code{ptype} command can be overwhelming and hard to use. The
15216 @code{info-methods} command filters the methods, printing only those
15217 which match the regular-expression @var{regexp}.
15218 @end ignore
15219
15220 @cindex opaque data types
15221 @kindex set opaque-type-resolution
15222 @item set opaque-type-resolution on
15223 Tell @value{GDBN} to resolve opaque types. An opaque type is a type
15224 declared as a pointer to a @code{struct}, @code{class}, or
15225 @code{union}---for example, @code{struct MyType *}---that is used in one
15226 source file although the full declaration of @code{struct MyType} is in
15227 another source file. The default is on.
15228
15229 A change in the setting of this subcommand will not take effect until
15230 the next time symbols for a file are loaded.
15231
15232 @item set opaque-type-resolution off
15233 Tell @value{GDBN} not to resolve opaque types. In this case, the type
15234 is printed as follows:
15235 @smallexample
15236 @{<no data fields>@}
15237 @end smallexample
15238
15239 @kindex show opaque-type-resolution
15240 @item show opaque-type-resolution
15241 Show whether opaque types are resolved or not.
15242
15243 @kindex maint print symbols
15244 @cindex symbol dump
15245 @kindex maint print psymbols
15246 @cindex partial symbol dump
15247 @item maint print symbols @var{filename}
15248 @itemx maint print psymbols @var{filename}
15249 @itemx maint print msymbols @var{filename}
15250 Write a dump of debugging symbol data into the file @var{filename}.
15251 These commands are used to debug the @value{GDBN} symbol-reading code. Only
15252 symbols with debugging data are included. If you use @samp{maint print
15253 symbols}, @value{GDBN} includes all the symbols for which it has already
15254 collected full details: that is, @var{filename} reflects symbols for
15255 only those files whose symbols @value{GDBN} has read. You can use the
15256 command @code{info sources} to find out which files these are. If you
15257 use @samp{maint print psymbols} instead, the dump shows information about
15258 symbols that @value{GDBN} only knows partially---that is, symbols defined in
15259 files that @value{GDBN} has skimmed, but not yet read completely. Finally,
15260 @samp{maint print msymbols} dumps just the minimal symbol information
15261 required for each object file from which @value{GDBN} has read some symbols.
15262 @xref{Files, ,Commands to Specify Files}, for a discussion of how
15263 @value{GDBN} reads symbols (in the description of @code{symbol-file}).
15264
15265 @kindex maint info symtabs
15266 @kindex maint info psymtabs
15267 @cindex listing @value{GDBN}'s internal symbol tables
15268 @cindex symbol tables, listing @value{GDBN}'s internal
15269 @cindex full symbol tables, listing @value{GDBN}'s internal
15270 @cindex partial symbol tables, listing @value{GDBN}'s internal
15271 @item maint info symtabs @r{[} @var{regexp} @r{]}
15272 @itemx maint info psymtabs @r{[} @var{regexp} @r{]}
15273
15274 List the @code{struct symtab} or @code{struct partial_symtab}
15275 structures whose names match @var{regexp}. If @var{regexp} is not
15276 given, list them all. The output includes expressions which you can
15277 copy into a @value{GDBN} debugging this one to examine a particular
15278 structure in more detail. For example:
15279
15280 @smallexample
15281 (@value{GDBP}) maint info psymtabs dwarf2read
15282 @{ objfile /home/gnu/build/gdb/gdb
15283 ((struct objfile *) 0x82e69d0)
15284 @{ psymtab /home/gnu/src/gdb/dwarf2read.c
15285 ((struct partial_symtab *) 0x8474b10)
15286 readin no
15287 fullname (null)
15288 text addresses 0x814d3c8 -- 0x8158074
15289 globals (* (struct partial_symbol **) 0x8507a08 @@ 9)
15290 statics (* (struct partial_symbol **) 0x40e95b78 @@ 2882)
15291 dependencies (none)
15292 @}
15293 @}
15294 (@value{GDBP}) maint info symtabs
15295 (@value{GDBP})
15296 @end smallexample
15297 @noindent
15298 We see that there is one partial symbol table whose filename contains
15299 the string @samp{dwarf2read}, belonging to the @samp{gdb} executable;
15300 and we see that @value{GDBN} has not read in any symtabs yet at all.
15301 If we set a breakpoint on a function, that will cause @value{GDBN} to
15302 read the symtab for the compilation unit containing that function:
15303
15304 @smallexample
15305 (@value{GDBP}) break dwarf2_psymtab_to_symtab
15306 Breakpoint 1 at 0x814e5da: file /home/gnu/src/gdb/dwarf2read.c,
15307 line 1574.
15308 (@value{GDBP}) maint info symtabs
15309 @{ objfile /home/gnu/build/gdb/gdb
15310 ((struct objfile *) 0x82e69d0)
15311 @{ symtab /home/gnu/src/gdb/dwarf2read.c
15312 ((struct symtab *) 0x86c1f38)
15313 dirname (null)
15314 fullname (null)
15315 blockvector ((struct blockvector *) 0x86c1bd0) (primary)
15316 linetable ((struct linetable *) 0x8370fa0)
15317 debugformat DWARF 2
15318 @}
15319 @}
15320 (@value{GDBP})
15321 @end smallexample
15322 @end table
15323
15324
15325 @node Altering
15326 @chapter Altering Execution
15327
15328 Once you think you have found an error in your program, you might want to
15329 find out for certain whether correcting the apparent error would lead to
15330 correct results in the rest of the run. You can find the answer by
15331 experiment, using the @value{GDBN} features for altering execution of the
15332 program.
15333
15334 For example, you can store new values into variables or memory
15335 locations, give your program a signal, restart it at a different
15336 address, or even return prematurely from a function.
15337
15338 @menu
15339 * Assignment:: Assignment to variables
15340 * Jumping:: Continuing at a different address
15341 * Signaling:: Giving your program a signal
15342 * Returning:: Returning from a function
15343 * Calling:: Calling your program's functions
15344 * Patching:: Patching your program
15345 @end menu
15346
15347 @node Assignment
15348 @section Assignment to Variables
15349
15350 @cindex assignment
15351 @cindex setting variables
15352 To alter the value of a variable, evaluate an assignment expression.
15353 @xref{Expressions, ,Expressions}. For example,
15354
15355 @smallexample
15356 print x=4
15357 @end smallexample
15358
15359 @noindent
15360 stores the value 4 into the variable @code{x}, and then prints the
15361 value of the assignment expression (which is 4).
15362 @xref{Languages, ,Using @value{GDBN} with Different Languages}, for more
15363 information on operators in supported languages.
15364
15365 @kindex set variable
15366 @cindex variables, setting
15367 If you are not interested in seeing the value of the assignment, use the
15368 @code{set} command instead of the @code{print} command. @code{set} is
15369 really the same as @code{print} except that the expression's value is
15370 not printed and is not put in the value history (@pxref{Value History,
15371 ,Value History}). The expression is evaluated only for its effects.
15372
15373 If the beginning of the argument string of the @code{set} command
15374 appears identical to a @code{set} subcommand, use the @code{set
15375 variable} command instead of just @code{set}. This command is identical
15376 to @code{set} except for its lack of subcommands. For example, if your
15377 program has a variable @code{width}, you get an error if you try to set
15378 a new value with just @samp{set width=13}, because @value{GDBN} has the
15379 command @code{set width}:
15380
15381 @smallexample
15382 (@value{GDBP}) whatis width
15383 type = double
15384 (@value{GDBP}) p width
15385 $4 = 13
15386 (@value{GDBP}) set width=47
15387 Invalid syntax in expression.
15388 @end smallexample
15389
15390 @noindent
15391 The invalid expression, of course, is @samp{=47}. In
15392 order to actually set the program's variable @code{width}, use
15393
15394 @smallexample
15395 (@value{GDBP}) set var width=47
15396 @end smallexample
15397
15398 Because the @code{set} command has many subcommands that can conflict
15399 with the names of program variables, it is a good idea to use the
15400 @code{set variable} command instead of just @code{set}. For example, if
15401 your program has a variable @code{g}, you run into problems if you try
15402 to set a new value with just @samp{set g=4}, because @value{GDBN} has
15403 the command @code{set gnutarget}, abbreviated @code{set g}:
15404
15405 @smallexample
15406 @group
15407 (@value{GDBP}) whatis g
15408 type = double
15409 (@value{GDBP}) p g
15410 $1 = 1
15411 (@value{GDBP}) set g=4
15412 (@value{GDBP}) p g
15413 $2 = 1
15414 (@value{GDBP}) r
15415 The program being debugged has been started already.
15416 Start it from the beginning? (y or n) y
15417 Starting program: /home/smith/cc_progs/a.out
15418 "/home/smith/cc_progs/a.out": can't open to read symbols:
15419 Invalid bfd target.
15420 (@value{GDBP}) show g
15421 The current BFD target is "=4".
15422 @end group
15423 @end smallexample
15424
15425 @noindent
15426 The program variable @code{g} did not change, and you silently set the
15427 @code{gnutarget} to an invalid value. In order to set the variable
15428 @code{g}, use
15429
15430 @smallexample
15431 (@value{GDBP}) set var g=4
15432 @end smallexample
15433
15434 @value{GDBN} allows more implicit conversions in assignments than C; you can
15435 freely store an integer value into a pointer variable or vice versa,
15436 and you can convert any structure to any other structure that is the
15437 same length or shorter.
15438 @comment FIXME: how do structs align/pad in these conversions?
15439 @comment /doc@cygnus.com 18dec1990
15440
15441 To store values into arbitrary places in memory, use the @samp{@{@dots{}@}}
15442 construct to generate a value of specified type at a specified address
15443 (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}). For example, @code{@{int@}0x83040} refers
15444 to memory location @code{0x83040} as an integer (which implies a certain size
15445 and representation in memory), and
15446
15447 @smallexample
15448 set @{int@}0x83040 = 4
15449 @end smallexample
15450
15451 @noindent
15452 stores the value 4 into that memory location.
15453
15454 @node Jumping
15455 @section Continuing at a Different Address
15456
15457 Ordinarily, when you continue your program, you do so at the place where
15458 it stopped, with the @code{continue} command. You can instead continue at
15459 an address of your own choosing, with the following commands:
15460
15461 @table @code
15462 @kindex jump
15463 @item jump @var{linespec}
15464 @itemx jump @var{location}
15465 Resume execution at line @var{linespec} or at address given by
15466 @var{location}. Execution stops again immediately if there is a
15467 breakpoint there. @xref{Specify Location}, for a description of the
15468 different forms of @var{linespec} and @var{location}. It is common
15469 practice to use the @code{tbreak} command in conjunction with
15470 @code{jump}. @xref{Set Breaks, ,Setting Breakpoints}.
15471
15472 The @code{jump} command does not change the current stack frame, or
15473 the stack pointer, or the contents of any memory location or any
15474 register other than the program counter. If line @var{linespec} is in
15475 a different function from the one currently executing, the results may
15476 be bizarre if the two functions expect different patterns of arguments or
15477 of local variables. For this reason, the @code{jump} command requests
15478 confirmation if the specified line is not in the function currently
15479 executing. However, even bizarre results are predictable if you are
15480 well acquainted with the machine-language code of your program.
15481 @end table
15482
15483 @c Doesn't work on HP-UX; have to set $pcoqh and $pcoqt.
15484 On many systems, you can get much the same effect as the @code{jump}
15485 command by storing a new value into the register @code{$pc}. The
15486 difference is that this does not start your program running; it only
15487 changes the address of where it @emph{will} run when you continue. For
15488 example,
15489
15490 @smallexample
15491 set $pc = 0x485
15492 @end smallexample
15493
15494 @noindent
15495 makes the next @code{continue} command or stepping command execute at
15496 address @code{0x485}, rather than at the address where your program stopped.
15497 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, ,Continuing and Stepping}.
15498
15499 The most common occasion to use the @code{jump} command is to back
15500 up---perhaps with more breakpoints set---over a portion of a program
15501 that has already executed, in order to examine its execution in more
15502 detail.
15503
15504 @c @group
15505 @node Signaling
15506 @section Giving your Program a Signal
15507 @cindex deliver a signal to a program
15508
15509 @table @code
15510 @kindex signal
15511 @item signal @var{signal}
15512 Resume execution where your program stopped, but immediately give it the
15513 signal @var{signal}. @var{signal} can be the name or the number of a
15514 signal. For example, on many systems @code{signal 2} and @code{signal
15515 SIGINT} are both ways of sending an interrupt signal.
15516
15517 Alternatively, if @var{signal} is zero, continue execution without
15518 giving a signal. This is useful when your program stopped on account of
15519 a signal and would ordinary see the signal when resumed with the
15520 @code{continue} command; @samp{signal 0} causes it to resume without a
15521 signal.
15522
15523 @code{signal} does not repeat when you press @key{RET} a second time
15524 after executing the command.
15525 @end table
15526 @c @end group
15527
15528 Invoking the @code{signal} command is not the same as invoking the
15529 @code{kill} utility from the shell. Sending a signal with @code{kill}
15530 causes @value{GDBN} to decide what to do with the signal depending on
15531 the signal handling tables (@pxref{Signals}). The @code{signal} command
15532 passes the signal directly to your program.
15533
15534
15535 @node Returning
15536 @section Returning from a Function
15537
15538 @table @code
15539 @cindex returning from a function
15540 @kindex return
15541 @item return
15542 @itemx return @var{expression}
15543 You can cancel execution of a function call with the @code{return}
15544 command. If you give an
15545 @var{expression} argument, its value is used as the function's return
15546 value.
15547 @end table
15548
15549 When you use @code{return}, @value{GDBN} discards the selected stack frame
15550 (and all frames within it). You can think of this as making the
15551 discarded frame return prematurely. If you wish to specify a value to
15552 be returned, give that value as the argument to @code{return}.
15553
15554 This pops the selected stack frame (@pxref{Selection, ,Selecting a
15555 Frame}), and any other frames inside of it, leaving its caller as the
15556 innermost remaining frame. That frame becomes selected. The
15557 specified value is stored in the registers used for returning values
15558 of functions.
15559
15560 The @code{return} command does not resume execution; it leaves the
15561 program stopped in the state that would exist if the function had just
15562 returned. In contrast, the @code{finish} command (@pxref{Continuing
15563 and Stepping, ,Continuing and Stepping}) resumes execution until the
15564 selected stack frame returns naturally.
15565
15566 @value{GDBN} needs to know how the @var{expression} argument should be set for
15567 the inferior. The concrete registers assignment depends on the OS ABI and the
15568 type being returned by the selected stack frame. For example it is common for
15569 OS ABI to return floating point values in FPU registers while integer values in
15570 CPU registers. Still some ABIs return even floating point values in CPU
15571 registers. Larger integer widths (such as @code{long long int}) also have
15572 specific placement rules. @value{GDBN} already knows the OS ABI from its
15573 current target so it needs to find out also the type being returned to make the
15574 assignment into the right register(s).
15575
15576 Normally, the selected stack frame has debug info. @value{GDBN} will always
15577 use the debug info instead of the implicit type of @var{expression} when the
15578 debug info is available. For example, if you type @kbd{return -1}, and the
15579 function in the current stack frame is declared to return a @code{long long
15580 int}, @value{GDBN} transparently converts the implicit @code{int} value of -1
15581 into a @code{long long int}:
15582
15583 @smallexample
15584 Breakpoint 1, func () at gdb.base/return-nodebug.c:29
15585 29 return 31;
15586 (@value{GDBP}) return -1
15587 Make func return now? (y or n) y
15588 #0 0x004004f6 in main () at gdb.base/return-nodebug.c:43
15589 43 printf ("result=%lld\n", func ());
15590 (@value{GDBP})
15591 @end smallexample
15592
15593 However, if the selected stack frame does not have a debug info, e.g., if the
15594 function was compiled without debug info, @value{GDBN} has to find out the type
15595 to return from user. Specifying a different type by mistake may set the value
15596 in different inferior registers than the caller code expects. For example,
15597 typing @kbd{return -1} with its implicit type @code{int} would set only a part
15598 of a @code{long long int} result for a debug info less function (on 32-bit
15599 architectures). Therefore the user is required to specify the return type by
15600 an appropriate cast explicitly:
15601
15602 @smallexample
15603 Breakpoint 2, 0x0040050b in func ()
15604 (@value{GDBP}) return -1
15605 Return value type not available for selected stack frame.
15606 Please use an explicit cast of the value to return.
15607 (@value{GDBP}) return (long long int) -1
15608 Make selected stack frame return now? (y or n) y
15609 #0 0x00400526 in main ()
15610 (@value{GDBP})
15611 @end smallexample
15612
15613 @node Calling
15614 @section Calling Program Functions
15615
15616 @table @code
15617 @cindex calling functions
15618 @cindex inferior functions, calling
15619 @item print @var{expr}
15620 Evaluate the expression @var{expr} and display the resulting value.
15621 @var{expr} may include calls to functions in the program being
15622 debugged.
15623
15624 @kindex call
15625 @item call @var{expr}
15626 Evaluate the expression @var{expr} without displaying @code{void}
15627 returned values.
15628
15629 You can use this variant of the @code{print} command if you want to
15630 execute a function from your program that does not return anything
15631 (a.k.a.@: @dfn{a void function}), but without cluttering the output
15632 with @code{void} returned values that @value{GDBN} will otherwise
15633 print. If the result is not void, it is printed and saved in the
15634 value history.
15635 @end table
15636
15637 It is possible for the function you call via the @code{print} or
15638 @code{call} command to generate a signal (e.g., if there's a bug in
15639 the function, or if you passed it incorrect arguments). What happens
15640 in that case is controlled by the @code{set unwindonsignal} command.
15641
15642 Similarly, with a C@t{++} program it is possible for the function you
15643 call via the @code{print} or @code{call} command to generate an
15644 exception that is not handled due to the constraints of the dummy
15645 frame. In this case, any exception that is raised in the frame, but has
15646 an out-of-frame exception handler will not be found. GDB builds a
15647 dummy-frame for the inferior function call, and the unwinder cannot
15648 seek for exception handlers outside of this dummy-frame. What happens
15649 in that case is controlled by the
15650 @code{set unwind-on-terminating-exception} command.
15651
15652 @table @code
15653 @item set unwindonsignal
15654 @kindex set unwindonsignal
15655 @cindex unwind stack in called functions
15656 @cindex call dummy stack unwinding
15657 Set unwinding of the stack if a signal is received while in a function
15658 that @value{GDBN} called in the program being debugged. If set to on,
15659 @value{GDBN} unwinds the stack it created for the call and restores
15660 the context to what it was before the call. If set to off (the
15661 default), @value{GDBN} stops in the frame where the signal was
15662 received.
15663
15664 @item show unwindonsignal
15665 @kindex show unwindonsignal
15666 Show the current setting of stack unwinding in the functions called by
15667 @value{GDBN}.
15668
15669 @item set unwind-on-terminating-exception
15670 @kindex set unwind-on-terminating-exception
15671 @cindex unwind stack in called functions with unhandled exceptions
15672 @cindex call dummy stack unwinding on unhandled exception.
15673 Set unwinding of the stack if a C@t{++} exception is raised, but left
15674 unhandled while in a function that @value{GDBN} called in the program being
15675 debugged. If set to on (the default), @value{GDBN} unwinds the stack
15676 it created for the call and restores the context to what it was before
15677 the call. If set to off, @value{GDBN} the exception is delivered to
15678 the default C@t{++} exception handler and the inferior terminated.
15679
15680 @item show unwind-on-terminating-exception
15681 @kindex show unwind-on-terminating-exception
15682 Show the current setting of stack unwinding in the functions called by
15683 @value{GDBN}.
15684
15685 @end table
15686
15687 @cindex weak alias functions
15688 Sometimes, a function you wish to call is actually a @dfn{weak alias}
15689 for another function. In such case, @value{GDBN} might not pick up
15690 the type information, including the types of the function arguments,
15691 which causes @value{GDBN} to call the inferior function incorrectly.
15692 As a result, the called function will function erroneously and may
15693 even crash. A solution to that is to use the name of the aliased
15694 function instead.
15695
15696 @node Patching
15697 @section Patching Programs
15698
15699 @cindex patching binaries
15700 @cindex writing into executables
15701 @cindex writing into corefiles
15702
15703 By default, @value{GDBN} opens the file containing your program's
15704 executable code (or the corefile) read-only. This prevents accidental
15705 alterations to machine code; but it also prevents you from intentionally
15706 patching your program's binary.
15707
15708 If you'd like to be able to patch the binary, you can specify that
15709 explicitly with the @code{set write} command. For example, you might
15710 want to turn on internal debugging flags, or even to make emergency
15711 repairs.
15712
15713 @table @code
15714 @kindex set write
15715 @item set write on
15716 @itemx set write off
15717 If you specify @samp{set write on}, @value{GDBN} opens executable and
15718 core files for both reading and writing; if you specify @kbd{set write
15719 off} (the default), @value{GDBN} opens them read-only.
15720
15721 If you have already loaded a file, you must load it again (using the
15722 @code{exec-file} or @code{core-file} command) after changing @code{set
15723 write}, for your new setting to take effect.
15724
15725 @item show write
15726 @kindex show write
15727 Display whether executable files and core files are opened for writing
15728 as well as reading.
15729 @end table
15730
15731 @node GDB Files
15732 @chapter @value{GDBN} Files
15733
15734 @value{GDBN} needs to know the file name of the program to be debugged,
15735 both in order to read its symbol table and in order to start your
15736 program. To debug a core dump of a previous run, you must also tell
15737 @value{GDBN} the name of the core dump file.
15738
15739 @menu
15740 * Files:: Commands to specify files
15741 * Separate Debug Files:: Debugging information in separate files
15742 * Index Files:: Index files speed up GDB
15743 * Symbol Errors:: Errors reading symbol files
15744 * Data Files:: GDB data files
15745 @end menu
15746
15747 @node Files
15748 @section Commands to Specify Files
15749
15750 @cindex symbol table
15751 @cindex core dump file
15752
15753 You may want to specify executable and core dump file names. The usual
15754 way to do this is at start-up time, using the arguments to
15755 @value{GDBN}'s start-up commands (@pxref{Invocation, , Getting In and
15756 Out of @value{GDBN}}).
15757
15758 Occasionally it is necessary to change to a different file during a
15759 @value{GDBN} session. Or you may run @value{GDBN} and forget to
15760 specify a file you want to use. Or you are debugging a remote target
15761 via @code{gdbserver} (@pxref{Server, file, Using the @code{gdbserver}
15762 Program}). In these situations the @value{GDBN} commands to specify
15763 new files are useful.
15764
15765 @table @code
15766 @cindex executable file
15767 @kindex file
15768 @item file @var{filename}
15769 Use @var{filename} as the program to be debugged. It is read for its
15770 symbols and for the contents of pure memory. It is also the program
15771 executed when you use the @code{run} command. If you do not specify a
15772 directory and the file is not found in the @value{GDBN} working directory,
15773 @value{GDBN} uses the environment variable @code{PATH} as a list of
15774 directories to search, just as the shell does when looking for a program
15775 to run. You can change the value of this variable, for both @value{GDBN}
15776 and your program, using the @code{path} command.
15777
15778 @cindex unlinked object files
15779 @cindex patching object files
15780 You can load unlinked object @file{.o} files into @value{GDBN} using
15781 the @code{file} command. You will not be able to ``run'' an object
15782 file, but you can disassemble functions and inspect variables. Also,
15783 if the underlying BFD functionality supports it, you could use
15784 @kbd{gdb -write} to patch object files using this technique. Note
15785 that @value{GDBN} can neither interpret nor modify relocations in this
15786 case, so branches and some initialized variables will appear to go to
15787 the wrong place. But this feature is still handy from time to time.
15788
15789 @item file
15790 @code{file} with no argument makes @value{GDBN} discard any information it
15791 has on both executable file and the symbol table.
15792
15793 @kindex exec-file
15794 @item exec-file @r{[} @var{filename} @r{]}
15795 Specify that the program to be run (but not the symbol table) is found
15796 in @var{filename}. @value{GDBN} searches the environment variable @code{PATH}
15797 if necessary to locate your program. Omitting @var{filename} means to
15798 discard information on the executable file.
15799
15800 @kindex symbol-file
15801 @item symbol-file @r{[} @var{filename} @r{]}
15802 Read symbol table information from file @var{filename}. @code{PATH} is
15803 searched when necessary. Use the @code{file} command to get both symbol
15804 table and program to run from the same file.
15805
15806 @code{symbol-file} with no argument clears out @value{GDBN} information on your
15807 program's symbol table.
15808
15809 The @code{symbol-file} command causes @value{GDBN} to forget the contents of
15810 some breakpoints and auto-display expressions. This is because they may
15811 contain pointers to the internal data recording symbols and data types,
15812 which are part of the old symbol table data being discarded inside
15813 @value{GDBN}.
15814
15815 @code{symbol-file} does not repeat if you press @key{RET} again after
15816 executing it once.
15817
15818 When @value{GDBN} is configured for a particular environment, it
15819 understands debugging information in whatever format is the standard
15820 generated for that environment; you may use either a @sc{gnu} compiler, or
15821 other compilers that adhere to the local conventions.
15822 Best results are usually obtained from @sc{gnu} compilers; for example,
15823 using @code{@value{NGCC}} you can generate debugging information for
15824 optimized code.
15825
15826 For most kinds of object files, with the exception of old SVR3 systems
15827 using COFF, the @code{symbol-file} command does not normally read the
15828 symbol table in full right away. Instead, it scans the symbol table
15829 quickly to find which source files and which symbols are present. The
15830 details are read later, one source file at a time, as they are needed.
15831
15832 The purpose of this two-stage reading strategy is to make @value{GDBN}
15833 start up faster. For the most part, it is invisible except for
15834 occasional pauses while the symbol table details for a particular source
15835 file are being read. (The @code{set verbose} command can turn these
15836 pauses into messages if desired. @xref{Messages/Warnings, ,Optional
15837 Warnings and Messages}.)
15838
15839 We have not implemented the two-stage strategy for COFF yet. When the
15840 symbol table is stored in COFF format, @code{symbol-file} reads the
15841 symbol table data in full right away. Note that ``stabs-in-COFF''
15842 still does the two-stage strategy, since the debug info is actually
15843 in stabs format.
15844
15845 @kindex readnow
15846 @cindex reading symbols immediately
15847 @cindex symbols, reading immediately
15848 @item symbol-file @r{[} -readnow @r{]} @var{filename}
15849 @itemx file @r{[} -readnow @r{]} @var{filename}
15850 You can override the @value{GDBN} two-stage strategy for reading symbol
15851 tables by using the @samp{-readnow} option with any of the commands that
15852 load symbol table information, if you want to be sure @value{GDBN} has the
15853 entire symbol table available.
15854
15855 @c FIXME: for now no mention of directories, since this seems to be in
15856 @c flux. 13mar1992 status is that in theory GDB would look either in
15857 @c current dir or in same dir as myprog; but issues like competing
15858 @c GDB's, or clutter in system dirs, mean that in practice right now
15859 @c only current dir is used. FFish says maybe a special GDB hierarchy
15860 @c (eg rooted in val of env var GDBSYMS) could exist for mappable symbol
15861 @c files.
15862
15863 @kindex core-file
15864 @item core-file @r{[}@var{filename}@r{]}
15865 @itemx core
15866 Specify the whereabouts of a core dump file to be used as the ``contents
15867 of memory''. Traditionally, core files contain only some parts of the
15868 address space of the process that generated them; @value{GDBN} can access the
15869 executable file itself for other parts.
15870
15871 @code{core-file} with no argument specifies that no core file is
15872 to be used.
15873
15874 Note that the core file is ignored when your program is actually running
15875 under @value{GDBN}. So, if you have been running your program and you
15876 wish to debug a core file instead, you must kill the subprocess in which
15877 the program is running. To do this, use the @code{kill} command
15878 (@pxref{Kill Process, ,Killing the Child Process}).
15879
15880 @kindex add-symbol-file
15881 @cindex dynamic linking
15882 @item add-symbol-file @var{filename} @var{address}
15883 @itemx add-symbol-file @var{filename} @var{address} @r{[} -readnow @r{]}
15884 @itemx add-symbol-file @var{filename} @var{address} -s @var{section} @var{address} @dots{}
15885 The @code{add-symbol-file} command reads additional symbol table
15886 information from the file @var{filename}. You would use this command
15887 when @var{filename} has been dynamically loaded (by some other means)
15888 into the program that is running. @var{address} should be the memory
15889 address at which the file has been loaded; @value{GDBN} cannot figure
15890 this out for itself. You can additionally specify an arbitrary number
15891 of @samp{-s @var{section} @var{address}} pairs, to give an explicit
15892 section name and base address for that section. You can specify any
15893 @var{address} as an expression.
15894
15895 The symbol table of the file @var{filename} is added to the symbol table
15896 originally read with the @code{symbol-file} command. You can use the
15897 @code{add-symbol-file} command any number of times; the new symbol data
15898 thus read keeps adding to the old. To discard all old symbol data
15899 instead, use the @code{symbol-file} command without any arguments.
15900
15901 @cindex relocatable object files, reading symbols from
15902 @cindex object files, relocatable, reading symbols from
15903 @cindex reading symbols from relocatable object files
15904 @cindex symbols, reading from relocatable object files
15905 @cindex @file{.o} files, reading symbols from
15906 Although @var{filename} is typically a shared library file, an
15907 executable file, or some other object file which has been fully
15908 relocated for loading into a process, you can also load symbolic
15909 information from relocatable @file{.o} files, as long as:
15910
15911 @itemize @bullet
15912 @item
15913 the file's symbolic information refers only to linker symbols defined in
15914 that file, not to symbols defined by other object files,
15915 @item
15916 every section the file's symbolic information refers to has actually
15917 been loaded into the inferior, as it appears in the file, and
15918 @item
15919 you can determine the address at which every section was loaded, and
15920 provide these to the @code{add-symbol-file} command.
15921 @end itemize
15922
15923 @noindent
15924 Some embedded operating systems, like Sun Chorus and VxWorks, can load
15925 relocatable files into an already running program; such systems
15926 typically make the requirements above easy to meet. However, it's
15927 important to recognize that many native systems use complex link
15928 procedures (@code{.linkonce} section factoring and C@t{++} constructor table
15929 assembly, for example) that make the requirements difficult to meet. In
15930 general, one cannot assume that using @code{add-symbol-file} to read a
15931 relocatable object file's symbolic information will have the same effect
15932 as linking the relocatable object file into the program in the normal
15933 way.
15934
15935 @code{add-symbol-file} does not repeat if you press @key{RET} after using it.
15936
15937 @kindex add-symbol-file-from-memory
15938 @cindex @code{syscall DSO}
15939 @cindex load symbols from memory
15940 @item add-symbol-file-from-memory @var{address}
15941 Load symbols from the given @var{address} in a dynamically loaded
15942 object file whose image is mapped directly into the inferior's memory.
15943 For example, the Linux kernel maps a @code{syscall DSO} into each
15944 process's address space; this DSO provides kernel-specific code for
15945 some system calls. The argument can be any expression whose
15946 evaluation yields the address of the file's shared object file header.
15947 For this command to work, you must have used @code{symbol-file} or
15948 @code{exec-file} commands in advance.
15949
15950 @kindex add-shared-symbol-files
15951 @kindex assf
15952 @item add-shared-symbol-files @var{library-file}
15953 @itemx assf @var{library-file}
15954 The @code{add-shared-symbol-files} command can currently be used only
15955 in the Cygwin build of @value{GDBN} on MS-Windows OS, where it is an
15956 alias for the @code{dll-symbols} command (@pxref{Cygwin Native}).
15957 @value{GDBN} automatically looks for shared libraries, however if
15958 @value{GDBN} does not find yours, you can invoke
15959 @code{add-shared-symbol-files}. It takes one argument: the shared
15960 library's file name. @code{assf} is a shorthand alias for
15961 @code{add-shared-symbol-files}.
15962
15963 @kindex section
15964 @item section @var{section} @var{addr}
15965 The @code{section} command changes the base address of the named
15966 @var{section} of the exec file to @var{addr}. This can be used if the
15967 exec file does not contain section addresses, (such as in the
15968 @code{a.out} format), or when the addresses specified in the file
15969 itself are wrong. Each section must be changed separately. The
15970 @code{info files} command, described below, lists all the sections and
15971 their addresses.
15972
15973 @kindex info files
15974 @kindex info target
15975 @item info files
15976 @itemx info target
15977 @code{info files} and @code{info target} are synonymous; both print the
15978 current target (@pxref{Targets, ,Specifying a Debugging Target}),
15979 including the names of the executable and core dump files currently in
15980 use by @value{GDBN}, and the files from which symbols were loaded. The
15981 command @code{help target} lists all possible targets rather than
15982 current ones.
15983
15984 @kindex maint info sections
15985 @item maint info sections
15986 Another command that can give you extra information about program sections
15987 is @code{maint info sections}. In addition to the section information
15988 displayed by @code{info files}, this command displays the flags and file
15989 offset of each section in the executable and core dump files. In addition,
15990 @code{maint info sections} provides the following command options (which
15991 may be arbitrarily combined):
15992
15993 @table @code
15994 @item ALLOBJ
15995 Display sections for all loaded object files, including shared libraries.
15996 @item @var{sections}
15997 Display info only for named @var{sections}.
15998 @item @var{section-flags}
15999 Display info only for sections for which @var{section-flags} are true.
16000 The section flags that @value{GDBN} currently knows about are:
16001 @table @code
16002 @item ALLOC
16003 Section will have space allocated in the process when loaded.
16004 Set for all sections except those containing debug information.
16005 @item LOAD
16006 Section will be loaded from the file into the child process memory.
16007 Set for pre-initialized code and data, clear for @code{.bss} sections.
16008 @item RELOC
16009 Section needs to be relocated before loading.
16010 @item READONLY
16011 Section cannot be modified by the child process.
16012 @item CODE
16013 Section contains executable code only.
16014 @item DATA
16015 Section contains data only (no executable code).
16016 @item ROM
16017 Section will reside in ROM.
16018 @item CONSTRUCTOR
16019 Section contains data for constructor/destructor lists.
16020 @item HAS_CONTENTS
16021 Section is not empty.
16022 @item NEVER_LOAD
16023 An instruction to the linker to not output the section.
16024 @item COFF_SHARED_LIBRARY
16025 A notification to the linker that the section contains
16026 COFF shared library information.
16027 @item IS_COMMON
16028 Section contains common symbols.
16029 @end table
16030 @end table
16031 @kindex set trust-readonly-sections
16032 @cindex read-only sections
16033 @item set trust-readonly-sections on
16034 Tell @value{GDBN} that readonly sections in your object file
16035 really are read-only (i.e.@: that their contents will not change).
16036 In that case, @value{GDBN} can fetch values from these sections
16037 out of the object file, rather than from the target program.
16038 For some targets (notably embedded ones), this can be a significant
16039 enhancement to debugging performance.
16040
16041 The default is off.
16042
16043 @item set trust-readonly-sections off
16044 Tell @value{GDBN} not to trust readonly sections. This means that
16045 the contents of the section might change while the program is running,
16046 and must therefore be fetched from the target when needed.
16047
16048 @item show trust-readonly-sections
16049 Show the current setting of trusting readonly sections.
16050 @end table
16051
16052 All file-specifying commands allow both absolute and relative file names
16053 as arguments. @value{GDBN} always converts the file name to an absolute file
16054 name and remembers it that way.
16055
16056 @cindex shared libraries
16057 @anchor{Shared Libraries}
16058 @value{GDBN} supports @sc{gnu}/Linux, MS-Windows, HP-UX, SunOS, SVr4, Irix,
16059 and IBM RS/6000 AIX shared libraries.
16060
16061 On MS-Windows @value{GDBN} must be linked with the Expat library to support
16062 shared libraries. @xref{Expat}.
16063
16064 @value{GDBN} automatically loads symbol definitions from shared libraries
16065 when you use the @code{run} command, or when you examine a core file.
16066 (Before you issue the @code{run} command, @value{GDBN} does not understand
16067 references to a function in a shared library, however---unless you are
16068 debugging a core file).
16069
16070 On HP-UX, if the program loads a library explicitly, @value{GDBN}
16071 automatically loads the symbols at the time of the @code{shl_load} call.
16072
16073 @c FIXME: some @value{GDBN} release may permit some refs to undef
16074 @c FIXME...symbols---eg in a break cmd---assuming they are from a shared
16075 @c FIXME...lib; check this from time to time when updating manual
16076
16077 There are times, however, when you may wish to not automatically load
16078 symbol definitions from shared libraries, such as when they are
16079 particularly large or there are many of them.
16080
16081 To control the automatic loading of shared library symbols, use the
16082 commands:
16083
16084 @table @code
16085 @kindex set auto-solib-add
16086 @item set auto-solib-add @var{mode}
16087 If @var{mode} is @code{on}, symbols from all shared object libraries
16088 will be loaded automatically when the inferior begins execution, you
16089 attach to an independently started inferior, or when the dynamic linker
16090 informs @value{GDBN} that a new library has been loaded. If @var{mode}
16091 is @code{off}, symbols must be loaded manually, using the
16092 @code{sharedlibrary} command. The default value is @code{on}.
16093
16094 @cindex memory used for symbol tables
16095 If your program uses lots of shared libraries with debug info that
16096 takes large amounts of memory, you can decrease the @value{GDBN}
16097 memory footprint by preventing it from automatically loading the
16098 symbols from shared libraries. To that end, type @kbd{set
16099 auto-solib-add off} before running the inferior, then load each
16100 library whose debug symbols you do need with @kbd{sharedlibrary
16101 @var{regexp}}, where @var{regexp} is a regular expression that matches
16102 the libraries whose symbols you want to be loaded.
16103
16104 @kindex show auto-solib-add
16105 @item show auto-solib-add
16106 Display the current autoloading mode.
16107 @end table
16108
16109 @cindex load shared library
16110 To explicitly load shared library symbols, use the @code{sharedlibrary}
16111 command:
16112
16113 @table @code
16114 @kindex info sharedlibrary
16115 @kindex info share
16116 @item info share @var{regex}
16117 @itemx info sharedlibrary @var{regex}
16118 Print the names of the shared libraries which are currently loaded
16119 that match @var{regex}. If @var{regex} is omitted then print
16120 all shared libraries that are loaded.
16121
16122 @kindex sharedlibrary
16123 @kindex share
16124 @item sharedlibrary @var{regex}
16125 @itemx share @var{regex}
16126 Load shared object library symbols for files matching a
16127 Unix regular expression.
16128 As with files loaded automatically, it only loads shared libraries
16129 required by your program for a core file or after typing @code{run}. If
16130 @var{regex} is omitted all shared libraries required by your program are
16131 loaded.
16132
16133 @item nosharedlibrary
16134 @kindex nosharedlibrary
16135 @cindex unload symbols from shared libraries
16136 Unload all shared object library symbols. This discards all symbols
16137 that have been loaded from all shared libraries. Symbols from shared
16138 libraries that were loaded by explicit user requests are not
16139 discarded.
16140 @end table
16141
16142 Sometimes you may wish that @value{GDBN} stops and gives you control
16143 when any of shared library events happen. The best way to do this is
16144 to use @code{catch load} and @code{catch unload} (@pxref{Set
16145 Catchpoints}).
16146
16147 @value{GDBN} also supports the the @code{set stop-on-solib-events}
16148 command for this. This command exists for historical reasons. It is
16149 less useful than setting a catchpoint, because it does not allow for
16150 conditions or commands as a catchpoint does.
16151
16152 @table @code
16153 @item set stop-on-solib-events
16154 @kindex set stop-on-solib-events
16155 This command controls whether @value{GDBN} should give you control
16156 when the dynamic linker notifies it about some shared library event.
16157 The most common event of interest is loading or unloading of a new
16158 shared library.
16159
16160 @item show stop-on-solib-events
16161 @kindex show stop-on-solib-events
16162 Show whether @value{GDBN} stops and gives you control when shared
16163 library events happen.
16164 @end table
16165
16166 Shared libraries are also supported in many cross or remote debugging
16167 configurations. @value{GDBN} needs to have access to the target's libraries;
16168 this can be accomplished either by providing copies of the libraries
16169 on the host system, or by asking @value{GDBN} to automatically retrieve the
16170 libraries from the target. If copies of the target libraries are
16171 provided, they need to be the same as the target libraries, although the
16172 copies on the target can be stripped as long as the copies on the host are
16173 not.
16174
16175 @cindex where to look for shared libraries
16176 For remote debugging, you need to tell @value{GDBN} where the target
16177 libraries are, so that it can load the correct copies---otherwise, it
16178 may try to load the host's libraries. @value{GDBN} has two variables
16179 to specify the search directories for target libraries.
16180
16181 @table @code
16182 @cindex prefix for shared library file names
16183 @cindex system root, alternate
16184 @kindex set solib-absolute-prefix
16185 @kindex set sysroot
16186 @item set sysroot @var{path}
16187 Use @var{path} as the system root for the program being debugged. Any
16188 absolute shared library paths will be prefixed with @var{path}; many
16189 runtime loaders store the absolute paths to the shared library in the
16190 target program's memory. If you use @code{set sysroot} to find shared
16191 libraries, they need to be laid out in the same way that they are on
16192 the target, with e.g.@: a @file{/lib} and @file{/usr/lib} hierarchy
16193 under @var{path}.
16194
16195 If @var{path} starts with the sequence @file{remote:}, @value{GDBN} will
16196 retrieve the target libraries from the remote system. This is only
16197 supported when using a remote target that supports the @code{remote get}
16198 command (@pxref{File Transfer,,Sending files to a remote system}).
16199 The part of @var{path} following the initial @file{remote:}
16200 (if present) is used as system root prefix on the remote file system.
16201 @footnote{If you want to specify a local system root using a directory
16202 that happens to be named @file{remote:}, you need to use some equivalent
16203 variant of the name like @file{./remote:}.}
16204
16205 For targets with an MS-DOS based filesystem, such as MS-Windows and
16206 SymbianOS, @value{GDBN} tries prefixing a few variants of the target
16207 absolute file name with @var{path}. But first, on Unix hosts,
16208 @value{GDBN} converts all backslash directory separators into forward
16209 slashes, because the backslash is not a directory separator on Unix:
16210
16211 @smallexample
16212 c:\foo\bar.dll @result{} c:/foo/bar.dll
16213 @end smallexample
16214
16215 Then, @value{GDBN} attempts prefixing the target file name with
16216 @var{path}, and looks for the resulting file name in the host file
16217 system:
16218
16219 @smallexample
16220 c:/foo/bar.dll @result{} /path/to/sysroot/c:/foo/bar.dll
16221 @end smallexample
16222
16223 If that does not find the shared library, @value{GDBN} tries removing
16224 the @samp{:} character from the drive spec, both for convenience, and,
16225 for the case of the host file system not supporting file names with
16226 colons:
16227
16228 @smallexample
16229 c:/foo/bar.dll @result{} /path/to/sysroot/c/foo/bar.dll
16230 @end smallexample
16231
16232 This makes it possible to have a system root that mirrors a target
16233 with more than one drive. E.g., you may want to setup your local
16234 copies of the target system shared libraries like so (note @samp{c} vs
16235 @samp{z}):
16236
16237 @smallexample
16238 @file{/path/to/sysroot/c/sys/bin/foo.dll}
16239 @file{/path/to/sysroot/c/sys/bin/bar.dll}
16240 @file{/path/to/sysroot/z/sys/bin/bar.dll}
16241 @end smallexample
16242
16243 @noindent
16244 and point the system root at @file{/path/to/sysroot}, so that
16245 @value{GDBN} can find the correct copies of both
16246 @file{c:\sys\bin\foo.dll}, and @file{z:\sys\bin\bar.dll}.
16247
16248 If that still does not find the shared library, @value{GDBN} tries
16249 removing the whole drive spec from the target file name:
16250
16251 @smallexample
16252 c:/foo/bar.dll @result{} /path/to/sysroot/foo/bar.dll
16253 @end smallexample
16254
16255 This last lookup makes it possible to not care about the drive name,
16256 if you don't want or need to.
16257
16258 The @code{set solib-absolute-prefix} command is an alias for @code{set
16259 sysroot}.
16260
16261 @cindex default system root
16262 @cindex @samp{--with-sysroot}
16263 You can set the default system root by using the configure-time
16264 @samp{--with-sysroot} option. If the system root is inside
16265 @value{GDBN}'s configured binary prefix (set with @samp{--prefix} or
16266 @samp{--exec-prefix}), then the default system root will be updated
16267 automatically if the installed @value{GDBN} is moved to a new
16268 location.
16269
16270 @kindex show sysroot
16271 @item show sysroot
16272 Display the current shared library prefix.
16273
16274 @kindex set solib-search-path
16275 @item set solib-search-path @var{path}
16276 If this variable is set, @var{path} is a colon-separated list of
16277 directories to search for shared libraries. @samp{solib-search-path}
16278 is used after @samp{sysroot} fails to locate the library, or if the
16279 path to the library is relative instead of absolute. If you want to
16280 use @samp{solib-search-path} instead of @samp{sysroot}, be sure to set
16281 @samp{sysroot} to a nonexistent directory to prevent @value{GDBN} from
16282 finding your host's libraries. @samp{sysroot} is preferred; setting
16283 it to a nonexistent directory may interfere with automatic loading
16284 of shared library symbols.
16285
16286 @kindex show solib-search-path
16287 @item show solib-search-path
16288 Display the current shared library search path.
16289
16290 @cindex DOS file-name semantics of file names.
16291 @kindex set target-file-system-kind (unix|dos-based|auto)
16292 @kindex show target-file-system-kind
16293 @item set target-file-system-kind @var{kind}
16294 Set assumed file system kind for target reported file names.
16295
16296 Shared library file names as reported by the target system may not
16297 make sense as is on the system @value{GDBN} is running on. For
16298 example, when remote debugging a target that has MS-DOS based file
16299 system semantics, from a Unix host, the target may be reporting to
16300 @value{GDBN} a list of loaded shared libraries with file names such as
16301 @file{c:\Windows\kernel32.dll}. On Unix hosts, there's no concept of
16302 drive letters, so the @samp{c:\} prefix is not normally understood as
16303 indicating an absolute file name, and neither is the backslash
16304 normally considered a directory separator character. In that case,
16305 the native file system would interpret this whole absolute file name
16306 as a relative file name with no directory components. This would make
16307 it impossible to point @value{GDBN} at a copy of the remote target's
16308 shared libraries on the host using @code{set sysroot}, and impractical
16309 with @code{set solib-search-path}. Setting
16310 @code{target-file-system-kind} to @code{dos-based} tells @value{GDBN}
16311 to interpret such file names similarly to how the target would, and to
16312 map them to file names valid on @value{GDBN}'s native file system
16313 semantics. The value of @var{kind} can be @code{"auto"}, in addition
16314 to one of the supported file system kinds. In that case, @value{GDBN}
16315 tries to determine the appropriate file system variant based on the
16316 current target's operating system (@pxref{ABI, ,Configuring the
16317 Current ABI}). The supported file system settings are:
16318
16319 @table @code
16320 @item unix
16321 Instruct @value{GDBN} to assume the target file system is of Unix
16322 kind. Only file names starting the forward slash (@samp{/}) character
16323 are considered absolute, and the directory separator character is also
16324 the forward slash.
16325
16326 @item dos-based
16327 Instruct @value{GDBN} to assume the target file system is DOS based.
16328 File names starting with either a forward slash, or a drive letter
16329 followed by a colon (e.g., @samp{c:}), are considered absolute, and
16330 both the slash (@samp{/}) and the backslash (@samp{\\}) characters are
16331 considered directory separators.
16332
16333 @item auto
16334 Instruct @value{GDBN} to use the file system kind associated with the
16335 target operating system (@pxref{ABI, ,Configuring the Current ABI}).
16336 This is the default.
16337 @end table
16338 @end table
16339
16340 @cindex file name canonicalization
16341 @cindex base name differences
16342 When processing file names provided by the user, @value{GDBN}
16343 frequently needs to compare them to the file names recorded in the
16344 program's debug info. Normally, @value{GDBN} compares just the
16345 @dfn{base names} of the files as strings, which is reasonably fast
16346 even for very large programs. (The base name of a file is the last
16347 portion of its name, after stripping all the leading directories.)
16348 This shortcut in comparison is based upon the assumption that files
16349 cannot have more than one base name. This is usually true, but
16350 references to files that use symlinks or similar filesystem
16351 facilities violate that assumption. If your program records files
16352 using such facilities, or if you provide file names to @value{GDBN}
16353 using symlinks etc., you can set @code{basenames-may-differ} to
16354 @code{true} to instruct @value{GDBN} to completely canonicalize each
16355 pair of file names it needs to compare. This will make file-name
16356 comparisons accurate, but at a price of a significant slowdown.
16357
16358 @table @code
16359 @item set basenames-may-differ
16360 @kindex set basenames-may-differ
16361 Set whether a source file may have multiple base names.
16362
16363 @item show basenames-may-differ
16364 @kindex show basenames-may-differ
16365 Show whether a source file may have multiple base names.
16366 @end table
16367
16368 @node Separate Debug Files
16369 @section Debugging Information in Separate Files
16370 @cindex separate debugging information files
16371 @cindex debugging information in separate files
16372 @cindex @file{.debug} subdirectories
16373 @cindex debugging information directory, global
16374 @cindex global debugging information directories
16375 @cindex build ID, and separate debugging files
16376 @cindex @file{.build-id} directory
16377
16378 @value{GDBN} allows you to put a program's debugging information in a
16379 file separate from the executable itself, in a way that allows
16380 @value{GDBN} to find and load the debugging information automatically.
16381 Since debugging information can be very large---sometimes larger
16382 than the executable code itself---some systems distribute debugging
16383 information for their executables in separate files, which users can
16384 install only when they need to debug a problem.
16385
16386 @value{GDBN} supports two ways of specifying the separate debug info
16387 file:
16388
16389 @itemize @bullet
16390 @item
16391 The executable contains a @dfn{debug link} that specifies the name of
16392 the separate debug info file. The separate debug file's name is
16393 usually @file{@var{executable}.debug}, where @var{executable} is the
16394 name of the corresponding executable file without leading directories
16395 (e.g., @file{ls.debug} for @file{/usr/bin/ls}). In addition, the
16396 debug link specifies a 32-bit @dfn{Cyclic Redundancy Check} (CRC)
16397 checksum for the debug file, which @value{GDBN} uses to validate that
16398 the executable and the debug file came from the same build.
16399
16400 @item
16401 The executable contains a @dfn{build ID}, a unique bit string that is
16402 also present in the corresponding debug info file. (This is supported
16403 only on some operating systems, notably those which use the ELF format
16404 for binary files and the @sc{gnu} Binutils.) For more details about
16405 this feature, see the description of the @option{--build-id}
16406 command-line option in @ref{Options, , Command Line Options, ld.info,
16407 The GNU Linker}. The debug info file's name is not specified
16408 explicitly by the build ID, but can be computed from the build ID, see
16409 below.
16410 @end itemize
16411
16412 Depending on the way the debug info file is specified, @value{GDBN}
16413 uses two different methods of looking for the debug file:
16414
16415 @itemize @bullet
16416 @item
16417 For the ``debug link'' method, @value{GDBN} looks up the named file in
16418 the directory of the executable file, then in a subdirectory of that
16419 directory named @file{.debug}, and finally under each one of the global debug
16420 directories, in a subdirectory whose name is identical to the leading
16421 directories of the executable's absolute file name.
16422
16423 @item
16424 For the ``build ID'' method, @value{GDBN} looks in the
16425 @file{.build-id} subdirectory of each one of the global debug directories for
16426 a file named @file{@var{nn}/@var{nnnnnnnn}.debug}, where @var{nn} are the
16427 first 2 hex characters of the build ID bit string, and @var{nnnnnnnn}
16428 are the rest of the bit string. (Real build ID strings are 32 or more
16429 hex characters, not 10.)
16430 @end itemize
16431
16432 So, for example, suppose you ask @value{GDBN} to debug
16433 @file{/usr/bin/ls}, which has a debug link that specifies the
16434 file @file{ls.debug}, and a build ID whose value in hex is
16435 @code{abcdef1234}. If the list of the global debug directories includes
16436 @file{/usr/lib/debug}, then @value{GDBN} will look for the following
16437 debug information files, in the indicated order:
16438
16439 @itemize @minus
16440 @item
16441 @file{/usr/lib/debug/.build-id/ab/cdef1234.debug}
16442 @item
16443 @file{/usr/bin/ls.debug}
16444 @item
16445 @file{/usr/bin/.debug/ls.debug}
16446 @item
16447 @file{/usr/lib/debug/usr/bin/ls.debug}.
16448 @end itemize
16449
16450 You can set the global debugging info directories, and view the
16451 list @value{GDBN} is currently using.
16452
16453 @table @code
16454
16455 @kindex set debug-file-directory
16456 @item set debug-file-directory @var{directories}
16457 Set the directories which @value{GDBN} searches for separate debugging
16458 information files to @var{directory}. Multiple path components can be set
16459 concatenating them by a path separator.
16460
16461 @kindex show debug-file-directory
16462 @item show debug-file-directory
16463 Show the directories @value{GDBN} searches for separate debugging
16464 information files.
16465
16466 @end table
16467
16468 @cindex @code{.gnu_debuglink} sections
16469 @cindex debug link sections
16470 A debug link is a special section of the executable file named
16471 @code{.gnu_debuglink}. The section must contain:
16472
16473 @itemize
16474 @item
16475 A filename, with any leading directory components removed, followed by
16476 a zero byte,
16477 @item
16478 zero to three bytes of padding, as needed to reach the next four-byte
16479 boundary within the section, and
16480 @item
16481 a four-byte CRC checksum, stored in the same endianness used for the
16482 executable file itself. The checksum is computed on the debugging
16483 information file's full contents by the function given below, passing
16484 zero as the @var{crc} argument.
16485 @end itemize
16486
16487 Any executable file format can carry a debug link, as long as it can
16488 contain a section named @code{.gnu_debuglink} with the contents
16489 described above.
16490
16491 @cindex @code{.note.gnu.build-id} sections
16492 @cindex build ID sections
16493 The build ID is a special section in the executable file (and in other
16494 ELF binary files that @value{GDBN} may consider). This section is
16495 often named @code{.note.gnu.build-id}, but that name is not mandatory.
16496 It contains unique identification for the built files---the ID remains
16497 the same across multiple builds of the same build tree. The default
16498 algorithm SHA1 produces 160 bits (40 hexadecimal characters) of the
16499 content for the build ID string. The same section with an identical
16500 value is present in the original built binary with symbols, in its
16501 stripped variant, and in the separate debugging information file.
16502
16503 The debugging information file itself should be an ordinary
16504 executable, containing a full set of linker symbols, sections, and
16505 debugging information. The sections of the debugging information file
16506 should have the same names, addresses, and sizes as the original file,
16507 but they need not contain any data---much like a @code{.bss} section
16508 in an ordinary executable.
16509
16510 The @sc{gnu} binary utilities (Binutils) package includes the
16511 @samp{objcopy} utility that can produce
16512 the separated executable / debugging information file pairs using the
16513 following commands:
16514
16515 @smallexample
16516 @kbd{objcopy --only-keep-debug foo foo.debug}
16517 @kbd{strip -g foo}
16518 @end smallexample
16519
16520 @noindent
16521 These commands remove the debugging
16522 information from the executable file @file{foo} and place it in the file
16523 @file{foo.debug}. You can use the first, second or both methods to link the
16524 two files:
16525
16526 @itemize @bullet
16527 @item
16528 The debug link method needs the following additional command to also leave
16529 behind a debug link in @file{foo}:
16530
16531 @smallexample
16532 @kbd{objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.debug foo}
16533 @end smallexample
16534
16535 Ulrich Drepper's @file{elfutils} package, starting with version 0.53, contains
16536 a version of the @code{strip} command such that the command @kbd{strip foo -f
16537 foo.debug} has the same functionality as the two @code{objcopy} commands and
16538 the @code{ln -s} command above, together.
16539
16540 @item
16541 Build ID gets embedded into the main executable using @code{ld --build-id} or
16542 the @value{NGCC} counterpart @code{gcc -Wl,--build-id}. Build ID support plus
16543 compatibility fixes for debug files separation are present in @sc{gnu} binary
16544 utilities (Binutils) package since version 2.18.
16545 @end itemize
16546
16547 @noindent
16548
16549 @cindex CRC algorithm definition
16550 The CRC used in @code{.gnu_debuglink} is the CRC-32 defined in
16551 IEEE 802.3 using the polynomial:
16552
16553 @c TexInfo requires naked braces for multi-digit exponents for Tex
16554 @c output, but this causes HTML output to barf. HTML has to be set using
16555 @c raw commands. So we end up having to specify this equation in 2
16556 @c different ways!
16557 @ifhtml
16558 @display
16559 @html
16560 <em>x</em><sup>32</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>26</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>23</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>22</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>16</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>12</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>11</sup>
16561 + <em>x</em><sup>10</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>8</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>7</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>5</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>4</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>2</sup> + <em>x</em> + 1
16562 @end html
16563 @end display
16564 @end ifhtml
16565 @ifnothtml
16566 @display
16567 @math{x^{32} + x^{26} + x^{23} + x^{22} + x^{16} + x^{12} + x^{11}}
16568 @math{+ x^{10} + x^8 + x^7 + x^5 + x^4 + x^2 + x + 1}
16569 @end display
16570 @end ifnothtml
16571
16572 The function is computed byte at a time, taking the least
16573 significant bit of each byte first. The initial pattern
16574 @code{0xffffffff} is used, to ensure leading zeros affect the CRC and
16575 the final result is inverted to ensure trailing zeros also affect the
16576 CRC.
16577
16578 @emph{Note:} This is the same CRC polynomial as used in handling the
16579 @dfn{Remote Serial Protocol} @code{qCRC} packet (@pxref{Remote Protocol,
16580 , @value{GDBN} Remote Serial Protocol}). However in the
16581 case of the Remote Serial Protocol, the CRC is computed @emph{most}
16582 significant bit first, and the result is not inverted, so trailing
16583 zeros have no effect on the CRC value.
16584
16585 To complete the description, we show below the code of the function
16586 which produces the CRC used in @code{.gnu_debuglink}. Inverting the
16587 initially supplied @code{crc} argument means that an initial call to
16588 this function passing in zero will start computing the CRC using
16589 @code{0xffffffff}.
16590
16591 @kindex gnu_debuglink_crc32
16592 @smallexample
16593 unsigned long
16594 gnu_debuglink_crc32 (unsigned long crc,
16595 unsigned char *buf, size_t len)
16596 @{
16597 static const unsigned long crc32_table[256] =
16598 @{
16599 0x00000000, 0x77073096, 0xee0e612c, 0x990951ba, 0x076dc419,
16600 0x706af48f, 0xe963a535, 0x9e6495a3, 0x0edb8832, 0x79dcb8a4,
16601 0xe0d5e91e, 0x97d2d988, 0x09b64c2b, 0x7eb17cbd, 0xe7b82d07,
16602 0x90bf1d91, 0x1db71064, 0x6ab020f2, 0xf3b97148, 0x84be41de,
16603 0x1adad47d, 0x6ddde4eb, 0xf4d4b551, 0x83d385c7, 0x136c9856,
16604 0x646ba8c0, 0xfd62f97a, 0x8a65c9ec, 0x14015c4f, 0x63066cd9,
16605 0xfa0f3d63, 0x8d080df5, 0x3b6e20c8, 0x4c69105e, 0xd56041e4,
16606 0xa2677172, 0x3c03e4d1, 0x4b04d447, 0xd20d85fd, 0xa50ab56b,
16607 0x35b5a8fa, 0x42b2986c, 0xdbbbc9d6, 0xacbcf940, 0x32d86ce3,
16608 0x45df5c75, 0xdcd60dcf, 0xabd13d59, 0x26d930ac, 0x51de003a,
16609 0xc8d75180, 0xbfd06116, 0x21b4f4b5, 0x56b3c423, 0xcfba9599,
16610 0xb8bda50f, 0x2802b89e, 0x5f058808, 0xc60cd9b2, 0xb10be924,
16611 0x2f6f7c87, 0x58684c11, 0xc1611dab, 0xb6662d3d, 0x76dc4190,
16612 0x01db7106, 0x98d220bc, 0xefd5102a, 0x71b18589, 0x06b6b51f,
16613 0x9fbfe4a5, 0xe8b8d433, 0x7807c9a2, 0x0f00f934, 0x9609a88e,
16614 0xe10e9818, 0x7f6a0dbb, 0x086d3d2d, 0x91646c97, 0xe6635c01,
16615 0x6b6b51f4, 0x1c6c6162, 0x856530d8, 0xf262004e, 0x6c0695ed,
16616 0x1b01a57b, 0x8208f4c1, 0xf50fc457, 0x65b0d9c6, 0x12b7e950,
16617 0x8bbeb8ea, 0xfcb9887c, 0x62dd1ddf, 0x15da2d49, 0x8cd37cf3,
16618 0xfbd44c65, 0x4db26158, 0x3ab551ce, 0xa3bc0074, 0xd4bb30e2,
16619 0x4adfa541, 0x3dd895d7, 0xa4d1c46d, 0xd3d6f4fb, 0x4369e96a,
16620 0x346ed9fc, 0xad678846, 0xda60b8d0, 0x44042d73, 0x33031de5,
16621 0xaa0a4c5f, 0xdd0d7cc9, 0x5005713c, 0x270241aa, 0xbe0b1010,
16622 0xc90c2086, 0x5768b525, 0x206f85b3, 0xb966d409, 0xce61e49f,
16623 0x5edef90e, 0x29d9c998, 0xb0d09822, 0xc7d7a8b4, 0x59b33d17,
16624 0x2eb40d81, 0xb7bd5c3b, 0xc0ba6cad, 0xedb88320, 0x9abfb3b6,
16625 0x03b6e20c, 0x74b1d29a, 0xead54739, 0x9dd277af, 0x04db2615,
16626 0x73dc1683, 0xe3630b12, 0x94643b84, 0x0d6d6a3e, 0x7a6a5aa8,
16627 0xe40ecf0b, 0x9309ff9d, 0x0a00ae27, 0x7d079eb1, 0xf00f9344,
16628 0x8708a3d2, 0x1e01f268, 0x6906c2fe, 0xf762575d, 0x806567cb,
16629 0x196c3671, 0x6e6b06e7, 0xfed41b76, 0x89d32be0, 0x10da7a5a,
16630 0x67dd4acc, 0xf9b9df6f, 0x8ebeeff9, 0x17b7be43, 0x60b08ed5,
16631 0xd6d6a3e8, 0xa1d1937e, 0x38d8c2c4, 0x4fdff252, 0xd1bb67f1,
16632 0xa6bc5767, 0x3fb506dd, 0x48b2364b, 0xd80d2bda, 0xaf0a1b4c,
16633 0x36034af6, 0x41047a60, 0xdf60efc3, 0xa867df55, 0x316e8eef,
16634 0x4669be79, 0xcb61b38c, 0xbc66831a, 0x256fd2a0, 0x5268e236,
16635 0xcc0c7795, 0xbb0b4703, 0x220216b9, 0x5505262f, 0xc5ba3bbe,
16636 0xb2bd0b28, 0x2bb45a92, 0x5cb36a04, 0xc2d7ffa7, 0xb5d0cf31,
16637 0x2cd99e8b, 0x5bdeae1d, 0x9b64c2b0, 0xec63f226, 0x756aa39c,
16638 0x026d930a, 0x9c0906a9, 0xeb0e363f, 0x72076785, 0x05005713,
16639 0x95bf4a82, 0xe2b87a14, 0x7bb12bae, 0x0cb61b38, 0x92d28e9b,
16640 0xe5d5be0d, 0x7cdcefb7, 0x0bdbdf21, 0x86d3d2d4, 0xf1d4e242,
16641 0x68ddb3f8, 0x1fda836e, 0x81be16cd, 0xf6b9265b, 0x6fb077e1,
16642 0x18b74777, 0x88085ae6, 0xff0f6a70, 0x66063bca, 0x11010b5c,
16643 0x8f659eff, 0xf862ae69, 0x616bffd3, 0x166ccf45, 0xa00ae278,
16644 0xd70dd2ee, 0x4e048354, 0x3903b3c2, 0xa7672661, 0xd06016f7,
16645 0x4969474d, 0x3e6e77db, 0xaed16a4a, 0xd9d65adc, 0x40df0b66,
16646 0x37d83bf0, 0xa9bcae53, 0xdebb9ec5, 0x47b2cf7f, 0x30b5ffe9,
16647 0xbdbdf21c, 0xcabac28a, 0x53b39330, 0x24b4a3a6, 0xbad03605,
16648 0xcdd70693, 0x54de5729, 0x23d967bf, 0xb3667a2e, 0xc4614ab8,
16649 0x5d681b02, 0x2a6f2b94, 0xb40bbe37, 0xc30c8ea1, 0x5a05df1b,
16650 0x2d02ef8d
16651 @};
16652 unsigned char *end;
16653
16654 crc = ~crc & 0xffffffff;
16655 for (end = buf + len; buf < end; ++buf)
16656 crc = crc32_table[(crc ^ *buf) & 0xff] ^ (crc >> 8);
16657 return ~crc & 0xffffffff;
16658 @}
16659 @end smallexample
16660
16661 @noindent
16662 This computation does not apply to the ``build ID'' method.
16663
16664
16665 @node Index Files
16666 @section Index Files Speed Up @value{GDBN}
16667 @cindex index files
16668 @cindex @samp{.gdb_index} section
16669
16670 When @value{GDBN} finds a symbol file, it scans the symbols in the
16671 file in order to construct an internal symbol table. This lets most
16672 @value{GDBN} operations work quickly---at the cost of a delay early
16673 on. For large programs, this delay can be quite lengthy, so
16674 @value{GDBN} provides a way to build an index, which speeds up
16675 startup.
16676
16677 The index is stored as a section in the symbol file. @value{GDBN} can
16678 write the index to a file, then you can put it into the symbol file
16679 using @command{objcopy}.
16680
16681 To create an index file, use the @code{save gdb-index} command:
16682
16683 @table @code
16684 @item save gdb-index @var{directory}
16685 @kindex save gdb-index
16686 Create an index file for each symbol file currently known by
16687 @value{GDBN}. Each file is named after its corresponding symbol file,
16688 with @samp{.gdb-index} appended, and is written into the given
16689 @var{directory}.
16690 @end table
16691
16692 Once you have created an index file you can merge it into your symbol
16693 file, here named @file{symfile}, using @command{objcopy}:
16694
16695 @smallexample
16696 $ objcopy --add-section .gdb_index=symfile.gdb-index \
16697 --set-section-flags .gdb_index=readonly symfile symfile
16698 @end smallexample
16699
16700 There are currently some limitation on indices. They only work when
16701 for DWARF debugging information, not stabs. And, they do not
16702 currently work for programs using Ada.
16703
16704 @node Symbol Errors
16705 @section Errors Reading Symbol Files
16706
16707 While reading a symbol file, @value{GDBN} occasionally encounters problems,
16708 such as symbol types it does not recognize, or known bugs in compiler
16709 output. By default, @value{GDBN} does not notify you of such problems, since
16710 they are relatively common and primarily of interest to people
16711 debugging compilers. If you are interested in seeing information
16712 about ill-constructed symbol tables, you can either ask @value{GDBN} to print
16713 only one message about each such type of problem, no matter how many
16714 times the problem occurs; or you can ask @value{GDBN} to print more messages,
16715 to see how many times the problems occur, with the @code{set
16716 complaints} command (@pxref{Messages/Warnings, ,Optional Warnings and
16717 Messages}).
16718
16719 The messages currently printed, and their meanings, include:
16720
16721 @table @code
16722 @item inner block not inside outer block in @var{symbol}
16723
16724 The symbol information shows where symbol scopes begin and end
16725 (such as at the start of a function or a block of statements). This
16726 error indicates that an inner scope block is not fully contained
16727 in its outer scope blocks.
16728
16729 @value{GDBN} circumvents the problem by treating the inner block as if it had
16730 the same scope as the outer block. In the error message, @var{symbol}
16731 may be shown as ``@code{(don't know)}'' if the outer block is not a
16732 function.
16733
16734 @item block at @var{address} out of order
16735
16736 The symbol information for symbol scope blocks should occur in
16737 order of increasing addresses. This error indicates that it does not
16738 do so.
16739
16740 @value{GDBN} does not circumvent this problem, and has trouble
16741 locating symbols in the source file whose symbols it is reading. (You
16742 can often determine what source file is affected by specifying
16743 @code{set verbose on}. @xref{Messages/Warnings, ,Optional Warnings and
16744 Messages}.)
16745
16746 @item bad block start address patched
16747
16748 The symbol information for a symbol scope block has a start address
16749 smaller than the address of the preceding source line. This is known
16750 to occur in the SunOS 4.1.1 (and earlier) C compiler.
16751
16752 @value{GDBN} circumvents the problem by treating the symbol scope block as
16753 starting on the previous source line.
16754
16755 @item bad string table offset in symbol @var{n}
16756
16757 @cindex foo
16758 Symbol number @var{n} contains a pointer into the string table which is
16759 larger than the size of the string table.
16760
16761 @value{GDBN} circumvents the problem by considering the symbol to have the
16762 name @code{foo}, which may cause other problems if many symbols end up
16763 with this name.
16764
16765 @item unknown symbol type @code{0x@var{nn}}
16766
16767 The symbol information contains new data types that @value{GDBN} does
16768 not yet know how to read. @code{0x@var{nn}} is the symbol type of the
16769 uncomprehended information, in hexadecimal.
16770
16771 @value{GDBN} circumvents the error by ignoring this symbol information.
16772 This usually allows you to debug your program, though certain symbols
16773 are not accessible. If you encounter such a problem and feel like
16774 debugging it, you can debug @code{@value{GDBP}} with itself, breakpoint
16775 on @code{complain}, then go up to the function @code{read_dbx_symtab}
16776 and examine @code{*bufp} to see the symbol.
16777
16778 @item stub type has NULL name
16779
16780 @value{GDBN} could not find the full definition for a struct or class.
16781
16782 @item const/volatile indicator missing (ok if using g++ v1.x), got@dots{}
16783 The symbol information for a C@t{++} member function is missing some
16784 information that recent versions of the compiler should have output for
16785 it.
16786
16787 @item info mismatch between compiler and debugger
16788
16789 @value{GDBN} could not parse a type specification output by the compiler.
16790
16791 @end table
16792
16793 @node Data Files
16794 @section GDB Data Files
16795
16796 @cindex prefix for data files
16797 @value{GDBN} will sometimes read an auxiliary data file. These files
16798 are kept in a directory known as the @dfn{data directory}.
16799
16800 You can set the data directory's name, and view the name @value{GDBN}
16801 is currently using.
16802
16803 @table @code
16804 @kindex set data-directory
16805 @item set data-directory @var{directory}
16806 Set the directory which @value{GDBN} searches for auxiliary data files
16807 to @var{directory}.
16808
16809 @kindex show data-directory
16810 @item show data-directory
16811 Show the directory @value{GDBN} searches for auxiliary data files.
16812 @end table
16813
16814 @cindex default data directory
16815 @cindex @samp{--with-gdb-datadir}
16816 You can set the default data directory by using the configure-time
16817 @samp{--with-gdb-datadir} option. If the data directory is inside
16818 @value{GDBN}'s configured binary prefix (set with @samp{--prefix} or
16819 @samp{--exec-prefix}), then the default data directory will be updated
16820 automatically if the installed @value{GDBN} is moved to a new
16821 location.
16822
16823 The data directory may also be specified with the
16824 @code{--data-directory} command line option.
16825 @xref{Mode Options}.
16826
16827 @node Targets
16828 @chapter Specifying a Debugging Target
16829
16830 @cindex debugging target
16831 A @dfn{target} is the execution environment occupied by your program.
16832
16833 Often, @value{GDBN} runs in the same host environment as your program;
16834 in that case, the debugging target is specified as a side effect when
16835 you use the @code{file} or @code{core} commands. When you need more
16836 flexibility---for example, running @value{GDBN} on a physically separate
16837 host, or controlling a standalone system over a serial port or a
16838 realtime system over a TCP/IP connection---you can use the @code{target}
16839 command to specify one of the target types configured for @value{GDBN}
16840 (@pxref{Target Commands, ,Commands for Managing Targets}).
16841
16842 @cindex target architecture
16843 It is possible to build @value{GDBN} for several different @dfn{target
16844 architectures}. When @value{GDBN} is built like that, you can choose
16845 one of the available architectures with the @kbd{set architecture}
16846 command.
16847
16848 @table @code
16849 @kindex set architecture
16850 @kindex show architecture
16851 @item set architecture @var{arch}
16852 This command sets the current target architecture to @var{arch}. The
16853 value of @var{arch} can be @code{"auto"}, in addition to one of the
16854 supported architectures.
16855
16856 @item show architecture
16857 Show the current target architecture.
16858
16859 @item set processor
16860 @itemx processor
16861 @kindex set processor
16862 @kindex show processor
16863 These are alias commands for, respectively, @code{set architecture}
16864 and @code{show architecture}.
16865 @end table
16866
16867 @menu
16868 * Active Targets:: Active targets
16869 * Target Commands:: Commands for managing targets
16870 * Byte Order:: Choosing target byte order
16871 @end menu
16872
16873 @node Active Targets
16874 @section Active Targets
16875
16876 @cindex stacking targets
16877 @cindex active targets
16878 @cindex multiple targets
16879
16880 There are multiple classes of targets such as: processes, executable files or
16881 recording sessions. Core files belong to the process class, making core file
16882 and process mutually exclusive. Otherwise, @value{GDBN} can work concurrently
16883 on multiple active targets, one in each class. This allows you to (for
16884 example) start a process and inspect its activity, while still having access to
16885 the executable file after the process finishes. Or if you start process
16886 recording (@pxref{Reverse Execution}) and @code{reverse-step} there, you are
16887 presented a virtual layer of the recording target, while the process target
16888 remains stopped at the chronologically last point of the process execution.
16889
16890 Use the @code{core-file} and @code{exec-file} commands to select a new core
16891 file or executable target (@pxref{Files, ,Commands to Specify Files}). To
16892 specify as a target a process that is already running, use the @code{attach}
16893 command (@pxref{Attach, ,Debugging an Already-running Process}).
16894
16895 @node Target Commands
16896 @section Commands for Managing Targets
16897
16898 @table @code
16899 @item target @var{type} @var{parameters}
16900 Connects the @value{GDBN} host environment to a target machine or
16901 process. A target is typically a protocol for talking to debugging
16902 facilities. You use the argument @var{type} to specify the type or
16903 protocol of the target machine.
16904
16905 Further @var{parameters} are interpreted by the target protocol, but
16906 typically include things like device names or host names to connect
16907 with, process numbers, and baud rates.
16908
16909 The @code{target} command does not repeat if you press @key{RET} again
16910 after executing the command.
16911
16912 @kindex help target
16913 @item help target
16914 Displays the names of all targets available. To display targets
16915 currently selected, use either @code{info target} or @code{info files}
16916 (@pxref{Files, ,Commands to Specify Files}).
16917
16918 @item help target @var{name}
16919 Describe a particular target, including any parameters necessary to
16920 select it.
16921
16922 @kindex set gnutarget
16923 @item set gnutarget @var{args}
16924 @value{GDBN} uses its own library BFD to read your files. @value{GDBN}
16925 knows whether it is reading an @dfn{executable},
16926 a @dfn{core}, or a @dfn{.o} file; however, you can specify the file format
16927 with the @code{set gnutarget} command. Unlike most @code{target} commands,
16928 with @code{gnutarget} the @code{target} refers to a program, not a machine.
16929
16930 @quotation
16931 @emph{Warning:} To specify a file format with @code{set gnutarget},
16932 you must know the actual BFD name.
16933 @end quotation
16934
16935 @noindent
16936 @xref{Files, , Commands to Specify Files}.
16937
16938 @kindex show gnutarget
16939 @item show gnutarget
16940 Use the @code{show gnutarget} command to display what file format
16941 @code{gnutarget} is set to read. If you have not set @code{gnutarget},
16942 @value{GDBN} will determine the file format for each file automatically,
16943 and @code{show gnutarget} displays @samp{The current BDF target is "auto"}.
16944 @end table
16945
16946 @cindex common targets
16947 Here are some common targets (available, or not, depending on the GDB
16948 configuration):
16949
16950 @table @code
16951 @kindex target
16952 @item target exec @var{program}
16953 @cindex executable file target
16954 An executable file. @samp{target exec @var{program}} is the same as
16955 @samp{exec-file @var{program}}.
16956
16957 @item target core @var{filename}
16958 @cindex core dump file target
16959 A core dump file. @samp{target core @var{filename}} is the same as
16960 @samp{core-file @var{filename}}.
16961
16962 @item target remote @var{medium}
16963 @cindex remote target
16964 A remote system connected to @value{GDBN} via a serial line or network
16965 connection. This command tells @value{GDBN} to use its own remote
16966 protocol over @var{medium} for debugging. @xref{Remote Debugging}.
16967
16968 For example, if you have a board connected to @file{/dev/ttya} on the
16969 machine running @value{GDBN}, you could say:
16970
16971 @smallexample
16972 target remote /dev/ttya
16973 @end smallexample
16974
16975 @code{target remote} supports the @code{load} command. This is only
16976 useful if you have some other way of getting the stub to the target
16977 system, and you can put it somewhere in memory where it won't get
16978 clobbered by the download.
16979
16980 @item target sim @r{[}@var{simargs}@r{]} @dots{}
16981 @cindex built-in simulator target
16982 Builtin CPU simulator. @value{GDBN} includes simulators for most architectures.
16983 In general,
16984 @smallexample
16985 target sim
16986 load
16987 run
16988 @end smallexample
16989 @noindent
16990 works; however, you cannot assume that a specific memory map, device
16991 drivers, or even basic I/O is available, although some simulators do
16992 provide these. For info about any processor-specific simulator details,
16993 see the appropriate section in @ref{Embedded Processors, ,Embedded
16994 Processors}.
16995
16996 @end table
16997
16998 Some configurations may include these targets as well:
16999
17000 @table @code
17001
17002 @item target nrom @var{dev}
17003 @cindex NetROM ROM emulator target
17004 NetROM ROM emulator. This target only supports downloading.
17005
17006 @end table
17007
17008 Different targets are available on different configurations of @value{GDBN};
17009 your configuration may have more or fewer targets.
17010
17011 Many remote targets require you to download the executable's code once
17012 you've successfully established a connection. You may wish to control
17013 various aspects of this process.
17014
17015 @table @code
17016
17017 @item set hash
17018 @kindex set hash@r{, for remote monitors}
17019 @cindex hash mark while downloading
17020 This command controls whether a hash mark @samp{#} is displayed while
17021 downloading a file to the remote monitor. If on, a hash mark is
17022 displayed after each S-record is successfully downloaded to the
17023 monitor.
17024
17025 @item show hash
17026 @kindex show hash@r{, for remote monitors}
17027 Show the current status of displaying the hash mark.
17028
17029 @item set debug monitor
17030 @kindex set debug monitor
17031 @cindex display remote monitor communications
17032 Enable or disable display of communications messages between
17033 @value{GDBN} and the remote monitor.
17034
17035 @item show debug monitor
17036 @kindex show debug monitor
17037 Show the current status of displaying communications between
17038 @value{GDBN} and the remote monitor.
17039 @end table
17040
17041 @table @code
17042
17043 @kindex load @var{filename}
17044 @item load @var{filename}
17045 @anchor{load}
17046 Depending on what remote debugging facilities are configured into
17047 @value{GDBN}, the @code{load} command may be available. Where it exists, it
17048 is meant to make @var{filename} (an executable) available for debugging
17049 on the remote system---by downloading, or dynamic linking, for example.
17050 @code{load} also records the @var{filename} symbol table in @value{GDBN}, like
17051 the @code{add-symbol-file} command.
17052
17053 If your @value{GDBN} does not have a @code{load} command, attempting to
17054 execute it gets the error message ``@code{You can't do that when your
17055 target is @dots{}}''
17056
17057 The file is loaded at whatever address is specified in the executable.
17058 For some object file formats, you can specify the load address when you
17059 link the program; for other formats, like a.out, the object file format
17060 specifies a fixed address.
17061 @c FIXME! This would be a good place for an xref to the GNU linker doc.
17062
17063 Depending on the remote side capabilities, @value{GDBN} may be able to
17064 load programs into flash memory.
17065
17066 @code{load} does not repeat if you press @key{RET} again after using it.
17067 @end table
17068
17069 @node Byte Order
17070 @section Choosing Target Byte Order
17071
17072 @cindex choosing target byte order
17073 @cindex target byte order
17074
17075 Some types of processors, such as the MIPS, PowerPC, and Renesas SH,
17076 offer the ability to run either big-endian or little-endian byte
17077 orders. Usually the executable or symbol will include a bit to
17078 designate the endian-ness, and you will not need to worry about
17079 which to use. However, you may still find it useful to adjust
17080 @value{GDBN}'s idea of processor endian-ness manually.
17081
17082 @table @code
17083 @kindex set endian
17084 @item set endian big
17085 Instruct @value{GDBN} to assume the target is big-endian.
17086
17087 @item set endian little
17088 Instruct @value{GDBN} to assume the target is little-endian.
17089
17090 @item set endian auto
17091 Instruct @value{GDBN} to use the byte order associated with the
17092 executable.
17093
17094 @item show endian
17095 Display @value{GDBN}'s current idea of the target byte order.
17096
17097 @end table
17098
17099 Note that these commands merely adjust interpretation of symbolic
17100 data on the host, and that they have absolutely no effect on the
17101 target system.
17102
17103
17104 @node Remote Debugging
17105 @chapter Debugging Remote Programs
17106 @cindex remote debugging
17107
17108 If you are trying to debug a program running on a machine that cannot run
17109 @value{GDBN} in the usual way, it is often useful to use remote debugging.
17110 For example, you might use remote debugging on an operating system kernel,
17111 or on a small system which does not have a general purpose operating system
17112 powerful enough to run a full-featured debugger.
17113
17114 Some configurations of @value{GDBN} have special serial or TCP/IP interfaces
17115 to make this work with particular debugging targets. In addition,
17116 @value{GDBN} comes with a generic serial protocol (specific to @value{GDBN},
17117 but not specific to any particular target system) which you can use if you
17118 write the remote stubs---the code that runs on the remote system to
17119 communicate with @value{GDBN}.
17120
17121 Other remote targets may be available in your
17122 configuration of @value{GDBN}; use @code{help target} to list them.
17123
17124 @menu
17125 * Connecting:: Connecting to a remote target
17126 * File Transfer:: Sending files to a remote system
17127 * Server:: Using the gdbserver program
17128 * Remote Configuration:: Remote configuration
17129 * Remote Stub:: Implementing a remote stub
17130 @end menu
17131
17132 @node Connecting
17133 @section Connecting to a Remote Target
17134
17135 On the @value{GDBN} host machine, you will need an unstripped copy of
17136 your program, since @value{GDBN} needs symbol and debugging information.
17137 Start up @value{GDBN} as usual, using the name of the local copy of your
17138 program as the first argument.
17139
17140 @cindex @code{target remote}
17141 @value{GDBN} can communicate with the target over a serial line, or
17142 over an @acronym{IP} network using @acronym{TCP} or @acronym{UDP}. In
17143 each case, @value{GDBN} uses the same protocol for debugging your
17144 program; only the medium carrying the debugging packets varies. The
17145 @code{target remote} command establishes a connection to the target.
17146 Its arguments indicate which medium to use:
17147
17148 @table @code
17149
17150 @item target remote @var{serial-device}
17151 @cindex serial line, @code{target remote}
17152 Use @var{serial-device} to communicate with the target. For example,
17153 to use a serial line connected to the device named @file{/dev/ttyb}:
17154
17155 @smallexample
17156 target remote /dev/ttyb
17157 @end smallexample
17158
17159 If you're using a serial line, you may want to give @value{GDBN} the
17160 @w{@samp{--baud}} option, or use the @code{set remotebaud} command
17161 (@pxref{Remote Configuration, set remotebaud}) before the
17162 @code{target} command.
17163
17164 @item target remote @code{@var{host}:@var{port}}
17165 @itemx target remote @code{tcp:@var{host}:@var{port}}
17166 @cindex @acronym{TCP} port, @code{target remote}
17167 Debug using a @acronym{TCP} connection to @var{port} on @var{host}.
17168 The @var{host} may be either a host name or a numeric @acronym{IP}
17169 address; @var{port} must be a decimal number. The @var{host} could be
17170 the target machine itself, if it is directly connected to the net, or
17171 it might be a terminal server which in turn has a serial line to the
17172 target.
17173
17174 For example, to connect to port 2828 on a terminal server named
17175 @code{manyfarms}:
17176
17177 @smallexample
17178 target remote manyfarms:2828
17179 @end smallexample
17180
17181 If your remote target is actually running on the same machine as your
17182 debugger session (e.g.@: a simulator for your target running on the
17183 same host), you can omit the hostname. For example, to connect to
17184 port 1234 on your local machine:
17185
17186 @smallexample
17187 target remote :1234
17188 @end smallexample
17189 @noindent
17190
17191 Note that the colon is still required here.
17192
17193 @item target remote @code{udp:@var{host}:@var{port}}
17194 @cindex @acronym{UDP} port, @code{target remote}
17195 Debug using @acronym{UDP} packets to @var{port} on @var{host}. For example, to
17196 connect to @acronym{UDP} port 2828 on a terminal server named @code{manyfarms}:
17197
17198 @smallexample
17199 target remote udp:manyfarms:2828
17200 @end smallexample
17201
17202 When using a @acronym{UDP} connection for remote debugging, you should
17203 keep in mind that the `U' stands for ``Unreliable''. @acronym{UDP}
17204 can silently drop packets on busy or unreliable networks, which will
17205 cause havoc with your debugging session.
17206
17207 @item target remote | @var{command}
17208 @cindex pipe, @code{target remote} to
17209 Run @var{command} in the background and communicate with it using a
17210 pipe. The @var{command} is a shell command, to be parsed and expanded
17211 by the system's command shell, @code{/bin/sh}; it should expect remote
17212 protocol packets on its standard input, and send replies on its
17213 standard output. You could use this to run a stand-alone simulator
17214 that speaks the remote debugging protocol, to make net connections
17215 using programs like @code{ssh}, or for other similar tricks.
17216
17217 If @var{command} closes its standard output (perhaps by exiting),
17218 @value{GDBN} will try to send it a @code{SIGTERM} signal. (If the
17219 program has already exited, this will have no effect.)
17220
17221 @end table
17222
17223 Once the connection has been established, you can use all the usual
17224 commands to examine and change data. The remote program is already
17225 running; you can use @kbd{step} and @kbd{continue}, and you do not
17226 need to use @kbd{run}.
17227
17228 @cindex interrupting remote programs
17229 @cindex remote programs, interrupting
17230 Whenever @value{GDBN} is waiting for the remote program, if you type the
17231 interrupt character (often @kbd{Ctrl-c}), @value{GDBN} attempts to stop the
17232 program. This may or may not succeed, depending in part on the hardware
17233 and the serial drivers the remote system uses. If you type the
17234 interrupt character once again, @value{GDBN} displays this prompt:
17235
17236 @smallexample
17237 Interrupted while waiting for the program.
17238 Give up (and stop debugging it)? (y or n)
17239 @end smallexample
17240
17241 If you type @kbd{y}, @value{GDBN} abandons the remote debugging session.
17242 (If you decide you want to try again later, you can use @samp{target
17243 remote} again to connect once more.) If you type @kbd{n}, @value{GDBN}
17244 goes back to waiting.
17245
17246 @table @code
17247 @kindex detach (remote)
17248 @item detach
17249 When you have finished debugging the remote program, you can use the
17250 @code{detach} command to release it from @value{GDBN} control.
17251 Detaching from the target normally resumes its execution, but the results
17252 will depend on your particular remote stub. After the @code{detach}
17253 command, @value{GDBN} is free to connect to another target.
17254
17255 @kindex disconnect
17256 @item disconnect
17257 The @code{disconnect} command behaves like @code{detach}, except that
17258 the target is generally not resumed. It will wait for @value{GDBN}
17259 (this instance or another one) to connect and continue debugging. After
17260 the @code{disconnect} command, @value{GDBN} is again free to connect to
17261 another target.
17262
17263 @cindex send command to remote monitor
17264 @cindex extend @value{GDBN} for remote targets
17265 @cindex add new commands for external monitor
17266 @kindex monitor
17267 @item monitor @var{cmd}
17268 This command allows you to send arbitrary commands directly to the
17269 remote monitor. Since @value{GDBN} doesn't care about the commands it
17270 sends like this, this command is the way to extend @value{GDBN}---you
17271 can add new commands that only the external monitor will understand
17272 and implement.
17273 @end table
17274
17275 @node File Transfer
17276 @section Sending files to a remote system
17277 @cindex remote target, file transfer
17278 @cindex file transfer
17279 @cindex sending files to remote systems
17280
17281 Some remote targets offer the ability to transfer files over the same
17282 connection used to communicate with @value{GDBN}. This is convenient
17283 for targets accessible through other means, e.g.@: @sc{gnu}/Linux systems
17284 running @code{gdbserver} over a network interface. For other targets,
17285 e.g.@: embedded devices with only a single serial port, this may be
17286 the only way to upload or download files.
17287
17288 Not all remote targets support these commands.
17289
17290 @table @code
17291 @kindex remote put
17292 @item remote put @var{hostfile} @var{targetfile}
17293 Copy file @var{hostfile} from the host system (the machine running
17294 @value{GDBN}) to @var{targetfile} on the target system.
17295
17296 @kindex remote get
17297 @item remote get @var{targetfile} @var{hostfile}
17298 Copy file @var{targetfile} from the target system to @var{hostfile}
17299 on the host system.
17300
17301 @kindex remote delete
17302 @item remote delete @var{targetfile}
17303 Delete @var{targetfile} from the target system.
17304
17305 @end table
17306
17307 @node Server
17308 @section Using the @code{gdbserver} Program
17309
17310 @kindex gdbserver
17311 @cindex remote connection without stubs
17312 @code{gdbserver} is a control program for Unix-like systems, which
17313 allows you to connect your program with a remote @value{GDBN} via
17314 @code{target remote}---but without linking in the usual debugging stub.
17315
17316 @code{gdbserver} is not a complete replacement for the debugging stubs,
17317 because it requires essentially the same operating-system facilities
17318 that @value{GDBN} itself does. In fact, a system that can run
17319 @code{gdbserver} to connect to a remote @value{GDBN} could also run
17320 @value{GDBN} locally! @code{gdbserver} is sometimes useful nevertheless,
17321 because it is a much smaller program than @value{GDBN} itself. It is
17322 also easier to port than all of @value{GDBN}, so you may be able to get
17323 started more quickly on a new system by using @code{gdbserver}.
17324 Finally, if you develop code for real-time systems, you may find that
17325 the tradeoffs involved in real-time operation make it more convenient to
17326 do as much development work as possible on another system, for example
17327 by cross-compiling. You can use @code{gdbserver} to make a similar
17328 choice for debugging.
17329
17330 @value{GDBN} and @code{gdbserver} communicate via either a serial line
17331 or a TCP connection, using the standard @value{GDBN} remote serial
17332 protocol.
17333
17334 @quotation
17335 @emph{Warning:} @code{gdbserver} does not have any built-in security.
17336 Do not run @code{gdbserver} connected to any public network; a
17337 @value{GDBN} connection to @code{gdbserver} provides access to the
17338 target system with the same privileges as the user running
17339 @code{gdbserver}.
17340 @end quotation
17341
17342 @subsection Running @code{gdbserver}
17343 @cindex arguments, to @code{gdbserver}
17344 @cindex @code{gdbserver}, command-line arguments
17345
17346 Run @code{gdbserver} on the target system. You need a copy of the
17347 program you want to debug, including any libraries it requires.
17348 @code{gdbserver} does not need your program's symbol table, so you can
17349 strip the program if necessary to save space. @value{GDBN} on the host
17350 system does all the symbol handling.
17351
17352 To use the server, you must tell it how to communicate with @value{GDBN};
17353 the name of your program; and the arguments for your program. The usual
17354 syntax is:
17355
17356 @smallexample
17357 target> gdbserver @var{comm} @var{program} [ @var{args} @dots{} ]
17358 @end smallexample
17359
17360 @var{comm} is either a device name (to use a serial line), or a TCP
17361 hostname and portnumber, or @code{-} or @code{stdio} to use
17362 stdin/stdout of @code{gdbserver}.
17363 For example, to debug Emacs with the argument
17364 @samp{foo.txt} and communicate with @value{GDBN} over the serial port
17365 @file{/dev/com1}:
17366
17367 @smallexample
17368 target> gdbserver /dev/com1 emacs foo.txt
17369 @end smallexample
17370
17371 @code{gdbserver} waits passively for the host @value{GDBN} to communicate
17372 with it.
17373
17374 To use a TCP connection instead of a serial line:
17375
17376 @smallexample
17377 target> gdbserver host:2345 emacs foo.txt
17378 @end smallexample
17379
17380 The only difference from the previous example is the first argument,
17381 specifying that you are communicating with the host @value{GDBN} via
17382 TCP. The @samp{host:2345} argument means that @code{gdbserver} is to
17383 expect a TCP connection from machine @samp{host} to local TCP port 2345.
17384 (Currently, the @samp{host} part is ignored.) You can choose any number
17385 you want for the port number as long as it does not conflict with any
17386 TCP ports already in use on the target system (for example, @code{23} is
17387 reserved for @code{telnet}).@footnote{If you choose a port number that
17388 conflicts with another service, @code{gdbserver} prints an error message
17389 and exits.} You must use the same port number with the host @value{GDBN}
17390 @code{target remote} command.
17391
17392 The @code{stdio} connection is useful when starting @code{gdbserver}
17393 with ssh:
17394
17395 @smallexample
17396 (gdb) target remote | ssh -T hostname gdbserver - hello
17397 @end smallexample
17398
17399 The @samp{-T} option to ssh is provided because we don't need a remote pty,
17400 and we don't want escape-character handling. Ssh does this by default when
17401 a command is provided, the flag is provided to make it explicit.
17402 You could elide it if you want to.
17403
17404 Programs started with stdio-connected gdbserver have @file{/dev/null} for
17405 @code{stdin}, and @code{stdout},@code{stderr} are sent back to gdb for
17406 display through a pipe connected to gdbserver.
17407 Both @code{stdout} and @code{stderr} use the same pipe.
17408
17409 @subsubsection Attaching to a Running Program
17410 @cindex attach to a program, @code{gdbserver}
17411 @cindex @option{--attach}, @code{gdbserver} option
17412
17413 On some targets, @code{gdbserver} can also attach to running programs.
17414 This is accomplished via the @code{--attach} argument. The syntax is:
17415
17416 @smallexample
17417 target> gdbserver --attach @var{comm} @var{pid}
17418 @end smallexample
17419
17420 @var{pid} is the process ID of a currently running process. It isn't necessary
17421 to point @code{gdbserver} at a binary for the running process.
17422
17423 @pindex pidof
17424 You can debug processes by name instead of process ID if your target has the
17425 @code{pidof} utility:
17426
17427 @smallexample
17428 target> gdbserver --attach @var{comm} `pidof @var{program}`
17429 @end smallexample
17430
17431 In case more than one copy of @var{program} is running, or @var{program}
17432 has multiple threads, most versions of @code{pidof} support the
17433 @code{-s} option to only return the first process ID.
17434
17435 @subsubsection Multi-Process Mode for @code{gdbserver}
17436 @cindex @code{gdbserver}, multiple processes
17437 @cindex multiple processes with @code{gdbserver}
17438
17439 When you connect to @code{gdbserver} using @code{target remote},
17440 @code{gdbserver} debugs the specified program only once. When the
17441 program exits, or you detach from it, @value{GDBN} closes the connection
17442 and @code{gdbserver} exits.
17443
17444 If you connect using @kbd{target extended-remote}, @code{gdbserver}
17445 enters multi-process mode. When the debugged program exits, or you
17446 detach from it, @value{GDBN} stays connected to @code{gdbserver} even
17447 though no program is running. The @code{run} and @code{attach}
17448 commands instruct @code{gdbserver} to run or attach to a new program.
17449 The @code{run} command uses @code{set remote exec-file} (@pxref{set
17450 remote exec-file}) to select the program to run. Command line
17451 arguments are supported, except for wildcard expansion and I/O
17452 redirection (@pxref{Arguments}).
17453
17454 @cindex @option{--multi}, @code{gdbserver} option
17455 To start @code{gdbserver} without supplying an initial command to run
17456 or process ID to attach, use the @option{--multi} command line option.
17457 Then you can connect using @kbd{target extended-remote} and start
17458 the program you want to debug.
17459
17460 In multi-process mode @code{gdbserver} does not automatically exit unless you
17461 use the option @option{--once}. You can terminate it by using
17462 @code{monitor exit} (@pxref{Monitor Commands for gdbserver}). Note that the
17463 conditions under which @code{gdbserver} terminates depend on how @value{GDBN}
17464 connects to it (@kbd{target remote} or @kbd{target extended-remote}). The
17465 @option{--multi} option to @code{gdbserver} has no influence on that.
17466
17467 @subsubsection TCP port allocation lifecycle of @code{gdbserver}
17468
17469 This section applies only when @code{gdbserver} is run to listen on a TCP port.
17470
17471 @code{gdbserver} normally terminates after all of its debugged processes have
17472 terminated in @kbd{target remote} mode. On the other hand, for @kbd{target
17473 extended-remote}, @code{gdbserver} stays running even with no processes left.
17474 @value{GDBN} normally terminates the spawned debugged process on its exit,
17475 which normally also terminates @code{gdbserver} in the @kbd{target remote}
17476 mode. Therefore, when the connection drops unexpectedly, and @value{GDBN}
17477 cannot ask @code{gdbserver} to kill its debugged processes, @code{gdbserver}
17478 stays running even in the @kbd{target remote} mode.
17479
17480 When @code{gdbserver} stays running, @value{GDBN} can connect to it again later.
17481 Such reconnecting is useful for features like @ref{disconnected tracing}. For
17482 completeness, at most one @value{GDBN} can be connected at a time.
17483
17484 @cindex @option{--once}, @code{gdbserver} option
17485 By default, @code{gdbserver} keeps the listening TCP port open, so that
17486 additional connections are possible. However, if you start @code{gdbserver}
17487 with the @option{--once} option, it will stop listening for any further
17488 connection attempts after connecting to the first @value{GDBN} session. This
17489 means no further connections to @code{gdbserver} will be possible after the
17490 first one. It also means @code{gdbserver} will terminate after the first
17491 connection with remote @value{GDBN} has closed, even for unexpectedly closed
17492 connections and even in the @kbd{target extended-remote} mode. The
17493 @option{--once} option allows reusing the same port number for connecting to
17494 multiple instances of @code{gdbserver} running on the same host, since each
17495 instance closes its port after the first connection.
17496
17497 @subsubsection Other Command-Line Arguments for @code{gdbserver}
17498
17499 @cindex @option{--debug}, @code{gdbserver} option
17500 The @option{--debug} option tells @code{gdbserver} to display extra
17501 status information about the debugging process.
17502 @cindex @option{--remote-debug}, @code{gdbserver} option
17503 The @option{--remote-debug} option tells @code{gdbserver} to display
17504 remote protocol debug output. These options are intended for
17505 @code{gdbserver} development and for bug reports to the developers.
17506
17507 @cindex @option{--wrapper}, @code{gdbserver} option
17508 The @option{--wrapper} option specifies a wrapper to launch programs
17509 for debugging. The option should be followed by the name of the
17510 wrapper, then any command-line arguments to pass to the wrapper, then
17511 @kbd{--} indicating the end of the wrapper arguments.
17512
17513 @code{gdbserver} runs the specified wrapper program with a combined
17514 command line including the wrapper arguments, then the name of the
17515 program to debug, then any arguments to the program. The wrapper
17516 runs until it executes your program, and then @value{GDBN} gains control.
17517
17518 You can use any program that eventually calls @code{execve} with
17519 its arguments as a wrapper. Several standard Unix utilities do
17520 this, e.g.@: @code{env} and @code{nohup}. Any Unix shell script ending
17521 with @code{exec "$@@"} will also work.
17522
17523 For example, you can use @code{env} to pass an environment variable to
17524 the debugged program, without setting the variable in @code{gdbserver}'s
17525 environment:
17526
17527 @smallexample
17528 $ gdbserver --wrapper env LD_PRELOAD=libtest.so -- :2222 ./testprog
17529 @end smallexample
17530
17531 @subsection Connecting to @code{gdbserver}
17532
17533 Run @value{GDBN} on the host system.
17534
17535 First make sure you have the necessary symbol files. Load symbols for
17536 your application using the @code{file} command before you connect. Use
17537 @code{set sysroot} to locate target libraries (unless your @value{GDBN}
17538 was compiled with the correct sysroot using @code{--with-sysroot}).
17539
17540 The symbol file and target libraries must exactly match the executable
17541 and libraries on the target, with one exception: the files on the host
17542 system should not be stripped, even if the files on the target system
17543 are. Mismatched or missing files will lead to confusing results
17544 during debugging. On @sc{gnu}/Linux targets, mismatched or missing
17545 files may also prevent @code{gdbserver} from debugging multi-threaded
17546 programs.
17547
17548 Connect to your target (@pxref{Connecting,,Connecting to a Remote Target}).
17549 For TCP connections, you must start up @code{gdbserver} prior to using
17550 the @code{target remote} command. Otherwise you may get an error whose
17551 text depends on the host system, but which usually looks something like
17552 @samp{Connection refused}. Don't use the @code{load}
17553 command in @value{GDBN} when using @code{gdbserver}, since the program is
17554 already on the target.
17555
17556 @subsection Monitor Commands for @code{gdbserver}
17557 @cindex monitor commands, for @code{gdbserver}
17558 @anchor{Monitor Commands for gdbserver}
17559
17560 During a @value{GDBN} session using @code{gdbserver}, you can use the
17561 @code{monitor} command to send special requests to @code{gdbserver}.
17562 Here are the available commands.
17563
17564 @table @code
17565 @item monitor help
17566 List the available monitor commands.
17567
17568 @item monitor set debug 0
17569 @itemx monitor set debug 1
17570 Disable or enable general debugging messages.
17571
17572 @item monitor set remote-debug 0
17573 @itemx monitor set remote-debug 1
17574 Disable or enable specific debugging messages associated with the remote
17575 protocol (@pxref{Remote Protocol}).
17576
17577 @item monitor set libthread-db-search-path [PATH]
17578 @cindex gdbserver, search path for @code{libthread_db}
17579 When this command is issued, @var{path} is a colon-separated list of
17580 directories to search for @code{libthread_db} (@pxref{Threads,,set
17581 libthread-db-search-path}). If you omit @var{path},
17582 @samp{libthread-db-search-path} will be reset to its default value.
17583
17584 The special entry @samp{$pdir} for @samp{libthread-db-search-path} is
17585 not supported in @code{gdbserver}.
17586
17587 @item monitor exit
17588 Tell gdbserver to exit immediately. This command should be followed by
17589 @code{disconnect} to close the debugging session. @code{gdbserver} will
17590 detach from any attached processes and kill any processes it created.
17591 Use @code{monitor exit} to terminate @code{gdbserver} at the end
17592 of a multi-process mode debug session.
17593
17594 @end table
17595
17596 @subsection Tracepoints support in @code{gdbserver}
17597 @cindex tracepoints support in @code{gdbserver}
17598
17599 On some targets, @code{gdbserver} supports tracepoints, fast
17600 tracepoints and static tracepoints.
17601
17602 For fast or static tracepoints to work, a special library called the
17603 @dfn{in-process agent} (IPA), must be loaded in the inferior process.
17604 This library is built and distributed as an integral part of
17605 @code{gdbserver}. In addition, support for static tracepoints
17606 requires building the in-process agent library with static tracepoints
17607 support. At present, the UST (LTTng Userspace Tracer,
17608 @url{http://lttng.org/ust}) tracing engine is supported. This support
17609 is automatically available if UST development headers are found in the
17610 standard include path when @code{gdbserver} is built, or if
17611 @code{gdbserver} was explicitly configured using @option{--with-ust}
17612 to point at such headers. You can explicitly disable the support
17613 using @option{--with-ust=no}.
17614
17615 There are several ways to load the in-process agent in your program:
17616
17617 @table @code
17618 @item Specifying it as dependency at link time
17619
17620 You can link your program dynamically with the in-process agent
17621 library. On most systems, this is accomplished by adding
17622 @code{-linproctrace} to the link command.
17623
17624 @item Using the system's preloading mechanisms
17625
17626 You can force loading the in-process agent at startup time by using
17627 your system's support for preloading shared libraries. Many Unixes
17628 support the concept of preloading user defined libraries. In most
17629 cases, you do that by specifying @code{LD_PRELOAD=libinproctrace.so}
17630 in the environment. See also the description of @code{gdbserver}'s
17631 @option{--wrapper} command line option.
17632
17633 @item Using @value{GDBN} to force loading the agent at run time
17634
17635 On some systems, you can force the inferior to load a shared library,
17636 by calling a dynamic loader function in the inferior that takes care
17637 of dynamically looking up and loading a shared library. On most Unix
17638 systems, the function is @code{dlopen}. You'll use the @code{call}
17639 command for that. For example:
17640
17641 @smallexample
17642 (@value{GDBP}) call dlopen ("libinproctrace.so", ...)
17643 @end smallexample
17644
17645 Note that on most Unix systems, for the @code{dlopen} function to be
17646 available, the program needs to be linked with @code{-ldl}.
17647 @end table
17648
17649 On systems that have a userspace dynamic loader, like most Unix
17650 systems, when you connect to @code{gdbserver} using @code{target
17651 remote}, you'll find that the program is stopped at the dynamic
17652 loader's entry point, and no shared library has been loaded in the
17653 program's address space yet, including the in-process agent. In that
17654 case, before being able to use any of the fast or static tracepoints
17655 features, you need to let the loader run and load the shared
17656 libraries. The simplest way to do that is to run the program to the
17657 main procedure. E.g., if debugging a C or C@t{++} program, start
17658 @code{gdbserver} like so:
17659
17660 @smallexample
17661 $ gdbserver :9999 myprogram
17662 @end smallexample
17663
17664 Start GDB and connect to @code{gdbserver} like so, and run to main:
17665
17666 @smallexample
17667 $ gdb myprogram
17668 (@value{GDBP}) target remote myhost:9999
17669 0x00007f215893ba60 in ?? () from /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2
17670 (@value{GDBP}) b main
17671 (@value{GDBP}) continue
17672 @end smallexample
17673
17674 The in-process tracing agent library should now be loaded into the
17675 process; you can confirm it with the @code{info sharedlibrary}
17676 command, which will list @file{libinproctrace.so} as loaded in the
17677 process. You are now ready to install fast tracepoints, list static
17678 tracepoint markers, probe static tracepoints markers, and start
17679 tracing.
17680
17681 @node Remote Configuration
17682 @section Remote Configuration
17683
17684 @kindex set remote
17685 @kindex show remote
17686 This section documents the configuration options available when
17687 debugging remote programs. For the options related to the File I/O
17688 extensions of the remote protocol, see @ref{system,
17689 system-call-allowed}.
17690
17691 @table @code
17692 @item set remoteaddresssize @var{bits}
17693 @cindex address size for remote targets
17694 @cindex bits in remote address
17695 Set the maximum size of address in a memory packet to the specified
17696 number of bits. @value{GDBN} will mask off the address bits above
17697 that number, when it passes addresses to the remote target. The
17698 default value is the number of bits in the target's address.
17699
17700 @item show remoteaddresssize
17701 Show the current value of remote address size in bits.
17702
17703 @item set remotebaud @var{n}
17704 @cindex baud rate for remote targets
17705 Set the baud rate for the remote serial I/O to @var{n} baud. The
17706 value is used to set the speed of the serial port used for debugging
17707 remote targets.
17708
17709 @item show remotebaud
17710 Show the current speed of the remote connection.
17711
17712 @item set remotebreak
17713 @cindex interrupt remote programs
17714 @cindex BREAK signal instead of Ctrl-C
17715 @anchor{set remotebreak}
17716 If set to on, @value{GDBN} sends a @code{BREAK} signal to the remote
17717 when you type @kbd{Ctrl-c} to interrupt the program running
17718 on the remote. If set to off, @value{GDBN} sends the @samp{Ctrl-C}
17719 character instead. The default is off, since most remote systems
17720 expect to see @samp{Ctrl-C} as the interrupt signal.
17721
17722 @item show remotebreak
17723 Show whether @value{GDBN} sends @code{BREAK} or @samp{Ctrl-C} to
17724 interrupt the remote program.
17725
17726 @item set remoteflow on
17727 @itemx set remoteflow off
17728 @kindex set remoteflow
17729 Enable or disable hardware flow control (@code{RTS}/@code{CTS})
17730 on the serial port used to communicate to the remote target.
17731
17732 @item show remoteflow
17733 @kindex show remoteflow
17734 Show the current setting of hardware flow control.
17735
17736 @item set remotelogbase @var{base}
17737 Set the base (a.k.a.@: radix) of logging serial protocol
17738 communications to @var{base}. Supported values of @var{base} are:
17739 @code{ascii}, @code{octal}, and @code{hex}. The default is
17740 @code{ascii}.
17741
17742 @item show remotelogbase
17743 Show the current setting of the radix for logging remote serial
17744 protocol.
17745
17746 @item set remotelogfile @var{file}
17747 @cindex record serial communications on file
17748 Record remote serial communications on the named @var{file}. The
17749 default is not to record at all.
17750
17751 @item show remotelogfile.
17752 Show the current setting of the file name on which to record the
17753 serial communications.
17754
17755 @item set remotetimeout @var{num}
17756 @cindex timeout for serial communications
17757 @cindex remote timeout
17758 Set the timeout limit to wait for the remote target to respond to
17759 @var{num} seconds. The default is 2 seconds.
17760
17761 @item show remotetimeout
17762 Show the current number of seconds to wait for the remote target
17763 responses.
17764
17765 @cindex limit hardware breakpoints and watchpoints
17766 @cindex remote target, limit break- and watchpoints
17767 @anchor{set remote hardware-watchpoint-limit}
17768 @anchor{set remote hardware-breakpoint-limit}
17769 @item set remote hardware-watchpoint-limit @var{limit}
17770 @itemx set remote hardware-breakpoint-limit @var{limit}
17771 Restrict @value{GDBN} to using @var{limit} remote hardware breakpoint or
17772 watchpoints. A limit of -1, the default, is treated as unlimited.
17773
17774 @cindex limit hardware watchpoints length
17775 @cindex remote target, limit watchpoints length
17776 @anchor{set remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit}
17777 @item set remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit @var{limit}
17778 Restrict @value{GDBN} to using @var{limit} bytes for the maximum length of
17779 a remote hardware watchpoint. A limit of -1, the default, is treated
17780 as unlimited.
17781
17782 @item show remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit
17783 Show the current limit (in bytes) of the maximum length of
17784 a remote hardware watchpoint.
17785
17786 @item set remote exec-file @var{filename}
17787 @itemx show remote exec-file
17788 @anchor{set remote exec-file}
17789 @cindex executable file, for remote target
17790 Select the file used for @code{run} with @code{target
17791 extended-remote}. This should be set to a filename valid on the
17792 target system. If it is not set, the target will use a default
17793 filename (e.g.@: the last program run).
17794
17795 @item set remote interrupt-sequence
17796 @cindex interrupt remote programs
17797 @cindex select Ctrl-C, BREAK or BREAK-g
17798 Allow the user to select one of @samp{Ctrl-C}, a @code{BREAK} or
17799 @samp{BREAK-g} as the
17800 sequence to the remote target in order to interrupt the execution.
17801 @samp{Ctrl-C} is a default. Some system prefers @code{BREAK} which
17802 is high level of serial line for some certain time.
17803 Linux kernel prefers @samp{BREAK-g}, a.k.a Magic SysRq g.
17804 It is @code{BREAK} signal followed by character @code{g}.
17805
17806 @item show interrupt-sequence
17807 Show which of @samp{Ctrl-C}, @code{BREAK} or @code{BREAK-g}
17808 is sent by @value{GDBN} to interrupt the remote program.
17809 @code{BREAK-g} is BREAK signal followed by @code{g} and
17810 also known as Magic SysRq g.
17811
17812 @item set remote interrupt-on-connect
17813 @cindex send interrupt-sequence on start
17814 Specify whether interrupt-sequence is sent to remote target when
17815 @value{GDBN} connects to it. This is mostly needed when you debug
17816 Linux kernel. Linux kernel expects @code{BREAK} followed by @code{g}
17817 which is known as Magic SysRq g in order to connect @value{GDBN}.
17818
17819 @item show interrupt-on-connect
17820 Show whether interrupt-sequence is sent
17821 to remote target when @value{GDBN} connects to it.
17822
17823 @kindex set tcp
17824 @kindex show tcp
17825 @item set tcp auto-retry on
17826 @cindex auto-retry, for remote TCP target
17827 Enable auto-retry for remote TCP connections. This is useful if the remote
17828 debugging agent is launched in parallel with @value{GDBN}; there is a race
17829 condition because the agent may not become ready to accept the connection
17830 before @value{GDBN} attempts to connect. When auto-retry is
17831 enabled, if the initial attempt to connect fails, @value{GDBN} reattempts
17832 to establish the connection using the timeout specified by
17833 @code{set tcp connect-timeout}.
17834
17835 @item set tcp auto-retry off
17836 Do not auto-retry failed TCP connections.
17837
17838 @item show tcp auto-retry
17839 Show the current auto-retry setting.
17840
17841 @item set tcp connect-timeout @var{seconds}
17842 @cindex connection timeout, for remote TCP target
17843 @cindex timeout, for remote target connection
17844 Set the timeout for establishing a TCP connection to the remote target to
17845 @var{seconds}. The timeout affects both polling to retry failed connections
17846 (enabled by @code{set tcp auto-retry on}) and waiting for connections
17847 that are merely slow to complete, and represents an approximate cumulative
17848 value.
17849
17850 @item show tcp connect-timeout
17851 Show the current connection timeout setting.
17852 @end table
17853
17854 @cindex remote packets, enabling and disabling
17855 The @value{GDBN} remote protocol autodetects the packets supported by
17856 your debugging stub. If you need to override the autodetection, you
17857 can use these commands to enable or disable individual packets. Each
17858 packet can be set to @samp{on} (the remote target supports this
17859 packet), @samp{off} (the remote target does not support this packet),
17860 or @samp{auto} (detect remote target support for this packet). They
17861 all default to @samp{auto}. For more information about each packet,
17862 see @ref{Remote Protocol}.
17863
17864 During normal use, you should not have to use any of these commands.
17865 If you do, that may be a bug in your remote debugging stub, or a bug
17866 in @value{GDBN}. You may want to report the problem to the
17867 @value{GDBN} developers.
17868
17869 For each packet @var{name}, the command to enable or disable the
17870 packet is @code{set remote @var{name}-packet}. The available settings
17871 are:
17872
17873 @multitable @columnfractions 0.28 0.32 0.25
17874 @item Command Name
17875 @tab Remote Packet
17876 @tab Related Features
17877
17878 @item @code{fetch-register}
17879 @tab @code{p}
17880 @tab @code{info registers}
17881
17882 @item @code{set-register}
17883 @tab @code{P}
17884 @tab @code{set}
17885
17886 @item @code{binary-download}
17887 @tab @code{X}
17888 @tab @code{load}, @code{set}
17889
17890 @item @code{read-aux-vector}
17891 @tab @code{qXfer:auxv:read}
17892 @tab @code{info auxv}
17893
17894 @item @code{symbol-lookup}
17895 @tab @code{qSymbol}
17896 @tab Detecting multiple threads
17897
17898 @item @code{attach}
17899 @tab @code{vAttach}
17900 @tab @code{attach}
17901
17902 @item @code{verbose-resume}
17903 @tab @code{vCont}
17904 @tab Stepping or resuming multiple threads
17905
17906 @item @code{run}
17907 @tab @code{vRun}
17908 @tab @code{run}
17909
17910 @item @code{software-breakpoint}
17911 @tab @code{Z0}
17912 @tab @code{break}
17913
17914 @item @code{hardware-breakpoint}
17915 @tab @code{Z1}
17916 @tab @code{hbreak}
17917
17918 @item @code{write-watchpoint}
17919 @tab @code{Z2}
17920 @tab @code{watch}
17921
17922 @item @code{read-watchpoint}
17923 @tab @code{Z3}
17924 @tab @code{rwatch}
17925
17926 @item @code{access-watchpoint}
17927 @tab @code{Z4}
17928 @tab @code{awatch}
17929
17930 @item @code{target-features}
17931 @tab @code{qXfer:features:read}
17932 @tab @code{set architecture}
17933
17934 @item @code{library-info}
17935 @tab @code{qXfer:libraries:read}
17936 @tab @code{info sharedlibrary}
17937
17938 @item @code{memory-map}
17939 @tab @code{qXfer:memory-map:read}
17940 @tab @code{info mem}
17941
17942 @item @code{read-sdata-object}
17943 @tab @code{qXfer:sdata:read}
17944 @tab @code{print $_sdata}
17945
17946 @item @code{read-spu-object}
17947 @tab @code{qXfer:spu:read}
17948 @tab @code{info spu}
17949
17950 @item @code{write-spu-object}
17951 @tab @code{qXfer:spu:write}
17952 @tab @code{info spu}
17953
17954 @item @code{read-siginfo-object}
17955 @tab @code{qXfer:siginfo:read}
17956 @tab @code{print $_siginfo}
17957
17958 @item @code{write-siginfo-object}
17959 @tab @code{qXfer:siginfo:write}
17960 @tab @code{set $_siginfo}
17961
17962 @item @code{threads}
17963 @tab @code{qXfer:threads:read}
17964 @tab @code{info threads}
17965
17966 @item @code{get-thread-local-@*storage-address}
17967 @tab @code{qGetTLSAddr}
17968 @tab Displaying @code{__thread} variables
17969
17970 @item @code{get-thread-information-block-address}
17971 @tab @code{qGetTIBAddr}
17972 @tab Display MS-Windows Thread Information Block.
17973
17974 @item @code{search-memory}
17975 @tab @code{qSearch:memory}
17976 @tab @code{find}
17977
17978 @item @code{supported-packets}
17979 @tab @code{qSupported}
17980 @tab Remote communications parameters
17981
17982 @item @code{pass-signals}
17983 @tab @code{QPassSignals}
17984 @tab @code{handle @var{signal}}
17985
17986 @item @code{program-signals}
17987 @tab @code{QProgramSignals}
17988 @tab @code{handle @var{signal}}
17989
17990 @item @code{hostio-close-packet}
17991 @tab @code{vFile:close}
17992 @tab @code{remote get}, @code{remote put}
17993
17994 @item @code{hostio-open-packet}
17995 @tab @code{vFile:open}
17996 @tab @code{remote get}, @code{remote put}
17997
17998 @item @code{hostio-pread-packet}
17999 @tab @code{vFile:pread}
18000 @tab @code{remote get}, @code{remote put}
18001
18002 @item @code{hostio-pwrite-packet}
18003 @tab @code{vFile:pwrite}
18004 @tab @code{remote get}, @code{remote put}
18005
18006 @item @code{hostio-unlink-packet}
18007 @tab @code{vFile:unlink}
18008 @tab @code{remote delete}
18009
18010 @item @code{hostio-readlink-packet}
18011 @tab @code{vFile:readlink}
18012 @tab Host I/O
18013
18014 @item @code{noack-packet}
18015 @tab @code{QStartNoAckMode}
18016 @tab Packet acknowledgment
18017
18018 @item @code{osdata}
18019 @tab @code{qXfer:osdata:read}
18020 @tab @code{info os}
18021
18022 @item @code{query-attached}
18023 @tab @code{qAttached}
18024 @tab Querying remote process attach state.
18025
18026 @item @code{traceframe-info}
18027 @tab @code{qXfer:traceframe-info:read}
18028 @tab Traceframe info
18029
18030 @item @code{install-in-trace}
18031 @tab @code{InstallInTrace}
18032 @tab Install tracepoint in tracing
18033
18034 @item @code{disable-randomization}
18035 @tab @code{QDisableRandomization}
18036 @tab @code{set disable-randomization}
18037
18038 @item @code{conditional-breakpoints-packet}
18039 @tab @code{Z0 and Z1}
18040 @tab @code{Support for target-side breakpoint condition evaluation}
18041 @end multitable
18042
18043 @node Remote Stub
18044 @section Implementing a Remote Stub
18045
18046 @cindex debugging stub, example
18047 @cindex remote stub, example
18048 @cindex stub example, remote debugging
18049 The stub files provided with @value{GDBN} implement the target side of the
18050 communication protocol, and the @value{GDBN} side is implemented in the
18051 @value{GDBN} source file @file{remote.c}. Normally, you can simply allow
18052 these subroutines to communicate, and ignore the details. (If you're
18053 implementing your own stub file, you can still ignore the details: start
18054 with one of the existing stub files. @file{sparc-stub.c} is the best
18055 organized, and therefore the easiest to read.)
18056
18057 @cindex remote serial debugging, overview
18058 To debug a program running on another machine (the debugging
18059 @dfn{target} machine), you must first arrange for all the usual
18060 prerequisites for the program to run by itself. For example, for a C
18061 program, you need:
18062
18063 @enumerate
18064 @item
18065 A startup routine to set up the C runtime environment; these usually
18066 have a name like @file{crt0}. The startup routine may be supplied by
18067 your hardware supplier, or you may have to write your own.
18068
18069 @item
18070 A C subroutine library to support your program's
18071 subroutine calls, notably managing input and output.
18072
18073 @item
18074 A way of getting your program to the other machine---for example, a
18075 download program. These are often supplied by the hardware
18076 manufacturer, but you may have to write your own from hardware
18077 documentation.
18078 @end enumerate
18079
18080 The next step is to arrange for your program to use a serial port to
18081 communicate with the machine where @value{GDBN} is running (the @dfn{host}
18082 machine). In general terms, the scheme looks like this:
18083
18084 @table @emph
18085 @item On the host,
18086 @value{GDBN} already understands how to use this protocol; when everything
18087 else is set up, you can simply use the @samp{target remote} command
18088 (@pxref{Targets,,Specifying a Debugging Target}).
18089
18090 @item On the target,
18091 you must link with your program a few special-purpose subroutines that
18092 implement the @value{GDBN} remote serial protocol. The file containing these
18093 subroutines is called a @dfn{debugging stub}.
18094
18095 On certain remote targets, you can use an auxiliary program
18096 @code{gdbserver} instead of linking a stub into your program.
18097 @xref{Server,,Using the @code{gdbserver} Program}, for details.
18098 @end table
18099
18100 The debugging stub is specific to the architecture of the remote
18101 machine; for example, use @file{sparc-stub.c} to debug programs on
18102 @sc{sparc} boards.
18103
18104 @cindex remote serial stub list
18105 These working remote stubs are distributed with @value{GDBN}:
18106
18107 @table @code
18108
18109 @item i386-stub.c
18110 @cindex @file{i386-stub.c}
18111 @cindex Intel
18112 @cindex i386
18113 For Intel 386 and compatible architectures.
18114
18115 @item m68k-stub.c
18116 @cindex @file{m68k-stub.c}
18117 @cindex Motorola 680x0
18118 @cindex m680x0
18119 For Motorola 680x0 architectures.
18120
18121 @item sh-stub.c
18122 @cindex @file{sh-stub.c}
18123 @cindex Renesas
18124 @cindex SH
18125 For Renesas SH architectures.
18126
18127 @item sparc-stub.c
18128 @cindex @file{sparc-stub.c}
18129 @cindex Sparc
18130 For @sc{sparc} architectures.
18131
18132 @item sparcl-stub.c
18133 @cindex @file{sparcl-stub.c}
18134 @cindex Fujitsu
18135 @cindex SparcLite
18136 For Fujitsu @sc{sparclite} architectures.
18137
18138 @end table
18139
18140 The @file{README} file in the @value{GDBN} distribution may list other
18141 recently added stubs.
18142
18143 @menu
18144 * Stub Contents:: What the stub can do for you
18145 * Bootstrapping:: What you must do for the stub
18146 * Debug Session:: Putting it all together
18147 @end menu
18148
18149 @node Stub Contents
18150 @subsection What the Stub Can Do for You
18151
18152 @cindex remote serial stub
18153 The debugging stub for your architecture supplies these three
18154 subroutines:
18155
18156 @table @code
18157 @item set_debug_traps
18158 @findex set_debug_traps
18159 @cindex remote serial stub, initialization
18160 This routine arranges for @code{handle_exception} to run when your
18161 program stops. You must call this subroutine explicitly in your
18162 program's startup code.
18163
18164 @item handle_exception
18165 @findex handle_exception
18166 @cindex remote serial stub, main routine
18167 This is the central workhorse, but your program never calls it
18168 explicitly---the setup code arranges for @code{handle_exception} to
18169 run when a trap is triggered.
18170
18171 @code{handle_exception} takes control when your program stops during
18172 execution (for example, on a breakpoint), and mediates communications
18173 with @value{GDBN} on the host machine. This is where the communications
18174 protocol is implemented; @code{handle_exception} acts as the @value{GDBN}
18175 representative on the target machine. It begins by sending summary
18176 information on the state of your program, then continues to execute,
18177 retrieving and transmitting any information @value{GDBN} needs, until you
18178 execute a @value{GDBN} command that makes your program resume; at that point,
18179 @code{handle_exception} returns control to your own code on the target
18180 machine.
18181
18182 @item breakpoint
18183 @cindex @code{breakpoint} subroutine, remote
18184 Use this auxiliary subroutine to make your program contain a
18185 breakpoint. Depending on the particular situation, this may be the only
18186 way for @value{GDBN} to get control. For instance, if your target
18187 machine has some sort of interrupt button, you won't need to call this;
18188 pressing the interrupt button transfers control to
18189 @code{handle_exception}---in effect, to @value{GDBN}. On some machines,
18190 simply receiving characters on the serial port may also trigger a trap;
18191 again, in that situation, you don't need to call @code{breakpoint} from
18192 your own program---simply running @samp{target remote} from the host
18193 @value{GDBN} session gets control.
18194
18195 Call @code{breakpoint} if none of these is true, or if you simply want
18196 to make certain your program stops at a predetermined point for the
18197 start of your debugging session.
18198 @end table
18199
18200 @node Bootstrapping
18201 @subsection What You Must Do for the Stub
18202
18203 @cindex remote stub, support routines
18204 The debugging stubs that come with @value{GDBN} are set up for a particular
18205 chip architecture, but they have no information about the rest of your
18206 debugging target machine.
18207
18208 First of all you need to tell the stub how to communicate with the
18209 serial port.
18210
18211 @table @code
18212 @item int getDebugChar()
18213 @findex getDebugChar
18214 Write this subroutine to read a single character from the serial port.
18215 It may be identical to @code{getchar} for your target system; a
18216 different name is used to allow you to distinguish the two if you wish.
18217
18218 @item void putDebugChar(int)
18219 @findex putDebugChar
18220 Write this subroutine to write a single character to the serial port.
18221 It may be identical to @code{putchar} for your target system; a
18222 different name is used to allow you to distinguish the two if you wish.
18223 @end table
18224
18225 @cindex control C, and remote debugging
18226 @cindex interrupting remote targets
18227 If you want @value{GDBN} to be able to stop your program while it is
18228 running, you need to use an interrupt-driven serial driver, and arrange
18229 for it to stop when it receives a @code{^C} (@samp{\003}, the control-C
18230 character). That is the character which @value{GDBN} uses to tell the
18231 remote system to stop.
18232
18233 Getting the debugging target to return the proper status to @value{GDBN}
18234 probably requires changes to the standard stub; one quick and dirty way
18235 is to just execute a breakpoint instruction (the ``dirty'' part is that
18236 @value{GDBN} reports a @code{SIGTRAP} instead of a @code{SIGINT}).
18237
18238 Other routines you need to supply are:
18239
18240 @table @code
18241 @item void exceptionHandler (int @var{exception_number}, void *@var{exception_address})
18242 @findex exceptionHandler
18243 Write this function to install @var{exception_address} in the exception
18244 handling tables. You need to do this because the stub does not have any
18245 way of knowing what the exception handling tables on your target system
18246 are like (for example, the processor's table might be in @sc{rom},
18247 containing entries which point to a table in @sc{ram}).
18248 @var{exception_number} is the exception number which should be changed;
18249 its meaning is architecture-dependent (for example, different numbers
18250 might represent divide by zero, misaligned access, etc). When this
18251 exception occurs, control should be transferred directly to
18252 @var{exception_address}, and the processor state (stack, registers,
18253 and so on) should be just as it is when a processor exception occurs. So if
18254 you want to use a jump instruction to reach @var{exception_address}, it
18255 should be a simple jump, not a jump to subroutine.
18256
18257 For the 386, @var{exception_address} should be installed as an interrupt
18258 gate so that interrupts are masked while the handler runs. The gate
18259 should be at privilege level 0 (the most privileged level). The
18260 @sc{sparc} and 68k stubs are able to mask interrupts themselves without
18261 help from @code{exceptionHandler}.
18262
18263 @item void flush_i_cache()
18264 @findex flush_i_cache
18265 On @sc{sparc} and @sc{sparclite} only, write this subroutine to flush the
18266 instruction cache, if any, on your target machine. If there is no
18267 instruction cache, this subroutine may be a no-op.
18268
18269 On target machines that have instruction caches, @value{GDBN} requires this
18270 function to make certain that the state of your program is stable.
18271 @end table
18272
18273 @noindent
18274 You must also make sure this library routine is available:
18275
18276 @table @code
18277 @item void *memset(void *, int, int)
18278 @findex memset
18279 This is the standard library function @code{memset} that sets an area of
18280 memory to a known value. If you have one of the free versions of
18281 @code{libc.a}, @code{memset} can be found there; otherwise, you must
18282 either obtain it from your hardware manufacturer, or write your own.
18283 @end table
18284
18285 If you do not use the GNU C compiler, you may need other standard
18286 library subroutines as well; this varies from one stub to another,
18287 but in general the stubs are likely to use any of the common library
18288 subroutines which @code{@value{NGCC}} generates as inline code.
18289
18290
18291 @node Debug Session
18292 @subsection Putting it All Together
18293
18294 @cindex remote serial debugging summary
18295 In summary, when your program is ready to debug, you must follow these
18296 steps.
18297
18298 @enumerate
18299 @item
18300 Make sure you have defined the supporting low-level routines
18301 (@pxref{Bootstrapping,,What You Must Do for the Stub}):
18302 @display
18303 @code{getDebugChar}, @code{putDebugChar},
18304 @code{flush_i_cache}, @code{memset}, @code{exceptionHandler}.
18305 @end display
18306
18307 @item
18308 Insert these lines in your program's startup code, before the main
18309 procedure is called:
18310
18311 @smallexample
18312 set_debug_traps();
18313 breakpoint();
18314 @end smallexample
18315
18316 On some machines, when a breakpoint trap is raised, the hardware
18317 automatically makes the PC point to the instruction after the
18318 breakpoint. If your machine doesn't do that, you may need to adjust
18319 @code{handle_exception} to arrange for it to return to the instruction
18320 after the breakpoint on this first invocation, so that your program
18321 doesn't keep hitting the initial breakpoint instead of making
18322 progress.
18323
18324 @item
18325 For the 680x0 stub only, you need to provide a variable called
18326 @code{exceptionHook}. Normally you just use:
18327
18328 @smallexample
18329 void (*exceptionHook)() = 0;
18330 @end smallexample
18331
18332 @noindent
18333 but if before calling @code{set_debug_traps}, you set it to point to a
18334 function in your program, that function is called when
18335 @code{@value{GDBN}} continues after stopping on a trap (for example, bus
18336 error). The function indicated by @code{exceptionHook} is called with
18337 one parameter: an @code{int} which is the exception number.
18338
18339 @item
18340 Compile and link together: your program, the @value{GDBN} debugging stub for
18341 your target architecture, and the supporting subroutines.
18342
18343 @item
18344 Make sure you have a serial connection between your target machine and
18345 the @value{GDBN} host, and identify the serial port on the host.
18346
18347 @item
18348 @c The "remote" target now provides a `load' command, so we should
18349 @c document that. FIXME.
18350 Download your program to your target machine (or get it there by
18351 whatever means the manufacturer provides), and start it.
18352
18353 @item
18354 Start @value{GDBN} on the host, and connect to the target
18355 (@pxref{Connecting,,Connecting to a Remote Target}).
18356
18357 @end enumerate
18358
18359 @node Configurations
18360 @chapter Configuration-Specific Information
18361
18362 While nearly all @value{GDBN} commands are available for all native and
18363 cross versions of the debugger, there are some exceptions. This chapter
18364 describes things that are only available in certain configurations.
18365
18366 There are three major categories of configurations: native
18367 configurations, where the host and target are the same, embedded
18368 operating system configurations, which are usually the same for several
18369 different processor architectures, and bare embedded processors, which
18370 are quite different from each other.
18371
18372 @menu
18373 * Native::
18374 * Embedded OS::
18375 * Embedded Processors::
18376 * Architectures::
18377 @end menu
18378
18379 @node Native
18380 @section Native
18381
18382 This section describes details specific to particular native
18383 configurations.
18384
18385 @menu
18386 * HP-UX:: HP-UX
18387 * BSD libkvm Interface:: Debugging BSD kernel memory images
18388 * SVR4 Process Information:: SVR4 process information
18389 * DJGPP Native:: Features specific to the DJGPP port
18390 * Cygwin Native:: Features specific to the Cygwin port
18391 * Hurd Native:: Features specific to @sc{gnu} Hurd
18392 * Neutrino:: Features specific to QNX Neutrino
18393 * Darwin:: Features specific to Darwin
18394 @end menu
18395
18396 @node HP-UX
18397 @subsection HP-UX
18398
18399 On HP-UX systems, if you refer to a function or variable name that
18400 begins with a dollar sign, @value{GDBN} searches for a user or system
18401 name first, before it searches for a convenience variable.
18402
18403
18404 @node BSD libkvm Interface
18405 @subsection BSD libkvm Interface
18406
18407 @cindex libkvm
18408 @cindex kernel memory image
18409 @cindex kernel crash dump
18410
18411 BSD-derived systems (FreeBSD/NetBSD/OpenBSD) have a kernel memory
18412 interface that provides a uniform interface for accessing kernel virtual
18413 memory images, including live systems and crash dumps. @value{GDBN}
18414 uses this interface to allow you to debug live kernels and kernel crash
18415 dumps on many native BSD configurations. This is implemented as a
18416 special @code{kvm} debugging target. For debugging a live system, load
18417 the currently running kernel into @value{GDBN} and connect to the
18418 @code{kvm} target:
18419
18420 @smallexample
18421 (@value{GDBP}) @b{target kvm}
18422 @end smallexample
18423
18424 For debugging crash dumps, provide the file name of the crash dump as an
18425 argument:
18426
18427 @smallexample
18428 (@value{GDBP}) @b{target kvm /var/crash/bsd.0}
18429 @end smallexample
18430
18431 Once connected to the @code{kvm} target, the following commands are
18432 available:
18433
18434 @table @code
18435 @kindex kvm
18436 @item kvm pcb
18437 Set current context from the @dfn{Process Control Block} (PCB) address.
18438
18439 @item kvm proc
18440 Set current context from proc address. This command isn't available on
18441 modern FreeBSD systems.
18442 @end table
18443
18444 @node SVR4 Process Information
18445 @subsection SVR4 Process Information
18446 @cindex /proc
18447 @cindex examine process image
18448 @cindex process info via @file{/proc}
18449
18450 Many versions of SVR4 and compatible systems provide a facility called
18451 @samp{/proc} that can be used to examine the image of a running
18452 process using file-system subroutines. If @value{GDBN} is configured
18453 for an operating system with this facility, the command @code{info
18454 proc} is available to report information about the process running
18455 your program, or about any process running on your system. @code{info
18456 proc} works only on SVR4 systems that include the @code{procfs} code.
18457 This includes, as of this writing, @sc{gnu}/Linux, OSF/1 (Digital
18458 Unix), Solaris, Irix, and Unixware, but not HP-UX, for example.
18459
18460 @table @code
18461 @kindex info proc
18462 @cindex process ID
18463 @item info proc
18464 @itemx info proc @var{process-id}
18465 Summarize available information about any running process. If a
18466 process ID is specified by @var{process-id}, display information about
18467 that process; otherwise display information about the program being
18468 debugged. The summary includes the debugged process ID, the command
18469 line used to invoke it, its current working directory, and its
18470 executable file's absolute file name.
18471
18472 On some systems, @var{process-id} can be of the form
18473 @samp{[@var{pid}]/@var{tid}} which specifies a certain thread ID
18474 within a process. If the optional @var{pid} part is missing, it means
18475 a thread from the process being debugged (the leading @samp{/} still
18476 needs to be present, or else @value{GDBN} will interpret the number as
18477 a process ID rather than a thread ID).
18478
18479 @item info proc mappings
18480 @cindex memory address space mappings
18481 Report the memory address space ranges accessible in the program, with
18482 information on whether the process has read, write, or execute access
18483 rights to each range. On @sc{gnu}/Linux systems, each memory range
18484 includes the object file which is mapped to that range, instead of the
18485 memory access rights to that range.
18486
18487 @item info proc stat
18488 @itemx info proc status
18489 @cindex process detailed status information
18490 These subcommands are specific to @sc{gnu}/Linux systems. They show
18491 the process-related information, including the user ID and group ID;
18492 how many threads are there in the process; its virtual memory usage;
18493 the signals that are pending, blocked, and ignored; its TTY; its
18494 consumption of system and user time; its stack size; its @samp{nice}
18495 value; etc. For more information, see the @samp{proc} man page
18496 (type @kbd{man 5 proc} from your shell prompt).
18497
18498 @item info proc all
18499 Show all the information about the process described under all of the
18500 above @code{info proc} subcommands.
18501
18502 @ignore
18503 @comment These sub-options of 'info proc' were not included when
18504 @comment procfs.c was re-written. Keep their descriptions around
18505 @comment against the day when someone finds the time to put them back in.
18506 @kindex info proc times
18507 @item info proc times
18508 Starting time, user CPU time, and system CPU time for your program and
18509 its children.
18510
18511 @kindex info proc id
18512 @item info proc id
18513 Report on the process IDs related to your program: its own process ID,
18514 the ID of its parent, the process group ID, and the session ID.
18515 @end ignore
18516
18517 @item set procfs-trace
18518 @kindex set procfs-trace
18519 @cindex @code{procfs} API calls
18520 This command enables and disables tracing of @code{procfs} API calls.
18521
18522 @item show procfs-trace
18523 @kindex show procfs-trace
18524 Show the current state of @code{procfs} API call tracing.
18525
18526 @item set procfs-file @var{file}
18527 @kindex set procfs-file
18528 Tell @value{GDBN} to write @code{procfs} API trace to the named
18529 @var{file}. @value{GDBN} appends the trace info to the previous
18530 contents of the file. The default is to display the trace on the
18531 standard output.
18532
18533 @item show procfs-file
18534 @kindex show procfs-file
18535 Show the file to which @code{procfs} API trace is written.
18536
18537 @item proc-trace-entry
18538 @itemx proc-trace-exit
18539 @itemx proc-untrace-entry
18540 @itemx proc-untrace-exit
18541 @kindex proc-trace-entry
18542 @kindex proc-trace-exit
18543 @kindex proc-untrace-entry
18544 @kindex proc-untrace-exit
18545 These commands enable and disable tracing of entries into and exits
18546 from the @code{syscall} interface.
18547
18548 @item info pidlist
18549 @kindex info pidlist
18550 @cindex process list, QNX Neutrino
18551 For QNX Neutrino only, this command displays the list of all the
18552 processes and all the threads within each process.
18553
18554 @item info meminfo
18555 @kindex info meminfo
18556 @cindex mapinfo list, QNX Neutrino
18557 For QNX Neutrino only, this command displays the list of all mapinfos.
18558 @end table
18559
18560 @node DJGPP Native
18561 @subsection Features for Debugging @sc{djgpp} Programs
18562 @cindex @sc{djgpp} debugging
18563 @cindex native @sc{djgpp} debugging
18564 @cindex MS-DOS-specific commands
18565
18566 @cindex DPMI
18567 @sc{djgpp} is a port of the @sc{gnu} development tools to MS-DOS and
18568 MS-Windows. @sc{djgpp} programs are 32-bit protected-mode programs
18569 that use the @dfn{DPMI} (DOS Protected-Mode Interface) API to run on
18570 top of real-mode DOS systems and their emulations.
18571
18572 @value{GDBN} supports native debugging of @sc{djgpp} programs, and
18573 defines a few commands specific to the @sc{djgpp} port. This
18574 subsection describes those commands.
18575
18576 @table @code
18577 @kindex info dos
18578 @item info dos
18579 This is a prefix of @sc{djgpp}-specific commands which print
18580 information about the target system and important OS structures.
18581
18582 @kindex sysinfo
18583 @cindex MS-DOS system info
18584 @cindex free memory information (MS-DOS)
18585 @item info dos sysinfo
18586 This command displays assorted information about the underlying
18587 platform: the CPU type and features, the OS version and flavor, the
18588 DPMI version, and the available conventional and DPMI memory.
18589
18590 @cindex GDT
18591 @cindex LDT
18592 @cindex IDT
18593 @cindex segment descriptor tables
18594 @cindex descriptor tables display
18595 @item info dos gdt
18596 @itemx info dos ldt
18597 @itemx info dos idt
18598 These 3 commands display entries from, respectively, Global, Local,
18599 and Interrupt Descriptor Tables (GDT, LDT, and IDT). The descriptor
18600 tables are data structures which store a descriptor for each segment
18601 that is currently in use. The segment's selector is an index into a
18602 descriptor table; the table entry for that index holds the
18603 descriptor's base address and limit, and its attributes and access
18604 rights.
18605
18606 A typical @sc{djgpp} program uses 3 segments: a code segment, a data
18607 segment (used for both data and the stack), and a DOS segment (which
18608 allows access to DOS/BIOS data structures and absolute addresses in
18609 conventional memory). However, the DPMI host will usually define
18610 additional segments in order to support the DPMI environment.
18611
18612 @cindex garbled pointers
18613 These commands allow to display entries from the descriptor tables.
18614 Without an argument, all entries from the specified table are
18615 displayed. An argument, which should be an integer expression, means
18616 display a single entry whose index is given by the argument. For
18617 example, here's a convenient way to display information about the
18618 debugged program's data segment:
18619
18620 @smallexample
18621 @exdent @code{(@value{GDBP}) info dos ldt $ds}
18622 @exdent @code{0x13f: base=0x11970000 limit=0x0009ffff 32-Bit Data (Read/Write, Exp-up)}
18623 @end smallexample
18624
18625 @noindent
18626 This comes in handy when you want to see whether a pointer is outside
18627 the data segment's limit (i.e.@: @dfn{garbled}).
18628
18629 @cindex page tables display (MS-DOS)
18630 @item info dos pde
18631 @itemx info dos pte
18632 These two commands display entries from, respectively, the Page
18633 Directory and the Page Tables. Page Directories and Page Tables are
18634 data structures which control how virtual memory addresses are mapped
18635 into physical addresses. A Page Table includes an entry for every
18636 page of memory that is mapped into the program's address space; there
18637 may be several Page Tables, each one holding up to 4096 entries. A
18638 Page Directory has up to 4096 entries, one each for every Page Table
18639 that is currently in use.
18640
18641 Without an argument, @kbd{info dos pde} displays the entire Page
18642 Directory, and @kbd{info dos pte} displays all the entries in all of
18643 the Page Tables. An argument, an integer expression, given to the
18644 @kbd{info dos pde} command means display only that entry from the Page
18645 Directory table. An argument given to the @kbd{info dos pte} command
18646 means display entries from a single Page Table, the one pointed to by
18647 the specified entry in the Page Directory.
18648
18649 @cindex direct memory access (DMA) on MS-DOS
18650 These commands are useful when your program uses @dfn{DMA} (Direct
18651 Memory Access), which needs physical addresses to program the DMA
18652 controller.
18653
18654 These commands are supported only with some DPMI servers.
18655
18656 @cindex physical address from linear address
18657 @item info dos address-pte @var{addr}
18658 This command displays the Page Table entry for a specified linear
18659 address. The argument @var{addr} is a linear address which should
18660 already have the appropriate segment's base address added to it,
18661 because this command accepts addresses which may belong to @emph{any}
18662 segment. For example, here's how to display the Page Table entry for
18663 the page where a variable @code{i} is stored:
18664
18665 @smallexample
18666 @exdent @code{(@value{GDBP}) info dos address-pte __djgpp_base_address + (char *)&i}
18667 @exdent @code{Page Table entry for address 0x11a00d30:}
18668 @exdent @code{Base=0x02698000 Dirty Acc. Not-Cached Write-Back Usr Read-Write +0xd30}
18669 @end smallexample
18670
18671 @noindent
18672 This says that @code{i} is stored at offset @code{0xd30} from the page
18673 whose physical base address is @code{0x02698000}, and shows all the
18674 attributes of that page.
18675
18676 Note that you must cast the addresses of variables to a @code{char *},
18677 since otherwise the value of @code{__djgpp_base_address}, the base
18678 address of all variables and functions in a @sc{djgpp} program, will
18679 be added using the rules of C pointer arithmetics: if @code{i} is
18680 declared an @code{int}, @value{GDBN} will add 4 times the value of
18681 @code{__djgpp_base_address} to the address of @code{i}.
18682
18683 Here's another example, it displays the Page Table entry for the
18684 transfer buffer:
18685
18686 @smallexample
18687 @exdent @code{(@value{GDBP}) info dos address-pte *((unsigned *)&_go32_info_block + 3)}
18688 @exdent @code{Page Table entry for address 0x29110:}
18689 @exdent @code{Base=0x00029000 Dirty Acc. Not-Cached Write-Back Usr Read-Write +0x110}
18690 @end smallexample
18691
18692 @noindent
18693 (The @code{+ 3} offset is because the transfer buffer's address is the
18694 3rd member of the @code{_go32_info_block} structure.) The output
18695 clearly shows that this DPMI server maps the addresses in conventional
18696 memory 1:1, i.e.@: the physical (@code{0x00029000} + @code{0x110}) and
18697 linear (@code{0x29110}) addresses are identical.
18698
18699 This command is supported only with some DPMI servers.
18700 @end table
18701
18702 @cindex DOS serial data link, remote debugging
18703 In addition to native debugging, the DJGPP port supports remote
18704 debugging via a serial data link. The following commands are specific
18705 to remote serial debugging in the DJGPP port of @value{GDBN}.
18706
18707 @table @code
18708 @kindex set com1base
18709 @kindex set com1irq
18710 @kindex set com2base
18711 @kindex set com2irq
18712 @kindex set com3base
18713 @kindex set com3irq
18714 @kindex set com4base
18715 @kindex set com4irq
18716 @item set com1base @var{addr}
18717 This command sets the base I/O port address of the @file{COM1} serial
18718 port.
18719
18720 @item set com1irq @var{irq}
18721 This command sets the @dfn{Interrupt Request} (@code{IRQ}) line to use
18722 for the @file{COM1} serial port.
18723
18724 There are similar commands @samp{set com2base}, @samp{set com3irq},
18725 etc.@: for setting the port address and the @code{IRQ} lines for the
18726 other 3 COM ports.
18727
18728 @kindex show com1base
18729 @kindex show com1irq
18730 @kindex show com2base
18731 @kindex show com2irq
18732 @kindex show com3base
18733 @kindex show com3irq
18734 @kindex show com4base
18735 @kindex show com4irq
18736 The related commands @samp{show com1base}, @samp{show com1irq} etc.@:
18737 display the current settings of the base address and the @code{IRQ}
18738 lines used by the COM ports.
18739
18740 @item info serial
18741 @kindex info serial
18742 @cindex DOS serial port status
18743 This command prints the status of the 4 DOS serial ports. For each
18744 port, it prints whether it's active or not, its I/O base address and
18745 IRQ number, whether it uses a 16550-style FIFO, its baudrate, and the
18746 counts of various errors encountered so far.
18747 @end table
18748
18749
18750 @node Cygwin Native
18751 @subsection Features for Debugging MS Windows PE Executables
18752 @cindex MS Windows debugging
18753 @cindex native Cygwin debugging
18754 @cindex Cygwin-specific commands
18755
18756 @value{GDBN} supports native debugging of MS Windows programs, including
18757 DLLs with and without symbolic debugging information.
18758
18759 @cindex Ctrl-BREAK, MS-Windows
18760 @cindex interrupt debuggee on MS-Windows
18761 MS-Windows programs that call @code{SetConsoleMode} to switch off the
18762 special meaning of the @samp{Ctrl-C} keystroke cannot be interrupted
18763 by typing @kbd{C-c}. For this reason, @value{GDBN} on MS-Windows
18764 supports @kbd{C-@key{BREAK}} as an alternative interrupt key
18765 sequence, which can be used to interrupt the debuggee even if it
18766 ignores @kbd{C-c}.
18767
18768 There are various additional Cygwin-specific commands, described in
18769 this section. Working with DLLs that have no debugging symbols is
18770 described in @ref{Non-debug DLL Symbols}.
18771
18772 @table @code
18773 @kindex info w32
18774 @item info w32
18775 This is a prefix of MS Windows-specific commands which print
18776 information about the target system and important OS structures.
18777
18778 @item info w32 selector
18779 This command displays information returned by
18780 the Win32 API @code{GetThreadSelectorEntry} function.
18781 It takes an optional argument that is evaluated to
18782 a long value to give the information about this given selector.
18783 Without argument, this command displays information
18784 about the six segment registers.
18785
18786 @item info w32 thread-information-block
18787 This command displays thread specific information stored in the
18788 Thread Information Block (readable on the X86 CPU family using @code{$fs}
18789 selector for 32-bit programs and @code{$gs} for 64-bit programs).
18790
18791 @kindex info dll
18792 @item info dll
18793 This is a Cygwin-specific alias of @code{info shared}.
18794
18795 @kindex dll-symbols
18796 @item dll-symbols
18797 This command loads symbols from a dll similarly to
18798 add-sym command but without the need to specify a base address.
18799
18800 @kindex set cygwin-exceptions
18801 @cindex debugging the Cygwin DLL
18802 @cindex Cygwin DLL, debugging
18803 @item set cygwin-exceptions @var{mode}
18804 If @var{mode} is @code{on}, @value{GDBN} will break on exceptions that
18805 happen inside the Cygwin DLL. If @var{mode} is @code{off},
18806 @value{GDBN} will delay recognition of exceptions, and may ignore some
18807 exceptions which seem to be caused by internal Cygwin DLL
18808 ``bookkeeping''. This option is meant primarily for debugging the
18809 Cygwin DLL itself; the default value is @code{off} to avoid annoying
18810 @value{GDBN} users with false @code{SIGSEGV} signals.
18811
18812 @kindex show cygwin-exceptions
18813 @item show cygwin-exceptions
18814 Displays whether @value{GDBN} will break on exceptions that happen
18815 inside the Cygwin DLL itself.
18816
18817 @kindex set new-console
18818 @item set new-console @var{mode}
18819 If @var{mode} is @code{on} the debuggee will
18820 be started in a new console on next start.
18821 If @var{mode} is @code{off}, the debuggee will
18822 be started in the same console as the debugger.
18823
18824 @kindex show new-console
18825 @item show new-console
18826 Displays whether a new console is used
18827 when the debuggee is started.
18828
18829 @kindex set new-group
18830 @item set new-group @var{mode}
18831 This boolean value controls whether the debuggee should
18832 start a new group or stay in the same group as the debugger.
18833 This affects the way the Windows OS handles
18834 @samp{Ctrl-C}.
18835
18836 @kindex show new-group
18837 @item show new-group
18838 Displays current value of new-group boolean.
18839
18840 @kindex set debugevents
18841 @item set debugevents
18842 This boolean value adds debug output concerning kernel events related
18843 to the debuggee seen by the debugger. This includes events that
18844 signal thread and process creation and exit, DLL loading and
18845 unloading, console interrupts, and debugging messages produced by the
18846 Windows @code{OutputDebugString} API call.
18847
18848 @kindex set debugexec
18849 @item set debugexec
18850 This boolean value adds debug output concerning execute events
18851 (such as resume thread) seen by the debugger.
18852
18853 @kindex set debugexceptions
18854 @item set debugexceptions
18855 This boolean value adds debug output concerning exceptions in the
18856 debuggee seen by the debugger.
18857
18858 @kindex set debugmemory
18859 @item set debugmemory
18860 This boolean value adds debug output concerning debuggee memory reads
18861 and writes by the debugger.
18862
18863 @kindex set shell
18864 @item set shell
18865 This boolean values specifies whether the debuggee is called
18866 via a shell or directly (default value is on).
18867
18868 @kindex show shell
18869 @item show shell
18870 Displays if the debuggee will be started with a shell.
18871
18872 @end table
18873
18874 @menu
18875 * Non-debug DLL Symbols:: Support for DLLs without debugging symbols
18876 @end menu
18877
18878 @node Non-debug DLL Symbols
18879 @subsubsection Support for DLLs without Debugging Symbols
18880 @cindex DLLs with no debugging symbols
18881 @cindex Minimal symbols and DLLs
18882
18883 Very often on windows, some of the DLLs that your program relies on do
18884 not include symbolic debugging information (for example,
18885 @file{kernel32.dll}). When @value{GDBN} doesn't recognize any debugging
18886 symbols in a DLL, it relies on the minimal amount of symbolic
18887 information contained in the DLL's export table. This section
18888 describes working with such symbols, known internally to @value{GDBN} as
18889 ``minimal symbols''.
18890
18891 Note that before the debugged program has started execution, no DLLs
18892 will have been loaded. The easiest way around this problem is simply to
18893 start the program --- either by setting a breakpoint or letting the
18894 program run once to completion. It is also possible to force
18895 @value{GDBN} to load a particular DLL before starting the executable ---
18896 see the shared library information in @ref{Files}, or the
18897 @code{dll-symbols} command in @ref{Cygwin Native}. Currently,
18898 explicitly loading symbols from a DLL with no debugging information will
18899 cause the symbol names to be duplicated in @value{GDBN}'s lookup table,
18900 which may adversely affect symbol lookup performance.
18901
18902 @subsubsection DLL Name Prefixes
18903
18904 In keeping with the naming conventions used by the Microsoft debugging
18905 tools, DLL export symbols are made available with a prefix based on the
18906 DLL name, for instance @code{KERNEL32!CreateFileA}. The plain name is
18907 also entered into the symbol table, so @code{CreateFileA} is often
18908 sufficient. In some cases there will be name clashes within a program
18909 (particularly if the executable itself includes full debugging symbols)
18910 necessitating the use of the fully qualified name when referring to the
18911 contents of the DLL. Use single-quotes around the name to avoid the
18912 exclamation mark (``!'') being interpreted as a language operator.
18913
18914 Note that the internal name of the DLL may be all upper-case, even
18915 though the file name of the DLL is lower-case, or vice-versa. Since
18916 symbols within @value{GDBN} are @emph{case-sensitive} this may cause
18917 some confusion. If in doubt, try the @code{info functions} and
18918 @code{info variables} commands or even @code{maint print msymbols}
18919 (@pxref{Symbols}). Here's an example:
18920
18921 @smallexample
18922 (@value{GDBP}) info function CreateFileA
18923 All functions matching regular expression "CreateFileA":
18924
18925 Non-debugging symbols:
18926 0x77e885f4 CreateFileA
18927 0x77e885f4 KERNEL32!CreateFileA
18928 @end smallexample
18929
18930 @smallexample
18931 (@value{GDBP}) info function !
18932 All functions matching regular expression "!":
18933
18934 Non-debugging symbols:
18935 0x6100114c cygwin1!__assert
18936 0x61004034 cygwin1!_dll_crt0@@0
18937 0x61004240 cygwin1!dll_crt0(per_process *)
18938 [etc...]
18939 @end smallexample
18940
18941 @subsubsection Working with Minimal Symbols
18942
18943 Symbols extracted from a DLL's export table do not contain very much
18944 type information. All that @value{GDBN} can do is guess whether a symbol
18945 refers to a function or variable depending on the linker section that
18946 contains the symbol. Also note that the actual contents of the memory
18947 contained in a DLL are not available unless the program is running. This
18948 means that you cannot examine the contents of a variable or disassemble
18949 a function within a DLL without a running program.
18950
18951 Variables are generally treated as pointers and dereferenced
18952 automatically. For this reason, it is often necessary to prefix a
18953 variable name with the address-of operator (``&'') and provide explicit
18954 type information in the command. Here's an example of the type of
18955 problem:
18956
18957 @smallexample
18958 (@value{GDBP}) print 'cygwin1!__argv'
18959 $1 = 268572168
18960 @end smallexample
18961
18962 @smallexample
18963 (@value{GDBP}) x 'cygwin1!__argv'
18964 0x10021610: "\230y\""
18965 @end smallexample
18966
18967 And two possible solutions:
18968
18969 @smallexample
18970 (@value{GDBP}) print ((char **)'cygwin1!__argv')[0]
18971 $2 = 0x22fd98 "/cygdrive/c/mydirectory/myprogram"
18972 @end smallexample
18973
18974 @smallexample
18975 (@value{GDBP}) x/2x &'cygwin1!__argv'
18976 0x610c0aa8 <cygwin1!__argv>: 0x10021608 0x00000000
18977 (@value{GDBP}) x/x 0x10021608
18978 0x10021608: 0x0022fd98
18979 (@value{GDBP}) x/s 0x0022fd98
18980 0x22fd98: "/cygdrive/c/mydirectory/myprogram"
18981 @end smallexample
18982
18983 Setting a break point within a DLL is possible even before the program
18984 starts execution. However, under these circumstances, @value{GDBN} can't
18985 examine the initial instructions of the function in order to skip the
18986 function's frame set-up code. You can work around this by using ``*&''
18987 to set the breakpoint at a raw memory address:
18988
18989 @smallexample
18990 (@value{GDBP}) break *&'python22!PyOS_Readline'
18991 Breakpoint 1 at 0x1e04eff0
18992 @end smallexample
18993
18994 The author of these extensions is not entirely convinced that setting a
18995 break point within a shared DLL like @file{kernel32.dll} is completely
18996 safe.
18997
18998 @node Hurd Native
18999 @subsection Commands Specific to @sc{gnu} Hurd Systems
19000 @cindex @sc{gnu} Hurd debugging
19001
19002 This subsection describes @value{GDBN} commands specific to the
19003 @sc{gnu} Hurd native debugging.
19004
19005 @table @code
19006 @item set signals
19007 @itemx set sigs
19008 @kindex set signals@r{, Hurd command}
19009 @kindex set sigs@r{, Hurd command}
19010 This command toggles the state of inferior signal interception by
19011 @value{GDBN}. Mach exceptions, such as breakpoint traps, are not
19012 affected by this command. @code{sigs} is a shorthand alias for
19013 @code{signals}.
19014
19015 @item show signals
19016 @itemx show sigs
19017 @kindex show signals@r{, Hurd command}
19018 @kindex show sigs@r{, Hurd command}
19019 Show the current state of intercepting inferior's signals.
19020
19021 @item set signal-thread
19022 @itemx set sigthread
19023 @kindex set signal-thread
19024 @kindex set sigthread
19025 This command tells @value{GDBN} which thread is the @code{libc} signal
19026 thread. That thread is run when a signal is delivered to a running
19027 process. @code{set sigthread} is the shorthand alias of @code{set
19028 signal-thread}.
19029
19030 @item show signal-thread
19031 @itemx show sigthread
19032 @kindex show signal-thread
19033 @kindex show sigthread
19034 These two commands show which thread will run when the inferior is
19035 delivered a signal.
19036
19037 @item set stopped
19038 @kindex set stopped@r{, Hurd command}
19039 This commands tells @value{GDBN} that the inferior process is stopped,
19040 as with the @code{SIGSTOP} signal. The stopped process can be
19041 continued by delivering a signal to it.
19042
19043 @item show stopped
19044 @kindex show stopped@r{, Hurd command}
19045 This command shows whether @value{GDBN} thinks the debuggee is
19046 stopped.
19047
19048 @item set exceptions
19049 @kindex set exceptions@r{, Hurd command}
19050 Use this command to turn off trapping of exceptions in the inferior.
19051 When exception trapping is off, neither breakpoints nor
19052 single-stepping will work. To restore the default, set exception
19053 trapping on.
19054
19055 @item show exceptions
19056 @kindex show exceptions@r{, Hurd command}
19057 Show the current state of trapping exceptions in the inferior.
19058
19059 @item set task pause
19060 @kindex set task@r{, Hurd commands}
19061 @cindex task attributes (@sc{gnu} Hurd)
19062 @cindex pause current task (@sc{gnu} Hurd)
19063 This command toggles task suspension when @value{GDBN} has control.
19064 Setting it to on takes effect immediately, and the task is suspended
19065 whenever @value{GDBN} gets control. Setting it to off will take
19066 effect the next time the inferior is continued. If this option is set
19067 to off, you can use @code{set thread default pause on} or @code{set
19068 thread pause on} (see below) to pause individual threads.
19069
19070 @item show task pause
19071 @kindex show task@r{, Hurd commands}
19072 Show the current state of task suspension.
19073
19074 @item set task detach-suspend-count
19075 @cindex task suspend count
19076 @cindex detach from task, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19077 This command sets the suspend count the task will be left with when
19078 @value{GDBN} detaches from it.
19079
19080 @item show task detach-suspend-count
19081 Show the suspend count the task will be left with when detaching.
19082
19083 @item set task exception-port
19084 @itemx set task excp
19085 @cindex task exception port, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19086 This command sets the task exception port to which @value{GDBN} will
19087 forward exceptions. The argument should be the value of the @dfn{send
19088 rights} of the task. @code{set task excp} is a shorthand alias.
19089
19090 @item set noninvasive
19091 @cindex noninvasive task options
19092 This command switches @value{GDBN} to a mode that is the least
19093 invasive as far as interfering with the inferior is concerned. This
19094 is the same as using @code{set task pause}, @code{set exceptions}, and
19095 @code{set signals} to values opposite to the defaults.
19096
19097 @item info send-rights
19098 @itemx info receive-rights
19099 @itemx info port-rights
19100 @itemx info port-sets
19101 @itemx info dead-names
19102 @itemx info ports
19103 @itemx info psets
19104 @cindex send rights, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19105 @cindex receive rights, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19106 @cindex port rights, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19107 @cindex port sets, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19108 @cindex dead names, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19109 These commands display information about, respectively, send rights,
19110 receive rights, port rights, port sets, and dead names of a task.
19111 There are also shorthand aliases: @code{info ports} for @code{info
19112 port-rights} and @code{info psets} for @code{info port-sets}.
19113
19114 @item set thread pause
19115 @kindex set thread@r{, Hurd command}
19116 @cindex thread properties, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19117 @cindex pause current thread (@sc{gnu} Hurd)
19118 This command toggles current thread suspension when @value{GDBN} has
19119 control. Setting it to on takes effect immediately, and the current
19120 thread is suspended whenever @value{GDBN} gets control. Setting it to
19121 off will take effect the next time the inferior is continued.
19122 Normally, this command has no effect, since when @value{GDBN} has
19123 control, the whole task is suspended. However, if you used @code{set
19124 task pause off} (see above), this command comes in handy to suspend
19125 only the current thread.
19126
19127 @item show thread pause
19128 @kindex show thread@r{, Hurd command}
19129 This command shows the state of current thread suspension.
19130
19131 @item set thread run
19132 This command sets whether the current thread is allowed to run.
19133
19134 @item show thread run
19135 Show whether the current thread is allowed to run.
19136
19137 @item set thread detach-suspend-count
19138 @cindex thread suspend count, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19139 @cindex detach from thread, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19140 This command sets the suspend count @value{GDBN} will leave on a
19141 thread when detaching. This number is relative to the suspend count
19142 found by @value{GDBN} when it notices the thread; use @code{set thread
19143 takeover-suspend-count} to force it to an absolute value.
19144
19145 @item show thread detach-suspend-count
19146 Show the suspend count @value{GDBN} will leave on the thread when
19147 detaching.
19148
19149 @item set thread exception-port
19150 @itemx set thread excp
19151 Set the thread exception port to which to forward exceptions. This
19152 overrides the port set by @code{set task exception-port} (see above).
19153 @code{set thread excp} is the shorthand alias.
19154
19155 @item set thread takeover-suspend-count
19156 Normally, @value{GDBN}'s thread suspend counts are relative to the
19157 value @value{GDBN} finds when it notices each thread. This command
19158 changes the suspend counts to be absolute instead.
19159
19160 @item set thread default
19161 @itemx show thread default
19162 @cindex thread default settings, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19163 Each of the above @code{set thread} commands has a @code{set thread
19164 default} counterpart (e.g., @code{set thread default pause}, @code{set
19165 thread default exception-port}, etc.). The @code{thread default}
19166 variety of commands sets the default thread properties for all
19167 threads; you can then change the properties of individual threads with
19168 the non-default commands.
19169 @end table
19170
19171
19172 @node Neutrino
19173 @subsection QNX Neutrino
19174 @cindex QNX Neutrino
19175
19176 @value{GDBN} provides the following commands specific to the QNX
19177 Neutrino target:
19178
19179 @table @code
19180 @item set debug nto-debug
19181 @kindex set debug nto-debug
19182 When set to on, enables debugging messages specific to the QNX
19183 Neutrino support.
19184
19185 @item show debug nto-debug
19186 @kindex show debug nto-debug
19187 Show the current state of QNX Neutrino messages.
19188 @end table
19189
19190 @node Darwin
19191 @subsection Darwin
19192 @cindex Darwin
19193
19194 @value{GDBN} provides the following commands specific to the Darwin target:
19195
19196 @table @code
19197 @item set debug darwin @var{num}
19198 @kindex set debug darwin
19199 When set to a non zero value, enables debugging messages specific to
19200 the Darwin support. Higher values produce more verbose output.
19201
19202 @item show debug darwin
19203 @kindex show debug darwin
19204 Show the current state of Darwin messages.
19205
19206 @item set debug mach-o @var{num}
19207 @kindex set debug mach-o
19208 When set to a non zero value, enables debugging messages while
19209 @value{GDBN} is reading Darwin object files. (@dfn{Mach-O} is the
19210 file format used on Darwin for object and executable files.) Higher
19211 values produce more verbose output. This is a command to diagnose
19212 problems internal to @value{GDBN} and should not be needed in normal
19213 usage.
19214
19215 @item show debug mach-o
19216 @kindex show debug mach-o
19217 Show the current state of Mach-O file messages.
19218
19219 @item set mach-exceptions on
19220 @itemx set mach-exceptions off
19221 @kindex set mach-exceptions
19222 On Darwin, faults are first reported as a Mach exception and are then
19223 mapped to a Posix signal. Use this command to turn on trapping of
19224 Mach exceptions in the inferior. This might be sometimes useful to
19225 better understand the cause of a fault. The default is off.
19226
19227 @item show mach-exceptions
19228 @kindex show mach-exceptions
19229 Show the current state of exceptions trapping.
19230 @end table
19231
19232
19233 @node Embedded OS
19234 @section Embedded Operating Systems
19235
19236 This section describes configurations involving the debugging of
19237 embedded operating systems that are available for several different
19238 architectures.
19239
19240 @menu
19241 * VxWorks:: Using @value{GDBN} with VxWorks
19242 @end menu
19243
19244 @value{GDBN} includes the ability to debug programs running on
19245 various real-time operating systems.
19246
19247 @node VxWorks
19248 @subsection Using @value{GDBN} with VxWorks
19249
19250 @cindex VxWorks
19251
19252 @table @code
19253
19254 @kindex target vxworks
19255 @item target vxworks @var{machinename}
19256 A VxWorks system, attached via TCP/IP. The argument @var{machinename}
19257 is the target system's machine name or IP address.
19258
19259 @end table
19260
19261 On VxWorks, @code{load} links @var{filename} dynamically on the
19262 current target system as well as adding its symbols in @value{GDBN}.
19263
19264 @value{GDBN} enables developers to spawn and debug tasks running on networked
19265 VxWorks targets from a Unix host. Already-running tasks spawned from
19266 the VxWorks shell can also be debugged. @value{GDBN} uses code that runs on
19267 both the Unix host and on the VxWorks target. The program
19268 @code{@value{GDBP}} is installed and executed on the Unix host. (It may be
19269 installed with the name @code{vxgdb}, to distinguish it from a
19270 @value{GDBN} for debugging programs on the host itself.)
19271
19272 @table @code
19273 @item VxWorks-timeout @var{args}
19274 @kindex vxworks-timeout
19275 All VxWorks-based targets now support the option @code{vxworks-timeout}.
19276 This option is set by the user, and @var{args} represents the number of
19277 seconds @value{GDBN} waits for responses to rpc's. You might use this if
19278 your VxWorks target is a slow software simulator or is on the far side
19279 of a thin network line.
19280 @end table
19281
19282 The following information on connecting to VxWorks was current when
19283 this manual was produced; newer releases of VxWorks may use revised
19284 procedures.
19285
19286 @findex INCLUDE_RDB
19287 To use @value{GDBN} with VxWorks, you must rebuild your VxWorks kernel
19288 to include the remote debugging interface routines in the VxWorks
19289 library @file{rdb.a}. To do this, define @code{INCLUDE_RDB} in the
19290 VxWorks configuration file @file{configAll.h} and rebuild your VxWorks
19291 kernel. The resulting kernel contains @file{rdb.a}, and spawns the
19292 source debugging task @code{tRdbTask} when VxWorks is booted. For more
19293 information on configuring and remaking VxWorks, see the manufacturer's
19294 manual.
19295 @c VxWorks, see the @cite{VxWorks Programmer's Guide}.
19296
19297 Once you have included @file{rdb.a} in your VxWorks system image and set
19298 your Unix execution search path to find @value{GDBN}, you are ready to
19299 run @value{GDBN}. From your Unix host, run @code{@value{GDBP}} (or
19300 @code{vxgdb}, depending on your installation).
19301
19302 @value{GDBN} comes up showing the prompt:
19303
19304 @smallexample
19305 (vxgdb)
19306 @end smallexample
19307
19308 @menu
19309 * VxWorks Connection:: Connecting to VxWorks
19310 * VxWorks Download:: VxWorks download
19311 * VxWorks Attach:: Running tasks
19312 @end menu
19313
19314 @node VxWorks Connection
19315 @subsubsection Connecting to VxWorks
19316
19317 The @value{GDBN} command @code{target} lets you connect to a VxWorks target on the
19318 network. To connect to a target whose host name is ``@code{tt}'', type:
19319
19320 @smallexample
19321 (vxgdb) target vxworks tt
19322 @end smallexample
19323
19324 @need 750
19325 @value{GDBN} displays messages like these:
19326
19327 @smallexample
19328 Attaching remote machine across net...
19329 Connected to tt.
19330 @end smallexample
19331
19332 @need 1000
19333 @value{GDBN} then attempts to read the symbol tables of any object modules
19334 loaded into the VxWorks target since it was last booted. @value{GDBN} locates
19335 these files by searching the directories listed in the command search
19336 path (@pxref{Environment, ,Your Program's Environment}); if it fails
19337 to find an object file, it displays a message such as:
19338
19339 @smallexample
19340 prog.o: No such file or directory.
19341 @end smallexample
19342
19343 When this happens, add the appropriate directory to the search path with
19344 the @value{GDBN} command @code{path}, and execute the @code{target}
19345 command again.
19346
19347 @node VxWorks Download
19348 @subsubsection VxWorks Download
19349
19350 @cindex download to VxWorks
19351 If you have connected to the VxWorks target and you want to debug an
19352 object that has not yet been loaded, you can use the @value{GDBN}
19353 @code{load} command to download a file from Unix to VxWorks
19354 incrementally. The object file given as an argument to the @code{load}
19355 command is actually opened twice: first by the VxWorks target in order
19356 to download the code, then by @value{GDBN} in order to read the symbol
19357 table. This can lead to problems if the current working directories on
19358 the two systems differ. If both systems have NFS mounted the same
19359 filesystems, you can avoid these problems by using absolute paths.
19360 Otherwise, it is simplest to set the working directory on both systems
19361 to the directory in which the object file resides, and then to reference
19362 the file by its name, without any path. For instance, a program
19363 @file{prog.o} may reside in @file{@var{vxpath}/vw/demo/rdb} in VxWorks
19364 and in @file{@var{hostpath}/vw/demo/rdb} on the host. To load this
19365 program, type this on VxWorks:
19366
19367 @smallexample
19368 -> cd "@var{vxpath}/vw/demo/rdb"
19369 @end smallexample
19370
19371 @noindent
19372 Then, in @value{GDBN}, type:
19373
19374 @smallexample
19375 (vxgdb) cd @var{hostpath}/vw/demo/rdb
19376 (vxgdb) load prog.o
19377 @end smallexample
19378
19379 @value{GDBN} displays a response similar to this:
19380
19381 @smallexample
19382 Reading symbol data from wherever/vw/demo/rdb/prog.o... done.
19383 @end smallexample
19384
19385 You can also use the @code{load} command to reload an object module
19386 after editing and recompiling the corresponding source file. Note that
19387 this makes @value{GDBN} delete all currently-defined breakpoints,
19388 auto-displays, and convenience variables, and to clear the value
19389 history. (This is necessary in order to preserve the integrity of
19390 debugger's data structures that reference the target system's symbol
19391 table.)
19392
19393 @node VxWorks Attach
19394 @subsubsection Running Tasks
19395
19396 @cindex running VxWorks tasks
19397 You can also attach to an existing task using the @code{attach} command as
19398 follows:
19399
19400 @smallexample
19401 (vxgdb) attach @var{task}
19402 @end smallexample
19403
19404 @noindent
19405 where @var{task} is the VxWorks hexadecimal task ID. The task can be running
19406 or suspended when you attach to it. Running tasks are suspended at
19407 the time of attachment.
19408
19409 @node Embedded Processors
19410 @section Embedded Processors
19411
19412 This section goes into details specific to particular embedded
19413 configurations.
19414
19415 @cindex send command to simulator
19416 Whenever a specific embedded processor has a simulator, @value{GDBN}
19417 allows to send an arbitrary command to the simulator.
19418
19419 @table @code
19420 @item sim @var{command}
19421 @kindex sim@r{, a command}
19422 Send an arbitrary @var{command} string to the simulator. Consult the
19423 documentation for the specific simulator in use for information about
19424 acceptable commands.
19425 @end table
19426
19427
19428 @menu
19429 * ARM:: ARM RDI
19430 * M32R/D:: Renesas M32R/D
19431 * M68K:: Motorola M68K
19432 * MicroBlaze:: Xilinx MicroBlaze
19433 * MIPS Embedded:: MIPS Embedded
19434 * OpenRISC 1000:: OpenRisc 1000
19435 * PA:: HP PA Embedded
19436 * PowerPC Embedded:: PowerPC Embedded
19437 * Sparclet:: Tsqware Sparclet
19438 * Sparclite:: Fujitsu Sparclite
19439 * Z8000:: Zilog Z8000
19440 * AVR:: Atmel AVR
19441 * CRIS:: CRIS
19442 * Super-H:: Renesas Super-H
19443 @end menu
19444
19445 @node ARM
19446 @subsection ARM
19447 @cindex ARM RDI
19448
19449 @table @code
19450 @kindex target rdi
19451 @item target rdi @var{dev}
19452 ARM Angel monitor, via RDI library interface to ADP protocol. You may
19453 use this target to communicate with both boards running the Angel
19454 monitor, or with the EmbeddedICE JTAG debug device.
19455
19456 @kindex target rdp
19457 @item target rdp @var{dev}
19458 ARM Demon monitor.
19459
19460 @end table
19461
19462 @value{GDBN} provides the following ARM-specific commands:
19463
19464 @table @code
19465 @item set arm disassembler
19466 @kindex set arm
19467 This commands selects from a list of disassembly styles. The
19468 @code{"std"} style is the standard style.
19469
19470 @item show arm disassembler
19471 @kindex show arm
19472 Show the current disassembly style.
19473
19474 @item set arm apcs32
19475 @cindex ARM 32-bit mode
19476 This command toggles ARM operation mode between 32-bit and 26-bit.
19477
19478 @item show arm apcs32
19479 Display the current usage of the ARM 32-bit mode.
19480
19481 @item set arm fpu @var{fputype}
19482 This command sets the ARM floating-point unit (FPU) type. The
19483 argument @var{fputype} can be one of these:
19484
19485 @table @code
19486 @item auto
19487 Determine the FPU type by querying the OS ABI.
19488 @item softfpa
19489 Software FPU, with mixed-endian doubles on little-endian ARM
19490 processors.
19491 @item fpa
19492 GCC-compiled FPA co-processor.
19493 @item softvfp
19494 Software FPU with pure-endian doubles.
19495 @item vfp
19496 VFP co-processor.
19497 @end table
19498
19499 @item show arm fpu
19500 Show the current type of the FPU.
19501
19502 @item set arm abi
19503 This command forces @value{GDBN} to use the specified ABI.
19504
19505 @item show arm abi
19506 Show the currently used ABI.
19507
19508 @item set arm fallback-mode (arm|thumb|auto)
19509 @value{GDBN} uses the symbol table, when available, to determine
19510 whether instructions are ARM or Thumb. This command controls
19511 @value{GDBN}'s default behavior when the symbol table is not
19512 available. The default is @samp{auto}, which causes @value{GDBN} to
19513 use the current execution mode (from the @code{T} bit in the @code{CPSR}
19514 register).
19515
19516 @item show arm fallback-mode
19517 Show the current fallback instruction mode.
19518
19519 @item set arm force-mode (arm|thumb|auto)
19520 This command overrides use of the symbol table to determine whether
19521 instructions are ARM or Thumb. The default is @samp{auto}, which
19522 causes @value{GDBN} to use the symbol table and then the setting
19523 of @samp{set arm fallback-mode}.
19524
19525 @item show arm force-mode
19526 Show the current forced instruction mode.
19527
19528 @item set debug arm
19529 Toggle whether to display ARM-specific debugging messages from the ARM
19530 target support subsystem.
19531
19532 @item show debug arm
19533 Show whether ARM-specific debugging messages are enabled.
19534 @end table
19535
19536 The following commands are available when an ARM target is debugged
19537 using the RDI interface:
19538
19539 @table @code
19540 @item rdilogfile @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
19541 @kindex rdilogfile
19542 @cindex ADP (Angel Debugger Protocol) logging
19543 Set the filename for the ADP (Angel Debugger Protocol) packet log.
19544 With an argument, sets the log file to the specified @var{file}. With
19545 no argument, show the current log file name. The default log file is
19546 @file{rdi.log}.
19547
19548 @item rdilogenable @r{[}@var{arg}@r{]}
19549 @kindex rdilogenable
19550 Control logging of ADP packets. With an argument of 1 or @code{"yes"}
19551 enables logging, with an argument 0 or @code{"no"} disables it. With
19552 no arguments displays the current setting. When logging is enabled,
19553 ADP packets exchanged between @value{GDBN} and the RDI target device
19554 are logged to a file.
19555
19556 @item set rdiromatzero
19557 @kindex set rdiromatzero
19558 @cindex ROM at zero address, RDI
19559 Tell @value{GDBN} whether the target has ROM at address 0. If on,
19560 vector catching is disabled, so that zero address can be used. If off
19561 (the default), vector catching is enabled. For this command to take
19562 effect, it needs to be invoked prior to the @code{target rdi} command.
19563
19564 @item show rdiromatzero
19565 @kindex show rdiromatzero
19566 Show the current setting of ROM at zero address.
19567
19568 @item set rdiheartbeat
19569 @kindex set rdiheartbeat
19570 @cindex RDI heartbeat
19571 Enable or disable RDI heartbeat packets. It is not recommended to
19572 turn on this option, since it confuses ARM and EPI JTAG interface, as
19573 well as the Angel monitor.
19574
19575 @item show rdiheartbeat
19576 @kindex show rdiheartbeat
19577 Show the setting of RDI heartbeat packets.
19578 @end table
19579
19580 @table @code
19581 @item target sim @r{[}@var{simargs}@r{]} @dots{}
19582 The @value{GDBN} ARM simulator accepts the following optional arguments.
19583
19584 @table @code
19585 @item --swi-support=@var{type}
19586 Tell the simulator which SWI interfaces to support.
19587 @var{type} may be a comma separated list of the following values.
19588 The default value is @code{all}.
19589
19590 @table @code
19591 @item none
19592 @item demon
19593 @item angel
19594 @item redboot
19595 @item all
19596 @end table
19597 @end table
19598 @end table
19599
19600 @node M32R/D
19601 @subsection Renesas M32R/D and M32R/SDI
19602
19603 @table @code
19604 @kindex target m32r
19605 @item target m32r @var{dev}
19606 Renesas M32R/D ROM monitor.
19607
19608 @kindex target m32rsdi
19609 @item target m32rsdi @var{dev}
19610 Renesas M32R SDI server, connected via parallel port to the board.
19611 @end table
19612
19613 The following @value{GDBN} commands are specific to the M32R monitor:
19614
19615 @table @code
19616 @item set download-path @var{path}
19617 @kindex set download-path
19618 @cindex find downloadable @sc{srec} files (M32R)
19619 Set the default path for finding downloadable @sc{srec} files.
19620
19621 @item show download-path
19622 @kindex show download-path
19623 Show the default path for downloadable @sc{srec} files.
19624
19625 @item set board-address @var{addr}
19626 @kindex set board-address
19627 @cindex M32-EVA target board address
19628 Set the IP address for the M32R-EVA target board.
19629
19630 @item show board-address
19631 @kindex show board-address
19632 Show the current IP address of the target board.
19633
19634 @item set server-address @var{addr}
19635 @kindex set server-address
19636 @cindex download server address (M32R)
19637 Set the IP address for the download server, which is the @value{GDBN}'s
19638 host machine.
19639
19640 @item show server-address
19641 @kindex show server-address
19642 Display the IP address of the download server.
19643
19644 @item upload @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
19645 @kindex upload@r{, M32R}
19646 Upload the specified @sc{srec} @var{file} via the monitor's Ethernet
19647 upload capability. If no @var{file} argument is given, the current
19648 executable file is uploaded.
19649
19650 @item tload @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
19651 @kindex tload@r{, M32R}
19652 Test the @code{upload} command.
19653 @end table
19654
19655 The following commands are available for M32R/SDI:
19656
19657 @table @code
19658 @item sdireset
19659 @kindex sdireset
19660 @cindex reset SDI connection, M32R
19661 This command resets the SDI connection.
19662
19663 @item sdistatus
19664 @kindex sdistatus
19665 This command shows the SDI connection status.
19666
19667 @item debug_chaos
19668 @kindex debug_chaos
19669 @cindex M32R/Chaos debugging
19670 Instructs the remote that M32R/Chaos debugging is to be used.
19671
19672 @item use_debug_dma
19673 @kindex use_debug_dma
19674 Instructs the remote to use the DEBUG_DMA method of accessing memory.
19675
19676 @item use_mon_code
19677 @kindex use_mon_code
19678 Instructs the remote to use the MON_CODE method of accessing memory.
19679
19680 @item use_ib_break
19681 @kindex use_ib_break
19682 Instructs the remote to set breakpoints by IB break.
19683
19684 @item use_dbt_break
19685 @kindex use_dbt_break
19686 Instructs the remote to set breakpoints by DBT.
19687 @end table
19688
19689 @node M68K
19690 @subsection M68k
19691
19692 The Motorola m68k configuration includes ColdFire support, and a
19693 target command for the following ROM monitor.
19694
19695 @table @code
19696
19697 @kindex target dbug
19698 @item target dbug @var{dev}
19699 dBUG ROM monitor for Motorola ColdFire.
19700
19701 @end table
19702
19703 @node MicroBlaze
19704 @subsection MicroBlaze
19705 @cindex Xilinx MicroBlaze
19706 @cindex XMD, Xilinx Microprocessor Debugger
19707
19708 The MicroBlaze is a soft-core processor supported on various Xilinx
19709 FPGAs, such as Spartan or Virtex series. Boards with these processors
19710 usually have JTAG ports which connect to a host system running the Xilinx
19711 Embedded Development Kit (EDK) or Software Development Kit (SDK).
19712 This host system is used to download the configuration bitstream to
19713 the target FPGA. The Xilinx Microprocessor Debugger (XMD) program
19714 communicates with the target board using the JTAG interface and
19715 presents a @code{gdbserver} interface to the board. By default
19716 @code{xmd} uses port @code{1234}. (While it is possible to change
19717 this default port, it requires the use of undocumented @code{xmd}
19718 commands. Contact Xilinx support if you need to do this.)
19719
19720 Use these GDB commands to connect to the MicroBlaze target processor.
19721
19722 @table @code
19723 @item target remote :1234
19724 Use this command to connect to the target if you are running @value{GDBN}
19725 on the same system as @code{xmd}.
19726
19727 @item target remote @var{xmd-host}:1234
19728 Use this command to connect to the target if it is connected to @code{xmd}
19729 running on a different system named @var{xmd-host}.
19730
19731 @item load
19732 Use this command to download a program to the MicroBlaze target.
19733
19734 @item set debug microblaze @var{n}
19735 Enable MicroBlaze-specific debugging messages if non-zero.
19736
19737 @item show debug microblaze @var{n}
19738 Show MicroBlaze-specific debugging level.
19739 @end table
19740
19741 @node MIPS Embedded
19742 @subsection MIPS Embedded
19743
19744 @cindex MIPS boards
19745 @value{GDBN} can use the MIPS remote debugging protocol to talk to a
19746 MIPS board attached to a serial line. This is available when
19747 you configure @value{GDBN} with @samp{--target=mips-elf}.
19748
19749 @need 1000
19750 Use these @value{GDBN} commands to specify the connection to your target board:
19751
19752 @table @code
19753 @item target mips @var{port}
19754 @kindex target mips @var{port}
19755 To run a program on the board, start up @code{@value{GDBP}} with the
19756 name of your program as the argument. To connect to the board, use the
19757 command @samp{target mips @var{port}}, where @var{port} is the name of
19758 the serial port connected to the board. If the program has not already
19759 been downloaded to the board, you may use the @code{load} command to
19760 download it. You can then use all the usual @value{GDBN} commands.
19761
19762 For example, this sequence connects to the target board through a serial
19763 port, and loads and runs a program called @var{prog} through the
19764 debugger:
19765
19766 @smallexample
19767 host$ @value{GDBP} @var{prog}
19768 @value{GDBN} is free software and @dots{}
19769 (@value{GDBP}) target mips /dev/ttyb
19770 (@value{GDBP}) load @var{prog}
19771 (@value{GDBP}) run
19772 @end smallexample
19773
19774 @item target mips @var{hostname}:@var{portnumber}
19775 On some @value{GDBN} host configurations, you can specify a TCP
19776 connection (for instance, to a serial line managed by a terminal
19777 concentrator) instead of a serial port, using the syntax
19778 @samp{@var{hostname}:@var{portnumber}}.
19779
19780 @item target pmon @var{port}
19781 @kindex target pmon @var{port}
19782 PMON ROM monitor.
19783
19784 @item target ddb @var{port}
19785 @kindex target ddb @var{port}
19786 NEC's DDB variant of PMON for Vr4300.
19787
19788 @item target lsi @var{port}
19789 @kindex target lsi @var{port}
19790 LSI variant of PMON.
19791
19792 @kindex target r3900
19793 @item target r3900 @var{dev}
19794 Densan DVE-R3900 ROM monitor for Toshiba R3900 Mips.
19795
19796 @kindex target array
19797 @item target array @var{dev}
19798 Array Tech LSI33K RAID controller board.
19799
19800 @end table
19801
19802
19803 @noindent
19804 @value{GDBN} also supports these special commands for MIPS targets:
19805
19806 @table @code
19807 @item set mipsfpu double
19808 @itemx set mipsfpu single
19809 @itemx set mipsfpu none
19810 @itemx set mipsfpu auto
19811 @itemx show mipsfpu
19812 @kindex set mipsfpu
19813 @kindex show mipsfpu
19814 @cindex MIPS remote floating point
19815 @cindex floating point, MIPS remote
19816 If your target board does not support the MIPS floating point
19817 coprocessor, you should use the command @samp{set mipsfpu none} (if you
19818 need this, you may wish to put the command in your @value{GDBN} init
19819 file). This tells @value{GDBN} how to find the return value of
19820 functions which return floating point values. It also allows
19821 @value{GDBN} to avoid saving the floating point registers when calling
19822 functions on the board. If you are using a floating point coprocessor
19823 with only single precision floating point support, as on the @sc{r4650}
19824 processor, use the command @samp{set mipsfpu single}. The default
19825 double precision floating point coprocessor may be selected using
19826 @samp{set mipsfpu double}.
19827
19828 In previous versions the only choices were double precision or no
19829 floating point, so @samp{set mipsfpu on} will select double precision
19830 and @samp{set mipsfpu off} will select no floating point.
19831
19832 As usual, you can inquire about the @code{mipsfpu} variable with
19833 @samp{show mipsfpu}.
19834
19835 @item set timeout @var{seconds}
19836 @itemx set retransmit-timeout @var{seconds}
19837 @itemx show timeout
19838 @itemx show retransmit-timeout
19839 @cindex @code{timeout}, MIPS protocol
19840 @cindex @code{retransmit-timeout}, MIPS protocol
19841 @kindex set timeout
19842 @kindex show timeout
19843 @kindex set retransmit-timeout
19844 @kindex show retransmit-timeout
19845 You can control the timeout used while waiting for a packet, in the MIPS
19846 remote protocol, with the @code{set timeout @var{seconds}} command. The
19847 default is 5 seconds. Similarly, you can control the timeout used while
19848 waiting for an acknowledgment of a packet with the @code{set
19849 retransmit-timeout @var{seconds}} command. The default is 3 seconds.
19850 You can inspect both values with @code{show timeout} and @code{show
19851 retransmit-timeout}. (These commands are @emph{only} available when
19852 @value{GDBN} is configured for @samp{--target=mips-elf}.)
19853
19854 The timeout set by @code{set timeout} does not apply when @value{GDBN}
19855 is waiting for your program to stop. In that case, @value{GDBN} waits
19856 forever because it has no way of knowing how long the program is going
19857 to run before stopping.
19858
19859 @item set syn-garbage-limit @var{num}
19860 @kindex set syn-garbage-limit@r{, MIPS remote}
19861 @cindex synchronize with remote MIPS target
19862 Limit the maximum number of characters @value{GDBN} should ignore when
19863 it tries to synchronize with the remote target. The default is 10
19864 characters. Setting the limit to -1 means there's no limit.
19865
19866 @item show syn-garbage-limit
19867 @kindex show syn-garbage-limit@r{, MIPS remote}
19868 Show the current limit on the number of characters to ignore when
19869 trying to synchronize with the remote system.
19870
19871 @item set monitor-prompt @var{prompt}
19872 @kindex set monitor-prompt@r{, MIPS remote}
19873 @cindex remote monitor prompt
19874 Tell @value{GDBN} to expect the specified @var{prompt} string from the
19875 remote monitor. The default depends on the target:
19876 @table @asis
19877 @item pmon target
19878 @samp{PMON}
19879 @item ddb target
19880 @samp{NEC010}
19881 @item lsi target
19882 @samp{PMON>}
19883 @end table
19884
19885 @item show monitor-prompt
19886 @kindex show monitor-prompt@r{, MIPS remote}
19887 Show the current strings @value{GDBN} expects as the prompt from the
19888 remote monitor.
19889
19890 @item set monitor-warnings
19891 @kindex set monitor-warnings@r{, MIPS remote}
19892 Enable or disable monitor warnings about hardware breakpoints. This
19893 has effect only for the @code{lsi} target. When on, @value{GDBN} will
19894 display warning messages whose codes are returned by the @code{lsi}
19895 PMON monitor for breakpoint commands.
19896
19897 @item show monitor-warnings
19898 @kindex show monitor-warnings@r{, MIPS remote}
19899 Show the current setting of printing monitor warnings.
19900
19901 @item pmon @var{command}
19902 @kindex pmon@r{, MIPS remote}
19903 @cindex send PMON command
19904 This command allows sending an arbitrary @var{command} string to the
19905 monitor. The monitor must be in debug mode for this to work.
19906 @end table
19907
19908 @node OpenRISC 1000
19909 @subsection OpenRISC 1000
19910 @cindex OpenRISC 1000
19911
19912 @cindex or1k boards
19913 See OR1k Architecture document (@uref{www.opencores.org}) for more information
19914 about platform and commands.
19915
19916 @table @code
19917
19918 @kindex target jtag
19919 @item target jtag jtag://@var{host}:@var{port}
19920
19921 Connects to remote JTAG server.
19922 JTAG remote server can be either an or1ksim or JTAG server,
19923 connected via parallel port to the board.
19924
19925 Example: @code{target jtag jtag://localhost:9999}
19926
19927 @kindex or1ksim
19928 @item or1ksim @var{command}
19929 If connected to @code{or1ksim} OpenRISC 1000 Architectural
19930 Simulator, proprietary commands can be executed.
19931
19932 @kindex info or1k spr
19933 @item info or1k spr
19934 Displays spr groups.
19935
19936 @item info or1k spr @var{group}
19937 @itemx info or1k spr @var{groupno}
19938 Displays register names in selected group.
19939
19940 @item info or1k spr @var{group} @var{register}
19941 @itemx info or1k spr @var{register}
19942 @itemx info or1k spr @var{groupno} @var{registerno}
19943 @itemx info or1k spr @var{registerno}
19944 Shows information about specified spr register.
19945
19946 @kindex spr
19947 @item spr @var{group} @var{register} @var{value}
19948 @itemx spr @var{register @var{value}}
19949 @itemx spr @var{groupno} @var{registerno @var{value}}
19950 @itemx spr @var{registerno @var{value}}
19951 Writes @var{value} to specified spr register.
19952 @end table
19953
19954 Some implementations of OpenRISC 1000 Architecture also have hardware trace.
19955 It is very similar to @value{GDBN} trace, except it does not interfere with normal
19956 program execution and is thus much faster. Hardware breakpoints/watchpoint
19957 triggers can be set using:
19958 @table @code
19959 @item $LEA/$LDATA
19960 Load effective address/data
19961 @item $SEA/$SDATA
19962 Store effective address/data
19963 @item $AEA/$ADATA
19964 Access effective address ($SEA or $LEA) or data ($SDATA/$LDATA)
19965 @item $FETCH
19966 Fetch data
19967 @end table
19968
19969 When triggered, it can capture low level data, like: @code{PC}, @code{LSEA},
19970 @code{LDATA}, @code{SDATA}, @code{READSPR}, @code{WRITESPR}, @code{INSTR}.
19971
19972 @code{htrace} commands:
19973 @cindex OpenRISC 1000 htrace
19974 @table @code
19975 @kindex hwatch
19976 @item hwatch @var{conditional}
19977 Set hardware watchpoint on combination of Load/Store Effective Address(es)
19978 or Data. For example:
19979
19980 @code{hwatch ($LEA == my_var) && ($LDATA < 50) || ($SEA == my_var) && ($SDATA >= 50)}
19981
19982 @code{hwatch ($LEA == my_var) && ($LDATA < 50) || ($SEA == my_var) && ($SDATA >= 50)}
19983
19984 @kindex htrace
19985 @item htrace info
19986 Display information about current HW trace configuration.
19987
19988 @item htrace trigger @var{conditional}
19989 Set starting criteria for HW trace.
19990
19991 @item htrace qualifier @var{conditional}
19992 Set acquisition qualifier for HW trace.
19993
19994 @item htrace stop @var{conditional}
19995 Set HW trace stopping criteria.
19996
19997 @item htrace record [@var{data}]*
19998 Selects the data to be recorded, when qualifier is met and HW trace was
19999 triggered.
20000
20001 @item htrace enable
20002 @itemx htrace disable
20003 Enables/disables the HW trace.
20004
20005 @item htrace rewind [@var{filename}]
20006 Clears currently recorded trace data.
20007
20008 If filename is specified, new trace file is made and any newly collected data
20009 will be written there.
20010
20011 @item htrace print [@var{start} [@var{len}]]
20012 Prints trace buffer, using current record configuration.
20013
20014 @item htrace mode continuous
20015 Set continuous trace mode.
20016
20017 @item htrace mode suspend
20018 Set suspend trace mode.
20019
20020 @end table
20021
20022 @node PowerPC Embedded
20023 @subsection PowerPC Embedded
20024
20025 @cindex DVC register
20026 @value{GDBN} supports using the DVC (Data Value Compare) register to
20027 implement in hardware simple hardware watchpoint conditions of the form:
20028
20029 @smallexample
20030 (@value{GDBP}) watch @var{ADDRESS|VARIABLE} \
20031 if @var{ADDRESS|VARIABLE} == @var{CONSTANT EXPRESSION}
20032 @end smallexample
20033
20034 The DVC register will be automatically used when @value{GDBN} detects
20035 such pattern in a condition expression, and the created watchpoint uses one
20036 debug register (either the @code{exact-watchpoints} option is on and the
20037 variable is scalar, or the variable has a length of one byte). This feature
20038 is available in native @value{GDBN} running on a Linux kernel version 2.6.34
20039 or newer.
20040
20041 When running on PowerPC embedded processors, @value{GDBN} automatically uses
20042 ranged hardware watchpoints, unless the @code{exact-watchpoints} option is on,
20043 in which case watchpoints using only one debug register are created when
20044 watching variables of scalar types.
20045
20046 You can create an artificial array to watch an arbitrary memory
20047 region using one of the following commands (@pxref{Expressions}):
20048
20049 @smallexample
20050 (@value{GDBP}) watch *((char *) @var{address})@@@var{length}
20051 (@value{GDBP}) watch @{char[@var{length}]@} @var{address}
20052 @end smallexample
20053
20054 PowerPC embedded processors support masked watchpoints. See the discussion
20055 about the @code{mask} argument in @ref{Set Watchpoints}.
20056
20057 @cindex ranged breakpoint
20058 PowerPC embedded processors support hardware accelerated
20059 @dfn{ranged breakpoints}. A ranged breakpoint stops execution of
20060 the inferior whenever it executes an instruction at any address within
20061 the range it specifies. To set a ranged breakpoint in @value{GDBN},
20062 use the @code{break-range} command.
20063
20064 @value{GDBN} provides the following PowerPC-specific commands:
20065
20066 @table @code
20067 @kindex break-range
20068 @item break-range @var{start-location}, @var{end-location}
20069 Set a breakpoint for an address range.
20070 @var{start-location} and @var{end-location} can specify a function name,
20071 a line number, an offset of lines from the current line or from the start
20072 location, or an address of an instruction (see @ref{Specify Location},
20073 for a list of all the possible ways to specify a @var{location}.)
20074 The breakpoint will stop execution of the inferior whenever it
20075 executes an instruction at any address within the specified range,
20076 (including @var{start-location} and @var{end-location}.)
20077
20078 @kindex set powerpc
20079 @item set powerpc soft-float
20080 @itemx show powerpc soft-float
20081 Force @value{GDBN} to use (or not use) a software floating point calling
20082 convention. By default, @value{GDBN} selects the calling convention based
20083 on the selected architecture and the provided executable file.
20084
20085 @item set powerpc vector-abi
20086 @itemx show powerpc vector-abi
20087 Force @value{GDBN} to use the specified calling convention for vector
20088 arguments and return values. The valid options are @samp{auto};
20089 @samp{generic}, to avoid vector registers even if they are present;
20090 @samp{altivec}, to use AltiVec registers; and @samp{spe} to use SPE
20091 registers. By default, @value{GDBN} selects the calling convention
20092 based on the selected architecture and the provided executable file.
20093
20094 @item set powerpc exact-watchpoints
20095 @itemx show powerpc exact-watchpoints
20096 Allow @value{GDBN} to use only one debug register when watching a variable
20097 of scalar type, thus assuming that the variable is accessed through the
20098 address of its first byte.
20099
20100 @kindex target dink32
20101 @item target dink32 @var{dev}
20102 DINK32 ROM monitor.
20103
20104 @kindex target ppcbug
20105 @item target ppcbug @var{dev}
20106 @kindex target ppcbug1
20107 @item target ppcbug1 @var{dev}
20108 PPCBUG ROM monitor for PowerPC.
20109
20110 @kindex target sds
20111 @item target sds @var{dev}
20112 SDS monitor, running on a PowerPC board (such as Motorola's ADS).
20113 @end table
20114
20115 @cindex SDS protocol
20116 The following commands specific to the SDS protocol are supported
20117 by @value{GDBN}:
20118
20119 @table @code
20120 @item set sdstimeout @var{nsec}
20121 @kindex set sdstimeout
20122 Set the timeout for SDS protocol reads to be @var{nsec} seconds. The
20123 default is 2 seconds.
20124
20125 @item show sdstimeout
20126 @kindex show sdstimeout
20127 Show the current value of the SDS timeout.
20128
20129 @item sds @var{command}
20130 @kindex sds@r{, a command}
20131 Send the specified @var{command} string to the SDS monitor.
20132 @end table
20133
20134
20135 @node PA
20136 @subsection HP PA Embedded
20137
20138 @table @code
20139
20140 @kindex target op50n
20141 @item target op50n @var{dev}
20142 OP50N monitor, running on an OKI HPPA board.
20143
20144 @kindex target w89k
20145 @item target w89k @var{dev}
20146 W89K monitor, running on a Winbond HPPA board.
20147
20148 @end table
20149
20150 @node Sparclet
20151 @subsection Tsqware Sparclet
20152
20153 @cindex Sparclet
20154
20155 @value{GDBN} enables developers to debug tasks running on
20156 Sparclet targets from a Unix host.
20157 @value{GDBN} uses code that runs on
20158 both the Unix host and on the Sparclet target. The program
20159 @code{@value{GDBP}} is installed and executed on the Unix host.
20160
20161 @table @code
20162 @item remotetimeout @var{args}
20163 @kindex remotetimeout
20164 @value{GDBN} supports the option @code{remotetimeout}.
20165 This option is set by the user, and @var{args} represents the number of
20166 seconds @value{GDBN} waits for responses.
20167 @end table
20168
20169 @cindex compiling, on Sparclet
20170 When compiling for debugging, include the options @samp{-g} to get debug
20171 information and @samp{-Ttext} to relocate the program to where you wish to
20172 load it on the target. You may also want to add the options @samp{-n} or
20173 @samp{-N} in order to reduce the size of the sections. Example:
20174
20175 @smallexample
20176 sparclet-aout-gcc prog.c -Ttext 0x12010000 -g -o prog -N
20177 @end smallexample
20178
20179 You can use @code{objdump} to verify that the addresses are what you intended:
20180
20181 @smallexample
20182 sparclet-aout-objdump --headers --syms prog
20183 @end smallexample
20184
20185 @cindex running, on Sparclet
20186 Once you have set
20187 your Unix execution search path to find @value{GDBN}, you are ready to
20188 run @value{GDBN}. From your Unix host, run @code{@value{GDBP}}
20189 (or @code{sparclet-aout-gdb}, depending on your installation).
20190
20191 @value{GDBN} comes up showing the prompt:
20192
20193 @smallexample
20194 (gdbslet)
20195 @end smallexample
20196
20197 @menu
20198 * Sparclet File:: Setting the file to debug
20199 * Sparclet Connection:: Connecting to Sparclet
20200 * Sparclet Download:: Sparclet download
20201 * Sparclet Execution:: Running and debugging
20202 @end menu
20203
20204 @node Sparclet File
20205 @subsubsection Setting File to Debug
20206
20207 The @value{GDBN} command @code{file} lets you choose with program to debug.
20208
20209 @smallexample
20210 (gdbslet) file prog
20211 @end smallexample
20212
20213 @need 1000
20214 @value{GDBN} then attempts to read the symbol table of @file{prog}.
20215 @value{GDBN} locates
20216 the file by searching the directories listed in the command search
20217 path.
20218 If the file was compiled with debug information (option @samp{-g}), source
20219 files will be searched as well.
20220 @value{GDBN} locates
20221 the source files by searching the directories listed in the directory search
20222 path (@pxref{Environment, ,Your Program's Environment}).
20223 If it fails
20224 to find a file, it displays a message such as:
20225
20226 @smallexample
20227 prog: No such file or directory.
20228 @end smallexample
20229
20230 When this happens, add the appropriate directories to the search paths with
20231 the @value{GDBN} commands @code{path} and @code{dir}, and execute the
20232 @code{target} command again.
20233
20234 @node Sparclet Connection
20235 @subsubsection Connecting to Sparclet
20236
20237 The @value{GDBN} command @code{target} lets you connect to a Sparclet target.
20238 To connect to a target on serial port ``@code{ttya}'', type:
20239
20240 @smallexample
20241 (gdbslet) target sparclet /dev/ttya
20242 Remote target sparclet connected to /dev/ttya
20243 main () at ../prog.c:3
20244 @end smallexample
20245
20246 @need 750
20247 @value{GDBN} displays messages like these:
20248
20249 @smallexample
20250 Connected to ttya.
20251 @end smallexample
20252
20253 @node Sparclet Download
20254 @subsubsection Sparclet Download
20255
20256 @cindex download to Sparclet
20257 Once connected to the Sparclet target,
20258 you can use the @value{GDBN}
20259 @code{load} command to download the file from the host to the target.
20260 The file name and load offset should be given as arguments to the @code{load}
20261 command.
20262 Since the file format is aout, the program must be loaded to the starting
20263 address. You can use @code{objdump} to find out what this value is. The load
20264 offset is an offset which is added to the VMA (virtual memory address)
20265 of each of the file's sections.
20266 For instance, if the program
20267 @file{prog} was linked to text address 0x1201000, with data at 0x12010160
20268 and bss at 0x12010170, in @value{GDBN}, type:
20269
20270 @smallexample
20271 (gdbslet) load prog 0x12010000
20272 Loading section .text, size 0xdb0 vma 0x12010000
20273 @end smallexample
20274
20275 If the code is loaded at a different address then what the program was linked
20276 to, you may need to use the @code{section} and @code{add-symbol-file} commands
20277 to tell @value{GDBN} where to map the symbol table.
20278
20279 @node Sparclet Execution
20280 @subsubsection Running and Debugging
20281
20282 @cindex running and debugging Sparclet programs
20283 You can now begin debugging the task using @value{GDBN}'s execution control
20284 commands, @code{b}, @code{step}, @code{run}, etc. See the @value{GDBN}
20285 manual for the list of commands.
20286
20287 @smallexample
20288 (gdbslet) b main
20289 Breakpoint 1 at 0x12010000: file prog.c, line 3.
20290 (gdbslet) run
20291 Starting program: prog
20292 Breakpoint 1, main (argc=1, argv=0xeffff21c) at prog.c:3
20293 3 char *symarg = 0;
20294 (gdbslet) step
20295 4 char *execarg = "hello!";
20296 (gdbslet)
20297 @end smallexample
20298
20299 @node Sparclite
20300 @subsection Fujitsu Sparclite
20301
20302 @table @code
20303
20304 @kindex target sparclite
20305 @item target sparclite @var{dev}
20306 Fujitsu sparclite boards, used only for the purpose of loading.
20307 You must use an additional command to debug the program.
20308 For example: target remote @var{dev} using @value{GDBN} standard
20309 remote protocol.
20310
20311 @end table
20312
20313 @node Z8000
20314 @subsection Zilog Z8000
20315
20316 @cindex Z8000
20317 @cindex simulator, Z8000
20318 @cindex Zilog Z8000 simulator
20319
20320 When configured for debugging Zilog Z8000 targets, @value{GDBN} includes
20321 a Z8000 simulator.
20322
20323 For the Z8000 family, @samp{target sim} simulates either the Z8002 (the
20324 unsegmented variant of the Z8000 architecture) or the Z8001 (the
20325 segmented variant). The simulator recognizes which architecture is
20326 appropriate by inspecting the object code.
20327
20328 @table @code
20329 @item target sim @var{args}
20330 @kindex sim
20331 @kindex target sim@r{, with Z8000}
20332 Debug programs on a simulated CPU. If the simulator supports setup
20333 options, specify them via @var{args}.
20334 @end table
20335
20336 @noindent
20337 After specifying this target, you can debug programs for the simulated
20338 CPU in the same style as programs for your host computer; use the
20339 @code{file} command to load a new program image, the @code{run} command
20340 to run your program, and so on.
20341
20342 As well as making available all the usual machine registers
20343 (@pxref{Registers, ,Registers}), the Z8000 simulator provides three
20344 additional items of information as specially named registers:
20345
20346 @table @code
20347
20348 @item cycles
20349 Counts clock-ticks in the simulator.
20350
20351 @item insts
20352 Counts instructions run in the simulator.
20353
20354 @item time
20355 Execution time in 60ths of a second.
20356
20357 @end table
20358
20359 You can refer to these values in @value{GDBN} expressions with the usual
20360 conventions; for example, @w{@samp{b fputc if $cycles>5000}} sets a
20361 conditional breakpoint that suspends only after at least 5000
20362 simulated clock ticks.
20363
20364 @node AVR
20365 @subsection Atmel AVR
20366 @cindex AVR
20367
20368 When configured for debugging the Atmel AVR, @value{GDBN} supports the
20369 following AVR-specific commands:
20370
20371 @table @code
20372 @item info io_registers
20373 @kindex info io_registers@r{, AVR}
20374 @cindex I/O registers (Atmel AVR)
20375 This command displays information about the AVR I/O registers. For
20376 each register, @value{GDBN} prints its number and value.
20377 @end table
20378
20379 @node CRIS
20380 @subsection CRIS
20381 @cindex CRIS
20382
20383 When configured for debugging CRIS, @value{GDBN} provides the
20384 following CRIS-specific commands:
20385
20386 @table @code
20387 @item set cris-version @var{ver}
20388 @cindex CRIS version
20389 Set the current CRIS version to @var{ver}, either @samp{10} or @samp{32}.
20390 The CRIS version affects register names and sizes. This command is useful in
20391 case autodetection of the CRIS version fails.
20392
20393 @item show cris-version
20394 Show the current CRIS version.
20395
20396 @item set cris-dwarf2-cfi
20397 @cindex DWARF-2 CFI and CRIS
20398 Set the usage of DWARF-2 CFI for CRIS debugging. The default is @samp{on}.
20399 Change to @samp{off} when using @code{gcc-cris} whose version is below
20400 @code{R59}.
20401
20402 @item show cris-dwarf2-cfi
20403 Show the current state of using DWARF-2 CFI.
20404
20405 @item set cris-mode @var{mode}
20406 @cindex CRIS mode
20407 Set the current CRIS mode to @var{mode}. It should only be changed when
20408 debugging in guru mode, in which case it should be set to
20409 @samp{guru} (the default is @samp{normal}).
20410
20411 @item show cris-mode
20412 Show the current CRIS mode.
20413 @end table
20414
20415 @node Super-H
20416 @subsection Renesas Super-H
20417 @cindex Super-H
20418
20419 For the Renesas Super-H processor, @value{GDBN} provides these
20420 commands:
20421
20422 @table @code
20423 @item regs
20424 @kindex regs@r{, Super-H}
20425 Show the values of all Super-H registers.
20426
20427 @item set sh calling-convention @var{convention}
20428 @kindex set sh calling-convention
20429 Set the calling-convention used when calling functions from @value{GDBN}.
20430 Allowed values are @samp{gcc}, which is the default setting, and @samp{renesas}.
20431 With the @samp{gcc} setting, functions are called using the @value{NGCC} calling
20432 convention. If the DWARF-2 information of the called function specifies
20433 that the function follows the Renesas calling convention, the function
20434 is called using the Renesas calling convention. If the calling convention
20435 is set to @samp{renesas}, the Renesas calling convention is always used,
20436 regardless of the DWARF-2 information. This can be used to override the
20437 default of @samp{gcc} if debug information is missing, or the compiler
20438 does not emit the DWARF-2 calling convention entry for a function.
20439
20440 @item show sh calling-convention
20441 @kindex show sh calling-convention
20442 Show the current calling convention setting.
20443
20444 @end table
20445
20446
20447 @node Architectures
20448 @section Architectures
20449
20450 This section describes characteristics of architectures that affect
20451 all uses of @value{GDBN} with the architecture, both native and cross.
20452
20453 @menu
20454 * i386::
20455 * Alpha::
20456 * MIPS::
20457 * HPPA:: HP PA architecture
20458 * SPU:: Cell Broadband Engine SPU architecture
20459 * PowerPC::
20460 @end menu
20461
20462 @node i386
20463 @subsection x86 Architecture-specific Issues
20464
20465 @table @code
20466 @item set struct-convention @var{mode}
20467 @kindex set struct-convention
20468 @cindex struct return convention
20469 @cindex struct/union returned in registers
20470 Set the convention used by the inferior to return @code{struct}s and
20471 @code{union}s from functions to @var{mode}. Possible values of
20472 @var{mode} are @code{"pcc"}, @code{"reg"}, and @code{"default"} (the
20473 default). @code{"default"} or @code{"pcc"} means that @code{struct}s
20474 are returned on the stack, while @code{"reg"} means that a
20475 @code{struct} or a @code{union} whose size is 1, 2, 4, or 8 bytes will
20476 be returned in a register.
20477
20478 @item show struct-convention
20479 @kindex show struct-convention
20480 Show the current setting of the convention to return @code{struct}s
20481 from functions.
20482 @end table
20483
20484 @node Alpha
20485 @subsection Alpha
20486
20487 See the following section.
20488
20489 @node MIPS
20490 @subsection MIPS
20491
20492 @cindex stack on Alpha
20493 @cindex stack on MIPS
20494 @cindex Alpha stack
20495 @cindex MIPS stack
20496 Alpha- and MIPS-based computers use an unusual stack frame, which
20497 sometimes requires @value{GDBN} to search backward in the object code to
20498 find the beginning of a function.
20499
20500 @cindex response time, MIPS debugging
20501 To improve response time (especially for embedded applications, where
20502 @value{GDBN} may be restricted to a slow serial line for this search)
20503 you may want to limit the size of this search, using one of these
20504 commands:
20505
20506 @table @code
20507 @cindex @code{heuristic-fence-post} (Alpha, MIPS)
20508 @item set heuristic-fence-post @var{limit}
20509 Restrict @value{GDBN} to examining at most @var{limit} bytes in its
20510 search for the beginning of a function. A value of @var{0} (the
20511 default) means there is no limit. However, except for @var{0}, the
20512 larger the limit the more bytes @code{heuristic-fence-post} must search
20513 and therefore the longer it takes to run. You should only need to use
20514 this command when debugging a stripped executable.
20515
20516 @item show heuristic-fence-post
20517 Display the current limit.
20518 @end table
20519
20520 @noindent
20521 These commands are available @emph{only} when @value{GDBN} is configured
20522 for debugging programs on Alpha or MIPS processors.
20523
20524 Several MIPS-specific commands are available when debugging MIPS
20525 programs:
20526
20527 @table @code
20528 @item set mips abi @var{arg}
20529 @kindex set mips abi
20530 @cindex set ABI for MIPS
20531 Tell @value{GDBN} which MIPS ABI is used by the inferior. Possible
20532 values of @var{arg} are:
20533
20534 @table @samp
20535 @item auto
20536 The default ABI associated with the current binary (this is the
20537 default).
20538 @item o32
20539 @item o64
20540 @item n32
20541 @item n64
20542 @item eabi32
20543 @item eabi64
20544 @end table
20545
20546 @item show mips abi
20547 @kindex show mips abi
20548 Show the MIPS ABI used by @value{GDBN} to debug the inferior.
20549
20550 @item set mipsfpu
20551 @itemx show mipsfpu
20552 @xref{MIPS Embedded, set mipsfpu}.
20553
20554 @item set mips mask-address @var{arg}
20555 @kindex set mips mask-address
20556 @cindex MIPS addresses, masking
20557 This command determines whether the most-significant 32 bits of 64-bit
20558 MIPS addresses are masked off. The argument @var{arg} can be
20559 @samp{on}, @samp{off}, or @samp{auto}. The latter is the default
20560 setting, which lets @value{GDBN} determine the correct value.
20561
20562 @item show mips mask-address
20563 @kindex show mips mask-address
20564 Show whether the upper 32 bits of MIPS addresses are masked off or
20565 not.
20566
20567 @item set remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs
20568 @kindex set remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs
20569 This command controls compatibility with 64-bit MIPS targets that
20570 transfer data in 32-bit quantities. If you have an old MIPS 64 target
20571 that transfers 32 bits for some registers, like @sc{sr} and @sc{fsr},
20572 and 64 bits for other registers, set this option to @samp{on}.
20573
20574 @item show remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs
20575 @kindex show remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs
20576 Show the current setting of compatibility with older MIPS 64 targets.
20577
20578 @item set debug mips
20579 @kindex set debug mips
20580 This command turns on and off debugging messages for the MIPS-specific
20581 target code in @value{GDBN}.
20582
20583 @item show debug mips
20584 @kindex show debug mips
20585 Show the current setting of MIPS debugging messages.
20586 @end table
20587
20588
20589 @node HPPA
20590 @subsection HPPA
20591 @cindex HPPA support
20592
20593 When @value{GDBN} is debugging the HP PA architecture, it provides the
20594 following special commands:
20595
20596 @table @code
20597 @item set debug hppa
20598 @kindex set debug hppa
20599 This command determines whether HPPA architecture-specific debugging
20600 messages are to be displayed.
20601
20602 @item show debug hppa
20603 Show whether HPPA debugging messages are displayed.
20604
20605 @item maint print unwind @var{address}
20606 @kindex maint print unwind@r{, HPPA}
20607 This command displays the contents of the unwind table entry at the
20608 given @var{address}.
20609
20610 @end table
20611
20612
20613 @node SPU
20614 @subsection Cell Broadband Engine SPU architecture
20615 @cindex Cell Broadband Engine
20616 @cindex SPU
20617
20618 When @value{GDBN} is debugging the Cell Broadband Engine SPU architecture,
20619 it provides the following special commands:
20620
20621 @table @code
20622 @item info spu event
20623 @kindex info spu
20624 Display SPU event facility status. Shows current event mask
20625 and pending event status.
20626
20627 @item info spu signal
20628 Display SPU signal notification facility status. Shows pending
20629 signal-control word and signal notification mode of both signal
20630 notification channels.
20631
20632 @item info spu mailbox
20633 Display SPU mailbox facility status. Shows all pending entries,
20634 in order of processing, in each of the SPU Write Outbound,
20635 SPU Write Outbound Interrupt, and SPU Read Inbound mailboxes.
20636
20637 @item info spu dma
20638 Display MFC DMA status. Shows all pending commands in the MFC
20639 DMA queue. For each entry, opcode, tag, class IDs, effective
20640 and local store addresses and transfer size are shown.
20641
20642 @item info spu proxydma
20643 Display MFC Proxy-DMA status. Shows all pending commands in the MFC
20644 Proxy-DMA queue. For each entry, opcode, tag, class IDs, effective
20645 and local store addresses and transfer size are shown.
20646
20647 @end table
20648
20649 When @value{GDBN} is debugging a combined PowerPC/SPU application
20650 on the Cell Broadband Engine, it provides in addition the following
20651 special commands:
20652
20653 @table @code
20654 @item set spu stop-on-load @var{arg}
20655 @kindex set spu
20656 Set whether to stop for new SPE threads. When set to @code{on}, @value{GDBN}
20657 will give control to the user when a new SPE thread enters its @code{main}
20658 function. The default is @code{off}.
20659
20660 @item show spu stop-on-load
20661 @kindex show spu
20662 Show whether to stop for new SPE threads.
20663
20664 @item set spu auto-flush-cache @var{arg}
20665 Set whether to automatically flush the software-managed cache. When set to
20666 @code{on}, @value{GDBN} will automatically cause the SPE software-managed
20667 cache to be flushed whenever SPE execution stops. This provides a consistent
20668 view of PowerPC memory that is accessed via the cache. If an application
20669 does not use the software-managed cache, this option has no effect.
20670
20671 @item show spu auto-flush-cache
20672 Show whether to automatically flush the software-managed cache.
20673
20674 @end table
20675
20676 @node PowerPC
20677 @subsection PowerPC
20678 @cindex PowerPC architecture
20679
20680 When @value{GDBN} is debugging the PowerPC architecture, it provides a set of
20681 pseudo-registers to enable inspection of 128-bit wide Decimal Floating Point
20682 numbers stored in the floating point registers. These values must be stored
20683 in two consecutive registers, always starting at an even register like
20684 @code{f0} or @code{f2}.
20685
20686 The pseudo-registers go from @code{$dl0} through @code{$dl15}, and are formed
20687 by joining the even/odd register pairs @code{f0} and @code{f1} for @code{$dl0},
20688 @code{f2} and @code{f3} for @code{$dl1} and so on.
20689
20690 For POWER7 processors, @value{GDBN} provides a set of pseudo-registers, the 64-bit
20691 wide Extended Floating Point Registers (@samp{f32} through @samp{f63}).
20692
20693
20694 @node Controlling GDB
20695 @chapter Controlling @value{GDBN}
20696
20697 You can alter the way @value{GDBN} interacts with you by using the
20698 @code{set} command. For commands controlling how @value{GDBN} displays
20699 data, see @ref{Print Settings, ,Print Settings}. Other settings are
20700 described here.
20701
20702 @menu
20703 * Prompt:: Prompt
20704 * Editing:: Command editing
20705 * Command History:: Command history
20706 * Screen Size:: Screen size
20707 * Numbers:: Numbers
20708 * ABI:: Configuring the current ABI
20709 * Auto-loading:: Automatically loading associated files
20710 * Messages/Warnings:: Optional warnings and messages
20711 * Debugging Output:: Optional messages about internal happenings
20712 * Other Misc Settings:: Other Miscellaneous Settings
20713 @end menu
20714
20715 @node Prompt
20716 @section Prompt
20717
20718 @cindex prompt
20719
20720 @value{GDBN} indicates its readiness to read a command by printing a string
20721 called the @dfn{prompt}. This string is normally @samp{(@value{GDBP})}. You
20722 can change the prompt string with the @code{set prompt} command. For
20723 instance, when debugging @value{GDBN} with @value{GDBN}, it is useful to change
20724 the prompt in one of the @value{GDBN} sessions so that you can always tell
20725 which one you are talking to.
20726
20727 @emph{Note:} @code{set prompt} does not add a space for you after the
20728 prompt you set. This allows you to set a prompt which ends in a space
20729 or a prompt that does not.
20730
20731 @table @code
20732 @kindex set prompt
20733 @item set prompt @var{newprompt}
20734 Directs @value{GDBN} to use @var{newprompt} as its prompt string henceforth.
20735
20736 @kindex show prompt
20737 @item show prompt
20738 Prints a line of the form: @samp{Gdb's prompt is: @var{your-prompt}}
20739 @end table
20740
20741 Versions of @value{GDBN} that ship with Python scripting enabled have
20742 prompt extensions. The commands for interacting with these extensions
20743 are:
20744
20745 @table @code
20746 @kindex set extended-prompt
20747 @item set extended-prompt @var{prompt}
20748 Set an extended prompt that allows for substitutions.
20749 @xref{gdb.prompt}, for a list of escape sequences that can be used for
20750 substitution. Any escape sequences specified as part of the prompt
20751 string are replaced with the corresponding strings each time the prompt
20752 is displayed.
20753
20754 For example:
20755
20756 @smallexample
20757 set extended-prompt Current working directory: \w (gdb)
20758 @end smallexample
20759
20760 Note that when an extended-prompt is set, it takes control of the
20761 @var{prompt_hook} hook. @xref{prompt_hook}, for further information.
20762
20763 @kindex show extended-prompt
20764 @item show extended-prompt
20765 Prints the extended prompt. Any escape sequences specified as part of
20766 the prompt string with @code{set extended-prompt}, are replaced with the
20767 corresponding strings each time the prompt is displayed.
20768 @end table
20769
20770 @node Editing
20771 @section Command Editing
20772 @cindex readline
20773 @cindex command line editing
20774
20775 @value{GDBN} reads its input commands via the @dfn{Readline} interface. This
20776 @sc{gnu} library provides consistent behavior for programs which provide a
20777 command line interface to the user. Advantages are @sc{gnu} Emacs-style
20778 or @dfn{vi}-style inline editing of commands, @code{csh}-like history
20779 substitution, and a storage and recall of command history across
20780 debugging sessions.
20781
20782 You may control the behavior of command line editing in @value{GDBN} with the
20783 command @code{set}.
20784
20785 @table @code
20786 @kindex set editing
20787 @cindex editing
20788 @item set editing
20789 @itemx set editing on
20790 Enable command line editing (enabled by default).
20791
20792 @item set editing off
20793 Disable command line editing.
20794
20795 @kindex show editing
20796 @item show editing
20797 Show whether command line editing is enabled.
20798 @end table
20799
20800 @ifset SYSTEM_READLINE
20801 @xref{Command Line Editing, , , rluserman, GNU Readline Library},
20802 @end ifset
20803 @ifclear SYSTEM_READLINE
20804 @xref{Command Line Editing},
20805 @end ifclear
20806 for more details about the Readline
20807 interface. Users unfamiliar with @sc{gnu} Emacs or @code{vi} are
20808 encouraged to read that chapter.
20809
20810 @node Command History
20811 @section Command History
20812 @cindex command history
20813
20814 @value{GDBN} can keep track of the commands you type during your
20815 debugging sessions, so that you can be certain of precisely what
20816 happened. Use these commands to manage the @value{GDBN} command
20817 history facility.
20818
20819 @value{GDBN} uses the @sc{gnu} History library, a part of the Readline
20820 package, to provide the history facility.
20821 @ifset SYSTEM_READLINE
20822 @xref{Using History Interactively, , , history, GNU History Library},
20823 @end ifset
20824 @ifclear SYSTEM_READLINE
20825 @xref{Using History Interactively},
20826 @end ifclear
20827 for the detailed description of the History library.
20828
20829 To issue a command to @value{GDBN} without affecting certain aspects of
20830 the state which is seen by users, prefix it with @samp{server }
20831 (@pxref{Server Prefix}). This
20832 means that this command will not affect the command history, nor will it
20833 affect @value{GDBN}'s notion of which command to repeat if @key{RET} is
20834 pressed on a line by itself.
20835
20836 @cindex @code{server}, command prefix
20837 The server prefix does not affect the recording of values into the value
20838 history; to print a value without recording it into the value history,
20839 use the @code{output} command instead of the @code{print} command.
20840
20841 Here is the description of @value{GDBN} commands related to command
20842 history.
20843
20844 @table @code
20845 @cindex history substitution
20846 @cindex history file
20847 @kindex set history filename
20848 @cindex @env{GDBHISTFILE}, environment variable
20849 @item set history filename @var{fname}
20850 Set the name of the @value{GDBN} command history file to @var{fname}.
20851 This is the file where @value{GDBN} reads an initial command history
20852 list, and where it writes the command history from this session when it
20853 exits. You can access this list through history expansion or through
20854 the history command editing characters listed below. This file defaults
20855 to the value of the environment variable @code{GDBHISTFILE}, or to
20856 @file{./.gdb_history} (@file{./_gdb_history} on MS-DOS) if this variable
20857 is not set.
20858
20859 @cindex save command history
20860 @kindex set history save
20861 @item set history save
20862 @itemx set history save on
20863 Record command history in a file, whose name may be specified with the
20864 @code{set history filename} command. By default, this option is disabled.
20865
20866 @item set history save off
20867 Stop recording command history in a file.
20868
20869 @cindex history size
20870 @kindex set history size
20871 @cindex @env{HISTSIZE}, environment variable
20872 @item set history size @var{size}
20873 Set the number of commands which @value{GDBN} keeps in its history list.
20874 This defaults to the value of the environment variable
20875 @code{HISTSIZE}, or to 256 if this variable is not set.
20876 @end table
20877
20878 History expansion assigns special meaning to the character @kbd{!}.
20879 @ifset SYSTEM_READLINE
20880 @xref{Event Designators, , , history, GNU History Library},
20881 @end ifset
20882 @ifclear SYSTEM_READLINE
20883 @xref{Event Designators},
20884 @end ifclear
20885 for more details.
20886
20887 @cindex history expansion, turn on/off
20888 Since @kbd{!} is also the logical not operator in C, history expansion
20889 is off by default. If you decide to enable history expansion with the
20890 @code{set history expansion on} command, you may sometimes need to
20891 follow @kbd{!} (when it is used as logical not, in an expression) with
20892 a space or a tab to prevent it from being expanded. The readline
20893 history facilities do not attempt substitution on the strings
20894 @kbd{!=} and @kbd{!(}, even when history expansion is enabled.
20895
20896 The commands to control history expansion are:
20897
20898 @table @code
20899 @item set history expansion on
20900 @itemx set history expansion
20901 @kindex set history expansion
20902 Enable history expansion. History expansion is off by default.
20903
20904 @item set history expansion off
20905 Disable history expansion.
20906
20907 @c @group
20908 @kindex show history
20909 @item show history
20910 @itemx show history filename
20911 @itemx show history save
20912 @itemx show history size
20913 @itemx show history expansion
20914 These commands display the state of the @value{GDBN} history parameters.
20915 @code{show history} by itself displays all four states.
20916 @c @end group
20917 @end table
20918
20919 @table @code
20920 @kindex show commands
20921 @cindex show last commands
20922 @cindex display command history
20923 @item show commands
20924 Display the last ten commands in the command history.
20925
20926 @item show commands @var{n}
20927 Print ten commands centered on command number @var{n}.
20928
20929 @item show commands +
20930 Print ten commands just after the commands last printed.
20931 @end table
20932
20933 @node Screen Size
20934 @section Screen Size
20935 @cindex size of screen
20936 @cindex pauses in output
20937
20938 Certain commands to @value{GDBN} may produce large amounts of
20939 information output to the screen. To help you read all of it,
20940 @value{GDBN} pauses and asks you for input at the end of each page of
20941 output. Type @key{RET} when you want to continue the output, or @kbd{q}
20942 to discard the remaining output. Also, the screen width setting
20943 determines when to wrap lines of output. Depending on what is being
20944 printed, @value{GDBN} tries to break the line at a readable place,
20945 rather than simply letting it overflow onto the following line.
20946
20947 Normally @value{GDBN} knows the size of the screen from the terminal
20948 driver software. For example, on Unix @value{GDBN} uses the termcap data base
20949 together with the value of the @code{TERM} environment variable and the
20950 @code{stty rows} and @code{stty cols} settings. If this is not correct,
20951 you can override it with the @code{set height} and @code{set
20952 width} commands:
20953
20954 @table @code
20955 @kindex set height
20956 @kindex set width
20957 @kindex show width
20958 @kindex show height
20959 @item set height @var{lpp}
20960 @itemx show height
20961 @itemx set width @var{cpl}
20962 @itemx show width
20963 These @code{set} commands specify a screen height of @var{lpp} lines and
20964 a screen width of @var{cpl} characters. The associated @code{show}
20965 commands display the current settings.
20966
20967 If you specify a height of zero lines, @value{GDBN} does not pause during
20968 output no matter how long the output is. This is useful if output is to a
20969 file or to an editor buffer.
20970
20971 Likewise, you can specify @samp{set width 0} to prevent @value{GDBN}
20972 from wrapping its output.
20973
20974 @item set pagination on
20975 @itemx set pagination off
20976 @kindex set pagination
20977 Turn the output pagination on or off; the default is on. Turning
20978 pagination off is the alternative to @code{set height 0}. Note that
20979 running @value{GDBN} with the @option{--batch} option (@pxref{Mode
20980 Options, -batch}) also automatically disables pagination.
20981
20982 @item show pagination
20983 @kindex show pagination
20984 Show the current pagination mode.
20985 @end table
20986
20987 @node Numbers
20988 @section Numbers
20989 @cindex number representation
20990 @cindex entering numbers
20991
20992 You can always enter numbers in octal, decimal, or hexadecimal in
20993 @value{GDBN} by the usual conventions: octal numbers begin with
20994 @samp{0}, decimal numbers end with @samp{.}, and hexadecimal numbers
20995 begin with @samp{0x}. Numbers that neither begin with @samp{0} or
20996 @samp{0x}, nor end with a @samp{.} are, by default, entered in base
20997 10; likewise, the default display for numbers---when no particular
20998 format is specified---is base 10. You can change the default base for
20999 both input and output with the commands described below.
21000
21001 @table @code
21002 @kindex set input-radix
21003 @item set input-radix @var{base}
21004 Set the default base for numeric input. Supported choices
21005 for @var{base} are decimal 8, 10, or 16. @var{base} must itself be
21006 specified either unambiguously or using the current input radix; for
21007 example, any of
21008
21009 @smallexample
21010 set input-radix 012
21011 set input-radix 10.
21012 set input-radix 0xa
21013 @end smallexample
21014
21015 @noindent
21016 sets the input base to decimal. On the other hand, @samp{set input-radix 10}
21017 leaves the input radix unchanged, no matter what it was, since
21018 @samp{10}, being without any leading or trailing signs of its base, is
21019 interpreted in the current radix. Thus, if the current radix is 16,
21020 @samp{10} is interpreted in hex, i.e.@: as 16 decimal, which doesn't
21021 change the radix.
21022
21023 @kindex set output-radix
21024 @item set output-radix @var{base}
21025 Set the default base for numeric display. Supported choices
21026 for @var{base} are decimal 8, 10, or 16. @var{base} must itself be
21027 specified either unambiguously or using the current input radix.
21028
21029 @kindex show input-radix
21030 @item show input-radix
21031 Display the current default base for numeric input.
21032
21033 @kindex show output-radix
21034 @item show output-radix
21035 Display the current default base for numeric display.
21036
21037 @item set radix @r{[}@var{base}@r{]}
21038 @itemx show radix
21039 @kindex set radix
21040 @kindex show radix
21041 These commands set and show the default base for both input and output
21042 of numbers. @code{set radix} sets the radix of input and output to
21043 the same base; without an argument, it resets the radix back to its
21044 default value of 10.
21045
21046 @end table
21047
21048 @node ABI
21049 @section Configuring the Current ABI
21050
21051 @value{GDBN} can determine the @dfn{ABI} (Application Binary Interface) of your
21052 application automatically. However, sometimes you need to override its
21053 conclusions. Use these commands to manage @value{GDBN}'s view of the
21054 current ABI.
21055
21056 @cindex OS ABI
21057 @kindex set osabi
21058 @kindex show osabi
21059
21060 One @value{GDBN} configuration can debug binaries for multiple operating
21061 system targets, either via remote debugging or native emulation.
21062 @value{GDBN} will autodetect the @dfn{OS ABI} (Operating System ABI) in use,
21063 but you can override its conclusion using the @code{set osabi} command.
21064 One example where this is useful is in debugging of binaries which use
21065 an alternate C library (e.g.@: @sc{uClibc} for @sc{gnu}/Linux) which does
21066 not have the same identifying marks that the standard C library for your
21067 platform provides.
21068
21069 @table @code
21070 @item show osabi
21071 Show the OS ABI currently in use.
21072
21073 @item set osabi
21074 With no argument, show the list of registered available OS ABI's.
21075
21076 @item set osabi @var{abi}
21077 Set the current OS ABI to @var{abi}.
21078 @end table
21079
21080 @cindex float promotion
21081
21082 Generally, the way that an argument of type @code{float} is passed to a
21083 function depends on whether the function is prototyped. For a prototyped
21084 (i.e.@: ANSI/ISO style) function, @code{float} arguments are passed unchanged,
21085 according to the architecture's convention for @code{float}. For unprototyped
21086 (i.e.@: K&R style) functions, @code{float} arguments are first promoted to type
21087 @code{double} and then passed.
21088
21089 Unfortunately, some forms of debug information do not reliably indicate whether
21090 a function is prototyped. If @value{GDBN} calls a function that is not marked
21091 as prototyped, it consults @kbd{set coerce-float-to-double}.
21092
21093 @table @code
21094 @kindex set coerce-float-to-double
21095 @item set coerce-float-to-double
21096 @itemx set coerce-float-to-double on
21097 Arguments of type @code{float} will be promoted to @code{double} when passed
21098 to an unprototyped function. This is the default setting.
21099
21100 @item set coerce-float-to-double off
21101 Arguments of type @code{float} will be passed directly to unprototyped
21102 functions.
21103
21104 @kindex show coerce-float-to-double
21105 @item show coerce-float-to-double
21106 Show the current setting of promoting @code{float} to @code{double}.
21107 @end table
21108
21109 @kindex set cp-abi
21110 @kindex show cp-abi
21111 @value{GDBN} needs to know the ABI used for your program's C@t{++}
21112 objects. The correct C@t{++} ABI depends on which C@t{++} compiler was
21113 used to build your application. @value{GDBN} only fully supports
21114 programs with a single C@t{++} ABI; if your program contains code using
21115 multiple C@t{++} ABI's or if @value{GDBN} can not identify your
21116 program's ABI correctly, you can tell @value{GDBN} which ABI to use.
21117 Currently supported ABI's include ``gnu-v2'', for @code{g++} versions
21118 before 3.0, ``gnu-v3'', for @code{g++} versions 3.0 and later, and
21119 ``hpaCC'' for the HP ANSI C@t{++} compiler. Other C@t{++} compilers may
21120 use the ``gnu-v2'' or ``gnu-v3'' ABI's as well. The default setting is
21121 ``auto''.
21122
21123 @table @code
21124 @item show cp-abi
21125 Show the C@t{++} ABI currently in use.
21126
21127 @item set cp-abi
21128 With no argument, show the list of supported C@t{++} ABI's.
21129
21130 @item set cp-abi @var{abi}
21131 @itemx set cp-abi auto
21132 Set the current C@t{++} ABI to @var{abi}, or return to automatic detection.
21133 @end table
21134
21135 @node Auto-loading
21136 @section Automatically loading associated files
21137 @cindex auto-loading
21138
21139 @value{GDBN} sometimes reads files with commands and settings automatically,
21140 without being explicitly told so by the user. We call this feature
21141 @dfn{auto-loading}. While auto-loading is useful for automatically adapting
21142 @value{GDBN} to the needs of your project, it can sometimes produce unexpected
21143 results or introduce security risks (e.g., if the file comes from untrusted
21144 sources).
21145
21146 Note that loading of these associated files (including the local @file{.gdbinit}
21147 file) requires accordingly configured @code{auto-load safe-path}
21148 (@pxref{Auto-loading safe path}).
21149
21150 For these reasons, @value{GDBN} includes commands and options to let you
21151 control when to auto-load files and which files should be auto-loaded.
21152
21153 @table @code
21154 @anchor{set auto-load off}
21155 @kindex set auto-load off
21156 @item set auto-load off
21157 Globally disable loading of all auto-loaded files.
21158 You may want to use this command with the @samp{-iex} option
21159 (@pxref{Option -init-eval-command}) such as:
21160 @smallexample
21161 $ @kbd{gdb -iex "set auto-load off" untrusted-executable corefile}
21162 @end smallexample
21163
21164 Be aware that system init file (@pxref{System-wide configuration})
21165 and init files from your home directory (@pxref{Home Directory Init File})
21166 still get read (as they come from generally trusted directories).
21167 To prevent @value{GDBN} from auto-loading even those init files, use the
21168 @option{-nx} option (@pxref{Mode Options}), in addition to
21169 @code{set auto-load no}.
21170
21171 @anchor{show auto-load}
21172 @kindex show auto-load
21173 @item show auto-load
21174 Show whether auto-loading of each specific @samp{auto-load} file(s) is enabled
21175 or disabled.
21176
21177 @smallexample
21178 (gdb) show auto-load
21179 gdb-scripts: Auto-loading of canned sequences of commands scripts is on.
21180 libthread-db: Auto-loading of inferior specific libthread_db is on.
21181 local-gdbinit: Auto-loading of .gdbinit script from current directory
21182 is on.
21183 python-scripts: Auto-loading of Python scripts is on.
21184 safe-path: List of directories from which it is safe to auto-load files
21185 is $ddir/auto-load.
21186 scripts-directory: List of directories from which to load auto-loaded scripts
21187 is $ddir/auto-load.
21188 @end smallexample
21189
21190 @anchor{info auto-load}
21191 @kindex info auto-load
21192 @item info auto-load
21193 Print whether each specific @samp{auto-load} file(s) have been auto-loaded or
21194 not.
21195
21196 @smallexample
21197 (gdb) info auto-load
21198 gdb-scripts:
21199 Loaded Script
21200 Yes /home/user/gdb/gdb-gdb.gdb
21201 libthread-db: No auto-loaded libthread-db.
21202 local-gdbinit: Local .gdbinit file "/home/user/gdb/.gdbinit" has been
21203 loaded.
21204 python-scripts:
21205 Loaded Script
21206 Yes /home/user/gdb/gdb-gdb.py
21207 @end smallexample
21208 @end table
21209
21210 These are various kinds of files @value{GDBN} can automatically load:
21211
21212 @itemize @bullet
21213 @item
21214 @xref{objfile-gdb.py file}, controlled by @ref{set auto-load python-scripts}.
21215 @item
21216 @xref{objfile-gdb.gdb file}, controlled by @ref{set auto-load gdb-scripts}.
21217 @item
21218 @xref{dotdebug_gdb_scripts section},
21219 controlled by @ref{set auto-load python-scripts}.
21220 @item
21221 @xref{Init File in the Current Directory},
21222 controlled by @ref{set auto-load local-gdbinit}.
21223 @item
21224 @xref{libthread_db.so.1 file}, controlled by @ref{set auto-load libthread-db}.
21225 @end itemize
21226
21227 These are @value{GDBN} control commands for the auto-loading:
21228
21229 @multitable @columnfractions .5 .5
21230 @item @xref{set auto-load off}.
21231 @tab Disable auto-loading globally.
21232 @item @xref{show auto-load}.
21233 @tab Show setting of all kinds of files.
21234 @item @xref{info auto-load}.
21235 @tab Show state of all kinds of files.
21236 @item @xref{set auto-load gdb-scripts}.
21237 @tab Control for @value{GDBN} command scripts.
21238 @item @xref{show auto-load gdb-scripts}.
21239 @tab Show setting of @value{GDBN} command scripts.
21240 @item @xref{info auto-load gdb-scripts}.
21241 @tab Show state of @value{GDBN} command scripts.
21242 @item @xref{set auto-load python-scripts}.
21243 @tab Control for @value{GDBN} Python scripts.
21244 @item @xref{show auto-load python-scripts}.
21245 @tab Show setting of @value{GDBN} Python scripts.
21246 @item @xref{info auto-load python-scripts}.
21247 @tab Show state of @value{GDBN} Python scripts.
21248 @item @xref{set auto-load scripts-directory}.
21249 @tab Control for @value{GDBN} auto-loaded scripts location.
21250 @item @xref{show auto-load scripts-directory}.
21251 @tab Show @value{GDBN} auto-loaded scripts location.
21252 @item @xref{set auto-load local-gdbinit}.
21253 @tab Control for init file in the current directory.
21254 @item @xref{show auto-load local-gdbinit}.
21255 @tab Show setting of init file in the current directory.
21256 @item @xref{info auto-load local-gdbinit}.
21257 @tab Show state of init file in the current directory.
21258 @item @xref{set auto-load libthread-db}.
21259 @tab Control for thread debugging library.
21260 @item @xref{show auto-load libthread-db}.
21261 @tab Show setting of thread debugging library.
21262 @item @xref{info auto-load libthread-db}.
21263 @tab Show state of thread debugging library.
21264 @item @xref{set auto-load safe-path}.
21265 @tab Control directories trusted for automatic loading.
21266 @item @xref{show auto-load safe-path}.
21267 @tab Show directories trusted for automatic loading.
21268 @item @xref{add-auto-load-safe-path}.
21269 @tab Add directory trusted for automatic loading.
21270 @end multitable
21271
21272 @menu
21273 * Init File in the Current Directory:: @samp{set/show/info auto-load local-gdbinit}
21274 * libthread_db.so.1 file:: @samp{set/show/info auto-load libthread-db}
21275 * objfile-gdb.gdb file:: @samp{set/show/info auto-load gdb-script}
21276 * Auto-loading safe path:: @samp{set/show/info auto-load safe-path}
21277 * Auto-loading verbose mode:: @samp{set/show debug auto-load}
21278 @xref{Python Auto-loading}.
21279 @end menu
21280
21281 @node Init File in the Current Directory
21282 @subsection Automatically loading init file in the current directory
21283 @cindex auto-loading init file in the current directory
21284
21285 By default, @value{GDBN} reads and executes the canned sequences of commands
21286 from init file (if any) in the current working directory,
21287 see @ref{Init File in the Current Directory during Startup}.
21288
21289 Note that loading of this local @file{.gdbinit} file also requires accordingly
21290 configured @code{auto-load safe-path} (@pxref{Auto-loading safe path}).
21291
21292 @table @code
21293 @anchor{set auto-load local-gdbinit}
21294 @kindex set auto-load local-gdbinit
21295 @item set auto-load local-gdbinit [on|off]
21296 Enable or disable the auto-loading of canned sequences of commands
21297 (@pxref{Sequences}) found in init file in the current directory.
21298
21299 @anchor{show auto-load local-gdbinit}
21300 @kindex show auto-load local-gdbinit
21301 @item show auto-load local-gdbinit
21302 Show whether auto-loading of canned sequences of commands from init file in the
21303 current directory is enabled or disabled.
21304
21305 @anchor{info auto-load local-gdbinit}
21306 @kindex info auto-load local-gdbinit
21307 @item info auto-load local-gdbinit
21308 Print whether canned sequences of commands from init file in the
21309 current directory have been auto-loaded.
21310 @end table
21311
21312 @node libthread_db.so.1 file
21313 @subsection Automatically loading thread debugging library
21314 @cindex auto-loading libthread_db.so.1
21315
21316 This feature is currently present only on @sc{gnu}/Linux native hosts.
21317
21318 @value{GDBN} reads in some cases thread debugging library from places specific
21319 to the inferior (@pxref{set libthread-db-search-path}).
21320
21321 The special @samp{libthread-db-search-path} entry @samp{$sdir} is processed
21322 without checking this @samp{set auto-load libthread-db} switch as system
21323 libraries have to be trusted in general. In all other cases of
21324 @samp{libthread-db-search-path} entries @value{GDBN} checks first if @samp{set
21325 auto-load libthread-db} is enabled before trying to open such thread debugging
21326 library.
21327
21328 Note that loading of this debugging library also requires accordingly configured
21329 @code{auto-load safe-path} (@pxref{Auto-loading safe path}).
21330
21331 @table @code
21332 @anchor{set auto-load libthread-db}
21333 @kindex set auto-load libthread-db
21334 @item set auto-load libthread-db [on|off]
21335 Enable or disable the auto-loading of inferior specific thread debugging library.
21336
21337 @anchor{show auto-load libthread-db}
21338 @kindex show auto-load libthread-db
21339 @item show auto-load libthread-db
21340 Show whether auto-loading of inferior specific thread debugging library is
21341 enabled or disabled.
21342
21343 @anchor{info auto-load libthread-db}
21344 @kindex info auto-load libthread-db
21345 @item info auto-load libthread-db
21346 Print the list of all loaded inferior specific thread debugging libraries and
21347 for each such library print list of inferior @var{pid}s using it.
21348 @end table
21349
21350 @node objfile-gdb.gdb file
21351 @subsection The @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.gdb} file
21352 @cindex auto-loading @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.gdb}
21353
21354 @value{GDBN} tries to load an @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.gdb} file containing
21355 canned sequences of commands (@pxref{Sequences}), as long as @samp{set
21356 auto-load gdb-scripts} is set to @samp{on}.
21357
21358 Note that loading of this script file also requires accordingly configured
21359 @code{auto-load safe-path} (@pxref{Auto-loading safe path}).
21360
21361 For more background refer to the similar Python scripts auto-loading
21362 description (@pxref{objfile-gdb.py file}).
21363
21364 @table @code
21365 @anchor{set auto-load gdb-scripts}
21366 @kindex set auto-load gdb-scripts
21367 @item set auto-load gdb-scripts [on|off]
21368 Enable or disable the auto-loading of canned sequences of commands scripts.
21369
21370 @anchor{show auto-load gdb-scripts}
21371 @kindex show auto-load gdb-scripts
21372 @item show auto-load gdb-scripts
21373 Show whether auto-loading of canned sequences of commands scripts is enabled or
21374 disabled.
21375
21376 @anchor{info auto-load gdb-scripts}
21377 @kindex info auto-load gdb-scripts
21378 @cindex print list of auto-loaded canned sequences of commands scripts
21379 @item info auto-load gdb-scripts [@var{regexp}]
21380 Print the list of all canned sequences of commands scripts that @value{GDBN}
21381 auto-loaded.
21382 @end table
21383
21384 If @var{regexp} is supplied only canned sequences of commands scripts with
21385 matching names are printed.
21386
21387 @node Auto-loading safe path
21388 @subsection Security restriction for auto-loading
21389 @cindex auto-loading safe-path
21390
21391 As the files of inferior can come from untrusted source (such as submitted by
21392 an application user) @value{GDBN} does not always load any files automatically.
21393 @value{GDBN} provides the @samp{set auto-load safe-path} setting to list
21394 directories trusted for loading files not explicitly requested by user.
21395
21396 If the path is not set properly you will see a warning and the file will not
21397 get loaded:
21398
21399 @smallexample
21400 $ ./gdb -q ./gdb
21401 Reading symbols from /home/user/gdb/gdb...done.
21402 warning: File "/home/user/gdb/gdb-gdb.gdb" auto-loading has been
21403 declined by your `auto-load safe-path' set to "$ddir/auto-load".
21404 warning: File "/home/user/gdb/gdb-gdb.py" auto-loading has been
21405 declined by your `auto-load safe-path' set to "$ddir/auto-load".
21406 @end smallexample
21407
21408 The list of trusted directories is controlled by the following commands:
21409
21410 @table @code
21411 @anchor{set auto-load safe-path}
21412 @kindex set auto-load safe-path
21413 @item set auto-load safe-path @r{[}@var{directories}@r{]}
21414 Set the list of directories (and their subdirectories) trusted for automatic
21415 loading and execution of scripts. You can also enter a specific trusted file.
21416 If you omit @var{directories}, @samp{auto-load safe-path} will be reset to
21417 its default value as specified during @value{GDBN} compilation.
21418
21419 The list of directories uses path separator (@samp{:} on GNU and Unix
21420 systems, @samp{;} on MS-Windows and MS-DOS) to separate directories, similarly
21421 to the @env{PATH} environment variable.
21422
21423 @anchor{show auto-load safe-path}
21424 @kindex show auto-load safe-path
21425 @item show auto-load safe-path
21426 Show the list of directories trusted for automatic loading and execution of
21427 scripts.
21428
21429 @anchor{add-auto-load-safe-path}
21430 @kindex add-auto-load-safe-path
21431 @item add-auto-load-safe-path
21432 Add an entry (or list of entries) the list of directories trusted for automatic
21433 loading and execution of scripts. Multiple entries may be delimited by the
21434 host platform path separator in use.
21435 @end table
21436
21437 This variable defaults to what @code{--with-auto-load-dir} has been configured
21438 to (@pxref{with-auto-load-dir}). @file{$ddir} substituation applies the same
21439 as for @xref{set auto-load scripts-directory}.
21440 The default @code{set
21441 auto-load safe-path} value can be also overriden by @value{GDBN} configuration
21442 option @option{--with-auto-load-safe-path}.
21443
21444 Setting this variable to @file{/} disables this security protection,
21445 corresponding @value{GDBN} configuration option is
21446 @option{--without-auto-load-safe-path}.
21447 This variable is supposed to be set to the system directories writable by the
21448 system superuser only. Users can add their source directories in init files in
21449 their home directories (@pxref{Home Directory Init File}). See also deprecated
21450 init file in the current directory
21451 (@pxref{Init File in the Current Directory during Startup}).
21452
21453 To force @value{GDBN} to load the files it declined to load in the previous
21454 example, you could use one of the following ways:
21455
21456 @table @asis
21457 @item @file{~/.gdbinit}: @samp{add-auto-load-safe-path ~/src/gdb}
21458 Specify this trusted directory (or a file) as additional component of the list.
21459 You have to specify also any existing directories displayed by
21460 by @samp{show auto-load safe-path} (such as @samp{/usr:/bin} in this example).
21461
21462 @item @kbd{gdb -iex "set auto-load safe-path /usr:/bin:~/src/gdb" @dots{}}
21463 Specify this directory as in the previous case but just for a single
21464 @value{GDBN} session.
21465
21466 @item @kbd{gdb -iex "set auto-load safe-path /" @dots{}}
21467 Disable auto-loading safety for a single @value{GDBN} session.
21468 This assumes all the files you debug during this @value{GDBN} session will come
21469 from trusted sources.
21470
21471 @item @kbd{./configure --without-auto-load-safe-path}
21472 During compilation of @value{GDBN} you may disable any auto-loading safety.
21473 This assumes all the files you will ever debug with this @value{GDBN} come from
21474 trusted sources.
21475 @end table
21476
21477 On the other hand you can also explicitly forbid automatic files loading which
21478 also suppresses any such warning messages:
21479
21480 @table @asis
21481 @item @kbd{gdb -iex "set auto-load no" @dots{}}
21482 You can use @value{GDBN} command-line option for a single @value{GDBN} session.
21483
21484 @item @file{~/.gdbinit}: @samp{set auto-load no}
21485 Disable auto-loading globally for the user
21486 (@pxref{Home Directory Init File}). While it is improbable, you could also
21487 use system init file instead (@pxref{System-wide configuration}).
21488 @end table
21489
21490 This setting applies to the file names as entered by user. If no entry matches
21491 @value{GDBN} tries as a last resort to also resolve all the file names into
21492 their canonical form (typically resolving symbolic links) and compare the
21493 entries again. @value{GDBN} already canonicalizes most of the filenames on its
21494 own before starting the comparison so a canonical form of directories is
21495 recommended to be entered.
21496
21497 @node Auto-loading verbose mode
21498 @subsection Displaying files tried for auto-load
21499 @cindex auto-loading verbose mode
21500
21501 For better visibility of all the file locations where you can place scripts to
21502 be auto-loaded with inferior --- or to protect yourself against accidental
21503 execution of untrusted scripts --- @value{GDBN} provides a feature for printing
21504 all the files attempted to be loaded. Both existing and non-existing files may
21505 be printed.
21506
21507 For example the list of directories from which it is safe to auto-load files
21508 (@pxref{Auto-loading safe path}) applies also to canonicalized filenames which
21509 may not be too obvious while setting it up.
21510
21511 @smallexample
21512 (gdb) set debug auto-load on
21513 (gdb) file ~/src/t/true
21514 auto-load: Loading canned sequences of commands script "/tmp/true-gdb.gdb"
21515 for objfile "/tmp/true".
21516 auto-load: Updating directories of "/usr:/opt".
21517 auto-load: Using directory "/usr".
21518 auto-load: Using directory "/opt".
21519 warning: File "/tmp/true-gdb.gdb" auto-loading has been declined
21520 by your `auto-load safe-path' set to "/usr:/opt".
21521 @end smallexample
21522
21523 @table @code
21524 @anchor{set debug auto-load}
21525 @kindex set debug auto-load
21526 @item set debug auto-load [on|off]
21527 Set whether to print the filenames attempted to be auto-loaded.
21528
21529 @anchor{show debug auto-load}
21530 @kindex show debug auto-load
21531 @item show debug auto-load
21532 Show whether printing of the filenames attempted to be auto-loaded is turned
21533 on or off.
21534 @end table
21535
21536 @node Messages/Warnings
21537 @section Optional Warnings and Messages
21538
21539 @cindex verbose operation
21540 @cindex optional warnings
21541 By default, @value{GDBN} is silent about its inner workings. If you are
21542 running on a slow machine, you may want to use the @code{set verbose}
21543 command. This makes @value{GDBN} tell you when it does a lengthy
21544 internal operation, so you will not think it has crashed.
21545
21546 Currently, the messages controlled by @code{set verbose} are those
21547 which announce that the symbol table for a source file is being read;
21548 see @code{symbol-file} in @ref{Files, ,Commands to Specify Files}.
21549
21550 @table @code
21551 @kindex set verbose
21552 @item set verbose on
21553 Enables @value{GDBN} output of certain informational messages.
21554
21555 @item set verbose off
21556 Disables @value{GDBN} output of certain informational messages.
21557
21558 @kindex show verbose
21559 @item show verbose
21560 Displays whether @code{set verbose} is on or off.
21561 @end table
21562
21563 By default, if @value{GDBN} encounters bugs in the symbol table of an
21564 object file, it is silent; but if you are debugging a compiler, you may
21565 find this information useful (@pxref{Symbol Errors, ,Errors Reading
21566 Symbol Files}).
21567
21568 @table @code
21569
21570 @kindex set complaints
21571 @item set complaints @var{limit}
21572 Permits @value{GDBN} to output @var{limit} complaints about each type of
21573 unusual symbols before becoming silent about the problem. Set
21574 @var{limit} to zero to suppress all complaints; set it to a large number
21575 to prevent complaints from being suppressed.
21576
21577 @kindex show complaints
21578 @item show complaints
21579 Displays how many symbol complaints @value{GDBN} is permitted to produce.
21580
21581 @end table
21582
21583 @anchor{confirmation requests}
21584 By default, @value{GDBN} is cautious, and asks what sometimes seems to be a
21585 lot of stupid questions to confirm certain commands. For example, if
21586 you try to run a program which is already running:
21587
21588 @smallexample
21589 (@value{GDBP}) run
21590 The program being debugged has been started already.
21591 Start it from the beginning? (y or n)
21592 @end smallexample
21593
21594 If you are willing to unflinchingly face the consequences of your own
21595 commands, you can disable this ``feature'':
21596
21597 @table @code
21598
21599 @kindex set confirm
21600 @cindex flinching
21601 @cindex confirmation
21602 @cindex stupid questions
21603 @item set confirm off
21604 Disables confirmation requests. Note that running @value{GDBN} with
21605 the @option{--batch} option (@pxref{Mode Options, -batch}) also
21606 automatically disables confirmation requests.
21607
21608 @item set confirm on
21609 Enables confirmation requests (the default).
21610
21611 @kindex show confirm
21612 @item show confirm
21613 Displays state of confirmation requests.
21614
21615 @end table
21616
21617 @cindex command tracing
21618 If you need to debug user-defined commands or sourced files you may find it
21619 useful to enable @dfn{command tracing}. In this mode each command will be
21620 printed as it is executed, prefixed with one or more @samp{+} symbols, the
21621 quantity denoting the call depth of each command.
21622
21623 @table @code
21624 @kindex set trace-commands
21625 @cindex command scripts, debugging
21626 @item set trace-commands on
21627 Enable command tracing.
21628 @item set trace-commands off
21629 Disable command tracing.
21630 @item show trace-commands
21631 Display the current state of command tracing.
21632 @end table
21633
21634 @node Debugging Output
21635 @section Optional Messages about Internal Happenings
21636 @cindex optional debugging messages
21637
21638 @value{GDBN} has commands that enable optional debugging messages from
21639 various @value{GDBN} subsystems; normally these commands are of
21640 interest to @value{GDBN} maintainers, or when reporting a bug. This
21641 section documents those commands.
21642
21643 @table @code
21644 @kindex set exec-done-display
21645 @item set exec-done-display
21646 Turns on or off the notification of asynchronous commands'
21647 completion. When on, @value{GDBN} will print a message when an
21648 asynchronous command finishes its execution. The default is off.
21649 @kindex show exec-done-display
21650 @item show exec-done-display
21651 Displays the current setting of asynchronous command completion
21652 notification.
21653 @kindex set debug
21654 @cindex gdbarch debugging info
21655 @cindex architecture debugging info
21656 @item set debug arch
21657 Turns on or off display of gdbarch debugging info. The default is off
21658 @kindex show debug
21659 @item show debug arch
21660 Displays the current state of displaying gdbarch debugging info.
21661 @item set debug aix-thread
21662 @cindex AIX threads
21663 Display debugging messages about inner workings of the AIX thread
21664 module.
21665 @item show debug aix-thread
21666 Show the current state of AIX thread debugging info display.
21667 @item set debug check-physname
21668 @cindex physname
21669 Check the results of the ``physname'' computation. When reading DWARF
21670 debugging information for C@t{++}, @value{GDBN} attempts to compute
21671 each entity's name. @value{GDBN} can do this computation in two
21672 different ways, depending on exactly what information is present.
21673 When enabled, this setting causes @value{GDBN} to compute the names
21674 both ways and display any discrepancies.
21675 @item show debug check-physname
21676 Show the current state of ``physname'' checking.
21677 @item set debug dwarf2-die
21678 @cindex DWARF2 DIEs
21679 Dump DWARF2 DIEs after they are read in.
21680 The value is the number of nesting levels to print.
21681 A value of zero turns off the display.
21682 @item show debug dwarf2-die
21683 Show the current state of DWARF2 DIE debugging.
21684 @item set debug displaced
21685 @cindex displaced stepping debugging info
21686 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} debugging info for the
21687 displaced stepping support. The default is off.
21688 @item show debug displaced
21689 Displays the current state of displaying @value{GDBN} debugging info
21690 related to displaced stepping.
21691 @item set debug event
21692 @cindex event debugging info
21693 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} event debugging info. The
21694 default is off.
21695 @item show debug event
21696 Displays the current state of displaying @value{GDBN} event debugging
21697 info.
21698 @item set debug expression
21699 @cindex expression debugging info
21700 Turns on or off display of debugging info about @value{GDBN}
21701 expression parsing. The default is off.
21702 @item show debug expression
21703 Displays the current state of displaying debugging info about
21704 @value{GDBN} expression parsing.
21705 @item set debug frame
21706 @cindex frame debugging info
21707 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} frame debugging info. The
21708 default is off.
21709 @item show debug frame
21710 Displays the current state of displaying @value{GDBN} frame debugging
21711 info.
21712 @item set debug gnu-nat
21713 @cindex @sc{gnu}/Hurd debug messages
21714 Turns on or off debugging messages from the @sc{gnu}/Hurd debug support.
21715 @item show debug gnu-nat
21716 Show the current state of @sc{gnu}/Hurd debugging messages.
21717 @item set debug infrun
21718 @cindex inferior debugging info
21719 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} debugging info for running the inferior.
21720 The default is off. @file{infrun.c} contains GDB's runtime state machine used
21721 for implementing operations such as single-stepping the inferior.
21722 @item show debug infrun
21723 Displays the current state of @value{GDBN} inferior debugging.
21724 @item set debug jit
21725 @cindex just-in-time compilation, debugging messages
21726 Turns on or off debugging messages from JIT debug support.
21727 @item show debug jit
21728 Displays the current state of @value{GDBN} JIT debugging.
21729 @item set debug lin-lwp
21730 @cindex @sc{gnu}/Linux LWP debug messages
21731 @cindex Linux lightweight processes
21732 Turns on or off debugging messages from the Linux LWP debug support.
21733 @item show debug lin-lwp
21734 Show the current state of Linux LWP debugging messages.
21735 @item set debug observer
21736 @cindex observer debugging info
21737 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} observer debugging. This
21738 includes info such as the notification of observable events.
21739 @item show debug observer
21740 Displays the current state of observer debugging.
21741 @item set debug overload
21742 @cindex C@t{++} overload debugging info
21743 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} C@t{++} overload debugging
21744 info. This includes info such as ranking of functions, etc. The default
21745 is off.
21746 @item show debug overload
21747 Displays the current state of displaying @value{GDBN} C@t{++} overload
21748 debugging info.
21749 @cindex expression parser, debugging info
21750 @cindex debug expression parser
21751 @item set debug parser
21752 Turns on or off the display of expression parser debugging output.
21753 Internally, this sets the @code{yydebug} variable in the expression
21754 parser. @xref{Tracing, , Tracing Your Parser, bison, Bison}, for
21755 details. The default is off.
21756 @item show debug parser
21757 Show the current state of expression parser debugging.
21758 @cindex packets, reporting on stdout
21759 @cindex serial connections, debugging
21760 @cindex debug remote protocol
21761 @cindex remote protocol debugging
21762 @cindex display remote packets
21763 @item set debug remote
21764 Turns on or off display of reports on all packets sent back and forth across
21765 the serial line to the remote machine. The info is printed on the
21766 @value{GDBN} standard output stream. The default is off.
21767 @item show debug remote
21768 Displays the state of display of remote packets.
21769 @item set debug serial
21770 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} serial debugging info. The
21771 default is off.
21772 @item show debug serial
21773 Displays the current state of displaying @value{GDBN} serial debugging
21774 info.
21775 @item set debug solib-frv
21776 @cindex FR-V shared-library debugging
21777 Turns on or off debugging messages for FR-V shared-library code.
21778 @item show debug solib-frv
21779 Display the current state of FR-V shared-library code debugging
21780 messages.
21781 @item set debug target
21782 @cindex target debugging info
21783 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} target debugging info. This info
21784 includes what is going on at the target level of GDB, as it happens. The
21785 default is 0. Set it to 1 to track events, and to 2 to also track the
21786 value of large memory transfers. Changes to this flag do not take effect
21787 until the next time you connect to a target or use the @code{run} command.
21788 @item show debug target
21789 Displays the current state of displaying @value{GDBN} target debugging
21790 info.
21791 @item set debug timestamp
21792 @cindex timestampping debugging info
21793 Turns on or off display of timestamps with @value{GDBN} debugging info.
21794 When enabled, seconds and microseconds are displayed before each debugging
21795 message.
21796 @item show debug timestamp
21797 Displays the current state of displaying timestamps with @value{GDBN}
21798 debugging info.
21799 @item set debugvarobj
21800 @cindex variable object debugging info
21801 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} variable object debugging
21802 info. The default is off.
21803 @item show debugvarobj
21804 Displays the current state of displaying @value{GDBN} variable object
21805 debugging info.
21806 @item set debug xml
21807 @cindex XML parser debugging
21808 Turns on or off debugging messages for built-in XML parsers.
21809 @item show debug xml
21810 Displays the current state of XML debugging messages.
21811 @end table
21812
21813 @node Other Misc Settings
21814 @section Other Miscellaneous Settings
21815 @cindex miscellaneous settings
21816
21817 @table @code
21818 @kindex set interactive-mode
21819 @item set interactive-mode
21820 If @code{on}, forces @value{GDBN} to assume that GDB was started
21821 in a terminal. In practice, this means that @value{GDBN} should wait
21822 for the user to answer queries generated by commands entered at
21823 the command prompt. If @code{off}, forces @value{GDBN} to operate
21824 in the opposite mode, and it uses the default answers to all queries.
21825 If @code{auto} (the default), @value{GDBN} tries to determine whether
21826 its standard input is a terminal, and works in interactive-mode if it
21827 is, non-interactively otherwise.
21828
21829 In the vast majority of cases, the debugger should be able to guess
21830 correctly which mode should be used. But this setting can be useful
21831 in certain specific cases, such as running a MinGW @value{GDBN}
21832 inside a cygwin window.
21833
21834 @kindex show interactive-mode
21835 @item show interactive-mode
21836 Displays whether the debugger is operating in interactive mode or not.
21837 @end table
21838
21839 @node Extending GDB
21840 @chapter Extending @value{GDBN}
21841 @cindex extending GDB
21842
21843 @value{GDBN} provides three mechanisms for extension. The first is based
21844 on composition of @value{GDBN} commands, the second is based on the
21845 Python scripting language, and the third is for defining new aliases of
21846 existing commands.
21847
21848 To facilitate the use of the first two extensions, @value{GDBN} is capable
21849 of evaluating the contents of a file. When doing so, @value{GDBN}
21850 can recognize which scripting language is being used by looking at
21851 the filename extension. Files with an unrecognized filename extension
21852 are always treated as a @value{GDBN} Command Files.
21853 @xref{Command Files,, Command files}.
21854
21855 You can control how @value{GDBN} evaluates these files with the following
21856 setting:
21857
21858 @table @code
21859 @kindex set script-extension
21860 @kindex show script-extension
21861 @item set script-extension off
21862 All scripts are always evaluated as @value{GDBN} Command Files.
21863
21864 @item set script-extension soft
21865 The debugger determines the scripting language based on filename
21866 extension. If this scripting language is supported, @value{GDBN}
21867 evaluates the script using that language. Otherwise, it evaluates
21868 the file as a @value{GDBN} Command File.
21869
21870 @item set script-extension strict
21871 The debugger determines the scripting language based on filename
21872 extension, and evaluates the script using that language. If the
21873 language is not supported, then the evaluation fails.
21874
21875 @item show script-extension
21876 Display the current value of the @code{script-extension} option.
21877
21878 @end table
21879
21880 @menu
21881 * Sequences:: Canned Sequences of Commands
21882 * Python:: Scripting @value{GDBN} using Python
21883 * Aliases:: Creating new spellings of existing commands
21884 @end menu
21885
21886 @node Sequences
21887 @section Canned Sequences of Commands
21888
21889 Aside from breakpoint commands (@pxref{Break Commands, ,Breakpoint
21890 Command Lists}), @value{GDBN} provides two ways to store sequences of
21891 commands for execution as a unit: user-defined commands and command
21892 files.
21893
21894 @menu
21895 * Define:: How to define your own commands
21896 * Hooks:: Hooks for user-defined commands
21897 * Command Files:: How to write scripts of commands to be stored in a file
21898 * Output:: Commands for controlled output
21899 @end menu
21900
21901 @node Define
21902 @subsection User-defined Commands
21903
21904 @cindex user-defined command
21905 @cindex arguments, to user-defined commands
21906 A @dfn{user-defined command} is a sequence of @value{GDBN} commands to
21907 which you assign a new name as a command. This is done with the
21908 @code{define} command. User commands may accept up to 10 arguments
21909 separated by whitespace. Arguments are accessed within the user command
21910 via @code{$arg0@dots{}$arg9}. A trivial example:
21911
21912 @smallexample
21913 define adder
21914 print $arg0 + $arg1 + $arg2
21915 end
21916 @end smallexample
21917
21918 @noindent
21919 To execute the command use:
21920
21921 @smallexample
21922 adder 1 2 3
21923 @end smallexample
21924
21925 @noindent
21926 This defines the command @code{adder}, which prints the sum of
21927 its three arguments. Note the arguments are text substitutions, so they may
21928 reference variables, use complex expressions, or even perform inferior
21929 functions calls.
21930
21931 @cindex argument count in user-defined commands
21932 @cindex how many arguments (user-defined commands)
21933 In addition, @code{$argc} may be used to find out how many arguments have
21934 been passed. This expands to a number in the range 0@dots{}10.
21935
21936 @smallexample
21937 define adder
21938 if $argc == 2
21939 print $arg0 + $arg1
21940 end
21941 if $argc == 3
21942 print $arg0 + $arg1 + $arg2
21943 end
21944 end
21945 @end smallexample
21946
21947 @table @code
21948
21949 @kindex define
21950 @item define @var{commandname}
21951 Define a command named @var{commandname}. If there is already a command
21952 by that name, you are asked to confirm that you want to redefine it.
21953 @var{commandname} may be a bare command name consisting of letters,
21954 numbers, dashes, and underscores. It may also start with any predefined
21955 prefix command. For example, @samp{define target my-target} creates
21956 a user-defined @samp{target my-target} command.
21957
21958 The definition of the command is made up of other @value{GDBN} command lines,
21959 which are given following the @code{define} command. The end of these
21960 commands is marked by a line containing @code{end}.
21961
21962 @kindex document
21963 @kindex end@r{ (user-defined commands)}
21964 @item document @var{commandname}
21965 Document the user-defined command @var{commandname}, so that it can be
21966 accessed by @code{help}. The command @var{commandname} must already be
21967 defined. This command reads lines of documentation just as @code{define}
21968 reads the lines of the command definition, ending with @code{end}.
21969 After the @code{document} command is finished, @code{help} on command
21970 @var{commandname} displays the documentation you have written.
21971
21972 You may use the @code{document} command again to change the
21973 documentation of a command. Redefining the command with @code{define}
21974 does not change the documentation.
21975
21976 @kindex dont-repeat
21977 @cindex don't repeat command
21978 @item dont-repeat
21979 Used inside a user-defined command, this tells @value{GDBN} that this
21980 command should not be repeated when the user hits @key{RET}
21981 (@pxref{Command Syntax, repeat last command}).
21982
21983 @kindex help user-defined
21984 @item help user-defined
21985 List all user-defined commands and all python commands defined in class
21986 COMAND_USER. The first line of the documentation or docstring is
21987 included (if any).
21988
21989 @kindex show user
21990 @item show user
21991 @itemx show user @var{commandname}
21992 Display the @value{GDBN} commands used to define @var{commandname} (but
21993 not its documentation). If no @var{commandname} is given, display the
21994 definitions for all user-defined commands.
21995 This does not work for user-defined python commands.
21996
21997 @cindex infinite recursion in user-defined commands
21998 @kindex show max-user-call-depth
21999 @kindex set max-user-call-depth
22000 @item show max-user-call-depth
22001 @itemx set max-user-call-depth
22002 The value of @code{max-user-call-depth} controls how many recursion
22003 levels are allowed in user-defined commands before @value{GDBN} suspects an
22004 infinite recursion and aborts the command.
22005 This does not apply to user-defined python commands.
22006 @end table
22007
22008 In addition to the above commands, user-defined commands frequently
22009 use control flow commands, described in @ref{Command Files}.
22010
22011 When user-defined commands are executed, the
22012 commands of the definition are not printed. An error in any command
22013 stops execution of the user-defined command.
22014
22015 If used interactively, commands that would ask for confirmation proceed
22016 without asking when used inside a user-defined command. Many @value{GDBN}
22017 commands that normally print messages to say what they are doing omit the
22018 messages when used in a user-defined command.
22019
22020 @node Hooks
22021 @subsection User-defined Command Hooks
22022 @cindex command hooks
22023 @cindex hooks, for commands
22024 @cindex hooks, pre-command
22025
22026 @kindex hook
22027 You may define @dfn{hooks}, which are a special kind of user-defined
22028 command. Whenever you run the command @samp{foo}, if the user-defined
22029 command @samp{hook-foo} exists, it is executed (with no arguments)
22030 before that command.
22031
22032 @cindex hooks, post-command
22033 @kindex hookpost
22034 A hook may also be defined which is run after the command you executed.
22035 Whenever you run the command @samp{foo}, if the user-defined command
22036 @samp{hookpost-foo} exists, it is executed (with no arguments) after
22037 that command. Post-execution hooks may exist simultaneously with
22038 pre-execution hooks, for the same command.
22039
22040 It is valid for a hook to call the command which it hooks. If this
22041 occurs, the hook is not re-executed, thereby avoiding infinite recursion.
22042
22043 @c It would be nice if hookpost could be passed a parameter indicating
22044 @c if the command it hooks executed properly or not. FIXME!
22045
22046 @kindex stop@r{, a pseudo-command}
22047 In addition, a pseudo-command, @samp{stop} exists. Defining
22048 (@samp{hook-stop}) makes the associated commands execute every time
22049 execution stops in your program: before breakpoint commands are run,
22050 displays are printed, or the stack frame is printed.
22051
22052 For example, to ignore @code{SIGALRM} signals while
22053 single-stepping, but treat them normally during normal execution,
22054 you could define:
22055
22056 @smallexample
22057 define hook-stop
22058 handle SIGALRM nopass
22059 end
22060
22061 define hook-run
22062 handle SIGALRM pass
22063 end
22064
22065 define hook-continue
22066 handle SIGALRM pass
22067 end
22068 @end smallexample
22069
22070 As a further example, to hook at the beginning and end of the @code{echo}
22071 command, and to add extra text to the beginning and end of the message,
22072 you could define:
22073
22074 @smallexample
22075 define hook-echo
22076 echo <<<---
22077 end
22078
22079 define hookpost-echo
22080 echo --->>>\n
22081 end
22082
22083 (@value{GDBP}) echo Hello World
22084 <<<---Hello World--->>>
22085 (@value{GDBP})
22086
22087 @end smallexample
22088
22089 You can define a hook for any single-word command in @value{GDBN}, but
22090 not for command aliases; you should define a hook for the basic command
22091 name, e.g.@: @code{backtrace} rather than @code{bt}.
22092 @c FIXME! So how does Joe User discover whether a command is an alias
22093 @c or not?
22094 You can hook a multi-word command by adding @code{hook-} or
22095 @code{hookpost-} to the last word of the command, e.g.@:
22096 @samp{define target hook-remote} to add a hook to @samp{target remote}.
22097
22098 If an error occurs during the execution of your hook, execution of
22099 @value{GDBN} commands stops and @value{GDBN} issues a prompt
22100 (before the command that you actually typed had a chance to run).
22101
22102 If you try to define a hook which does not match any known command, you
22103 get a warning from the @code{define} command.
22104
22105 @node Command Files
22106 @subsection Command Files
22107
22108 @cindex command files
22109 @cindex scripting commands
22110 A command file for @value{GDBN} is a text file made of lines that are
22111 @value{GDBN} commands. Comments (lines starting with @kbd{#}) may
22112 also be included. An empty line in a command file does nothing; it
22113 does not mean to repeat the last command, as it would from the
22114 terminal.
22115
22116 You can request the execution of a command file with the @code{source}
22117 command. Note that the @code{source} command is also used to evaluate
22118 scripts that are not Command Files. The exact behavior can be configured
22119 using the @code{script-extension} setting.
22120 @xref{Extending GDB,, Extending GDB}.
22121
22122 @table @code
22123 @kindex source
22124 @cindex execute commands from a file
22125 @item source [-s] [-v] @var{filename}
22126 Execute the command file @var{filename}.
22127 @end table
22128
22129 The lines in a command file are generally executed sequentially,
22130 unless the order of execution is changed by one of the
22131 @emph{flow-control commands} described below. The commands are not
22132 printed as they are executed. An error in any command terminates
22133 execution of the command file and control is returned to the console.
22134
22135 @value{GDBN} first searches for @var{filename} in the current directory.
22136 If the file is not found there, and @var{filename} does not specify a
22137 directory, then @value{GDBN} also looks for the file on the source search path
22138 (specified with the @samp{directory} command);
22139 except that @file{$cdir} is not searched because the compilation directory
22140 is not relevant to scripts.
22141
22142 If @code{-s} is specified, then @value{GDBN} searches for @var{filename}
22143 on the search path even if @var{filename} specifies a directory.
22144 The search is done by appending @var{filename} to each element of the
22145 search path. So, for example, if @var{filename} is @file{mylib/myscript}
22146 and the search path contains @file{/home/user} then @value{GDBN} will
22147 look for the script @file{/home/user/mylib/myscript}.
22148 The search is also done if @var{filename} is an absolute path.
22149 For example, if @var{filename} is @file{/tmp/myscript} and
22150 the search path contains @file{/home/user} then @value{GDBN} will
22151 look for the script @file{/home/user/tmp/myscript}.
22152 For DOS-like systems, if @var{filename} contains a drive specification,
22153 it is stripped before concatenation. For example, if @var{filename} is
22154 @file{d:myscript} and the search path contains @file{c:/tmp} then @value{GDBN}
22155 will look for the script @file{c:/tmp/myscript}.
22156
22157 If @code{-v}, for verbose mode, is given then @value{GDBN} displays
22158 each command as it is executed. The option must be given before
22159 @var{filename}, and is interpreted as part of the filename anywhere else.
22160
22161 Commands that would ask for confirmation if used interactively proceed
22162 without asking when used in a command file. Many @value{GDBN} commands that
22163 normally print messages to say what they are doing omit the messages
22164 when called from command files.
22165
22166 @value{GDBN} also accepts command input from standard input. In this
22167 mode, normal output goes to standard output and error output goes to
22168 standard error. Errors in a command file supplied on standard input do
22169 not terminate execution of the command file---execution continues with
22170 the next command.
22171
22172 @smallexample
22173 gdb < cmds > log 2>&1
22174 @end smallexample
22175
22176 (The syntax above will vary depending on the shell used.) This example
22177 will execute commands from the file @file{cmds}. All output and errors
22178 would be directed to @file{log}.
22179
22180 Since commands stored on command files tend to be more general than
22181 commands typed interactively, they frequently need to deal with
22182 complicated situations, such as different or unexpected values of
22183 variables and symbols, changes in how the program being debugged is
22184 built, etc. @value{GDBN} provides a set of flow-control commands to
22185 deal with these complexities. Using these commands, you can write
22186 complex scripts that loop over data structures, execute commands
22187 conditionally, etc.
22188
22189 @table @code
22190 @kindex if
22191 @kindex else
22192 @item if
22193 @itemx else
22194 This command allows to include in your script conditionally executed
22195 commands. The @code{if} command takes a single argument, which is an
22196 expression to evaluate. It is followed by a series of commands that
22197 are executed only if the expression is true (its value is nonzero).
22198 There can then optionally be an @code{else} line, followed by a series
22199 of commands that are only executed if the expression was false. The
22200 end of the list is marked by a line containing @code{end}.
22201
22202 @kindex while
22203 @item while
22204 This command allows to write loops. Its syntax is similar to
22205 @code{if}: the command takes a single argument, which is an expression
22206 to evaluate, and must be followed by the commands to execute, one per
22207 line, terminated by an @code{end}. These commands are called the
22208 @dfn{body} of the loop. The commands in the body of @code{while} are
22209 executed repeatedly as long as the expression evaluates to true.
22210
22211 @kindex loop_break
22212 @item loop_break
22213 This command exits the @code{while} loop in whose body it is included.
22214 Execution of the script continues after that @code{while}s @code{end}
22215 line.
22216
22217 @kindex loop_continue
22218 @item loop_continue
22219 This command skips the execution of the rest of the body of commands
22220 in the @code{while} loop in whose body it is included. Execution
22221 branches to the beginning of the @code{while} loop, where it evaluates
22222 the controlling expression.
22223
22224 @kindex end@r{ (if/else/while commands)}
22225 @item end
22226 Terminate the block of commands that are the body of @code{if},
22227 @code{else}, or @code{while} flow-control commands.
22228 @end table
22229
22230
22231 @node Output
22232 @subsection Commands for Controlled Output
22233
22234 During the execution of a command file or a user-defined command, normal
22235 @value{GDBN} output is suppressed; the only output that appears is what is
22236 explicitly printed by the commands in the definition. This section
22237 describes three commands useful for generating exactly the output you
22238 want.
22239
22240 @table @code
22241 @kindex echo
22242 @item echo @var{text}
22243 @c I do not consider backslash-space a standard C escape sequence
22244 @c because it is not in ANSI.
22245 Print @var{text}. Nonprinting characters can be included in
22246 @var{text} using C escape sequences, such as @samp{\n} to print a
22247 newline. @strong{No newline is printed unless you specify one.}
22248 In addition to the standard C escape sequences, a backslash followed
22249 by a space stands for a space. This is useful for displaying a
22250 string with spaces at the beginning or the end, since leading and
22251 trailing spaces are otherwise trimmed from all arguments.
22252 To print @samp{@w{ }and foo =@w{ }}, use the command
22253 @samp{echo \@w{ }and foo = \@w{ }}.
22254
22255 A backslash at the end of @var{text} can be used, as in C, to continue
22256 the command onto subsequent lines. For example,
22257
22258 @smallexample
22259 echo This is some text\n\
22260 which is continued\n\
22261 onto several lines.\n
22262 @end smallexample
22263
22264 produces the same output as
22265
22266 @smallexample
22267 echo This is some text\n
22268 echo which is continued\n
22269 echo onto several lines.\n
22270 @end smallexample
22271
22272 @kindex output
22273 @item output @var{expression}
22274 Print the value of @var{expression} and nothing but that value: no
22275 newlines, no @samp{$@var{nn} = }. The value is not entered in the
22276 value history either. @xref{Expressions, ,Expressions}, for more information
22277 on expressions.
22278
22279 @item output/@var{fmt} @var{expression}
22280 Print the value of @var{expression} in format @var{fmt}. You can use
22281 the same formats as for @code{print}. @xref{Output Formats,,Output
22282 Formats}, for more information.
22283
22284 @kindex printf
22285 @item printf @var{template}, @var{expressions}@dots{}
22286 Print the values of one or more @var{expressions} under the control of
22287 the string @var{template}. To print several values, make
22288 @var{expressions} be a comma-separated list of individual expressions,
22289 which may be either numbers or pointers. Their values are printed as
22290 specified by @var{template}, exactly as a C program would do by
22291 executing the code below:
22292
22293 @smallexample
22294 printf (@var{template}, @var{expressions}@dots{});
22295 @end smallexample
22296
22297 As in @code{C} @code{printf}, ordinary characters in @var{template}
22298 are printed verbatim, while @dfn{conversion specification} introduced
22299 by the @samp{%} character cause subsequent @var{expressions} to be
22300 evaluated, their values converted and formatted according to type and
22301 style information encoded in the conversion specifications, and then
22302 printed.
22303
22304 For example, you can print two values in hex like this:
22305
22306 @smallexample
22307 printf "foo, bar-foo = 0x%x, 0x%x\n", foo, bar-foo
22308 @end smallexample
22309
22310 @code{printf} supports all the standard @code{C} conversion
22311 specifications, including the flags and modifiers between the @samp{%}
22312 character and the conversion letter, with the following exceptions:
22313
22314 @itemize @bullet
22315 @item
22316 The argument-ordering modifiers, such as @samp{2$}, are not supported.
22317
22318 @item
22319 The modifier @samp{*} is not supported for specifying precision or
22320 width.
22321
22322 @item
22323 The @samp{'} flag (for separation of digits into groups according to
22324 @code{LC_NUMERIC'}) is not supported.
22325
22326 @item
22327 The type modifiers @samp{hh}, @samp{j}, @samp{t}, and @samp{z} are not
22328 supported.
22329
22330 @item
22331 The conversion letter @samp{n} (as in @samp{%n}) is not supported.
22332
22333 @item
22334 The conversion letters @samp{a} and @samp{A} are not supported.
22335 @end itemize
22336
22337 @noindent
22338 Note that the @samp{ll} type modifier is supported only if the
22339 underlying @code{C} implementation used to build @value{GDBN} supports
22340 the @code{long long int} type, and the @samp{L} type modifier is
22341 supported only if @code{long double} type is available.
22342
22343 As in @code{C}, @code{printf} supports simple backslash-escape
22344 sequences, such as @code{\n}, @samp{\t}, @samp{\\}, @samp{\"},
22345 @samp{\a}, and @samp{\f}, that consist of backslash followed by a
22346 single character. Octal and hexadecimal escape sequences are not
22347 supported.
22348
22349 Additionally, @code{printf} supports conversion specifications for DFP
22350 (@dfn{Decimal Floating Point}) types using the following length modifiers
22351 together with a floating point specifier.
22352 letters:
22353
22354 @itemize @bullet
22355 @item
22356 @samp{H} for printing @code{Decimal32} types.
22357
22358 @item
22359 @samp{D} for printing @code{Decimal64} types.
22360
22361 @item
22362 @samp{DD} for printing @code{Decimal128} types.
22363 @end itemize
22364
22365 If the underlying @code{C} implementation used to build @value{GDBN} has
22366 support for the three length modifiers for DFP types, other modifiers
22367 such as width and precision will also be available for @value{GDBN} to use.
22368
22369 In case there is no such @code{C} support, no additional modifiers will be
22370 available and the value will be printed in the standard way.
22371
22372 Here's an example of printing DFP types using the above conversion letters:
22373 @smallexample
22374 printf "D32: %Hf - D64: %Df - D128: %DDf\n",1.2345df,1.2E10dd,1.2E1dl
22375 @end smallexample
22376
22377 @kindex eval
22378 @item eval @var{template}, @var{expressions}@dots{}
22379 Convert the values of one or more @var{expressions} under the control of
22380 the string @var{template} to a command line, and call it.
22381
22382 @end table
22383
22384 @node Python
22385 @section Scripting @value{GDBN} using Python
22386 @cindex python scripting
22387 @cindex scripting with python
22388
22389 You can script @value{GDBN} using the @uref{http://www.python.org/,
22390 Python programming language}. This feature is available only if
22391 @value{GDBN} was configured using @option{--with-python}.
22392
22393 @cindex python directory
22394 Python scripts used by @value{GDBN} should be installed in
22395 @file{@var{data-directory}/python}, where @var{data-directory} is
22396 the data directory as determined at @value{GDBN} startup (@pxref{Data Files}).
22397 This directory, known as the @dfn{python directory},
22398 is automatically added to the Python Search Path in order to allow
22399 the Python interpreter to locate all scripts installed at this location.
22400
22401 Additionally, @value{GDBN} commands and convenience functions which
22402 are written in Python and are located in the
22403 @file{@var{data-directory}/python/gdb/command} or
22404 @file{@var{data-directory}/python/gdb/function} directories are
22405 automatically imported when @value{GDBN} starts.
22406
22407 @menu
22408 * Python Commands:: Accessing Python from @value{GDBN}.
22409 * Python API:: Accessing @value{GDBN} from Python.
22410 * Python Auto-loading:: Automatically loading Python code.
22411 * Python modules:: Python modules provided by @value{GDBN}.
22412 @end menu
22413
22414 @node Python Commands
22415 @subsection Python Commands
22416 @cindex python commands
22417 @cindex commands to access python
22418
22419 @value{GDBN} provides one command for accessing the Python interpreter,
22420 and one related setting:
22421
22422 @table @code
22423 @kindex python
22424 @item python @r{[}@var{code}@r{]}
22425 The @code{python} command can be used to evaluate Python code.
22426
22427 If given an argument, the @code{python} command will evaluate the
22428 argument as a Python command. For example:
22429
22430 @smallexample
22431 (@value{GDBP}) python print 23
22432 23
22433 @end smallexample
22434
22435 If you do not provide an argument to @code{python}, it will act as a
22436 multi-line command, like @code{define}. In this case, the Python
22437 script is made up of subsequent command lines, given after the
22438 @code{python} command. This command list is terminated using a line
22439 containing @code{end}. For example:
22440
22441 @smallexample
22442 (@value{GDBP}) python
22443 Type python script
22444 End with a line saying just "end".
22445 >print 23
22446 >end
22447 23
22448 @end smallexample
22449
22450 @kindex set python print-stack
22451 @item set python print-stack
22452 By default, @value{GDBN} will print only the message component of a
22453 Python exception when an error occurs in a Python script. This can be
22454 controlled using @code{set python print-stack}: if @code{full}, then
22455 full Python stack printing is enabled; if @code{none}, then Python stack
22456 and message printing is disabled; if @code{message}, the default, only
22457 the message component of the error is printed.
22458 @end table
22459
22460 It is also possible to execute a Python script from the @value{GDBN}
22461 interpreter:
22462
22463 @table @code
22464 @item source @file{script-name}
22465 The script name must end with @samp{.py} and @value{GDBN} must be configured
22466 to recognize the script language based on filename extension using
22467 the @code{script-extension} setting. @xref{Extending GDB, ,Extending GDB}.
22468
22469 @item python execfile ("script-name")
22470 This method is based on the @code{execfile} Python built-in function,
22471 and thus is always available.
22472 @end table
22473
22474 @node Python API
22475 @subsection Python API
22476 @cindex python api
22477 @cindex programming in python
22478
22479 @cindex python stdout
22480 @cindex python pagination
22481 At startup, @value{GDBN} overrides Python's @code{sys.stdout} and
22482 @code{sys.stderr} to print using @value{GDBN}'s output-paging streams.
22483 A Python program which outputs to one of these streams may have its
22484 output interrupted by the user (@pxref{Screen Size}). In this
22485 situation, a Python @code{KeyboardInterrupt} exception is thrown.
22486
22487 @menu
22488 * Basic Python:: Basic Python Functions.
22489 * Exception Handling:: How Python exceptions are translated.
22490 * Values From Inferior:: Python representation of values.
22491 * Types In Python:: Python representation of types.
22492 * Pretty Printing API:: Pretty-printing values.
22493 * Selecting Pretty-Printers:: How GDB chooses a pretty-printer.
22494 * Writing a Pretty-Printer:: Writing a Pretty-Printer.
22495 * Inferiors In Python:: Python representation of inferiors (processes)
22496 * Events In Python:: Listening for events from @value{GDBN}.
22497 * Threads In Python:: Accessing inferior threads from Python.
22498 * Commands In Python:: Implementing new commands in Python.
22499 * Parameters In Python:: Adding new @value{GDBN} parameters.
22500 * Functions In Python:: Writing new convenience functions.
22501 * Progspaces In Python:: Program spaces.
22502 * Objfiles In Python:: Object files.
22503 * Frames In Python:: Accessing inferior stack frames from Python.
22504 * Blocks In Python:: Accessing frame blocks from Python.
22505 * Symbols In Python:: Python representation of symbols.
22506 * Symbol Tables In Python:: Python representation of symbol tables.
22507 * Lazy Strings In Python:: Python representation of lazy strings.
22508 * Breakpoints In Python:: Manipulating breakpoints using Python.
22509 * Finish Breakpoints in Python:: Setting Breakpoints on function return
22510 using Python.
22511 @end menu
22512
22513 @node Basic Python
22514 @subsubsection Basic Python
22515
22516 @cindex python functions
22517 @cindex python module
22518 @cindex gdb module
22519 @value{GDBN} introduces a new Python module, named @code{gdb}. All
22520 methods and classes added by @value{GDBN} are placed in this module.
22521 @value{GDBN} automatically @code{import}s the @code{gdb} module for
22522 use in all scripts evaluated by the @code{python} command.
22523
22524 @findex gdb.PYTHONDIR
22525 @defvar gdb.PYTHONDIR
22526 A string containing the python directory (@pxref{Python}).
22527 @end defvar
22528
22529 @findex gdb.execute
22530 @defun gdb.execute (command @r{[}, from_tty @r{[}, to_string@r{]]})
22531 Evaluate @var{command}, a string, as a @value{GDBN} CLI command.
22532 If a GDB exception happens while @var{command} runs, it is
22533 translated as described in @ref{Exception Handling,,Exception Handling}.
22534
22535 @var{from_tty} specifies whether @value{GDBN} ought to consider this
22536 command as having originated from the user invoking it interactively.
22537 It must be a boolean value. If omitted, it defaults to @code{False}.
22538
22539 By default, any output produced by @var{command} is sent to
22540 @value{GDBN}'s standard output. If the @var{to_string} parameter is
22541 @code{True}, then output will be collected by @code{gdb.execute} and
22542 returned as a string. The default is @code{False}, in which case the
22543 return value is @code{None}. If @var{to_string} is @code{True}, the
22544 @value{GDBN} virtual terminal will be temporarily set to unlimited width
22545 and height, and its pagination will be disabled; @pxref{Screen Size}.
22546 @end defun
22547
22548 @findex gdb.breakpoints
22549 @defun gdb.breakpoints ()
22550 Return a sequence holding all of @value{GDBN}'s breakpoints.
22551 @xref{Breakpoints In Python}, for more information.
22552 @end defun
22553
22554 @findex gdb.parameter
22555 @defun gdb.parameter (parameter)
22556 Return the value of a @value{GDBN} parameter. @var{parameter} is a
22557 string naming the parameter to look up; @var{parameter} may contain
22558 spaces if the parameter has a multi-part name. For example,
22559 @samp{print object} is a valid parameter name.
22560
22561 If the named parameter does not exist, this function throws a
22562 @code{gdb.error} (@pxref{Exception Handling}). Otherwise, the
22563 parameter's value is converted to a Python value of the appropriate
22564 type, and returned.
22565 @end defun
22566
22567 @findex gdb.history
22568 @defun gdb.history (number)
22569 Return a value from @value{GDBN}'s value history (@pxref{Value
22570 History}). @var{number} indicates which history element to return.
22571 If @var{number} is negative, then @value{GDBN} will take its absolute value
22572 and count backward from the last element (i.e., the most recent element) to
22573 find the value to return. If @var{number} is zero, then @value{GDBN} will
22574 return the most recent element. If the element specified by @var{number}
22575 doesn't exist in the value history, a @code{gdb.error} exception will be
22576 raised.
22577
22578 If no exception is raised, the return value is always an instance of
22579 @code{gdb.Value} (@pxref{Values From Inferior}).
22580 @end defun
22581
22582 @findex gdb.parse_and_eval
22583 @defun gdb.parse_and_eval (expression)
22584 Parse @var{expression} as an expression in the current language,
22585 evaluate it, and return the result as a @code{gdb.Value}.
22586 @var{expression} must be a string.
22587
22588 This function can be useful when implementing a new command
22589 (@pxref{Commands In Python}), as it provides a way to parse the
22590 command's argument as an expression. It is also useful simply to
22591 compute values, for example, it is the only way to get the value of a
22592 convenience variable (@pxref{Convenience Vars}) as a @code{gdb.Value}.
22593 @end defun
22594
22595 @findex gdb.find_pc_line
22596 @defun gdb.find_pc_line (pc)
22597 Return the @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} object corresponding to the
22598 @var{pc} value. @xref{Symbol Tables In Python}. If an invalid
22599 value of @var{pc} is passed as an argument, then the @code{symtab} and
22600 @code{line} attributes of the returned @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} object
22601 will be @code{None} and 0 respectively.
22602 @end defun
22603
22604 @findex gdb.post_event
22605 @defun gdb.post_event (event)
22606 Put @var{event}, a callable object taking no arguments, into
22607 @value{GDBN}'s internal event queue. This callable will be invoked at
22608 some later point, during @value{GDBN}'s event processing. Events
22609 posted using @code{post_event} will be run in the order in which they
22610 were posted; however, there is no way to know when they will be
22611 processed relative to other events inside @value{GDBN}.
22612
22613 @value{GDBN} is not thread-safe. If your Python program uses multiple
22614 threads, you must be careful to only call @value{GDBN}-specific
22615 functions in the main @value{GDBN} thread. @code{post_event} ensures
22616 this. For example:
22617
22618 @smallexample
22619 (@value{GDBP}) python
22620 >import threading
22621 >
22622 >class Writer():
22623 > def __init__(self, message):
22624 > self.message = message;
22625 > def __call__(self):
22626 > gdb.write(self.message)
22627 >
22628 >class MyThread1 (threading.Thread):
22629 > def run (self):
22630 > gdb.post_event(Writer("Hello "))
22631 >
22632 >class MyThread2 (threading.Thread):
22633 > def run (self):
22634 > gdb.post_event(Writer("World\n"))
22635 >
22636 >MyThread1().start()
22637 >MyThread2().start()
22638 >end
22639 (@value{GDBP}) Hello World
22640 @end smallexample
22641 @end defun
22642
22643 @findex gdb.write
22644 @defun gdb.write (string @r{[}, stream{]})
22645 Print a string to @value{GDBN}'s paginated output stream. The
22646 optional @var{stream} determines the stream to print to. The default
22647 stream is @value{GDBN}'s standard output stream. Possible stream
22648 values are:
22649
22650 @table @code
22651 @findex STDOUT
22652 @findex gdb.STDOUT
22653 @item gdb.STDOUT
22654 @value{GDBN}'s standard output stream.
22655
22656 @findex STDERR
22657 @findex gdb.STDERR
22658 @item gdb.STDERR
22659 @value{GDBN}'s standard error stream.
22660
22661 @findex STDLOG
22662 @findex gdb.STDLOG
22663 @item gdb.STDLOG
22664 @value{GDBN}'s log stream (@pxref{Logging Output}).
22665 @end table
22666
22667 Writing to @code{sys.stdout} or @code{sys.stderr} will automatically
22668 call this function and will automatically direct the output to the
22669 relevant stream.
22670 @end defun
22671
22672 @findex gdb.flush
22673 @defun gdb.flush ()
22674 Flush the buffer of a @value{GDBN} paginated stream so that the
22675 contents are displayed immediately. @value{GDBN} will flush the
22676 contents of a stream automatically when it encounters a newline in the
22677 buffer. The optional @var{stream} determines the stream to flush. The
22678 default stream is @value{GDBN}'s standard output stream. Possible
22679 stream values are:
22680
22681 @table @code
22682 @findex STDOUT
22683 @findex gdb.STDOUT
22684 @item gdb.STDOUT
22685 @value{GDBN}'s standard output stream.
22686
22687 @findex STDERR
22688 @findex gdb.STDERR
22689 @item gdb.STDERR
22690 @value{GDBN}'s standard error stream.
22691
22692 @findex STDLOG
22693 @findex gdb.STDLOG
22694 @item gdb.STDLOG
22695 @value{GDBN}'s log stream (@pxref{Logging Output}).
22696
22697 @end table
22698
22699 Flushing @code{sys.stdout} or @code{sys.stderr} will automatically
22700 call this function for the relevant stream.
22701 @end defun
22702
22703 @findex gdb.target_charset
22704 @defun gdb.target_charset ()
22705 Return the name of the current target character set (@pxref{Character
22706 Sets}). This differs from @code{gdb.parameter('target-charset')} in
22707 that @samp{auto} is never returned.
22708 @end defun
22709
22710 @findex gdb.target_wide_charset
22711 @defun gdb.target_wide_charset ()
22712 Return the name of the current target wide character set
22713 (@pxref{Character Sets}). This differs from
22714 @code{gdb.parameter('target-wide-charset')} in that @samp{auto} is
22715 never returned.
22716 @end defun
22717
22718 @findex gdb.solib_name
22719 @defun gdb.solib_name (address)
22720 Return the name of the shared library holding the given @var{address}
22721 as a string, or @code{None}.
22722 @end defun
22723
22724 @findex gdb.decode_line
22725 @defun gdb.decode_line @r{[}expression@r{]}
22726 Return locations of the line specified by @var{expression}, or of the
22727 current line if no argument was given. This function returns a Python
22728 tuple containing two elements. The first element contains a string
22729 holding any unparsed section of @var{expression} (or @code{None} if
22730 the expression has been fully parsed). The second element contains
22731 either @code{None} or another tuple that contains all the locations
22732 that match the expression represented as @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line}
22733 objects (@pxref{Symbol Tables In Python}). If @var{expression} is
22734 provided, it is decoded the way that @value{GDBN}'s inbuilt
22735 @code{break} or @code{edit} commands do (@pxref{Specify Location}).
22736 @end defun
22737
22738 @defun gdb.prompt_hook (current_prompt)
22739 @anchor{prompt_hook}
22740
22741 If @var{prompt_hook} is callable, @value{GDBN} will call the method
22742 assigned to this operation before a prompt is displayed by
22743 @value{GDBN}.
22744
22745 The parameter @code{current_prompt} contains the current @value{GDBN}
22746 prompt. This method must return a Python string, or @code{None}. If
22747 a string is returned, the @value{GDBN} prompt will be set to that
22748 string. If @code{None} is returned, @value{GDBN} will continue to use
22749 the current prompt.
22750
22751 Some prompts cannot be substituted in @value{GDBN}. Secondary prompts
22752 such as those used by readline for command input, and annotation
22753 related prompts are prohibited from being changed.
22754 @end defun
22755
22756 @node Exception Handling
22757 @subsubsection Exception Handling
22758 @cindex python exceptions
22759 @cindex exceptions, python
22760
22761 When executing the @code{python} command, Python exceptions
22762 uncaught within the Python code are translated to calls to
22763 @value{GDBN} error-reporting mechanism. If the command that called
22764 @code{python} does not handle the error, @value{GDBN} will
22765 terminate it and print an error message containing the Python
22766 exception name, the associated value, and the Python call stack
22767 backtrace at the point where the exception was raised. Example:
22768
22769 @smallexample
22770 (@value{GDBP}) python print foo
22771 Traceback (most recent call last):
22772 File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
22773 NameError: name 'foo' is not defined
22774 @end smallexample
22775
22776 @value{GDBN} errors that happen in @value{GDBN} commands invoked by
22777 Python code are converted to Python exceptions. The type of the
22778 Python exception depends on the error.
22779
22780 @ftable @code
22781 @item gdb.error
22782 This is the base class for most exceptions generated by @value{GDBN}.
22783 It is derived from @code{RuntimeError}, for compatibility with earlier
22784 versions of @value{GDBN}.
22785
22786 If an error occurring in @value{GDBN} does not fit into some more
22787 specific category, then the generated exception will have this type.
22788
22789 @item gdb.MemoryError
22790 This is a subclass of @code{gdb.error} which is thrown when an
22791 operation tried to access invalid memory in the inferior.
22792
22793 @item KeyboardInterrupt
22794 User interrupt (via @kbd{C-c} or by typing @kbd{q} at a pagination
22795 prompt) is translated to a Python @code{KeyboardInterrupt} exception.
22796 @end ftable
22797
22798 In all cases, your exception handler will see the @value{GDBN} error
22799 message as its value and the Python call stack backtrace at the Python
22800 statement closest to where the @value{GDBN} error occured as the
22801 traceback.
22802
22803 @findex gdb.GdbError
22804 When implementing @value{GDBN} commands in Python via @code{gdb.Command},
22805 it is useful to be able to throw an exception that doesn't cause a
22806 traceback to be printed. For example, the user may have invoked the
22807 command incorrectly. Use the @code{gdb.GdbError} exception
22808 to handle this case. Example:
22809
22810 @smallexample
22811 (gdb) python
22812 >class HelloWorld (gdb.Command):
22813 > """Greet the whole world."""
22814 > def __init__ (self):
22815 > super (HelloWorld, self).__init__ ("hello-world", gdb.COMMAND_USER)
22816 > def invoke (self, args, from_tty):
22817 > argv = gdb.string_to_argv (args)
22818 > if len (argv) != 0:
22819 > raise gdb.GdbError ("hello-world takes no arguments")
22820 > print "Hello, World!"
22821 >HelloWorld ()
22822 >end
22823 (gdb) hello-world 42
22824 hello-world takes no arguments
22825 @end smallexample
22826
22827 @node Values From Inferior
22828 @subsubsection Values From Inferior
22829 @cindex values from inferior, with Python
22830 @cindex python, working with values from inferior
22831
22832 @cindex @code{gdb.Value}
22833 @value{GDBN} provides values it obtains from the inferior program in
22834 an object of type @code{gdb.Value}. @value{GDBN} uses this object
22835 for its internal bookkeeping of the inferior's values, and for
22836 fetching values when necessary.
22837
22838 Inferior values that are simple scalars can be used directly in
22839 Python expressions that are valid for the value's data type. Here's
22840 an example for an integer or floating-point value @code{some_val}:
22841
22842 @smallexample
22843 bar = some_val + 2
22844 @end smallexample
22845
22846 @noindent
22847 As result of this, @code{bar} will also be a @code{gdb.Value} object
22848 whose values are of the same type as those of @code{some_val}.
22849
22850 Inferior values that are structures or instances of some class can
22851 be accessed using the Python @dfn{dictionary syntax}. For example, if
22852 @code{some_val} is a @code{gdb.Value} instance holding a structure, you
22853 can access its @code{foo} element with:
22854
22855 @smallexample
22856 bar = some_val['foo']
22857 @end smallexample
22858
22859 Again, @code{bar} will also be a @code{gdb.Value} object.
22860
22861 A @code{gdb.Value} that represents a function can be executed via
22862 inferior function call. Any arguments provided to the call must match
22863 the function's prototype, and must be provided in the order specified
22864 by that prototype.
22865
22866 For example, @code{some_val} is a @code{gdb.Value} instance
22867 representing a function that takes two integers as arguments. To
22868 execute this function, call it like so:
22869
22870 @smallexample
22871 result = some_val (10,20)
22872 @end smallexample
22873
22874 Any values returned from a function call will be stored as a
22875 @code{gdb.Value}.
22876
22877 The following attributes are provided:
22878
22879 @table @code
22880 @defvar Value.address
22881 If this object is addressable, this read-only attribute holds a
22882 @code{gdb.Value} object representing the address. Otherwise,
22883 this attribute holds @code{None}.
22884 @end defvar
22885
22886 @cindex optimized out value in Python
22887 @defvar Value.is_optimized_out
22888 This read-only boolean attribute is true if the compiler optimized out
22889 this value, thus it is not available for fetching from the inferior.
22890 @end defvar
22891
22892 @defvar Value.type
22893 The type of this @code{gdb.Value}. The value of this attribute is a
22894 @code{gdb.Type} object (@pxref{Types In Python}).
22895 @end defvar
22896
22897 @defvar Value.dynamic_type
22898 The dynamic type of this @code{gdb.Value}. This uses C@t{++} run-time
22899 type information (@acronym{RTTI}) to determine the dynamic type of the
22900 value. If this value is of class type, it will return the class in
22901 which the value is embedded, if any. If this value is of pointer or
22902 reference to a class type, it will compute the dynamic type of the
22903 referenced object, and return a pointer or reference to that type,
22904 respectively. In all other cases, it will return the value's static
22905 type.
22906
22907 Note that this feature will only work when debugging a C@t{++} program
22908 that includes @acronym{RTTI} for the object in question. Otherwise,
22909 it will just return the static type of the value as in @kbd{ptype foo}
22910 (@pxref{Symbols, ptype}).
22911 @end defvar
22912
22913 @defvar Value.is_lazy
22914 The value of this read-only boolean attribute is @code{True} if this
22915 @code{gdb.Value} has not yet been fetched from the inferior.
22916 @value{GDBN} does not fetch values until necessary, for efficiency.
22917 For example:
22918
22919 @smallexample
22920 myval = gdb.parse_and_eval ('somevar')
22921 @end smallexample
22922
22923 The value of @code{somevar} is not fetched at this time. It will be
22924 fetched when the value is needed, or when the @code{fetch_lazy}
22925 method is invoked.
22926 @end defvar
22927 @end table
22928
22929 The following methods are provided:
22930
22931 @table @code
22932 @defun Value.__init__ (@var{val})
22933 Many Python values can be converted directly to a @code{gdb.Value} via
22934 this object initializer. Specifically:
22935
22936 @table @asis
22937 @item Python boolean
22938 A Python boolean is converted to the boolean type from the current
22939 language.
22940
22941 @item Python integer
22942 A Python integer is converted to the C @code{long} type for the
22943 current architecture.
22944
22945 @item Python long
22946 A Python long is converted to the C @code{long long} type for the
22947 current architecture.
22948
22949 @item Python float
22950 A Python float is converted to the C @code{double} type for the
22951 current architecture.
22952
22953 @item Python string
22954 A Python string is converted to a target string, using the current
22955 target encoding.
22956
22957 @item @code{gdb.Value}
22958 If @code{val} is a @code{gdb.Value}, then a copy of the value is made.
22959
22960 @item @code{gdb.LazyString}
22961 If @code{val} is a @code{gdb.LazyString} (@pxref{Lazy Strings In
22962 Python}), then the lazy string's @code{value} method is called, and
22963 its result is used.
22964 @end table
22965 @end defun
22966
22967 @defun Value.cast (type)
22968 Return a new instance of @code{gdb.Value} that is the result of
22969 casting this instance to the type described by @var{type}, which must
22970 be a @code{gdb.Type} object. If the cast cannot be performed for some
22971 reason, this method throws an exception.
22972 @end defun
22973
22974 @defun Value.dereference ()
22975 For pointer data types, this method returns a new @code{gdb.Value} object
22976 whose contents is the object pointed to by the pointer. For example, if
22977 @code{foo} is a C pointer to an @code{int}, declared in your C program as
22978
22979 @smallexample
22980 int *foo;
22981 @end smallexample
22982
22983 @noindent
22984 then you can use the corresponding @code{gdb.Value} to access what
22985 @code{foo} points to like this:
22986
22987 @smallexample
22988 bar = foo.dereference ()
22989 @end smallexample
22990
22991 The result @code{bar} will be a @code{gdb.Value} object holding the
22992 value pointed to by @code{foo}.
22993
22994 A similar function @code{Value.referenced_value} exists which also
22995 returns @code{gdb.Value} objects corresonding to the values pointed to
22996 by pointer values (and additionally, values referenced by reference
22997 values). However, the behavior of @code{Value.dereference}
22998 differs from @code{Value.referenced_value} by the fact that the
22999 behavior of @code{Value.dereference} is identical to applying the C
23000 unary operator @code{*} on a given value. For example, consider a
23001 reference to a pointer @code{ptrref}, declared in your C@t{++} program
23002 as
23003
23004 @smallexample
23005 typedef int *intptr;
23006 ...
23007 int val = 10;
23008 intptr ptr = &val;
23009 intptr &ptrref = ptr;
23010 @end smallexample
23011
23012 Though @code{ptrref} is a reference value, one can apply the method
23013 @code{Value.dereference} to the @code{gdb.Value} object corresponding
23014 to it and obtain a @code{gdb.Value} which is identical to that
23015 corresponding to @code{val}. However, if you apply the method
23016 @code{Value.referenced_value}, the result would be a @code{gdb.Value}
23017 object identical to that corresponding to @code{ptr}.
23018
23019 @smallexample
23020 py_ptrref = gdb.parse_and_eval ("ptrref")
23021 py_val = py_ptrref.dereference ()
23022 py_ptr = py_ptrref.referenced_value ()
23023 @end smallexample
23024
23025 The @code{gdb.Value} object @code{py_val} is identical to that
23026 corresponding to @code{val}, and @code{py_ptr} is identical to that
23027 corresponding to @code{ptr}. In general, @code{Value.dereference} can
23028 be applied whenever the C unary operator @code{*} can be applied
23029 to the corresponding C value. For those cases where applying both
23030 @code{Value.dereference} and @code{Value.referenced_value} is allowed,
23031 the results obtained need not be identical (as we have seen in the above
23032 example). The results are however identical when applied on
23033 @code{gdb.Value} objects corresponding to pointers (@code{gdb.Value}
23034 objects with type code @code{TYPE_CODE_PTR}) in a C/C@t{++} program.
23035 @end defun
23036
23037 @defun Value.referenced_value ()
23038 For pointer or reference data types, this method returns a new
23039 @code{gdb.Value} object corresponding to the value referenced by the
23040 pointer/reference value. For pointer data types,
23041 @code{Value.dereference} and @code{Value.referenced_value} produce
23042 identical results. The difference between these methods is that
23043 @code{Value.dereference} cannot get the values referenced by reference
23044 values. For example, consider a reference to an @code{int}, declared
23045 in your C@t{++} program as
23046
23047 @smallexample
23048 int val = 10;
23049 int &ref = val;
23050 @end smallexample
23051
23052 @noindent
23053 then applying @code{Value.dereference} to the @code{gdb.Value} object
23054 corresponding to @code{ref} will result in an error, while applying
23055 @code{Value.referenced_value} will result in a @code{gdb.Value} object
23056 identical to that corresponding to @code{val}.
23057
23058 @smallexample
23059 py_ref = gdb.parse_and_eval ("ref")
23060 er_ref = py_ref.dereference () # Results in error
23061 py_val = py_ref.referenced_value () # Returns the referenced value
23062 @end smallexample
23063
23064 The @code{gdb.Value} object @code{py_val} is identical to that
23065 corresponding to @code{val}.
23066 @end defun
23067
23068 @defun Value.dynamic_cast (type)
23069 Like @code{Value.cast}, but works as if the C@t{++} @code{dynamic_cast}
23070 operator were used. Consult a C@t{++} reference for details.
23071 @end defun
23072
23073 @defun Value.reinterpret_cast (type)
23074 Like @code{Value.cast}, but works as if the C@t{++} @code{reinterpret_cast}
23075 operator were used. Consult a C@t{++} reference for details.
23076 @end defun
23077
23078 @defun Value.string (@r{[}encoding@r{[}, errors@r{[}, length@r{]]]})
23079 If this @code{gdb.Value} represents a string, then this method
23080 converts the contents to a Python string. Otherwise, this method will
23081 throw an exception.
23082
23083 Strings are recognized in a language-specific way; whether a given
23084 @code{gdb.Value} represents a string is determined by the current
23085 language.
23086
23087 For C-like languages, a value is a string if it is a pointer to or an
23088 array of characters or ints. The string is assumed to be terminated
23089 by a zero of the appropriate width. However if the optional length
23090 argument is given, the string will be converted to that given length,
23091 ignoring any embedded zeros that the string may contain.
23092
23093 If the optional @var{encoding} argument is given, it must be a string
23094 naming the encoding of the string in the @code{gdb.Value}, such as
23095 @code{"ascii"}, @code{"iso-8859-6"} or @code{"utf-8"}. It accepts
23096 the same encodings as the corresponding argument to Python's
23097 @code{string.decode} method, and the Python codec machinery will be used
23098 to convert the string. If @var{encoding} is not given, or if
23099 @var{encoding} is the empty string, then either the @code{target-charset}
23100 (@pxref{Character Sets}) will be used, or a language-specific encoding
23101 will be used, if the current language is able to supply one.
23102
23103 The optional @var{errors} argument is the same as the corresponding
23104 argument to Python's @code{string.decode} method.
23105
23106 If the optional @var{length} argument is given, the string will be
23107 fetched and converted to the given length.
23108 @end defun
23109
23110 @defun Value.lazy_string (@r{[}encoding @r{[}, length@r{]]})
23111 If this @code{gdb.Value} represents a string, then this method
23112 converts the contents to a @code{gdb.LazyString} (@pxref{Lazy Strings
23113 In Python}). Otherwise, this method will throw an exception.
23114
23115 If the optional @var{encoding} argument is given, it must be a string
23116 naming the encoding of the @code{gdb.LazyString}. Some examples are:
23117 @samp{ascii}, @samp{iso-8859-6} or @samp{utf-8}. If the
23118 @var{encoding} argument is an encoding that @value{GDBN} does
23119 recognize, @value{GDBN} will raise an error.
23120
23121 When a lazy string is printed, the @value{GDBN} encoding machinery is
23122 used to convert the string during printing. If the optional
23123 @var{encoding} argument is not provided, or is an empty string,
23124 @value{GDBN} will automatically select the encoding most suitable for
23125 the string type. For further information on encoding in @value{GDBN}
23126 please see @ref{Character Sets}.
23127
23128 If the optional @var{length} argument is given, the string will be
23129 fetched and encoded to the length of characters specified. If
23130 the @var{length} argument is not provided, the string will be fetched
23131 and encoded until a null of appropriate width is found.
23132 @end defun
23133
23134 @defun Value.fetch_lazy ()
23135 If the @code{gdb.Value} object is currently a lazy value
23136 (@code{gdb.Value.is_lazy} is @code{True}), then the value is
23137 fetched from the inferior. Any errors that occur in the process
23138 will produce a Python exception.
23139
23140 If the @code{gdb.Value} object is not a lazy value, this method
23141 has no effect.
23142
23143 This method does not return a value.
23144 @end defun
23145
23146 @end table
23147
23148 @node Types In Python
23149 @subsubsection Types In Python
23150 @cindex types in Python
23151 @cindex Python, working with types
23152
23153 @tindex gdb.Type
23154 @value{GDBN} represents types from the inferior using the class
23155 @code{gdb.Type}.
23156
23157 The following type-related functions are available in the @code{gdb}
23158 module:
23159
23160 @findex gdb.lookup_type
23161 @defun gdb.lookup_type (name @r{[}, block@r{]})
23162 This function looks up a type by name. @var{name} is the name of the
23163 type to look up. It must be a string.
23164
23165 If @var{block} is given, then @var{name} is looked up in that scope.
23166 Otherwise, it is searched for globally.
23167
23168 Ordinarily, this function will return an instance of @code{gdb.Type}.
23169 If the named type cannot be found, it will throw an exception.
23170 @end defun
23171
23172 If the type is a structure or class type, or an enum type, the fields
23173 of that type can be accessed using the Python @dfn{dictionary syntax}.
23174 For example, if @code{some_type} is a @code{gdb.Type} instance holding
23175 a structure type, you can access its @code{foo} field with:
23176
23177 @smallexample
23178 bar = some_type['foo']
23179 @end smallexample
23180
23181 @code{bar} will be a @code{gdb.Field} object; see below under the
23182 description of the @code{Type.fields} method for a description of the
23183 @code{gdb.Field} class.
23184
23185 An instance of @code{Type} has the following attributes:
23186
23187 @table @code
23188 @defvar Type.code
23189 The type code for this type. The type code will be one of the
23190 @code{TYPE_CODE_} constants defined below.
23191 @end defvar
23192
23193 @defvar Type.sizeof
23194 The size of this type, in target @code{char} units. Usually, a
23195 target's @code{char} type will be an 8-bit byte. However, on some
23196 unusual platforms, this type may have a different size.
23197 @end defvar
23198
23199 @defvar Type.tag
23200 The tag name for this type. The tag name is the name after
23201 @code{struct}, @code{union}, or @code{enum} in C and C@t{++}; not all
23202 languages have this concept. If this type has no tag name, then
23203 @code{None} is returned.
23204 @end defvar
23205 @end table
23206
23207 The following methods are provided:
23208
23209 @table @code
23210 @defun Type.fields ()
23211 For structure and union types, this method returns the fields. Range
23212 types have two fields, the minimum and maximum values. Enum types
23213 have one field per enum constant. Function and method types have one
23214 field per parameter. The base types of C@t{++} classes are also
23215 represented as fields. If the type has no fields, or does not fit
23216 into one of these categories, an empty sequence will be returned.
23217
23218 Each field is a @code{gdb.Field} object, with some pre-defined attributes:
23219 @table @code
23220 @item bitpos
23221 This attribute is not available for @code{static} fields (as in
23222 C@t{++} or Java). For non-@code{static} fields, the value is the bit
23223 position of the field. For @code{enum} fields, the value is the
23224 enumeration member's integer representation.
23225
23226 @item name
23227 The name of the field, or @code{None} for anonymous fields.
23228
23229 @item artificial
23230 This is @code{True} if the field is artificial, usually meaning that
23231 it was provided by the compiler and not the user. This attribute is
23232 always provided, and is @code{False} if the field is not artificial.
23233
23234 @item is_base_class
23235 This is @code{True} if the field represents a base class of a C@t{++}
23236 structure. This attribute is always provided, and is @code{False}
23237 if the field is not a base class of the type that is the argument of
23238 @code{fields}, or if that type was not a C@t{++} class.
23239
23240 @item bitsize
23241 If the field is packed, or is a bitfield, then this will have a
23242 non-zero value, which is the size of the field in bits. Otherwise,
23243 this will be zero; in this case the field's size is given by its type.
23244
23245 @item type
23246 The type of the field. This is usually an instance of @code{Type},
23247 but it can be @code{None} in some situations.
23248 @end table
23249 @end defun
23250
23251 @defun Type.array (@var{n1} @r{[}, @var{n2}@r{]})
23252 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} object which represents an array of this
23253 type. If one argument is given, it is the inclusive upper bound of
23254 the array; in this case the lower bound is zero. If two arguments are
23255 given, the first argument is the lower bound of the array, and the
23256 second argument is the upper bound of the array. An array's length
23257 must not be negative, but the bounds can be.
23258 @end defun
23259
23260 @defun Type.const ()
23261 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} object which represents a
23262 @code{const}-qualified variant of this type.
23263 @end defun
23264
23265 @defun Type.volatile ()
23266 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} object which represents a
23267 @code{volatile}-qualified variant of this type.
23268 @end defun
23269
23270 @defun Type.unqualified ()
23271 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} object which represents an unqualified
23272 variant of this type. That is, the result is neither @code{const} nor
23273 @code{volatile}.
23274 @end defun
23275
23276 @defun Type.range ()
23277 Return a Python @code{Tuple} object that contains two elements: the
23278 low bound of the argument type and the high bound of that type. If
23279 the type does not have a range, @value{GDBN} will raise a
23280 @code{gdb.error} exception (@pxref{Exception Handling}).
23281 @end defun
23282
23283 @defun Type.reference ()
23284 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} object which represents a reference to this
23285 type.
23286 @end defun
23287
23288 @defun Type.pointer ()
23289 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} object which represents a pointer to this
23290 type.
23291 @end defun
23292
23293 @defun Type.strip_typedefs ()
23294 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} that represents the real type,
23295 after removing all layers of typedefs.
23296 @end defun
23297
23298 @defun Type.target ()
23299 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} object which represents the target type
23300 of this type.
23301
23302 For a pointer type, the target type is the type of the pointed-to
23303 object. For an array type (meaning C-like arrays), the target type is
23304 the type of the elements of the array. For a function or method type,
23305 the target type is the type of the return value. For a complex type,
23306 the target type is the type of the elements. For a typedef, the
23307 target type is the aliased type.
23308
23309 If the type does not have a target, this method will throw an
23310 exception.
23311 @end defun
23312
23313 @defun Type.template_argument (n @r{[}, block@r{]})
23314 If this @code{gdb.Type} is an instantiation of a template, this will
23315 return a new @code{gdb.Type} which represents the type of the
23316 @var{n}th template argument.
23317
23318 If this @code{gdb.Type} is not a template type, this will throw an
23319 exception. Ordinarily, only C@t{++} code will have template types.
23320
23321 If @var{block} is given, then @var{name} is looked up in that scope.
23322 Otherwise, it is searched for globally.
23323 @end defun
23324 @end table
23325
23326
23327 Each type has a code, which indicates what category this type falls
23328 into. The available type categories are represented by constants
23329 defined in the @code{gdb} module:
23330
23331 @table @code
23332 @findex TYPE_CODE_PTR
23333 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_PTR
23334 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_PTR
23335 The type is a pointer.
23336
23337 @findex TYPE_CODE_ARRAY
23338 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_ARRAY
23339 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_ARRAY
23340 The type is an array.
23341
23342 @findex TYPE_CODE_STRUCT
23343 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_STRUCT
23344 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_STRUCT
23345 The type is a structure.
23346
23347 @findex TYPE_CODE_UNION
23348 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_UNION
23349 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_UNION
23350 The type is a union.
23351
23352 @findex TYPE_CODE_ENUM
23353 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_ENUM
23354 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_ENUM
23355 The type is an enum.
23356
23357 @findex TYPE_CODE_FLAGS
23358 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_FLAGS
23359 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_FLAGS
23360 A bit flags type, used for things such as status registers.
23361
23362 @findex TYPE_CODE_FUNC
23363 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_FUNC
23364 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_FUNC
23365 The type is a function.
23366
23367 @findex TYPE_CODE_INT
23368 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_INT
23369 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_INT
23370 The type is an integer type.
23371
23372 @findex TYPE_CODE_FLT
23373 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_FLT
23374 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_FLT
23375 A floating point type.
23376
23377 @findex TYPE_CODE_VOID
23378 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_VOID
23379 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_VOID
23380 The special type @code{void}.
23381
23382 @findex TYPE_CODE_SET
23383 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_SET
23384 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_SET
23385 A Pascal set type.
23386
23387 @findex TYPE_CODE_RANGE
23388 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_RANGE
23389 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_RANGE
23390 A range type, that is, an integer type with bounds.
23391
23392 @findex TYPE_CODE_STRING
23393 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_STRING
23394 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_STRING
23395 A string type. Note that this is only used for certain languages with
23396 language-defined string types; C strings are not represented this way.
23397
23398 @findex TYPE_CODE_BITSTRING
23399 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_BITSTRING
23400 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_BITSTRING
23401 A string of bits.
23402
23403 @findex TYPE_CODE_ERROR
23404 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_ERROR
23405 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_ERROR
23406 An unknown or erroneous type.
23407
23408 @findex TYPE_CODE_METHOD
23409 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_METHOD
23410 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_METHOD
23411 A method type, as found in C@t{++} or Java.
23412
23413 @findex TYPE_CODE_METHODPTR
23414 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_METHODPTR
23415 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_METHODPTR
23416 A pointer-to-member-function.
23417
23418 @findex TYPE_CODE_MEMBERPTR
23419 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_MEMBERPTR
23420 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_MEMBERPTR
23421 A pointer-to-member.
23422
23423 @findex TYPE_CODE_REF
23424 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_REF
23425 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_REF
23426 A reference type.
23427
23428 @findex TYPE_CODE_CHAR
23429 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_CHAR
23430 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_CHAR
23431 A character type.
23432
23433 @findex TYPE_CODE_BOOL
23434 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_BOOL
23435 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_BOOL
23436 A boolean type.
23437
23438 @findex TYPE_CODE_COMPLEX
23439 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_COMPLEX
23440 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_COMPLEX
23441 A complex float type.
23442
23443 @findex TYPE_CODE_TYPEDEF
23444 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_TYPEDEF
23445 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_TYPEDEF
23446 A typedef to some other type.
23447
23448 @findex TYPE_CODE_NAMESPACE
23449 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_NAMESPACE
23450 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_NAMESPACE
23451 A C@t{++} namespace.
23452
23453 @findex TYPE_CODE_DECFLOAT
23454 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_DECFLOAT
23455 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_DECFLOAT
23456 A decimal floating point type.
23457
23458 @findex TYPE_CODE_INTERNAL_FUNCTION
23459 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_INTERNAL_FUNCTION
23460 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_INTERNAL_FUNCTION
23461 A function internal to @value{GDBN}. This is the type used to represent
23462 convenience functions.
23463 @end table
23464
23465 Further support for types is provided in the @code{gdb.types}
23466 Python module (@pxref{gdb.types}).
23467
23468 @node Pretty Printing API
23469 @subsubsection Pretty Printing API
23470
23471 An example output is provided (@pxref{Pretty Printing}).
23472
23473 A pretty-printer is just an object that holds a value and implements a
23474 specific interface, defined here.
23475
23476 @defun pretty_printer.children (self)
23477 @value{GDBN} will call this method on a pretty-printer to compute the
23478 children of the pretty-printer's value.
23479
23480 This method must return an object conforming to the Python iterator
23481 protocol. Each item returned by the iterator must be a tuple holding
23482 two elements. The first element is the ``name'' of the child; the
23483 second element is the child's value. The value can be any Python
23484 object which is convertible to a @value{GDBN} value.
23485
23486 This method is optional. If it does not exist, @value{GDBN} will act
23487 as though the value has no children.
23488 @end defun
23489
23490 @defun pretty_printer.display_hint (self)
23491 The CLI may call this method and use its result to change the
23492 formatting of a value. The result will also be supplied to an MI
23493 consumer as a @samp{displayhint} attribute of the variable being
23494 printed.
23495
23496 This method is optional. If it does exist, this method must return a
23497 string.
23498
23499 Some display hints are predefined by @value{GDBN}:
23500
23501 @table @samp
23502 @item array
23503 Indicate that the object being printed is ``array-like''. The CLI
23504 uses this to respect parameters such as @code{set print elements} and
23505 @code{set print array}.
23506
23507 @item map
23508 Indicate that the object being printed is ``map-like'', and that the
23509 children of this value can be assumed to alternate between keys and
23510 values.
23511
23512 @item string
23513 Indicate that the object being printed is ``string-like''. If the
23514 printer's @code{to_string} method returns a Python string of some
23515 kind, then @value{GDBN} will call its internal language-specific
23516 string-printing function to format the string. For the CLI this means
23517 adding quotation marks, possibly escaping some characters, respecting
23518 @code{set print elements}, and the like.
23519 @end table
23520 @end defun
23521
23522 @defun pretty_printer.to_string (self)
23523 @value{GDBN} will call this method to display the string
23524 representation of the value passed to the object's constructor.
23525
23526 When printing from the CLI, if the @code{to_string} method exists,
23527 then @value{GDBN} will prepend its result to the values returned by
23528 @code{children}. Exactly how this formatting is done is dependent on
23529 the display hint, and may change as more hints are added. Also,
23530 depending on the print settings (@pxref{Print Settings}), the CLI may
23531 print just the result of @code{to_string} in a stack trace, omitting
23532 the result of @code{children}.
23533
23534 If this method returns a string, it is printed verbatim.
23535
23536 Otherwise, if this method returns an instance of @code{gdb.Value},
23537 then @value{GDBN} prints this value. This may result in a call to
23538 another pretty-printer.
23539
23540 If instead the method returns a Python value which is convertible to a
23541 @code{gdb.Value}, then @value{GDBN} performs the conversion and prints
23542 the resulting value. Again, this may result in a call to another
23543 pretty-printer. Python scalars (integers, floats, and booleans) and
23544 strings are convertible to @code{gdb.Value}; other types are not.
23545
23546 Finally, if this method returns @code{None} then no further operations
23547 are peformed in this method and nothing is printed.
23548
23549 If the result is not one of these types, an exception is raised.
23550 @end defun
23551
23552 @value{GDBN} provides a function which can be used to look up the
23553 default pretty-printer for a @code{gdb.Value}:
23554
23555 @findex gdb.default_visualizer
23556 @defun gdb.default_visualizer (value)
23557 This function takes a @code{gdb.Value} object as an argument. If a
23558 pretty-printer for this value exists, then it is returned. If no such
23559 printer exists, then this returns @code{None}.
23560 @end defun
23561
23562 @node Selecting Pretty-Printers
23563 @subsubsection Selecting Pretty-Printers
23564
23565 The Python list @code{gdb.pretty_printers} contains an array of
23566 functions or callable objects that have been registered via addition
23567 as a pretty-printer. Printers in this list are called @code{global}
23568 printers, they're available when debugging all inferiors.
23569 Each @code{gdb.Progspace} contains a @code{pretty_printers} attribute.
23570 Each @code{gdb.Objfile} also contains a @code{pretty_printers}
23571 attribute.
23572
23573 Each function on these lists is passed a single @code{gdb.Value}
23574 argument and should return a pretty-printer object conforming to the
23575 interface definition above (@pxref{Pretty Printing API}). If a function
23576 cannot create a pretty-printer for the value, it should return
23577 @code{None}.
23578
23579 @value{GDBN} first checks the @code{pretty_printers} attribute of each
23580 @code{gdb.Objfile} in the current program space and iteratively calls
23581 each enabled lookup routine in the list for that @code{gdb.Objfile}
23582 until it receives a pretty-printer object.
23583 If no pretty-printer is found in the objfile lists, @value{GDBN} then
23584 searches the pretty-printer list of the current program space,
23585 calling each enabled function until an object is returned.
23586 After these lists have been exhausted, it tries the global
23587 @code{gdb.pretty_printers} list, again calling each enabled function until an
23588 object is returned.
23589
23590 The order in which the objfiles are searched is not specified. For a
23591 given list, functions are always invoked from the head of the list,
23592 and iterated over sequentially until the end of the list, or a printer
23593 object is returned.
23594
23595 For various reasons a pretty-printer may not work.
23596 For example, the underlying data structure may have changed and
23597 the pretty-printer is out of date.
23598
23599 The consequences of a broken pretty-printer are severe enough that
23600 @value{GDBN} provides support for enabling and disabling individual
23601 printers. For example, if @code{print frame-arguments} is on,
23602 a backtrace can become highly illegible if any argument is printed
23603 with a broken printer.
23604
23605 Pretty-printers are enabled and disabled by attaching an @code{enabled}
23606 attribute to the registered function or callable object. If this attribute
23607 is present and its value is @code{False}, the printer is disabled, otherwise
23608 the printer is enabled.
23609
23610 @node Writing a Pretty-Printer
23611 @subsubsection Writing a Pretty-Printer
23612 @cindex writing a pretty-printer
23613
23614 A pretty-printer consists of two parts: a lookup function to detect
23615 if the type is supported, and the printer itself.
23616
23617 Here is an example showing how a @code{std::string} printer might be
23618 written. @xref{Pretty Printing API}, for details on the API this class
23619 must provide.
23620
23621 @smallexample
23622 class StdStringPrinter(object):
23623 "Print a std::string"
23624
23625 def __init__(self, val):
23626 self.val = val
23627
23628 def to_string(self):
23629 return self.val['_M_dataplus']['_M_p']
23630
23631 def display_hint(self):
23632 return 'string'
23633 @end smallexample
23634
23635 And here is an example showing how a lookup function for the printer
23636 example above might be written.
23637
23638 @smallexample
23639 def str_lookup_function(val):
23640 lookup_tag = val.type.tag
23641 if lookup_tag == None:
23642 return None
23643 regex = re.compile("^std::basic_string<char,.*>$")
23644 if regex.match(lookup_tag):
23645 return StdStringPrinter(val)
23646 return None
23647 @end smallexample
23648
23649 The example lookup function extracts the value's type, and attempts to
23650 match it to a type that it can pretty-print. If it is a type the
23651 printer can pretty-print, it will return a printer object. If not, it
23652 returns @code{None}.
23653
23654 We recommend that you put your core pretty-printers into a Python
23655 package. If your pretty-printers are for use with a library, we
23656 further recommend embedding a version number into the package name.
23657 This practice will enable @value{GDBN} to load multiple versions of
23658 your pretty-printers at the same time, because they will have
23659 different names.
23660
23661 You should write auto-loaded code (@pxref{Python Auto-loading}) such that it
23662 can be evaluated multiple times without changing its meaning. An
23663 ideal auto-load file will consist solely of @code{import}s of your
23664 printer modules, followed by a call to a register pretty-printers with
23665 the current objfile.
23666
23667 Taken as a whole, this approach will scale nicely to multiple
23668 inferiors, each potentially using a different library version.
23669 Embedding a version number in the Python package name will ensure that
23670 @value{GDBN} is able to load both sets of printers simultaneously.
23671 Then, because the search for pretty-printers is done by objfile, and
23672 because your auto-loaded code took care to register your library's
23673 printers with a specific objfile, @value{GDBN} will find the correct
23674 printers for the specific version of the library used by each
23675 inferior.
23676
23677 To continue the @code{std::string} example (@pxref{Pretty Printing API}),
23678 this code might appear in @code{gdb.libstdcxx.v6}:
23679
23680 @smallexample
23681 def register_printers(objfile):
23682 objfile.pretty_printers.append(str_lookup_function)
23683 @end smallexample
23684
23685 @noindent
23686 And then the corresponding contents of the auto-load file would be:
23687
23688 @smallexample
23689 import gdb.libstdcxx.v6
23690 gdb.libstdcxx.v6.register_printers(gdb.current_objfile())
23691 @end smallexample
23692
23693 The previous example illustrates a basic pretty-printer.
23694 There are a few things that can be improved on.
23695 The printer doesn't have a name, making it hard to identify in a
23696 list of installed printers. The lookup function has a name, but
23697 lookup functions can have arbitrary, even identical, names.
23698
23699 Second, the printer only handles one type, whereas a library typically has
23700 several types. One could install a lookup function for each desired type
23701 in the library, but one could also have a single lookup function recognize
23702 several types. The latter is the conventional way this is handled.
23703 If a pretty-printer can handle multiple data types, then its
23704 @dfn{subprinters} are the printers for the individual data types.
23705
23706 The @code{gdb.printing} module provides a formal way of solving these
23707 problems (@pxref{gdb.printing}).
23708 Here is another example that handles multiple types.
23709
23710 These are the types we are going to pretty-print:
23711
23712 @smallexample
23713 struct foo @{ int a, b; @};
23714 struct bar @{ struct foo x, y; @};
23715 @end smallexample
23716
23717 Here are the printers:
23718
23719 @smallexample
23720 class fooPrinter:
23721 """Print a foo object."""
23722
23723 def __init__(self, val):
23724 self.val = val
23725
23726 def to_string(self):
23727 return ("a=<" + str(self.val["a"]) +
23728 "> b=<" + str(self.val["b"]) + ">")
23729
23730 class barPrinter:
23731 """Print a bar object."""
23732
23733 def __init__(self, val):
23734 self.val = val
23735
23736 def to_string(self):
23737 return ("x=<" + str(self.val["x"]) +
23738 "> y=<" + str(self.val["y"]) + ">")
23739 @end smallexample
23740
23741 This example doesn't need a lookup function, that is handled by the
23742 @code{gdb.printing} module. Instead a function is provided to build up
23743 the object that handles the lookup.
23744
23745 @smallexample
23746 import gdb.printing
23747
23748 def build_pretty_printer():
23749 pp = gdb.printing.RegexpCollectionPrettyPrinter(
23750 "my_library")
23751 pp.add_printer('foo', '^foo$', fooPrinter)
23752 pp.add_printer('bar', '^bar$', barPrinter)
23753 return pp
23754 @end smallexample
23755
23756 And here is the autoload support:
23757
23758 @smallexample
23759 import gdb.printing
23760 import my_library
23761 gdb.printing.register_pretty_printer(
23762 gdb.current_objfile(),
23763 my_library.build_pretty_printer())
23764 @end smallexample
23765
23766 Finally, when this printer is loaded into @value{GDBN}, here is the
23767 corresponding output of @samp{info pretty-printer}:
23768
23769 @smallexample
23770 (gdb) info pretty-printer
23771 my_library.so:
23772 my_library
23773 foo
23774 bar
23775 @end smallexample
23776
23777 @node Inferiors In Python
23778 @subsubsection Inferiors In Python
23779 @cindex inferiors in Python
23780
23781 @findex gdb.Inferior
23782 Programs which are being run under @value{GDBN} are called inferiors
23783 (@pxref{Inferiors and Programs}). Python scripts can access
23784 information about and manipulate inferiors controlled by @value{GDBN}
23785 via objects of the @code{gdb.Inferior} class.
23786
23787 The following inferior-related functions are available in the @code{gdb}
23788 module:
23789
23790 @defun gdb.inferiors ()
23791 Return a tuple containing all inferior objects.
23792 @end defun
23793
23794 @defun gdb.selected_inferior ()
23795 Return an object representing the current inferior.
23796 @end defun
23797
23798 A @code{gdb.Inferior} object has the following attributes:
23799
23800 @table @code
23801 @defvar Inferior.num
23802 ID of inferior, as assigned by GDB.
23803 @end defvar
23804
23805 @defvar Inferior.pid
23806 Process ID of the inferior, as assigned by the underlying operating
23807 system.
23808 @end defvar
23809
23810 @defvar Inferior.was_attached
23811 Boolean signaling whether the inferior was created using `attach', or
23812 started by @value{GDBN} itself.
23813 @end defvar
23814 @end table
23815
23816 A @code{gdb.Inferior} object has the following methods:
23817
23818 @table @code
23819 @defun Inferior.is_valid ()
23820 Returns @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Inferior} object is valid,
23821 @code{False} if not. A @code{gdb.Inferior} object will become invalid
23822 if the inferior no longer exists within @value{GDBN}. All other
23823 @code{gdb.Inferior} methods will throw an exception if it is invalid
23824 at the time the method is called.
23825 @end defun
23826
23827 @defun Inferior.threads ()
23828 This method returns a tuple holding all the threads which are valid
23829 when it is called. If there are no valid threads, the method will
23830 return an empty tuple.
23831 @end defun
23832
23833 @findex gdb.read_memory
23834 @defun Inferior.read_memory (address, length)
23835 Read @var{length} bytes of memory from the inferior, starting at
23836 @var{address}. Returns a buffer object, which behaves much like an array
23837 or a string. It can be modified and given to the @code{gdb.write_memory}
23838 function.
23839 @end defun
23840
23841 @findex gdb.write_memory
23842 @defun Inferior.write_memory (address, buffer @r{[}, length@r{]})
23843 Write the contents of @var{buffer} to the inferior, starting at
23844 @var{address}. The @var{buffer} parameter must be a Python object
23845 which supports the buffer protocol, i.e., a string, an array or the
23846 object returned from @code{gdb.read_memory}. If given, @var{length}
23847 determines the number of bytes from @var{buffer} to be written.
23848 @end defun
23849
23850 @findex gdb.search_memory
23851 @defun Inferior.search_memory (address, length, pattern)
23852 Search a region of the inferior memory starting at @var{address} with
23853 the given @var{length} using the search pattern supplied in
23854 @var{pattern}. The @var{pattern} parameter must be a Python object
23855 which supports the buffer protocol, i.e., a string, an array or the
23856 object returned from @code{gdb.read_memory}. Returns a Python @code{Long}
23857 containing the address where the pattern was found, or @code{None} if
23858 the pattern could not be found.
23859 @end defun
23860 @end table
23861
23862 @node Events In Python
23863 @subsubsection Events In Python
23864 @cindex inferior events in Python
23865
23866 @value{GDBN} provides a general event facility so that Python code can be
23867 notified of various state changes, particularly changes that occur in
23868 the inferior.
23869
23870 An @dfn{event} is just an object that describes some state change. The
23871 type of the object and its attributes will vary depending on the details
23872 of the change. All the existing events are described below.
23873
23874 In order to be notified of an event, you must register an event handler
23875 with an @dfn{event registry}. An event registry is an object in the
23876 @code{gdb.events} module which dispatches particular events. A registry
23877 provides methods to register and unregister event handlers:
23878
23879 @table @code
23880 @defun EventRegistry.connect (object)
23881 Add the given callable @var{object} to the registry. This object will be
23882 called when an event corresponding to this registry occurs.
23883 @end defun
23884
23885 @defun EventRegistry.disconnect (object)
23886 Remove the given @var{object} from the registry. Once removed, the object
23887 will no longer receive notifications of events.
23888 @end defun
23889 @end table
23890
23891 Here is an example:
23892
23893 @smallexample
23894 def exit_handler (event):
23895 print "event type: exit"
23896 print "exit code: %d" % (event.exit_code)
23897
23898 gdb.events.exited.connect (exit_handler)
23899 @end smallexample
23900
23901 In the above example we connect our handler @code{exit_handler} to the
23902 registry @code{events.exited}. Once connected, @code{exit_handler} gets
23903 called when the inferior exits. The argument @dfn{event} in this example is
23904 of type @code{gdb.ExitedEvent}. As you can see in the example the
23905 @code{ExitedEvent} object has an attribute which indicates the exit code of
23906 the inferior.
23907
23908 The following is a listing of the event registries that are available and
23909 details of the events they emit:
23910
23911 @table @code
23912
23913 @item events.cont
23914 Emits @code{gdb.ThreadEvent}.
23915
23916 Some events can be thread specific when @value{GDBN} is running in non-stop
23917 mode. When represented in Python, these events all extend
23918 @code{gdb.ThreadEvent}. Note, this event is not emitted directly; instead,
23919 events which are emitted by this or other modules might extend this event.
23920 Examples of these events are @code{gdb.BreakpointEvent} and
23921 @code{gdb.ContinueEvent}.
23922
23923 @table @code
23924 @defvar ThreadEvent.inferior_thread
23925 In non-stop mode this attribute will be set to the specific thread which was
23926 involved in the emitted event. Otherwise, it will be set to @code{None}.
23927 @end defvar
23928 @end table
23929
23930 Emits @code{gdb.ContinueEvent} which extends @code{gdb.ThreadEvent}.
23931
23932 This event indicates that the inferior has been continued after a stop. For
23933 inherited attribute refer to @code{gdb.ThreadEvent} above.
23934
23935 @item events.exited
23936 Emits @code{events.ExitedEvent} which indicates that the inferior has exited.
23937 @code{events.ExitedEvent} has two attributes:
23938 @table @code
23939 @defvar ExitedEvent.exit_code
23940 An integer representing the exit code, if available, which the inferior
23941 has returned. (The exit code could be unavailable if, for example,
23942 @value{GDBN} detaches from the inferior.) If the exit code is unavailable,
23943 the attribute does not exist.
23944 @end defvar
23945 @defvar ExitedEvent inferior
23946 A reference to the inferior which triggered the @code{exited} event.
23947 @end defvar
23948 @end table
23949
23950 @item events.stop
23951 Emits @code{gdb.StopEvent} which extends @code{gdb.ThreadEvent}.
23952
23953 Indicates that the inferior has stopped. All events emitted by this registry
23954 extend StopEvent. As a child of @code{gdb.ThreadEvent}, @code{gdb.StopEvent}
23955 will indicate the stopped thread when @value{GDBN} is running in non-stop
23956 mode. Refer to @code{gdb.ThreadEvent} above for more details.
23957
23958 Emits @code{gdb.SignalEvent} which extends @code{gdb.StopEvent}.
23959
23960 This event indicates that the inferior or one of its threads has received as
23961 signal. @code{gdb.SignalEvent} has the following attributes:
23962
23963 @table @code
23964 @defvar SignalEvent.stop_signal
23965 A string representing the signal received by the inferior. A list of possible
23966 signal values can be obtained by running the command @code{info signals} in
23967 the @value{GDBN} command prompt.
23968 @end defvar
23969 @end table
23970
23971 Also emits @code{gdb.BreakpointEvent} which extends @code{gdb.StopEvent}.
23972
23973 @code{gdb.BreakpointEvent} event indicates that one or more breakpoints have
23974 been hit, and has the following attributes:
23975
23976 @table @code
23977 @defvar BreakpointEvent.breakpoints
23978 A sequence containing references to all the breakpoints (type
23979 @code{gdb.Breakpoint}) that were hit.
23980 @xref{Breakpoints In Python}, for details of the @code{gdb.Breakpoint} object.
23981 @end defvar
23982 @defvar BreakpointEvent.breakpoint
23983 A reference to the first breakpoint that was hit.
23984 This function is maintained for backward compatibility and is now deprecated
23985 in favor of the @code{gdb.BreakpointEvent.breakpoints} attribute.
23986 @end defvar
23987 @end table
23988
23989 @item events.new_objfile
23990 Emits @code{gdb.NewObjFileEvent} which indicates that a new object file has
23991 been loaded by @value{GDBN}. @code{gdb.NewObjFileEvent} has one attribute:
23992
23993 @table @code
23994 @defvar NewObjFileEvent.new_objfile
23995 A reference to the object file (@code{gdb.Objfile}) which has been loaded.
23996 @xref{Objfiles In Python}, for details of the @code{gdb.Objfile} object.
23997 @end defvar
23998 @end table
23999
24000 @end table
24001
24002 @node Threads In Python
24003 @subsubsection Threads In Python
24004 @cindex threads in python
24005
24006 @findex gdb.InferiorThread
24007 Python scripts can access information about, and manipulate inferior threads
24008 controlled by @value{GDBN}, via objects of the @code{gdb.InferiorThread} class.
24009
24010 The following thread-related functions are available in the @code{gdb}
24011 module:
24012
24013 @findex gdb.selected_thread
24014 @defun gdb.selected_thread ()
24015 This function returns the thread object for the selected thread. If there
24016 is no selected thread, this will return @code{None}.
24017 @end defun
24018
24019 A @code{gdb.InferiorThread} object has the following attributes:
24020
24021 @table @code
24022 @defvar InferiorThread.name
24023 The name of the thread. If the user specified a name using
24024 @code{thread name}, then this returns that name. Otherwise, if an
24025 OS-supplied name is available, then it is returned. Otherwise, this
24026 returns @code{None}.
24027
24028 This attribute can be assigned to. The new value must be a string
24029 object, which sets the new name, or @code{None}, which removes any
24030 user-specified thread name.
24031 @end defvar
24032
24033 @defvar InferiorThread.num
24034 ID of the thread, as assigned by GDB.
24035 @end defvar
24036
24037 @defvar InferiorThread.ptid
24038 ID of the thread, as assigned by the operating system. This attribute is a
24039 tuple containing three integers. The first is the Process ID (PID); the second
24040 is the Lightweight Process ID (LWPID), and the third is the Thread ID (TID).
24041 Either the LWPID or TID may be 0, which indicates that the operating system
24042 does not use that identifier.
24043 @end defvar
24044 @end table
24045
24046 A @code{gdb.InferiorThread} object has the following methods:
24047
24048 @table @code
24049 @defun InferiorThread.is_valid ()
24050 Returns @code{True} if the @code{gdb.InferiorThread} object is valid,
24051 @code{False} if not. A @code{gdb.InferiorThread} object will become
24052 invalid if the thread exits, or the inferior that the thread belongs
24053 is deleted. All other @code{gdb.InferiorThread} methods will throw an
24054 exception if it is invalid at the time the method is called.
24055 @end defun
24056
24057 @defun InferiorThread.switch ()
24058 This changes @value{GDBN}'s currently selected thread to the one represented
24059 by this object.
24060 @end defun
24061
24062 @defun InferiorThread.is_stopped ()
24063 Return a Boolean indicating whether the thread is stopped.
24064 @end defun
24065
24066 @defun InferiorThread.is_running ()
24067 Return a Boolean indicating whether the thread is running.
24068 @end defun
24069
24070 @defun InferiorThread.is_exited ()
24071 Return a Boolean indicating whether the thread is exited.
24072 @end defun
24073 @end table
24074
24075 @node Commands In Python
24076 @subsubsection Commands In Python
24077
24078 @cindex commands in python
24079 @cindex python commands
24080 You can implement new @value{GDBN} CLI commands in Python. A CLI
24081 command is implemented using an instance of the @code{gdb.Command}
24082 class, most commonly using a subclass.
24083
24084 @defun Command.__init__ (name, @var{command_class} @r{[}, @var{completer_class} @r{[}, @var{prefix}@r{]]})
24085 The object initializer for @code{Command} registers the new command
24086 with @value{GDBN}. This initializer is normally invoked from the
24087 subclass' own @code{__init__} method.
24088
24089 @var{name} is the name of the command. If @var{name} consists of
24090 multiple words, then the initial words are looked for as prefix
24091 commands. In this case, if one of the prefix commands does not exist,
24092 an exception is raised.
24093
24094 There is no support for multi-line commands.
24095
24096 @var{command_class} should be one of the @samp{COMMAND_} constants
24097 defined below. This argument tells @value{GDBN} how to categorize the
24098 new command in the help system.
24099
24100 @var{completer_class} is an optional argument. If given, it should be
24101 one of the @samp{COMPLETE_} constants defined below. This argument
24102 tells @value{GDBN} how to perform completion for this command. If not
24103 given, @value{GDBN} will attempt to complete using the object's
24104 @code{complete} method (see below); if no such method is found, an
24105 error will occur when completion is attempted.
24106
24107 @var{prefix} is an optional argument. If @code{True}, then the new
24108 command is a prefix command; sub-commands of this command may be
24109 registered.
24110
24111 The help text for the new command is taken from the Python
24112 documentation string for the command's class, if there is one. If no
24113 documentation string is provided, the default value ``This command is
24114 not documented.'' is used.
24115 @end defun
24116
24117 @cindex don't repeat Python command
24118 @defun Command.dont_repeat ()
24119 By default, a @value{GDBN} command is repeated when the user enters a
24120 blank line at the command prompt. A command can suppress this
24121 behavior by invoking the @code{dont_repeat} method. This is similar
24122 to the user command @code{dont-repeat}, see @ref{Define, dont-repeat}.
24123 @end defun
24124
24125 @defun Command.invoke (argument, from_tty)
24126 This method is called by @value{GDBN} when this command is invoked.
24127
24128 @var{argument} is a string. It is the argument to the command, after
24129 leading and trailing whitespace has been stripped.
24130
24131 @var{from_tty} is a boolean argument. When true, this means that the
24132 command was entered by the user at the terminal; when false it means
24133 that the command came from elsewhere.
24134
24135 If this method throws an exception, it is turned into a @value{GDBN}
24136 @code{error} call. Otherwise, the return value is ignored.
24137
24138 @findex gdb.string_to_argv
24139 To break @var{argument} up into an argv-like string use
24140 @code{gdb.string_to_argv}. This function behaves identically to
24141 @value{GDBN}'s internal argument lexer @code{buildargv}.
24142 It is recommended to use this for consistency.
24143 Arguments are separated by spaces and may be quoted.
24144 Example:
24145
24146 @smallexample
24147 print gdb.string_to_argv ("1 2\ \\\"3 '4 \"5' \"6 '7\"")
24148 ['1', '2 "3', '4 "5', "6 '7"]
24149 @end smallexample
24150
24151 @end defun
24152
24153 @cindex completion of Python commands
24154 @defun Command.complete (text, word)
24155 This method is called by @value{GDBN} when the user attempts
24156 completion on this command. All forms of completion are handled by
24157 this method, that is, the @key{TAB} and @key{M-?} key bindings
24158 (@pxref{Completion}), and the @code{complete} command (@pxref{Help,
24159 complete}).
24160
24161 The arguments @var{text} and @var{word} are both strings. @var{text}
24162 holds the complete command line up to the cursor's location.
24163 @var{word} holds the last word of the command line; this is computed
24164 using a word-breaking heuristic.
24165
24166 The @code{complete} method can return several values:
24167 @itemize @bullet
24168 @item
24169 If the return value is a sequence, the contents of the sequence are
24170 used as the completions. It is up to @code{complete} to ensure that the
24171 contents actually do complete the word. A zero-length sequence is
24172 allowed, it means that there were no completions available. Only
24173 string elements of the sequence are used; other elements in the
24174 sequence are ignored.
24175
24176 @item
24177 If the return value is one of the @samp{COMPLETE_} constants defined
24178 below, then the corresponding @value{GDBN}-internal completion
24179 function is invoked, and its result is used.
24180
24181 @item
24182 All other results are treated as though there were no available
24183 completions.
24184 @end itemize
24185 @end defun
24186
24187 When a new command is registered, it must be declared as a member of
24188 some general class of commands. This is used to classify top-level
24189 commands in the on-line help system; note that prefix commands are not
24190 listed under their own category but rather that of their top-level
24191 command. The available classifications are represented by constants
24192 defined in the @code{gdb} module:
24193
24194 @table @code
24195 @findex COMMAND_NONE
24196 @findex gdb.COMMAND_NONE
24197 @item gdb.COMMAND_NONE
24198 The command does not belong to any particular class. A command in
24199 this category will not be displayed in any of the help categories.
24200
24201 @findex COMMAND_RUNNING
24202 @findex gdb.COMMAND_RUNNING
24203 @item gdb.COMMAND_RUNNING
24204 The command is related to running the inferior. For example,
24205 @code{start}, @code{step}, and @code{continue} are in this category.
24206 Type @kbd{help running} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of
24207 commands in this category.
24208
24209 @findex COMMAND_DATA
24210 @findex gdb.COMMAND_DATA
24211 @item gdb.COMMAND_DATA
24212 The command is related to data or variables. For example,
24213 @code{call}, @code{find}, and @code{print} are in this category. Type
24214 @kbd{help data} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of commands
24215 in this category.
24216
24217 @findex COMMAND_STACK
24218 @findex gdb.COMMAND_STACK
24219 @item gdb.COMMAND_STACK
24220 The command has to do with manipulation of the stack. For example,
24221 @code{backtrace}, @code{frame}, and @code{return} are in this
24222 category. Type @kbd{help stack} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a
24223 list of commands in this category.
24224
24225 @findex COMMAND_FILES
24226 @findex gdb.COMMAND_FILES
24227 @item gdb.COMMAND_FILES
24228 This class is used for file-related commands. For example,
24229 @code{file}, @code{list} and @code{section} are in this category.
24230 Type @kbd{help files} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of
24231 commands in this category.
24232
24233 @findex COMMAND_SUPPORT
24234 @findex gdb.COMMAND_SUPPORT
24235 @item gdb.COMMAND_SUPPORT
24236 This should be used for ``support facilities'', generally meaning
24237 things that are useful to the user when interacting with @value{GDBN},
24238 but not related to the state of the inferior. For example,
24239 @code{help}, @code{make}, and @code{shell} are in this category. Type
24240 @kbd{help support} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of
24241 commands in this category.
24242
24243 @findex COMMAND_STATUS
24244 @findex gdb.COMMAND_STATUS
24245 @item gdb.COMMAND_STATUS
24246 The command is an @samp{info}-related command, that is, related to the
24247 state of @value{GDBN} itself. For example, @code{info}, @code{macro},
24248 and @code{show} are in this category. Type @kbd{help status} at the
24249 @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of commands in this category.
24250
24251 @findex COMMAND_BREAKPOINTS
24252 @findex gdb.COMMAND_BREAKPOINTS
24253 @item gdb.COMMAND_BREAKPOINTS
24254 The command has to do with breakpoints. For example, @code{break},
24255 @code{clear}, and @code{delete} are in this category. Type @kbd{help
24256 breakpoints} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of commands in
24257 this category.
24258
24259 @findex COMMAND_TRACEPOINTS
24260 @findex gdb.COMMAND_TRACEPOINTS
24261 @item gdb.COMMAND_TRACEPOINTS
24262 The command has to do with tracepoints. For example, @code{trace},
24263 @code{actions}, and @code{tfind} are in this category. Type
24264 @kbd{help tracepoints} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of
24265 commands in this category.
24266
24267 @findex COMMAND_USER
24268 @findex gdb.COMMAND_USER
24269 @item gdb.COMMAND_USER
24270 The command is a general purpose command for the user, and typically
24271 does not fit in one of the other categories.
24272 Type @kbd{help user-defined} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see
24273 a list of commands in this category, as well as the list of gdb macros
24274 (@pxref{Sequences}).
24275
24276 @findex COMMAND_OBSCURE
24277 @findex gdb.COMMAND_OBSCURE
24278 @item gdb.COMMAND_OBSCURE
24279 The command is only used in unusual circumstances, or is not of
24280 general interest to users. For example, @code{checkpoint},
24281 @code{fork}, and @code{stop} are in this category. Type @kbd{help
24282 obscure} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of commands in this
24283 category.
24284
24285 @findex COMMAND_MAINTENANCE
24286 @findex gdb.COMMAND_MAINTENANCE
24287 @item gdb.COMMAND_MAINTENANCE
24288 The command is only useful to @value{GDBN} maintainers. The
24289 @code{maintenance} and @code{flushregs} commands are in this category.
24290 Type @kbd{help internals} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of
24291 commands in this category.
24292 @end table
24293
24294 A new command can use a predefined completion function, either by
24295 specifying it via an argument at initialization, or by returning it
24296 from the @code{complete} method. These predefined completion
24297 constants are all defined in the @code{gdb} module:
24298
24299 @table @code
24300 @findex COMPLETE_NONE
24301 @findex gdb.COMPLETE_NONE
24302 @item gdb.COMPLETE_NONE
24303 This constant means that no completion should be done.
24304
24305 @findex COMPLETE_FILENAME
24306 @findex gdb.COMPLETE_FILENAME
24307 @item gdb.COMPLETE_FILENAME
24308 This constant means that filename completion should be performed.
24309
24310 @findex COMPLETE_LOCATION
24311 @findex gdb.COMPLETE_LOCATION
24312 @item gdb.COMPLETE_LOCATION
24313 This constant means that location completion should be done.
24314 @xref{Specify Location}.
24315
24316 @findex COMPLETE_COMMAND
24317 @findex gdb.COMPLETE_COMMAND
24318 @item gdb.COMPLETE_COMMAND
24319 This constant means that completion should examine @value{GDBN}
24320 command names.
24321
24322 @findex COMPLETE_SYMBOL
24323 @findex gdb.COMPLETE_SYMBOL
24324 @item gdb.COMPLETE_SYMBOL
24325 This constant means that completion should be done using symbol names
24326 as the source.
24327 @end table
24328
24329 The following code snippet shows how a trivial CLI command can be
24330 implemented in Python:
24331
24332 @smallexample
24333 class HelloWorld (gdb.Command):
24334 """Greet the whole world."""
24335
24336 def __init__ (self):
24337 super (HelloWorld, self).__init__ ("hello-world", gdb.COMMAND_USER)
24338
24339 def invoke (self, arg, from_tty):
24340 print "Hello, World!"
24341
24342 HelloWorld ()
24343 @end smallexample
24344
24345 The last line instantiates the class, and is necessary to trigger the
24346 registration of the command with @value{GDBN}. Depending on how the
24347 Python code is read into @value{GDBN}, you may need to import the
24348 @code{gdb} module explicitly.
24349
24350 @node Parameters In Python
24351 @subsubsection Parameters In Python
24352
24353 @cindex parameters in python
24354 @cindex python parameters
24355 @tindex gdb.Parameter
24356 @tindex Parameter
24357 You can implement new @value{GDBN} parameters using Python. A new
24358 parameter is implemented as an instance of the @code{gdb.Parameter}
24359 class.
24360
24361 Parameters are exposed to the user via the @code{set} and
24362 @code{show} commands. @xref{Help}.
24363
24364 There are many parameters that already exist and can be set in
24365 @value{GDBN}. Two examples are: @code{set follow fork} and
24366 @code{set charset}. Setting these parameters influences certain
24367 behavior in @value{GDBN}. Similarly, you can define parameters that
24368 can be used to influence behavior in custom Python scripts and commands.
24369
24370 @defun Parameter.__init__ (name, @var{command-class}, @var{parameter-class} @r{[}, @var{enum-sequence}@r{]})
24371 The object initializer for @code{Parameter} registers the new
24372 parameter with @value{GDBN}. This initializer is normally invoked
24373 from the subclass' own @code{__init__} method.
24374
24375 @var{name} is the name of the new parameter. If @var{name} consists
24376 of multiple words, then the initial words are looked for as prefix
24377 parameters. An example of this can be illustrated with the
24378 @code{set print} set of parameters. If @var{name} is
24379 @code{print foo}, then @code{print} will be searched as the prefix
24380 parameter. In this case the parameter can subsequently be accessed in
24381 @value{GDBN} as @code{set print foo}.
24382
24383 If @var{name} consists of multiple words, and no prefix parameter group
24384 can be found, an exception is raised.
24385
24386 @var{command-class} should be one of the @samp{COMMAND_} constants
24387 (@pxref{Commands In Python}). This argument tells @value{GDBN} how to
24388 categorize the new parameter in the help system.
24389
24390 @var{parameter-class} should be one of the @samp{PARAM_} constants
24391 defined below. This argument tells @value{GDBN} the type of the new
24392 parameter; this information is used for input validation and
24393 completion.
24394
24395 If @var{parameter-class} is @code{PARAM_ENUM}, then
24396 @var{enum-sequence} must be a sequence of strings. These strings
24397 represent the possible values for the parameter.
24398
24399 If @var{parameter-class} is not @code{PARAM_ENUM}, then the presence
24400 of a fourth argument will cause an exception to be thrown.
24401
24402 The help text for the new parameter is taken from the Python
24403 documentation string for the parameter's class, if there is one. If
24404 there is no documentation string, a default value is used.
24405 @end defun
24406
24407 @defvar Parameter.set_doc
24408 If this attribute exists, and is a string, then its value is used as
24409 the help text for this parameter's @code{set} command. The value is
24410 examined when @code{Parameter.__init__} is invoked; subsequent changes
24411 have no effect.
24412 @end defvar
24413
24414 @defvar Parameter.show_doc
24415 If this attribute exists, and is a string, then its value is used as
24416 the help text for this parameter's @code{show} command. The value is
24417 examined when @code{Parameter.__init__} is invoked; subsequent changes
24418 have no effect.
24419 @end defvar
24420
24421 @defvar Parameter.value
24422 The @code{value} attribute holds the underlying value of the
24423 parameter. It can be read and assigned to just as any other
24424 attribute. @value{GDBN} does validation when assignments are made.
24425 @end defvar
24426
24427 There are two methods that should be implemented in any
24428 @code{Parameter} class. These are:
24429
24430 @defun Parameter.get_set_string (self)
24431 @value{GDBN} will call this method when a @var{parameter}'s value has
24432 been changed via the @code{set} API (for example, @kbd{set foo off}).
24433 The @code{value} attribute has already been populated with the new
24434 value and may be used in output. This method must return a string.
24435 @end defun
24436
24437 @defun Parameter.get_show_string (self, svalue)
24438 @value{GDBN} will call this method when a @var{parameter}'s
24439 @code{show} API has been invoked (for example, @kbd{show foo}). The
24440 argument @code{svalue} receives the string representation of the
24441 current value. This method must return a string.
24442 @end defun
24443
24444 When a new parameter is defined, its type must be specified. The
24445 available types are represented by constants defined in the @code{gdb}
24446 module:
24447
24448 @table @code
24449 @findex PARAM_BOOLEAN
24450 @findex gdb.PARAM_BOOLEAN
24451 @item gdb.PARAM_BOOLEAN
24452 The value is a plain boolean. The Python boolean values, @code{True}
24453 and @code{False} are the only valid values.
24454
24455 @findex PARAM_AUTO_BOOLEAN
24456 @findex gdb.PARAM_AUTO_BOOLEAN
24457 @item gdb.PARAM_AUTO_BOOLEAN
24458 The value has three possible states: true, false, and @samp{auto}. In
24459 Python, true and false are represented using boolean constants, and
24460 @samp{auto} is represented using @code{None}.
24461
24462 @findex PARAM_UINTEGER
24463 @findex gdb.PARAM_UINTEGER
24464 @item gdb.PARAM_UINTEGER
24465 The value is an unsigned integer. The value of 0 should be
24466 interpreted to mean ``unlimited''.
24467
24468 @findex PARAM_INTEGER
24469 @findex gdb.PARAM_INTEGER
24470 @item gdb.PARAM_INTEGER
24471 The value is a signed integer. The value of 0 should be interpreted
24472 to mean ``unlimited''.
24473
24474 @findex PARAM_STRING
24475 @findex gdb.PARAM_STRING
24476 @item gdb.PARAM_STRING
24477 The value is a string. When the user modifies the string, any escape
24478 sequences, such as @samp{\t}, @samp{\f}, and octal escapes, are
24479 translated into corresponding characters and encoded into the current
24480 host charset.
24481
24482 @findex PARAM_STRING_NOESCAPE
24483 @findex gdb.PARAM_STRING_NOESCAPE
24484 @item gdb.PARAM_STRING_NOESCAPE
24485 The value is a string. When the user modifies the string, escapes are
24486 passed through untranslated.
24487
24488 @findex PARAM_OPTIONAL_FILENAME
24489 @findex gdb.PARAM_OPTIONAL_FILENAME
24490 @item gdb.PARAM_OPTIONAL_FILENAME
24491 The value is a either a filename (a string), or @code{None}.
24492
24493 @findex PARAM_FILENAME
24494 @findex gdb.PARAM_FILENAME
24495 @item gdb.PARAM_FILENAME
24496 The value is a filename. This is just like
24497 @code{PARAM_STRING_NOESCAPE}, but uses file names for completion.
24498
24499 @findex PARAM_ZINTEGER
24500 @findex gdb.PARAM_ZINTEGER
24501 @item gdb.PARAM_ZINTEGER
24502 The value is an integer. This is like @code{PARAM_INTEGER}, except 0
24503 is interpreted as itself.
24504
24505 @findex PARAM_ENUM
24506 @findex gdb.PARAM_ENUM
24507 @item gdb.PARAM_ENUM
24508 The value is a string, which must be one of a collection string
24509 constants provided when the parameter is created.
24510 @end table
24511
24512 @node Functions In Python
24513 @subsubsection Writing new convenience functions
24514
24515 @cindex writing convenience functions
24516 @cindex convenience functions in python
24517 @cindex python convenience functions
24518 @tindex gdb.Function
24519 @tindex Function
24520 You can implement new convenience functions (@pxref{Convenience Vars})
24521 in Python. A convenience function is an instance of a subclass of the
24522 class @code{gdb.Function}.
24523
24524 @defun Function.__init__ (name)
24525 The initializer for @code{Function} registers the new function with
24526 @value{GDBN}. The argument @var{name} is the name of the function,
24527 a string. The function will be visible to the user as a convenience
24528 variable of type @code{internal function}, whose name is the same as
24529 the given @var{name}.
24530
24531 The documentation for the new function is taken from the documentation
24532 string for the new class.
24533 @end defun
24534
24535 @defun Function.invoke (@var{*args})
24536 When a convenience function is evaluated, its arguments are converted
24537 to instances of @code{gdb.Value}, and then the function's
24538 @code{invoke} method is called. Note that @value{GDBN} does not
24539 predetermine the arity of convenience functions. Instead, all
24540 available arguments are passed to @code{invoke}, following the
24541 standard Python calling convention. In particular, a convenience
24542 function can have default values for parameters without ill effect.
24543
24544 The return value of this method is used as its value in the enclosing
24545 expression. If an ordinary Python value is returned, it is converted
24546 to a @code{gdb.Value} following the usual rules.
24547 @end defun
24548
24549 The following code snippet shows how a trivial convenience function can
24550 be implemented in Python:
24551
24552 @smallexample
24553 class Greet (gdb.Function):
24554 """Return string to greet someone.
24555 Takes a name as argument."""
24556
24557 def __init__ (self):
24558 super (Greet, self).__init__ ("greet")
24559
24560 def invoke (self, name):
24561 return "Hello, %s!" % name.string ()
24562
24563 Greet ()
24564 @end smallexample
24565
24566 The last line instantiates the class, and is necessary to trigger the
24567 registration of the function with @value{GDBN}. Depending on how the
24568 Python code is read into @value{GDBN}, you may need to import the
24569 @code{gdb} module explicitly.
24570
24571 @node Progspaces In Python
24572 @subsubsection Program Spaces In Python
24573
24574 @cindex progspaces in python
24575 @tindex gdb.Progspace
24576 @tindex Progspace
24577 A program space, or @dfn{progspace}, represents a symbolic view
24578 of an address space.
24579 It consists of all of the objfiles of the program.
24580 @xref{Objfiles In Python}.
24581 @xref{Inferiors and Programs, program spaces}, for more details
24582 about program spaces.
24583
24584 The following progspace-related functions are available in the
24585 @code{gdb} module:
24586
24587 @findex gdb.current_progspace
24588 @defun gdb.current_progspace ()
24589 This function returns the program space of the currently selected inferior.
24590 @xref{Inferiors and Programs}.
24591 @end defun
24592
24593 @findex gdb.progspaces
24594 @defun gdb.progspaces ()
24595 Return a sequence of all the progspaces currently known to @value{GDBN}.
24596 @end defun
24597
24598 Each progspace is represented by an instance of the @code{gdb.Progspace}
24599 class.
24600
24601 @defvar Progspace.filename
24602 The file name of the progspace as a string.
24603 @end defvar
24604
24605 @defvar Progspace.pretty_printers
24606 The @code{pretty_printers} attribute is a list of functions. It is
24607 used to look up pretty-printers. A @code{Value} is passed to each
24608 function in order; if the function returns @code{None}, then the
24609 search continues. Otherwise, the return value should be an object
24610 which is used to format the value. @xref{Pretty Printing API}, for more
24611 information.
24612 @end defvar
24613
24614 @node Objfiles In Python
24615 @subsubsection Objfiles In Python
24616
24617 @cindex objfiles in python
24618 @tindex gdb.Objfile
24619 @tindex Objfile
24620 @value{GDBN} loads symbols for an inferior from various
24621 symbol-containing files (@pxref{Files}). These include the primary
24622 executable file, any shared libraries used by the inferior, and any
24623 separate debug info files (@pxref{Separate Debug Files}).
24624 @value{GDBN} calls these symbol-containing files @dfn{objfiles}.
24625
24626 The following objfile-related functions are available in the
24627 @code{gdb} module:
24628
24629 @findex gdb.current_objfile
24630 @defun gdb.current_objfile ()
24631 When auto-loading a Python script (@pxref{Python Auto-loading}), @value{GDBN}
24632 sets the ``current objfile'' to the corresponding objfile. This
24633 function returns the current objfile. If there is no current objfile,
24634 this function returns @code{None}.
24635 @end defun
24636
24637 @findex gdb.objfiles
24638 @defun gdb.objfiles ()
24639 Return a sequence of all the objfiles current known to @value{GDBN}.
24640 @xref{Objfiles In Python}.
24641 @end defun
24642
24643 Each objfile is represented by an instance of the @code{gdb.Objfile}
24644 class.
24645
24646 @defvar Objfile.filename
24647 The file name of the objfile as a string.
24648 @end defvar
24649
24650 @defvar Objfile.pretty_printers
24651 The @code{pretty_printers} attribute is a list of functions. It is
24652 used to look up pretty-printers. A @code{Value} is passed to each
24653 function in order; if the function returns @code{None}, then the
24654 search continues. Otherwise, the return value should be an object
24655 which is used to format the value. @xref{Pretty Printing API}, for more
24656 information.
24657 @end defvar
24658
24659 A @code{gdb.Objfile} object has the following methods:
24660
24661 @defun Objfile.is_valid ()
24662 Returns @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Objfile} object is valid,
24663 @code{False} if not. A @code{gdb.Objfile} object can become invalid
24664 if the object file it refers to is not loaded in @value{GDBN} any
24665 longer. All other @code{gdb.Objfile} methods will throw an exception
24666 if it is invalid at the time the method is called.
24667 @end defun
24668
24669 @node Frames In Python
24670 @subsubsection Accessing inferior stack frames from Python.
24671
24672 @cindex frames in python
24673 When the debugged program stops, @value{GDBN} is able to analyze its call
24674 stack (@pxref{Frames,,Stack frames}). The @code{gdb.Frame} class
24675 represents a frame in the stack. A @code{gdb.Frame} object is only valid
24676 while its corresponding frame exists in the inferior's stack. If you try
24677 to use an invalid frame object, @value{GDBN} will throw a @code{gdb.error}
24678 exception (@pxref{Exception Handling}).
24679
24680 Two @code{gdb.Frame} objects can be compared for equality with the @code{==}
24681 operator, like:
24682
24683 @smallexample
24684 (@value{GDBP}) python print gdb.newest_frame() == gdb.selected_frame ()
24685 True
24686 @end smallexample
24687
24688 The following frame-related functions are available in the @code{gdb} module:
24689
24690 @findex gdb.selected_frame
24691 @defun gdb.selected_frame ()
24692 Return the selected frame object. (@pxref{Selection,,Selecting a Frame}).
24693 @end defun
24694
24695 @findex gdb.newest_frame
24696 @defun gdb.newest_frame ()
24697 Return the newest frame object for the selected thread.
24698 @end defun
24699
24700 @defun gdb.frame_stop_reason_string (reason)
24701 Return a string explaining the reason why @value{GDBN} stopped unwinding
24702 frames, as expressed by the given @var{reason} code (an integer, see the
24703 @code{unwind_stop_reason} method further down in this section).
24704 @end defun
24705
24706 A @code{gdb.Frame} object has the following methods:
24707
24708 @table @code
24709 @defun Frame.is_valid ()
24710 Returns true if the @code{gdb.Frame} object is valid, false if not.
24711 A frame object can become invalid if the frame it refers to doesn't
24712 exist anymore in the inferior. All @code{gdb.Frame} methods will throw
24713 an exception if it is invalid at the time the method is called.
24714 @end defun
24715
24716 @defun Frame.name ()
24717 Returns the function name of the frame, or @code{None} if it can't be
24718 obtained.
24719 @end defun
24720
24721 @defun Frame.type ()
24722 Returns the type of the frame. The value can be one of:
24723 @table @code
24724 @item gdb.NORMAL_FRAME
24725 An ordinary stack frame.
24726
24727 @item gdb.DUMMY_FRAME
24728 A fake stack frame that was created by @value{GDBN} when performing an
24729 inferior function call.
24730
24731 @item gdb.INLINE_FRAME
24732 A frame representing an inlined function. The function was inlined
24733 into a @code{gdb.NORMAL_FRAME} that is older than this one.
24734
24735 @item gdb.TAILCALL_FRAME
24736 A frame representing a tail call. @xref{Tail Call Frames}.
24737
24738 @item gdb.SIGTRAMP_FRAME
24739 A signal trampoline frame. This is the frame created by the OS when
24740 it calls into a signal handler.
24741
24742 @item gdb.ARCH_FRAME
24743 A fake stack frame representing a cross-architecture call.
24744
24745 @item gdb.SENTINEL_FRAME
24746 This is like @code{gdb.NORMAL_FRAME}, but it is only used for the
24747 newest frame.
24748 @end table
24749 @end defun
24750
24751 @defun Frame.unwind_stop_reason ()
24752 Return an integer representing the reason why it's not possible to find
24753 more frames toward the outermost frame. Use
24754 @code{gdb.frame_stop_reason_string} to convert the value returned by this
24755 function to a string. The value can be one of:
24756
24757 @table @code
24758 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_NO_REASON
24759 No particular reason (older frames should be available).
24760
24761 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_NULL_ID
24762 The previous frame's analyzer returns an invalid result.
24763
24764 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_OUTERMOST
24765 This frame is the outermost.
24766
24767 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_UNAVAILABLE
24768 Cannot unwind further, because that would require knowing the
24769 values of registers or memory that have not been collected.
24770
24771 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_INNER_ID
24772 This frame ID looks like it ought to belong to a NEXT frame,
24773 but we got it for a PREV frame. Normally, this is a sign of
24774 unwinder failure. It could also indicate stack corruption.
24775
24776 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_SAME_ID
24777 This frame has the same ID as the previous one. That means
24778 that unwinding further would almost certainly give us another
24779 frame with exactly the same ID, so break the chain. Normally,
24780 this is a sign of unwinder failure. It could also indicate
24781 stack corruption.
24782
24783 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_NO_SAVED_PC
24784 The frame unwinder did not find any saved PC, but we needed
24785 one to unwind further.
24786
24787 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_FIRST_ERROR
24788 Any stop reason greater or equal to this value indicates some kind
24789 of error. This special value facilitates writing code that tests
24790 for errors in unwinding in a way that will work correctly even if
24791 the list of the other values is modified in future @value{GDBN}
24792 versions. Using it, you could write:
24793 @smallexample
24794 reason = gdb.selected_frame().unwind_stop_reason ()
24795 reason_str = gdb.frame_stop_reason_string (reason)
24796 if reason >= gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_FIRST_ERROR:
24797 print "An error occured: %s" % reason_str
24798 @end smallexample
24799 @end table
24800
24801 @end defun
24802
24803 @defun Frame.pc ()
24804 Returns the frame's resume address.
24805 @end defun
24806
24807 @defun Frame.block ()
24808 Return the frame's code block. @xref{Blocks In Python}.
24809 @end defun
24810
24811 @defun Frame.function ()
24812 Return the symbol for the function corresponding to this frame.
24813 @xref{Symbols In Python}.
24814 @end defun
24815
24816 @defun Frame.older ()
24817 Return the frame that called this frame.
24818 @end defun
24819
24820 @defun Frame.newer ()
24821 Return the frame called by this frame.
24822 @end defun
24823
24824 @defun Frame.find_sal ()
24825 Return the frame's symtab and line object.
24826 @xref{Symbol Tables In Python}.
24827 @end defun
24828
24829 @defun Frame.read_var (variable @r{[}, block@r{]})
24830 Return the value of @var{variable} in this frame. If the optional
24831 argument @var{block} is provided, search for the variable from that
24832 block; otherwise start at the frame's current block (which is
24833 determined by the frame's current program counter). @var{variable}
24834 must be a string or a @code{gdb.Symbol} object. @var{block} must be a
24835 @code{gdb.Block} object.
24836 @end defun
24837
24838 @defun Frame.select ()
24839 Set this frame to be the selected frame. @xref{Stack, ,Examining the
24840 Stack}.
24841 @end defun
24842 @end table
24843
24844 @node Blocks In Python
24845 @subsubsection Accessing frame blocks from Python.
24846
24847 @cindex blocks in python
24848 @tindex gdb.Block
24849
24850 Within each frame, @value{GDBN} maintains information on each block
24851 stored in that frame. These blocks are organized hierarchically, and
24852 are represented individually in Python as a @code{gdb.Block}.
24853 Please see @ref{Frames In Python}, for a more in-depth discussion on
24854 frames. Furthermore, see @ref{Stack, ,Examining the Stack}, for more
24855 detailed technical information on @value{GDBN}'s book-keeping of the
24856 stack.
24857
24858 A @code{gdb.Block} is iterable. The iterator returns the symbols
24859 (@pxref{Symbols In Python}) local to the block. Python programs
24860 should not assume that a specific block object will always contain a
24861 given symbol, since changes in @value{GDBN} features and
24862 infrastructure may cause symbols move across blocks in a symbol
24863 table.
24864
24865 The following block-related functions are available in the @code{gdb}
24866 module:
24867
24868 @findex gdb.block_for_pc
24869 @defun gdb.block_for_pc (pc)
24870 Return the @code{gdb.Block} containing the given @var{pc} value. If the
24871 block cannot be found for the @var{pc} value specified, the function
24872 will return @code{None}.
24873 @end defun
24874
24875 A @code{gdb.Block} object has the following methods:
24876
24877 @table @code
24878 @defun Block.is_valid ()
24879 Returns @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Block} object is valid,
24880 @code{False} if not. A block object can become invalid if the block it
24881 refers to doesn't exist anymore in the inferior. All other
24882 @code{gdb.Block} methods will throw an exception if it is invalid at
24883 the time the method is called. The block's validity is also checked
24884 during iteration over symbols of the block.
24885 @end defun
24886 @end table
24887
24888 A @code{gdb.Block} object has the following attributes:
24889
24890 @table @code
24891 @defvar Block.start
24892 The start address of the block. This attribute is not writable.
24893 @end defvar
24894
24895 @defvar Block.end
24896 The end address of the block. This attribute is not writable.
24897 @end defvar
24898
24899 @defvar Block.function
24900 The name of the block represented as a @code{gdb.Symbol}. If the
24901 block is not named, then this attribute holds @code{None}. This
24902 attribute is not writable.
24903 @end defvar
24904
24905 @defvar Block.superblock
24906 The block containing this block. If this parent block does not exist,
24907 this attribute holds @code{None}. This attribute is not writable.
24908 @end defvar
24909
24910 @defvar Block.global_block
24911 The global block associated with this block. This attribute is not
24912 writable.
24913 @end defvar
24914
24915 @defvar Block.static_block
24916 The static block associated with this block. This attribute is not
24917 writable.
24918 @end defvar
24919
24920 @defvar Block.is_global
24921 @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Block} object is a global block,
24922 @code{False} if not. This attribute is not
24923 writable.
24924 @end defvar
24925
24926 @defvar Block.is_static
24927 @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Block} object is a static block,
24928 @code{False} if not. This attribute is not writable.
24929 @end defvar
24930 @end table
24931
24932 @node Symbols In Python
24933 @subsubsection Python representation of Symbols.
24934
24935 @cindex symbols in python
24936 @tindex gdb.Symbol
24937
24938 @value{GDBN} represents every variable, function and type as an
24939 entry in a symbol table. @xref{Symbols, ,Examining the Symbol Table}.
24940 Similarly, Python represents these symbols in @value{GDBN} with the
24941 @code{gdb.Symbol} object.
24942
24943 The following symbol-related functions are available in the @code{gdb}
24944 module:
24945
24946 @findex gdb.lookup_symbol
24947 @defun gdb.lookup_symbol (name @r{[}, block @r{[}, domain@r{]]})
24948 This function searches for a symbol by name. The search scope can be
24949 restricted to the parameters defined in the optional domain and block
24950 arguments.
24951
24952 @var{name} is the name of the symbol. It must be a string. The
24953 optional @var{block} argument restricts the search to symbols visible
24954 in that @var{block}. The @var{block} argument must be a
24955 @code{gdb.Block} object. If omitted, the block for the current frame
24956 is used. The optional @var{domain} argument restricts
24957 the search to the domain type. The @var{domain} argument must be a
24958 domain constant defined in the @code{gdb} module and described later
24959 in this chapter.
24960
24961 The result is a tuple of two elements.
24962 The first element is a @code{gdb.Symbol} object or @code{None} if the symbol
24963 is not found.
24964 If the symbol is found, the second element is @code{True} if the symbol
24965 is a field of a method's object (e.g., @code{this} in C@t{++}),
24966 otherwise it is @code{False}.
24967 If the symbol is not found, the second element is @code{False}.
24968 @end defun
24969
24970 @findex gdb.lookup_global_symbol
24971 @defun gdb.lookup_global_symbol (name @r{[}, domain@r{]})
24972 This function searches for a global symbol by name.
24973 The search scope can be restricted to by the domain argument.
24974
24975 @var{name} is the name of the symbol. It must be a string.
24976 The optional @var{domain} argument restricts the search to the domain type.
24977 The @var{domain} argument must be a domain constant defined in the @code{gdb}
24978 module and described later in this chapter.
24979
24980 The result is a @code{gdb.Symbol} object or @code{None} if the symbol
24981 is not found.
24982 @end defun
24983
24984 A @code{gdb.Symbol} object has the following attributes:
24985
24986 @table @code
24987 @defvar Symbol.type
24988 The type of the symbol or @code{None} if no type is recorded.
24989 This attribute is represented as a @code{gdb.Type} object.
24990 @xref{Types In Python}. This attribute is not writable.
24991 @end defvar
24992
24993 @defvar Symbol.symtab
24994 The symbol table in which the symbol appears. This attribute is
24995 represented as a @code{gdb.Symtab} object. @xref{Symbol Tables In
24996 Python}. This attribute is not writable.
24997 @end defvar
24998
24999 @defvar Symbol.line
25000 The line number in the source code at which the symbol was defined.
25001 This is an integer.
25002 @end defvar
25003
25004 @defvar Symbol.name
25005 The name of the symbol as a string. This attribute is not writable.
25006 @end defvar
25007
25008 @defvar Symbol.linkage_name
25009 The name of the symbol, as used by the linker (i.e., may be mangled).
25010 This attribute is not writable.
25011 @end defvar
25012
25013 @defvar Symbol.print_name
25014 The name of the symbol in a form suitable for output. This is either
25015 @code{name} or @code{linkage_name}, depending on whether the user
25016 asked @value{GDBN} to display demangled or mangled names.
25017 @end defvar
25018
25019 @defvar Symbol.addr_class
25020 The address class of the symbol. This classifies how to find the value
25021 of a symbol. Each address class is a constant defined in the
25022 @code{gdb} module and described later in this chapter.
25023 @end defvar
25024
25025 @defvar Symbol.needs_frame
25026 This is @code{True} if evaluating this symbol's value requires a frame
25027 (@pxref{Frames In Python}) and @code{False} otherwise. Typically,
25028 local variables will require a frame, but other symbols will not.
25029 @end defvar
25030
25031 @defvar Symbol.is_argument
25032 @code{True} if the symbol is an argument of a function.
25033 @end defvar
25034
25035 @defvar Symbol.is_constant
25036 @code{True} if the symbol is a constant.
25037 @end defvar
25038
25039 @defvar Symbol.is_function
25040 @code{True} if the symbol is a function or a method.
25041 @end defvar
25042
25043 @defvar Symbol.is_variable
25044 @code{True} if the symbol is a variable.
25045 @end defvar
25046 @end table
25047
25048 A @code{gdb.Symbol} object has the following methods:
25049
25050 @table @code
25051 @defun Symbol.is_valid ()
25052 Returns @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Symbol} object is valid,
25053 @code{False} if not. A @code{gdb.Symbol} object can become invalid if
25054 the symbol it refers to does not exist in @value{GDBN} any longer.
25055 All other @code{gdb.Symbol} methods will throw an exception if it is
25056 invalid at the time the method is called.
25057 @end defun
25058
25059 @defun Symbol.value (@r{[}frame@r{]})
25060 Compute the value of the symbol, as a @code{gdb.Value}. For
25061 functions, this computes the address of the function, cast to the
25062 appropriate type. If the symbol requires a frame in order to compute
25063 its value, then @var{frame} must be given. If @var{frame} is not
25064 given, or if @var{frame} is invalid, then this method will throw an
25065 exception.
25066 @end defun
25067 @end table
25068
25069 The available domain categories in @code{gdb.Symbol} are represented
25070 as constants in the @code{gdb} module:
25071
25072 @table @code
25073 @findex SYMBOL_UNDEF_DOMAIN
25074 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_UNDEF_DOMAIN
25075 @item gdb.SYMBOL_UNDEF_DOMAIN
25076 This is used when a domain has not been discovered or none of the
25077 following domains apply. This usually indicates an error either
25078 in the symbol information or in @value{GDBN}'s handling of symbols.
25079 @findex SYMBOL_VAR_DOMAIN
25080 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_VAR_DOMAIN
25081 @item gdb.SYMBOL_VAR_DOMAIN
25082 This domain contains variables, function names, typedef names and enum
25083 type values.
25084 @findex SYMBOL_STRUCT_DOMAIN
25085 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_STRUCT_DOMAIN
25086 @item gdb.SYMBOL_STRUCT_DOMAIN
25087 This domain holds struct, union and enum type names.
25088 @findex SYMBOL_LABEL_DOMAIN
25089 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LABEL_DOMAIN
25090 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LABEL_DOMAIN
25091 This domain contains names of labels (for gotos).
25092 @findex SYMBOL_VARIABLES_DOMAIN
25093 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_VARIABLES_DOMAIN
25094 @item gdb.SYMBOL_VARIABLES_DOMAIN
25095 This domain holds a subset of the @code{SYMBOLS_VAR_DOMAIN}; it
25096 contains everything minus functions and types.
25097 @findex SYMBOL_FUNCTIONS_DOMAIN
25098 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_FUNCTIONS_DOMAIN
25099 @item gdb.SYMBOL_FUNCTION_DOMAIN
25100 This domain contains all functions.
25101 @findex SYMBOL_TYPES_DOMAIN
25102 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_TYPES_DOMAIN
25103 @item gdb.SYMBOL_TYPES_DOMAIN
25104 This domain contains all types.
25105 @end table
25106
25107 The available address class categories in @code{gdb.Symbol} are represented
25108 as constants in the @code{gdb} module:
25109
25110 @table @code
25111 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_UNDEF
25112 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_UNDEF
25113 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_UNDEF
25114 If this is returned by address class, it indicates an error either in
25115 the symbol information or in @value{GDBN}'s handling of symbols.
25116 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_CONST
25117 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_CONST
25118 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_CONST
25119 Value is constant int.
25120 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_STATIC
25121 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_STATIC
25122 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_STATIC
25123 Value is at a fixed address.
25124 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_REGISTER
25125 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_REGISTER
25126 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_REGISTER
25127 Value is in a register.
25128 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_ARG
25129 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_ARG
25130 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_ARG
25131 Value is an argument. This value is at the offset stored within the
25132 symbol inside the frame's argument list.
25133 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_REF_ARG
25134 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_REF_ARG
25135 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_REF_ARG
25136 Value address is stored in the frame's argument list. Just like
25137 @code{LOC_ARG} except that the value's address is stored at the
25138 offset, not the value itself.
25139 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_REGPARM_ADDR
25140 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_REGPARM_ADDR
25141 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_REGPARM_ADDR
25142 Value is a specified register. Just like @code{LOC_REGISTER} except
25143 the register holds the address of the argument instead of the argument
25144 itself.
25145 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_LOCAL
25146 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_LOCAL
25147 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_LOCAL
25148 Value is a local variable.
25149 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_TYPEDEF
25150 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_TYPEDEF
25151 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_TYPEDEF
25152 Value not used. Symbols in the domain @code{SYMBOL_STRUCT_DOMAIN} all
25153 have this class.
25154 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_BLOCK
25155 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_BLOCK
25156 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_BLOCK
25157 Value is a block.
25158 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_CONST_BYTES
25159 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_CONST_BYTES
25160 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_CONST_BYTES
25161 Value is a byte-sequence.
25162 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_UNRESOLVED
25163 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_UNRESOLVED
25164 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_UNRESOLVED
25165 Value is at a fixed address, but the address of the variable has to be
25166 determined from the minimal symbol table whenever the variable is
25167 referenced.
25168 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_OPTIMIZED_OUT
25169 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_OPTIMIZED_OUT
25170 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_OPTIMIZED_OUT
25171 The value does not actually exist in the program.
25172 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_COMPUTED
25173 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_COMPUTED
25174 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_COMPUTED
25175 The value's address is a computed location.
25176 @end table
25177
25178 @node Symbol Tables In Python
25179 @subsubsection Symbol table representation in Python.
25180
25181 @cindex symbol tables in python
25182 @tindex gdb.Symtab
25183 @tindex gdb.Symtab_and_line
25184
25185 Access to symbol table data maintained by @value{GDBN} on the inferior
25186 is exposed to Python via two objects: @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} and
25187 @code{gdb.Symtab}. Symbol table and line data for a frame is returned
25188 from the @code{find_sal} method in @code{gdb.Frame} object.
25189 @xref{Frames In Python}.
25190
25191 For more information on @value{GDBN}'s symbol table management, see
25192 @ref{Symbols, ,Examining the Symbol Table}, for more information.
25193
25194 A @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} object has the following attributes:
25195
25196 @table @code
25197 @defvar Symtab_and_line.symtab
25198 The symbol table object (@code{gdb.Symtab}) for this frame.
25199 This attribute is not writable.
25200 @end defvar
25201
25202 @defvar Symtab_and_line.pc
25203 Indicates the current program counter address. This attribute is not
25204 writable.
25205 @end defvar
25206
25207 @defvar Symtab_and_line.line
25208 Indicates the current line number for this object. This
25209 attribute is not writable.
25210 @end defvar
25211 @end table
25212
25213 A @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} object has the following methods:
25214
25215 @table @code
25216 @defun Symtab_and_line.is_valid ()
25217 Returns @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} object is valid,
25218 @code{False} if not. A @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} object can become
25219 invalid if the Symbol table and line object it refers to does not
25220 exist in @value{GDBN} any longer. All other
25221 @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} methods will throw an exception if it is
25222 invalid at the time the method is called.
25223 @end defun
25224 @end table
25225
25226 A @code{gdb.Symtab} object has the following attributes:
25227
25228 @table @code
25229 @defvar Symtab.filename
25230 The symbol table's source filename. This attribute is not writable.
25231 @end defvar
25232
25233 @defvar Symtab.objfile
25234 The symbol table's backing object file. @xref{Objfiles In Python}.
25235 This attribute is not writable.
25236 @end defvar
25237 @end table
25238
25239 A @code{gdb.Symtab} object has the following methods:
25240
25241 @table @code
25242 @defun Symtab.is_valid ()
25243 Returns @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Symtab} object is valid,
25244 @code{False} if not. A @code{gdb.Symtab} object can become invalid if
25245 the symbol table it refers to does not exist in @value{GDBN} any
25246 longer. All other @code{gdb.Symtab} methods will throw an exception
25247 if it is invalid at the time the method is called.
25248 @end defun
25249
25250 @defun Symtab.fullname ()
25251 Return the symbol table's source absolute file name.
25252 @end defun
25253
25254 @defun Symtab.global_block ()
25255 Return the global block of the underlying symbol table.
25256 @xref{Blocks In Python}.
25257 @end defun
25258
25259 @defun Symtab.static_block ()
25260 Return the static block of the underlying symbol table.
25261 @xref{Blocks In Python}.
25262 @end defun
25263 @end table
25264
25265 @node Breakpoints In Python
25266 @subsubsection Manipulating breakpoints using Python
25267
25268 @cindex breakpoints in python
25269 @tindex gdb.Breakpoint
25270
25271 Python code can manipulate breakpoints via the @code{gdb.Breakpoint}
25272 class.
25273
25274 @defun Breakpoint.__init__ (spec @r{[}, type @r{[}, wp_class @r{[},internal@r{]]]})
25275 Create a new breakpoint. @var{spec} is a string naming the
25276 location of the breakpoint, or an expression that defines a
25277 watchpoint. The contents can be any location recognized by the
25278 @code{break} command, or in the case of a watchpoint, by the @code{watch}
25279 command. The optional @var{type} denotes the breakpoint to create
25280 from the types defined later in this chapter. This argument can be
25281 either: @code{gdb.BP_BREAKPOINT} or @code{gdb.BP_WATCHPOINT}. @var{type}
25282 defaults to @code{gdb.BP_BREAKPOINT}. The optional @var{internal} argument
25283 allows the breakpoint to become invisible to the user. The breakpoint
25284 will neither be reported when created, nor will it be listed in the
25285 output from @code{info breakpoints} (but will be listed with the
25286 @code{maint info breakpoints} command). The optional @var{wp_class}
25287 argument defines the class of watchpoint to create, if @var{type} is
25288 @code{gdb.BP_WATCHPOINT}. If a watchpoint class is not provided, it is
25289 assumed to be a @code{gdb.WP_WRITE} class.
25290 @end defun
25291
25292 @defun Breakpoint.stop (self)
25293 The @code{gdb.Breakpoint} class can be sub-classed and, in
25294 particular, you may choose to implement the @code{stop} method.
25295 If this method is defined as a sub-class of @code{gdb.Breakpoint},
25296 it will be called when the inferior reaches any location of a
25297 breakpoint which instantiates that sub-class. If the method returns
25298 @code{True}, the inferior will be stopped at the location of the
25299 breakpoint, otherwise the inferior will continue.
25300
25301 If there are multiple breakpoints at the same location with a
25302 @code{stop} method, each one will be called regardless of the
25303 return status of the previous. This ensures that all @code{stop}
25304 methods have a chance to execute at that location. In this scenario
25305 if one of the methods returns @code{True} but the others return
25306 @code{False}, the inferior will still be stopped.
25307
25308 You should not alter the execution state of the inferior (i.e.@:, step,
25309 next, etc.), alter the current frame context (i.e.@:, change the current
25310 active frame), or alter, add or delete any breakpoint. As a general
25311 rule, you should not alter any data within @value{GDBN} or the inferior
25312 at this time.
25313
25314 Example @code{stop} implementation:
25315
25316 @smallexample
25317 class MyBreakpoint (gdb.Breakpoint):
25318 def stop (self):
25319 inf_val = gdb.parse_and_eval("foo")
25320 if inf_val == 3:
25321 return True
25322 return False
25323 @end smallexample
25324 @end defun
25325
25326 The available watchpoint types represented by constants are defined in the
25327 @code{gdb} module:
25328
25329 @table @code
25330 @findex WP_READ
25331 @findex gdb.WP_READ
25332 @item gdb.WP_READ
25333 Read only watchpoint.
25334
25335 @findex WP_WRITE
25336 @findex gdb.WP_WRITE
25337 @item gdb.WP_WRITE
25338 Write only watchpoint.
25339
25340 @findex WP_ACCESS
25341 @findex gdb.WP_ACCESS
25342 @item gdb.WP_ACCESS
25343 Read/Write watchpoint.
25344 @end table
25345
25346 @defun Breakpoint.is_valid ()
25347 Return @code{True} if this @code{Breakpoint} object is valid,
25348 @code{False} otherwise. A @code{Breakpoint} object can become invalid
25349 if the user deletes the breakpoint. In this case, the object still
25350 exists, but the underlying breakpoint does not. In the cases of
25351 watchpoint scope, the watchpoint remains valid even if execution of the
25352 inferior leaves the scope of that watchpoint.
25353 @end defun
25354
25355 @defun Breakpoint.delete
25356 Permanently deletes the @value{GDBN} breakpoint. This also
25357 invalidates the Python @code{Breakpoint} object. Any further access
25358 to this object's attributes or methods will raise an error.
25359 @end defun
25360
25361 @defvar Breakpoint.enabled
25362 This attribute is @code{True} if the breakpoint is enabled, and
25363 @code{False} otherwise. This attribute is writable.
25364 @end defvar
25365
25366 @defvar Breakpoint.silent
25367 This attribute is @code{True} if the breakpoint is silent, and
25368 @code{False} otherwise. This attribute is writable.
25369
25370 Note that a breakpoint can also be silent if it has commands and the
25371 first command is @code{silent}. This is not reported by the
25372 @code{silent} attribute.
25373 @end defvar
25374
25375 @defvar Breakpoint.thread
25376 If the breakpoint is thread-specific, this attribute holds the thread
25377 id. If the breakpoint is not thread-specific, this attribute is
25378 @code{None}. This attribute is writable.
25379 @end defvar
25380
25381 @defvar Breakpoint.task
25382 If the breakpoint is Ada task-specific, this attribute holds the Ada task
25383 id. If the breakpoint is not task-specific (or the underlying
25384 language is not Ada), this attribute is @code{None}. This attribute
25385 is writable.
25386 @end defvar
25387
25388 @defvar Breakpoint.ignore_count
25389 This attribute holds the ignore count for the breakpoint, an integer.
25390 This attribute is writable.
25391 @end defvar
25392
25393 @defvar Breakpoint.number
25394 This attribute holds the breakpoint's number --- the identifier used by
25395 the user to manipulate the breakpoint. This attribute is not writable.
25396 @end defvar
25397
25398 @defvar Breakpoint.type
25399 This attribute holds the breakpoint's type --- the identifier used to
25400 determine the actual breakpoint type or use-case. This attribute is not
25401 writable.
25402 @end defvar
25403
25404 @defvar Breakpoint.visible
25405 This attribute tells whether the breakpoint is visible to the user
25406 when set, or when the @samp{info breakpoints} command is run. This
25407 attribute is not writable.
25408 @end defvar
25409
25410 The available types are represented by constants defined in the @code{gdb}
25411 module:
25412
25413 @table @code
25414 @findex BP_BREAKPOINT
25415 @findex gdb.BP_BREAKPOINT
25416 @item gdb.BP_BREAKPOINT
25417 Normal code breakpoint.
25418
25419 @findex BP_WATCHPOINT
25420 @findex gdb.BP_WATCHPOINT
25421 @item gdb.BP_WATCHPOINT
25422 Watchpoint breakpoint.
25423
25424 @findex BP_HARDWARE_WATCHPOINT
25425 @findex gdb.BP_HARDWARE_WATCHPOINT
25426 @item gdb.BP_HARDWARE_WATCHPOINT
25427 Hardware assisted watchpoint.
25428
25429 @findex BP_READ_WATCHPOINT
25430 @findex gdb.BP_READ_WATCHPOINT
25431 @item gdb.BP_READ_WATCHPOINT
25432 Hardware assisted read watchpoint.
25433
25434 @findex BP_ACCESS_WATCHPOINT
25435 @findex gdb.BP_ACCESS_WATCHPOINT
25436 @item gdb.BP_ACCESS_WATCHPOINT
25437 Hardware assisted access watchpoint.
25438 @end table
25439
25440 @defvar Breakpoint.hit_count
25441 This attribute holds the hit count for the breakpoint, an integer.
25442 This attribute is writable, but currently it can only be set to zero.
25443 @end defvar
25444
25445 @defvar Breakpoint.location
25446 This attribute holds the location of the breakpoint, as specified by
25447 the user. It is a string. If the breakpoint does not have a location
25448 (that is, it is a watchpoint) the attribute's value is @code{None}. This
25449 attribute is not writable.
25450 @end defvar
25451
25452 @defvar Breakpoint.expression
25453 This attribute holds a breakpoint expression, as specified by
25454 the user. It is a string. If the breakpoint does not have an
25455 expression (the breakpoint is not a watchpoint) the attribute's value
25456 is @code{None}. This attribute is not writable.
25457 @end defvar
25458
25459 @defvar Breakpoint.condition
25460 This attribute holds the condition of the breakpoint, as specified by
25461 the user. It is a string. If there is no condition, this attribute's
25462 value is @code{None}. This attribute is writable.
25463 @end defvar
25464
25465 @defvar Breakpoint.commands
25466 This attribute holds the commands attached to the breakpoint. If
25467 there are commands, this attribute's value is a string holding all the
25468 commands, separated by newlines. If there are no commands, this
25469 attribute is @code{None}. This attribute is not writable.
25470 @end defvar
25471
25472 @node Finish Breakpoints in Python
25473 @subsubsection Finish Breakpoints
25474
25475 @cindex python finish breakpoints
25476 @tindex gdb.FinishBreakpoint
25477
25478 A finish breakpoint is a temporary breakpoint set at the return address of
25479 a frame, based on the @code{finish} command. @code{gdb.FinishBreakpoint}
25480 extends @code{gdb.Breakpoint}. The underlying breakpoint will be disabled
25481 and deleted when the execution will run out of the breakpoint scope (i.e.@:
25482 @code{Breakpoint.stop} or @code{FinishBreakpoint.out_of_scope} triggered).
25483 Finish breakpoints are thread specific and must be create with the right
25484 thread selected.
25485
25486 @defun FinishBreakpoint.__init__ (@r{[}frame@r{]} @r{[}, internal@r{]})
25487 Create a finish breakpoint at the return address of the @code{gdb.Frame}
25488 object @var{frame}. If @var{frame} is not provided, this defaults to the
25489 newest frame. The optional @var{internal} argument allows the breakpoint to
25490 become invisible to the user. @xref{Breakpoints In Python}, for further
25491 details about this argument.
25492 @end defun
25493
25494 @defun FinishBreakpoint.out_of_scope (self)
25495 In some circumstances (e.g.@: @code{longjmp}, C@t{++} exceptions, @value{GDBN}
25496 @code{return} command, @dots{}), a function may not properly terminate, and
25497 thus never hit the finish breakpoint. When @value{GDBN} notices such a
25498 situation, the @code{out_of_scope} callback will be triggered.
25499
25500 You may want to sub-class @code{gdb.FinishBreakpoint} and override this
25501 method:
25502
25503 @smallexample
25504 class MyFinishBreakpoint (gdb.FinishBreakpoint)
25505 def stop (self):
25506 print "normal finish"
25507 return True
25508
25509 def out_of_scope ():
25510 print "abnormal finish"
25511 @end smallexample
25512 @end defun
25513
25514 @defvar FinishBreakpoint.return_value
25515 When @value{GDBN} is stopped at a finish breakpoint and the frame
25516 used to build the @code{gdb.FinishBreakpoint} object had debug symbols, this
25517 attribute will contain a @code{gdb.Value} object corresponding to the return
25518 value of the function. The value will be @code{None} if the function return
25519 type is @code{void} or if the return value was not computable. This attribute
25520 is not writable.
25521 @end defvar
25522
25523 @node Lazy Strings In Python
25524 @subsubsection Python representation of lazy strings.
25525
25526 @cindex lazy strings in python
25527 @tindex gdb.LazyString
25528
25529 A @dfn{lazy string} is a string whose contents is not retrieved or
25530 encoded until it is needed.
25531
25532 A @code{gdb.LazyString} is represented in @value{GDBN} as an
25533 @code{address} that points to a region of memory, an @code{encoding}
25534 that will be used to encode that region of memory, and a @code{length}
25535 to delimit the region of memory that represents the string. The
25536 difference between a @code{gdb.LazyString} and a string wrapped within
25537 a @code{gdb.Value} is that a @code{gdb.LazyString} will be treated
25538 differently by @value{GDBN} when printing. A @code{gdb.LazyString} is
25539 retrieved and encoded during printing, while a @code{gdb.Value}
25540 wrapping a string is immediately retrieved and encoded on creation.
25541
25542 A @code{gdb.LazyString} object has the following functions:
25543
25544 @defun LazyString.value ()
25545 Convert the @code{gdb.LazyString} to a @code{gdb.Value}. This value
25546 will point to the string in memory, but will lose all the delayed
25547 retrieval, encoding and handling that @value{GDBN} applies to a
25548 @code{gdb.LazyString}.
25549 @end defun
25550
25551 @defvar LazyString.address
25552 This attribute holds the address of the string. This attribute is not
25553 writable.
25554 @end defvar
25555
25556 @defvar LazyString.length
25557 This attribute holds the length of the string in characters. If the
25558 length is -1, then the string will be fetched and encoded up to the
25559 first null of appropriate width. This attribute is not writable.
25560 @end defvar
25561
25562 @defvar LazyString.encoding
25563 This attribute holds the encoding that will be applied to the string
25564 when the string is printed by @value{GDBN}. If the encoding is not
25565 set, or contains an empty string, then @value{GDBN} will select the
25566 most appropriate encoding when the string is printed. This attribute
25567 is not writable.
25568 @end defvar
25569
25570 @defvar LazyString.type
25571 This attribute holds the type that is represented by the lazy string's
25572 type. For a lazy string this will always be a pointer type. To
25573 resolve this to the lazy string's character type, use the type's
25574 @code{target} method. @xref{Types In Python}. This attribute is not
25575 writable.
25576 @end defvar
25577
25578 @node Python Auto-loading
25579 @subsection Python Auto-loading
25580 @cindex Python auto-loading
25581
25582 When a new object file is read (for example, due to the @code{file}
25583 command, or because the inferior has loaded a shared library),
25584 @value{GDBN} will look for Python support scripts in several ways:
25585 @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.py} (@pxref{objfile-gdb.py file})
25586 and @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} section
25587 (@pxref{dotdebug_gdb_scripts section}).
25588
25589 The auto-loading feature is useful for supplying application-specific
25590 debugging commands and scripts.
25591
25592 Auto-loading can be enabled or disabled,
25593 and the list of auto-loaded scripts can be printed.
25594
25595 @table @code
25596 @anchor{set auto-load python-scripts}
25597 @kindex set auto-load python-scripts
25598 @item set auto-load python-scripts [on|off]
25599 Enable or disable the auto-loading of Python scripts.
25600
25601 @anchor{show auto-load python-scripts}
25602 @kindex show auto-load python-scripts
25603 @item show auto-load python-scripts
25604 Show whether auto-loading of Python scripts is enabled or disabled.
25605
25606 @anchor{info auto-load python-scripts}
25607 @kindex info auto-load python-scripts
25608 @cindex print list of auto-loaded Python scripts
25609 @item info auto-load python-scripts [@var{regexp}]
25610 Print the list of all Python scripts that @value{GDBN} auto-loaded.
25611
25612 Also printed is the list of Python scripts that were mentioned in
25613 the @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} section and were not found
25614 (@pxref{dotdebug_gdb_scripts section}).
25615 This is useful because their names are not printed when @value{GDBN}
25616 tries to load them and fails. There may be many of them, and printing
25617 an error message for each one is problematic.
25618
25619 If @var{regexp} is supplied only Python scripts with matching names are printed.
25620
25621 Example:
25622
25623 @smallexample
25624 (gdb) info auto-load python-scripts
25625 Loaded Script
25626 Yes py-section-script.py
25627 full name: /tmp/py-section-script.py
25628 No my-foo-pretty-printers.py
25629 @end smallexample
25630 @end table
25631
25632 When reading an auto-loaded file, @value{GDBN} sets the
25633 @dfn{current objfile}. This is available via the @code{gdb.current_objfile}
25634 function (@pxref{Objfiles In Python}). This can be useful for
25635 registering objfile-specific pretty-printers.
25636
25637 @menu
25638 * objfile-gdb.py file:: The @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.py} file
25639 * dotdebug_gdb_scripts section:: The @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} section
25640 * Which flavor to choose?::
25641 @end menu
25642
25643 @node objfile-gdb.py file
25644 @subsubsection The @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.py} file
25645 @cindex @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.py}
25646
25647 When a new object file is read, @value{GDBN} looks for
25648 a file named @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.py} (we call it @var{script-name} below),
25649 where @var{objfile} is the object file's real name, formed by ensuring
25650 that the file name is absolute, following all symlinks, and resolving
25651 @code{.} and @code{..} components. If this file exists and is
25652 readable, @value{GDBN} will evaluate it as a Python script.
25653
25654 If this file does not exist, and if the parameter
25655 @code{debug-file-directory} is set (@pxref{Separate Debug Files}),
25656 then @value{GDBN} will look for @var{script-name} in all of the
25657 directories mentioned in the value of @code{debug-file-directory}.
25658
25659 Finally, if this file does not exist, then @value{GDBN} will look for
25660 @var{script-name} file in all of the directories as specified below.
25661
25662 Note that loading of this script file also requires accordingly configured
25663 @code{auto-load safe-path} (@pxref{Auto-loading safe path}).
25664
25665 @table @code
25666 @anchor{set auto-load scripts-directory}
25667 @kindex set auto-load scripts-directory
25668 @item set auto-load scripts-directory @r{[}@var{directories}@r{]}
25669 Control @value{GDBN} auto-loaded scripts location. Multiple directory entries
25670 may be delimited by the host platform path separator in use
25671 (@samp{:} on Unix, @samp{;} on MS-Windows and MS-DOS).
25672
25673 Each entry here needs to be covered also by the security setting
25674 @code{set auto-load safe-path} (@pxref{set auto-load safe-path}).
25675
25676 @anchor{with-auto-load-dir}
25677 This variable defaults to @file{$ddir/auto-load}. The default @code{set
25678 auto-load safe-path} value can be also overriden by @value{GDBN} configuration
25679 option @option{--with-auto-load-dir}.
25680
25681 Any used string @file{$ddir} will get replaced by @var{data-directory} which is
25682 determined at @value{GDBN} startup (@pxref{Data Files}). @file{$ddir} must be
25683 be placed as a directory component --- either alone or delimited by @file{/} or
25684 @file{\} directory separators, depending on the host platform.
25685
25686 The list of directories uses path separator (@samp{:} on GNU and Unix
25687 systems, @samp{;} on MS-Windows and MS-DOS) to separate directories, similarly
25688 to the @env{PATH} environment variable.
25689
25690 @anchor{show auto-load scripts-directory}
25691 @kindex show auto-load scripts-directory
25692 @item show auto-load scripts-directory
25693 Show @value{GDBN} auto-loaded scripts location.
25694 @end table
25695
25696 @value{GDBN} does not track which files it has already auto-loaded this way.
25697 @value{GDBN} will load the associated script every time the corresponding
25698 @var{objfile} is opened.
25699 So your @file{-gdb.py} file should be careful to avoid errors if it
25700 is evaluated more than once.
25701
25702 @node dotdebug_gdb_scripts section
25703 @subsubsection The @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} section
25704 @cindex @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} section
25705
25706 For systems using file formats like ELF and COFF,
25707 when @value{GDBN} loads a new object file
25708 it will look for a special section named @samp{.debug_gdb_scripts}.
25709 If this section exists, its contents is a list of names of scripts to load.
25710
25711 @value{GDBN} will look for each specified script file first in the
25712 current directory and then along the source search path
25713 (@pxref{Source Path, ,Specifying Source Directories}),
25714 except that @file{$cdir} is not searched, since the compilation
25715 directory is not relevant to scripts.
25716
25717 Entries can be placed in section @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} with,
25718 for example, this GCC macro:
25719
25720 @example
25721 /* Note: The "MS" section flags are to remove duplicates. */
25722 #define DEFINE_GDB_SCRIPT(script_name) \
25723 asm("\
25724 .pushsection \".debug_gdb_scripts\", \"MS\",@@progbits,1\n\
25725 .byte 1\n\
25726 .asciz \"" script_name "\"\n\
25727 .popsection \n\
25728 ");
25729 @end example
25730
25731 @noindent
25732 Then one can reference the macro in a header or source file like this:
25733
25734 @example
25735 DEFINE_GDB_SCRIPT ("my-app-scripts.py")
25736 @end example
25737
25738 The script name may include directories if desired.
25739
25740 Note that loading of this script file also requires accordingly configured
25741 @code{auto-load safe-path} (@pxref{Auto-loading safe path}).
25742
25743 If the macro is put in a header, any application or library
25744 using this header will get a reference to the specified script.
25745
25746 @node Which flavor to choose?
25747 @subsubsection Which flavor to choose?
25748
25749 Given the multiple ways of auto-loading Python scripts, it might not always
25750 be clear which one to choose. This section provides some guidance.
25751
25752 Benefits of the @file{-gdb.py} way:
25753
25754 @itemize @bullet
25755 @item
25756 Can be used with file formats that don't support multiple sections.
25757
25758 @item
25759 Ease of finding scripts for public libraries.
25760
25761 Scripts specified in the @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} section are searched for
25762 in the source search path.
25763 For publicly installed libraries, e.g., @file{libstdc++}, there typically
25764 isn't a source directory in which to find the script.
25765
25766 @item
25767 Doesn't require source code additions.
25768 @end itemize
25769
25770 Benefits of the @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} way:
25771
25772 @itemize @bullet
25773 @item
25774 Works with static linking.
25775
25776 Scripts for libraries done the @file{-gdb.py} way require an objfile to
25777 trigger their loading. When an application is statically linked the only
25778 objfile available is the executable, and it is cumbersome to attach all the
25779 scripts from all the input libraries to the executable's @file{-gdb.py} script.
25780
25781 @item
25782 Works with classes that are entirely inlined.
25783
25784 Some classes can be entirely inlined, and thus there may not be an associated
25785 shared library to attach a @file{-gdb.py} script to.
25786
25787 @item
25788 Scripts needn't be copied out of the source tree.
25789
25790 In some circumstances, apps can be built out of large collections of internal
25791 libraries, and the build infrastructure necessary to install the
25792 @file{-gdb.py} scripts in a place where @value{GDBN} can find them is
25793 cumbersome. It may be easier to specify the scripts in the
25794 @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} section as relative paths, and add a path to the
25795 top of the source tree to the source search path.
25796 @end itemize
25797
25798 @node Python modules
25799 @subsection Python modules
25800 @cindex python modules
25801
25802 @value{GDBN} comes with several modules to assist writing Python code.
25803
25804 @menu
25805 * gdb.printing:: Building and registering pretty-printers.
25806 * gdb.types:: Utilities for working with types.
25807 * gdb.prompt:: Utilities for prompt value substitution.
25808 @end menu
25809
25810 @node gdb.printing
25811 @subsubsection gdb.printing
25812 @cindex gdb.printing
25813
25814 This module provides a collection of utilities for working with
25815 pretty-printers.
25816
25817 @table @code
25818 @item PrettyPrinter (@var{name}, @var{subprinters}=None)
25819 This class specifies the API that makes @samp{info pretty-printer},
25820 @samp{enable pretty-printer} and @samp{disable pretty-printer} work.
25821 Pretty-printers should generally inherit from this class.
25822
25823 @item SubPrettyPrinter (@var{name})
25824 For printers that handle multiple types, this class specifies the
25825 corresponding API for the subprinters.
25826
25827 @item RegexpCollectionPrettyPrinter (@var{name})
25828 Utility class for handling multiple printers, all recognized via
25829 regular expressions.
25830 @xref{Writing a Pretty-Printer}, for an example.
25831
25832 @item FlagEnumerationPrinter (@var{name})
25833 A pretty-printer which handles printing of @code{enum} values. Unlike
25834 @value{GDBN}'s built-in @code{enum} printing, this printer attempts to
25835 work properly when there is some overlap between the enumeration
25836 constants. @var{name} is the name of the printer and also the name of
25837 the @code{enum} type to look up.
25838
25839 @item register_pretty_printer (@var{obj}, @var{printer}, @var{replace}=False)
25840 Register @var{printer} with the pretty-printer list of @var{obj}.
25841 If @var{replace} is @code{True} then any existing copy of the printer
25842 is replaced. Otherwise a @code{RuntimeError} exception is raised
25843 if a printer with the same name already exists.
25844 @end table
25845
25846 @node gdb.types
25847 @subsubsection gdb.types
25848 @cindex gdb.types
25849
25850 This module provides a collection of utilities for working with
25851 @code{gdb.Types} objects.
25852
25853 @table @code
25854 @item get_basic_type (@var{type})
25855 Return @var{type} with const and volatile qualifiers stripped,
25856 and with typedefs and C@t{++} references converted to the underlying type.
25857
25858 C@t{++} example:
25859
25860 @smallexample
25861 typedef const int const_int;
25862 const_int foo (3);
25863 const_int& foo_ref (foo);
25864 int main () @{ return 0; @}
25865 @end smallexample
25866
25867 Then in gdb:
25868
25869 @smallexample
25870 (gdb) start
25871 (gdb) python import gdb.types
25872 (gdb) python foo_ref = gdb.parse_and_eval("foo_ref")
25873 (gdb) python print gdb.types.get_basic_type(foo_ref.type)
25874 int
25875 @end smallexample
25876
25877 @item has_field (@var{type}, @var{field})
25878 Return @code{True} if @var{type}, assumed to be a type with fields
25879 (e.g., a structure or union), has field @var{field}.
25880
25881 @item make_enum_dict (@var{enum_type})
25882 Return a Python @code{dictionary} type produced from @var{enum_type}.
25883
25884 @item deep_items (@var{type})
25885 Returns a Python iterator similar to the standard
25886 @code{gdb.Type.iteritems} method, except that the iterator returned
25887 by @code{deep_items} will recursively traverse anonymous struct or
25888 union fields. For example:
25889
25890 @smallexample
25891 struct A
25892 @{
25893 int a;
25894 union @{
25895 int b0;
25896 int b1;
25897 @};
25898 @};
25899 @end smallexample
25900
25901 @noindent
25902 Then in @value{GDBN}:
25903 @smallexample
25904 (@value{GDBP}) python import gdb.types
25905 (@value{GDBP}) python struct_a = gdb.lookup_type("struct A")
25906 (@value{GDBP}) python print struct_a.keys ()
25907 @{['a', '']@}
25908 (@value{GDBP}) python print [k for k,v in gdb.types.deep_items(struct_a)]
25909 @{['a', 'b0', 'b1']@}
25910 @end smallexample
25911
25912 @end table
25913
25914 @node gdb.prompt
25915 @subsubsection gdb.prompt
25916 @cindex gdb.prompt
25917
25918 This module provides a method for prompt value-substitution.
25919
25920 @table @code
25921 @item substitute_prompt (@var{string})
25922 Return @var{string} with escape sequences substituted by values. Some
25923 escape sequences take arguments. You can specify arguments inside
25924 ``@{@}'' immediately following the escape sequence.
25925
25926 The escape sequences you can pass to this function are:
25927
25928 @table @code
25929 @item \\
25930 Substitute a backslash.
25931 @item \e
25932 Substitute an ESC character.
25933 @item \f
25934 Substitute the selected frame; an argument names a frame parameter.
25935 @item \n
25936 Substitute a newline.
25937 @item \p
25938 Substitute a parameter's value; the argument names the parameter.
25939 @item \r
25940 Substitute a carriage return.
25941 @item \t
25942 Substitute the selected thread; an argument names a thread parameter.
25943 @item \v
25944 Substitute the version of GDB.
25945 @item \w
25946 Substitute the current working directory.
25947 @item \[
25948 Begin a sequence of non-printing characters. These sequences are
25949 typically used with the ESC character, and are not counted in the string
25950 length. Example: ``\[\e[0;34m\](gdb)\[\e[0m\]'' will return a
25951 blue-colored ``(gdb)'' prompt where the length is five.
25952 @item \]
25953 End a sequence of non-printing characters.
25954 @end table
25955
25956 For example:
25957
25958 @smallexample
25959 substitute_prompt (``frame: \f,
25960 print arguments: \p@{print frame-arguments@}'')
25961 @end smallexample
25962
25963 @exdent will return the string:
25964
25965 @smallexample
25966 "frame: main, print arguments: scalars"
25967 @end smallexample
25968 @end table
25969
25970 @node Aliases
25971 @section Creating new spellings of existing commands
25972 @cindex aliases for commands
25973
25974 It is often useful to define alternate spellings of existing commands.
25975 For example, if a new @value{GDBN} command defined in Python has
25976 a long name to type, it is handy to have an abbreviated version of it
25977 that involves less typing.
25978
25979 @value{GDBN} itself uses aliases. For example @samp{s} is an alias
25980 of the @samp{step} command even though it is otherwise an ambiguous
25981 abbreviation of other commands like @samp{set} and @samp{show}.
25982
25983 Aliases are also used to provide shortened or more common versions
25984 of multi-word commands. For example, @value{GDBN} provides the
25985 @samp{tty} alias of the @samp{set inferior-tty} command.
25986
25987 You can define a new alias with the @samp{alias} command.
25988
25989 @table @code
25990
25991 @kindex alias
25992 @item alias [-a] [--] @var{ALIAS} = @var{COMMAND}
25993
25994 @end table
25995
25996 @var{ALIAS} specifies the name of the new alias.
25997 Each word of @var{ALIAS} must consist of letters, numbers, dashes and
25998 underscores.
25999
26000 @var{COMMAND} specifies the name of an existing command
26001 that is being aliased.
26002
26003 The @samp{-a} option specifies that the new alias is an abbreviation
26004 of the command. Abbreviations are not shown in command
26005 lists displayed by the @samp{help} command.
26006
26007 The @samp{--} option specifies the end of options,
26008 and is useful when @var{ALIAS} begins with a dash.
26009
26010 Here is a simple example showing how to make an abbreviation
26011 of a command so that there is less to type.
26012 Suppose you were tired of typing @samp{disas}, the current
26013 shortest unambiguous abbreviation of the @samp{disassemble} command
26014 and you wanted an even shorter version named @samp{di}.
26015 The following will accomplish this.
26016
26017 @smallexample
26018 (gdb) alias -a di = disas
26019 @end smallexample
26020
26021 Note that aliases are different from user-defined commands.
26022 With a user-defined command, you also need to write documentation
26023 for it with the @samp{document} command.
26024 An alias automatically picks up the documentation of the existing command.
26025
26026 Here is an example where we make @samp{elms} an abbreviation of
26027 @samp{elements} in the @samp{set print elements} command.
26028 This is to show that you can make an abbreviation of any part
26029 of a command.
26030
26031 @smallexample
26032 (gdb) alias -a set print elms = set print elements
26033 (gdb) alias -a show print elms = show print elements
26034 (gdb) set p elms 20
26035 (gdb) show p elms
26036 Limit on string chars or array elements to print is 200.
26037 @end smallexample
26038
26039 Note that if you are defining an alias of a @samp{set} command,
26040 and you want to have an alias for the corresponding @samp{show}
26041 command, then you need to define the latter separately.
26042
26043 Unambiguously abbreviated commands are allowed in @var{COMMAND} and
26044 @var{ALIAS}, just as they are normally.
26045
26046 @smallexample
26047 (gdb) alias -a set pr elms = set p ele
26048 @end smallexample
26049
26050 Finally, here is an example showing the creation of a one word
26051 alias for a more complex command.
26052 This creates alias @samp{spe} of the command @samp{set print elements}.
26053
26054 @smallexample
26055 (gdb) alias spe = set print elements
26056 (gdb) spe 20
26057 @end smallexample
26058
26059 @node Interpreters
26060 @chapter Command Interpreters
26061 @cindex command interpreters
26062
26063 @value{GDBN} supports multiple command interpreters, and some command
26064 infrastructure to allow users or user interface writers to switch
26065 between interpreters or run commands in other interpreters.
26066
26067 @value{GDBN} currently supports two command interpreters, the console
26068 interpreter (sometimes called the command-line interpreter or @sc{cli})
26069 and the machine interface interpreter (or @sc{gdb/mi}). This manual
26070 describes both of these interfaces in great detail.
26071
26072 By default, @value{GDBN} will start with the console interpreter.
26073 However, the user may choose to start @value{GDBN} with another
26074 interpreter by specifying the @option{-i} or @option{--interpreter}
26075 startup options. Defined interpreters include:
26076
26077 @table @code
26078 @item console
26079 @cindex console interpreter
26080 The traditional console or command-line interpreter. This is the most often
26081 used interpreter with @value{GDBN}. With no interpreter specified at runtime,
26082 @value{GDBN} will use this interpreter.
26083
26084 @item mi
26085 @cindex mi interpreter
26086 The newest @sc{gdb/mi} interface (currently @code{mi2}). Used primarily
26087 by programs wishing to use @value{GDBN} as a backend for a debugger GUI
26088 or an IDE. For more information, see @ref{GDB/MI, ,The @sc{gdb/mi}
26089 Interface}.
26090
26091 @item mi2
26092 @cindex mi2 interpreter
26093 The current @sc{gdb/mi} interface.
26094
26095 @item mi1
26096 @cindex mi1 interpreter
26097 The @sc{gdb/mi} interface included in @value{GDBN} 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3.
26098
26099 @end table
26100
26101 @cindex invoke another interpreter
26102 The interpreter being used by @value{GDBN} may not be dynamically
26103 switched at runtime. Although possible, this could lead to a very
26104 precarious situation. Consider an IDE using @sc{gdb/mi}. If a user
26105 enters the command "interpreter-set console" in a console view,
26106 @value{GDBN} would switch to using the console interpreter, rendering
26107 the IDE inoperable!
26108
26109 @kindex interpreter-exec
26110 Although you may only choose a single interpreter at startup, you may execute
26111 commands in any interpreter from the current interpreter using the appropriate
26112 command. If you are running the console interpreter, simply use the
26113 @code{interpreter-exec} command:
26114
26115 @smallexample
26116 interpreter-exec mi "-data-list-register-names"
26117 @end smallexample
26118
26119 @sc{gdb/mi} has a similar command, although it is only available in versions of
26120 @value{GDBN} which support @sc{gdb/mi} version 2 (or greater).
26121
26122 @node TUI
26123 @chapter @value{GDBN} Text User Interface
26124 @cindex TUI
26125 @cindex Text User Interface
26126
26127 @menu
26128 * TUI Overview:: TUI overview
26129 * TUI Keys:: TUI key bindings
26130 * TUI Single Key Mode:: TUI single key mode
26131 * TUI Commands:: TUI-specific commands
26132 * TUI Configuration:: TUI configuration variables
26133 @end menu
26134
26135 The @value{GDBN} Text User Interface (TUI) is a terminal
26136 interface which uses the @code{curses} library to show the source
26137 file, the assembly output, the program registers and @value{GDBN}
26138 commands in separate text windows. The TUI mode is supported only
26139 on platforms where a suitable version of the @code{curses} library
26140 is available.
26141
26142 The TUI mode is enabled by default when you invoke @value{GDBN} as
26143 @samp{@value{GDBP} -tui}.
26144 You can also switch in and out of TUI mode while @value{GDBN} runs by
26145 using various TUI commands and key bindings, such as @kbd{C-x C-a}.
26146 @xref{TUI Keys, ,TUI Key Bindings}.
26147
26148 @node TUI Overview
26149 @section TUI Overview
26150
26151 In TUI mode, @value{GDBN} can display several text windows:
26152
26153 @table @emph
26154 @item command
26155 This window is the @value{GDBN} command window with the @value{GDBN}
26156 prompt and the @value{GDBN} output. The @value{GDBN} input is still
26157 managed using readline.
26158
26159 @item source
26160 The source window shows the source file of the program. The current
26161 line and active breakpoints are displayed in this window.
26162
26163 @item assembly
26164 The assembly window shows the disassembly output of the program.
26165
26166 @item register
26167 This window shows the processor registers. Registers are highlighted
26168 when their values change.
26169 @end table
26170
26171 The source and assembly windows show the current program position
26172 by highlighting the current line and marking it with a @samp{>} marker.
26173 Breakpoints are indicated with two markers. The first marker
26174 indicates the breakpoint type:
26175
26176 @table @code
26177 @item B
26178 Breakpoint which was hit at least once.
26179
26180 @item b
26181 Breakpoint which was never hit.
26182
26183 @item H
26184 Hardware breakpoint which was hit at least once.
26185
26186 @item h
26187 Hardware breakpoint which was never hit.
26188 @end table
26189
26190 The second marker indicates whether the breakpoint is enabled or not:
26191
26192 @table @code
26193 @item +
26194 Breakpoint is enabled.
26195
26196 @item -
26197 Breakpoint is disabled.
26198 @end table
26199
26200 The source, assembly and register windows are updated when the current
26201 thread changes, when the frame changes, or when the program counter
26202 changes.
26203
26204 These windows are not all visible at the same time. The command
26205 window is always visible. The others can be arranged in several
26206 layouts:
26207
26208 @itemize @bullet
26209 @item
26210 source only,
26211
26212 @item
26213 assembly only,
26214
26215 @item
26216 source and assembly,
26217
26218 @item
26219 source and registers, or
26220
26221 @item
26222 assembly and registers.
26223 @end itemize
26224
26225 A status line above the command window shows the following information:
26226
26227 @table @emph
26228 @item target
26229 Indicates the current @value{GDBN} target.
26230 (@pxref{Targets, ,Specifying a Debugging Target}).
26231
26232 @item process
26233 Gives the current process or thread number.
26234 When no process is being debugged, this field is set to @code{No process}.
26235
26236 @item function
26237 Gives the current function name for the selected frame.
26238 The name is demangled if demangling is turned on (@pxref{Print Settings}).
26239 When there is no symbol corresponding to the current program counter,
26240 the string @code{??} is displayed.
26241
26242 @item line
26243 Indicates the current line number for the selected frame.
26244 When the current line number is not known, the string @code{??} is displayed.
26245
26246 @item pc
26247 Indicates the current program counter address.
26248 @end table
26249
26250 @node TUI Keys
26251 @section TUI Key Bindings
26252 @cindex TUI key bindings
26253
26254 The TUI installs several key bindings in the readline keymaps
26255 @ifset SYSTEM_READLINE
26256 (@pxref{Command Line Editing, , , rluserman, GNU Readline Library}).
26257 @end ifset
26258 @ifclear SYSTEM_READLINE
26259 (@pxref{Command Line Editing}).
26260 @end ifclear
26261 The following key bindings are installed for both TUI mode and the
26262 @value{GDBN} standard mode.
26263
26264 @table @kbd
26265 @kindex C-x C-a
26266 @item C-x C-a
26267 @kindex C-x a
26268 @itemx C-x a
26269 @kindex C-x A
26270 @itemx C-x A
26271 Enter or leave the TUI mode. When leaving the TUI mode,
26272 the curses window management stops and @value{GDBN} operates using
26273 its standard mode, writing on the terminal directly. When reentering
26274 the TUI mode, control is given back to the curses windows.
26275 The screen is then refreshed.
26276
26277 @kindex C-x 1
26278 @item C-x 1
26279 Use a TUI layout with only one window. The layout will
26280 either be @samp{source} or @samp{assembly}. When the TUI mode
26281 is not active, it will switch to the TUI mode.
26282
26283 Think of this key binding as the Emacs @kbd{C-x 1} binding.
26284
26285 @kindex C-x 2
26286 @item C-x 2
26287 Use a TUI layout with at least two windows. When the current
26288 layout already has two windows, the next layout with two windows is used.
26289 When a new layout is chosen, one window will always be common to the
26290 previous layout and the new one.
26291
26292 Think of it as the Emacs @kbd{C-x 2} binding.
26293
26294 @kindex C-x o
26295 @item C-x o
26296 Change the active window. The TUI associates several key bindings
26297 (like scrolling and arrow keys) with the active window. This command
26298 gives the focus to the next TUI window.
26299
26300 Think of it as the Emacs @kbd{C-x o} binding.
26301
26302 @kindex C-x s
26303 @item C-x s
26304 Switch in and out of the TUI SingleKey mode that binds single
26305 keys to @value{GDBN} commands (@pxref{TUI Single Key Mode}).
26306 @end table
26307
26308 The following key bindings only work in the TUI mode:
26309
26310 @table @asis
26311 @kindex PgUp
26312 @item @key{PgUp}
26313 Scroll the active window one page up.
26314
26315 @kindex PgDn
26316 @item @key{PgDn}
26317 Scroll the active window one page down.
26318
26319 @kindex Up
26320 @item @key{Up}
26321 Scroll the active window one line up.
26322
26323 @kindex Down
26324 @item @key{Down}
26325 Scroll the active window one line down.
26326
26327 @kindex Left
26328 @item @key{Left}
26329 Scroll the active window one column left.
26330
26331 @kindex Right
26332 @item @key{Right}
26333 Scroll the active window one column right.
26334
26335 @kindex C-L
26336 @item @kbd{C-L}
26337 Refresh the screen.
26338 @end table
26339
26340 Because the arrow keys scroll the active window in the TUI mode, they
26341 are not available for their normal use by readline unless the command
26342 window has the focus. When another window is active, you must use
26343 other readline key bindings such as @kbd{C-p}, @kbd{C-n}, @kbd{C-b}
26344 and @kbd{C-f} to control the command window.
26345
26346 @node TUI Single Key Mode
26347 @section TUI Single Key Mode
26348 @cindex TUI single key mode
26349
26350 The TUI also provides a @dfn{SingleKey} mode, which binds several
26351 frequently used @value{GDBN} commands to single keys. Type @kbd{C-x s} to
26352 switch into this mode, where the following key bindings are used:
26353
26354 @table @kbd
26355 @kindex c @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26356 @item c
26357 continue
26358
26359 @kindex d @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26360 @item d
26361 down
26362
26363 @kindex f @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26364 @item f
26365 finish
26366
26367 @kindex n @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26368 @item n
26369 next
26370
26371 @kindex q @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26372 @item q
26373 exit the SingleKey mode.
26374
26375 @kindex r @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26376 @item r
26377 run
26378
26379 @kindex s @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26380 @item s
26381 step
26382
26383 @kindex u @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26384 @item u
26385 up
26386
26387 @kindex v @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26388 @item v
26389 info locals
26390
26391 @kindex w @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26392 @item w
26393 where
26394 @end table
26395
26396 Other keys temporarily switch to the @value{GDBN} command prompt.
26397 The key that was pressed is inserted in the editing buffer so that
26398 it is possible to type most @value{GDBN} commands without interaction
26399 with the TUI SingleKey mode. Once the command is entered the TUI
26400 SingleKey mode is restored. The only way to permanently leave
26401 this mode is by typing @kbd{q} or @kbd{C-x s}.
26402
26403
26404 @node TUI Commands
26405 @section TUI-specific Commands
26406 @cindex TUI commands
26407
26408 The TUI has specific commands to control the text windows.
26409 These commands are always available, even when @value{GDBN} is not in
26410 the TUI mode. When @value{GDBN} is in the standard mode, most
26411 of these commands will automatically switch to the TUI mode.
26412
26413 Note that if @value{GDBN}'s @code{stdout} is not connected to a
26414 terminal, or @value{GDBN} has been started with the machine interface
26415 interpreter (@pxref{GDB/MI, ,The @sc{gdb/mi} Interface}), most of
26416 these commands will fail with an error, because it would not be
26417 possible or desirable to enable curses window management.
26418
26419 @table @code
26420 @item info win
26421 @kindex info win
26422 List and give the size of all displayed windows.
26423
26424 @item layout next
26425 @kindex layout
26426 Display the next layout.
26427
26428 @item layout prev
26429 Display the previous layout.
26430
26431 @item layout src
26432 Display the source window only.
26433
26434 @item layout asm
26435 Display the assembly window only.
26436
26437 @item layout split
26438 Display the source and assembly window.
26439
26440 @item layout regs
26441 Display the register window together with the source or assembly window.
26442
26443 @item focus next
26444 @kindex focus
26445 Make the next window active for scrolling.
26446
26447 @item focus prev
26448 Make the previous window active for scrolling.
26449
26450 @item focus src
26451 Make the source window active for scrolling.
26452
26453 @item focus asm
26454 Make the assembly window active for scrolling.
26455
26456 @item focus regs
26457 Make the register window active for scrolling.
26458
26459 @item focus cmd
26460 Make the command window active for scrolling.
26461
26462 @item refresh
26463 @kindex refresh
26464 Refresh the screen. This is similar to typing @kbd{C-L}.
26465
26466 @item tui reg float
26467 @kindex tui reg
26468 Show the floating point registers in the register window.
26469
26470 @item tui reg general
26471 Show the general registers in the register window.
26472
26473 @item tui reg next
26474 Show the next register group. The list of register groups as well as
26475 their order is target specific. The predefined register groups are the
26476 following: @code{general}, @code{float}, @code{system}, @code{vector},
26477 @code{all}, @code{save}, @code{restore}.
26478
26479 @item tui reg system
26480 Show the system registers in the register window.
26481
26482 @item update
26483 @kindex update
26484 Update the source window and the current execution point.
26485
26486 @item winheight @var{name} +@var{count}
26487 @itemx winheight @var{name} -@var{count}
26488 @kindex winheight
26489 Change the height of the window @var{name} by @var{count}
26490 lines. Positive counts increase the height, while negative counts
26491 decrease it.
26492
26493 @item tabset @var{nchars}
26494 @kindex tabset
26495 Set the width of tab stops to be @var{nchars} characters.
26496 @end table
26497
26498 @node TUI Configuration
26499 @section TUI Configuration Variables
26500 @cindex TUI configuration variables
26501
26502 Several configuration variables control the appearance of TUI windows.
26503
26504 @table @code
26505 @item set tui border-kind @var{kind}
26506 @kindex set tui border-kind
26507 Select the border appearance for the source, assembly and register windows.
26508 The possible values are the following:
26509 @table @code
26510 @item space
26511 Use a space character to draw the border.
26512
26513 @item ascii
26514 Use @sc{ascii} characters @samp{+}, @samp{-} and @samp{|} to draw the border.
26515
26516 @item acs
26517 Use the Alternate Character Set to draw the border. The border is
26518 drawn using character line graphics if the terminal supports them.
26519 @end table
26520
26521 @item set tui border-mode @var{mode}
26522 @kindex set tui border-mode
26523 @itemx set tui active-border-mode @var{mode}
26524 @kindex set tui active-border-mode
26525 Select the display attributes for the borders of the inactive windows
26526 or the active window. The @var{mode} can be one of the following:
26527 @table @code
26528 @item normal
26529 Use normal attributes to display the border.
26530
26531 @item standout
26532 Use standout mode.
26533
26534 @item reverse
26535 Use reverse video mode.
26536
26537 @item half
26538 Use half bright mode.
26539
26540 @item half-standout
26541 Use half bright and standout mode.
26542
26543 @item bold
26544 Use extra bright or bold mode.
26545
26546 @item bold-standout
26547 Use extra bright or bold and standout mode.
26548 @end table
26549 @end table
26550
26551 @node Emacs
26552 @chapter Using @value{GDBN} under @sc{gnu} Emacs
26553
26554 @cindex Emacs
26555 @cindex @sc{gnu} Emacs
26556 A special interface allows you to use @sc{gnu} Emacs to view (and
26557 edit) the source files for the program you are debugging with
26558 @value{GDBN}.
26559
26560 To use this interface, use the command @kbd{M-x gdb} in Emacs. Give the
26561 executable file you want to debug as an argument. This command starts
26562 @value{GDBN} as a subprocess of Emacs, with input and output through a newly
26563 created Emacs buffer.
26564 @c (Do not use the @code{-tui} option to run @value{GDBN} from Emacs.)
26565
26566 Running @value{GDBN} under Emacs can be just like running @value{GDBN} normally except for two
26567 things:
26568
26569 @itemize @bullet
26570 @item
26571 All ``terminal'' input and output goes through an Emacs buffer, called
26572 the GUD buffer.
26573
26574 This applies both to @value{GDBN} commands and their output, and to the input
26575 and output done by the program you are debugging.
26576
26577 This is useful because it means that you can copy the text of previous
26578 commands and input them again; you can even use parts of the output
26579 in this way.
26580
26581 All the facilities of Emacs' Shell mode are available for interacting
26582 with your program. In particular, you can send signals the usual
26583 way---for example, @kbd{C-c C-c} for an interrupt, @kbd{C-c C-z} for a
26584 stop.
26585
26586 @item
26587 @value{GDBN} displays source code through Emacs.
26588
26589 Each time @value{GDBN} displays a stack frame, Emacs automatically finds the
26590 source file for that frame and puts an arrow (@samp{=>}) at the
26591 left margin of the current line. Emacs uses a separate buffer for
26592 source display, and splits the screen to show both your @value{GDBN} session
26593 and the source.
26594
26595 Explicit @value{GDBN} @code{list} or search commands still produce output as
26596 usual, but you probably have no reason to use them from Emacs.
26597 @end itemize
26598
26599 We call this @dfn{text command mode}. Emacs 22.1, and later, also uses
26600 a graphical mode, enabled by default, which provides further buffers
26601 that can control the execution and describe the state of your program.
26602 @xref{GDB Graphical Interface,,, Emacs, The @sc{gnu} Emacs Manual}.
26603
26604 If you specify an absolute file name when prompted for the @kbd{M-x
26605 gdb} argument, then Emacs sets your current working directory to where
26606 your program resides. If you only specify the file name, then Emacs
26607 sets your current working directory to the directory associated
26608 with the previous buffer. In this case, @value{GDBN} may find your
26609 program by searching your environment's @code{PATH} variable, but on
26610 some operating systems it might not find the source. So, although the
26611 @value{GDBN} input and output session proceeds normally, the auxiliary
26612 buffer does not display the current source and line of execution.
26613
26614 The initial working directory of @value{GDBN} is printed on the top
26615 line of the GUD buffer and this serves as a default for the commands
26616 that specify files for @value{GDBN} to operate on. @xref{Files,
26617 ,Commands to Specify Files}.
26618
26619 By default, @kbd{M-x gdb} calls the program called @file{gdb}. If you
26620 need to call @value{GDBN} by a different name (for example, if you
26621 keep several configurations around, with different names) you can
26622 customize the Emacs variable @code{gud-gdb-command-name} to run the
26623 one you want.
26624
26625 In the GUD buffer, you can use these special Emacs commands in
26626 addition to the standard Shell mode commands:
26627
26628 @table @kbd
26629 @item C-h m
26630 Describe the features of Emacs' GUD Mode.
26631
26632 @item C-c C-s
26633 Execute to another source line, like the @value{GDBN} @code{step} command; also
26634 update the display window to show the current file and location.
26635
26636 @item C-c C-n
26637 Execute to next source line in this function, skipping all function
26638 calls, like the @value{GDBN} @code{next} command. Then update the display window
26639 to show the current file and location.
26640
26641 @item C-c C-i
26642 Execute one instruction, like the @value{GDBN} @code{stepi} command; update
26643 display window accordingly.
26644
26645 @item C-c C-f
26646 Execute until exit from the selected stack frame, like the @value{GDBN}
26647 @code{finish} command.
26648
26649 @item C-c C-r
26650 Continue execution of your program, like the @value{GDBN} @code{continue}
26651 command.
26652
26653 @item C-c <
26654 Go up the number of frames indicated by the numeric argument
26655 (@pxref{Arguments, , Numeric Arguments, Emacs, The @sc{gnu} Emacs Manual}),
26656 like the @value{GDBN} @code{up} command.
26657
26658 @item C-c >
26659 Go down the number of frames indicated by the numeric argument, like the
26660 @value{GDBN} @code{down} command.
26661 @end table
26662
26663 In any source file, the Emacs command @kbd{C-x @key{SPC}} (@code{gud-break})
26664 tells @value{GDBN} to set a breakpoint on the source line point is on.
26665
26666 In text command mode, if you type @kbd{M-x speedbar}, Emacs displays a
26667 separate frame which shows a backtrace when the GUD buffer is current.
26668 Move point to any frame in the stack and type @key{RET} to make it
26669 become the current frame and display the associated source in the
26670 source buffer. Alternatively, click @kbd{Mouse-2} to make the
26671 selected frame become the current one. In graphical mode, the
26672 speedbar displays watch expressions.
26673
26674 If you accidentally delete the source-display buffer, an easy way to get
26675 it back is to type the command @code{f} in the @value{GDBN} buffer, to
26676 request a frame display; when you run under Emacs, this recreates
26677 the source buffer if necessary to show you the context of the current
26678 frame.
26679
26680 The source files displayed in Emacs are in ordinary Emacs buffers
26681 which are visiting the source files in the usual way. You can edit
26682 the files with these buffers if you wish; but keep in mind that @value{GDBN}
26683 communicates with Emacs in terms of line numbers. If you add or
26684 delete lines from the text, the line numbers that @value{GDBN} knows cease
26685 to correspond properly with the code.
26686
26687 A more detailed description of Emacs' interaction with @value{GDBN} is
26688 given in the Emacs manual (@pxref{Debuggers,,, Emacs, The @sc{gnu}
26689 Emacs Manual}).
26690
26691 @c The following dropped because Epoch is nonstandard. Reactivate
26692 @c if/when v19 does something similar. ---doc@cygnus.com 19dec1990
26693 @ignore
26694 @kindex Emacs Epoch environment
26695 @kindex Epoch
26696 @kindex inspect
26697
26698 Version 18 of @sc{gnu} Emacs has a built-in window system
26699 called the @code{epoch}
26700 environment. Users of this environment can use a new command,
26701 @code{inspect} which performs identically to @code{print} except that
26702 each value is printed in its own window.
26703 @end ignore
26704
26705
26706 @node GDB/MI
26707 @chapter The @sc{gdb/mi} Interface
26708
26709 @unnumberedsec Function and Purpose
26710
26711 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, its purpose
26712 @sc{gdb/mi} is a line based machine oriented text interface to
26713 @value{GDBN} and is activated by specifying using the
26714 @option{--interpreter} command line option (@pxref{Mode Options}). It
26715 is specifically intended to support the development of systems which
26716 use the debugger as just one small component of a larger system.
26717
26718 This chapter is a specification of the @sc{gdb/mi} interface. It is written
26719 in the form of a reference manual.
26720
26721 Note that @sc{gdb/mi} is still under construction, so some of the
26722 features described below are incomplete and subject to change
26723 (@pxref{GDB/MI Development and Front Ends, , @sc{gdb/mi} Development and Front Ends}).
26724
26725 @unnumberedsec Notation and Terminology
26726
26727 @cindex notational conventions, for @sc{gdb/mi}
26728 This chapter uses the following notation:
26729
26730 @itemize @bullet
26731 @item
26732 @code{|} separates two alternatives.
26733
26734 @item
26735 @code{[ @var{something} ]} indicates that @var{something} is optional:
26736 it may or may not be given.
26737
26738 @item
26739 @code{( @var{group} )*} means that @var{group} inside the parentheses
26740 may repeat zero or more times.
26741
26742 @item
26743 @code{( @var{group} )+} means that @var{group} inside the parentheses
26744 may repeat one or more times.
26745
26746 @item
26747 @code{"@var{string}"} means a literal @var{string}.
26748 @end itemize
26749
26750 @ignore
26751 @heading Dependencies
26752 @end ignore
26753
26754 @menu
26755 * GDB/MI General Design::
26756 * GDB/MI Command Syntax::
26757 * GDB/MI Compatibility with CLI::
26758 * GDB/MI Development and Front Ends::
26759 * GDB/MI Output Records::
26760 * GDB/MI Simple Examples::
26761 * GDB/MI Command Description Format::
26762 * GDB/MI Breakpoint Commands::
26763 * GDB/MI Program Context::
26764 * GDB/MI Thread Commands::
26765 * GDB/MI Ada Tasking Commands::
26766 * GDB/MI Program Execution::
26767 * GDB/MI Stack Manipulation::
26768 * GDB/MI Variable Objects::
26769 * GDB/MI Data Manipulation::
26770 * GDB/MI Tracepoint Commands::
26771 * GDB/MI Symbol Query::
26772 * GDB/MI File Commands::
26773 @ignore
26774 * GDB/MI Kod Commands::
26775 * GDB/MI Memory Overlay Commands::
26776 * GDB/MI Signal Handling Commands::
26777 @end ignore
26778 * GDB/MI Target Manipulation::
26779 * GDB/MI File Transfer Commands::
26780 * GDB/MI Miscellaneous Commands::
26781 @end menu
26782
26783 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
26784 @node GDB/MI General Design
26785 @section @sc{gdb/mi} General Design
26786 @cindex GDB/MI General Design
26787
26788 Interaction of a @sc{GDB/MI} frontend with @value{GDBN} involves three
26789 parts---commands sent to @value{GDBN}, responses to those commands
26790 and notifications. Each command results in exactly one response,
26791 indicating either successful completion of the command, or an error.
26792 For the commands that do not resume the target, the response contains the
26793 requested information. For the commands that resume the target, the
26794 response only indicates whether the target was successfully resumed.
26795 Notifications is the mechanism for reporting changes in the state of the
26796 target, or in @value{GDBN} state, that cannot conveniently be associated with
26797 a command and reported as part of that command response.
26798
26799 The important examples of notifications are:
26800 @itemize @bullet
26801
26802 @item
26803 Exec notifications. These are used to report changes in
26804 target state---when a target is resumed, or stopped. It would not
26805 be feasible to include this information in response of resuming
26806 commands, because one resume commands can result in multiple events in
26807 different threads. Also, quite some time may pass before any event
26808 happens in the target, while a frontend needs to know whether the resuming
26809 command itself was successfully executed.
26810
26811 @item
26812 Console output, and status notifications. Console output
26813 notifications are used to report output of CLI commands, as well as
26814 diagnostics for other commands. Status notifications are used to
26815 report the progress of a long-running operation. Naturally, including
26816 this information in command response would mean no output is produced
26817 until the command is finished, which is undesirable.
26818
26819 @item
26820 General notifications. Commands may have various side effects on
26821 the @value{GDBN} or target state beyond their official purpose. For example,
26822 a command may change the selected thread. Although such changes can
26823 be included in command response, using notification allows for more
26824 orthogonal frontend design.
26825
26826 @end itemize
26827
26828 There's no guarantee that whenever an MI command reports an error,
26829 @value{GDBN} or the target are in any specific state, and especially,
26830 the state is not reverted to the state before the MI command was
26831 processed. Therefore, whenever an MI command results in an error,
26832 we recommend that the frontend refreshes all the information shown in
26833 the user interface.
26834
26835
26836 @menu
26837 * Context management::
26838 * Asynchronous and non-stop modes::
26839 * Thread groups::
26840 @end menu
26841
26842 @node Context management
26843 @subsection Context management
26844
26845 In most cases when @value{GDBN} accesses the target, this access is
26846 done in context of a specific thread and frame (@pxref{Frames}).
26847 Often, even when accessing global data, the target requires that a thread
26848 be specified. The CLI interface maintains the selected thread and frame,
26849 and supplies them to target on each command. This is convenient,
26850 because a command line user would not want to specify that information
26851 explicitly on each command, and because user interacts with
26852 @value{GDBN} via a single terminal, so no confusion is possible as
26853 to what thread and frame are the current ones.
26854
26855 In the case of MI, the concept of selected thread and frame is less
26856 useful. First, a frontend can easily remember this information
26857 itself. Second, a graphical frontend can have more than one window,
26858 each one used for debugging a different thread, and the frontend might
26859 want to access additional threads for internal purposes. This
26860 increases the risk that by relying on implicitly selected thread, the
26861 frontend may be operating on a wrong one. Therefore, each MI command
26862 should explicitly specify which thread and frame to operate on. To
26863 make it possible, each MI command accepts the @samp{--thread} and
26864 @samp{--frame} options, the value to each is @value{GDBN} identifier
26865 for thread and frame to operate on.
26866
26867 Usually, each top-level window in a frontend allows the user to select
26868 a thread and a frame, and remembers the user selection for further
26869 operations. However, in some cases @value{GDBN} may suggest that the
26870 current thread be changed. For example, when stopping on a breakpoint
26871 it is reasonable to switch to the thread where breakpoint is hit. For
26872 another example, if the user issues the CLI @samp{thread} command via
26873 the frontend, it is desirable to change the frontend's selected thread to the
26874 one specified by user. @value{GDBN} communicates the suggestion to
26875 change current thread using the @samp{=thread-selected} notification.
26876 No such notification is available for the selected frame at the moment.
26877
26878 Note that historically, MI shares the selected thread with CLI, so
26879 frontends used the @code{-thread-select} to execute commands in the
26880 right context. However, getting this to work right is cumbersome. The
26881 simplest way is for frontend to emit @code{-thread-select} command
26882 before every command. This doubles the number of commands that need
26883 to be sent. The alternative approach is to suppress @code{-thread-select}
26884 if the selected thread in @value{GDBN} is supposed to be identical to the
26885 thread the frontend wants to operate on. However, getting this
26886 optimization right can be tricky. In particular, if the frontend
26887 sends several commands to @value{GDBN}, and one of the commands changes the
26888 selected thread, then the behaviour of subsequent commands will
26889 change. So, a frontend should either wait for response from such
26890 problematic commands, or explicitly add @code{-thread-select} for
26891 all subsequent commands. No frontend is known to do this exactly
26892 right, so it is suggested to just always pass the @samp{--thread} and
26893 @samp{--frame} options.
26894
26895 @node Asynchronous and non-stop modes
26896 @subsection Asynchronous command execution and non-stop mode
26897
26898 On some targets, @value{GDBN} is capable of processing MI commands
26899 even while the target is running. This is called @dfn{asynchronous
26900 command execution} (@pxref{Background Execution}). The frontend may
26901 specify a preferrence for asynchronous execution using the
26902 @code{-gdb-set target-async 1} command, which should be emitted before
26903 either running the executable or attaching to the target. After the
26904 frontend has started the executable or attached to the target, it can
26905 find if asynchronous execution is enabled using the
26906 @code{-list-target-features} command.
26907
26908 Even if @value{GDBN} can accept a command while target is running,
26909 many commands that access the target do not work when the target is
26910 running. Therefore, asynchronous command execution is most useful
26911 when combined with non-stop mode (@pxref{Non-Stop Mode}). Then,
26912 it is possible to examine the state of one thread, while other threads
26913 are running.
26914
26915 When a given thread is running, MI commands that try to access the
26916 target in the context of that thread may not work, or may work only on
26917 some targets. In particular, commands that try to operate on thread's
26918 stack will not work, on any target. Commands that read memory, or
26919 modify breakpoints, may work or not work, depending on the target. Note
26920 that even commands that operate on global state, such as @code{print},
26921 @code{set}, and breakpoint commands, still access the target in the
26922 context of a specific thread, so frontend should try to find a
26923 stopped thread and perform the operation on that thread (using the
26924 @samp{--thread} option).
26925
26926 Which commands will work in the context of a running thread is
26927 highly target dependent. However, the two commands
26928 @code{-exec-interrupt}, to stop a thread, and @code{-thread-info},
26929 to find the state of a thread, will always work.
26930
26931 @node Thread groups
26932 @subsection Thread groups
26933 @value{GDBN} may be used to debug several processes at the same time.
26934 On some platfroms, @value{GDBN} may support debugging of several
26935 hardware systems, each one having several cores with several different
26936 processes running on each core. This section describes the MI
26937 mechanism to support such debugging scenarios.
26938
26939 The key observation is that regardless of the structure of the
26940 target, MI can have a global list of threads, because most commands that
26941 accept the @samp{--thread} option do not need to know what process that
26942 thread belongs to. Therefore, it is not necessary to introduce
26943 neither additional @samp{--process} option, nor an notion of the
26944 current process in the MI interface. The only strictly new feature
26945 that is required is the ability to find how the threads are grouped
26946 into processes.
26947
26948 To allow the user to discover such grouping, and to support arbitrary
26949 hierarchy of machines/cores/processes, MI introduces the concept of a
26950 @dfn{thread group}. Thread group is a collection of threads and other
26951 thread groups. A thread group always has a string identifier, a type,
26952 and may have additional attributes specific to the type. A new
26953 command, @code{-list-thread-groups}, returns the list of top-level
26954 thread groups, which correspond to processes that @value{GDBN} is
26955 debugging at the moment. By passing an identifier of a thread group
26956 to the @code{-list-thread-groups} command, it is possible to obtain
26957 the members of specific thread group.
26958
26959 To allow the user to easily discover processes, and other objects, he
26960 wishes to debug, a concept of @dfn{available thread group} is
26961 introduced. Available thread group is an thread group that
26962 @value{GDBN} is not debugging, but that can be attached to, using the
26963 @code{-target-attach} command. The list of available top-level thread
26964 groups can be obtained using @samp{-list-thread-groups --available}.
26965 In general, the content of a thread group may be only retrieved only
26966 after attaching to that thread group.
26967
26968 Thread groups are related to inferiors (@pxref{Inferiors and
26969 Programs}). Each inferior corresponds to a thread group of a special
26970 type @samp{process}, and some additional operations are permitted on
26971 such thread groups.
26972
26973 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
26974 @node GDB/MI Command Syntax
26975 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Command Syntax
26976
26977 @menu
26978 * GDB/MI Input Syntax::
26979 * GDB/MI Output Syntax::
26980 @end menu
26981
26982 @node GDB/MI Input Syntax
26983 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Input Syntax
26984
26985 @cindex input syntax for @sc{gdb/mi}
26986 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, input syntax
26987 @table @code
26988 @item @var{command} @expansion{}
26989 @code{@var{cli-command} | @var{mi-command}}
26990
26991 @item @var{cli-command} @expansion{}
26992 @code{[ @var{token} ] @var{cli-command} @var{nl}}, where
26993 @var{cli-command} is any existing @value{GDBN} CLI command.
26994
26995 @item @var{mi-command} @expansion{}
26996 @code{[ @var{token} ] "-" @var{operation} ( " " @var{option} )*
26997 @code{[} " --" @code{]} ( " " @var{parameter} )* @var{nl}}
26998
26999 @item @var{token} @expansion{}
27000 "any sequence of digits"
27001
27002 @item @var{option} @expansion{}
27003 @code{"-" @var{parameter} [ " " @var{parameter} ]}
27004
27005 @item @var{parameter} @expansion{}
27006 @code{@var{non-blank-sequence} | @var{c-string}}
27007
27008 @item @var{operation} @expansion{}
27009 @emph{any of the operations described in this chapter}
27010
27011 @item @var{non-blank-sequence} @expansion{}
27012 @emph{anything, provided it doesn't contain special characters such as
27013 "-", @var{nl}, """ and of course " "}
27014
27015 @item @var{c-string} @expansion{}
27016 @code{""" @var{seven-bit-iso-c-string-content} """}
27017
27018 @item @var{nl} @expansion{}
27019 @code{CR | CR-LF}
27020 @end table
27021
27022 @noindent
27023 Notes:
27024
27025 @itemize @bullet
27026 @item
27027 The CLI commands are still handled by the @sc{mi} interpreter; their
27028 output is described below.
27029
27030 @item
27031 The @code{@var{token}}, when present, is passed back when the command
27032 finishes.
27033
27034 @item
27035 Some @sc{mi} commands accept optional arguments as part of the parameter
27036 list. Each option is identified by a leading @samp{-} (dash) and may be
27037 followed by an optional argument parameter. Options occur first in the
27038 parameter list and can be delimited from normal parameters using
27039 @samp{--} (this is useful when some parameters begin with a dash).
27040 @end itemize
27041
27042 Pragmatics:
27043
27044 @itemize @bullet
27045 @item
27046 We want easy access to the existing CLI syntax (for debugging).
27047
27048 @item
27049 We want it to be easy to spot a @sc{mi} operation.
27050 @end itemize
27051
27052 @node GDB/MI Output Syntax
27053 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Output Syntax
27054
27055 @cindex output syntax of @sc{gdb/mi}
27056 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, output syntax
27057 The output from @sc{gdb/mi} consists of zero or more out-of-band records
27058 followed, optionally, by a single result record. This result record
27059 is for the most recent command. The sequence of output records is
27060 terminated by @samp{(gdb)}.
27061
27062 If an input command was prefixed with a @code{@var{token}} then the
27063 corresponding output for that command will also be prefixed by that same
27064 @var{token}.
27065
27066 @table @code
27067 @item @var{output} @expansion{}
27068 @code{( @var{out-of-band-record} )* [ @var{result-record} ] "(gdb)" @var{nl}}
27069
27070 @item @var{result-record} @expansion{}
27071 @code{ [ @var{token} ] "^" @var{result-class} ( "," @var{result} )* @var{nl}}
27072
27073 @item @var{out-of-band-record} @expansion{}
27074 @code{@var{async-record} | @var{stream-record}}
27075
27076 @item @var{async-record} @expansion{}
27077 @code{@var{exec-async-output} | @var{status-async-output} | @var{notify-async-output}}
27078
27079 @item @var{exec-async-output} @expansion{}
27080 @code{[ @var{token} ] "*" @var{async-output}}
27081
27082 @item @var{status-async-output} @expansion{}
27083 @code{[ @var{token} ] "+" @var{async-output}}
27084
27085 @item @var{notify-async-output} @expansion{}
27086 @code{[ @var{token} ] "=" @var{async-output}}
27087
27088 @item @var{async-output} @expansion{}
27089 @code{@var{async-class} ( "," @var{result} )* @var{nl}}
27090
27091 @item @var{result-class} @expansion{}
27092 @code{"done" | "running" | "connected" | "error" | "exit"}
27093
27094 @item @var{async-class} @expansion{}
27095 @code{"stopped" | @var{others}} (where @var{others} will be added
27096 depending on the needs---this is still in development).
27097
27098 @item @var{result} @expansion{}
27099 @code{ @var{variable} "=" @var{value}}
27100
27101 @item @var{variable} @expansion{}
27102 @code{ @var{string} }
27103
27104 @item @var{value} @expansion{}
27105 @code{ @var{const} | @var{tuple} | @var{list} }
27106
27107 @item @var{const} @expansion{}
27108 @code{@var{c-string}}
27109
27110 @item @var{tuple} @expansion{}
27111 @code{ "@{@}" | "@{" @var{result} ( "," @var{result} )* "@}" }
27112
27113 @item @var{list} @expansion{}
27114 @code{ "[]" | "[" @var{value} ( "," @var{value} )* "]" | "["
27115 @var{result} ( "," @var{result} )* "]" }
27116
27117 @item @var{stream-record} @expansion{}
27118 @code{@var{console-stream-output} | @var{target-stream-output} | @var{log-stream-output}}
27119
27120 @item @var{console-stream-output} @expansion{}
27121 @code{"~" @var{c-string}}
27122
27123 @item @var{target-stream-output} @expansion{}
27124 @code{"@@" @var{c-string}}
27125
27126 @item @var{log-stream-output} @expansion{}
27127 @code{"&" @var{c-string}}
27128
27129 @item @var{nl} @expansion{}
27130 @code{CR | CR-LF}
27131
27132 @item @var{token} @expansion{}
27133 @emph{any sequence of digits}.
27134 @end table
27135
27136 @noindent
27137 Notes:
27138
27139 @itemize @bullet
27140 @item
27141 All output sequences end in a single line containing a period.
27142
27143 @item
27144 The @code{@var{token}} is from the corresponding request. Note that
27145 for all async output, while the token is allowed by the grammar and
27146 may be output by future versions of @value{GDBN} for select async
27147 output messages, it is generally omitted. Frontends should treat
27148 all async output as reporting general changes in the state of the
27149 target and there should be no need to associate async output to any
27150 prior command.
27151
27152 @item
27153 @cindex status output in @sc{gdb/mi}
27154 @var{status-async-output} contains on-going status information about the
27155 progress of a slow operation. It can be discarded. All status output is
27156 prefixed by @samp{+}.
27157
27158 @item
27159 @cindex async output in @sc{gdb/mi}
27160 @var{exec-async-output} contains asynchronous state change on the target
27161 (stopped, started, disappeared). All async output is prefixed by
27162 @samp{*}.
27163
27164 @item
27165 @cindex notify output in @sc{gdb/mi}
27166 @var{notify-async-output} contains supplementary information that the
27167 client should handle (e.g., a new breakpoint information). All notify
27168 output is prefixed by @samp{=}.
27169
27170 @item
27171 @cindex console output in @sc{gdb/mi}
27172 @var{console-stream-output} is output that should be displayed as is in the
27173 console. It is the textual response to a CLI command. All the console
27174 output is prefixed by @samp{~}.
27175
27176 @item
27177 @cindex target output in @sc{gdb/mi}
27178 @var{target-stream-output} is the output produced by the target program.
27179 All the target output is prefixed by @samp{@@}.
27180
27181 @item
27182 @cindex log output in @sc{gdb/mi}
27183 @var{log-stream-output} is output text coming from @value{GDBN}'s internals, for
27184 instance messages that should be displayed as part of an error log. All
27185 the log output is prefixed by @samp{&}.
27186
27187 @item
27188 @cindex list output in @sc{gdb/mi}
27189 New @sc{gdb/mi} commands should only output @var{lists} containing
27190 @var{values}.
27191
27192
27193 @end itemize
27194
27195 @xref{GDB/MI Stream Records, , @sc{gdb/mi} Stream Records}, for more
27196 details about the various output records.
27197
27198 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
27199 @node GDB/MI Compatibility with CLI
27200 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Compatibility with CLI
27201
27202 @cindex compatibility, @sc{gdb/mi} and CLI
27203 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, compatibility with CLI
27204
27205 For the developers convenience CLI commands can be entered directly,
27206 but there may be some unexpected behaviour. For example, commands
27207 that query the user will behave as if the user replied yes, breakpoint
27208 command lists are not executed and some CLI commands, such as
27209 @code{if}, @code{when} and @code{define}, prompt for further input with
27210 @samp{>}, which is not valid MI output.
27211
27212 This feature may be removed at some stage in the future and it is
27213 recommended that front ends use the @code{-interpreter-exec} command
27214 (@pxref{-interpreter-exec}).
27215
27216 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
27217 @node GDB/MI Development and Front Ends
27218 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Development and Front Ends
27219 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi} development
27220
27221 The application which takes the MI output and presents the state of the
27222 program being debugged to the user is called a @dfn{front end}.
27223
27224 Although @sc{gdb/mi} is still incomplete, it is currently being used
27225 by a variety of front ends to @value{GDBN}. This makes it difficult
27226 to introduce new functionality without breaking existing usage. This
27227 section tries to minimize the problems by describing how the protocol
27228 might change.
27229
27230 Some changes in MI need not break a carefully designed front end, and
27231 for these the MI version will remain unchanged. The following is a
27232 list of changes that may occur within one level, so front ends should
27233 parse MI output in a way that can handle them:
27234
27235 @itemize @bullet
27236 @item
27237 New MI commands may be added.
27238
27239 @item
27240 New fields may be added to the output of any MI command.
27241
27242 @item
27243 The range of values for fields with specified values, e.g.,
27244 @code{in_scope} (@pxref{-var-update}) may be extended.
27245
27246 @c The format of field's content e.g type prefix, may change so parse it
27247 @c at your own risk. Yes, in general?
27248
27249 @c The order of fields may change? Shouldn't really matter but it might
27250 @c resolve inconsistencies.
27251 @end itemize
27252
27253 If the changes are likely to break front ends, the MI version level
27254 will be increased by one. This will allow the front end to parse the
27255 output according to the MI version. Apart from mi0, new versions of
27256 @value{GDBN} will not support old versions of MI and it will be the
27257 responsibility of the front end to work with the new one.
27258
27259 @c Starting with mi3, add a new command -mi-version that prints the MI
27260 @c version?
27261
27262 The best way to avoid unexpected changes in MI that might break your front
27263 end is to make your project known to @value{GDBN} developers and
27264 follow development on @email{gdb@@sourceware.org} and
27265 @email{gdb-patches@@sourceware.org}.
27266 @cindex mailing lists
27267
27268 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
27269 @node GDB/MI Output Records
27270 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Output Records
27271
27272 @menu
27273 * GDB/MI Result Records::
27274 * GDB/MI Stream Records::
27275 * GDB/MI Async Records::
27276 * GDB/MI Frame Information::
27277 * GDB/MI Thread Information::
27278 * GDB/MI Ada Exception Information::
27279 @end menu
27280
27281 @node GDB/MI Result Records
27282 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Result Records
27283
27284 @cindex result records in @sc{gdb/mi}
27285 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, result records
27286 In addition to a number of out-of-band notifications, the response to a
27287 @sc{gdb/mi} command includes one of the following result indications:
27288
27289 @table @code
27290 @findex ^done
27291 @item "^done" [ "," @var{results} ]
27292 The synchronous operation was successful, @code{@var{results}} are the return
27293 values.
27294
27295 @item "^running"
27296 @findex ^running
27297 This result record is equivalent to @samp{^done}. Historically, it
27298 was output instead of @samp{^done} if the command has resumed the
27299 target. This behaviour is maintained for backward compatibility, but
27300 all frontends should treat @samp{^done} and @samp{^running}
27301 identically and rely on the @samp{*running} output record to determine
27302 which threads are resumed.
27303
27304 @item "^connected"
27305 @findex ^connected
27306 @value{GDBN} has connected to a remote target.
27307
27308 @item "^error" "," @var{c-string}
27309 @findex ^error
27310 The operation failed. The @code{@var{c-string}} contains the corresponding
27311 error message.
27312
27313 @item "^exit"
27314 @findex ^exit
27315 @value{GDBN} has terminated.
27316
27317 @end table
27318
27319 @node GDB/MI Stream Records
27320 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Stream Records
27321
27322 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, stream records
27323 @cindex stream records in @sc{gdb/mi}
27324 @value{GDBN} internally maintains a number of output streams: the console, the
27325 target, and the log. The output intended for each of these streams is
27326 funneled through the @sc{gdb/mi} interface using @dfn{stream records}.
27327
27328 Each stream record begins with a unique @dfn{prefix character} which
27329 identifies its stream (@pxref{GDB/MI Output Syntax, , @sc{gdb/mi} Output
27330 Syntax}). In addition to the prefix, each stream record contains a
27331 @code{@var{string-output}}. This is either raw text (with an implicit new
27332 line) or a quoted C string (which does not contain an implicit newline).
27333
27334 @table @code
27335 @item "~" @var{string-output}
27336 The console output stream contains text that should be displayed in the
27337 CLI console window. It contains the textual responses to CLI commands.
27338
27339 @item "@@" @var{string-output}
27340 The target output stream contains any textual output from the running
27341 target. This is only present when GDB's event loop is truly
27342 asynchronous, which is currently only the case for remote targets.
27343
27344 @item "&" @var{string-output}
27345 The log stream contains debugging messages being produced by @value{GDBN}'s
27346 internals.
27347 @end table
27348
27349 @node GDB/MI Async Records
27350 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Async Records
27351
27352 @cindex async records in @sc{gdb/mi}
27353 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, async records
27354 @dfn{Async} records are used to notify the @sc{gdb/mi} client of
27355 additional changes that have occurred. Those changes can either be a
27356 consequence of @sc{gdb/mi} commands (e.g., a breakpoint modified) or a result of
27357 target activity (e.g., target stopped).
27358
27359 The following is the list of possible async records:
27360
27361 @table @code
27362
27363 @item *running,thread-id="@var{thread}"
27364 The target is now running. The @var{thread} field tells which
27365 specific thread is now running, and can be @samp{all} if all threads
27366 are running. The frontend should assume that no interaction with a
27367 running thread is possible after this notification is produced.
27368 The frontend should not assume that this notification is output
27369 only once for any command. @value{GDBN} may emit this notification
27370 several times, either for different threads, because it cannot resume
27371 all threads together, or even for a single thread, if the thread must
27372 be stepped though some code before letting it run freely.
27373
27374 @item *stopped,reason="@var{reason}",thread-id="@var{id}",stopped-threads="@var{stopped}",core="@var{core}"
27375 The target has stopped. The @var{reason} field can have one of the
27376 following values:
27377
27378 @table @code
27379 @item breakpoint-hit
27380 A breakpoint was reached.
27381 @item watchpoint-trigger
27382 A watchpoint was triggered.
27383 @item read-watchpoint-trigger
27384 A read watchpoint was triggered.
27385 @item access-watchpoint-trigger
27386 An access watchpoint was triggered.
27387 @item function-finished
27388 An -exec-finish or similar CLI command was accomplished.
27389 @item location-reached
27390 An -exec-until or similar CLI command was accomplished.
27391 @item watchpoint-scope
27392 A watchpoint has gone out of scope.
27393 @item end-stepping-range
27394 An -exec-next, -exec-next-instruction, -exec-step, -exec-step-instruction or
27395 similar CLI command was accomplished.
27396 @item exited-signalled
27397 The inferior exited because of a signal.
27398 @item exited
27399 The inferior exited.
27400 @item exited-normally
27401 The inferior exited normally.
27402 @item signal-received
27403 A signal was received by the inferior.
27404 @item solib-event
27405 The inferior has stopped due to a library being loaded or unloaded.
27406 This can happen when @code{stop-on-solib-events} (@pxref{Files}) is
27407 set or when a @code{catch load} or @code{catch unload} catchpoint is
27408 in use (@pxref{Set Catchpoints}).
27409 @item fork
27410 The inferior has forked. This is reported when @code{catch fork}
27411 (@pxref{Set Catchpoints}) has been used.
27412 @item vfork
27413 The inferior has vforked. This is reported in when @code{catch vfork}
27414 (@pxref{Set Catchpoints}) has been used.
27415 @item syscall-entry
27416 The inferior entered a system call. This is reported when @code{catch
27417 syscall} (@pxref{Set Catchpoints}) has been used.
27418 @item syscall-entry
27419 The inferior returned from a system call. This is reported when
27420 @code{catch syscall} (@pxref{Set Catchpoints}) has been used.
27421 @item exec
27422 The inferior called @code{exec}. This is reported when @code{catch exec}
27423 (@pxref{Set Catchpoints}) has been used.
27424 @end table
27425
27426 The @var{id} field identifies the thread that directly caused the stop
27427 -- for example by hitting a breakpoint. Depending on whether all-stop
27428 mode is in effect (@pxref{All-Stop Mode}), @value{GDBN} may either
27429 stop all threads, or only the thread that directly triggered the stop.
27430 If all threads are stopped, the @var{stopped} field will have the
27431 value of @code{"all"}. Otherwise, the value of the @var{stopped}
27432 field will be a list of thread identifiers. Presently, this list will
27433 always include a single thread, but frontend should be prepared to see
27434 several threads in the list. The @var{core} field reports the
27435 processor core on which the stop event has happened. This field may be absent
27436 if such information is not available.
27437
27438 @item =thread-group-added,id="@var{id}"
27439 @itemx =thread-group-removed,id="@var{id}"
27440 A thread group was either added or removed. The @var{id} field
27441 contains the @value{GDBN} identifier of the thread group. When a thread
27442 group is added, it generally might not be associated with a running
27443 process. When a thread group is removed, its id becomes invalid and
27444 cannot be used in any way.
27445
27446 @item =thread-group-started,id="@var{id}",pid="@var{pid}"
27447 A thread group became associated with a running program,
27448 either because the program was just started or the thread group
27449 was attached to a program. The @var{id} field contains the
27450 @value{GDBN} identifier of the thread group. The @var{pid} field
27451 contains process identifier, specific to the operating system.
27452
27453 @item =thread-group-exited,id="@var{id}"[,exit-code="@var{code}"]
27454 A thread group is no longer associated with a running program,
27455 either because the program has exited, or because it was detached
27456 from. The @var{id} field contains the @value{GDBN} identifier of the
27457 thread group. @var{code} is the exit code of the inferior; it exists
27458 only when the inferior exited with some code.
27459
27460 @item =thread-created,id="@var{id}",group-id="@var{gid}"
27461 @itemx =thread-exited,id="@var{id}",group-id="@var{gid}"
27462 A thread either was created, or has exited. The @var{id} field
27463 contains the @value{GDBN} identifier of the thread. The @var{gid}
27464 field identifies the thread group this thread belongs to.
27465
27466 @item =thread-selected,id="@var{id}"
27467 Informs that the selected thread was changed as result of the last
27468 command. This notification is not emitted as result of @code{-thread-select}
27469 command but is emitted whenever an MI command that is not documented
27470 to change the selected thread actually changes it. In particular,
27471 invoking, directly or indirectly (via user-defined command), the CLI
27472 @code{thread} command, will generate this notification.
27473
27474 We suggest that in response to this notification, front ends
27475 highlight the selected thread and cause subsequent commands to apply to
27476 that thread.
27477
27478 @item =library-loaded,...
27479 Reports that a new library file was loaded by the program. This
27480 notification has 4 fields---@var{id}, @var{target-name},
27481 @var{host-name}, and @var{symbols-loaded}. The @var{id} field is an
27482 opaque identifier of the library. For remote debugging case,
27483 @var{target-name} and @var{host-name} fields give the name of the
27484 library file on the target, and on the host respectively. For native
27485 debugging, both those fields have the same value. The
27486 @var{symbols-loaded} field is emitted only for backward compatibility
27487 and should not be relied on to convey any useful information. The
27488 @var{thread-group} field, if present, specifies the id of the thread
27489 group in whose context the library was loaded. If the field is
27490 absent, it means the library was loaded in the context of all present
27491 thread groups.
27492
27493 @item =library-unloaded,...
27494 Reports that a library was unloaded by the program. This notification
27495 has 3 fields---@var{id}, @var{target-name} and @var{host-name} with
27496 the same meaning as for the @code{=library-loaded} notification.
27497 The @var{thread-group} field, if present, specifies the id of the
27498 thread group in whose context the library was unloaded. If the field is
27499 absent, it means the library was unloaded in the context of all present
27500 thread groups.
27501
27502 @item =breakpoint-created,bkpt=@{...@}
27503 @itemx =breakpoint-modified,bkpt=@{...@}
27504 @itemx =breakpoint-deleted,bkpt=@{...@}
27505 Reports that a breakpoint was created, modified, or deleted,
27506 respectively. Only user-visible breakpoints are reported to the MI
27507 user.
27508
27509 The @var{bkpt} argument is of the same form as returned by the various
27510 breakpoint commands; @xref{GDB/MI Breakpoint Commands}.
27511
27512 Note that if a breakpoint is emitted in the result record of a
27513 command, then it will not also be emitted in an async record.
27514
27515 @end table
27516
27517 @node GDB/MI Frame Information
27518 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Frame Information
27519
27520 Response from many MI commands includes an information about stack
27521 frame. This information is a tuple that may have the following
27522 fields:
27523
27524 @table @code
27525 @item level
27526 The level of the stack frame. The innermost frame has the level of
27527 zero. This field is always present.
27528
27529 @item func
27530 The name of the function corresponding to the frame. This field may
27531 be absent if @value{GDBN} is unable to determine the function name.
27532
27533 @item addr
27534 The code address for the frame. This field is always present.
27535
27536 @item file
27537 The name of the source files that correspond to the frame's code
27538 address. This field may be absent.
27539
27540 @item line
27541 The source line corresponding to the frames' code address. This field
27542 may be absent.
27543
27544 @item from
27545 The name of the binary file (either executable or shared library) the
27546 corresponds to the frame's code address. This field may be absent.
27547
27548 @end table
27549
27550 @node GDB/MI Thread Information
27551 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Thread Information
27552
27553 Whenever @value{GDBN} has to report an information about a thread, it
27554 uses a tuple with the following fields:
27555
27556 @table @code
27557 @item id
27558 The numeric id assigned to the thread by @value{GDBN}. This field is
27559 always present.
27560
27561 @item target-id
27562 Target-specific string identifying the thread. This field is always present.
27563
27564 @item details
27565 Additional information about the thread provided by the target.
27566 It is supposed to be human-readable and not interpreted by the
27567 frontend. This field is optional.
27568
27569 @item state
27570 Either @samp{stopped} or @samp{running}, depending on whether the
27571 thread is presently running. This field is always present.
27572
27573 @item core
27574 The value of this field is an integer number of the processor core the
27575 thread was last seen on. This field is optional.
27576 @end table
27577
27578 @node GDB/MI Ada Exception Information
27579 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Ada Exception Information
27580
27581 Whenever a @code{*stopped} record is emitted because the program
27582 stopped after hitting an exception catchpoint (@pxref{Set Catchpoints}),
27583 @value{GDBN} provides the name of the exception that was raised via
27584 the @code{exception-name} field.
27585
27586 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
27587 @node GDB/MI Simple Examples
27588 @section Simple Examples of @sc{gdb/mi} Interaction
27589 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, simple examples
27590
27591 This subsection presents several simple examples of interaction using
27592 the @sc{gdb/mi} interface. In these examples, @samp{->} means that the
27593 following line is passed to @sc{gdb/mi} as input, while @samp{<-} means
27594 the output received from @sc{gdb/mi}.
27595
27596 Note the line breaks shown in the examples are here only for
27597 readability, they don't appear in the real output.
27598
27599 @subheading Setting a Breakpoint
27600
27601 Setting a breakpoint generates synchronous output which contains detailed
27602 information of the breakpoint.
27603
27604 @smallexample
27605 -> -break-insert main
27606 <- ^done,bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",
27607 enabled="y",addr="0x08048564",func="main",file="myprog.c",
27608 fullname="/home/nickrob/myprog.c",line="68",times="0"@}
27609 <- (gdb)
27610 @end smallexample
27611
27612 @subheading Program Execution
27613
27614 Program execution generates asynchronous records and MI gives the
27615 reason that execution stopped.
27616
27617 @smallexample
27618 -> -exec-run
27619 <- ^running
27620 <- (gdb)
27621 <- *stopped,reason="breakpoint-hit",disp="keep",bkptno="1",thread-id="0",
27622 frame=@{addr="0x08048564",func="main",
27623 args=[@{name="argc",value="1"@},@{name="argv",value="0xbfc4d4d4"@}],
27624 file="myprog.c",fullname="/home/nickrob/myprog.c",line="68"@}
27625 <- (gdb)
27626 -> -exec-continue
27627 <- ^running
27628 <- (gdb)
27629 <- *stopped,reason="exited-normally"
27630 <- (gdb)
27631 @end smallexample
27632
27633 @subheading Quitting @value{GDBN}
27634
27635 Quitting @value{GDBN} just prints the result class @samp{^exit}.
27636
27637 @smallexample
27638 -> (gdb)
27639 <- -gdb-exit
27640 <- ^exit
27641 @end smallexample
27642
27643 Please note that @samp{^exit} is printed immediately, but it might
27644 take some time for @value{GDBN} to actually exit. During that time, @value{GDBN}
27645 performs necessary cleanups, including killing programs being debugged
27646 or disconnecting from debug hardware, so the frontend should wait till
27647 @value{GDBN} exits and should only forcibly kill @value{GDBN} if it
27648 fails to exit in reasonable time.
27649
27650 @subheading A Bad Command
27651
27652 Here's what happens if you pass a non-existent command:
27653
27654 @smallexample
27655 -> -rubbish
27656 <- ^error,msg="Undefined MI command: rubbish"
27657 <- (gdb)
27658 @end smallexample
27659
27660
27661 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
27662 @node GDB/MI Command Description Format
27663 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Command Description Format
27664
27665 The remaining sections describe blocks of commands. Each block of
27666 commands is laid out in a fashion similar to this section.
27667
27668 @subheading Motivation
27669
27670 The motivation for this collection of commands.
27671
27672 @subheading Introduction
27673
27674 A brief introduction to this collection of commands as a whole.
27675
27676 @subheading Commands
27677
27678 For each command in the block, the following is described:
27679
27680 @subsubheading Synopsis
27681
27682 @smallexample
27683 -command @var{args}@dots{}
27684 @end smallexample
27685
27686 @subsubheading Result
27687
27688 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
27689
27690 The corresponding @value{GDBN} CLI command(s), if any.
27691
27692 @subsubheading Example
27693
27694 Example(s) formatted for readability. Some of the described commands have
27695 not been implemented yet and these are labeled N.A.@: (not available).
27696
27697
27698 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
27699 @node GDB/MI Breakpoint Commands
27700 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Breakpoint Commands
27701
27702 @cindex breakpoint commands for @sc{gdb/mi}
27703 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, breakpoint commands
27704 This section documents @sc{gdb/mi} commands for manipulating
27705 breakpoints.
27706
27707 @subheading The @code{-break-after} Command
27708 @findex -break-after
27709
27710 @subsubheading Synopsis
27711
27712 @smallexample
27713 -break-after @var{number} @var{count}
27714 @end smallexample
27715
27716 The breakpoint number @var{number} is not in effect until it has been
27717 hit @var{count} times. To see how this is reflected in the output of
27718 the @samp{-break-list} command, see the description of the
27719 @samp{-break-list} command below.
27720
27721 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
27722
27723 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{ignore}.
27724
27725 @subsubheading Example
27726
27727 @smallexample
27728 (gdb)
27729 -break-insert main
27730 ^done,bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",
27731 enabled="y",addr="0x000100d0",func="main",file="hello.c",
27732 fullname="/home/foo/hello.c",line="5",times="0"@}
27733 (gdb)
27734 -break-after 1 3
27735 ~
27736 ^done
27737 (gdb)
27738 -break-list
27739 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="1",nr_cols="6",
27740 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
27741 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
27742 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
27743 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
27744 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
27745 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
27746 body=[bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
27747 addr="0x000100d0",func="main",file="hello.c",fullname="/home/foo/hello.c",
27748 line="5",times="0",ignore="3"@}]@}
27749 (gdb)
27750 @end smallexample
27751
27752 @ignore
27753 @subheading The @code{-break-catch} Command
27754 @findex -break-catch
27755 @end ignore
27756
27757 @subheading The @code{-break-commands} Command
27758 @findex -break-commands
27759
27760 @subsubheading Synopsis
27761
27762 @smallexample
27763 -break-commands @var{number} [ @var{command1} ... @var{commandN} ]
27764 @end smallexample
27765
27766 Specifies the CLI commands that should be executed when breakpoint
27767 @var{number} is hit. The parameters @var{command1} to @var{commandN}
27768 are the commands. If no command is specified, any previously-set
27769 commands are cleared. @xref{Break Commands}. Typical use of this
27770 functionality is tracing a program, that is, printing of values of
27771 some variables whenever breakpoint is hit and then continuing.
27772
27773 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
27774
27775 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{commands}.
27776
27777 @subsubheading Example
27778
27779 @smallexample
27780 (gdb)
27781 -break-insert main
27782 ^done,bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",
27783 enabled="y",addr="0x000100d0",func="main",file="hello.c",
27784 fullname="/home/foo/hello.c",line="5",times="0"@}
27785 (gdb)
27786 -break-commands 1 "print v" "continue"
27787 ^done
27788 (gdb)
27789 @end smallexample
27790
27791 @subheading The @code{-break-condition} Command
27792 @findex -break-condition
27793
27794 @subsubheading Synopsis
27795
27796 @smallexample
27797 -break-condition @var{number} @var{expr}
27798 @end smallexample
27799
27800 Breakpoint @var{number} will stop the program only if the condition in
27801 @var{expr} is true. The condition becomes part of the
27802 @samp{-break-list} output (see the description of the @samp{-break-list}
27803 command below).
27804
27805 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
27806
27807 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{condition}.
27808
27809 @subsubheading Example
27810
27811 @smallexample
27812 (gdb)
27813 -break-condition 1 1
27814 ^done
27815 (gdb)
27816 -break-list
27817 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="1",nr_cols="6",
27818 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
27819 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
27820 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
27821 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
27822 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
27823 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
27824 body=[bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
27825 addr="0x000100d0",func="main",file="hello.c",fullname="/home/foo/hello.c",
27826 line="5",cond="1",times="0",ignore="3"@}]@}
27827 (gdb)
27828 @end smallexample
27829
27830 @subheading The @code{-break-delete} Command
27831 @findex -break-delete
27832
27833 @subsubheading Synopsis
27834
27835 @smallexample
27836 -break-delete ( @var{breakpoint} )+
27837 @end smallexample
27838
27839 Delete the breakpoint(s) whose number(s) are specified in the argument
27840 list. This is obviously reflected in the breakpoint list.
27841
27842 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
27843
27844 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{delete}.
27845
27846 @subsubheading Example
27847
27848 @smallexample
27849 (gdb)
27850 -break-delete 1
27851 ^done
27852 (gdb)
27853 -break-list
27854 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="0",nr_cols="6",
27855 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
27856 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
27857 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
27858 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
27859 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
27860 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
27861 body=[]@}
27862 (gdb)
27863 @end smallexample
27864
27865 @subheading The @code{-break-disable} Command
27866 @findex -break-disable
27867
27868 @subsubheading Synopsis
27869
27870 @smallexample
27871 -break-disable ( @var{breakpoint} )+
27872 @end smallexample
27873
27874 Disable the named @var{breakpoint}(s). The field @samp{enabled} in the
27875 break list is now set to @samp{n} for the named @var{breakpoint}(s).
27876
27877 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
27878
27879 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{disable}.
27880
27881 @subsubheading Example
27882
27883 @smallexample
27884 (gdb)
27885 -break-disable 2
27886 ^done
27887 (gdb)
27888 -break-list
27889 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="1",nr_cols="6",
27890 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
27891 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
27892 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
27893 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
27894 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
27895 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
27896 body=[bkpt=@{number="2",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="n",
27897 addr="0x000100d0",func="main",file="hello.c",fullname="/home/foo/hello.c",
27898 line="5",times="0"@}]@}
27899 (gdb)
27900 @end smallexample
27901
27902 @subheading The @code{-break-enable} Command
27903 @findex -break-enable
27904
27905 @subsubheading Synopsis
27906
27907 @smallexample
27908 -break-enable ( @var{breakpoint} )+
27909 @end smallexample
27910
27911 Enable (previously disabled) @var{breakpoint}(s).
27912
27913 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
27914
27915 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{enable}.
27916
27917 @subsubheading Example
27918
27919 @smallexample
27920 (gdb)
27921 -break-enable 2
27922 ^done
27923 (gdb)
27924 -break-list
27925 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="1",nr_cols="6",
27926 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
27927 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
27928 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
27929 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
27930 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
27931 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
27932 body=[bkpt=@{number="2",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
27933 addr="0x000100d0",func="main",file="hello.c",fullname="/home/foo/hello.c",
27934 line="5",times="0"@}]@}
27935 (gdb)
27936 @end smallexample
27937
27938 @subheading The @code{-break-info} Command
27939 @findex -break-info
27940
27941 @subsubheading Synopsis
27942
27943 @smallexample
27944 -break-info @var{breakpoint}
27945 @end smallexample
27946
27947 @c REDUNDANT???
27948 Get information about a single breakpoint.
27949
27950 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
27951
27952 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info break @var{breakpoint}}.
27953
27954 @subsubheading Example
27955 N.A.
27956
27957 @subheading The @code{-break-insert} Command
27958 @findex -break-insert
27959
27960 @subsubheading Synopsis
27961
27962 @smallexample
27963 -break-insert [ -t ] [ -h ] [ -f ] [ -d ] [ -a ]
27964 [ -c @var{condition} ] [ -i @var{ignore-count} ]
27965 [ -p @var{thread} ] [ @var{location} ]
27966 @end smallexample
27967
27968 @noindent
27969 If specified, @var{location}, can be one of:
27970
27971 @itemize @bullet
27972 @item function
27973 @c @item +offset
27974 @c @item -offset
27975 @c @item linenum
27976 @item filename:linenum
27977 @item filename:function
27978 @item *address
27979 @end itemize
27980
27981 The possible optional parameters of this command are:
27982
27983 @table @samp
27984 @item -t
27985 Insert a temporary breakpoint.
27986 @item -h
27987 Insert a hardware breakpoint.
27988 @item -c @var{condition}
27989 Make the breakpoint conditional on @var{condition}.
27990 @item -i @var{ignore-count}
27991 Initialize the @var{ignore-count}.
27992 @item -f
27993 If @var{location} cannot be parsed (for example if it
27994 refers to unknown files or functions), create a pending
27995 breakpoint. Without this flag, @value{GDBN} will report
27996 an error, and won't create a breakpoint, if @var{location}
27997 cannot be parsed.
27998 @item -d
27999 Create a disabled breakpoint.
28000 @item -a
28001 Create a tracepoint. @xref{Tracepoints}. When this parameter
28002 is used together with @samp{-h}, a fast tracepoint is created.
28003 @end table
28004
28005 @subsubheading Result
28006
28007 The result is in the form:
28008
28009 @smallexample
28010 ^done,bkpt=@{number="@var{number}",type="@var{type}",disp="del"|"keep",
28011 enabled="y"|"n",addr="@var{hex}",func="@var{funcname}",file="@var{filename}",
28012 fullname="@var{full_filename}",line="@var{lineno}",[thread="@var{threadno},]
28013 times="@var{times}"@}
28014 @end smallexample
28015
28016 @noindent
28017 where @var{number} is the @value{GDBN} number for this breakpoint,
28018 @var{funcname} is the name of the function where the breakpoint was
28019 inserted, @var{filename} is the name of the source file which contains
28020 this function, @var{lineno} is the source line number within that file
28021 and @var{times} the number of times that the breakpoint has been hit
28022 (always 0 for -break-insert but may be greater for -break-info or -break-list
28023 which use the same output).
28024
28025 Note: this format is open to change.
28026 @c An out-of-band breakpoint instead of part of the result?
28027
28028 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28029
28030 The corresponding @value{GDBN} commands are @samp{break}, @samp{tbreak},
28031 @samp{hbreak}, @samp{thbreak}, and @samp{rbreak}.
28032
28033 @subsubheading Example
28034
28035 @smallexample
28036 (gdb)
28037 -break-insert main
28038 ^done,bkpt=@{number="1",addr="0x0001072c",file="recursive2.c",
28039 fullname="/home/foo/recursive2.c,line="4",times="0"@}
28040 (gdb)
28041 -break-insert -t foo
28042 ^done,bkpt=@{number="2",addr="0x00010774",file="recursive2.c",
28043 fullname="/home/foo/recursive2.c,line="11",times="0"@}
28044 (gdb)
28045 -break-list
28046 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="2",nr_cols="6",
28047 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
28048 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
28049 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
28050 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
28051 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
28052 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
28053 body=[bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
28054 addr="0x0001072c", func="main",file="recursive2.c",
28055 fullname="/home/foo/recursive2.c,"line="4",times="0"@},
28056 bkpt=@{number="2",type="breakpoint",disp="del",enabled="y",
28057 addr="0x00010774",func="foo",file="recursive2.c",
28058 fullname="/home/foo/recursive2.c",line="11",times="0"@}]@}
28059 (gdb)
28060 -break-insert -r foo.*
28061 ~int foo(int, int);
28062 ^done,bkpt=@{number="3",addr="0x00010774",file="recursive2.c,
28063 "fullname="/home/foo/recursive2.c",line="11",times="0"@}
28064 (gdb)
28065 @end smallexample
28066
28067 @subheading The @code{-break-list} Command
28068 @findex -break-list
28069
28070 @subsubheading Synopsis
28071
28072 @smallexample
28073 -break-list
28074 @end smallexample
28075
28076 Displays the list of inserted breakpoints, showing the following fields:
28077
28078 @table @samp
28079 @item Number
28080 number of the breakpoint
28081 @item Type
28082 type of the breakpoint: @samp{breakpoint} or @samp{watchpoint}
28083 @item Disposition
28084 should the breakpoint be deleted or disabled when it is hit: @samp{keep}
28085 or @samp{nokeep}
28086 @item Enabled
28087 is the breakpoint enabled or no: @samp{y} or @samp{n}
28088 @item Address
28089 memory location at which the breakpoint is set
28090 @item What
28091 logical location of the breakpoint, expressed by function name, file
28092 name, line number
28093 @item Times
28094 number of times the breakpoint has been hit
28095 @end table
28096
28097 If there are no breakpoints or watchpoints, the @code{BreakpointTable}
28098 @code{body} field is an empty list.
28099
28100 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28101
28102 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info break}.
28103
28104 @subsubheading Example
28105
28106 @smallexample
28107 (gdb)
28108 -break-list
28109 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="2",nr_cols="6",
28110 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
28111 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
28112 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
28113 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
28114 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
28115 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
28116 body=[bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
28117 addr="0x000100d0",func="main",file="hello.c",line="5",times="0"@},
28118 bkpt=@{number="2",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
28119 addr="0x00010114",func="foo",file="hello.c",fullname="/home/foo/hello.c",
28120 line="13",times="0"@}]@}
28121 (gdb)
28122 @end smallexample
28123
28124 Here's an example of the result when there are no breakpoints:
28125
28126 @smallexample
28127 (gdb)
28128 -break-list
28129 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="0",nr_cols="6",
28130 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
28131 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
28132 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
28133 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
28134 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
28135 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
28136 body=[]@}
28137 (gdb)
28138 @end smallexample
28139
28140 @subheading The @code{-break-passcount} Command
28141 @findex -break-passcount
28142
28143 @subsubheading Synopsis
28144
28145 @smallexample
28146 -break-passcount @var{tracepoint-number} @var{passcount}
28147 @end smallexample
28148
28149 Set the passcount for tracepoint @var{tracepoint-number} to
28150 @var{passcount}. If the breakpoint referred to by @var{tracepoint-number}
28151 is not a tracepoint, error is emitted. This corresponds to CLI
28152 command @samp{passcount}.
28153
28154 @subheading The @code{-break-watch} Command
28155 @findex -break-watch
28156
28157 @subsubheading Synopsis
28158
28159 @smallexample
28160 -break-watch [ -a | -r ]
28161 @end smallexample
28162
28163 Create a watchpoint. With the @samp{-a} option it will create an
28164 @dfn{access} watchpoint, i.e., a watchpoint that triggers either on a
28165 read from or on a write to the memory location. With the @samp{-r}
28166 option, the watchpoint created is a @dfn{read} watchpoint, i.e., it will
28167 trigger only when the memory location is accessed for reading. Without
28168 either of the options, the watchpoint created is a regular watchpoint,
28169 i.e., it will trigger when the memory location is accessed for writing.
28170 @xref{Set Watchpoints, , Setting Watchpoints}.
28171
28172 Note that @samp{-break-list} will report a single list of watchpoints and
28173 breakpoints inserted.
28174
28175 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28176
28177 The corresponding @value{GDBN} commands are @samp{watch}, @samp{awatch}, and
28178 @samp{rwatch}.
28179
28180 @subsubheading Example
28181
28182 Setting a watchpoint on a variable in the @code{main} function:
28183
28184 @smallexample
28185 (gdb)
28186 -break-watch x
28187 ^done,wpt=@{number="2",exp="x"@}
28188 (gdb)
28189 -exec-continue
28190 ^running
28191 (gdb)
28192 *stopped,reason="watchpoint-trigger",wpt=@{number="2",exp="x"@},
28193 value=@{old="-268439212",new="55"@},
28194 frame=@{func="main",args=[],file="recursive2.c",
28195 fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="5"@}
28196 (gdb)
28197 @end smallexample
28198
28199 Setting a watchpoint on a variable local to a function. @value{GDBN} will stop
28200 the program execution twice: first for the variable changing value, then
28201 for the watchpoint going out of scope.
28202
28203 @smallexample
28204 (gdb)
28205 -break-watch C
28206 ^done,wpt=@{number="5",exp="C"@}
28207 (gdb)
28208 -exec-continue
28209 ^running
28210 (gdb)
28211 *stopped,reason="watchpoint-trigger",
28212 wpt=@{number="5",exp="C"@},value=@{old="-276895068",new="3"@},
28213 frame=@{func="callee4",args=[],
28214 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
28215 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="13"@}
28216 (gdb)
28217 -exec-continue
28218 ^running
28219 (gdb)
28220 *stopped,reason="watchpoint-scope",wpnum="5",
28221 frame=@{func="callee3",args=[@{name="strarg",
28222 value="0x11940 \"A string argument.\""@}],
28223 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
28224 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="18"@}
28225 (gdb)
28226 @end smallexample
28227
28228 Listing breakpoints and watchpoints, at different points in the program
28229 execution. Note that once the watchpoint goes out of scope, it is
28230 deleted.
28231
28232 @smallexample
28233 (gdb)
28234 -break-watch C
28235 ^done,wpt=@{number="2",exp="C"@}
28236 (gdb)
28237 -break-list
28238 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="2",nr_cols="6",
28239 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
28240 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
28241 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
28242 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
28243 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
28244 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
28245 body=[bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
28246 addr="0x00010734",func="callee4",
28247 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
28248 fullname="/home/foo/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c"line="8",times="1"@},
28249 bkpt=@{number="2",type="watchpoint",disp="keep",
28250 enabled="y",addr="",what="C",times="0"@}]@}
28251 (gdb)
28252 -exec-continue
28253 ^running
28254 (gdb)
28255 *stopped,reason="watchpoint-trigger",wpt=@{number="2",exp="C"@},
28256 value=@{old="-276895068",new="3"@},
28257 frame=@{func="callee4",args=[],
28258 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
28259 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="13"@}
28260 (gdb)
28261 -break-list
28262 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="2",nr_cols="6",
28263 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
28264 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
28265 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
28266 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
28267 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
28268 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
28269 body=[bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
28270 addr="0x00010734",func="callee4",
28271 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
28272 fullname="/home/foo/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="8",times="1"@},
28273 bkpt=@{number="2",type="watchpoint",disp="keep",
28274 enabled="y",addr="",what="C",times="-5"@}]@}
28275 (gdb)
28276 -exec-continue
28277 ^running
28278 ^done,reason="watchpoint-scope",wpnum="2",
28279 frame=@{func="callee3",args=[@{name="strarg",
28280 value="0x11940 \"A string argument.\""@}],
28281 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
28282 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="18"@}
28283 (gdb)
28284 -break-list
28285 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="1",nr_cols="6",
28286 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
28287 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
28288 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
28289 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
28290 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
28291 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
28292 body=[bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
28293 addr="0x00010734",func="callee4",
28294 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
28295 fullname="/home/foo/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="8",
28296 times="1"@}]@}
28297 (gdb)
28298 @end smallexample
28299
28300 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
28301 @node GDB/MI Program Context
28302 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Program Context
28303
28304 @subheading The @code{-exec-arguments} Command
28305 @findex -exec-arguments
28306
28307
28308 @subsubheading Synopsis
28309
28310 @smallexample
28311 -exec-arguments @var{args}
28312 @end smallexample
28313
28314 Set the inferior program arguments, to be used in the next
28315 @samp{-exec-run}.
28316
28317 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28318
28319 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{set args}.
28320
28321 @subsubheading Example
28322
28323 @smallexample
28324 (gdb)
28325 -exec-arguments -v word
28326 ^done
28327 (gdb)
28328 @end smallexample
28329
28330
28331 @ignore
28332 @subheading The @code{-exec-show-arguments} Command
28333 @findex -exec-show-arguments
28334
28335 @subsubheading Synopsis
28336
28337 @smallexample
28338 -exec-show-arguments
28339 @end smallexample
28340
28341 Print the arguments of the program.
28342
28343 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28344
28345 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{show args}.
28346
28347 @subsubheading Example
28348 N.A.
28349 @end ignore
28350
28351
28352 @subheading The @code{-environment-cd} Command
28353 @findex -environment-cd
28354
28355 @subsubheading Synopsis
28356
28357 @smallexample
28358 -environment-cd @var{pathdir}
28359 @end smallexample
28360
28361 Set @value{GDBN}'s working directory.
28362
28363 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28364
28365 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{cd}.
28366
28367 @subsubheading Example
28368
28369 @smallexample
28370 (gdb)
28371 -environment-cd /kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/devo/gdb
28372 ^done
28373 (gdb)
28374 @end smallexample
28375
28376
28377 @subheading The @code{-environment-directory} Command
28378 @findex -environment-directory
28379
28380 @subsubheading Synopsis
28381
28382 @smallexample
28383 -environment-directory [ -r ] [ @var{pathdir} ]+
28384 @end smallexample
28385
28386 Add directories @var{pathdir} to beginning of search path for source files.
28387 If the @samp{-r} option is used, the search path is reset to the default
28388 search path. If directories @var{pathdir} are supplied in addition to the
28389 @samp{-r} option, the search path is first reset and then addition
28390 occurs as normal.
28391 Multiple directories may be specified, separated by blanks. Specifying
28392 multiple directories in a single command
28393 results in the directories added to the beginning of the
28394 search path in the same order they were presented in the command.
28395 If blanks are needed as
28396 part of a directory name, double-quotes should be used around
28397 the name. In the command output, the path will show up separated
28398 by the system directory-separator character. The directory-separator
28399 character must not be used
28400 in any directory name.
28401 If no directories are specified, the current search path is displayed.
28402
28403 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28404
28405 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{dir}.
28406
28407 @subsubheading Example
28408
28409 @smallexample
28410 (gdb)
28411 -environment-directory /kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/devo/gdb
28412 ^done,source-path="/kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/devo/gdb:$cdir:$cwd"
28413 (gdb)
28414 -environment-directory ""
28415 ^done,source-path="/kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/devo/gdb:$cdir:$cwd"
28416 (gdb)
28417 -environment-directory -r /home/jjohnstn/src/gdb /usr/src
28418 ^done,source-path="/home/jjohnstn/src/gdb:/usr/src:$cdir:$cwd"
28419 (gdb)
28420 -environment-directory -r
28421 ^done,source-path="$cdir:$cwd"
28422 (gdb)
28423 @end smallexample
28424
28425
28426 @subheading The @code{-environment-path} Command
28427 @findex -environment-path
28428
28429 @subsubheading Synopsis
28430
28431 @smallexample
28432 -environment-path [ -r ] [ @var{pathdir} ]+
28433 @end smallexample
28434
28435 Add directories @var{pathdir} to beginning of search path for object files.
28436 If the @samp{-r} option is used, the search path is reset to the original
28437 search path that existed at gdb start-up. If directories @var{pathdir} are
28438 supplied in addition to the
28439 @samp{-r} option, the search path is first reset and then addition
28440 occurs as normal.
28441 Multiple directories may be specified, separated by blanks. Specifying
28442 multiple directories in a single command
28443 results in the directories added to the beginning of the
28444 search path in the same order they were presented in the command.
28445 If blanks are needed as
28446 part of a directory name, double-quotes should be used around
28447 the name. In the command output, the path will show up separated
28448 by the system directory-separator character. The directory-separator
28449 character must not be used
28450 in any directory name.
28451 If no directories are specified, the current path is displayed.
28452
28453
28454 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28455
28456 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{path}.
28457
28458 @subsubheading Example
28459
28460 @smallexample
28461 (gdb)
28462 -environment-path
28463 ^done,path="/usr/bin"
28464 (gdb)
28465 -environment-path /kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/ppc-eabi/gdb /bin
28466 ^done,path="/kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/ppc-eabi/gdb:/bin:/usr/bin"
28467 (gdb)
28468 -environment-path -r /usr/local/bin
28469 ^done,path="/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin"
28470 (gdb)
28471 @end smallexample
28472
28473
28474 @subheading The @code{-environment-pwd} Command
28475 @findex -environment-pwd
28476
28477 @subsubheading Synopsis
28478
28479 @smallexample
28480 -environment-pwd
28481 @end smallexample
28482
28483 Show the current working directory.
28484
28485 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28486
28487 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{pwd}.
28488
28489 @subsubheading Example
28490
28491 @smallexample
28492 (gdb)
28493 -environment-pwd
28494 ^done,cwd="/kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/devo/gdb"
28495 (gdb)
28496 @end smallexample
28497
28498 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
28499 @node GDB/MI Thread Commands
28500 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Thread Commands
28501
28502
28503 @subheading The @code{-thread-info} Command
28504 @findex -thread-info
28505
28506 @subsubheading Synopsis
28507
28508 @smallexample
28509 -thread-info [ @var{thread-id} ]
28510 @end smallexample
28511
28512 Reports information about either a specific thread, if
28513 the @var{thread-id} parameter is present, or about all
28514 threads. When printing information about all threads,
28515 also reports the current thread.
28516
28517 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28518
28519 The @samp{info thread} command prints the same information
28520 about all threads.
28521
28522 @subsubheading Result
28523
28524 The result is a list of threads. The following attributes are
28525 defined for a given thread:
28526
28527 @table @samp
28528 @item current
28529 This field exists only for the current thread. It has the value @samp{*}.
28530
28531 @item id
28532 The identifier that @value{GDBN} uses to refer to the thread.
28533
28534 @item target-id
28535 The identifier that the target uses to refer to the thread.
28536
28537 @item details
28538 Extra information about the thread, in a target-specific format. This
28539 field is optional.
28540
28541 @item name
28542 The name of the thread. If the user specified a name using the
28543 @code{thread name} command, then this name is given. Otherwise, if
28544 @value{GDBN} can extract the thread name from the target, then that
28545 name is given. If @value{GDBN} cannot find the thread name, then this
28546 field is omitted.
28547
28548 @item frame
28549 The stack frame currently executing in the thread.
28550
28551 @item state
28552 The thread's state. The @samp{state} field may have the following
28553 values:
28554
28555 @table @code
28556 @item stopped
28557 The thread is stopped. Frame information is available for stopped
28558 threads.
28559
28560 @item running
28561 The thread is running. There's no frame information for running
28562 threads.
28563
28564 @end table
28565
28566 @item core
28567 If @value{GDBN} can find the CPU core on which this thread is running,
28568 then this field is the core identifier. This field is optional.
28569
28570 @end table
28571
28572 @subsubheading Example
28573
28574 @smallexample
28575 -thread-info
28576 ^done,threads=[
28577 @{id="2",target-id="Thread 0xb7e14b90 (LWP 21257)",
28578 frame=@{level="0",addr="0xffffe410",func="__kernel_vsyscall",
28579 args=[]@},state="running"@},
28580 @{id="1",target-id="Thread 0xb7e156b0 (LWP 21254)",
28581 frame=@{level="0",addr="0x0804891f",func="foo",
28582 args=[@{name="i",value="10"@}],
28583 file="/tmp/a.c",fullname="/tmp/a.c",line="158"@},
28584 state="running"@}],
28585 current-thread-id="1"
28586 (gdb)
28587 @end smallexample
28588
28589 @subheading The @code{-thread-list-ids} Command
28590 @findex -thread-list-ids
28591
28592 @subsubheading Synopsis
28593
28594 @smallexample
28595 -thread-list-ids
28596 @end smallexample
28597
28598 Produces a list of the currently known @value{GDBN} thread ids. At the
28599 end of the list it also prints the total number of such threads.
28600
28601 This command is retained for historical reasons, the
28602 @code{-thread-info} command should be used instead.
28603
28604 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28605
28606 Part of @samp{info threads} supplies the same information.
28607
28608 @subsubheading Example
28609
28610 @smallexample
28611 (gdb)
28612 -thread-list-ids
28613 ^done,thread-ids=@{thread-id="3",thread-id="2",thread-id="1"@},
28614 current-thread-id="1",number-of-threads="3"
28615 (gdb)
28616 @end smallexample
28617
28618
28619 @subheading The @code{-thread-select} Command
28620 @findex -thread-select
28621
28622 @subsubheading Synopsis
28623
28624 @smallexample
28625 -thread-select @var{threadnum}
28626 @end smallexample
28627
28628 Make @var{threadnum} the current thread. It prints the number of the new
28629 current thread, and the topmost frame for that thread.
28630
28631 This command is deprecated in favor of explicitly using the
28632 @samp{--thread} option to each command.
28633
28634 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28635
28636 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{thread}.
28637
28638 @subsubheading Example
28639
28640 @smallexample
28641 (gdb)
28642 -exec-next
28643 ^running
28644 (gdb)
28645 *stopped,reason="end-stepping-range",thread-id="2",line="187",
28646 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.threads/linux-dp.c"
28647 (gdb)
28648 -thread-list-ids
28649 ^done,
28650 thread-ids=@{thread-id="3",thread-id="2",thread-id="1"@},
28651 number-of-threads="3"
28652 (gdb)
28653 -thread-select 3
28654 ^done,new-thread-id="3",
28655 frame=@{level="0",func="vprintf",
28656 args=[@{name="format",value="0x8048e9c \"%*s%c %d %c\\n\""@},
28657 @{name="arg",value="0x2"@}],file="vprintf.c",line="31"@}
28658 (gdb)
28659 @end smallexample
28660
28661 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
28662 @node GDB/MI Ada Tasking Commands
28663 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Ada Tasking Commands
28664
28665 @subheading The @code{-ada-task-info} Command
28666 @findex -ada-task-info
28667
28668 @subsubheading Synopsis
28669
28670 @smallexample
28671 -ada-task-info [ @var{task-id} ]
28672 @end smallexample
28673
28674 Reports information about either a specific Ada task, if the
28675 @var{task-id} parameter is present, or about all Ada tasks.
28676
28677 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28678
28679 The @samp{info tasks} command prints the same information
28680 about all Ada tasks (@pxref{Ada Tasks}).
28681
28682 @subsubheading Result
28683
28684 The result is a table of Ada tasks. The following columns are
28685 defined for each Ada task:
28686
28687 @table @samp
28688 @item current
28689 This field exists only for the current thread. It has the value @samp{*}.
28690
28691 @item id
28692 The identifier that @value{GDBN} uses to refer to the Ada task.
28693
28694 @item task-id
28695 The identifier that the target uses to refer to the Ada task.
28696
28697 @item thread-id
28698 The identifier of the thread corresponding to the Ada task.
28699
28700 This field should always exist, as Ada tasks are always implemented
28701 on top of a thread. But if @value{GDBN} cannot find this corresponding
28702 thread for any reason, the field is omitted.
28703
28704 @item parent-id
28705 This field exists only when the task was created by another task.
28706 In this case, it provides the ID of the parent task.
28707
28708 @item priority
28709 The base priority of the task.
28710
28711 @item state
28712 The current state of the task. For a detailed description of the
28713 possible states, see @ref{Ada Tasks}.
28714
28715 @item name
28716 The name of the task.
28717
28718 @end table
28719
28720 @subsubheading Example
28721
28722 @smallexample
28723 -ada-task-info
28724 ^done,tasks=@{nr_rows="3",nr_cols="8",
28725 hdr=[@{width="1",alignment="-1",col_name="current",colhdr=""@},
28726 @{width="3",alignment="1",col_name="id",colhdr="ID"@},
28727 @{width="9",alignment="1",col_name="task-id",colhdr="TID"@},
28728 @{width="4",alignment="1",col_name="thread-id",colhdr=""@},
28729 @{width="4",alignment="1",col_name="parent-id",colhdr="P-ID"@},
28730 @{width="3",alignment="1",col_name="priority",colhdr="Pri"@},
28731 @{width="22",alignment="-1",col_name="state",colhdr="State"@},
28732 @{width="1",alignment="2",col_name="name",colhdr="Name"@}],
28733 body=[@{current="*",id="1",task-id=" 644010",thread-id="1",priority="48",
28734 state="Child Termination Wait",name="main_task"@}]@}
28735 (gdb)
28736 @end smallexample
28737
28738 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
28739 @node GDB/MI Program Execution
28740 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Program Execution
28741
28742 These are the asynchronous commands which generate the out-of-band
28743 record @samp{*stopped}. Currently @value{GDBN} only really executes
28744 asynchronously with remote targets and this interaction is mimicked in
28745 other cases.
28746
28747 @subheading The @code{-exec-continue} Command
28748 @findex -exec-continue
28749
28750 @subsubheading Synopsis
28751
28752 @smallexample
28753 -exec-continue [--reverse] [--all|--thread-group N]
28754 @end smallexample
28755
28756 Resumes the execution of the inferior program, which will continue
28757 to execute until it reaches a debugger stop event. If the
28758 @samp{--reverse} option is specified, execution resumes in reverse until
28759 it reaches a stop event. Stop events may include
28760 @itemize @bullet
28761 @item
28762 breakpoints or watchpoints
28763 @item
28764 signals or exceptions
28765 @item
28766 the end of the process (or its beginning under @samp{--reverse})
28767 @item
28768 the end or beginning of a replay log if one is being used.
28769 @end itemize
28770 In all-stop mode (@pxref{All-Stop
28771 Mode}), may resume only one thread, or all threads, depending on the
28772 value of the @samp{scheduler-locking} variable. If @samp{--all} is
28773 specified, all threads (in all inferiors) will be resumed. The @samp{--all} option is
28774 ignored in all-stop mode. If the @samp{--thread-group} options is
28775 specified, then all threads in that thread group are resumed.
28776
28777 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28778
28779 The corresponding @value{GDBN} corresponding is @samp{continue}.
28780
28781 @subsubheading Example
28782
28783 @smallexample
28784 -exec-continue
28785 ^running
28786 (gdb)
28787 @@Hello world
28788 *stopped,reason="breakpoint-hit",disp="keep",bkptno="2",frame=@{
28789 func="foo",args=[],file="hello.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/hello.c",
28790 line="13"@}
28791 (gdb)
28792 @end smallexample
28793
28794
28795 @subheading The @code{-exec-finish} Command
28796 @findex -exec-finish
28797
28798 @subsubheading Synopsis
28799
28800 @smallexample
28801 -exec-finish [--reverse]
28802 @end smallexample
28803
28804 Resumes the execution of the inferior program until the current
28805 function is exited. Displays the results returned by the function.
28806 If the @samp{--reverse} option is specified, resumes the reverse
28807 execution of the inferior program until the point where current
28808 function was called.
28809
28810 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28811
28812 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{finish}.
28813
28814 @subsubheading Example
28815
28816 Function returning @code{void}.
28817
28818 @smallexample
28819 -exec-finish
28820 ^running
28821 (gdb)
28822 @@hello from foo
28823 *stopped,reason="function-finished",frame=@{func="main",args=[],
28824 file="hello.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/hello.c",line="7"@}
28825 (gdb)
28826 @end smallexample
28827
28828 Function returning other than @code{void}. The name of the internal
28829 @value{GDBN} variable storing the result is printed, together with the
28830 value itself.
28831
28832 @smallexample
28833 -exec-finish
28834 ^running
28835 (gdb)
28836 *stopped,reason="function-finished",frame=@{addr="0x000107b0",func="foo",
28837 args=[@{name="a",value="1"],@{name="b",value="9"@}@},
28838 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
28839 gdb-result-var="$1",return-value="0"
28840 (gdb)
28841 @end smallexample
28842
28843
28844 @subheading The @code{-exec-interrupt} Command
28845 @findex -exec-interrupt
28846
28847 @subsubheading Synopsis
28848
28849 @smallexample
28850 -exec-interrupt [--all|--thread-group N]
28851 @end smallexample
28852
28853 Interrupts the background execution of the target. Note how the token
28854 associated with the stop message is the one for the execution command
28855 that has been interrupted. The token for the interrupt itself only
28856 appears in the @samp{^done} output. If the user is trying to
28857 interrupt a non-running program, an error message will be printed.
28858
28859 Note that when asynchronous execution is enabled, this command is
28860 asynchronous just like other execution commands. That is, first the
28861 @samp{^done} response will be printed, and the target stop will be
28862 reported after that using the @samp{*stopped} notification.
28863
28864 In non-stop mode, only the context thread is interrupted by default.
28865 All threads (in all inferiors) will be interrupted if the
28866 @samp{--all} option is specified. If the @samp{--thread-group}
28867 option is specified, all threads in that group will be interrupted.
28868
28869 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28870
28871 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{interrupt}.
28872
28873 @subsubheading Example
28874
28875 @smallexample
28876 (gdb)
28877 111-exec-continue
28878 111^running
28879
28880 (gdb)
28881 222-exec-interrupt
28882 222^done
28883 (gdb)
28884 111*stopped,signal-name="SIGINT",signal-meaning="Interrupt",
28885 frame=@{addr="0x00010140",func="foo",args=[],file="try.c",
28886 fullname="/home/foo/bar/try.c",line="13"@}
28887 (gdb)
28888
28889 (gdb)
28890 -exec-interrupt
28891 ^error,msg="mi_cmd_exec_interrupt: Inferior not executing."
28892 (gdb)
28893 @end smallexample
28894
28895 @subheading The @code{-exec-jump} Command
28896 @findex -exec-jump
28897
28898 @subsubheading Synopsis
28899
28900 @smallexample
28901 -exec-jump @var{location}
28902 @end smallexample
28903
28904 Resumes execution of the inferior program at the location specified by
28905 parameter. @xref{Specify Location}, for a description of the
28906 different forms of @var{location}.
28907
28908 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28909
28910 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{jump}.
28911
28912 @subsubheading Example
28913
28914 @smallexample
28915 -exec-jump foo.c:10
28916 *running,thread-id="all"
28917 ^running
28918 @end smallexample
28919
28920
28921 @subheading The @code{-exec-next} Command
28922 @findex -exec-next
28923
28924 @subsubheading Synopsis
28925
28926 @smallexample
28927 -exec-next [--reverse]
28928 @end smallexample
28929
28930 Resumes execution of the inferior program, stopping when the beginning
28931 of the next source line is reached.
28932
28933 If the @samp{--reverse} option is specified, resumes reverse execution
28934 of the inferior program, stopping at the beginning of the previous
28935 source line. If you issue this command on the first line of a
28936 function, it will take you back to the caller of that function, to the
28937 source line where the function was called.
28938
28939
28940 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28941
28942 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{next}.
28943
28944 @subsubheading Example
28945
28946 @smallexample
28947 -exec-next
28948 ^running
28949 (gdb)
28950 *stopped,reason="end-stepping-range",line="8",file="hello.c"
28951 (gdb)
28952 @end smallexample
28953
28954
28955 @subheading The @code{-exec-next-instruction} Command
28956 @findex -exec-next-instruction
28957
28958 @subsubheading Synopsis
28959
28960 @smallexample
28961 -exec-next-instruction [--reverse]
28962 @end smallexample
28963
28964 Executes one machine instruction. If the instruction is a function
28965 call, continues until the function returns. If the program stops at an
28966 instruction in the middle of a source line, the address will be
28967 printed as well.
28968
28969 If the @samp{--reverse} option is specified, resumes reverse execution
28970 of the inferior program, stopping at the previous instruction. If the
28971 previously executed instruction was a return from another function,
28972 it will continue to execute in reverse until the call to that function
28973 (from the current stack frame) is reached.
28974
28975 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28976
28977 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{nexti}.
28978
28979 @subsubheading Example
28980
28981 @smallexample
28982 (gdb)
28983 -exec-next-instruction
28984 ^running
28985
28986 (gdb)
28987 *stopped,reason="end-stepping-range",
28988 addr="0x000100d4",line="5",file="hello.c"
28989 (gdb)
28990 @end smallexample
28991
28992
28993 @subheading The @code{-exec-return} Command
28994 @findex -exec-return
28995
28996 @subsubheading Synopsis
28997
28998 @smallexample
28999 -exec-return
29000 @end smallexample
29001
29002 Makes current function return immediately. Doesn't execute the inferior.
29003 Displays the new current frame.
29004
29005 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29006
29007 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{return}.
29008
29009 @subsubheading Example
29010
29011 @smallexample
29012 (gdb)
29013 200-break-insert callee4
29014 200^done,bkpt=@{number="1",addr="0x00010734",
29015 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="8"@}
29016 (gdb)
29017 000-exec-run
29018 000^running
29019 (gdb)
29020 000*stopped,reason="breakpoint-hit",disp="keep",bkptno="1",
29021 frame=@{func="callee4",args=[],
29022 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29023 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="8"@}
29024 (gdb)
29025 205-break-delete
29026 205^done
29027 (gdb)
29028 111-exec-return
29029 111^done,frame=@{level="0",func="callee3",
29030 args=[@{name="strarg",
29031 value="0x11940 \"A string argument.\""@}],
29032 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29033 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="18"@}
29034 (gdb)
29035 @end smallexample
29036
29037
29038 @subheading The @code{-exec-run} Command
29039 @findex -exec-run
29040
29041 @subsubheading Synopsis
29042
29043 @smallexample
29044 -exec-run [--all | --thread-group N]
29045 @end smallexample
29046
29047 Starts execution of the inferior from the beginning. The inferior
29048 executes until either a breakpoint is encountered or the program
29049 exits. In the latter case the output will include an exit code, if
29050 the program has exited exceptionally.
29051
29052 When no option is specified, the current inferior is started. If the
29053 @samp{--thread-group} option is specified, it should refer to a thread
29054 group of type @samp{process}, and that thread group will be started.
29055 If the @samp{--all} option is specified, then all inferiors will be started.
29056
29057 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29058
29059 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{run}.
29060
29061 @subsubheading Examples
29062
29063 @smallexample
29064 (gdb)
29065 -break-insert main
29066 ^done,bkpt=@{number="1",addr="0x0001072c",file="recursive2.c",line="4"@}
29067 (gdb)
29068 -exec-run
29069 ^running
29070 (gdb)
29071 *stopped,reason="breakpoint-hit",disp="keep",bkptno="1",
29072 frame=@{func="main",args=[],file="recursive2.c",
29073 fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="4"@}
29074 (gdb)
29075 @end smallexample
29076
29077 @noindent
29078 Program exited normally:
29079
29080 @smallexample
29081 (gdb)
29082 -exec-run
29083 ^running
29084 (gdb)
29085 x = 55
29086 *stopped,reason="exited-normally"
29087 (gdb)
29088 @end smallexample
29089
29090 @noindent
29091 Program exited exceptionally:
29092
29093 @smallexample
29094 (gdb)
29095 -exec-run
29096 ^running
29097 (gdb)
29098 x = 55
29099 *stopped,reason="exited",exit-code="01"
29100 (gdb)
29101 @end smallexample
29102
29103 Another way the program can terminate is if it receives a signal such as
29104 @code{SIGINT}. In this case, @sc{gdb/mi} displays this:
29105
29106 @smallexample
29107 (gdb)
29108 *stopped,reason="exited-signalled",signal-name="SIGINT",
29109 signal-meaning="Interrupt"
29110 @end smallexample
29111
29112
29113 @c @subheading -exec-signal
29114
29115
29116 @subheading The @code{-exec-step} Command
29117 @findex -exec-step
29118
29119 @subsubheading Synopsis
29120
29121 @smallexample
29122 -exec-step [--reverse]
29123 @end smallexample
29124
29125 Resumes execution of the inferior program, stopping when the beginning
29126 of the next source line is reached, if the next source line is not a
29127 function call. If it is, stop at the first instruction of the called
29128 function. If the @samp{--reverse} option is specified, resumes reverse
29129 execution of the inferior program, stopping at the beginning of the
29130 previously executed source line.
29131
29132 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29133
29134 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{step}.
29135
29136 @subsubheading Example
29137
29138 Stepping into a function:
29139
29140 @smallexample
29141 -exec-step
29142 ^running
29143 (gdb)
29144 *stopped,reason="end-stepping-range",
29145 frame=@{func="foo",args=[@{name="a",value="10"@},
29146 @{name="b",value="0"@}],file="recursive2.c",
29147 fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="11"@}
29148 (gdb)
29149 @end smallexample
29150
29151 Regular stepping:
29152
29153 @smallexample
29154 -exec-step
29155 ^running
29156 (gdb)
29157 *stopped,reason="end-stepping-range",line="14",file="recursive2.c"
29158 (gdb)
29159 @end smallexample
29160
29161
29162 @subheading The @code{-exec-step-instruction} Command
29163 @findex -exec-step-instruction
29164
29165 @subsubheading Synopsis
29166
29167 @smallexample
29168 -exec-step-instruction [--reverse]
29169 @end smallexample
29170
29171 Resumes the inferior which executes one machine instruction. If the
29172 @samp{--reverse} option is specified, resumes reverse execution of the
29173 inferior program, stopping at the previously executed instruction.
29174 The output, once @value{GDBN} has stopped, will vary depending on
29175 whether we have stopped in the middle of a source line or not. In the
29176 former case, the address at which the program stopped will be printed
29177 as well.
29178
29179 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29180
29181 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{stepi}.
29182
29183 @subsubheading Example
29184
29185 @smallexample
29186 (gdb)
29187 -exec-step-instruction
29188 ^running
29189
29190 (gdb)
29191 *stopped,reason="end-stepping-range",
29192 frame=@{func="foo",args=[],file="try.c",
29193 fullname="/home/foo/bar/try.c",line="10"@}
29194 (gdb)
29195 -exec-step-instruction
29196 ^running
29197
29198 (gdb)
29199 *stopped,reason="end-stepping-range",
29200 frame=@{addr="0x000100f4",func="foo",args=[],file="try.c",
29201 fullname="/home/foo/bar/try.c",line="10"@}
29202 (gdb)
29203 @end smallexample
29204
29205
29206 @subheading The @code{-exec-until} Command
29207 @findex -exec-until
29208
29209 @subsubheading Synopsis
29210
29211 @smallexample
29212 -exec-until [ @var{location} ]
29213 @end smallexample
29214
29215 Executes the inferior until the @var{location} specified in the
29216 argument is reached. If there is no argument, the inferior executes
29217 until a source line greater than the current one is reached. The
29218 reason for stopping in this case will be @samp{location-reached}.
29219
29220 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29221
29222 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{until}.
29223
29224 @subsubheading Example
29225
29226 @smallexample
29227 (gdb)
29228 -exec-until recursive2.c:6
29229 ^running
29230 (gdb)
29231 x = 55
29232 *stopped,reason="location-reached",frame=@{func="main",args=[],
29233 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="6"@}
29234 (gdb)
29235 @end smallexample
29236
29237 @ignore
29238 @subheading -file-clear
29239 Is this going away????
29240 @end ignore
29241
29242 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
29243 @node GDB/MI Stack Manipulation
29244 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Stack Manipulation Commands
29245
29246
29247 @subheading The @code{-stack-info-frame} Command
29248 @findex -stack-info-frame
29249
29250 @subsubheading Synopsis
29251
29252 @smallexample
29253 -stack-info-frame
29254 @end smallexample
29255
29256 Get info on the selected frame.
29257
29258 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29259
29260 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info frame} or @samp{frame}
29261 (without arguments).
29262
29263 @subsubheading Example
29264
29265 @smallexample
29266 (gdb)
29267 -stack-info-frame
29268 ^done,frame=@{level="1",addr="0x0001076c",func="callee3",
29269 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29270 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="17"@}
29271 (gdb)
29272 @end smallexample
29273
29274 @subheading The @code{-stack-info-depth} Command
29275 @findex -stack-info-depth
29276
29277 @subsubheading Synopsis
29278
29279 @smallexample
29280 -stack-info-depth [ @var{max-depth} ]
29281 @end smallexample
29282
29283 Return the depth of the stack. If the integer argument @var{max-depth}
29284 is specified, do not count beyond @var{max-depth} frames.
29285
29286 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29287
29288 There's no equivalent @value{GDBN} command.
29289
29290 @subsubheading Example
29291
29292 For a stack with frame levels 0 through 11:
29293
29294 @smallexample
29295 (gdb)
29296 -stack-info-depth
29297 ^done,depth="12"
29298 (gdb)
29299 -stack-info-depth 4
29300 ^done,depth="4"
29301 (gdb)
29302 -stack-info-depth 12
29303 ^done,depth="12"
29304 (gdb)
29305 -stack-info-depth 11
29306 ^done,depth="11"
29307 (gdb)
29308 -stack-info-depth 13
29309 ^done,depth="12"
29310 (gdb)
29311 @end smallexample
29312
29313 @subheading The @code{-stack-list-arguments} Command
29314 @findex -stack-list-arguments
29315
29316 @subsubheading Synopsis
29317
29318 @smallexample
29319 -stack-list-arguments @var{print-values}
29320 [ @var{low-frame} @var{high-frame} ]
29321 @end smallexample
29322
29323 Display a list of the arguments for the frames between @var{low-frame}
29324 and @var{high-frame} (inclusive). If @var{low-frame} and
29325 @var{high-frame} are not provided, list the arguments for the whole
29326 call stack. If the two arguments are equal, show the single frame
29327 at the corresponding level. It is an error if @var{low-frame} is
29328 larger than the actual number of frames. On the other hand,
29329 @var{high-frame} may be larger than the actual number of frames, in
29330 which case only existing frames will be returned.
29331
29332 If @var{print-values} is 0 or @code{--no-values}, print only the names of
29333 the variables; if it is 1 or @code{--all-values}, print also their
29334 values; and if it is 2 or @code{--simple-values}, print the name,
29335 type and value for simple data types, and the name and type for arrays,
29336 structures and unions.
29337
29338 Use of this command to obtain arguments in a single frame is
29339 deprecated in favor of the @samp{-stack-list-variables} command.
29340
29341 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29342
29343 @value{GDBN} does not have an equivalent command. @code{gdbtk} has a
29344 @samp{gdb_get_args} command which partially overlaps with the
29345 functionality of @samp{-stack-list-arguments}.
29346
29347 @subsubheading Example
29348
29349 @smallexample
29350 (gdb)
29351 -stack-list-frames
29352 ^done,
29353 stack=[
29354 frame=@{level="0",addr="0x00010734",func="callee4",
29355 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29356 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="8"@},
29357 frame=@{level="1",addr="0x0001076c",func="callee3",
29358 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29359 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="17"@},
29360 frame=@{level="2",addr="0x0001078c",func="callee2",
29361 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29362 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="22"@},
29363 frame=@{level="3",addr="0x000107b4",func="callee1",
29364 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29365 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="27"@},
29366 frame=@{level="4",addr="0x000107e0",func="main",
29367 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29368 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="32"@}]
29369 (gdb)
29370 -stack-list-arguments 0
29371 ^done,
29372 stack-args=[
29373 frame=@{level="0",args=[]@},
29374 frame=@{level="1",args=[name="strarg"]@},
29375 frame=@{level="2",args=[name="intarg",name="strarg"]@},
29376 frame=@{level="3",args=[name="intarg",name="strarg",name="fltarg"]@},
29377 frame=@{level="4",args=[]@}]
29378 (gdb)
29379 -stack-list-arguments 1
29380 ^done,
29381 stack-args=[
29382 frame=@{level="0",args=[]@},
29383 frame=@{level="1",
29384 args=[@{name="strarg",value="0x11940 \"A string argument.\""@}]@},
29385 frame=@{level="2",args=[
29386 @{name="intarg",value="2"@},
29387 @{name="strarg",value="0x11940 \"A string argument.\""@}]@},
29388 @{frame=@{level="3",args=[
29389 @{name="intarg",value="2"@},
29390 @{name="strarg",value="0x11940 \"A string argument.\""@},
29391 @{name="fltarg",value="3.5"@}]@},
29392 frame=@{level="4",args=[]@}]
29393 (gdb)
29394 -stack-list-arguments 0 2 2
29395 ^done,stack-args=[frame=@{level="2",args=[name="intarg",name="strarg"]@}]
29396 (gdb)
29397 -stack-list-arguments 1 2 2
29398 ^done,stack-args=[frame=@{level="2",
29399 args=[@{name="intarg",value="2"@},
29400 @{name="strarg",value="0x11940 \"A string argument.\""@}]@}]
29401 (gdb)
29402 @end smallexample
29403
29404 @c @subheading -stack-list-exception-handlers
29405
29406
29407 @subheading The @code{-stack-list-frames} Command
29408 @findex -stack-list-frames
29409
29410 @subsubheading Synopsis
29411
29412 @smallexample
29413 -stack-list-frames [ @var{low-frame} @var{high-frame} ]
29414 @end smallexample
29415
29416 List the frames currently on the stack. For each frame it displays the
29417 following info:
29418
29419 @table @samp
29420 @item @var{level}
29421 The frame number, 0 being the topmost frame, i.e., the innermost function.
29422 @item @var{addr}
29423 The @code{$pc} value for that frame.
29424 @item @var{func}
29425 Function name.
29426 @item @var{file}
29427 File name of the source file where the function lives.
29428 @item @var{fullname}
29429 The full file name of the source file where the function lives.
29430 @item @var{line}
29431 Line number corresponding to the @code{$pc}.
29432 @item @var{from}
29433 The shared library where this function is defined. This is only given
29434 if the frame's function is not known.
29435 @end table
29436
29437 If invoked without arguments, this command prints a backtrace for the
29438 whole stack. If given two integer arguments, it shows the frames whose
29439 levels are between the two arguments (inclusive). If the two arguments
29440 are equal, it shows the single frame at the corresponding level. It is
29441 an error if @var{low-frame} is larger than the actual number of
29442 frames. On the other hand, @var{high-frame} may be larger than the
29443 actual number of frames, in which case only existing frames will be returned.
29444
29445 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29446
29447 The corresponding @value{GDBN} commands are @samp{backtrace} and @samp{where}.
29448
29449 @subsubheading Example
29450
29451 Full stack backtrace:
29452
29453 @smallexample
29454 (gdb)
29455 -stack-list-frames
29456 ^done,stack=
29457 [frame=@{level="0",addr="0x0001076c",func="foo",
29458 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="11"@},
29459 frame=@{level="1",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29460 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29461 frame=@{level="2",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29462 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29463 frame=@{level="3",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29464 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29465 frame=@{level="4",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29466 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29467 frame=@{level="5",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29468 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29469 frame=@{level="6",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29470 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29471 frame=@{level="7",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29472 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29473 frame=@{level="8",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29474 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29475 frame=@{level="9",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29476 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29477 frame=@{level="10",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29478 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29479 frame=@{level="11",addr="0x00010738",func="main",
29480 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="4"@}]
29481 (gdb)
29482 @end smallexample
29483
29484 Show frames between @var{low_frame} and @var{high_frame}:
29485
29486 @smallexample
29487 (gdb)
29488 -stack-list-frames 3 5
29489 ^done,stack=
29490 [frame=@{level="3",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29491 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29492 frame=@{level="4",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29493 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29494 frame=@{level="5",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29495 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@}]
29496 (gdb)
29497 @end smallexample
29498
29499 Show a single frame:
29500
29501 @smallexample
29502 (gdb)
29503 -stack-list-frames 3 3
29504 ^done,stack=
29505 [frame=@{level="3",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29506 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@}]
29507 (gdb)
29508 @end smallexample
29509
29510
29511 @subheading The @code{-stack-list-locals} Command
29512 @findex -stack-list-locals
29513
29514 @subsubheading Synopsis
29515
29516 @smallexample
29517 -stack-list-locals @var{print-values}
29518 @end smallexample
29519
29520 Display the local variable names for the selected frame. If
29521 @var{print-values} is 0 or @code{--no-values}, print only the names of
29522 the variables; if it is 1 or @code{--all-values}, print also their
29523 values; and if it is 2 or @code{--simple-values}, print the name,
29524 type and value for simple data types, and the name and type for arrays,
29525 structures and unions. In this last case, a frontend can immediately
29526 display the value of simple data types and create variable objects for
29527 other data types when the user wishes to explore their values in
29528 more detail.
29529
29530 This command is deprecated in favor of the
29531 @samp{-stack-list-variables} command.
29532
29533 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29534
29535 @samp{info locals} in @value{GDBN}, @samp{gdb_get_locals} in @code{gdbtk}.
29536
29537 @subsubheading Example
29538
29539 @smallexample
29540 (gdb)
29541 -stack-list-locals 0
29542 ^done,locals=[name="A",name="B",name="C"]
29543 (gdb)
29544 -stack-list-locals --all-values
29545 ^done,locals=[@{name="A",value="1"@},@{name="B",value="2"@},
29546 @{name="C",value="@{1, 2, 3@}"@}]
29547 -stack-list-locals --simple-values
29548 ^done,locals=[@{name="A",type="int",value="1"@},
29549 @{name="B",type="int",value="2"@},@{name="C",type="int [3]"@}]
29550 (gdb)
29551 @end smallexample
29552
29553 @subheading The @code{-stack-list-variables} Command
29554 @findex -stack-list-variables
29555
29556 @subsubheading Synopsis
29557
29558 @smallexample
29559 -stack-list-variables @var{print-values}
29560 @end smallexample
29561
29562 Display the names of local variables and function arguments for the selected frame. If
29563 @var{print-values} is 0 or @code{--no-values}, print only the names of
29564 the variables; if it is 1 or @code{--all-values}, print also their
29565 values; and if it is 2 or @code{--simple-values}, print the name,
29566 type and value for simple data types, and the name and type for arrays,
29567 structures and unions.
29568
29569 @subsubheading Example
29570
29571 @smallexample
29572 (gdb)
29573 -stack-list-variables --thread 1 --frame 0 --all-values
29574 ^done,variables=[@{name="x",value="11"@},@{name="s",value="@{a = 1, b = 2@}"@}]
29575 (gdb)
29576 @end smallexample
29577
29578
29579 @subheading The @code{-stack-select-frame} Command
29580 @findex -stack-select-frame
29581
29582 @subsubheading Synopsis
29583
29584 @smallexample
29585 -stack-select-frame @var{framenum}
29586 @end smallexample
29587
29588 Change the selected frame. Select a different frame @var{framenum} on
29589 the stack.
29590
29591 This command in deprecated in favor of passing the @samp{--frame}
29592 option to every command.
29593
29594 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29595
29596 The corresponding @value{GDBN} commands are @samp{frame}, @samp{up},
29597 @samp{down}, @samp{select-frame}, @samp{up-silent}, and @samp{down-silent}.
29598
29599 @subsubheading Example
29600
29601 @smallexample
29602 (gdb)
29603 -stack-select-frame 2
29604 ^done
29605 (gdb)
29606 @end smallexample
29607
29608 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
29609 @node GDB/MI Variable Objects
29610 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Variable Objects
29611
29612 @ignore
29613
29614 @subheading Motivation for Variable Objects in @sc{gdb/mi}
29615
29616 For the implementation of a variable debugger window (locals, watched
29617 expressions, etc.), we are proposing the adaptation of the existing code
29618 used by @code{Insight}.
29619
29620 The two main reasons for that are:
29621
29622 @enumerate 1
29623 @item
29624 It has been proven in practice (it is already on its second generation).
29625
29626 @item
29627 It will shorten development time (needless to say how important it is
29628 now).
29629 @end enumerate
29630
29631 The original interface was designed to be used by Tcl code, so it was
29632 slightly changed so it could be used through @sc{gdb/mi}. This section
29633 describes the @sc{gdb/mi} operations that will be available and gives some
29634 hints about their use.
29635
29636 @emph{Note}: In addition to the set of operations described here, we
29637 expect the @sc{gui} implementation of a variable window to require, at
29638 least, the following operations:
29639
29640 @itemize @bullet
29641 @item @code{-gdb-show} @code{output-radix}
29642 @item @code{-stack-list-arguments}
29643 @item @code{-stack-list-locals}
29644 @item @code{-stack-select-frame}
29645 @end itemize
29646
29647 @end ignore
29648
29649 @subheading Introduction to Variable Objects
29650
29651 @cindex variable objects in @sc{gdb/mi}
29652
29653 Variable objects are "object-oriented" MI interface for examining and
29654 changing values of expressions. Unlike some other MI interfaces that
29655 work with expressions, variable objects are specifically designed for
29656 simple and efficient presentation in the frontend. A variable object
29657 is identified by string name. When a variable object is created, the
29658 frontend specifies the expression for that variable object. The
29659 expression can be a simple variable, or it can be an arbitrary complex
29660 expression, and can even involve CPU registers. After creating a
29661 variable object, the frontend can invoke other variable object
29662 operations---for example to obtain or change the value of a variable
29663 object, or to change display format.
29664
29665 Variable objects have hierarchical tree structure. Any variable object
29666 that corresponds to a composite type, such as structure in C, has
29667 a number of child variable objects, for example corresponding to each
29668 element of a structure. A child variable object can itself have
29669 children, recursively. Recursion ends when we reach
29670 leaf variable objects, which always have built-in types. Child variable
29671 objects are created only by explicit request, so if a frontend
29672 is not interested in the children of a particular variable object, no
29673 child will be created.
29674
29675 For a leaf variable object it is possible to obtain its value as a
29676 string, or set the value from a string. String value can be also
29677 obtained for a non-leaf variable object, but it's generally a string
29678 that only indicates the type of the object, and does not list its
29679 contents. Assignment to a non-leaf variable object is not allowed.
29680
29681 A frontend does not need to read the values of all variable objects each time
29682 the program stops. Instead, MI provides an update command that lists all
29683 variable objects whose values has changed since the last update
29684 operation. This considerably reduces the amount of data that must
29685 be transferred to the frontend. As noted above, children variable
29686 objects are created on demand, and only leaf variable objects have a
29687 real value. As result, gdb will read target memory only for leaf
29688 variables that frontend has created.
29689
29690 The automatic update is not always desirable. For example, a frontend
29691 might want to keep a value of some expression for future reference,
29692 and never update it. For another example, fetching memory is
29693 relatively slow for embedded targets, so a frontend might want
29694 to disable automatic update for the variables that are either not
29695 visible on the screen, or ``closed''. This is possible using so
29696 called ``frozen variable objects''. Such variable objects are never
29697 implicitly updated.
29698
29699 Variable objects can be either @dfn{fixed} or @dfn{floating}. For the
29700 fixed variable object, the expression is parsed when the variable
29701 object is created, including associating identifiers to specific
29702 variables. The meaning of expression never changes. For a floating
29703 variable object the values of variables whose names appear in the
29704 expressions are re-evaluated every time in the context of the current
29705 frame. Consider this example:
29706
29707 @smallexample
29708 void do_work(...)
29709 @{
29710 struct work_state state;
29711
29712 if (...)
29713 do_work(...);
29714 @}
29715 @end smallexample
29716
29717 If a fixed variable object for the @code{state} variable is created in
29718 this function, and we enter the recursive call, the variable
29719 object will report the value of @code{state} in the top-level
29720 @code{do_work} invocation. On the other hand, a floating variable
29721 object will report the value of @code{state} in the current frame.
29722
29723 If an expression specified when creating a fixed variable object
29724 refers to a local variable, the variable object becomes bound to the
29725 thread and frame in which the variable object is created. When such
29726 variable object is updated, @value{GDBN} makes sure that the
29727 thread/frame combination the variable object is bound to still exists,
29728 and re-evaluates the variable object in context of that thread/frame.
29729
29730 The following is the complete set of @sc{gdb/mi} operations defined to
29731 access this functionality:
29732
29733 @multitable @columnfractions .4 .6
29734 @item @strong{Operation}
29735 @tab @strong{Description}
29736
29737 @item @code{-enable-pretty-printing}
29738 @tab enable Python-based pretty-printing
29739 @item @code{-var-create}
29740 @tab create a variable object
29741 @item @code{-var-delete}
29742 @tab delete the variable object and/or its children
29743 @item @code{-var-set-format}
29744 @tab set the display format of this variable
29745 @item @code{-var-show-format}
29746 @tab show the display format of this variable
29747 @item @code{-var-info-num-children}
29748 @tab tells how many children this object has
29749 @item @code{-var-list-children}
29750 @tab return a list of the object's children
29751 @item @code{-var-info-type}
29752 @tab show the type of this variable object
29753 @item @code{-var-info-expression}
29754 @tab print parent-relative expression that this variable object represents
29755 @item @code{-var-info-path-expression}
29756 @tab print full expression that this variable object represents
29757 @item @code{-var-show-attributes}
29758 @tab is this variable editable? does it exist here?
29759 @item @code{-var-evaluate-expression}
29760 @tab get the value of this variable
29761 @item @code{-var-assign}
29762 @tab set the value of this variable
29763 @item @code{-var-update}
29764 @tab update the variable and its children
29765 @item @code{-var-set-frozen}
29766 @tab set frozeness attribute
29767 @item @code{-var-set-update-range}
29768 @tab set range of children to display on update
29769 @end multitable
29770
29771 In the next subsection we describe each operation in detail and suggest
29772 how it can be used.
29773
29774 @subheading Description And Use of Operations on Variable Objects
29775
29776 @subheading The @code{-enable-pretty-printing} Command
29777 @findex -enable-pretty-printing
29778
29779 @smallexample
29780 -enable-pretty-printing
29781 @end smallexample
29782
29783 @value{GDBN} allows Python-based visualizers to affect the output of the
29784 MI variable object commands. However, because there was no way to
29785 implement this in a fully backward-compatible way, a front end must
29786 request that this functionality be enabled.
29787
29788 Once enabled, this feature cannot be disabled.
29789
29790 Note that if Python support has not been compiled into @value{GDBN},
29791 this command will still succeed (and do nothing).
29792
29793 This feature is currently (as of @value{GDBN} 7.0) experimental, and
29794 may work differently in future versions of @value{GDBN}.
29795
29796 @subheading The @code{-var-create} Command
29797 @findex -var-create
29798
29799 @subsubheading Synopsis
29800
29801 @smallexample
29802 -var-create @{@var{name} | "-"@}
29803 @{@var{frame-addr} | "*" | "@@"@} @var{expression}
29804 @end smallexample
29805
29806 This operation creates a variable object, which allows the monitoring of
29807 a variable, the result of an expression, a memory cell or a CPU
29808 register.
29809
29810 The @var{name} parameter is the string by which the object can be
29811 referenced. It must be unique. If @samp{-} is specified, the varobj
29812 system will generate a string ``varNNNNNN'' automatically. It will be
29813 unique provided that one does not specify @var{name} of that format.
29814 The command fails if a duplicate name is found.
29815
29816 The frame under which the expression should be evaluated can be
29817 specified by @var{frame-addr}. A @samp{*} indicates that the current
29818 frame should be used. A @samp{@@} indicates that a floating variable
29819 object must be created.
29820
29821 @var{expression} is any expression valid on the current language set (must not
29822 begin with a @samp{*}), or one of the following:
29823
29824 @itemize @bullet
29825 @item
29826 @samp{*@var{addr}}, where @var{addr} is the address of a memory cell
29827
29828 @item
29829 @samp{*@var{addr}-@var{addr}} --- a memory address range (TBD)
29830
29831 @item
29832 @samp{$@var{regname}} --- a CPU register name
29833 @end itemize
29834
29835 @cindex dynamic varobj
29836 A varobj's contents may be provided by a Python-based pretty-printer. In this
29837 case the varobj is known as a @dfn{dynamic varobj}. Dynamic varobjs
29838 have slightly different semantics in some cases. If the
29839 @code{-enable-pretty-printing} command is not sent, then @value{GDBN}
29840 will never create a dynamic varobj. This ensures backward
29841 compatibility for existing clients.
29842
29843 @subsubheading Result
29844
29845 This operation returns attributes of the newly-created varobj. These
29846 are:
29847
29848 @table @samp
29849 @item name
29850 The name of the varobj.
29851
29852 @item numchild
29853 The number of children of the varobj. This number is not necessarily
29854 reliable for a dynamic varobj. Instead, you must examine the
29855 @samp{has_more} attribute.
29856
29857 @item value
29858 The varobj's scalar value. For a varobj whose type is some sort of
29859 aggregate (e.g., a @code{struct}), or for a dynamic varobj, this value
29860 will not be interesting.
29861
29862 @item type
29863 The varobj's type. This is a string representation of the type, as
29864 would be printed by the @value{GDBN} CLI. If @samp{print object}
29865 (@pxref{Print Settings, set print object}) is set to @code{on}, the
29866 @emph{actual} (derived) type of the object is shown rather than the
29867 @emph{declared} one.
29868
29869 @item thread-id
29870 If a variable object is bound to a specific thread, then this is the
29871 thread's identifier.
29872
29873 @item has_more
29874 For a dynamic varobj, this indicates whether there appear to be any
29875 children available. For a non-dynamic varobj, this will be 0.
29876
29877 @item dynamic
29878 This attribute will be present and have the value @samp{1} if the
29879 varobj is a dynamic varobj. If the varobj is not a dynamic varobj,
29880 then this attribute will not be present.
29881
29882 @item displayhint
29883 A dynamic varobj can supply a display hint to the front end. The
29884 value comes directly from the Python pretty-printer object's
29885 @code{display_hint} method. @xref{Pretty Printing API}.
29886 @end table
29887
29888 Typical output will look like this:
29889
29890 @smallexample
29891 name="@var{name}",numchild="@var{N}",type="@var{type}",thread-id="@var{M}",
29892 has_more="@var{has_more}"
29893 @end smallexample
29894
29895
29896 @subheading The @code{-var-delete} Command
29897 @findex -var-delete
29898
29899 @subsubheading Synopsis
29900
29901 @smallexample
29902 -var-delete [ -c ] @var{name}
29903 @end smallexample
29904
29905 Deletes a previously created variable object and all of its children.
29906 With the @samp{-c} option, just deletes the children.
29907
29908 Returns an error if the object @var{name} is not found.
29909
29910
29911 @subheading The @code{-var-set-format} Command
29912 @findex -var-set-format
29913
29914 @subsubheading Synopsis
29915
29916 @smallexample
29917 -var-set-format @var{name} @var{format-spec}
29918 @end smallexample
29919
29920 Sets the output format for the value of the object @var{name} to be
29921 @var{format-spec}.
29922
29923 @anchor{-var-set-format}
29924 The syntax for the @var{format-spec} is as follows:
29925
29926 @smallexample
29927 @var{format-spec} @expansion{}
29928 @{binary | decimal | hexadecimal | octal | natural@}
29929 @end smallexample
29930
29931 The natural format is the default format choosen automatically
29932 based on the variable type (like decimal for an @code{int}, hex
29933 for pointers, etc.).
29934
29935 For a variable with children, the format is set only on the
29936 variable itself, and the children are not affected.
29937
29938 @subheading The @code{-var-show-format} Command
29939 @findex -var-show-format
29940
29941 @subsubheading Synopsis
29942
29943 @smallexample
29944 -var-show-format @var{name}
29945 @end smallexample
29946
29947 Returns the format used to display the value of the object @var{name}.
29948
29949 @smallexample
29950 @var{format} @expansion{}
29951 @var{format-spec}
29952 @end smallexample
29953
29954
29955 @subheading The @code{-var-info-num-children} Command
29956 @findex -var-info-num-children
29957
29958 @subsubheading Synopsis
29959
29960 @smallexample
29961 -var-info-num-children @var{name}
29962 @end smallexample
29963
29964 Returns the number of children of a variable object @var{name}:
29965
29966 @smallexample
29967 numchild=@var{n}
29968 @end smallexample
29969
29970 Note that this number is not completely reliable for a dynamic varobj.
29971 It will return the current number of children, but more children may
29972 be available.
29973
29974
29975 @subheading The @code{-var-list-children} Command
29976 @findex -var-list-children
29977
29978 @subsubheading Synopsis
29979
29980 @smallexample
29981 -var-list-children [@var{print-values}] @var{name} [@var{from} @var{to}]
29982 @end smallexample
29983 @anchor{-var-list-children}
29984
29985 Return a list of the children of the specified variable object and
29986 create variable objects for them, if they do not already exist. With
29987 a single argument or if @var{print-values} has a value of 0 or
29988 @code{--no-values}, print only the names of the variables; if
29989 @var{print-values} is 1 or @code{--all-values}, also print their
29990 values; and if it is 2 or @code{--simple-values} print the name and
29991 value for simple data types and just the name for arrays, structures
29992 and unions.
29993
29994 @var{from} and @var{to}, if specified, indicate the range of children
29995 to report. If @var{from} or @var{to} is less than zero, the range is
29996 reset and all children will be reported. Otherwise, children starting
29997 at @var{from} (zero-based) and up to and excluding @var{to} will be
29998 reported.
29999
30000 If a child range is requested, it will only affect the current call to
30001 @code{-var-list-children}, but not future calls to @code{-var-update}.
30002 For this, you must instead use @code{-var-set-update-range}. The
30003 intent of this approach is to enable a front end to implement any
30004 update approach it likes; for example, scrolling a view may cause the
30005 front end to request more children with @code{-var-list-children}, and
30006 then the front end could call @code{-var-set-update-range} with a
30007 different range to ensure that future updates are restricted to just
30008 the visible items.
30009
30010 For each child the following results are returned:
30011
30012 @table @var
30013
30014 @item name
30015 Name of the variable object created for this child.
30016
30017 @item exp
30018 The expression to be shown to the user by the front end to designate this child.
30019 For example this may be the name of a structure member.
30020
30021 For a dynamic varobj, this value cannot be used to form an
30022 expression. There is no way to do this at all with a dynamic varobj.
30023
30024 For C/C@t{++} structures there are several pseudo children returned to
30025 designate access qualifiers. For these pseudo children @var{exp} is
30026 @samp{public}, @samp{private}, or @samp{protected}. In this case the
30027 type and value are not present.
30028
30029 A dynamic varobj will not report the access qualifying
30030 pseudo-children, regardless of the language. This information is not
30031 available at all with a dynamic varobj.
30032
30033 @item numchild
30034 Number of children this child has. For a dynamic varobj, this will be
30035 0.
30036
30037 @item type
30038 The type of the child. If @samp{print object}
30039 (@pxref{Print Settings, set print object}) is set to @code{on}, the
30040 @emph{actual} (derived) type of the object is shown rather than the
30041 @emph{declared} one.
30042
30043 @item value
30044 If values were requested, this is the value.
30045
30046 @item thread-id
30047 If this variable object is associated with a thread, this is the thread id.
30048 Otherwise this result is not present.
30049
30050 @item frozen
30051 If the variable object is frozen, this variable will be present with a value of 1.
30052 @end table
30053
30054 The result may have its own attributes:
30055
30056 @table @samp
30057 @item displayhint
30058 A dynamic varobj can supply a display hint to the front end. The
30059 value comes directly from the Python pretty-printer object's
30060 @code{display_hint} method. @xref{Pretty Printing API}.
30061
30062 @item has_more
30063 This is an integer attribute which is nonzero if there are children
30064 remaining after the end of the selected range.
30065 @end table
30066
30067 @subsubheading Example
30068
30069 @smallexample
30070 (gdb)
30071 -var-list-children n
30072 ^done,numchild=@var{n},children=[child=@{name=@var{name},exp=@var{exp},
30073 numchild=@var{n},type=@var{type}@},@r{(repeats N times)}]
30074 (gdb)
30075 -var-list-children --all-values n
30076 ^done,numchild=@var{n},children=[child=@{name=@var{name},exp=@var{exp},
30077 numchild=@var{n},value=@var{value},type=@var{type}@},@r{(repeats N times)}]
30078 @end smallexample
30079
30080
30081 @subheading The @code{-var-info-type} Command
30082 @findex -var-info-type
30083
30084 @subsubheading Synopsis
30085
30086 @smallexample
30087 -var-info-type @var{name}
30088 @end smallexample
30089
30090 Returns the type of the specified variable @var{name}. The type is
30091 returned as a string in the same format as it is output by the
30092 @value{GDBN} CLI:
30093
30094 @smallexample
30095 type=@var{typename}
30096 @end smallexample
30097
30098
30099 @subheading The @code{-var-info-expression} Command
30100 @findex -var-info-expression
30101
30102 @subsubheading Synopsis
30103
30104 @smallexample
30105 -var-info-expression @var{name}
30106 @end smallexample
30107
30108 Returns a string that is suitable for presenting this
30109 variable object in user interface. The string is generally
30110 not valid expression in the current language, and cannot be evaluated.
30111
30112 For example, if @code{a} is an array, and variable object
30113 @code{A} was created for @code{a}, then we'll get this output:
30114
30115 @smallexample
30116 (gdb) -var-info-expression A.1
30117 ^done,lang="C",exp="1"
30118 @end smallexample
30119
30120 @noindent
30121 Here, the values of @code{lang} can be @code{@{"C" | "C++" | "Java"@}}.
30122
30123 Note that the output of the @code{-var-list-children} command also
30124 includes those expressions, so the @code{-var-info-expression} command
30125 is of limited use.
30126
30127 @subheading The @code{-var-info-path-expression} Command
30128 @findex -var-info-path-expression
30129
30130 @subsubheading Synopsis
30131
30132 @smallexample
30133 -var-info-path-expression @var{name}
30134 @end smallexample
30135
30136 Returns an expression that can be evaluated in the current
30137 context and will yield the same value that a variable object has.
30138 Compare this with the @code{-var-info-expression} command, which
30139 result can be used only for UI presentation. Typical use of
30140 the @code{-var-info-path-expression} command is creating a
30141 watchpoint from a variable object.
30142
30143 This command is currently not valid for children of a dynamic varobj,
30144 and will give an error when invoked on one.
30145
30146 For example, suppose @code{C} is a C@t{++} class, derived from class
30147 @code{Base}, and that the @code{Base} class has a member called
30148 @code{m_size}. Assume a variable @code{c} is has the type of
30149 @code{C} and a variable object @code{C} was created for variable
30150 @code{c}. Then, we'll get this output:
30151 @smallexample
30152 (gdb) -var-info-path-expression C.Base.public.m_size
30153 ^done,path_expr=((Base)c).m_size)
30154 @end smallexample
30155
30156 @subheading The @code{-var-show-attributes} Command
30157 @findex -var-show-attributes
30158
30159 @subsubheading Synopsis
30160
30161 @smallexample
30162 -var-show-attributes @var{name}
30163 @end smallexample
30164
30165 List attributes of the specified variable object @var{name}:
30166
30167 @smallexample
30168 status=@var{attr} [ ( ,@var{attr} )* ]
30169 @end smallexample
30170
30171 @noindent
30172 where @var{attr} is @code{@{ @{ editable | noneditable @} | TBD @}}.
30173
30174 @subheading The @code{-var-evaluate-expression} Command
30175 @findex -var-evaluate-expression
30176
30177 @subsubheading Synopsis
30178
30179 @smallexample
30180 -var-evaluate-expression [-f @var{format-spec}] @var{name}
30181 @end smallexample
30182
30183 Evaluates the expression that is represented by the specified variable
30184 object and returns its value as a string. The format of the string
30185 can be specified with the @samp{-f} option. The possible values of
30186 this option are the same as for @code{-var-set-format}
30187 (@pxref{-var-set-format}). If the @samp{-f} option is not specified,
30188 the current display format will be used. The current display format
30189 can be changed using the @code{-var-set-format} command.
30190
30191 @smallexample
30192 value=@var{value}
30193 @end smallexample
30194
30195 Note that one must invoke @code{-var-list-children} for a variable
30196 before the value of a child variable can be evaluated.
30197
30198 @subheading The @code{-var-assign} Command
30199 @findex -var-assign
30200
30201 @subsubheading Synopsis
30202
30203 @smallexample
30204 -var-assign @var{name} @var{expression}
30205 @end smallexample
30206
30207 Assigns the value of @var{expression} to the variable object specified
30208 by @var{name}. The object must be @samp{editable}. If the variable's
30209 value is altered by the assign, the variable will show up in any
30210 subsequent @code{-var-update} list.
30211
30212 @subsubheading Example
30213
30214 @smallexample
30215 (gdb)
30216 -var-assign var1 3
30217 ^done,value="3"
30218 (gdb)
30219 -var-update *
30220 ^done,changelist=[@{name="var1",in_scope="true",type_changed="false"@}]
30221 (gdb)
30222 @end smallexample
30223
30224 @subheading The @code{-var-update} Command
30225 @findex -var-update
30226
30227 @subsubheading Synopsis
30228
30229 @smallexample
30230 -var-update [@var{print-values}] @{@var{name} | "*"@}
30231 @end smallexample
30232
30233 Reevaluate the expressions corresponding to the variable object
30234 @var{name} and all its direct and indirect children, and return the
30235 list of variable objects whose values have changed; @var{name} must
30236 be a root variable object. Here, ``changed'' means that the result of
30237 @code{-var-evaluate-expression} before and after the
30238 @code{-var-update} is different. If @samp{*} is used as the variable
30239 object names, all existing variable objects are updated, except
30240 for frozen ones (@pxref{-var-set-frozen}). The option
30241 @var{print-values} determines whether both names and values, or just
30242 names are printed. The possible values of this option are the same
30243 as for @code{-var-list-children} (@pxref{-var-list-children}). It is
30244 recommended to use the @samp{--all-values} option, to reduce the
30245 number of MI commands needed on each program stop.
30246
30247 With the @samp{*} parameter, if a variable object is bound to a
30248 currently running thread, it will not be updated, without any
30249 diagnostic.
30250
30251 If @code{-var-set-update-range} was previously used on a varobj, then
30252 only the selected range of children will be reported.
30253
30254 @code{-var-update} reports all the changed varobjs in a tuple named
30255 @samp{changelist}.
30256
30257 Each item in the change list is itself a tuple holding:
30258
30259 @table @samp
30260 @item name
30261 The name of the varobj.
30262
30263 @item value
30264 If values were requested for this update, then this field will be
30265 present and will hold the value of the varobj.
30266
30267 @item in_scope
30268 @anchor{-var-update}
30269 This field is a string which may take one of three values:
30270
30271 @table @code
30272 @item "true"
30273 The variable object's current value is valid.
30274
30275 @item "false"
30276 The variable object does not currently hold a valid value but it may
30277 hold one in the future if its associated expression comes back into
30278 scope.
30279
30280 @item "invalid"
30281 The variable object no longer holds a valid value.
30282 This can occur when the executable file being debugged has changed,
30283 either through recompilation or by using the @value{GDBN} @code{file}
30284 command. The front end should normally choose to delete these variable
30285 objects.
30286 @end table
30287
30288 In the future new values may be added to this list so the front should
30289 be prepared for this possibility. @xref{GDB/MI Development and Front Ends, ,@sc{GDB/MI} Development and Front Ends}.
30290
30291 @item type_changed
30292 This is only present if the varobj is still valid. If the type
30293 changed, then this will be the string @samp{true}; otherwise it will
30294 be @samp{false}.
30295
30296 When a varobj's type changes, its children are also likely to have
30297 become incorrect. Therefore, the varobj's children are automatically
30298 deleted when this attribute is @samp{true}. Also, the varobj's update
30299 range, when set using the @code{-var-set-update-range} command, is
30300 unset.
30301
30302 @item new_type
30303 If the varobj's type changed, then this field will be present and will
30304 hold the new type.
30305
30306 @item new_num_children
30307 For a dynamic varobj, if the number of children changed, or if the
30308 type changed, this will be the new number of children.
30309
30310 The @samp{numchild} field in other varobj responses is generally not
30311 valid for a dynamic varobj -- it will show the number of children that
30312 @value{GDBN} knows about, but because dynamic varobjs lazily
30313 instantiate their children, this will not reflect the number of
30314 children which may be available.
30315
30316 The @samp{new_num_children} attribute only reports changes to the
30317 number of children known by @value{GDBN}. This is the only way to
30318 detect whether an update has removed children (which necessarily can
30319 only happen at the end of the update range).
30320
30321 @item displayhint
30322 The display hint, if any.
30323
30324 @item has_more
30325 This is an integer value, which will be 1 if there are more children
30326 available outside the varobj's update range.
30327
30328 @item dynamic
30329 This attribute will be present and have the value @samp{1} if the
30330 varobj is a dynamic varobj. If the varobj is not a dynamic varobj,
30331 then this attribute will not be present.
30332
30333 @item new_children
30334 If new children were added to a dynamic varobj within the selected
30335 update range (as set by @code{-var-set-update-range}), then they will
30336 be listed in this attribute.
30337 @end table
30338
30339 @subsubheading Example
30340
30341 @smallexample
30342 (gdb)
30343 -var-assign var1 3
30344 ^done,value="3"
30345 (gdb)
30346 -var-update --all-values var1
30347 ^done,changelist=[@{name="var1",value="3",in_scope="true",
30348 type_changed="false"@}]
30349 (gdb)
30350 @end smallexample
30351
30352 @subheading The @code{-var-set-frozen} Command
30353 @findex -var-set-frozen
30354 @anchor{-var-set-frozen}
30355
30356 @subsubheading Synopsis
30357
30358 @smallexample
30359 -var-set-frozen @var{name} @var{flag}
30360 @end smallexample
30361
30362 Set the frozenness flag on the variable object @var{name}. The
30363 @var{flag} parameter should be either @samp{1} to make the variable
30364 frozen or @samp{0} to make it unfrozen. If a variable object is
30365 frozen, then neither itself, nor any of its children, are
30366 implicitly updated by @code{-var-update} of
30367 a parent variable or by @code{-var-update *}. Only
30368 @code{-var-update} of the variable itself will update its value and
30369 values of its children. After a variable object is unfrozen, it is
30370 implicitly updated by all subsequent @code{-var-update} operations.
30371 Unfreezing a variable does not update it, only subsequent
30372 @code{-var-update} does.
30373
30374 @subsubheading Example
30375
30376 @smallexample
30377 (gdb)
30378 -var-set-frozen V 1
30379 ^done
30380 (gdb)
30381 @end smallexample
30382
30383 @subheading The @code{-var-set-update-range} command
30384 @findex -var-set-update-range
30385 @anchor{-var-set-update-range}
30386
30387 @subsubheading Synopsis
30388
30389 @smallexample
30390 -var-set-update-range @var{name} @var{from} @var{to}
30391 @end smallexample
30392
30393 Set the range of children to be returned by future invocations of
30394 @code{-var-update}.
30395
30396 @var{from} and @var{to} indicate the range of children to report. If
30397 @var{from} or @var{to} is less than zero, the range is reset and all
30398 children will be reported. Otherwise, children starting at @var{from}
30399 (zero-based) and up to and excluding @var{to} will be reported.
30400
30401 @subsubheading Example
30402
30403 @smallexample
30404 (gdb)
30405 -var-set-update-range V 1 2
30406 ^done
30407 @end smallexample
30408
30409 @subheading The @code{-var-set-visualizer} command
30410 @findex -var-set-visualizer
30411 @anchor{-var-set-visualizer}
30412
30413 @subsubheading Synopsis
30414
30415 @smallexample
30416 -var-set-visualizer @var{name} @var{visualizer}
30417 @end smallexample
30418
30419 Set a visualizer for the variable object @var{name}.
30420
30421 @var{visualizer} is the visualizer to use. The special value
30422 @samp{None} means to disable any visualizer in use.
30423
30424 If not @samp{None}, @var{visualizer} must be a Python expression.
30425 This expression must evaluate to a callable object which accepts a
30426 single argument. @value{GDBN} will call this object with the value of
30427 the varobj @var{name} as an argument (this is done so that the same
30428 Python pretty-printing code can be used for both the CLI and MI).
30429 When called, this object must return an object which conforms to the
30430 pretty-printing interface (@pxref{Pretty Printing API}).
30431
30432 The pre-defined function @code{gdb.default_visualizer} may be used to
30433 select a visualizer by following the built-in process
30434 (@pxref{Selecting Pretty-Printers}). This is done automatically when
30435 a varobj is created, and so ordinarily is not needed.
30436
30437 This feature is only available if Python support is enabled. The MI
30438 command @code{-list-features} (@pxref{GDB/MI Miscellaneous Commands})
30439 can be used to check this.
30440
30441 @subsubheading Example
30442
30443 Resetting the visualizer:
30444
30445 @smallexample
30446 (gdb)
30447 -var-set-visualizer V None
30448 ^done
30449 @end smallexample
30450
30451 Reselecting the default (type-based) visualizer:
30452
30453 @smallexample
30454 (gdb)
30455 -var-set-visualizer V gdb.default_visualizer
30456 ^done
30457 @end smallexample
30458
30459 Suppose @code{SomeClass} is a visualizer class. A lambda expression
30460 can be used to instantiate this class for a varobj:
30461
30462 @smallexample
30463 (gdb)
30464 -var-set-visualizer V "lambda val: SomeClass()"
30465 ^done
30466 @end smallexample
30467
30468 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
30469 @node GDB/MI Data Manipulation
30470 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Data Manipulation
30471
30472 @cindex data manipulation, in @sc{gdb/mi}
30473 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, data manipulation
30474 This section describes the @sc{gdb/mi} commands that manipulate data:
30475 examine memory and registers, evaluate expressions, etc.
30476
30477 @c REMOVED FROM THE INTERFACE.
30478 @c @subheading -data-assign
30479 @c Change the value of a program variable. Plenty of side effects.
30480 @c @subsubheading GDB Command
30481 @c set variable
30482 @c @subsubheading Example
30483 @c N.A.
30484
30485 @subheading The @code{-data-disassemble} Command
30486 @findex -data-disassemble
30487
30488 @subsubheading Synopsis
30489
30490 @smallexample
30491 -data-disassemble
30492 [ -s @var{start-addr} -e @var{end-addr} ]
30493 | [ -f @var{filename} -l @var{linenum} [ -n @var{lines} ] ]
30494 -- @var{mode}
30495 @end smallexample
30496
30497 @noindent
30498 Where:
30499
30500 @table @samp
30501 @item @var{start-addr}
30502 is the beginning address (or @code{$pc})
30503 @item @var{end-addr}
30504 is the end address
30505 @item @var{filename}
30506 is the name of the file to disassemble
30507 @item @var{linenum}
30508 is the line number to disassemble around
30509 @item @var{lines}
30510 is the number of disassembly lines to be produced. If it is -1,
30511 the whole function will be disassembled, in case no @var{end-addr} is
30512 specified. If @var{end-addr} is specified as a non-zero value, and
30513 @var{lines} is lower than the number of disassembly lines between
30514 @var{start-addr} and @var{end-addr}, only @var{lines} lines are
30515 displayed; if @var{lines} is higher than the number of lines between
30516 @var{start-addr} and @var{end-addr}, only the lines up to @var{end-addr}
30517 are displayed.
30518 @item @var{mode}
30519 is either 0 (meaning only disassembly), 1 (meaning mixed source and
30520 disassembly), 2 (meaning disassembly with raw opcodes), or 3 (meaning
30521 mixed source and disassembly with raw opcodes).
30522 @end table
30523
30524 @subsubheading Result
30525
30526 The output for each instruction is composed of four fields:
30527
30528 @itemize @bullet
30529 @item Address
30530 @item Func-name
30531 @item Offset
30532 @item Instruction
30533 @end itemize
30534
30535 Note that whatever included in the instruction field, is not manipulated
30536 directly by @sc{gdb/mi}, i.e., it is not possible to adjust its format.
30537
30538 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
30539
30540 There's no direct mapping from this command to the CLI.
30541
30542 @subsubheading Example
30543
30544 Disassemble from the current value of @code{$pc} to @code{$pc + 20}:
30545
30546 @smallexample
30547 (gdb)
30548 -data-disassemble -s $pc -e "$pc + 20" -- 0
30549 ^done,
30550 asm_insns=[
30551 @{address="0x000107c0",func-name="main",offset="4",
30552 inst="mov 2, %o0"@},
30553 @{address="0x000107c4",func-name="main",offset="8",
30554 inst="sethi %hi(0x11800), %o2"@},
30555 @{address="0x000107c8",func-name="main",offset="12",
30556 inst="or %o2, 0x140, %o1\t! 0x11940 <_lib_version+8>"@},
30557 @{address="0x000107cc",func-name="main",offset="16",
30558 inst="sethi %hi(0x11800), %o2"@},
30559 @{address="0x000107d0",func-name="main",offset="20",
30560 inst="or %o2, 0x168, %o4\t! 0x11968 <_lib_version+48>"@}]
30561 (gdb)
30562 @end smallexample
30563
30564 Disassemble the whole @code{main} function. Line 32 is part of
30565 @code{main}.
30566
30567 @smallexample
30568 -data-disassemble -f basics.c -l 32 -- 0
30569 ^done,asm_insns=[
30570 @{address="0x000107bc",func-name="main",offset="0",
30571 inst="save %sp, -112, %sp"@},
30572 @{address="0x000107c0",func-name="main",offset="4",
30573 inst="mov 2, %o0"@},
30574 @{address="0x000107c4",func-name="main",offset="8",
30575 inst="sethi %hi(0x11800), %o2"@},
30576 [@dots{}]
30577 @{address="0x0001081c",func-name="main",offset="96",inst="ret "@},
30578 @{address="0x00010820",func-name="main",offset="100",inst="restore "@}]
30579 (gdb)
30580 @end smallexample
30581
30582 Disassemble 3 instructions from the start of @code{main}:
30583
30584 @smallexample
30585 (gdb)
30586 -data-disassemble -f basics.c -l 32 -n 3 -- 0
30587 ^done,asm_insns=[
30588 @{address="0x000107bc",func-name="main",offset="0",
30589 inst="save %sp, -112, %sp"@},
30590 @{address="0x000107c0",func-name="main",offset="4",
30591 inst="mov 2, %o0"@},
30592 @{address="0x000107c4",func-name="main",offset="8",
30593 inst="sethi %hi(0x11800), %o2"@}]
30594 (gdb)
30595 @end smallexample
30596
30597 Disassemble 3 instructions from the start of @code{main} in mixed mode:
30598
30599 @smallexample
30600 (gdb)
30601 -data-disassemble -f basics.c -l 32 -n 3 -- 1
30602 ^done,asm_insns=[
30603 src_and_asm_line=@{line="31",
30604 file="/kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/devo/gdb/ \
30605 testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line_asm_insn=[
30606 @{address="0x000107bc",func-name="main",offset="0",
30607 inst="save %sp, -112, %sp"@}]@},
30608 src_and_asm_line=@{line="32",
30609 file="/kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/devo/gdb/ \
30610 testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line_asm_insn=[
30611 @{address="0x000107c0",func-name="main",offset="4",
30612 inst="mov 2, %o0"@},
30613 @{address="0x000107c4",func-name="main",offset="8",
30614 inst="sethi %hi(0x11800), %o2"@}]@}]
30615 (gdb)
30616 @end smallexample
30617
30618
30619 @subheading The @code{-data-evaluate-expression} Command
30620 @findex -data-evaluate-expression
30621
30622 @subsubheading Synopsis
30623
30624 @smallexample
30625 -data-evaluate-expression @var{expr}
30626 @end smallexample
30627
30628 Evaluate @var{expr} as an expression. The expression could contain an
30629 inferior function call. The function call will execute synchronously.
30630 If the expression contains spaces, it must be enclosed in double quotes.
30631
30632 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
30633
30634 The corresponding @value{GDBN} commands are @samp{print}, @samp{output}, and
30635 @samp{call}. In @code{gdbtk} only, there's a corresponding
30636 @samp{gdb_eval} command.
30637
30638 @subsubheading Example
30639
30640 In the following example, the numbers that precede the commands are the
30641 @dfn{tokens} described in @ref{GDB/MI Command Syntax, ,@sc{gdb/mi}
30642 Command Syntax}. Notice how @sc{gdb/mi} returns the same tokens in its
30643 output.
30644
30645 @smallexample
30646 211-data-evaluate-expression A
30647 211^done,value="1"
30648 (gdb)
30649 311-data-evaluate-expression &A
30650 311^done,value="0xefffeb7c"
30651 (gdb)
30652 411-data-evaluate-expression A+3
30653 411^done,value="4"
30654 (gdb)
30655 511-data-evaluate-expression "A + 3"
30656 511^done,value="4"
30657 (gdb)
30658 @end smallexample
30659
30660
30661 @subheading The @code{-data-list-changed-registers} Command
30662 @findex -data-list-changed-registers
30663
30664 @subsubheading Synopsis
30665
30666 @smallexample
30667 -data-list-changed-registers
30668 @end smallexample
30669
30670 Display a list of the registers that have changed.
30671
30672 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
30673
30674 @value{GDBN} doesn't have a direct analog for this command; @code{gdbtk}
30675 has the corresponding command @samp{gdb_changed_register_list}.
30676
30677 @subsubheading Example
30678
30679 On a PPC MBX board:
30680
30681 @smallexample
30682 (gdb)
30683 -exec-continue
30684 ^running
30685
30686 (gdb)
30687 *stopped,reason="breakpoint-hit",disp="keep",bkptno="1",frame=@{
30688 func="main",args=[],file="try.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/try.c",
30689 line="5"@}
30690 (gdb)
30691 -data-list-changed-registers
30692 ^done,changed-registers=["0","1","2","4","5","6","7","8","9",
30693 "10","11","13","14","15","16","17","18","19","20","21","22","23",
30694 "24","25","26","27","28","30","31","64","65","66","67","69"]
30695 (gdb)
30696 @end smallexample
30697
30698
30699 @subheading The @code{-data-list-register-names} Command
30700 @findex -data-list-register-names
30701
30702 @subsubheading Synopsis
30703
30704 @smallexample
30705 -data-list-register-names [ ( @var{regno} )+ ]
30706 @end smallexample
30707
30708 Show a list of register names for the current target. If no arguments
30709 are given, it shows a list of the names of all the registers. If
30710 integer numbers are given as arguments, it will print a list of the
30711 names of the registers corresponding to the arguments. To ensure
30712 consistency between a register name and its number, the output list may
30713 include empty register names.
30714
30715 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
30716
30717 @value{GDBN} does not have a command which corresponds to
30718 @samp{-data-list-register-names}. In @code{gdbtk} there is a
30719 corresponding command @samp{gdb_regnames}.
30720
30721 @subsubheading Example
30722
30723 For the PPC MBX board:
30724 @smallexample
30725 (gdb)
30726 -data-list-register-names
30727 ^done,register-names=["r0","r1","r2","r3","r4","r5","r6","r7",
30728 "r8","r9","r10","r11","r12","r13","r14","r15","r16","r17","r18",
30729 "r19","r20","r21","r22","r23","r24","r25","r26","r27","r28","r29",
30730 "r30","r31","f0","f1","f2","f3","f4","f5","f6","f7","f8","f9",
30731 "f10","f11","f12","f13","f14","f15","f16","f17","f18","f19","f20",
30732 "f21","f22","f23","f24","f25","f26","f27","f28","f29","f30","f31",
30733 "", "pc","ps","cr","lr","ctr","xer"]
30734 (gdb)
30735 -data-list-register-names 1 2 3
30736 ^done,register-names=["r1","r2","r3"]
30737 (gdb)
30738 @end smallexample
30739
30740 @subheading The @code{-data-list-register-values} Command
30741 @findex -data-list-register-values
30742
30743 @subsubheading Synopsis
30744
30745 @smallexample
30746 -data-list-register-values @var{fmt} [ ( @var{regno} )*]
30747 @end smallexample
30748
30749 Display the registers' contents. @var{fmt} is the format according to
30750 which the registers' contents are to be returned, followed by an optional
30751 list of numbers specifying the registers to display. A missing list of
30752 numbers indicates that the contents of all the registers must be returned.
30753
30754 Allowed formats for @var{fmt} are:
30755
30756 @table @code
30757 @item x
30758 Hexadecimal
30759 @item o
30760 Octal
30761 @item t
30762 Binary
30763 @item d
30764 Decimal
30765 @item r
30766 Raw
30767 @item N
30768 Natural
30769 @end table
30770
30771 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
30772
30773 The corresponding @value{GDBN} commands are @samp{info reg}, @samp{info
30774 all-reg}, and (in @code{gdbtk}) @samp{gdb_fetch_registers}.
30775
30776 @subsubheading Example
30777
30778 For a PPC MBX board (note: line breaks are for readability only, they
30779 don't appear in the actual output):
30780
30781 @smallexample
30782 (gdb)
30783 -data-list-register-values r 64 65
30784 ^done,register-values=[@{number="64",value="0xfe00a300"@},
30785 @{number="65",value="0x00029002"@}]
30786 (gdb)
30787 -data-list-register-values x
30788 ^done,register-values=[@{number="0",value="0xfe0043c8"@},
30789 @{number="1",value="0x3fff88"@},@{number="2",value="0xfffffffe"@},
30790 @{number="3",value="0x0"@},@{number="4",value="0xa"@},
30791 @{number="5",value="0x3fff68"@},@{number="6",value="0x3fff58"@},
30792 @{number="7",value="0xfe011e98"@},@{number="8",value="0x2"@},
30793 @{number="9",value="0xfa202820"@},@{number="10",value="0xfa202808"@},
30794 @{number="11",value="0x1"@},@{number="12",value="0x0"@},
30795 @{number="13",value="0x4544"@},@{number="14",value="0xffdfffff"@},
30796 @{number="15",value="0xffffffff"@},@{number="16",value="0xfffffeff"@},
30797 @{number="17",value="0xefffffed"@},@{number="18",value="0xfffffffe"@},
30798 @{number="19",value="0xffffffff"@},@{number="20",value="0xffffffff"@},
30799 @{number="21",value="0xffffffff"@},@{number="22",value="0xfffffff7"@},
30800 @{number="23",value="0xffffffff"@},@{number="24",value="0xffffffff"@},
30801 @{number="25",value="0xffffffff"@},@{number="26",value="0xfffffffb"@},
30802 @{number="27",value="0xffffffff"@},@{number="28",value="0xf7bfffff"@},
30803 @{number="29",value="0x0"@},@{number="30",value="0xfe010000"@},
30804 @{number="31",value="0x0"@},@{number="32",value="0x0"@},
30805 @{number="33",value="0x0"@},@{number="34",value="0x0"@},
30806 @{number="35",value="0x0"@},@{number="36",value="0x0"@},
30807 @{number="37",value="0x0"@},@{number="38",value="0x0"@},
30808 @{number="39",value="0x0"@},@{number="40",value="0x0"@},
30809 @{number="41",value="0x0"@},@{number="42",value="0x0"@},
30810 @{number="43",value="0x0"@},@{number="44",value="0x0"@},
30811 @{number="45",value="0x0"@},@{number="46",value="0x0"@},
30812 @{number="47",value="0x0"@},@{number="48",value="0x0"@},
30813 @{number="49",value="0x0"@},@{number="50",value="0x0"@},
30814 @{number="51",value="0x0"@},@{number="52",value="0x0"@},
30815 @{number="53",value="0x0"@},@{number="54",value="0x0"@},
30816 @{number="55",value="0x0"@},@{number="56",value="0x0"@},
30817 @{number="57",value="0x0"@},@{number="58",value="0x0"@},
30818 @{number="59",value="0x0"@},@{number="60",value="0x0"@},
30819 @{number="61",value="0x0"@},@{number="62",value="0x0"@},
30820 @{number="63",value="0x0"@},@{number="64",value="0xfe00a300"@},
30821 @{number="65",value="0x29002"@},@{number="66",value="0x202f04b5"@},
30822 @{number="67",value="0xfe0043b0"@},@{number="68",value="0xfe00b3e4"@},
30823 @{number="69",value="0x20002b03"@}]
30824 (gdb)
30825 @end smallexample
30826
30827
30828 @subheading The @code{-data-read-memory} Command
30829 @findex -data-read-memory
30830
30831 This command is deprecated, use @code{-data-read-memory-bytes} instead.
30832
30833 @subsubheading Synopsis
30834
30835 @smallexample
30836 -data-read-memory [ -o @var{byte-offset} ]
30837 @var{address} @var{word-format} @var{word-size}
30838 @var{nr-rows} @var{nr-cols} [ @var{aschar} ]
30839 @end smallexample
30840
30841 @noindent
30842 where:
30843
30844 @table @samp
30845 @item @var{address}
30846 An expression specifying the address of the first memory word to be
30847 read. Complex expressions containing embedded white space should be
30848 quoted using the C convention.
30849
30850 @item @var{word-format}
30851 The format to be used to print the memory words. The notation is the
30852 same as for @value{GDBN}'s @code{print} command (@pxref{Output Formats,
30853 ,Output Formats}).
30854
30855 @item @var{word-size}
30856 The size of each memory word in bytes.
30857
30858 @item @var{nr-rows}
30859 The number of rows in the output table.
30860
30861 @item @var{nr-cols}
30862 The number of columns in the output table.
30863
30864 @item @var{aschar}
30865 If present, indicates that each row should include an @sc{ascii} dump. The
30866 value of @var{aschar} is used as a padding character when a byte is not a
30867 member of the printable @sc{ascii} character set (printable @sc{ascii}
30868 characters are those whose code is between 32 and 126, inclusively).
30869
30870 @item @var{byte-offset}
30871 An offset to add to the @var{address} before fetching memory.
30872 @end table
30873
30874 This command displays memory contents as a table of @var{nr-rows} by
30875 @var{nr-cols} words, each word being @var{word-size} bytes. In total,
30876 @code{@var{nr-rows} * @var{nr-cols} * @var{word-size}} bytes are read
30877 (returned as @samp{total-bytes}). Should less than the requested number
30878 of bytes be returned by the target, the missing words are identified
30879 using @samp{N/A}. The number of bytes read from the target is returned
30880 in @samp{nr-bytes} and the starting address used to read memory in
30881 @samp{addr}.
30882
30883 The address of the next/previous row or page is available in
30884 @samp{next-row} and @samp{prev-row}, @samp{next-page} and
30885 @samp{prev-page}.
30886
30887 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
30888
30889 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{x}. @code{gdbtk} has
30890 @samp{gdb_get_mem} memory read command.
30891
30892 @subsubheading Example
30893
30894 Read six bytes of memory starting at @code{bytes+6} but then offset by
30895 @code{-6} bytes. Format as three rows of two columns. One byte per
30896 word. Display each word in hex.
30897
30898 @smallexample
30899 (gdb)
30900 9-data-read-memory -o -6 -- bytes+6 x 1 3 2
30901 9^done,addr="0x00001390",nr-bytes="6",total-bytes="6",
30902 next-row="0x00001396",prev-row="0x0000138e",next-page="0x00001396",
30903 prev-page="0x0000138a",memory=[
30904 @{addr="0x00001390",data=["0x00","0x01"]@},
30905 @{addr="0x00001392",data=["0x02","0x03"]@},
30906 @{addr="0x00001394",data=["0x04","0x05"]@}]
30907 (gdb)
30908 @end smallexample
30909
30910 Read two bytes of memory starting at address @code{shorts + 64} and
30911 display as a single word formatted in decimal.
30912
30913 @smallexample
30914 (gdb)
30915 5-data-read-memory shorts+64 d 2 1 1
30916 5^done,addr="0x00001510",nr-bytes="2",total-bytes="2",
30917 next-row="0x00001512",prev-row="0x0000150e",
30918 next-page="0x00001512",prev-page="0x0000150e",memory=[
30919 @{addr="0x00001510",data=["128"]@}]
30920 (gdb)
30921 @end smallexample
30922
30923 Read thirty two bytes of memory starting at @code{bytes+16} and format
30924 as eight rows of four columns. Include a string encoding with @samp{x}
30925 used as the non-printable character.
30926
30927 @smallexample
30928 (gdb)
30929 4-data-read-memory bytes+16 x 1 8 4 x
30930 4^done,addr="0x000013a0",nr-bytes="32",total-bytes="32",
30931 next-row="0x000013c0",prev-row="0x0000139c",
30932 next-page="0x000013c0",prev-page="0x00001380",memory=[
30933 @{addr="0x000013a0",data=["0x10","0x11","0x12","0x13"],ascii="xxxx"@},
30934 @{addr="0x000013a4",data=["0x14","0x15","0x16","0x17"],ascii="xxxx"@},
30935 @{addr="0x000013a8",data=["0x18","0x19","0x1a","0x1b"],ascii="xxxx"@},
30936 @{addr="0x000013ac",data=["0x1c","0x1d","0x1e","0x1f"],ascii="xxxx"@},
30937 @{addr="0x000013b0",data=["0x20","0x21","0x22","0x23"],ascii=" !\"#"@},
30938 @{addr="0x000013b4",data=["0x24","0x25","0x26","0x27"],ascii="$%&'"@},
30939 @{addr="0x000013b8",data=["0x28","0x29","0x2a","0x2b"],ascii="()*+"@},
30940 @{addr="0x000013bc",data=["0x2c","0x2d","0x2e","0x2f"],ascii=",-./"@}]
30941 (gdb)
30942 @end smallexample
30943
30944 @subheading The @code{-data-read-memory-bytes} Command
30945 @findex -data-read-memory-bytes
30946
30947 @subsubheading Synopsis
30948
30949 @smallexample
30950 -data-read-memory-bytes [ -o @var{byte-offset} ]
30951 @var{address} @var{count}
30952 @end smallexample
30953
30954 @noindent
30955 where:
30956
30957 @table @samp
30958 @item @var{address}
30959 An expression specifying the address of the first memory word to be
30960 read. Complex expressions containing embedded white space should be
30961 quoted using the C convention.
30962
30963 @item @var{count}
30964 The number of bytes to read. This should be an integer literal.
30965
30966 @item @var{byte-offset}
30967 The offsets in bytes relative to @var{address} at which to start
30968 reading. This should be an integer literal. This option is provided
30969 so that a frontend is not required to first evaluate address and then
30970 perform address arithmetics itself.
30971
30972 @end table
30973
30974 This command attempts to read all accessible memory regions in the
30975 specified range. First, all regions marked as unreadable in the memory
30976 map (if one is defined) will be skipped. @xref{Memory Region
30977 Attributes}. Second, @value{GDBN} will attempt to read the remaining
30978 regions. For each one, if reading full region results in an errors,
30979 @value{GDBN} will try to read a subset of the region.
30980
30981 In general, every single byte in the region may be readable or not,
30982 and the only way to read every readable byte is to try a read at
30983 every address, which is not practical. Therefore, @value{GDBN} will
30984 attempt to read all accessible bytes at either beginning or the end
30985 of the region, using a binary division scheme. This heuristic works
30986 well for reading accross a memory map boundary. Note that if a region
30987 has a readable range that is neither at the beginning or the end,
30988 @value{GDBN} will not read it.
30989
30990 The result record (@pxref{GDB/MI Result Records}) that is output of
30991 the command includes a field named @samp{memory} whose content is a
30992 list of tuples. Each tuple represent a successfully read memory block
30993 and has the following fields:
30994
30995 @table @code
30996 @item begin
30997 The start address of the memory block, as hexadecimal literal.
30998
30999 @item end
31000 The end address of the memory block, as hexadecimal literal.
31001
31002 @item offset
31003 The offset of the memory block, as hexadecimal literal, relative to
31004 the start address passed to @code{-data-read-memory-bytes}.
31005
31006 @item contents
31007 The contents of the memory block, in hex.
31008
31009 @end table
31010
31011
31012
31013 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31014
31015 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{x}.
31016
31017 @subsubheading Example
31018
31019 @smallexample
31020 (gdb)
31021 -data-read-memory-bytes &a 10
31022 ^done,memory=[@{begin="0xbffff154",offset="0x00000000",
31023 end="0xbffff15e",
31024 contents="01000000020000000300"@}]
31025 (gdb)
31026 @end smallexample
31027
31028
31029 @subheading The @code{-data-write-memory-bytes} Command
31030 @findex -data-write-memory-bytes
31031
31032 @subsubheading Synopsis
31033
31034 @smallexample
31035 -data-write-memory-bytes @var{address} @var{contents}
31036 @end smallexample
31037
31038 @noindent
31039 where:
31040
31041 @table @samp
31042 @item @var{address}
31043 An expression specifying the address of the first memory word to be
31044 read. Complex expressions containing embedded white space should be
31045 quoted using the C convention.
31046
31047 @item @var{contents}
31048 The hex-encoded bytes to write.
31049
31050 @end table
31051
31052 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31053
31054 There's no corresponding @value{GDBN} command.
31055
31056 @subsubheading Example
31057
31058 @smallexample
31059 (gdb)
31060 -data-write-memory-bytes &a "aabbccdd"
31061 ^done
31062 (gdb)
31063 @end smallexample
31064
31065
31066 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
31067 @node GDB/MI Tracepoint Commands
31068 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Tracepoint Commands
31069
31070 The commands defined in this section implement MI support for
31071 tracepoints. For detailed introduction, see @ref{Tracepoints}.
31072
31073 @subheading The @code{-trace-find} Command
31074 @findex -trace-find
31075
31076 @subsubheading Synopsis
31077
31078 @smallexample
31079 -trace-find @var{mode} [@var{parameters}@dots{}]
31080 @end smallexample
31081
31082 Find a trace frame using criteria defined by @var{mode} and
31083 @var{parameters}. The following table lists permissible
31084 modes and their parameters. For details of operation, see @ref{tfind}.
31085
31086 @table @samp
31087
31088 @item none
31089 No parameters are required. Stops examining trace frames.
31090
31091 @item frame-number
31092 An integer is required as parameter. Selects tracepoint frame with
31093 that index.
31094
31095 @item tracepoint-number
31096 An integer is required as parameter. Finds next
31097 trace frame that corresponds to tracepoint with the specified number.
31098
31099 @item pc
31100 An address is required as parameter. Finds
31101 next trace frame that corresponds to any tracepoint at the specified
31102 address.
31103
31104 @item pc-inside-range
31105 Two addresses are required as parameters. Finds next trace
31106 frame that corresponds to a tracepoint at an address inside the
31107 specified range. Both bounds are considered to be inside the range.
31108
31109 @item pc-outside-range
31110 Two addresses are required as parameters. Finds
31111 next trace frame that corresponds to a tracepoint at an address outside
31112 the specified range. Both bounds are considered to be inside the range.
31113
31114 @item line
31115 Line specification is required as parameter. @xref{Specify Location}.
31116 Finds next trace frame that corresponds to a tracepoint at
31117 the specified location.
31118
31119 @end table
31120
31121 If @samp{none} was passed as @var{mode}, the response does not
31122 have fields. Otherwise, the response may have the following fields:
31123
31124 @table @samp
31125 @item found
31126 This field has either @samp{0} or @samp{1} as the value, depending
31127 on whether a matching tracepoint was found.
31128
31129 @item traceframe
31130 The index of the found traceframe. This field is present iff
31131 the @samp{found} field has value of @samp{1}.
31132
31133 @item tracepoint
31134 The index of the found tracepoint. This field is present iff
31135 the @samp{found} field has value of @samp{1}.
31136
31137 @item frame
31138 The information about the frame corresponding to the found trace
31139 frame. This field is present only if a trace frame was found.
31140 @xref{GDB/MI Frame Information}, for description of this field.
31141
31142 @end table
31143
31144 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31145
31146 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{tfind}.
31147
31148 @subheading -trace-define-variable
31149 @findex -trace-define-variable
31150
31151 @subsubheading Synopsis
31152
31153 @smallexample
31154 -trace-define-variable @var{name} [ @var{value} ]
31155 @end smallexample
31156
31157 Create trace variable @var{name} if it does not exist. If
31158 @var{value} is specified, sets the initial value of the specified
31159 trace variable to that value. Note that the @var{name} should start
31160 with the @samp{$} character.
31161
31162 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31163
31164 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{tvariable}.
31165
31166 @subheading -trace-list-variables
31167 @findex -trace-list-variables
31168
31169 @subsubheading Synopsis
31170
31171 @smallexample
31172 -trace-list-variables
31173 @end smallexample
31174
31175 Return a table of all defined trace variables. Each element of the
31176 table has the following fields:
31177
31178 @table @samp
31179 @item name
31180 The name of the trace variable. This field is always present.
31181
31182 @item initial
31183 The initial value. This is a 64-bit signed integer. This
31184 field is always present.
31185
31186 @item current
31187 The value the trace variable has at the moment. This is a 64-bit
31188 signed integer. This field is absent iff current value is
31189 not defined, for example if the trace was never run, or is
31190 presently running.
31191
31192 @end table
31193
31194 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31195
31196 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{tvariables}.
31197
31198 @subsubheading Example
31199
31200 @smallexample
31201 (gdb)
31202 -trace-list-variables
31203 ^done,trace-variables=@{nr_rows="1",nr_cols="3",
31204 hdr=[@{width="15",alignment="-1",col_name="name",colhdr="Name"@},
31205 @{width="11",alignment="-1",col_name="initial",colhdr="Initial"@},
31206 @{width="11",alignment="-1",col_name="current",colhdr="Current"@}],
31207 body=[variable=@{name="$trace_timestamp",initial="0"@}
31208 variable=@{name="$foo",initial="10",current="15"@}]@}
31209 (gdb)
31210 @end smallexample
31211
31212 @subheading -trace-save
31213 @findex -trace-save
31214
31215 @subsubheading Synopsis
31216
31217 @smallexample
31218 -trace-save [-r ] @var{filename}
31219 @end smallexample
31220
31221 Saves the collected trace data to @var{filename}. Without the
31222 @samp{-r} option, the data is downloaded from the target and saved
31223 in a local file. With the @samp{-r} option the target is asked
31224 to perform the save.
31225
31226 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31227
31228 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{tsave}.
31229
31230
31231 @subheading -trace-start
31232 @findex -trace-start
31233
31234 @subsubheading Synopsis
31235
31236 @smallexample
31237 -trace-start
31238 @end smallexample
31239
31240 Starts a tracing experiments. The result of this command does not
31241 have any fields.
31242
31243 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31244
31245 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{tstart}.
31246
31247 @subheading -trace-status
31248 @findex -trace-status
31249
31250 @subsubheading Synopsis
31251
31252 @smallexample
31253 -trace-status
31254 @end smallexample
31255
31256 Obtains the status of a tracing experiment. The result may include
31257 the following fields:
31258
31259 @table @samp
31260
31261 @item supported
31262 May have a value of either @samp{0}, when no tracing operations are
31263 supported, @samp{1}, when all tracing operations are supported, or
31264 @samp{file} when examining trace file. In the latter case, examining
31265 of trace frame is possible but new tracing experiement cannot be
31266 started. This field is always present.
31267
31268 @item running
31269 May have a value of either @samp{0} or @samp{1} depending on whether
31270 tracing experiement is in progress on target. This field is present
31271 if @samp{supported} field is not @samp{0}.
31272
31273 @item stop-reason
31274 Report the reason why the tracing was stopped last time. This field
31275 may be absent iff tracing was never stopped on target yet. The
31276 value of @samp{request} means the tracing was stopped as result of
31277 the @code{-trace-stop} command. The value of @samp{overflow} means
31278 the tracing buffer is full. The value of @samp{disconnection} means
31279 tracing was automatically stopped when @value{GDBN} has disconnected.
31280 The value of @samp{passcount} means tracing was stopped when a
31281 tracepoint was passed a maximal number of times for that tracepoint.
31282 This field is present if @samp{supported} field is not @samp{0}.
31283
31284 @item stopping-tracepoint
31285 The number of tracepoint whose passcount as exceeded. This field is
31286 present iff the @samp{stop-reason} field has the value of
31287 @samp{passcount}.
31288
31289 @item frames
31290 @itemx frames-created
31291 The @samp{frames} field is a count of the total number of trace frames
31292 in the trace buffer, while @samp{frames-created} is the total created
31293 during the run, including ones that were discarded, such as when a
31294 circular trace buffer filled up. Both fields are optional.
31295
31296 @item buffer-size
31297 @itemx buffer-free
31298 These fields tell the current size of the tracing buffer and the
31299 remaining space. These fields are optional.
31300
31301 @item circular
31302 The value of the circular trace buffer flag. @code{1} means that the
31303 trace buffer is circular and old trace frames will be discarded if
31304 necessary to make room, @code{0} means that the trace buffer is linear
31305 and may fill up.
31306
31307 @item disconnected
31308 The value of the disconnected tracing flag. @code{1} means that
31309 tracing will continue after @value{GDBN} disconnects, @code{0} means
31310 that the trace run will stop.
31311
31312 @end table
31313
31314 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31315
31316 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{tstatus}.
31317
31318 @subheading -trace-stop
31319 @findex -trace-stop
31320
31321 @subsubheading Synopsis
31322
31323 @smallexample
31324 -trace-stop
31325 @end smallexample
31326
31327 Stops a tracing experiment. The result of this command has the same
31328 fields as @code{-trace-status}, except that the @samp{supported} and
31329 @samp{running} fields are not output.
31330
31331 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31332
31333 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{tstop}.
31334
31335
31336 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
31337 @node GDB/MI Symbol Query
31338 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Symbol Query Commands
31339
31340
31341 @ignore
31342 @subheading The @code{-symbol-info-address} Command
31343 @findex -symbol-info-address
31344
31345 @subsubheading Synopsis
31346
31347 @smallexample
31348 -symbol-info-address @var{symbol}
31349 @end smallexample
31350
31351 Describe where @var{symbol} is stored.
31352
31353 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31354
31355 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info address}.
31356
31357 @subsubheading Example
31358 N.A.
31359
31360
31361 @subheading The @code{-symbol-info-file} Command
31362 @findex -symbol-info-file
31363
31364 @subsubheading Synopsis
31365
31366 @smallexample
31367 -symbol-info-file
31368 @end smallexample
31369
31370 Show the file for the symbol.
31371
31372 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31373
31374 There's no equivalent @value{GDBN} command. @code{gdbtk} has
31375 @samp{gdb_find_file}.
31376
31377 @subsubheading Example
31378 N.A.
31379
31380
31381 @subheading The @code{-symbol-info-function} Command
31382 @findex -symbol-info-function
31383
31384 @subsubheading Synopsis
31385
31386 @smallexample
31387 -symbol-info-function
31388 @end smallexample
31389
31390 Show which function the symbol lives in.
31391
31392 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31393
31394 @samp{gdb_get_function} in @code{gdbtk}.
31395
31396 @subsubheading Example
31397 N.A.
31398
31399
31400 @subheading The @code{-symbol-info-line} Command
31401 @findex -symbol-info-line
31402
31403 @subsubheading Synopsis
31404
31405 @smallexample
31406 -symbol-info-line
31407 @end smallexample
31408
31409 Show the core addresses of the code for a source line.
31410
31411 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31412
31413 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info line}.
31414 @code{gdbtk} has the @samp{gdb_get_line} and @samp{gdb_get_file} commands.
31415
31416 @subsubheading Example
31417 N.A.
31418
31419
31420 @subheading The @code{-symbol-info-symbol} Command
31421 @findex -symbol-info-symbol
31422
31423 @subsubheading Synopsis
31424
31425 @smallexample
31426 -symbol-info-symbol @var{addr}
31427 @end smallexample
31428
31429 Describe what symbol is at location @var{addr}.
31430
31431 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31432
31433 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info symbol}.
31434
31435 @subsubheading Example
31436 N.A.
31437
31438
31439 @subheading The @code{-symbol-list-functions} Command
31440 @findex -symbol-list-functions
31441
31442 @subsubheading Synopsis
31443
31444 @smallexample
31445 -symbol-list-functions
31446 @end smallexample
31447
31448 List the functions in the executable.
31449
31450 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31451
31452 @samp{info functions} in @value{GDBN}, @samp{gdb_listfunc} and
31453 @samp{gdb_search} in @code{gdbtk}.
31454
31455 @subsubheading Example
31456 N.A.
31457 @end ignore
31458
31459
31460 @subheading The @code{-symbol-list-lines} Command
31461 @findex -symbol-list-lines
31462
31463 @subsubheading Synopsis
31464
31465 @smallexample
31466 -symbol-list-lines @var{filename}
31467 @end smallexample
31468
31469 Print the list of lines that contain code and their associated program
31470 addresses for the given source filename. The entries are sorted in
31471 ascending PC order.
31472
31473 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31474
31475 There is no corresponding @value{GDBN} command.
31476
31477 @subsubheading Example
31478 @smallexample
31479 (gdb)
31480 -symbol-list-lines basics.c
31481 ^done,lines=[@{pc="0x08048554",line="7"@},@{pc="0x0804855a",line="8"@}]
31482 (gdb)
31483 @end smallexample
31484
31485
31486 @ignore
31487 @subheading The @code{-symbol-list-types} Command
31488 @findex -symbol-list-types
31489
31490 @subsubheading Synopsis
31491
31492 @smallexample
31493 -symbol-list-types
31494 @end smallexample
31495
31496 List all the type names.
31497
31498 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31499
31500 The corresponding commands are @samp{info types} in @value{GDBN},
31501 @samp{gdb_search} in @code{gdbtk}.
31502
31503 @subsubheading Example
31504 N.A.
31505
31506
31507 @subheading The @code{-symbol-list-variables} Command
31508 @findex -symbol-list-variables
31509
31510 @subsubheading Synopsis
31511
31512 @smallexample
31513 -symbol-list-variables
31514 @end smallexample
31515
31516 List all the global and static variable names.
31517
31518 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31519
31520 @samp{info variables} in @value{GDBN}, @samp{gdb_search} in @code{gdbtk}.
31521
31522 @subsubheading Example
31523 N.A.
31524
31525
31526 @subheading The @code{-symbol-locate} Command
31527 @findex -symbol-locate
31528
31529 @subsubheading Synopsis
31530
31531 @smallexample
31532 -symbol-locate
31533 @end smallexample
31534
31535 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31536
31537 @samp{gdb_loc} in @code{gdbtk}.
31538
31539 @subsubheading Example
31540 N.A.
31541
31542
31543 @subheading The @code{-symbol-type} Command
31544 @findex -symbol-type
31545
31546 @subsubheading Synopsis
31547
31548 @smallexample
31549 -symbol-type @var{variable}
31550 @end smallexample
31551
31552 Show type of @var{variable}.
31553
31554 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31555
31556 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{ptype}, @code{gdbtk} has
31557 @samp{gdb_obj_variable}.
31558
31559 @subsubheading Example
31560 N.A.
31561 @end ignore
31562
31563
31564 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
31565 @node GDB/MI File Commands
31566 @section @sc{gdb/mi} File Commands
31567
31568 This section describes the GDB/MI commands to specify executable file names
31569 and to read in and obtain symbol table information.
31570
31571 @subheading The @code{-file-exec-and-symbols} Command
31572 @findex -file-exec-and-symbols
31573
31574 @subsubheading Synopsis
31575
31576 @smallexample
31577 -file-exec-and-symbols @var{file}
31578 @end smallexample
31579
31580 Specify the executable file to be debugged. This file is the one from
31581 which the symbol table is also read. If no file is specified, the
31582 command clears the executable and symbol information. If breakpoints
31583 are set when using this command with no arguments, @value{GDBN} will produce
31584 error messages. Otherwise, no output is produced, except a completion
31585 notification.
31586
31587 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31588
31589 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{file}.
31590
31591 @subsubheading Example
31592
31593 @smallexample
31594 (gdb)
31595 -file-exec-and-symbols /kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/TRUNK/mbx/hello.mbx
31596 ^done
31597 (gdb)
31598 @end smallexample
31599
31600
31601 @subheading The @code{-file-exec-file} Command
31602 @findex -file-exec-file
31603
31604 @subsubheading Synopsis
31605
31606 @smallexample
31607 -file-exec-file @var{file}
31608 @end smallexample
31609
31610 Specify the executable file to be debugged. Unlike
31611 @samp{-file-exec-and-symbols}, the symbol table is @emph{not} read
31612 from this file. If used without argument, @value{GDBN} clears the information
31613 about the executable file. No output is produced, except a completion
31614 notification.
31615
31616 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31617
31618 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{exec-file}.
31619
31620 @subsubheading Example
31621
31622 @smallexample
31623 (gdb)
31624 -file-exec-file /kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/TRUNK/mbx/hello.mbx
31625 ^done
31626 (gdb)
31627 @end smallexample
31628
31629
31630 @ignore
31631 @subheading The @code{-file-list-exec-sections} Command
31632 @findex -file-list-exec-sections
31633
31634 @subsubheading Synopsis
31635
31636 @smallexample
31637 -file-list-exec-sections
31638 @end smallexample
31639
31640 List the sections of the current executable file.
31641
31642 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31643
31644 The @value{GDBN} command @samp{info file} shows, among the rest, the same
31645 information as this command. @code{gdbtk} has a corresponding command
31646 @samp{gdb_load_info}.
31647
31648 @subsubheading Example
31649 N.A.
31650 @end ignore
31651
31652
31653 @subheading The @code{-file-list-exec-source-file} Command
31654 @findex -file-list-exec-source-file
31655
31656 @subsubheading Synopsis
31657
31658 @smallexample
31659 -file-list-exec-source-file
31660 @end smallexample
31661
31662 List the line number, the current source file, and the absolute path
31663 to the current source file for the current executable. The macro
31664 information field has a value of @samp{1} or @samp{0} depending on
31665 whether or not the file includes preprocessor macro information.
31666
31667 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31668
31669 The @value{GDBN} equivalent is @samp{info source}
31670
31671 @subsubheading Example
31672
31673 @smallexample
31674 (gdb)
31675 123-file-list-exec-source-file
31676 123^done,line="1",file="foo.c",fullname="/home/bar/foo.c,macro-info="1"
31677 (gdb)
31678 @end smallexample
31679
31680
31681 @subheading The @code{-file-list-exec-source-files} Command
31682 @findex -file-list-exec-source-files
31683
31684 @subsubheading Synopsis
31685
31686 @smallexample
31687 -file-list-exec-source-files
31688 @end smallexample
31689
31690 List the source files for the current executable.
31691
31692 It will always output the filename, but only when @value{GDBN} can find
31693 the absolute file name of a source file, will it output the fullname.
31694
31695 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31696
31697 The @value{GDBN} equivalent is @samp{info sources}.
31698 @code{gdbtk} has an analogous command @samp{gdb_listfiles}.
31699
31700 @subsubheading Example
31701 @smallexample
31702 (gdb)
31703 -file-list-exec-source-files
31704 ^done,files=[
31705 @{file=foo.c,fullname=/home/foo.c@},
31706 @{file=/home/bar.c,fullname=/home/bar.c@},
31707 @{file=gdb_could_not_find_fullpath.c@}]
31708 (gdb)
31709 @end smallexample
31710
31711 @ignore
31712 @subheading The @code{-file-list-shared-libraries} Command
31713 @findex -file-list-shared-libraries
31714
31715 @subsubheading Synopsis
31716
31717 @smallexample
31718 -file-list-shared-libraries
31719 @end smallexample
31720
31721 List the shared libraries in the program.
31722
31723 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31724
31725 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info shared}.
31726
31727 @subsubheading Example
31728 N.A.
31729
31730
31731 @subheading The @code{-file-list-symbol-files} Command
31732 @findex -file-list-symbol-files
31733
31734 @subsubheading Synopsis
31735
31736 @smallexample
31737 -file-list-symbol-files
31738 @end smallexample
31739
31740 List symbol files.
31741
31742 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31743
31744 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info file} (part of it).
31745
31746 @subsubheading Example
31747 N.A.
31748 @end ignore
31749
31750
31751 @subheading The @code{-file-symbol-file} Command
31752 @findex -file-symbol-file
31753
31754 @subsubheading Synopsis
31755
31756 @smallexample
31757 -file-symbol-file @var{file}
31758 @end smallexample
31759
31760 Read symbol table info from the specified @var{file} argument. When
31761 used without arguments, clears @value{GDBN}'s symbol table info. No output is
31762 produced, except for a completion notification.
31763
31764 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31765
31766 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{symbol-file}.
31767
31768 @subsubheading Example
31769
31770 @smallexample
31771 (gdb)
31772 -file-symbol-file /kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/TRUNK/mbx/hello.mbx
31773 ^done
31774 (gdb)
31775 @end smallexample
31776
31777 @ignore
31778 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
31779 @node GDB/MI Memory Overlay Commands
31780 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Memory Overlay Commands
31781
31782 The memory overlay commands are not implemented.
31783
31784 @c @subheading -overlay-auto
31785
31786 @c @subheading -overlay-list-mapping-state
31787
31788 @c @subheading -overlay-list-overlays
31789
31790 @c @subheading -overlay-map
31791
31792 @c @subheading -overlay-off
31793
31794 @c @subheading -overlay-on
31795
31796 @c @subheading -overlay-unmap
31797
31798 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
31799 @node GDB/MI Signal Handling Commands
31800 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Signal Handling Commands
31801
31802 Signal handling commands are not implemented.
31803
31804 @c @subheading -signal-handle
31805
31806 @c @subheading -signal-list-handle-actions
31807
31808 @c @subheading -signal-list-signal-types
31809 @end ignore
31810
31811
31812 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
31813 @node GDB/MI Target Manipulation
31814 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Target Manipulation Commands
31815
31816
31817 @subheading The @code{-target-attach} Command
31818 @findex -target-attach
31819
31820 @subsubheading Synopsis
31821
31822 @smallexample
31823 -target-attach @var{pid} | @var{gid} | @var{file}
31824 @end smallexample
31825
31826 Attach to a process @var{pid} or a file @var{file} outside of
31827 @value{GDBN}, or a thread group @var{gid}. If attaching to a thread
31828 group, the id previously returned by
31829 @samp{-list-thread-groups --available} must be used.
31830
31831 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31832
31833 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{attach}.
31834
31835 @subsubheading Example
31836 @smallexample
31837 (gdb)
31838 -target-attach 34
31839 =thread-created,id="1"
31840 *stopped,thread-id="1",frame=@{addr="0xb7f7e410",func="bar",args=[]@}
31841 ^done
31842 (gdb)
31843 @end smallexample
31844
31845 @ignore
31846 @subheading The @code{-target-compare-sections} Command
31847 @findex -target-compare-sections
31848
31849 @subsubheading Synopsis
31850
31851 @smallexample
31852 -target-compare-sections [ @var{section} ]
31853 @end smallexample
31854
31855 Compare data of section @var{section} on target to the exec file.
31856 Without the argument, all sections are compared.
31857
31858 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31859
31860 The @value{GDBN} equivalent is @samp{compare-sections}.
31861
31862 @subsubheading Example
31863 N.A.
31864 @end ignore
31865
31866
31867 @subheading The @code{-target-detach} Command
31868 @findex -target-detach
31869
31870 @subsubheading Synopsis
31871
31872 @smallexample
31873 -target-detach [ @var{pid} | @var{gid} ]
31874 @end smallexample
31875
31876 Detach from the remote target which normally resumes its execution.
31877 If either @var{pid} or @var{gid} is specified, detaches from either
31878 the specified process, or specified thread group. There's no output.
31879
31880 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31881
31882 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{detach}.
31883
31884 @subsubheading Example
31885
31886 @smallexample
31887 (gdb)
31888 -target-detach
31889 ^done
31890 (gdb)
31891 @end smallexample
31892
31893
31894 @subheading The @code{-target-disconnect} Command
31895 @findex -target-disconnect
31896
31897 @subsubheading Synopsis
31898
31899 @smallexample
31900 -target-disconnect
31901 @end smallexample
31902
31903 Disconnect from the remote target. There's no output and the target is
31904 generally not resumed.
31905
31906 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31907
31908 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{disconnect}.
31909
31910 @subsubheading Example
31911
31912 @smallexample
31913 (gdb)
31914 -target-disconnect
31915 ^done
31916 (gdb)
31917 @end smallexample
31918
31919
31920 @subheading The @code{-target-download} Command
31921 @findex -target-download
31922
31923 @subsubheading Synopsis
31924
31925 @smallexample
31926 -target-download
31927 @end smallexample
31928
31929 Loads the executable onto the remote target.
31930 It prints out an update message every half second, which includes the fields:
31931
31932 @table @samp
31933 @item section
31934 The name of the section.
31935 @item section-sent
31936 The size of what has been sent so far for that section.
31937 @item section-size
31938 The size of the section.
31939 @item total-sent
31940 The total size of what was sent so far (the current and the previous sections).
31941 @item total-size
31942 The size of the overall executable to download.
31943 @end table
31944
31945 @noindent
31946 Each message is sent as status record (@pxref{GDB/MI Output Syntax, ,
31947 @sc{gdb/mi} Output Syntax}).
31948
31949 In addition, it prints the name and size of the sections, as they are
31950 downloaded. These messages include the following fields:
31951
31952 @table @samp
31953 @item section
31954 The name of the section.
31955 @item section-size
31956 The size of the section.
31957 @item total-size
31958 The size of the overall executable to download.
31959 @end table
31960
31961 @noindent
31962 At the end, a summary is printed.
31963
31964 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31965
31966 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{load}.
31967
31968 @subsubheading Example
31969
31970 Note: each status message appears on a single line. Here the messages
31971 have been broken down so that they can fit onto a page.
31972
31973 @smallexample
31974 (gdb)
31975 -target-download
31976 +download,@{section=".text",section-size="6668",total-size="9880"@}
31977 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="512",section-size="6668",
31978 total-sent="512",total-size="9880"@}
31979 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="1024",section-size="6668",
31980 total-sent="1024",total-size="9880"@}
31981 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="1536",section-size="6668",
31982 total-sent="1536",total-size="9880"@}
31983 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="2048",section-size="6668",
31984 total-sent="2048",total-size="9880"@}
31985 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="2560",section-size="6668",
31986 total-sent="2560",total-size="9880"@}
31987 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="3072",section-size="6668",
31988 total-sent="3072",total-size="9880"@}
31989 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="3584",section-size="6668",
31990 total-sent="3584",total-size="9880"@}
31991 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="4096",section-size="6668",
31992 total-sent="4096",total-size="9880"@}
31993 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="4608",section-size="6668",
31994 total-sent="4608",total-size="9880"@}
31995 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="5120",section-size="6668",
31996 total-sent="5120",total-size="9880"@}
31997 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="5632",section-size="6668",
31998 total-sent="5632",total-size="9880"@}
31999 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="6144",section-size="6668",
32000 total-sent="6144",total-size="9880"@}
32001 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="6656",section-size="6668",
32002 total-sent="6656",total-size="9880"@}
32003 +download,@{section=".init",section-size="28",total-size="9880"@}
32004 +download,@{section=".fini",section-size="28",total-size="9880"@}
32005 +download,@{section=".data",section-size="3156",total-size="9880"@}
32006 +download,@{section=".data",section-sent="512",section-size="3156",
32007 total-sent="7236",total-size="9880"@}
32008 +download,@{section=".data",section-sent="1024",section-size="3156",
32009 total-sent="7748",total-size="9880"@}
32010 +download,@{section=".data",section-sent="1536",section-size="3156",
32011 total-sent="8260",total-size="9880"@}
32012 +download,@{section=".data",section-sent="2048",section-size="3156",
32013 total-sent="8772",total-size="9880"@}
32014 +download,@{section=".data",section-sent="2560",section-size="3156",
32015 total-sent="9284",total-size="9880"@}
32016 +download,@{section=".data",section-sent="3072",section-size="3156",
32017 total-sent="9796",total-size="9880"@}
32018 ^done,address="0x10004",load-size="9880",transfer-rate="6586",
32019 write-rate="429"
32020 (gdb)
32021 @end smallexample
32022
32023
32024 @ignore
32025 @subheading The @code{-target-exec-status} Command
32026 @findex -target-exec-status
32027
32028 @subsubheading Synopsis
32029
32030 @smallexample
32031 -target-exec-status
32032 @end smallexample
32033
32034 Provide information on the state of the target (whether it is running or
32035 not, for instance).
32036
32037 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32038
32039 There's no equivalent @value{GDBN} command.
32040
32041 @subsubheading Example
32042 N.A.
32043
32044
32045 @subheading The @code{-target-list-available-targets} Command
32046 @findex -target-list-available-targets
32047
32048 @subsubheading Synopsis
32049
32050 @smallexample
32051 -target-list-available-targets
32052 @end smallexample
32053
32054 List the possible targets to connect to.
32055
32056 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32057
32058 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{help target}.
32059
32060 @subsubheading Example
32061 N.A.
32062
32063
32064 @subheading The @code{-target-list-current-targets} Command
32065 @findex -target-list-current-targets
32066
32067 @subsubheading Synopsis
32068
32069 @smallexample
32070 -target-list-current-targets
32071 @end smallexample
32072
32073 Describe the current target.
32074
32075 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32076
32077 The corresponding information is printed by @samp{info file} (among
32078 other things).
32079
32080 @subsubheading Example
32081 N.A.
32082
32083
32084 @subheading The @code{-target-list-parameters} Command
32085 @findex -target-list-parameters
32086
32087 @subsubheading Synopsis
32088
32089 @smallexample
32090 -target-list-parameters
32091 @end smallexample
32092
32093 @c ????
32094 @end ignore
32095
32096 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32097
32098 No equivalent.
32099
32100 @subsubheading Example
32101 N.A.
32102
32103
32104 @subheading The @code{-target-select} Command
32105 @findex -target-select
32106
32107 @subsubheading Synopsis
32108
32109 @smallexample
32110 -target-select @var{type} @var{parameters @dots{}}
32111 @end smallexample
32112
32113 Connect @value{GDBN} to the remote target. This command takes two args:
32114
32115 @table @samp
32116 @item @var{type}
32117 The type of target, for instance @samp{remote}, etc.
32118 @item @var{parameters}
32119 Device names, host names and the like. @xref{Target Commands, ,
32120 Commands for Managing Targets}, for more details.
32121 @end table
32122
32123 The output is a connection notification, followed by the address at
32124 which the target program is, in the following form:
32125
32126 @smallexample
32127 ^connected,addr="@var{address}",func="@var{function name}",
32128 args=[@var{arg list}]
32129 @end smallexample
32130
32131 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32132
32133 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{target}.
32134
32135 @subsubheading Example
32136
32137 @smallexample
32138 (gdb)
32139 -target-select remote /dev/ttya
32140 ^connected,addr="0xfe00a300",func="??",args=[]
32141 (gdb)
32142 @end smallexample
32143
32144 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
32145 @node GDB/MI File Transfer Commands
32146 @section @sc{gdb/mi} File Transfer Commands
32147
32148
32149 @subheading The @code{-target-file-put} Command
32150 @findex -target-file-put
32151
32152 @subsubheading Synopsis
32153
32154 @smallexample
32155 -target-file-put @var{hostfile} @var{targetfile}
32156 @end smallexample
32157
32158 Copy file @var{hostfile} from the host system (the machine running
32159 @value{GDBN}) to @var{targetfile} on the target system.
32160
32161 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32162
32163 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{remote put}.
32164
32165 @subsubheading Example
32166
32167 @smallexample
32168 (gdb)
32169 -target-file-put localfile remotefile
32170 ^done
32171 (gdb)
32172 @end smallexample
32173
32174
32175 @subheading The @code{-target-file-get} Command
32176 @findex -target-file-get
32177
32178 @subsubheading Synopsis
32179
32180 @smallexample
32181 -target-file-get @var{targetfile} @var{hostfile}
32182 @end smallexample
32183
32184 Copy file @var{targetfile} from the target system to @var{hostfile}
32185 on the host system.
32186
32187 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32188
32189 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{remote get}.
32190
32191 @subsubheading Example
32192
32193 @smallexample
32194 (gdb)
32195 -target-file-get remotefile localfile
32196 ^done
32197 (gdb)
32198 @end smallexample
32199
32200
32201 @subheading The @code{-target-file-delete} Command
32202 @findex -target-file-delete
32203
32204 @subsubheading Synopsis
32205
32206 @smallexample
32207 -target-file-delete @var{targetfile}
32208 @end smallexample
32209
32210 Delete @var{targetfile} from the target system.
32211
32212 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32213
32214 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{remote delete}.
32215
32216 @subsubheading Example
32217
32218 @smallexample
32219 (gdb)
32220 -target-file-delete remotefile
32221 ^done
32222 (gdb)
32223 @end smallexample
32224
32225
32226 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
32227 @node GDB/MI Miscellaneous Commands
32228 @section Miscellaneous @sc{gdb/mi} Commands
32229
32230 @c @subheading -gdb-complete
32231
32232 @subheading The @code{-gdb-exit} Command
32233 @findex -gdb-exit
32234
32235 @subsubheading Synopsis
32236
32237 @smallexample
32238 -gdb-exit
32239 @end smallexample
32240
32241 Exit @value{GDBN} immediately.
32242
32243 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32244
32245 Approximately corresponds to @samp{quit}.
32246
32247 @subsubheading Example
32248
32249 @smallexample
32250 (gdb)
32251 -gdb-exit
32252 ^exit
32253 @end smallexample
32254
32255
32256 @ignore
32257 @subheading The @code{-exec-abort} Command
32258 @findex -exec-abort
32259
32260 @subsubheading Synopsis
32261
32262 @smallexample
32263 -exec-abort
32264 @end smallexample
32265
32266 Kill the inferior running program.
32267
32268 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32269
32270 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{kill}.
32271
32272 @subsubheading Example
32273 N.A.
32274 @end ignore
32275
32276
32277 @subheading The @code{-gdb-set} Command
32278 @findex -gdb-set
32279
32280 @subsubheading Synopsis
32281
32282 @smallexample
32283 -gdb-set
32284 @end smallexample
32285
32286 Set an internal @value{GDBN} variable.
32287 @c IS THIS A DOLLAR VARIABLE? OR SOMETHING LIKE ANNOTATE ?????
32288
32289 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32290
32291 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{set}.
32292
32293 @subsubheading Example
32294
32295 @smallexample
32296 (gdb)
32297 -gdb-set $foo=3
32298 ^done
32299 (gdb)
32300 @end smallexample
32301
32302
32303 @subheading The @code{-gdb-show} Command
32304 @findex -gdb-show
32305
32306 @subsubheading Synopsis
32307
32308 @smallexample
32309 -gdb-show
32310 @end smallexample
32311
32312 Show the current value of a @value{GDBN} variable.
32313
32314 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32315
32316 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{show}.
32317
32318 @subsubheading Example
32319
32320 @smallexample
32321 (gdb)
32322 -gdb-show annotate
32323 ^done,value="0"
32324 (gdb)
32325 @end smallexample
32326
32327 @c @subheading -gdb-source
32328
32329
32330 @subheading The @code{-gdb-version} Command
32331 @findex -gdb-version
32332
32333 @subsubheading Synopsis
32334
32335 @smallexample
32336 -gdb-version
32337 @end smallexample
32338
32339 Show version information for @value{GDBN}. Used mostly in testing.
32340
32341 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32342
32343 The @value{GDBN} equivalent is @samp{show version}. @value{GDBN} by
32344 default shows this information when you start an interactive session.
32345
32346 @subsubheading Example
32347
32348 @c This example modifies the actual output from GDB to avoid overfull
32349 @c box in TeX.
32350 @smallexample
32351 (gdb)
32352 -gdb-version
32353 ~GNU gdb 5.2.1
32354 ~Copyright 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
32355 ~GDB is free software, covered by the GNU General Public License, and
32356 ~you are welcome to change it and/or distribute copies of it under
32357 ~ certain conditions.
32358 ~Type "show copying" to see the conditions.
32359 ~There is absolutely no warranty for GDB. Type "show warranty" for
32360 ~ details.
32361 ~This GDB was configured as
32362 "--host=sparc-sun-solaris2.5.1 --target=ppc-eabi".
32363 ^done
32364 (gdb)
32365 @end smallexample
32366
32367 @subheading The @code{-list-features} Command
32368 @findex -list-features
32369
32370 Returns a list of particular features of the MI protocol that
32371 this version of gdb implements. A feature can be a command,
32372 or a new field in an output of some command, or even an
32373 important bugfix. While a frontend can sometimes detect presence
32374 of a feature at runtime, it is easier to perform detection at debugger
32375 startup.
32376
32377 The command returns a list of strings, with each string naming an
32378 available feature. Each returned string is just a name, it does not
32379 have any internal structure. The list of possible feature names
32380 is given below.
32381
32382 Example output:
32383
32384 @smallexample
32385 (gdb) -list-features
32386 ^done,result=["feature1","feature2"]
32387 @end smallexample
32388
32389 The current list of features is:
32390
32391 @table @samp
32392 @item frozen-varobjs
32393 Indicates support for the @code{-var-set-frozen} command, as well
32394 as possible presense of the @code{frozen} field in the output
32395 of @code{-varobj-create}.
32396 @item pending-breakpoints
32397 Indicates support for the @option{-f} option to the @code{-break-insert}
32398 command.
32399 @item python
32400 Indicates Python scripting support, Python-based
32401 pretty-printing commands, and possible presence of the
32402 @samp{display_hint} field in the output of @code{-var-list-children}
32403 @item thread-info
32404 Indicates support for the @code{-thread-info} command.
32405 @item data-read-memory-bytes
32406 Indicates support for the @code{-data-read-memory-bytes} and the
32407 @code{-data-write-memory-bytes} commands.
32408 @item breakpoint-notifications
32409 Indicates that changes to breakpoints and breakpoints created via the
32410 CLI will be announced via async records.
32411 @item ada-task-info
32412 Indicates support for the @code{-ada-task-info} command.
32413 @end table
32414
32415 @subheading The @code{-list-target-features} Command
32416 @findex -list-target-features
32417
32418 Returns a list of particular features that are supported by the
32419 target. Those features affect the permitted MI commands, but
32420 unlike the features reported by the @code{-list-features} command, the
32421 features depend on which target GDB is using at the moment. Whenever
32422 a target can change, due to commands such as @code{-target-select},
32423 @code{-target-attach} or @code{-exec-run}, the list of target features
32424 may change, and the frontend should obtain it again.
32425 Example output:
32426
32427 @smallexample
32428 (gdb) -list-features
32429 ^done,result=["async"]
32430 @end smallexample
32431
32432 The current list of features is:
32433
32434 @table @samp
32435 @item async
32436 Indicates that the target is capable of asynchronous command
32437 execution, which means that @value{GDBN} will accept further commands
32438 while the target is running.
32439
32440 @item reverse
32441 Indicates that the target is capable of reverse execution.
32442 @xref{Reverse Execution}, for more information.
32443
32444 @end table
32445
32446 @subheading The @code{-list-thread-groups} Command
32447 @findex -list-thread-groups
32448
32449 @subheading Synopsis
32450
32451 @smallexample
32452 -list-thread-groups [ --available ] [ --recurse 1 ] [ @var{group} ... ]
32453 @end smallexample
32454
32455 Lists thread groups (@pxref{Thread groups}). When a single thread
32456 group is passed as the argument, lists the children of that group.
32457 When several thread group are passed, lists information about those
32458 thread groups. Without any parameters, lists information about all
32459 top-level thread groups.
32460
32461 Normally, thread groups that are being debugged are reported.
32462 With the @samp{--available} option, @value{GDBN} reports thread groups
32463 available on the target.
32464
32465 The output of this command may have either a @samp{threads} result or
32466 a @samp{groups} result. The @samp{thread} result has a list of tuples
32467 as value, with each tuple describing a thread (@pxref{GDB/MI Thread
32468 Information}). The @samp{groups} result has a list of tuples as value,
32469 each tuple describing a thread group. If top-level groups are
32470 requested (that is, no parameter is passed), or when several groups
32471 are passed, the output always has a @samp{groups} result. The format
32472 of the @samp{group} result is described below.
32473
32474 To reduce the number of roundtrips it's possible to list thread groups
32475 together with their children, by passing the @samp{--recurse} option
32476 and the recursion depth. Presently, only recursion depth of 1 is
32477 permitted. If this option is present, then every reported thread group
32478 will also include its children, either as @samp{group} or
32479 @samp{threads} field.
32480
32481 In general, any combination of option and parameters is permitted, with
32482 the following caveats:
32483
32484 @itemize @bullet
32485 @item
32486 When a single thread group is passed, the output will typically
32487 be the @samp{threads} result. Because threads may not contain
32488 anything, the @samp{recurse} option will be ignored.
32489
32490 @item
32491 When the @samp{--available} option is passed, limited information may
32492 be available. In particular, the list of threads of a process might
32493 be inaccessible. Further, specifying specific thread groups might
32494 not give any performance advantage over listing all thread groups.
32495 The frontend should assume that @samp{-list-thread-groups --available}
32496 is always an expensive operation and cache the results.
32497
32498 @end itemize
32499
32500 The @samp{groups} result is a list of tuples, where each tuple may
32501 have the following fields:
32502
32503 @table @code
32504 @item id
32505 Identifier of the thread group. This field is always present.
32506 The identifier is an opaque string; frontends should not try to
32507 convert it to an integer, even though it might look like one.
32508
32509 @item type
32510 The type of the thread group. At present, only @samp{process} is a
32511 valid type.
32512
32513 @item pid
32514 The target-specific process identifier. This field is only present
32515 for thread groups of type @samp{process} and only if the process exists.
32516
32517 @item num_children
32518 The number of children this thread group has. This field may be
32519 absent for an available thread group.
32520
32521 @item threads
32522 This field has a list of tuples as value, each tuple describing a
32523 thread. It may be present if the @samp{--recurse} option is
32524 specified, and it's actually possible to obtain the threads.
32525
32526 @item cores
32527 This field is a list of integers, each identifying a core that one
32528 thread of the group is running on. This field may be absent if
32529 such information is not available.
32530
32531 @item executable
32532 The name of the executable file that corresponds to this thread group.
32533 The field is only present for thread groups of type @samp{process},
32534 and only if there is a corresponding executable file.
32535
32536 @end table
32537
32538 @subheading Example
32539
32540 @smallexample
32541 @value{GDBP}
32542 -list-thread-groups
32543 ^done,groups=[@{id="17",type="process",pid="yyy",num_children="2"@}]
32544 -list-thread-groups 17
32545 ^done,threads=[@{id="2",target-id="Thread 0xb7e14b90 (LWP 21257)",
32546 frame=@{level="0",addr="0xffffe410",func="__kernel_vsyscall",args=[]@},state="running"@},
32547 @{id="1",target-id="Thread 0xb7e156b0 (LWP 21254)",
32548 frame=@{level="0",addr="0x0804891f",func="foo",args=[@{name="i",value="10"@}],
32549 file="/tmp/a.c",fullname="/tmp/a.c",line="158"@},state="running"@}]]
32550 -list-thread-groups --available
32551 ^done,groups=[@{id="17",type="process",pid="yyy",num_children="2",cores=[1,2]@}]
32552 -list-thread-groups --available --recurse 1
32553 ^done,groups=[@{id="17", types="process",pid="yyy",num_children="2",cores=[1,2],
32554 threads=[@{id="1",target-id="Thread 0xb7e14b90",cores=[1]@},
32555 @{id="2",target-id="Thread 0xb7e14b90",cores=[2]@}]@},..]
32556 -list-thread-groups --available --recurse 1 17 18
32557 ^done,groups=[@{id="17", types="process",pid="yyy",num_children="2",cores=[1,2],
32558 threads=[@{id="1",target-id="Thread 0xb7e14b90",cores=[1]@},
32559 @{id="2",target-id="Thread 0xb7e14b90",cores=[2]@}]@},...]
32560 @end smallexample
32561
32562
32563 @subheading The @code{-add-inferior} Command
32564 @findex -add-inferior
32565
32566 @subheading Synopsis
32567
32568 @smallexample
32569 -add-inferior
32570 @end smallexample
32571
32572 Creates a new inferior (@pxref{Inferiors and Programs}). The created
32573 inferior is not associated with any executable. Such association may
32574 be established with the @samp{-file-exec-and-symbols} command
32575 (@pxref{GDB/MI File Commands}). The command response has a single
32576 field, @samp{thread-group}, whose value is the identifier of the
32577 thread group corresponding to the new inferior.
32578
32579 @subheading Example
32580
32581 @smallexample
32582 @value{GDBP}
32583 -add-inferior
32584 ^done,thread-group="i3"
32585 @end smallexample
32586
32587 @subheading The @code{-interpreter-exec} Command
32588 @findex -interpreter-exec
32589
32590 @subheading Synopsis
32591
32592 @smallexample
32593 -interpreter-exec @var{interpreter} @var{command}
32594 @end smallexample
32595 @anchor{-interpreter-exec}
32596
32597 Execute the specified @var{command} in the given @var{interpreter}.
32598
32599 @subheading @value{GDBN} Command
32600
32601 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{interpreter-exec}.
32602
32603 @subheading Example
32604
32605 @smallexample
32606 (gdb)
32607 -interpreter-exec console "break main"
32608 &"During symbol reading, couldn't parse type; debugger out of date?.\n"
32609 &"During symbol reading, bad structure-type format.\n"
32610 ~"Breakpoint 1 at 0x8074fc6: file ../../src/gdb/main.c, line 743.\n"
32611 ^done
32612 (gdb)
32613 @end smallexample
32614
32615 @subheading The @code{-inferior-tty-set} Command
32616 @findex -inferior-tty-set
32617
32618 @subheading Synopsis
32619
32620 @smallexample
32621 -inferior-tty-set /dev/pts/1
32622 @end smallexample
32623
32624 Set terminal for future runs of the program being debugged.
32625
32626 @subheading @value{GDBN} Command
32627
32628 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{set inferior-tty} /dev/pts/1.
32629
32630 @subheading Example
32631
32632 @smallexample
32633 (gdb)
32634 -inferior-tty-set /dev/pts/1
32635 ^done
32636 (gdb)
32637 @end smallexample
32638
32639 @subheading The @code{-inferior-tty-show} Command
32640 @findex -inferior-tty-show
32641
32642 @subheading Synopsis
32643
32644 @smallexample
32645 -inferior-tty-show
32646 @end smallexample
32647
32648 Show terminal for future runs of program being debugged.
32649
32650 @subheading @value{GDBN} Command
32651
32652 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{show inferior-tty}.
32653
32654 @subheading Example
32655
32656 @smallexample
32657 (gdb)
32658 -inferior-tty-set /dev/pts/1
32659 ^done
32660 (gdb)
32661 -inferior-tty-show
32662 ^done,inferior_tty_terminal="/dev/pts/1"
32663 (gdb)
32664 @end smallexample
32665
32666 @subheading The @code{-enable-timings} Command
32667 @findex -enable-timings
32668
32669 @subheading Synopsis
32670
32671 @smallexample
32672 -enable-timings [yes | no]
32673 @end smallexample
32674
32675 Toggle the printing of the wallclock, user and system times for an MI
32676 command as a field in its output. This command is to help frontend
32677 developers optimize the performance of their code. No argument is
32678 equivalent to @samp{yes}.
32679
32680 @subheading @value{GDBN} Command
32681
32682 No equivalent.
32683
32684 @subheading Example
32685
32686 @smallexample
32687 (gdb)
32688 -enable-timings
32689 ^done
32690 (gdb)
32691 -break-insert main
32692 ^done,bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
32693 addr="0x080484ed",func="main",file="myprog.c",
32694 fullname="/home/nickrob/myprog.c",line="73",times="0"@},
32695 time=@{wallclock="0.05185",user="0.00800",system="0.00000"@}
32696 (gdb)
32697 -enable-timings no
32698 ^done
32699 (gdb)
32700 -exec-run
32701 ^running
32702 (gdb)
32703 *stopped,reason="breakpoint-hit",disp="keep",bkptno="1",thread-id="0",
32704 frame=@{addr="0x080484ed",func="main",args=[@{name="argc",value="1"@},
32705 @{name="argv",value="0xbfb60364"@}],file="myprog.c",
32706 fullname="/home/nickrob/myprog.c",line="73"@}
32707 (gdb)
32708 @end smallexample
32709
32710 @node Annotations
32711 @chapter @value{GDBN} Annotations
32712
32713 This chapter describes annotations in @value{GDBN}. Annotations were
32714 designed to interface @value{GDBN} to graphical user interfaces or other
32715 similar programs which want to interact with @value{GDBN} at a
32716 relatively high level.
32717
32718 The annotation mechanism has largely been superseded by @sc{gdb/mi}
32719 (@pxref{GDB/MI}).
32720
32721 @ignore
32722 This is Edition @value{EDITION}, @value{DATE}.
32723 @end ignore
32724
32725 @menu
32726 * Annotations Overview:: What annotations are; the general syntax.
32727 * Server Prefix:: Issuing a command without affecting user state.
32728 * Prompting:: Annotations marking @value{GDBN}'s need for input.
32729 * Errors:: Annotations for error messages.
32730 * Invalidation:: Some annotations describe things now invalid.
32731 * Annotations for Running::
32732 Whether the program is running, how it stopped, etc.
32733 * Source Annotations:: Annotations describing source code.
32734 @end menu
32735
32736 @node Annotations Overview
32737 @section What is an Annotation?
32738 @cindex annotations
32739
32740 Annotations start with a newline character, two @samp{control-z}
32741 characters, and the name of the annotation. If there is no additional
32742 information associated with this annotation, the name of the annotation
32743 is followed immediately by a newline. If there is additional
32744 information, the name of the annotation is followed by a space, the
32745 additional information, and a newline. The additional information
32746 cannot contain newline characters.
32747
32748 Any output not beginning with a newline and two @samp{control-z}
32749 characters denotes literal output from @value{GDBN}. Currently there is
32750 no need for @value{GDBN} to output a newline followed by two
32751 @samp{control-z} characters, but if there was such a need, the
32752 annotations could be extended with an @samp{escape} annotation which
32753 means those three characters as output.
32754
32755 The annotation @var{level}, which is specified using the
32756 @option{--annotate} command line option (@pxref{Mode Options}), controls
32757 how much information @value{GDBN} prints together with its prompt,
32758 values of expressions, source lines, and other types of output. Level 0
32759 is for no annotations, level 1 is for use when @value{GDBN} is run as a
32760 subprocess of @sc{gnu} Emacs, level 3 is the maximum annotation suitable
32761 for programs that control @value{GDBN}, and level 2 annotations have
32762 been made obsolete (@pxref{Limitations, , Limitations of the Annotation
32763 Interface, annotate, GDB's Obsolete Annotations}).
32764
32765 @table @code
32766 @kindex set annotate
32767 @item set annotate @var{level}
32768 The @value{GDBN} command @code{set annotate} sets the level of
32769 annotations to the specified @var{level}.
32770
32771 @item show annotate
32772 @kindex show annotate
32773 Show the current annotation level.
32774 @end table
32775
32776 This chapter describes level 3 annotations.
32777
32778 A simple example of starting up @value{GDBN} with annotations is:
32779
32780 @smallexample
32781 $ @kbd{gdb --annotate=3}
32782 GNU gdb 6.0
32783 Copyright 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
32784 GDB is free software, covered by the GNU General Public License,
32785 and you are welcome to change it and/or distribute copies of it
32786 under certain conditions.
32787 Type "show copying" to see the conditions.
32788 There is absolutely no warranty for GDB. Type "show warranty"
32789 for details.
32790 This GDB was configured as "i386-pc-linux-gnu"
32791
32792 ^Z^Zpre-prompt
32793 (@value{GDBP})
32794 ^Z^Zprompt
32795 @kbd{quit}
32796
32797 ^Z^Zpost-prompt
32798 $
32799 @end smallexample
32800
32801 Here @samp{quit} is input to @value{GDBN}; the rest is output from
32802 @value{GDBN}. The three lines beginning @samp{^Z^Z} (where @samp{^Z}
32803 denotes a @samp{control-z} character) are annotations; the rest is
32804 output from @value{GDBN}.
32805
32806 @node Server Prefix
32807 @section The Server Prefix
32808 @cindex server prefix
32809
32810 If you prefix a command with @samp{server } then it will not affect
32811 the command history, nor will it affect @value{GDBN}'s notion of which
32812 command to repeat if @key{RET} is pressed on a line by itself. This
32813 means that commands can be run behind a user's back by a front-end in
32814 a transparent manner.
32815
32816 The @code{server } prefix does not affect the recording of values into
32817 the value history; to print a value without recording it into the
32818 value history, use the @code{output} command instead of the
32819 @code{print} command.
32820
32821 Using this prefix also disables confirmation requests
32822 (@pxref{confirmation requests}).
32823
32824 @node Prompting
32825 @section Annotation for @value{GDBN} Input
32826
32827 @cindex annotations for prompts
32828 When @value{GDBN} prompts for input, it annotates this fact so it is possible
32829 to know when to send output, when the output from a given command is
32830 over, etc.
32831
32832 Different kinds of input each have a different @dfn{input type}. Each
32833 input type has three annotations: a @code{pre-} annotation, which
32834 denotes the beginning of any prompt which is being output, a plain
32835 annotation, which denotes the end of the prompt, and then a @code{post-}
32836 annotation which denotes the end of any echo which may (or may not) be
32837 associated with the input. For example, the @code{prompt} input type
32838 features the following annotations:
32839
32840 @smallexample
32841 ^Z^Zpre-prompt
32842 ^Z^Zprompt
32843 ^Z^Zpost-prompt
32844 @end smallexample
32845
32846 The input types are
32847
32848 @table @code
32849 @findex pre-prompt annotation
32850 @findex prompt annotation
32851 @findex post-prompt annotation
32852 @item prompt
32853 When @value{GDBN} is prompting for a command (the main @value{GDBN} prompt).
32854
32855 @findex pre-commands annotation
32856 @findex commands annotation
32857 @findex post-commands annotation
32858 @item commands
32859 When @value{GDBN} prompts for a set of commands, like in the @code{commands}
32860 command. The annotations are repeated for each command which is input.
32861
32862 @findex pre-overload-choice annotation
32863 @findex overload-choice annotation
32864 @findex post-overload-choice annotation
32865 @item overload-choice
32866 When @value{GDBN} wants the user to select between various overloaded functions.
32867
32868 @findex pre-query annotation
32869 @findex query annotation
32870 @findex post-query annotation
32871 @item query
32872 When @value{GDBN} wants the user to confirm a potentially dangerous operation.
32873
32874 @findex pre-prompt-for-continue annotation
32875 @findex prompt-for-continue annotation
32876 @findex post-prompt-for-continue annotation
32877 @item prompt-for-continue
32878 When @value{GDBN} is asking the user to press return to continue. Note: Don't
32879 expect this to work well; instead use @code{set height 0} to disable
32880 prompting. This is because the counting of lines is buggy in the
32881 presence of annotations.
32882 @end table
32883
32884 @node Errors
32885 @section Errors
32886 @cindex annotations for errors, warnings and interrupts
32887
32888 @findex quit annotation
32889 @smallexample
32890 ^Z^Zquit
32891 @end smallexample
32892
32893 This annotation occurs right before @value{GDBN} responds to an interrupt.
32894
32895 @findex error annotation
32896 @smallexample
32897 ^Z^Zerror
32898 @end smallexample
32899
32900 This annotation occurs right before @value{GDBN} responds to an error.
32901
32902 Quit and error annotations indicate that any annotations which @value{GDBN} was
32903 in the middle of may end abruptly. For example, if a
32904 @code{value-history-begin} annotation is followed by a @code{error}, one
32905 cannot expect to receive the matching @code{value-history-end}. One
32906 cannot expect not to receive it either, however; an error annotation
32907 does not necessarily mean that @value{GDBN} is immediately returning all the way
32908 to the top level.
32909
32910 @findex error-begin annotation
32911 A quit or error annotation may be preceded by
32912
32913 @smallexample
32914 ^Z^Zerror-begin
32915 @end smallexample
32916
32917 Any output between that and the quit or error annotation is the error
32918 message.
32919
32920 Warning messages are not yet annotated.
32921 @c If we want to change that, need to fix warning(), type_error(),
32922 @c range_error(), and possibly other places.
32923
32924 @node Invalidation
32925 @section Invalidation Notices
32926
32927 @cindex annotations for invalidation messages
32928 The following annotations say that certain pieces of state may have
32929 changed.
32930
32931 @table @code
32932 @findex frames-invalid annotation
32933 @item ^Z^Zframes-invalid
32934
32935 The frames (for example, output from the @code{backtrace} command) may
32936 have changed.
32937
32938 @findex breakpoints-invalid annotation
32939 @item ^Z^Zbreakpoints-invalid
32940
32941 The breakpoints may have changed. For example, the user just added or
32942 deleted a breakpoint.
32943 @end table
32944
32945 @node Annotations for Running
32946 @section Running the Program
32947 @cindex annotations for running programs
32948
32949 @findex starting annotation
32950 @findex stopping annotation
32951 When the program starts executing due to a @value{GDBN} command such as
32952 @code{step} or @code{continue},
32953
32954 @smallexample
32955 ^Z^Zstarting
32956 @end smallexample
32957
32958 is output. When the program stops,
32959
32960 @smallexample
32961 ^Z^Zstopped
32962 @end smallexample
32963
32964 is output. Before the @code{stopped} annotation, a variety of
32965 annotations describe how the program stopped.
32966
32967 @table @code
32968 @findex exited annotation
32969 @item ^Z^Zexited @var{exit-status}
32970 The program exited, and @var{exit-status} is the exit status (zero for
32971 successful exit, otherwise nonzero).
32972
32973 @findex signalled annotation
32974 @findex signal-name annotation
32975 @findex signal-name-end annotation
32976 @findex signal-string annotation
32977 @findex signal-string-end annotation
32978 @item ^Z^Zsignalled
32979 The program exited with a signal. After the @code{^Z^Zsignalled}, the
32980 annotation continues:
32981
32982 @smallexample
32983 @var{intro-text}
32984 ^Z^Zsignal-name
32985 @var{name}
32986 ^Z^Zsignal-name-end
32987 @var{middle-text}
32988 ^Z^Zsignal-string
32989 @var{string}
32990 ^Z^Zsignal-string-end
32991 @var{end-text}
32992 @end smallexample
32993
32994 @noindent
32995 where @var{name} is the name of the signal, such as @code{SIGILL} or
32996 @code{SIGSEGV}, and @var{string} is the explanation of the signal, such
32997 as @code{Illegal Instruction} or @code{Segmentation fault}.
32998 @var{intro-text}, @var{middle-text}, and @var{end-text} are for the
32999 user's benefit and have no particular format.
33000
33001 @findex signal annotation
33002 @item ^Z^Zsignal
33003 The syntax of this annotation is just like @code{signalled}, but @value{GDBN} is
33004 just saying that the program received the signal, not that it was
33005 terminated with it.
33006
33007 @findex breakpoint annotation
33008 @item ^Z^Zbreakpoint @var{number}
33009 The program hit breakpoint number @var{number}.
33010
33011 @findex watchpoint annotation
33012 @item ^Z^Zwatchpoint @var{number}
33013 The program hit watchpoint number @var{number}.
33014 @end table
33015
33016 @node Source Annotations
33017 @section Displaying Source
33018 @cindex annotations for source display
33019
33020 @findex source annotation
33021 The following annotation is used instead of displaying source code:
33022
33023 @smallexample
33024 ^Z^Zsource @var{filename}:@var{line}:@var{character}:@var{middle}:@var{addr}
33025 @end smallexample
33026
33027 where @var{filename} is an absolute file name indicating which source
33028 file, @var{line} is the line number within that file (where 1 is the
33029 first line in the file), @var{character} is the character position
33030 within the file (where 0 is the first character in the file) (for most
33031 debug formats this will necessarily point to the beginning of a line),
33032 @var{middle} is @samp{middle} if @var{addr} is in the middle of the
33033 line, or @samp{beg} if @var{addr} is at the beginning of the line, and
33034 @var{addr} is the address in the target program associated with the
33035 source which is being displayed. @var{addr} is in the form @samp{0x}
33036 followed by one or more lowercase hex digits (note that this does not
33037 depend on the language).
33038
33039 @node JIT Interface
33040 @chapter JIT Compilation Interface
33041 @cindex just-in-time compilation
33042 @cindex JIT compilation interface
33043
33044 This chapter documents @value{GDBN}'s @dfn{just-in-time} (JIT) compilation
33045 interface. A JIT compiler is a program or library that generates native
33046 executable code at runtime and executes it, usually in order to achieve good
33047 performance while maintaining platform independence.
33048
33049 Programs that use JIT compilation are normally difficult to debug because
33050 portions of their code are generated at runtime, instead of being loaded from
33051 object files, which is where @value{GDBN} normally finds the program's symbols
33052 and debug information. In order to debug programs that use JIT compilation,
33053 @value{GDBN} has an interface that allows the program to register in-memory
33054 symbol files with @value{GDBN} at runtime.
33055
33056 If you are using @value{GDBN} to debug a program that uses this interface, then
33057 it should work transparently so long as you have not stripped the binary. If
33058 you are developing a JIT compiler, then the interface is documented in the rest
33059 of this chapter. At this time, the only known client of this interface is the
33060 LLVM JIT.
33061
33062 Broadly speaking, the JIT interface mirrors the dynamic loader interface. The
33063 JIT compiler communicates with @value{GDBN} by writing data into a global
33064 variable and calling a fuction at a well-known symbol. When @value{GDBN}
33065 attaches, it reads a linked list of symbol files from the global variable to
33066 find existing code, and puts a breakpoint in the function so that it can find
33067 out about additional code.
33068
33069 @menu
33070 * Declarations:: Relevant C struct declarations
33071 * Registering Code:: Steps to register code
33072 * Unregistering Code:: Steps to unregister code
33073 * Custom Debug Info:: Emit debug information in a custom format
33074 @end menu
33075
33076 @node Declarations
33077 @section JIT Declarations
33078
33079 These are the relevant struct declarations that a C program should include to
33080 implement the interface:
33081
33082 @smallexample
33083 typedef enum
33084 @{
33085 JIT_NOACTION = 0,
33086 JIT_REGISTER_FN,
33087 JIT_UNREGISTER_FN
33088 @} jit_actions_t;
33089
33090 struct jit_code_entry
33091 @{
33092 struct jit_code_entry *next_entry;
33093 struct jit_code_entry *prev_entry;
33094 const char *symfile_addr;
33095 uint64_t symfile_size;
33096 @};
33097
33098 struct jit_descriptor
33099 @{
33100 uint32_t version;
33101 /* This type should be jit_actions_t, but we use uint32_t
33102 to be explicit about the bitwidth. */
33103 uint32_t action_flag;
33104 struct jit_code_entry *relevant_entry;
33105 struct jit_code_entry *first_entry;
33106 @};
33107
33108 /* GDB puts a breakpoint in this function. */
33109 void __attribute__((noinline)) __jit_debug_register_code() @{ @};
33110
33111 /* Make sure to specify the version statically, because the
33112 debugger may check the version before we can set it. */
33113 struct jit_descriptor __jit_debug_descriptor = @{ 1, 0, 0, 0 @};
33114 @end smallexample
33115
33116 If the JIT is multi-threaded, then it is important that the JIT synchronize any
33117 modifications to this global data properly, which can easily be done by putting
33118 a global mutex around modifications to these structures.
33119
33120 @node Registering Code
33121 @section Registering Code
33122
33123 To register code with @value{GDBN}, the JIT should follow this protocol:
33124
33125 @itemize @bullet
33126 @item
33127 Generate an object file in memory with symbols and other desired debug
33128 information. The file must include the virtual addresses of the sections.
33129
33130 @item
33131 Create a code entry for the file, which gives the start and size of the symbol
33132 file.
33133
33134 @item
33135 Add it to the linked list in the JIT descriptor.
33136
33137 @item
33138 Point the relevant_entry field of the descriptor at the entry.
33139
33140 @item
33141 Set @code{action_flag} to @code{JIT_REGISTER} and call
33142 @code{__jit_debug_register_code}.
33143 @end itemize
33144
33145 When @value{GDBN} is attached and the breakpoint fires, @value{GDBN} uses the
33146 @code{relevant_entry} pointer so it doesn't have to walk the list looking for
33147 new code. However, the linked list must still be maintained in order to allow
33148 @value{GDBN} to attach to a running process and still find the symbol files.
33149
33150 @node Unregistering Code
33151 @section Unregistering Code
33152
33153 If code is freed, then the JIT should use the following protocol:
33154
33155 @itemize @bullet
33156 @item
33157 Remove the code entry corresponding to the code from the linked list.
33158
33159 @item
33160 Point the @code{relevant_entry} field of the descriptor at the code entry.
33161
33162 @item
33163 Set @code{action_flag} to @code{JIT_UNREGISTER} and call
33164 @code{__jit_debug_register_code}.
33165 @end itemize
33166
33167 If the JIT frees or recompiles code without unregistering it, then @value{GDBN}
33168 and the JIT will leak the memory used for the associated symbol files.
33169
33170 @node Custom Debug Info
33171 @section Custom Debug Info
33172 @cindex custom JIT debug info
33173 @cindex JIT debug info reader
33174
33175 Generating debug information in platform-native file formats (like ELF
33176 or COFF) may be an overkill for JIT compilers; especially if all the
33177 debug info is used for is displaying a meaningful backtrace. The
33178 issue can be resolved by having the JIT writers decide on a debug info
33179 format and also provide a reader that parses the debug info generated
33180 by the JIT compiler. This section gives a brief overview on writing
33181 such a parser. More specific details can be found in the source file
33182 @file{gdb/jit-reader.in}, which is also installed as a header at
33183 @file{@var{includedir}/gdb/jit-reader.h} for easy inclusion.
33184
33185 The reader is implemented as a shared object (so this functionality is
33186 not available on platforms which don't allow loading shared objects at
33187 runtime). Two @value{GDBN} commands, @code{jit-reader-load} and
33188 @code{jit-reader-unload} are provided, to be used to load and unload
33189 the readers from a preconfigured directory. Once loaded, the shared
33190 object is used the parse the debug information emitted by the JIT
33191 compiler.
33192
33193 @menu
33194 * Using JIT Debug Info Readers:: How to use supplied readers correctly
33195 * Writing JIT Debug Info Readers:: Creating a debug-info reader
33196 @end menu
33197
33198 @node Using JIT Debug Info Readers
33199 @subsection Using JIT Debug Info Readers
33200 @kindex jit-reader-load
33201 @kindex jit-reader-unload
33202
33203 Readers can be loaded and unloaded using the @code{jit-reader-load}
33204 and @code{jit-reader-unload} commands.
33205
33206 @table @code
33207 @item jit-reader-load @var{reader-name}
33208 Load the JIT reader named @var{reader-name}. On a UNIX system, this
33209 will usually load @file{@var{libdir}/gdb/@var{reader-name}}, where
33210 @var{libdir} is the system library directory, usually
33211 @file{/usr/local/lib}. Only one reader can be active at a time;
33212 trying to load a second reader when one is already loaded will result
33213 in @value{GDBN} reporting an error. A new JIT reader can be loaded by
33214 first unloading the current one using @code{jit-reader-load} and then
33215 invoking @code{jit-reader-load}.
33216
33217 @item jit-reader-unload
33218 Unload the currently loaded JIT reader.
33219
33220 @end table
33221
33222 @node Writing JIT Debug Info Readers
33223 @subsection Writing JIT Debug Info Readers
33224 @cindex writing JIT debug info readers
33225
33226 As mentioned, a reader is essentially a shared object conforming to a
33227 certain ABI. This ABI is described in @file{jit-reader.h}.
33228
33229 @file{jit-reader.h} defines the structures, macros and functions
33230 required to write a reader. It is installed (along with
33231 @value{GDBN}), in @file{@var{includedir}/gdb} where @var{includedir} is
33232 the system include directory.
33233
33234 Readers need to be released under a GPL compatible license. A reader
33235 can be declared as released under such a license by placing the macro
33236 @code{GDB_DECLARE_GPL_COMPATIBLE_READER} in a source file.
33237
33238 The entry point for readers is the symbol @code{gdb_init_reader},
33239 which is expected to be a function with the prototype
33240
33241 @findex gdb_init_reader
33242 @smallexample
33243 extern struct gdb_reader_funcs *gdb_init_reader (void);
33244 @end smallexample
33245
33246 @cindex @code{struct gdb_reader_funcs}
33247
33248 @code{struct gdb_reader_funcs} contains a set of pointers to callback
33249 functions. These functions are executed to read the debug info
33250 generated by the JIT compiler (@code{read}), to unwind stack frames
33251 (@code{unwind}) and to create canonical frame IDs
33252 (@code{get_Frame_id}). It also has a callback that is called when the
33253 reader is being unloaded (@code{destroy}). The struct looks like this
33254
33255 @smallexample
33256 struct gdb_reader_funcs
33257 @{
33258 /* Must be set to GDB_READER_INTERFACE_VERSION. */
33259 int reader_version;
33260
33261 /* For use by the reader. */
33262 void *priv_data;
33263
33264 gdb_read_debug_info *read;
33265 gdb_unwind_frame *unwind;
33266 gdb_get_frame_id *get_frame_id;
33267 gdb_destroy_reader *destroy;
33268 @};
33269 @end smallexample
33270
33271 @cindex @code{struct gdb_symbol_callbacks}
33272 @cindex @code{struct gdb_unwind_callbacks}
33273
33274 The callbacks are provided with another set of callbacks by
33275 @value{GDBN} to do their job. For @code{read}, these callbacks are
33276 passed in a @code{struct gdb_symbol_callbacks} and for @code{unwind}
33277 and @code{get_frame_id}, in a @code{struct gdb_unwind_callbacks}.
33278 @code{struct gdb_symbol_callbacks} has callbacks to create new object
33279 files and new symbol tables inside those object files. @code{struct
33280 gdb_unwind_callbacks} has callbacks to read registers off the current
33281 frame and to write out the values of the registers in the previous
33282 frame. Both have a callback (@code{target_read}) to read bytes off the
33283 target's address space.
33284
33285 @node In-Process Agent
33286 @chapter In-Process Agent
33287 @cindex debugging agent
33288 The traditional debugging model is conceptually low-speed, but works fine,
33289 because most bugs can be reproduced in debugging-mode execution. However,
33290 as multi-core or many-core processors are becoming mainstream, and
33291 multi-threaded programs become more and more popular, there should be more
33292 and more bugs that only manifest themselves at normal-mode execution, for
33293 example, thread races, because debugger's interference with the program's
33294 timing may conceal the bugs. On the other hand, in some applications,
33295 it is not feasible for the debugger to interrupt the program's execution
33296 long enough for the developer to learn anything helpful about its behavior.
33297 If the program's correctness depends on its real-time behavior, delays
33298 introduced by a debugger might cause the program to fail, even when the
33299 code itself is correct. It is useful to be able to observe the program's
33300 behavior without interrupting it.
33301
33302 Therefore, traditional debugging model is too intrusive to reproduce
33303 some bugs. In order to reduce the interference with the program, we can
33304 reduce the number of operations performed by debugger. The
33305 @dfn{In-Process Agent}, a shared library, is running within the same
33306 process with inferior, and is able to perform some debugging operations
33307 itself. As a result, debugger is only involved when necessary, and
33308 performance of debugging can be improved accordingly. Note that
33309 interference with program can be reduced but can't be removed completely,
33310 because the in-process agent will still stop or slow down the program.
33311
33312 The in-process agent can interpret and execute Agent Expressions
33313 (@pxref{Agent Expressions}) during performing debugging operations. The
33314 agent expressions can be used for different purposes, such as collecting
33315 data in tracepoints, and condition evaluation in breakpoints.
33316
33317 @anchor{Control Agent}
33318 You can control whether the in-process agent is used as an aid for
33319 debugging with the following commands:
33320
33321 @table @code
33322 @kindex set agent on
33323 @item set agent on
33324 Causes the in-process agent to perform some operations on behalf of the
33325 debugger. Just which operations requested by the user will be done
33326 by the in-process agent depends on the its capabilities. For example,
33327 if you request to evaluate breakpoint conditions in the in-process agent,
33328 and the in-process agent has such capability as well, then breakpoint
33329 conditions will be evaluated in the in-process agent.
33330
33331 @kindex set agent off
33332 @item set agent off
33333 Disables execution of debugging operations by the in-process agent. All
33334 of the operations will be performed by @value{GDBN}.
33335
33336 @kindex show agent
33337 @item show agent
33338 Display the current setting of execution of debugging operations by
33339 the in-process agent.
33340 @end table
33341
33342 @node GDB Bugs
33343 @chapter Reporting Bugs in @value{GDBN}
33344 @cindex bugs in @value{GDBN}
33345 @cindex reporting bugs in @value{GDBN}
33346
33347 Your bug reports play an essential role in making @value{GDBN} reliable.
33348
33349 Reporting a bug may help you by bringing a solution to your problem, or it
33350 may not. But in any case the principal function of a bug report is to help
33351 the entire community by making the next version of @value{GDBN} work better. Bug
33352 reports are your contribution to the maintenance of @value{GDBN}.
33353
33354 In order for a bug report to serve its purpose, you must include the
33355 information that enables us to fix the bug.
33356
33357 @menu
33358 * Bug Criteria:: Have you found a bug?
33359 * Bug Reporting:: How to report bugs
33360 @end menu
33361
33362 @node Bug Criteria
33363 @section Have You Found a Bug?
33364 @cindex bug criteria
33365
33366 If you are not sure whether you have found a bug, here are some guidelines:
33367
33368 @itemize @bullet
33369 @cindex fatal signal
33370 @cindex debugger crash
33371 @cindex crash of debugger
33372 @item
33373 If the debugger gets a fatal signal, for any input whatever, that is a
33374 @value{GDBN} bug. Reliable debuggers never crash.
33375
33376 @cindex error on valid input
33377 @item
33378 If @value{GDBN} produces an error message for valid input, that is a
33379 bug. (Note that if you're cross debugging, the problem may also be
33380 somewhere in the connection to the target.)
33381
33382 @cindex invalid input
33383 @item
33384 If @value{GDBN} does not produce an error message for invalid input,
33385 that is a bug. However, you should note that your idea of
33386 ``invalid input'' might be our idea of ``an extension'' or ``support
33387 for traditional practice''.
33388
33389 @item
33390 If you are an experienced user of debugging tools, your suggestions
33391 for improvement of @value{GDBN} are welcome in any case.
33392 @end itemize
33393
33394 @node Bug Reporting
33395 @section How to Report Bugs
33396 @cindex bug reports
33397 @cindex @value{GDBN} bugs, reporting
33398
33399 A number of companies and individuals offer support for @sc{gnu} products.
33400 If you obtained @value{GDBN} from a support organization, we recommend you
33401 contact that organization first.
33402
33403 You can find contact information for many support companies and
33404 individuals in the file @file{etc/SERVICE} in the @sc{gnu} Emacs
33405 distribution.
33406 @c should add a web page ref...
33407
33408 @ifset BUGURL
33409 @ifset BUGURL_DEFAULT
33410 In any event, we also recommend that you submit bug reports for
33411 @value{GDBN}. The preferred method is to submit them directly using
33412 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/, @value{GDBN}'s Bugs web
33413 page}. Alternatively, the @email{bug-gdb@@gnu.org, e-mail gateway} can
33414 be used.
33415
33416 @strong{Do not send bug reports to @samp{info-gdb}, or to
33417 @samp{help-gdb}, or to any newsgroups.} Most users of @value{GDBN} do
33418 not want to receive bug reports. Those that do have arranged to receive
33419 @samp{bug-gdb}.
33420
33421 The mailing list @samp{bug-gdb} has a newsgroup @samp{gnu.gdb.bug} which
33422 serves as a repeater. The mailing list and the newsgroup carry exactly
33423 the same messages. Often people think of posting bug reports to the
33424 newsgroup instead of mailing them. This appears to work, but it has one
33425 problem which can be crucial: a newsgroup posting often lacks a mail
33426 path back to the sender. Thus, if we need to ask for more information,
33427 we may be unable to reach you. For this reason, it is better to send
33428 bug reports to the mailing list.
33429 @end ifset
33430 @ifclear BUGURL_DEFAULT
33431 In any event, we also recommend that you submit bug reports for
33432 @value{GDBN} to @value{BUGURL}.
33433 @end ifclear
33434 @end ifset
33435
33436 The fundamental principle of reporting bugs usefully is this:
33437 @strong{report all the facts}. If you are not sure whether to state a
33438 fact or leave it out, state it!
33439
33440 Often people omit facts because they think they know what causes the
33441 problem and assume that some details do not matter. Thus, you might
33442 assume that the name of the variable you use in an example does not matter.
33443 Well, probably it does not, but one cannot be sure. Perhaps the bug is a
33444 stray memory reference which happens to fetch from the location where that
33445 name is stored in memory; perhaps, if the name were different, the contents
33446 of that location would fool the debugger into doing the right thing despite
33447 the bug. Play it safe and give a specific, complete example. That is the
33448 easiest thing for you to do, and the most helpful.
33449
33450 Keep in mind that the purpose of a bug report is to enable us to fix the
33451 bug. It may be that the bug has been reported previously, but neither
33452 you nor we can know that unless your bug report is complete and
33453 self-contained.
33454
33455 Sometimes people give a few sketchy facts and ask, ``Does this ring a
33456 bell?'' Those bug reports are useless, and we urge everyone to
33457 @emph{refuse to respond to them} except to chide the sender to report
33458 bugs properly.
33459
33460 To enable us to fix the bug, you should include all these things:
33461
33462 @itemize @bullet
33463 @item
33464 The version of @value{GDBN}. @value{GDBN} announces it if you start
33465 with no arguments; you can also print it at any time using @code{show
33466 version}.
33467
33468 Without this, we will not know whether there is any point in looking for
33469 the bug in the current version of @value{GDBN}.
33470
33471 @item
33472 The type of machine you are using, and the operating system name and
33473 version number.
33474
33475 @item
33476 What compiler (and its version) was used to compile @value{GDBN}---e.g.@:
33477 ``@value{GCC}--2.8.1''.
33478
33479 @item
33480 What compiler (and its version) was used to compile the program you are
33481 debugging---e.g.@: ``@value{GCC}--2.8.1'', or ``HP92453-01 A.10.32.03 HP
33482 C Compiler''. For @value{NGCC}, you can say @kbd{@value{GCC} --version}
33483 to get this information; for other compilers, see the documentation for
33484 those compilers.
33485
33486 @item
33487 The command arguments you gave the compiler to compile your example and
33488 observe the bug. For example, did you use @samp{-O}? To guarantee
33489 you will not omit something important, list them all. A copy of the
33490 Makefile (or the output from make) is sufficient.
33491
33492 If we were to try to guess the arguments, we would probably guess wrong
33493 and then we might not encounter the bug.
33494
33495 @item
33496 A complete input script, and all necessary source files, that will
33497 reproduce the bug.
33498
33499 @item
33500 A description of what behavior you observe that you believe is
33501 incorrect. For example, ``It gets a fatal signal.''
33502
33503 Of course, if the bug is that @value{GDBN} gets a fatal signal, then we
33504 will certainly notice it. But if the bug is incorrect output, we might
33505 not notice unless it is glaringly wrong. You might as well not give us
33506 a chance to make a mistake.
33507
33508 Even if the problem you experience is a fatal signal, you should still
33509 say so explicitly. Suppose something strange is going on, such as, your
33510 copy of @value{GDBN} is out of synch, or you have encountered a bug in
33511 the C library on your system. (This has happened!) Your copy might
33512 crash and ours would not. If you told us to expect a crash, then when
33513 ours fails to crash, we would know that the bug was not happening for
33514 us. If you had not told us to expect a crash, then we would not be able
33515 to draw any conclusion from our observations.
33516
33517 @pindex script
33518 @cindex recording a session script
33519 To collect all this information, you can use a session recording program
33520 such as @command{script}, which is available on many Unix systems.
33521 Just run your @value{GDBN} session inside @command{script} and then
33522 include the @file{typescript} file with your bug report.
33523
33524 Another way to record a @value{GDBN} session is to run @value{GDBN}
33525 inside Emacs and then save the entire buffer to a file.
33526
33527 @item
33528 If you wish to suggest changes to the @value{GDBN} source, send us context
33529 diffs. If you even discuss something in the @value{GDBN} source, refer to
33530 it by context, not by line number.
33531
33532 The line numbers in our development sources will not match those in your
33533 sources. Your line numbers would convey no useful information to us.
33534
33535 @end itemize
33536
33537 Here are some things that are not necessary:
33538
33539 @itemize @bullet
33540 @item
33541 A description of the envelope of the bug.
33542
33543 Often people who encounter a bug spend a lot of time investigating
33544 which changes to the input file will make the bug go away and which
33545 changes will not affect it.
33546
33547 This is often time consuming and not very useful, because the way we
33548 will find the bug is by running a single example under the debugger
33549 with breakpoints, not by pure deduction from a series of examples.
33550 We recommend that you save your time for something else.
33551
33552 Of course, if you can find a simpler example to report @emph{instead}
33553 of the original one, that is a convenience for us. Errors in the
33554 output will be easier to spot, running under the debugger will take
33555 less time, and so on.
33556
33557 However, simplification is not vital; if you do not want to do this,
33558 report the bug anyway and send us the entire test case you used.
33559
33560 @item
33561 A patch for the bug.
33562
33563 A patch for the bug does help us if it is a good one. But do not omit
33564 the necessary information, such as the test case, on the assumption that
33565 a patch is all we need. We might see problems with your patch and decide
33566 to fix the problem another way, or we might not understand it at all.
33567
33568 Sometimes with a program as complicated as @value{GDBN} it is very hard to
33569 construct an example that will make the program follow a certain path
33570 through the code. If you do not send us the example, we will not be able
33571 to construct one, so we will not be able to verify that the bug is fixed.
33572
33573 And if we cannot understand what bug you are trying to fix, or why your
33574 patch should be an improvement, we will not install it. A test case will
33575 help us to understand.
33576
33577 @item
33578 A guess about what the bug is or what it depends on.
33579
33580 Such guesses are usually wrong. Even we cannot guess right about such
33581 things without first using the debugger to find the facts.
33582 @end itemize
33583
33584 @c The readline documentation is distributed with the readline code
33585 @c and consists of the two following files:
33586 @c rluser.texi
33587 @c hsuser.texi
33588 @c Use -I with makeinfo to point to the appropriate directory,
33589 @c environment var TEXINPUTS with TeX.
33590 @ifclear SYSTEM_READLINE
33591 @include rluser.texi
33592 @include hsuser.texi
33593 @end ifclear
33594
33595 @node In Memoriam
33596 @appendix In Memoriam
33597
33598 The @value{GDBN} project mourns the loss of the following long-time
33599 contributors:
33600
33601 @table @code
33602 @item Fred Fish
33603 Fred was a long-standing contributor to @value{GDBN} (1991-2006), and
33604 to Free Software in general. Outside of @value{GDBN}, he was known in
33605 the Amiga world for his series of Fish Disks, and the GeekGadget project.
33606
33607 @item Michael Snyder
33608 Michael was one of the Global Maintainers of the @value{GDBN} project,
33609 with contributions recorded as early as 1996, until 2011. In addition
33610 to his day to day participation, he was a large driving force behind
33611 adding Reverse Debugging to @value{GDBN}.
33612 @end table
33613
33614 Beyond their technical contributions to the project, they were also
33615 enjoyable members of the Free Software Community. We will miss them.
33616
33617 @node Formatting Documentation
33618 @appendix Formatting Documentation
33619
33620 @cindex @value{GDBN} reference card
33621 @cindex reference card
33622 The @value{GDBN} 4 release includes an already-formatted reference card, ready
33623 for printing with PostScript or Ghostscript, in the @file{gdb}
33624 subdirectory of the main source directory@footnote{In
33625 @file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}/gdb/refcard.ps} of the version @value{GDBVN}
33626 release.}. If you can use PostScript or Ghostscript with your printer,
33627 you can print the reference card immediately with @file{refcard.ps}.
33628
33629 The release also includes the source for the reference card. You
33630 can format it, using @TeX{}, by typing:
33631
33632 @smallexample
33633 make refcard.dvi
33634 @end smallexample
33635
33636 The @value{GDBN} reference card is designed to print in @dfn{landscape}
33637 mode on US ``letter'' size paper;
33638 that is, on a sheet 11 inches wide by 8.5 inches
33639 high. You will need to specify this form of printing as an option to
33640 your @sc{dvi} output program.
33641
33642 @cindex documentation
33643
33644 All the documentation for @value{GDBN} comes as part of the machine-readable
33645 distribution. The documentation is written in Texinfo format, which is
33646 a documentation system that uses a single source file to produce both
33647 on-line information and a printed manual. You can use one of the Info
33648 formatting commands to create the on-line version of the documentation
33649 and @TeX{} (or @code{texi2roff}) to typeset the printed version.
33650
33651 @value{GDBN} includes an already formatted copy of the on-line Info
33652 version of this manual in the @file{gdb} subdirectory. The main Info
33653 file is @file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}/gdb/gdb.info}, and it refers to
33654 subordinate files matching @samp{gdb.info*} in the same directory. If
33655 necessary, you can print out these files, or read them with any editor;
33656 but they are easier to read using the @code{info} subsystem in @sc{gnu}
33657 Emacs or the standalone @code{info} program, available as part of the
33658 @sc{gnu} Texinfo distribution.
33659
33660 If you want to format these Info files yourself, you need one of the
33661 Info formatting programs, such as @code{texinfo-format-buffer} or
33662 @code{makeinfo}.
33663
33664 If you have @code{makeinfo} installed, and are in the top level
33665 @value{GDBN} source directory (@file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}}, in the case of
33666 version @value{GDBVN}), you can make the Info file by typing:
33667
33668 @smallexample
33669 cd gdb
33670 make gdb.info
33671 @end smallexample
33672
33673 If you want to typeset and print copies of this manual, you need @TeX{},
33674 a program to print its @sc{dvi} output files, and @file{texinfo.tex}, the
33675 Texinfo definitions file.
33676
33677 @TeX{} is a typesetting program; it does not print files directly, but
33678 produces output files called @sc{dvi} files. To print a typeset
33679 document, you need a program to print @sc{dvi} files. If your system
33680 has @TeX{} installed, chances are it has such a program. The precise
33681 command to use depends on your system; @kbd{lpr -d} is common; another
33682 (for PostScript devices) is @kbd{dvips}. The @sc{dvi} print command may
33683 require a file name without any extension or a @samp{.dvi} extension.
33684
33685 @TeX{} also requires a macro definitions file called
33686 @file{texinfo.tex}. This file tells @TeX{} how to typeset a document
33687 written in Texinfo format. On its own, @TeX{} cannot either read or
33688 typeset a Texinfo file. @file{texinfo.tex} is distributed with GDB
33689 and is located in the @file{gdb-@var{version-number}/texinfo}
33690 directory.
33691
33692 If you have @TeX{} and a @sc{dvi} printer program installed, you can
33693 typeset and print this manual. First switch to the @file{gdb}
33694 subdirectory of the main source directory (for example, to
33695 @file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}/gdb}) and type:
33696
33697 @smallexample
33698 make gdb.dvi
33699 @end smallexample
33700
33701 Then give @file{gdb.dvi} to your @sc{dvi} printing program.
33702
33703 @node Installing GDB
33704 @appendix Installing @value{GDBN}
33705 @cindex installation
33706
33707 @menu
33708 * Requirements:: Requirements for building @value{GDBN}
33709 * Running Configure:: Invoking the @value{GDBN} @file{configure} script
33710 * Separate Objdir:: Compiling @value{GDBN} in another directory
33711 * Config Names:: Specifying names for hosts and targets
33712 * Configure Options:: Summary of options for configure
33713 * System-wide configuration:: Having a system-wide init file
33714 @end menu
33715
33716 @node Requirements
33717 @section Requirements for Building @value{GDBN}
33718 @cindex building @value{GDBN}, requirements for
33719
33720 Building @value{GDBN} requires various tools and packages to be available.
33721 Other packages will be used only if they are found.
33722
33723 @heading Tools/Packages Necessary for Building @value{GDBN}
33724 @table @asis
33725 @item ISO C90 compiler
33726 @value{GDBN} is written in ISO C90. It should be buildable with any
33727 working C90 compiler, e.g.@: GCC.
33728
33729 @end table
33730
33731 @heading Tools/Packages Optional for Building @value{GDBN}
33732 @table @asis
33733 @item Expat
33734 @anchor{Expat}
33735 @value{GDBN} can use the Expat XML parsing library. This library may be
33736 included with your operating system distribution; if it is not, you
33737 can get the latest version from @url{http://expat.sourceforge.net}.
33738 The @file{configure} script will search for this library in several
33739 standard locations; if it is installed in an unusual path, you can
33740 use the @option{--with-libexpat-prefix} option to specify its location.
33741
33742 Expat is used for:
33743
33744 @itemize @bullet
33745 @item
33746 Remote protocol memory maps (@pxref{Memory Map Format})
33747 @item
33748 Target descriptions (@pxref{Target Descriptions})
33749 @item
33750 Remote shared library lists (@xref{Library List Format},
33751 or alternatively @pxref{Library List Format for SVR4 Targets})
33752 @item
33753 MS-Windows shared libraries (@pxref{Shared Libraries})
33754 @item
33755 Traceframe info (@pxref{Traceframe Info Format})
33756 @end itemize
33757
33758 @item zlib
33759 @cindex compressed debug sections
33760 @value{GDBN} will use the @samp{zlib} library, if available, to read
33761 compressed debug sections. Some linkers, such as GNU gold, are capable
33762 of producing binaries with compressed debug sections. If @value{GDBN}
33763 is compiled with @samp{zlib}, it will be able to read the debug
33764 information in such binaries.
33765
33766 The @samp{zlib} library is likely included with your operating system
33767 distribution; if it is not, you can get the latest version from
33768 @url{http://zlib.net}.
33769
33770 @item iconv
33771 @value{GDBN}'s features related to character sets (@pxref{Character
33772 Sets}) require a functioning @code{iconv} implementation. If you are
33773 on a GNU system, then this is provided by the GNU C Library. Some
33774 other systems also provide a working @code{iconv}.
33775
33776 If @value{GDBN} is using the @code{iconv} program which is installed
33777 in a non-standard place, you will need to tell @value{GDBN} where to find it.
33778 This is done with @option{--with-iconv-bin} which specifies the
33779 directory that contains the @code{iconv} program.
33780
33781 On systems without @code{iconv}, you can install GNU Libiconv. If you
33782 have previously installed Libiconv, you can use the
33783 @option{--with-libiconv-prefix} option to configure.
33784
33785 @value{GDBN}'s top-level @file{configure} and @file{Makefile} will
33786 arrange to build Libiconv if a directory named @file{libiconv} appears
33787 in the top-most source directory. If Libiconv is built this way, and
33788 if the operating system does not provide a suitable @code{iconv}
33789 implementation, then the just-built library will automatically be used
33790 by @value{GDBN}. One easy way to set this up is to download GNU
33791 Libiconv, unpack it, and then rename the directory holding the
33792 Libiconv source code to @samp{libiconv}.
33793 @end table
33794
33795 @node Running Configure
33796 @section Invoking the @value{GDBN} @file{configure} Script
33797 @cindex configuring @value{GDBN}
33798 @value{GDBN} comes with a @file{configure} script that automates the process
33799 of preparing @value{GDBN} for installation; you can then use @code{make} to
33800 build the @code{gdb} program.
33801 @iftex
33802 @c irrelevant in info file; it's as current as the code it lives with.
33803 @footnote{If you have a more recent version of @value{GDBN} than @value{GDBVN},
33804 look at the @file{README} file in the sources; we may have improved the
33805 installation procedures since publishing this manual.}
33806 @end iftex
33807
33808 The @value{GDBN} distribution includes all the source code you need for
33809 @value{GDBN} in a single directory, whose name is usually composed by
33810 appending the version number to @samp{gdb}.
33811
33812 For example, the @value{GDBN} version @value{GDBVN} distribution is in the
33813 @file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}} directory. That directory contains:
33814
33815 @table @code
33816 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/configure @r{(and supporting files)}
33817 script for configuring @value{GDBN} and all its supporting libraries
33818
33819 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/gdb
33820 the source specific to @value{GDBN} itself
33821
33822 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/bfd
33823 source for the Binary File Descriptor library
33824
33825 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/include
33826 @sc{gnu} include files
33827
33828 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/libiberty
33829 source for the @samp{-liberty} free software library
33830
33831 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/opcodes
33832 source for the library of opcode tables and disassemblers
33833
33834 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/readline
33835 source for the @sc{gnu} command-line interface
33836
33837 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/glob
33838 source for the @sc{gnu} filename pattern-matching subroutine
33839
33840 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/mmalloc
33841 source for the @sc{gnu} memory-mapped malloc package
33842 @end table
33843
33844 The simplest way to configure and build @value{GDBN} is to run @file{configure}
33845 from the @file{gdb-@var{version-number}} source directory, which in
33846 this example is the @file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}} directory.
33847
33848 First switch to the @file{gdb-@var{version-number}} source directory
33849 if you are not already in it; then run @file{configure}. Pass the
33850 identifier for the platform on which @value{GDBN} will run as an
33851 argument.
33852
33853 For example:
33854
33855 @smallexample
33856 cd gdb-@value{GDBVN}
33857 ./configure @var{host}
33858 make
33859 @end smallexample
33860
33861 @noindent
33862 where @var{host} is an identifier such as @samp{sun4} or
33863 @samp{decstation}, that identifies the platform where @value{GDBN} will run.
33864 (You can often leave off @var{host}; @file{configure} tries to guess the
33865 correct value by examining your system.)
33866
33867 Running @samp{configure @var{host}} and then running @code{make} builds the
33868 @file{bfd}, @file{readline}, @file{mmalloc}, and @file{libiberty}
33869 libraries, then @code{gdb} itself. The configured source files, and the
33870 binaries, are left in the corresponding source directories.
33871
33872 @need 750
33873 @file{configure} is a Bourne-shell (@code{/bin/sh}) script; if your
33874 system does not recognize this automatically when you run a different
33875 shell, you may need to run @code{sh} on it explicitly:
33876
33877 @smallexample
33878 sh configure @var{host}
33879 @end smallexample
33880
33881 If you run @file{configure} from a directory that contains source
33882 directories for multiple libraries or programs, such as the
33883 @file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}} source directory for version @value{GDBVN},
33884 @file{configure}
33885 creates configuration files for every directory level underneath (unless
33886 you tell it not to, with the @samp{--norecursion} option).
33887
33888 You should run the @file{configure} script from the top directory in the
33889 source tree, the @file{gdb-@var{version-number}} directory. If you run
33890 @file{configure} from one of the subdirectories, you will configure only
33891 that subdirectory. That is usually not what you want. In particular,
33892 if you run the first @file{configure} from the @file{gdb} subdirectory
33893 of the @file{gdb-@var{version-number}} directory, you will omit the
33894 configuration of @file{bfd}, @file{readline}, and other sibling
33895 directories of the @file{gdb} subdirectory. This leads to build errors
33896 about missing include files such as @file{bfd/bfd.h}.
33897
33898 You can install @code{@value{GDBP}} anywhere; it has no hardwired paths.
33899 However, you should make sure that the shell on your path (named by
33900 the @samp{SHELL} environment variable) is publicly readable. Remember
33901 that @value{GDBN} uses the shell to start your program---some systems refuse to
33902 let @value{GDBN} debug child processes whose programs are not readable.
33903
33904 @node Separate Objdir
33905 @section Compiling @value{GDBN} in Another Directory
33906
33907 If you want to run @value{GDBN} versions for several host or target machines,
33908 you need a different @code{gdb} compiled for each combination of
33909 host and target. @file{configure} is designed to make this easy by
33910 allowing you to generate each configuration in a separate subdirectory,
33911 rather than in the source directory. If your @code{make} program
33912 handles the @samp{VPATH} feature (@sc{gnu} @code{make} does), running
33913 @code{make} in each of these directories builds the @code{gdb}
33914 program specified there.
33915
33916 To build @code{gdb} in a separate directory, run @file{configure}
33917 with the @samp{--srcdir} option to specify where to find the source.
33918 (You also need to specify a path to find @file{configure}
33919 itself from your working directory. If the path to @file{configure}
33920 would be the same as the argument to @samp{--srcdir}, you can leave out
33921 the @samp{--srcdir} option; it is assumed.)
33922
33923 For example, with version @value{GDBVN}, you can build @value{GDBN} in a
33924 separate directory for a Sun 4 like this:
33925
33926 @smallexample
33927 @group
33928 cd gdb-@value{GDBVN}
33929 mkdir ../gdb-sun4
33930 cd ../gdb-sun4
33931 ../gdb-@value{GDBVN}/configure sun4
33932 make
33933 @end group
33934 @end smallexample
33935
33936 When @file{configure} builds a configuration using a remote source
33937 directory, it creates a tree for the binaries with the same structure
33938 (and using the same names) as the tree under the source directory. In
33939 the example, you'd find the Sun 4 library @file{libiberty.a} in the
33940 directory @file{gdb-sun4/libiberty}, and @value{GDBN} itself in
33941 @file{gdb-sun4/gdb}.
33942
33943 Make sure that your path to the @file{configure} script has just one
33944 instance of @file{gdb} in it. If your path to @file{configure} looks
33945 like @file{../gdb-@value{GDBVN}/gdb/configure}, you are configuring only
33946 one subdirectory of @value{GDBN}, not the whole package. This leads to
33947 build errors about missing include files such as @file{bfd/bfd.h}.
33948
33949 One popular reason to build several @value{GDBN} configurations in separate
33950 directories is to configure @value{GDBN} for cross-compiling (where
33951 @value{GDBN} runs on one machine---the @dfn{host}---while debugging
33952 programs that run on another machine---the @dfn{target}).
33953 You specify a cross-debugging target by
33954 giving the @samp{--target=@var{target}} option to @file{configure}.
33955
33956 When you run @code{make} to build a program or library, you must run
33957 it in a configured directory---whatever directory you were in when you
33958 called @file{configure} (or one of its subdirectories).
33959
33960 The @code{Makefile} that @file{configure} generates in each source
33961 directory also runs recursively. If you type @code{make} in a source
33962 directory such as @file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}} (or in a separate configured
33963 directory configured with @samp{--srcdir=@var{dirname}/gdb-@value{GDBVN}}), you
33964 will build all the required libraries, and then build GDB.
33965
33966 When you have multiple hosts or targets configured in separate
33967 directories, you can run @code{make} on them in parallel (for example,
33968 if they are NFS-mounted on each of the hosts); they will not interfere
33969 with each other.
33970
33971 @node Config Names
33972 @section Specifying Names for Hosts and Targets
33973
33974 The specifications used for hosts and targets in the @file{configure}
33975 script are based on a three-part naming scheme, but some short predefined
33976 aliases are also supported. The full naming scheme encodes three pieces
33977 of information in the following pattern:
33978
33979 @smallexample
33980 @var{architecture}-@var{vendor}-@var{os}
33981 @end smallexample
33982
33983 For example, you can use the alias @code{sun4} as a @var{host} argument,
33984 or as the value for @var{target} in a @code{--target=@var{target}}
33985 option. The equivalent full name is @samp{sparc-sun-sunos4}.
33986
33987 The @file{configure} script accompanying @value{GDBN} does not provide
33988 any query facility to list all supported host and target names or
33989 aliases. @file{configure} calls the Bourne shell script
33990 @code{config.sub} to map abbreviations to full names; you can read the
33991 script, if you wish, or you can use it to test your guesses on
33992 abbreviations---for example:
33993
33994 @smallexample
33995 % sh config.sub i386-linux
33996 i386-pc-linux-gnu
33997 % sh config.sub alpha-linux
33998 alpha-unknown-linux-gnu
33999 % sh config.sub hp9k700
34000 hppa1.1-hp-hpux
34001 % sh config.sub sun4
34002 sparc-sun-sunos4.1.1
34003 % sh config.sub sun3
34004 m68k-sun-sunos4.1.1
34005 % sh config.sub i986v
34006 Invalid configuration `i986v': machine `i986v' not recognized
34007 @end smallexample
34008
34009 @noindent
34010 @code{config.sub} is also distributed in the @value{GDBN} source
34011 directory (@file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}}, for version @value{GDBVN}).
34012
34013 @node Configure Options
34014 @section @file{configure} Options
34015
34016 Here is a summary of the @file{configure} options and arguments that
34017 are most often useful for building @value{GDBN}. @file{configure} also has
34018 several other options not listed here. @inforef{What Configure
34019 Does,,configure.info}, for a full explanation of @file{configure}.
34020
34021 @smallexample
34022 configure @r{[}--help@r{]}
34023 @r{[}--prefix=@var{dir}@r{]}
34024 @r{[}--exec-prefix=@var{dir}@r{]}
34025 @r{[}--srcdir=@var{dirname}@r{]}
34026 @r{[}--norecursion@r{]} @r{[}--rm@r{]}
34027 @r{[}--target=@var{target}@r{]}
34028 @var{host}
34029 @end smallexample
34030
34031 @noindent
34032 You may introduce options with a single @samp{-} rather than
34033 @samp{--} if you prefer; but you may abbreviate option names if you use
34034 @samp{--}.
34035
34036 @table @code
34037 @item --help
34038 Display a quick summary of how to invoke @file{configure}.
34039
34040 @item --prefix=@var{dir}
34041 Configure the source to install programs and files under directory
34042 @file{@var{dir}}.
34043
34044 @item --exec-prefix=@var{dir}
34045 Configure the source to install programs under directory
34046 @file{@var{dir}}.
34047
34048 @c avoid splitting the warning from the explanation:
34049 @need 2000
34050 @item --srcdir=@var{dirname}
34051 @strong{Warning: using this option requires @sc{gnu} @code{make}, or another
34052 @code{make} that implements the @code{VPATH} feature.}@*
34053 Use this option to make configurations in directories separate from the
34054 @value{GDBN} source directories. Among other things, you can use this to
34055 build (or maintain) several configurations simultaneously, in separate
34056 directories. @file{configure} writes configuration-specific files in
34057 the current directory, but arranges for them to use the source in the
34058 directory @var{dirname}. @file{configure} creates directories under
34059 the working directory in parallel to the source directories below
34060 @var{dirname}.
34061
34062 @item --norecursion
34063 Configure only the directory level where @file{configure} is executed; do not
34064 propagate configuration to subdirectories.
34065
34066 @item --target=@var{target}
34067 Configure @value{GDBN} for cross-debugging programs running on the specified
34068 @var{target}. Without this option, @value{GDBN} is configured to debug
34069 programs that run on the same machine (@var{host}) as @value{GDBN} itself.
34070
34071 There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available targets.
34072
34073 @item @var{host} @dots{}
34074 Configure @value{GDBN} to run on the specified @var{host}.
34075
34076 There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available hosts.
34077 @end table
34078
34079 There are many other options available as well, but they are generally
34080 needed for special purposes only.
34081
34082 @node System-wide configuration
34083 @section System-wide configuration and settings
34084 @cindex system-wide init file
34085
34086 @value{GDBN} can be configured to have a system-wide init file;
34087 this file will be read and executed at startup (@pxref{Startup, , What
34088 @value{GDBN} does during startup}).
34089
34090 Here is the corresponding configure option:
34091
34092 @table @code
34093 @item --with-system-gdbinit=@var{file}
34094 Specify that the default location of the system-wide init file is
34095 @var{file}.
34096 @end table
34097
34098 If @value{GDBN} has been configured with the option @option{--prefix=$prefix},
34099 it may be subject to relocation. Two possible cases:
34100
34101 @itemize @bullet
34102 @item
34103 If the default location of this init file contains @file{$prefix},
34104 it will be subject to relocation. Suppose that the configure options
34105 are @option{--prefix=$prefix --with-system-gdbinit=$prefix/etc/gdbinit};
34106 if @value{GDBN} is moved from @file{$prefix} to @file{$install}, the system
34107 init file is looked for as @file{$install/etc/gdbinit} instead of
34108 @file{$prefix/etc/gdbinit}.
34109
34110 @item
34111 By contrast, if the default location does not contain the prefix,
34112 it will not be relocated. E.g.@: if @value{GDBN} has been configured with
34113 @option{--prefix=/usr/local --with-system-gdbinit=/usr/share/gdb/gdbinit},
34114 then @value{GDBN} will always look for @file{/usr/share/gdb/gdbinit},
34115 wherever @value{GDBN} is installed.
34116 @end itemize
34117
34118 @node Maintenance Commands
34119 @appendix Maintenance Commands
34120 @cindex maintenance commands
34121 @cindex internal commands
34122
34123 In addition to commands intended for @value{GDBN} users, @value{GDBN}
34124 includes a number of commands intended for @value{GDBN} developers,
34125 that are not documented elsewhere in this manual. These commands are
34126 provided here for reference. (For commands that turn on debugging
34127 messages, see @ref{Debugging Output}.)
34128
34129 @table @code
34130 @kindex maint agent
34131 @kindex maint agent-eval
34132 @item maint agent @var{expression}
34133 @itemx maint agent-eval @var{expression}
34134 Translate the given @var{expression} into remote agent bytecodes.
34135 This command is useful for debugging the Agent Expression mechanism
34136 (@pxref{Agent Expressions}). The @samp{agent} version produces an
34137 expression useful for data collection, such as by tracepoints, while
34138 @samp{maint agent-eval} produces an expression that evaluates directly
34139 to a result. For instance, a collection expression for @code{globa +
34140 globb} will include bytecodes to record four bytes of memory at each
34141 of the addresses of @code{globa} and @code{globb}, while discarding
34142 the result of the addition, while an evaluation expression will do the
34143 addition and return the sum.
34144
34145 @kindex maint info breakpoints
34146 @item @anchor{maint info breakpoints}maint info breakpoints
34147 Using the same format as @samp{info breakpoints}, display both the
34148 breakpoints you've set explicitly, and those @value{GDBN} is using for
34149 internal purposes. Internal breakpoints are shown with negative
34150 breakpoint numbers. The type column identifies what kind of breakpoint
34151 is shown:
34152
34153 @table @code
34154 @item breakpoint
34155 Normal, explicitly set breakpoint.
34156
34157 @item watchpoint
34158 Normal, explicitly set watchpoint.
34159
34160 @item longjmp
34161 Internal breakpoint, used to handle correctly stepping through
34162 @code{longjmp} calls.
34163
34164 @item longjmp resume
34165 Internal breakpoint at the target of a @code{longjmp}.
34166
34167 @item until
34168 Temporary internal breakpoint used by the @value{GDBN} @code{until} command.
34169
34170 @item finish
34171 Temporary internal breakpoint used by the @value{GDBN} @code{finish} command.
34172
34173 @item shlib events
34174 Shared library events.
34175
34176 @end table
34177
34178 @kindex set displaced-stepping
34179 @kindex show displaced-stepping
34180 @cindex displaced stepping support
34181 @cindex out-of-line single-stepping
34182 @item set displaced-stepping
34183 @itemx show displaced-stepping
34184 Control whether or not @value{GDBN} will do @dfn{displaced stepping}
34185 if the target supports it. Displaced stepping is a way to single-step
34186 over breakpoints without removing them from the inferior, by executing
34187 an out-of-line copy of the instruction that was originally at the
34188 breakpoint location. It is also known as out-of-line single-stepping.
34189
34190 @table @code
34191 @item set displaced-stepping on
34192 If the target architecture supports it, @value{GDBN} will use
34193 displaced stepping to step over breakpoints.
34194
34195 @item set displaced-stepping off
34196 @value{GDBN} will not use displaced stepping to step over breakpoints,
34197 even if such is supported by the target architecture.
34198
34199 @cindex non-stop mode, and @samp{set displaced-stepping}
34200 @item set displaced-stepping auto
34201 This is the default mode. @value{GDBN} will use displaced stepping
34202 only if non-stop mode is active (@pxref{Non-Stop Mode}) and the target
34203 architecture supports displaced stepping.
34204 @end table
34205
34206 @kindex maint check-symtabs
34207 @item maint check-symtabs
34208 Check the consistency of psymtabs and symtabs.
34209
34210 @kindex maint cplus first_component
34211 @item maint cplus first_component @var{name}
34212 Print the first C@t{++} class/namespace component of @var{name}.
34213
34214 @kindex maint cplus namespace
34215 @item maint cplus namespace
34216 Print the list of possible C@t{++} namespaces.
34217
34218 @kindex maint demangle
34219 @item maint demangle @var{name}
34220 Demangle a C@t{++} or Objective-C mangled @var{name}.
34221
34222 @kindex maint deprecate
34223 @kindex maint undeprecate
34224 @cindex deprecated commands
34225 @item maint deprecate @var{command} @r{[}@var{replacement}@r{]}
34226 @itemx maint undeprecate @var{command}
34227 Deprecate or undeprecate the named @var{command}. Deprecated commands
34228 cause @value{GDBN} to issue a warning when you use them. The optional
34229 argument @var{replacement} says which newer command should be used in
34230 favor of the deprecated one; if it is given, @value{GDBN} will mention
34231 the replacement as part of the warning.
34232
34233 @kindex maint dump-me
34234 @item maint dump-me
34235 @cindex @code{SIGQUIT} signal, dump core of @value{GDBN}
34236 Cause a fatal signal in the debugger and force it to dump its core.
34237 This is supported only on systems which support aborting a program
34238 with the @code{SIGQUIT} signal.
34239
34240 @kindex maint internal-error
34241 @kindex maint internal-warning
34242 @item maint internal-error @r{[}@var{message-text}@r{]}
34243 @itemx maint internal-warning @r{[}@var{message-text}@r{]}
34244 Cause @value{GDBN} to call the internal function @code{internal_error}
34245 or @code{internal_warning} and hence behave as though an internal error
34246 or internal warning has been detected. In addition to reporting the
34247 internal problem, these functions give the user the opportunity to
34248 either quit @value{GDBN} or create a core file of the current
34249 @value{GDBN} session.
34250
34251 These commands take an optional parameter @var{message-text} that is
34252 used as the text of the error or warning message.
34253
34254 Here's an example of using @code{internal-error}:
34255
34256 @smallexample
34257 (@value{GDBP}) @kbd{maint internal-error testing, 1, 2}
34258 @dots{}/maint.c:121: internal-error: testing, 1, 2
34259 A problem internal to GDB has been detected. Further
34260 debugging may prove unreliable.
34261 Quit this debugging session? (y or n) @kbd{n}
34262 Create a core file? (y or n) @kbd{n}
34263 (@value{GDBP})
34264 @end smallexample
34265
34266 @cindex @value{GDBN} internal error
34267 @cindex internal errors, control of @value{GDBN} behavior
34268
34269 @kindex maint set internal-error
34270 @kindex maint show internal-error
34271 @kindex maint set internal-warning
34272 @kindex maint show internal-warning
34273 @item maint set internal-error @var{action} [ask|yes|no]
34274 @itemx maint show internal-error @var{action}
34275 @itemx maint set internal-warning @var{action} [ask|yes|no]
34276 @itemx maint show internal-warning @var{action}
34277 When @value{GDBN} reports an internal problem (error or warning) it
34278 gives the user the opportunity to both quit @value{GDBN} and create a
34279 core file of the current @value{GDBN} session. These commands let you
34280 override the default behaviour for each particular @var{action},
34281 described in the table below.
34282
34283 @table @samp
34284 @item quit
34285 You can specify that @value{GDBN} should always (yes) or never (no)
34286 quit. The default is to ask the user what to do.
34287
34288 @item corefile
34289 You can specify that @value{GDBN} should always (yes) or never (no)
34290 create a core file. The default is to ask the user what to do.
34291 @end table
34292
34293 @kindex maint packet
34294 @item maint packet @var{text}
34295 If @value{GDBN} is talking to an inferior via the serial protocol,
34296 then this command sends the string @var{text} to the inferior, and
34297 displays the response packet. @value{GDBN} supplies the initial
34298 @samp{$} character, the terminating @samp{#} character, and the
34299 checksum.
34300
34301 @kindex maint print architecture
34302 @item maint print architecture @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
34303 Print the entire architecture configuration. The optional argument
34304 @var{file} names the file where the output goes.
34305
34306 @kindex maint print c-tdesc
34307 @item maint print c-tdesc
34308 Print the current target description (@pxref{Target Descriptions}) as
34309 a C source file. The created source file can be used in @value{GDBN}
34310 when an XML parser is not available to parse the description.
34311
34312 @kindex maint print dummy-frames
34313 @item maint print dummy-frames
34314 Prints the contents of @value{GDBN}'s internal dummy-frame stack.
34315
34316 @smallexample
34317 (@value{GDBP}) @kbd{b add}
34318 @dots{}
34319 (@value{GDBP}) @kbd{print add(2,3)}
34320 Breakpoint 2, add (a=2, b=3) at @dots{}
34321 58 return (a + b);
34322 The program being debugged stopped while in a function called from GDB.
34323 @dots{}
34324 (@value{GDBP}) @kbd{maint print dummy-frames}
34325 0x1a57c80: pc=0x01014068 fp=0x0200bddc sp=0x0200bdd6
34326 top=0x0200bdd4 id=@{stack=0x200bddc,code=0x101405c@}
34327 call_lo=0x01014000 call_hi=0x01014001
34328 (@value{GDBP})
34329 @end smallexample
34330
34331 Takes an optional file parameter.
34332
34333 @kindex maint print registers
34334 @kindex maint print raw-registers
34335 @kindex maint print cooked-registers
34336 @kindex maint print register-groups
34337 @kindex maint print remote-registers
34338 @item maint print registers @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
34339 @itemx maint print raw-registers @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
34340 @itemx maint print cooked-registers @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
34341 @itemx maint print register-groups @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
34342 @itemx maint print remote-registers @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
34343 Print @value{GDBN}'s internal register data structures.
34344
34345 The command @code{maint print raw-registers} includes the contents of
34346 the raw register cache; the command @code{maint print
34347 cooked-registers} includes the (cooked) value of all registers,
34348 including registers which aren't available on the target nor visible
34349 to user; the command @code{maint print register-groups} includes the
34350 groups that each register is a member of; and the command @code{maint
34351 print remote-registers} includes the remote target's register numbers
34352 and offsets in the `G' packets. @xref{Registers,, Registers, gdbint,
34353 @value{GDBN} Internals}.
34354
34355 These commands take an optional parameter, a file name to which to
34356 write the information.
34357
34358 @kindex maint print reggroups
34359 @item maint print reggroups @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
34360 Print @value{GDBN}'s internal register group data structures. The
34361 optional argument @var{file} tells to what file to write the
34362 information.
34363
34364 The register groups info looks like this:
34365
34366 @smallexample
34367 (@value{GDBP}) @kbd{maint print reggroups}
34368 Group Type
34369 general user
34370 float user
34371 all user
34372 vector user
34373 system user
34374 save internal
34375 restore internal
34376 @end smallexample
34377
34378 @kindex flushregs
34379 @item flushregs
34380 This command forces @value{GDBN} to flush its internal register cache.
34381
34382 @kindex maint print objfiles
34383 @cindex info for known object files
34384 @item maint print objfiles
34385 Print a dump of all known object files. For each object file, this
34386 command prints its name, address in memory, and all of its psymtabs
34387 and symtabs.
34388
34389 @kindex maint print section-scripts
34390 @cindex info for known .debug_gdb_scripts-loaded scripts
34391 @item maint print section-scripts [@var{regexp}]
34392 Print a dump of scripts specified in the @code{.debug_gdb_section} section.
34393 If @var{regexp} is specified, only print scripts loaded by object files
34394 matching @var{regexp}.
34395 For each script, this command prints its name as specified in the objfile,
34396 and the full path if known.
34397 @xref{dotdebug_gdb_scripts section}.
34398
34399 @kindex maint print statistics
34400 @cindex bcache statistics
34401 @item maint print statistics
34402 This command prints, for each object file in the program, various data
34403 about that object file followed by the byte cache (@dfn{bcache})
34404 statistics for the object file. The objfile data includes the number
34405 of minimal, partial, full, and stabs symbols, the number of types
34406 defined by the objfile, the number of as yet unexpanded psym tables,
34407 the number of line tables and string tables, and the amount of memory
34408 used by the various tables. The bcache statistics include the counts,
34409 sizes, and counts of duplicates of all and unique objects, max,
34410 average, and median entry size, total memory used and its overhead and
34411 savings, and various measures of the hash table size and chain
34412 lengths.
34413
34414 @kindex maint print target-stack
34415 @cindex target stack description
34416 @item maint print target-stack
34417 A @dfn{target} is an interface between the debugger and a particular
34418 kind of file or process. Targets can be stacked in @dfn{strata},
34419 so that more than one target can potentially respond to a request.
34420 In particular, memory accesses will walk down the stack of targets
34421 until they find a target that is interested in handling that particular
34422 address.
34423
34424 This command prints a short description of each layer that was pushed on
34425 the @dfn{target stack}, starting from the top layer down to the bottom one.
34426
34427 @kindex maint print type
34428 @cindex type chain of a data type
34429 @item maint print type @var{expr}
34430 Print the type chain for a type specified by @var{expr}. The argument
34431 can be either a type name or a symbol. If it is a symbol, the type of
34432 that symbol is described. The type chain produced by this command is
34433 a recursive definition of the data type as stored in @value{GDBN}'s
34434 data structures, including its flags and contained types.
34435
34436 @kindex maint set dwarf2 always-disassemble
34437 @kindex maint show dwarf2 always-disassemble
34438 @item maint set dwarf2 always-disassemble
34439 @item maint show dwarf2 always-disassemble
34440 Control the behavior of @code{info address} when using DWARF debugging
34441 information.
34442
34443 The default is @code{off}, which means that @value{GDBN} should try to
34444 describe a variable's location in an easily readable format. When
34445 @code{on}, @value{GDBN} will instead display the DWARF location
34446 expression in an assembly-like format. Note that some locations are
34447 too complex for @value{GDBN} to describe simply; in this case you will
34448 always see the disassembly form.
34449
34450 Here is an example of the resulting disassembly:
34451
34452 @smallexample
34453 (gdb) info addr argc
34454 Symbol "argc" is a complex DWARF expression:
34455 1: DW_OP_fbreg 0
34456 @end smallexample
34457
34458 For more information on these expressions, see
34459 @uref{http://www.dwarfstd.org/, the DWARF standard}.
34460
34461 @kindex maint set dwarf2 max-cache-age
34462 @kindex maint show dwarf2 max-cache-age
34463 @item maint set dwarf2 max-cache-age
34464 @itemx maint show dwarf2 max-cache-age
34465 Control the DWARF 2 compilation unit cache.
34466
34467 @cindex DWARF 2 compilation units cache
34468 In object files with inter-compilation-unit references, such as those
34469 produced by the GCC option @samp{-feliminate-dwarf2-dups}, the DWARF 2
34470 reader needs to frequently refer to previously read compilation units.
34471 This setting controls how long a compilation unit will remain in the
34472 cache if it is not referenced. A higher limit means that cached
34473 compilation units will be stored in memory longer, and more total
34474 memory will be used. Setting it to zero disables caching, which will
34475 slow down @value{GDBN} startup, but reduce memory consumption.
34476
34477 @kindex maint set profile
34478 @kindex maint show profile
34479 @cindex profiling GDB
34480 @item maint set profile
34481 @itemx maint show profile
34482 Control profiling of @value{GDBN}.
34483
34484 Profiling will be disabled until you use the @samp{maint set profile}
34485 command to enable it. When you enable profiling, the system will begin
34486 collecting timing and execution count data; when you disable profiling or
34487 exit @value{GDBN}, the results will be written to a log file. Remember that
34488 if you use profiling, @value{GDBN} will overwrite the profiling log file
34489 (often called @file{gmon.out}). If you have a record of important profiling
34490 data in a @file{gmon.out} file, be sure to move it to a safe location.
34491
34492 Configuring with @samp{--enable-profiling} arranges for @value{GDBN} to be
34493 compiled with the @samp{-pg} compiler option.
34494
34495 @kindex maint set show-debug-regs
34496 @kindex maint show show-debug-regs
34497 @cindex hardware debug registers
34498 @item maint set show-debug-regs
34499 @itemx maint show show-debug-regs
34500 Control whether to show variables that mirror the hardware debug
34501 registers. Use @code{ON} to enable, @code{OFF} to disable. If
34502 enabled, the debug registers values are shown when @value{GDBN} inserts or
34503 removes a hardware breakpoint or watchpoint, and when the inferior
34504 triggers a hardware-assisted breakpoint or watchpoint.
34505
34506 @kindex maint set show-all-tib
34507 @kindex maint show show-all-tib
34508 @item maint set show-all-tib
34509 @itemx maint show show-all-tib
34510 Control whether to show all non zero areas within a 1k block starting
34511 at thread local base, when using the @samp{info w32 thread-information-block}
34512 command.
34513
34514 @kindex maint space
34515 @cindex memory used by commands
34516 @item maint space
34517 Control whether to display memory usage for each command. If set to a
34518 nonzero value, @value{GDBN} will display how much memory each command
34519 took, following the command's own output. This can also be requested
34520 by invoking @value{GDBN} with the @option{--statistics} command-line
34521 switch (@pxref{Mode Options}).
34522
34523 @kindex maint time
34524 @cindex time of command execution
34525 @item maint time
34526 Control whether to display the execution time of @value{GDBN} for each command.
34527 If set to a nonzero value, @value{GDBN} will display how much time it
34528 took to execute each command, following the command's own output.
34529 Both CPU time and wallclock time are printed.
34530 Printing both is useful when trying to determine whether the cost is
34531 CPU or, e.g., disk/network, latency.
34532 Note that the CPU time printed is for @value{GDBN} only, it does not include
34533 the execution time of the inferior because there's no mechanism currently
34534 to compute how much time was spent by @value{GDBN} and how much time was
34535 spent by the program been debugged.
34536 This can also be requested by invoking @value{GDBN} with the
34537 @option{--statistics} command-line switch (@pxref{Mode Options}).
34538
34539 @kindex maint translate-address
34540 @item maint translate-address @r{[}@var{section}@r{]} @var{addr}
34541 Find the symbol stored at the location specified by the address
34542 @var{addr} and an optional section name @var{section}. If found,
34543 @value{GDBN} prints the name of the closest symbol and an offset from
34544 the symbol's location to the specified address. This is similar to
34545 the @code{info address} command (@pxref{Symbols}), except that this
34546 command also allows to find symbols in other sections.
34547
34548 If section was not specified, the section in which the symbol was found
34549 is also printed. For dynamically linked executables, the name of
34550 executable or shared library containing the symbol is printed as well.
34551
34552 @end table
34553
34554 The following command is useful for non-interactive invocations of
34555 @value{GDBN}, such as in the test suite.
34556
34557 @table @code
34558 @item set watchdog @var{nsec}
34559 @kindex set watchdog
34560 @cindex watchdog timer
34561 @cindex timeout for commands
34562 Set the maximum number of seconds @value{GDBN} will wait for the
34563 target operation to finish. If this time expires, @value{GDBN}
34564 reports and error and the command is aborted.
34565
34566 @item show watchdog
34567 Show the current setting of the target wait timeout.
34568 @end table
34569
34570 @node Remote Protocol
34571 @appendix @value{GDBN} Remote Serial Protocol
34572
34573 @menu
34574 * Overview::
34575 * Packets::
34576 * Stop Reply Packets::
34577 * General Query Packets::
34578 * Architecture-Specific Protocol Details::
34579 * Tracepoint Packets::
34580 * Host I/O Packets::
34581 * Interrupts::
34582 * Notification Packets::
34583 * Remote Non-Stop::
34584 * Packet Acknowledgment::
34585 * Examples::
34586 * File-I/O Remote Protocol Extension::
34587 * Library List Format::
34588 * Library List Format for SVR4 Targets::
34589 * Memory Map Format::
34590 * Thread List Format::
34591 * Traceframe Info Format::
34592 @end menu
34593
34594 @node Overview
34595 @section Overview
34596
34597 There may be occasions when you need to know something about the
34598 protocol---for example, if there is only one serial port to your target
34599 machine, you might want your program to do something special if it
34600 recognizes a packet meant for @value{GDBN}.
34601
34602 In the examples below, @samp{->} and @samp{<-} are used to indicate
34603 transmitted and received data, respectively.
34604
34605 @cindex protocol, @value{GDBN} remote serial
34606 @cindex serial protocol, @value{GDBN} remote
34607 @cindex remote serial protocol
34608 All @value{GDBN} commands and responses (other than acknowledgments
34609 and notifications, see @ref{Notification Packets}) are sent as a
34610 @var{packet}. A @var{packet} is introduced with the character
34611 @samp{$}, the actual @var{packet-data}, and the terminating character
34612 @samp{#} followed by a two-digit @var{checksum}:
34613
34614 @smallexample
34615 @code{$}@var{packet-data}@code{#}@var{checksum}
34616 @end smallexample
34617 @noindent
34618
34619 @cindex checksum, for @value{GDBN} remote
34620 @noindent
34621 The two-digit @var{checksum} is computed as the modulo 256 sum of all
34622 characters between the leading @samp{$} and the trailing @samp{#} (an
34623 eight bit unsigned checksum).
34624
34625 Implementors should note that prior to @value{GDBN} 5.0 the protocol
34626 specification also included an optional two-digit @var{sequence-id}:
34627
34628 @smallexample
34629 @code{$}@var{sequence-id}@code{:}@var{packet-data}@code{#}@var{checksum}
34630 @end smallexample
34631
34632 @cindex sequence-id, for @value{GDBN} remote
34633 @noindent
34634 That @var{sequence-id} was appended to the acknowledgment. @value{GDBN}
34635 has never output @var{sequence-id}s. Stubs that handle packets added
34636 since @value{GDBN} 5.0 must not accept @var{sequence-id}.
34637
34638 When either the host or the target machine receives a packet, the first
34639 response expected is an acknowledgment: either @samp{+} (to indicate
34640 the package was received correctly) or @samp{-} (to request
34641 retransmission):
34642
34643 @smallexample
34644 -> @code{$}@var{packet-data}@code{#}@var{checksum}
34645 <- @code{+}
34646 @end smallexample
34647 @noindent
34648
34649 The @samp{+}/@samp{-} acknowledgments can be disabled
34650 once a connection is established.
34651 @xref{Packet Acknowledgment}, for details.
34652
34653 The host (@value{GDBN}) sends @var{command}s, and the target (the
34654 debugging stub incorporated in your program) sends a @var{response}. In
34655 the case of step and continue @var{command}s, the response is only sent
34656 when the operation has completed, and the target has again stopped all
34657 threads in all attached processes. This is the default all-stop mode
34658 behavior, but the remote protocol also supports @value{GDBN}'s non-stop
34659 execution mode; see @ref{Remote Non-Stop}, for details.
34660
34661 @var{packet-data} consists of a sequence of characters with the
34662 exception of @samp{#} and @samp{$} (see @samp{X} packet for additional
34663 exceptions).
34664
34665 @cindex remote protocol, field separator
34666 Fields within the packet should be separated using @samp{,} @samp{;} or
34667 @samp{:}. Except where otherwise noted all numbers are represented in
34668 @sc{hex} with leading zeros suppressed.
34669
34670 Implementors should note that prior to @value{GDBN} 5.0, the character
34671 @samp{:} could not appear as the third character in a packet (as it
34672 would potentially conflict with the @var{sequence-id}).
34673
34674 @cindex remote protocol, binary data
34675 @anchor{Binary Data}
34676 Binary data in most packets is encoded either as two hexadecimal
34677 digits per byte of binary data. This allowed the traditional remote
34678 protocol to work over connections which were only seven-bit clean.
34679 Some packets designed more recently assume an eight-bit clean
34680 connection, and use a more efficient encoding to send and receive
34681 binary data.
34682
34683 The binary data representation uses @code{7d} (@sc{ascii} @samp{@}})
34684 as an escape character. Any escaped byte is transmitted as the escape
34685 character followed by the original character XORed with @code{0x20}.
34686 For example, the byte @code{0x7d} would be transmitted as the two
34687 bytes @code{0x7d 0x5d}. The bytes @code{0x23} (@sc{ascii} @samp{#}),
34688 @code{0x24} (@sc{ascii} @samp{$}), and @code{0x7d} (@sc{ascii}
34689 @samp{@}}) must always be escaped. Responses sent by the stub
34690 must also escape @code{0x2a} (@sc{ascii} @samp{*}), so that it
34691 is not interpreted as the start of a run-length encoded sequence
34692 (described next).
34693
34694 Response @var{data} can be run-length encoded to save space.
34695 Run-length encoding replaces runs of identical characters with one
34696 instance of the repeated character, followed by a @samp{*} and a
34697 repeat count. The repeat count is itself sent encoded, to avoid
34698 binary characters in @var{data}: a value of @var{n} is sent as
34699 @code{@var{n}+29}. For a repeat count greater or equal to 3, this
34700 produces a printable @sc{ascii} character, e.g.@: a space (@sc{ascii}
34701 code 32) for a repeat count of 3. (This is because run-length
34702 encoding starts to win for counts 3 or more.) Thus, for example,
34703 @samp{0* } is a run-length encoding of ``0000'': the space character
34704 after @samp{*} means repeat the leading @code{0} @w{@code{32 - 29 =
34705 3}} more times.
34706
34707 The printable characters @samp{#} and @samp{$} or with a numeric value
34708 greater than 126 must not be used. Runs of six repeats (@samp{#}) or
34709 seven repeats (@samp{$}) can be expanded using a repeat count of only
34710 five (@samp{"}). For example, @samp{00000000} can be encoded as
34711 @samp{0*"00}.
34712
34713 The error response returned for some packets includes a two character
34714 error number. That number is not well defined.
34715
34716 @cindex empty response, for unsupported packets
34717 For any @var{command} not supported by the stub, an empty response
34718 (@samp{$#00}) should be returned. That way it is possible to extend the
34719 protocol. A newer @value{GDBN} can tell if a packet is supported based
34720 on that response.
34721
34722 At a minimum, a stub is required to support the @samp{g} and @samp{G}
34723 commands for register access, and the @samp{m} and @samp{M} commands
34724 for memory access. Stubs that only control single-threaded targets
34725 can implement run control with the @samp{c} (continue), and @samp{s}
34726 (step) commands. Stubs that support multi-threading targets should
34727 support the @samp{vCont} command. All other commands are optional.
34728
34729 @node Packets
34730 @section Packets
34731
34732 The following table provides a complete list of all currently defined
34733 @var{command}s and their corresponding response @var{data}.
34734 @xref{File-I/O Remote Protocol Extension}, for details about the File
34735 I/O extension of the remote protocol.
34736
34737 Each packet's description has a template showing the packet's overall
34738 syntax, followed by an explanation of the packet's meaning. We
34739 include spaces in some of the templates for clarity; these are not
34740 part of the packet's syntax. No @value{GDBN} packet uses spaces to
34741 separate its components. For example, a template like @samp{foo
34742 @var{bar} @var{baz}} describes a packet beginning with the three ASCII
34743 bytes @samp{foo}, followed by a @var{bar}, followed directly by a
34744 @var{baz}. @value{GDBN} does not transmit a space character between the
34745 @samp{foo} and the @var{bar}, or between the @var{bar} and the
34746 @var{baz}.
34747
34748 @cindex @var{thread-id}, in remote protocol
34749 @anchor{thread-id syntax}
34750 Several packets and replies include a @var{thread-id} field to identify
34751 a thread. Normally these are positive numbers with a target-specific
34752 interpretation, formatted as big-endian hex strings. A @var{thread-id}
34753 can also be a literal @samp{-1} to indicate all threads, or @samp{0} to
34754 pick any thread.
34755
34756 In addition, the remote protocol supports a multiprocess feature in
34757 which the @var{thread-id} syntax is extended to optionally include both
34758 process and thread ID fields, as @samp{p@var{pid}.@var{tid}}.
34759 The @var{pid} (process) and @var{tid} (thread) components each have the
34760 format described above: a positive number with target-specific
34761 interpretation formatted as a big-endian hex string, literal @samp{-1}
34762 to indicate all processes or threads (respectively), or @samp{0} to
34763 indicate an arbitrary process or thread. Specifying just a process, as
34764 @samp{p@var{pid}}, is equivalent to @samp{p@var{pid}.-1}. It is an
34765 error to specify all processes but a specific thread, such as
34766 @samp{p-1.@var{tid}}. Note that the @samp{p} prefix is @emph{not} used
34767 for those packets and replies explicitly documented to include a process
34768 ID, rather than a @var{thread-id}.
34769
34770 The multiprocess @var{thread-id} syntax extensions are only used if both
34771 @value{GDBN} and the stub report support for the @samp{multiprocess}
34772 feature using @samp{qSupported}. @xref{multiprocess extensions}, for
34773 more information.
34774
34775 Note that all packet forms beginning with an upper- or lower-case
34776 letter, other than those described here, are reserved for future use.
34777
34778 Here are the packet descriptions.
34779
34780 @table @samp
34781
34782 @item !
34783 @cindex @samp{!} packet
34784 @anchor{extended mode}
34785 Enable extended mode. In extended mode, the remote server is made
34786 persistent. The @samp{R} packet is used to restart the program being
34787 debugged.
34788
34789 Reply:
34790 @table @samp
34791 @item OK
34792 The remote target both supports and has enabled extended mode.
34793 @end table
34794
34795 @item ?
34796 @cindex @samp{?} packet
34797 Indicate the reason the target halted. The reply is the same as for
34798 step and continue. This packet has a special interpretation when the
34799 target is in non-stop mode; see @ref{Remote Non-Stop}.
34800
34801 Reply:
34802 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
34803
34804 @item A @var{arglen},@var{argnum},@var{arg},@dots{}
34805 @cindex @samp{A} packet
34806 Initialized @code{argv[]} array passed into program. @var{arglen}
34807 specifies the number of bytes in the hex encoded byte stream
34808 @var{arg}. See @code{gdbserver} for more details.
34809
34810 Reply:
34811 @table @samp
34812 @item OK
34813 The arguments were set.
34814 @item E @var{NN}
34815 An error occurred.
34816 @end table
34817
34818 @item b @var{baud}
34819 @cindex @samp{b} packet
34820 (Don't use this packet; its behavior is not well-defined.)
34821 Change the serial line speed to @var{baud}.
34822
34823 JTC: @emph{When does the transport layer state change? When it's
34824 received, or after the ACK is transmitted. In either case, there are
34825 problems if the command or the acknowledgment packet is dropped.}
34826
34827 Stan: @emph{If people really wanted to add something like this, and get
34828 it working for the first time, they ought to modify ser-unix.c to send
34829 some kind of out-of-band message to a specially-setup stub and have the
34830 switch happen "in between" packets, so that from remote protocol's point
34831 of view, nothing actually happened.}
34832
34833 @item B @var{addr},@var{mode}
34834 @cindex @samp{B} packet
34835 Set (@var{mode} is @samp{S}) or clear (@var{mode} is @samp{C}) a
34836 breakpoint at @var{addr}.
34837
34838 Don't use this packet. Use the @samp{Z} and @samp{z} packets instead
34839 (@pxref{insert breakpoint or watchpoint packet}).
34840
34841 @cindex @samp{bc} packet
34842 @anchor{bc}
34843 @item bc
34844 Backward continue. Execute the target system in reverse. No parameter.
34845 @xref{Reverse Execution}, for more information.
34846
34847 Reply:
34848 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
34849
34850 @cindex @samp{bs} packet
34851 @anchor{bs}
34852 @item bs
34853 Backward single step. Execute one instruction in reverse. No parameter.
34854 @xref{Reverse Execution}, for more information.
34855
34856 Reply:
34857 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
34858
34859 @item c @r{[}@var{addr}@r{]}
34860 @cindex @samp{c} packet
34861 Continue. @var{addr} is address to resume. If @var{addr} is omitted,
34862 resume at current address.
34863
34864 This packet is deprecated for multi-threading support. @xref{vCont
34865 packet}.
34866
34867 Reply:
34868 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
34869
34870 @item C @var{sig}@r{[};@var{addr}@r{]}
34871 @cindex @samp{C} packet
34872 Continue with signal @var{sig} (hex signal number). If
34873 @samp{;@var{addr}} is omitted, resume at same address.
34874
34875 This packet is deprecated for multi-threading support. @xref{vCont
34876 packet}.
34877
34878 Reply:
34879 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
34880
34881 @item d
34882 @cindex @samp{d} packet
34883 Toggle debug flag.
34884
34885 Don't use this packet; instead, define a general set packet
34886 (@pxref{General Query Packets}).
34887
34888 @item D
34889 @itemx D;@var{pid}
34890 @cindex @samp{D} packet
34891 The first form of the packet is used to detach @value{GDBN} from the
34892 remote system. It is sent to the remote target
34893 before @value{GDBN} disconnects via the @code{detach} command.
34894
34895 The second form, including a process ID, is used when multiprocess
34896 protocol extensions are enabled (@pxref{multiprocess extensions}), to
34897 detach only a specific process. The @var{pid} is specified as a
34898 big-endian hex string.
34899
34900 Reply:
34901 @table @samp
34902 @item OK
34903 for success
34904 @item E @var{NN}
34905 for an error
34906 @end table
34907
34908 @item F @var{RC},@var{EE},@var{CF};@var{XX}
34909 @cindex @samp{F} packet
34910 A reply from @value{GDBN} to an @samp{F} packet sent by the target.
34911 This is part of the File-I/O protocol extension. @xref{File-I/O
34912 Remote Protocol Extension}, for the specification.
34913
34914 @item g
34915 @anchor{read registers packet}
34916 @cindex @samp{g} packet
34917 Read general registers.
34918
34919 Reply:
34920 @table @samp
34921 @item @var{XX@dots{}}
34922 Each byte of register data is described by two hex digits. The bytes
34923 with the register are transmitted in target byte order. The size of
34924 each register and their position within the @samp{g} packet are
34925 determined by the @value{GDBN} internal gdbarch functions
34926 @code{DEPRECATED_REGISTER_RAW_SIZE} and @code{gdbarch_register_name}. The
34927 specification of several standard @samp{g} packets is specified below.
34928
34929 When reading registers from a trace frame (@pxref{Analyze Collected
34930 Data,,Using the Collected Data}), the stub may also return a string of
34931 literal @samp{x}'s in place of the register data digits, to indicate
34932 that the corresponding register has not been collected, thus its value
34933 is unavailable. For example, for an architecture with 4 registers of
34934 4 bytes each, the following reply indicates to @value{GDBN} that
34935 registers 0 and 2 have not been collected, while registers 1 and 3
34936 have been collected, and both have zero value:
34937
34938 @smallexample
34939 -> @code{g}
34940 <- @code{xxxxxxxx00000000xxxxxxxx00000000}
34941 @end smallexample
34942
34943 @item E @var{NN}
34944 for an error.
34945 @end table
34946
34947 @item G @var{XX@dots{}}
34948 @cindex @samp{G} packet
34949 Write general registers. @xref{read registers packet}, for a
34950 description of the @var{XX@dots{}} data.
34951
34952 Reply:
34953 @table @samp
34954 @item OK
34955 for success
34956 @item E @var{NN}
34957 for an error
34958 @end table
34959
34960 @item H @var{op} @var{thread-id}
34961 @cindex @samp{H} packet
34962 Set thread for subsequent operations (@samp{m}, @samp{M}, @samp{g},
34963 @samp{G}, et.al.). @var{op} depends on the operation to be performed:
34964 it should be @samp{c} for step and continue operations (note that this
34965 is deprecated, supporting the @samp{vCont} command is a better
34966 option), @samp{g} for other operations. The thread designator
34967 @var{thread-id} has the format and interpretation described in
34968 @ref{thread-id syntax}.
34969
34970 Reply:
34971 @table @samp
34972 @item OK
34973 for success
34974 @item E @var{NN}
34975 for an error
34976 @end table
34977
34978 @c FIXME: JTC:
34979 @c 'H': How restrictive (or permissive) is the thread model. If a
34980 @c thread is selected and stopped, are other threads allowed
34981 @c to continue to execute? As I mentioned above, I think the
34982 @c semantics of each command when a thread is selected must be
34983 @c described. For example:
34984 @c
34985 @c 'g': If the stub supports threads and a specific thread is
34986 @c selected, returns the register block from that thread;
34987 @c otherwise returns current registers.
34988 @c
34989 @c 'G' If the stub supports threads and a specific thread is
34990 @c selected, sets the registers of the register block of
34991 @c that thread; otherwise sets current registers.
34992
34993 @item i @r{[}@var{addr}@r{[},@var{nnn}@r{]]}
34994 @anchor{cycle step packet}
34995 @cindex @samp{i} packet
34996 Step the remote target by a single clock cycle. If @samp{,@var{nnn}} is
34997 present, cycle step @var{nnn} cycles. If @var{addr} is present, cycle
34998 step starting at that address.
34999
35000 @item I
35001 @cindex @samp{I} packet
35002 Signal, then cycle step. @xref{step with signal packet}. @xref{cycle
35003 step packet}.
35004
35005 @item k
35006 @cindex @samp{k} packet
35007 Kill request.
35008
35009 FIXME: @emph{There is no description of how to operate when a specific
35010 thread context has been selected (i.e.@: does 'k' kill only that
35011 thread?)}.
35012
35013 @item m @var{addr},@var{length}
35014 @cindex @samp{m} packet
35015 Read @var{length} bytes of memory starting at address @var{addr}.
35016 Note that @var{addr} may not be aligned to any particular boundary.
35017
35018 The stub need not use any particular size or alignment when gathering
35019 data from memory for the response; even if @var{addr} is word-aligned
35020 and @var{length} is a multiple of the word size, the stub is free to
35021 use byte accesses, or not. For this reason, this packet may not be
35022 suitable for accessing memory-mapped I/O devices.
35023 @cindex alignment of remote memory accesses
35024 @cindex size of remote memory accesses
35025 @cindex memory, alignment and size of remote accesses
35026
35027 Reply:
35028 @table @samp
35029 @item @var{XX@dots{}}
35030 Memory contents; each byte is transmitted as a two-digit hexadecimal
35031 number. The reply may contain fewer bytes than requested if the
35032 server was able to read only part of the region of memory.
35033 @item E @var{NN}
35034 @var{NN} is errno
35035 @end table
35036
35037 @item M @var{addr},@var{length}:@var{XX@dots{}}
35038 @cindex @samp{M} packet
35039 Write @var{length} bytes of memory starting at address @var{addr}.
35040 @var{XX@dots{}} is the data; each byte is transmitted as a two-digit
35041 hexadecimal number.
35042
35043 Reply:
35044 @table @samp
35045 @item OK
35046 for success
35047 @item E @var{NN}
35048 for an error (this includes the case where only part of the data was
35049 written).
35050 @end table
35051
35052 @item p @var{n}
35053 @cindex @samp{p} packet
35054 Read the value of register @var{n}; @var{n} is in hex.
35055 @xref{read registers packet}, for a description of how the returned
35056 register value is encoded.
35057
35058 Reply:
35059 @table @samp
35060 @item @var{XX@dots{}}
35061 the register's value
35062 @item E @var{NN}
35063 for an error
35064 @item
35065 Indicating an unrecognized @var{query}.
35066 @end table
35067
35068 @item P @var{n@dots{}}=@var{r@dots{}}
35069 @anchor{write register packet}
35070 @cindex @samp{P} packet
35071 Write register @var{n@dots{}} with value @var{r@dots{}}. The register
35072 number @var{n} is in hexadecimal, and @var{r@dots{}} contains two hex
35073 digits for each byte in the register (target byte order).
35074
35075 Reply:
35076 @table @samp
35077 @item OK
35078 for success
35079 @item E @var{NN}
35080 for an error
35081 @end table
35082
35083 @item q @var{name} @var{params}@dots{}
35084 @itemx Q @var{name} @var{params}@dots{}
35085 @cindex @samp{q} packet
35086 @cindex @samp{Q} packet
35087 General query (@samp{q}) and set (@samp{Q}). These packets are
35088 described fully in @ref{General Query Packets}.
35089
35090 @item r
35091 @cindex @samp{r} packet
35092 Reset the entire system.
35093
35094 Don't use this packet; use the @samp{R} packet instead.
35095
35096 @item R @var{XX}
35097 @cindex @samp{R} packet
35098 Restart the program being debugged. @var{XX}, while needed, is ignored.
35099 This packet is only available in extended mode (@pxref{extended mode}).
35100
35101 The @samp{R} packet has no reply.
35102
35103 @item s @r{[}@var{addr}@r{]}
35104 @cindex @samp{s} packet
35105 Single step. @var{addr} is the address at which to resume. If
35106 @var{addr} is omitted, resume at same address.
35107
35108 This packet is deprecated for multi-threading support. @xref{vCont
35109 packet}.
35110
35111 Reply:
35112 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
35113
35114 @item S @var{sig}@r{[};@var{addr}@r{]}
35115 @anchor{step with signal packet}
35116 @cindex @samp{S} packet
35117 Step with signal. This is analogous to the @samp{C} packet, but
35118 requests a single-step, rather than a normal resumption of execution.
35119
35120 This packet is deprecated for multi-threading support. @xref{vCont
35121 packet}.
35122
35123 Reply:
35124 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
35125
35126 @item t @var{addr}:@var{PP},@var{MM}
35127 @cindex @samp{t} packet
35128 Search backwards starting at address @var{addr} for a match with pattern
35129 @var{PP} and mask @var{MM}. @var{PP} and @var{MM} are 4 bytes.
35130 @var{addr} must be at least 3 digits.
35131
35132 @item T @var{thread-id}
35133 @cindex @samp{T} packet
35134 Find out if the thread @var{thread-id} is alive. @xref{thread-id syntax}.
35135
35136 Reply:
35137 @table @samp
35138 @item OK
35139 thread is still alive
35140 @item E @var{NN}
35141 thread is dead
35142 @end table
35143
35144 @item v
35145 Packets starting with @samp{v} are identified by a multi-letter name,
35146 up to the first @samp{;} or @samp{?} (or the end of the packet).
35147
35148 @item vAttach;@var{pid}
35149 @cindex @samp{vAttach} packet
35150 Attach to a new process with the specified process ID @var{pid}.
35151 The process ID is a
35152 hexadecimal integer identifying the process. In all-stop mode, all
35153 threads in the attached process are stopped; in non-stop mode, it may be
35154 attached without being stopped if that is supported by the target.
35155
35156 @c In non-stop mode, on a successful vAttach, the stub should set the
35157 @c current thread to a thread of the newly-attached process. After
35158 @c attaching, GDB queries for the attached process's thread ID with qC.
35159 @c Also note that, from a user perspective, whether or not the
35160 @c target is stopped on attach in non-stop mode depends on whether you
35161 @c use the foreground or background version of the attach command, not
35162 @c on what vAttach does; GDB does the right thing with respect to either
35163 @c stopping or restarting threads.
35164
35165 This packet is only available in extended mode (@pxref{extended mode}).
35166
35167 Reply:
35168 @table @samp
35169 @item E @var{nn}
35170 for an error
35171 @item @r{Any stop packet}
35172 for success in all-stop mode (@pxref{Stop Reply Packets})
35173 @item OK
35174 for success in non-stop mode (@pxref{Remote Non-Stop})
35175 @end table
35176
35177 @item vCont@r{[};@var{action}@r{[}:@var{thread-id}@r{]]}@dots{}
35178 @cindex @samp{vCont} packet
35179 @anchor{vCont packet}
35180 Resume the inferior, specifying different actions for each thread.
35181 If an action is specified with no @var{thread-id}, then it is applied to any
35182 threads that don't have a specific action specified; if no default action is
35183 specified then other threads should remain stopped in all-stop mode and
35184 in their current state in non-stop mode.
35185 Specifying multiple
35186 default actions is an error; specifying no actions is also an error.
35187 Thread IDs are specified using the syntax described in @ref{thread-id syntax}.
35188
35189 Currently supported actions are:
35190
35191 @table @samp
35192 @item c
35193 Continue.
35194 @item C @var{sig}
35195 Continue with signal @var{sig}. The signal @var{sig} should be two hex digits.
35196 @item s
35197 Step.
35198 @item S @var{sig}
35199 Step with signal @var{sig}. The signal @var{sig} should be two hex digits.
35200 @item t
35201 Stop.
35202 @end table
35203
35204 The optional argument @var{addr} normally associated with the
35205 @samp{c}, @samp{C}, @samp{s}, and @samp{S} packets is
35206 not supported in @samp{vCont}.
35207
35208 The @samp{t} action is only relevant in non-stop mode
35209 (@pxref{Remote Non-Stop}) and may be ignored by the stub otherwise.
35210 A stop reply should be generated for any affected thread not already stopped.
35211 When a thread is stopped by means of a @samp{t} action,
35212 the corresponding stop reply should indicate that the thread has stopped with
35213 signal @samp{0}, regardless of whether the target uses some other signal
35214 as an implementation detail.
35215
35216 The stub must support @samp{vCont} if it reports support for
35217 multiprocess extensions (@pxref{multiprocess extensions}). Note that in
35218 this case @samp{vCont} actions can be specified to apply to all threads
35219 in a process by using the @samp{p@var{pid}.-1} form of the
35220 @var{thread-id}.
35221
35222 Reply:
35223 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
35224
35225 @item vCont?
35226 @cindex @samp{vCont?} packet
35227 Request a list of actions supported by the @samp{vCont} packet.
35228
35229 Reply:
35230 @table @samp
35231 @item vCont@r{[};@var{action}@dots{}@r{]}
35232 The @samp{vCont} packet is supported. Each @var{action} is a supported
35233 command in the @samp{vCont} packet.
35234 @item
35235 The @samp{vCont} packet is not supported.
35236 @end table
35237
35238 @item vFile:@var{operation}:@var{parameter}@dots{}
35239 @cindex @samp{vFile} packet
35240 Perform a file operation on the target system. For details,
35241 see @ref{Host I/O Packets}.
35242
35243 @item vFlashErase:@var{addr},@var{length}
35244 @cindex @samp{vFlashErase} packet
35245 Direct the stub to erase @var{length} bytes of flash starting at
35246 @var{addr}. The region may enclose any number of flash blocks, but
35247 its start and end must fall on block boundaries, as indicated by the
35248 flash block size appearing in the memory map (@pxref{Memory Map
35249 Format}). @value{GDBN} groups flash memory programming operations
35250 together, and sends a @samp{vFlashDone} request after each group; the
35251 stub is allowed to delay erase operation until the @samp{vFlashDone}
35252 packet is received.
35253
35254 Reply:
35255 @table @samp
35256 @item OK
35257 for success
35258 @item E @var{NN}
35259 for an error
35260 @end table
35261
35262 @item vFlashWrite:@var{addr}:@var{XX@dots{}}
35263 @cindex @samp{vFlashWrite} packet
35264 Direct the stub to write data to flash address @var{addr}. The data
35265 is passed in binary form using the same encoding as for the @samp{X}
35266 packet (@pxref{Binary Data}). The memory ranges specified by
35267 @samp{vFlashWrite} packets preceding a @samp{vFlashDone} packet must
35268 not overlap, and must appear in order of increasing addresses
35269 (although @samp{vFlashErase} packets for higher addresses may already
35270 have been received; the ordering is guaranteed only between
35271 @samp{vFlashWrite} packets). If a packet writes to an address that was
35272 neither erased by a preceding @samp{vFlashErase} packet nor by some other
35273 target-specific method, the results are unpredictable.
35274
35275
35276 Reply:
35277 @table @samp
35278 @item OK
35279 for success
35280 @item E.memtype
35281 for vFlashWrite addressing non-flash memory
35282 @item E @var{NN}
35283 for an error
35284 @end table
35285
35286 @item vFlashDone
35287 @cindex @samp{vFlashDone} packet
35288 Indicate to the stub that flash programming operation is finished.
35289 The stub is permitted to delay or batch the effects of a group of
35290 @samp{vFlashErase} and @samp{vFlashWrite} packets until a
35291 @samp{vFlashDone} packet is received. The contents of the affected
35292 regions of flash memory are unpredictable until the @samp{vFlashDone}
35293 request is completed.
35294
35295 @item vKill;@var{pid}
35296 @cindex @samp{vKill} packet
35297 Kill the process with the specified process ID. @var{pid} is a
35298 hexadecimal integer identifying the process. This packet is used in
35299 preference to @samp{k} when multiprocess protocol extensions are
35300 supported; see @ref{multiprocess extensions}.
35301
35302 Reply:
35303 @table @samp
35304 @item E @var{nn}
35305 for an error
35306 @item OK
35307 for success
35308 @end table
35309
35310 @item vRun;@var{filename}@r{[};@var{argument}@r{]}@dots{}
35311 @cindex @samp{vRun} packet
35312 Run the program @var{filename}, passing it each @var{argument} on its
35313 command line. The file and arguments are hex-encoded strings. If
35314 @var{filename} is an empty string, the stub may use a default program
35315 (e.g.@: the last program run). The program is created in the stopped
35316 state.
35317
35318 @c FIXME: What about non-stop mode?
35319
35320 This packet is only available in extended mode (@pxref{extended mode}).
35321
35322 Reply:
35323 @table @samp
35324 @item E @var{nn}
35325 for an error
35326 @item @r{Any stop packet}
35327 for success (@pxref{Stop Reply Packets})
35328 @end table
35329
35330 @item vStopped
35331 @anchor{vStopped packet}
35332 @cindex @samp{vStopped} packet
35333
35334 In non-stop mode (@pxref{Remote Non-Stop}), acknowledge a previous stop
35335 reply and prompt for the stub to report another one.
35336
35337 Reply:
35338 @table @samp
35339 @item @r{Any stop packet}
35340 if there is another unreported stop event (@pxref{Stop Reply Packets})
35341 @item OK
35342 if there are no unreported stop events
35343 @end table
35344
35345 @item X @var{addr},@var{length}:@var{XX@dots{}}
35346 @anchor{X packet}
35347 @cindex @samp{X} packet
35348 Write data to memory, where the data is transmitted in binary.
35349 @var{addr} is address, @var{length} is number of bytes,
35350 @samp{@var{XX}@dots{}} is binary data (@pxref{Binary Data}).
35351
35352 Reply:
35353 @table @samp
35354 @item OK
35355 for success
35356 @item E @var{NN}
35357 for an error
35358 @end table
35359
35360 @item z @var{type},@var{addr},@var{kind}
35361 @itemx Z @var{type},@var{addr},@var{kind}
35362 @anchor{insert breakpoint or watchpoint packet}
35363 @cindex @samp{z} packet
35364 @cindex @samp{Z} packets
35365 Insert (@samp{Z}) or remove (@samp{z}) a @var{type} breakpoint or
35366 watchpoint starting at address @var{address} of kind @var{kind}.
35367
35368 Each breakpoint and watchpoint packet @var{type} is documented
35369 separately.
35370
35371 @emph{Implementation notes: A remote target shall return an empty string
35372 for an unrecognized breakpoint or watchpoint packet @var{type}. A
35373 remote target shall support either both or neither of a given
35374 @samp{Z@var{type}@dots{}} and @samp{z@var{type}@dots{}} packet pair. To
35375 avoid potential problems with duplicate packets, the operations should
35376 be implemented in an idempotent way.}
35377
35378 @item z0,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35379 @itemx Z0,@var{addr},@var{kind}@r{[};@var{cond_list}@dots{}@r{]}
35380 @cindex @samp{z0} packet
35381 @cindex @samp{Z0} packet
35382 Insert (@samp{Z0}) or remove (@samp{z0}) a memory breakpoint at address
35383 @var{addr} of type @var{kind}.
35384
35385 A memory breakpoint is implemented by replacing the instruction at
35386 @var{addr} with a software breakpoint or trap instruction. The
35387 @var{kind} is target-specific and typically indicates the size of
35388 the breakpoint in bytes that should be inserted. E.g., the @sc{arm}
35389 and @sc{mips} can insert either a 2 or 4 byte breakpoint. Some
35390 architectures have additional meanings for @var{kind};
35391 @var{cond_list} is an optional list of conditional expressions in bytecode
35392 form that should be evaluated on the target's side. These are the
35393 conditions that should be taken into consideration when deciding if
35394 the breakpoint trigger should be reported back to @var{GDBN}.
35395
35396 The @var{cond_list} parameter is comprised of a series of expressions,
35397 concatenated without separators. Each expression has the following form:
35398
35399 @table @samp
35400
35401 @item X @var{len},@var{expr}
35402 @var{len} is the length of the bytecode expression and @var{expr} is the
35403 actual conditional expression in bytecode form.
35404
35405 @end table
35406
35407 see @ref{Architecture-Specific Protocol Details}.
35408
35409 @emph{Implementation note: It is possible for a target to copy or move
35410 code that contains memory breakpoints (e.g., when implementing
35411 overlays). The behavior of this packet, in the presence of such a
35412 target, is not defined.}
35413
35414 Reply:
35415 @table @samp
35416 @item OK
35417 success
35418 @item
35419 not supported
35420 @item E @var{NN}
35421 for an error
35422 @end table
35423
35424 @item z1,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35425 @itemx Z1,@var{addr},@var{kind}@r{[};@var{cond_list}@dots{}@r{]}
35426 @cindex @samp{z1} packet
35427 @cindex @samp{Z1} packet
35428 Insert (@samp{Z1}) or remove (@samp{z1}) a hardware breakpoint at
35429 address @var{addr}.
35430
35431 A hardware breakpoint is implemented using a mechanism that is not
35432 dependant on being able to modify the target's memory. @var{kind}
35433 and @var{cond_list} have the same meaning as in @samp{Z0} packets.
35434
35435 @emph{Implementation note: A hardware breakpoint is not affected by code
35436 movement.}
35437
35438 Reply:
35439 @table @samp
35440 @item OK
35441 success
35442 @item
35443 not supported
35444 @item E @var{NN}
35445 for an error
35446 @end table
35447
35448 @item z2,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35449 @itemx Z2,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35450 @cindex @samp{z2} packet
35451 @cindex @samp{Z2} packet
35452 Insert (@samp{Z2}) or remove (@samp{z2}) a write watchpoint at @var{addr}.
35453 @var{kind} is interpreted as the number of bytes to watch.
35454
35455 Reply:
35456 @table @samp
35457 @item OK
35458 success
35459 @item
35460 not supported
35461 @item E @var{NN}
35462 for an error
35463 @end table
35464
35465 @item z3,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35466 @itemx Z3,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35467 @cindex @samp{z3} packet
35468 @cindex @samp{Z3} packet
35469 Insert (@samp{Z3}) or remove (@samp{z3}) a read watchpoint at @var{addr}.
35470 @var{kind} is interpreted as the number of bytes to watch.
35471
35472 Reply:
35473 @table @samp
35474 @item OK
35475 success
35476 @item
35477 not supported
35478 @item E @var{NN}
35479 for an error
35480 @end table
35481
35482 @item z4,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35483 @itemx Z4,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35484 @cindex @samp{z4} packet
35485 @cindex @samp{Z4} packet
35486 Insert (@samp{Z4}) or remove (@samp{z4}) an access watchpoint at @var{addr}.
35487 @var{kind} is interpreted as the number of bytes to watch.
35488
35489 Reply:
35490 @table @samp
35491 @item OK
35492 success
35493 @item
35494 not supported
35495 @item E @var{NN}
35496 for an error
35497 @end table
35498
35499 @end table
35500
35501 @node Stop Reply Packets
35502 @section Stop Reply Packets
35503 @cindex stop reply packets
35504
35505 The @samp{C}, @samp{c}, @samp{S}, @samp{s}, @samp{vCont},
35506 @samp{vAttach}, @samp{vRun}, @samp{vStopped}, and @samp{?} packets can
35507 receive any of the below as a reply. Except for @samp{?}
35508 and @samp{vStopped}, that reply is only returned
35509 when the target halts. In the below the exact meaning of @dfn{signal
35510 number} is defined by the header @file{include/gdb/signals.h} in the
35511 @value{GDBN} source code.
35512
35513 As in the description of request packets, we include spaces in the
35514 reply templates for clarity; these are not part of the reply packet's
35515 syntax. No @value{GDBN} stop reply packet uses spaces to separate its
35516 components.
35517
35518 @table @samp
35519
35520 @item S @var{AA}
35521 The program received signal number @var{AA} (a two-digit hexadecimal
35522 number). This is equivalent to a @samp{T} response with no
35523 @var{n}:@var{r} pairs.
35524
35525 @item T @var{AA} @var{n1}:@var{r1};@var{n2}:@var{r2};@dots{}
35526 @cindex @samp{T} packet reply
35527 The program received signal number @var{AA} (a two-digit hexadecimal
35528 number). This is equivalent to an @samp{S} response, except that the
35529 @samp{@var{n}:@var{r}} pairs can carry values of important registers
35530 and other information directly in the stop reply packet, reducing
35531 round-trip latency. Single-step and breakpoint traps are reported
35532 this way. Each @samp{@var{n}:@var{r}} pair is interpreted as follows:
35533
35534 @itemize @bullet
35535 @item
35536 If @var{n} is a hexadecimal number, it is a register number, and the
35537 corresponding @var{r} gives that register's value. @var{r} is a
35538 series of bytes in target byte order, with each byte given by a
35539 two-digit hex number.
35540
35541 @item
35542 If @var{n} is @samp{thread}, then @var{r} is the @var{thread-id} of
35543 the stopped thread, as specified in @ref{thread-id syntax}.
35544
35545 @item
35546 If @var{n} is @samp{core}, then @var{r} is the hexadecimal number of
35547 the core on which the stop event was detected.
35548
35549 @item
35550 If @var{n} is a recognized @dfn{stop reason}, it describes a more
35551 specific event that stopped the target. The currently defined stop
35552 reasons are listed below. @var{aa} should be @samp{05}, the trap
35553 signal. At most one stop reason should be present.
35554
35555 @item
35556 Otherwise, @value{GDBN} should ignore this @samp{@var{n}:@var{r}} pair
35557 and go on to the next; this allows us to extend the protocol in the
35558 future.
35559 @end itemize
35560
35561 The currently defined stop reasons are:
35562
35563 @table @samp
35564 @item watch
35565 @itemx rwatch
35566 @itemx awatch
35567 The packet indicates a watchpoint hit, and @var{r} is the data address, in
35568 hex.
35569
35570 @cindex shared library events, remote reply
35571 @item library
35572 The packet indicates that the loaded libraries have changed.
35573 @value{GDBN} should use @samp{qXfer:libraries:read} to fetch a new
35574 list of loaded libraries. @var{r} is ignored.
35575
35576 @cindex replay log events, remote reply
35577 @item replaylog
35578 The packet indicates that the target cannot continue replaying
35579 logged execution events, because it has reached the end (or the
35580 beginning when executing backward) of the log. The value of @var{r}
35581 will be either @samp{begin} or @samp{end}. @xref{Reverse Execution},
35582 for more information.
35583 @end table
35584
35585 @item W @var{AA}
35586 @itemx W @var{AA} ; process:@var{pid}
35587 The process exited, and @var{AA} is the exit status. This is only
35588 applicable to certain targets.
35589
35590 The second form of the response, including the process ID of the exited
35591 process, can be used only when @value{GDBN} has reported support for
35592 multiprocess protocol extensions; see @ref{multiprocess extensions}.
35593 The @var{pid} is formatted as a big-endian hex string.
35594
35595 @item X @var{AA}
35596 @itemx X @var{AA} ; process:@var{pid}
35597 The process terminated with signal @var{AA}.
35598
35599 The second form of the response, including the process ID of the
35600 terminated process, can be used only when @value{GDBN} has reported
35601 support for multiprocess protocol extensions; see @ref{multiprocess
35602 extensions}. The @var{pid} is formatted as a big-endian hex string.
35603
35604 @item O @var{XX}@dots{}
35605 @samp{@var{XX}@dots{}} is hex encoding of @sc{ascii} data, to be
35606 written as the program's console output. This can happen at any time
35607 while the program is running and the debugger should continue to wait
35608 for @samp{W}, @samp{T}, etc. This reply is not permitted in non-stop mode.
35609
35610 @item F @var{call-id},@var{parameter}@dots{}
35611 @var{call-id} is the identifier which says which host system call should
35612 be called. This is just the name of the function. Translation into the
35613 correct system call is only applicable as it's defined in @value{GDBN}.
35614 @xref{File-I/O Remote Protocol Extension}, for a list of implemented
35615 system calls.
35616
35617 @samp{@var{parameter}@dots{}} is a list of parameters as defined for
35618 this very system call.
35619
35620 The target replies with this packet when it expects @value{GDBN} to
35621 call a host system call on behalf of the target. @value{GDBN} replies
35622 with an appropriate @samp{F} packet and keeps up waiting for the next
35623 reply packet from the target. The latest @samp{C}, @samp{c}, @samp{S}
35624 or @samp{s} action is expected to be continued. @xref{File-I/O Remote
35625 Protocol Extension}, for more details.
35626
35627 @end table
35628
35629 @node General Query Packets
35630 @section General Query Packets
35631 @cindex remote query requests
35632
35633 Packets starting with @samp{q} are @dfn{general query packets};
35634 packets starting with @samp{Q} are @dfn{general set packets}. General
35635 query and set packets are a semi-unified form for retrieving and
35636 sending information to and from the stub.
35637
35638 The initial letter of a query or set packet is followed by a name
35639 indicating what sort of thing the packet applies to. For example,
35640 @value{GDBN} may use a @samp{qSymbol} packet to exchange symbol
35641 definitions with the stub. These packet names follow some
35642 conventions:
35643
35644 @itemize @bullet
35645 @item
35646 The name must not contain commas, colons or semicolons.
35647 @item
35648 Most @value{GDBN} query and set packets have a leading upper case
35649 letter.
35650 @item
35651 The names of custom vendor packets should use a company prefix, in
35652 lower case, followed by a period. For example, packets designed at
35653 the Acme Corporation might begin with @samp{qacme.foo} (for querying
35654 foos) or @samp{Qacme.bar} (for setting bars).
35655 @end itemize
35656
35657 The name of a query or set packet should be separated from any
35658 parameters by a @samp{:}; the parameters themselves should be
35659 separated by @samp{,} or @samp{;}. Stubs must be careful to match the
35660 full packet name, and check for a separator or the end of the packet,
35661 in case two packet names share a common prefix. New packets should not begin
35662 with @samp{qC}, @samp{qP}, or @samp{qL}@footnote{The @samp{qP} and @samp{qL}
35663 packets predate these conventions, and have arguments without any terminator
35664 for the packet name; we suspect they are in widespread use in places that
35665 are difficult to upgrade. The @samp{qC} packet has no arguments, but some
35666 existing stubs (e.g.@: RedBoot) are known to not check for the end of the
35667 packet.}.
35668
35669 Like the descriptions of the other packets, each description here
35670 has a template showing the packet's overall syntax, followed by an
35671 explanation of the packet's meaning. We include spaces in some of the
35672 templates for clarity; these are not part of the packet's syntax. No
35673 @value{GDBN} packet uses spaces to separate its components.
35674
35675 Here are the currently defined query and set packets:
35676
35677 @table @samp
35678
35679 @item QAgent:1
35680 @item QAgent:0
35681 Turn on or off the agent as a helper to perform some debugging operations
35682 delegated from @value{GDBN} (@pxref{Control Agent}).
35683
35684 @item QAllow:@var{op}:@var{val}@dots{}
35685 @cindex @samp{QAllow} packet
35686 Specify which operations @value{GDBN} expects to request of the
35687 target, as a semicolon-separated list of operation name and value
35688 pairs. Possible values for @var{op} include @samp{WriteReg},
35689 @samp{WriteMem}, @samp{InsertBreak}, @samp{InsertTrace},
35690 @samp{InsertFastTrace}, and @samp{Stop}. @var{val} is either 0,
35691 indicating that @value{GDBN} will not request the operation, or 1,
35692 indicating that it may. (The target can then use this to set up its
35693 own internals optimally, for instance if the debugger never expects to
35694 insert breakpoints, it may not need to install its own trap handler.)
35695
35696 @item qC
35697 @cindex current thread, remote request
35698 @cindex @samp{qC} packet
35699 Return the current thread ID.
35700
35701 Reply:
35702 @table @samp
35703 @item QC @var{thread-id}
35704 Where @var{thread-id} is a thread ID as documented in
35705 @ref{thread-id syntax}.
35706 @item @r{(anything else)}
35707 Any other reply implies the old thread ID.
35708 @end table
35709
35710 @item qCRC:@var{addr},@var{length}
35711 @cindex CRC of memory block, remote request
35712 @cindex @samp{qCRC} packet
35713 Compute the CRC checksum of a block of memory using CRC-32 defined in
35714 IEEE 802.3. The CRC is computed byte at a time, taking the most
35715 significant bit of each byte first. The initial pattern code
35716 @code{0xffffffff} is used to ensure leading zeros affect the CRC.
35717
35718 @emph{Note:} This is the same CRC used in validating separate debug
35719 files (@pxref{Separate Debug Files, , Debugging Information in Separate
35720 Files}). However the algorithm is slightly different. When validating
35721 separate debug files, the CRC is computed taking the @emph{least}
35722 significant bit of each byte first, and the final result is inverted to
35723 detect trailing zeros.
35724
35725 Reply:
35726 @table @samp
35727 @item E @var{NN}
35728 An error (such as memory fault)
35729 @item C @var{crc32}
35730 The specified memory region's checksum is @var{crc32}.
35731 @end table
35732
35733 @item QDisableRandomization:@var{value}
35734 @cindex disable address space randomization, remote request
35735 @cindex @samp{QDisableRandomization} packet
35736 Some target operating systems will randomize the virtual address space
35737 of the inferior process as a security feature, but provide a feature
35738 to disable such randomization, e.g.@: to allow for a more deterministic
35739 debugging experience. On such systems, this packet with a @var{value}
35740 of 1 directs the target to disable address space randomization for
35741 processes subsequently started via @samp{vRun} packets, while a packet
35742 with a @var{value} of 0 tells the target to enable address space
35743 randomization.
35744
35745 This packet is only available in extended mode (@pxref{extended mode}).
35746
35747 Reply:
35748 @table @samp
35749 @item OK
35750 The request succeeded.
35751
35752 @item E @var{nn}
35753 An error occurred. @var{nn} are hex digits.
35754
35755 @item
35756 An empty reply indicates that @samp{QDisableRandomization} is not supported
35757 by the stub.
35758 @end table
35759
35760 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
35761 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
35762 This should only be done on targets that actually support disabling
35763 address space randomization.
35764
35765 @item qfThreadInfo
35766 @itemx qsThreadInfo
35767 @cindex list active threads, remote request
35768 @cindex @samp{qfThreadInfo} packet
35769 @cindex @samp{qsThreadInfo} packet
35770 Obtain a list of all active thread IDs from the target (OS). Since there
35771 may be too many active threads to fit into one reply packet, this query
35772 works iteratively: it may require more than one query/reply sequence to
35773 obtain the entire list of threads. The first query of the sequence will
35774 be the @samp{qfThreadInfo} query; subsequent queries in the
35775 sequence will be the @samp{qsThreadInfo} query.
35776
35777 NOTE: This packet replaces the @samp{qL} query (see below).
35778
35779 Reply:
35780 @table @samp
35781 @item m @var{thread-id}
35782 A single thread ID
35783 @item m @var{thread-id},@var{thread-id}@dots{}
35784 a comma-separated list of thread IDs
35785 @item l
35786 (lower case letter @samp{L}) denotes end of list.
35787 @end table
35788
35789 In response to each query, the target will reply with a list of one or
35790 more thread IDs, separated by commas.
35791 @value{GDBN} will respond to each reply with a request for more thread
35792 ids (using the @samp{qs} form of the query), until the target responds
35793 with @samp{l} (lower-case ell, for @dfn{last}).
35794 Refer to @ref{thread-id syntax}, for the format of the @var{thread-id}
35795 fields.
35796
35797 @item qGetTLSAddr:@var{thread-id},@var{offset},@var{lm}
35798 @cindex get thread-local storage address, remote request
35799 @cindex @samp{qGetTLSAddr} packet
35800 Fetch the address associated with thread local storage specified
35801 by @var{thread-id}, @var{offset}, and @var{lm}.
35802
35803 @var{thread-id} is the thread ID associated with the
35804 thread for which to fetch the TLS address. @xref{thread-id syntax}.
35805
35806 @var{offset} is the (big endian, hex encoded) offset associated with the
35807 thread local variable. (This offset is obtained from the debug
35808 information associated with the variable.)
35809
35810 @var{lm} is the (big endian, hex encoded) OS/ABI-specific encoding of the
35811 load module associated with the thread local storage. For example,
35812 a @sc{gnu}/Linux system will pass the link map address of the shared
35813 object associated with the thread local storage under consideration.
35814 Other operating environments may choose to represent the load module
35815 differently, so the precise meaning of this parameter will vary.
35816
35817 Reply:
35818 @table @samp
35819 @item @var{XX}@dots{}
35820 Hex encoded (big endian) bytes representing the address of the thread
35821 local storage requested.
35822
35823 @item E @var{nn}
35824 An error occurred. @var{nn} are hex digits.
35825
35826 @item
35827 An empty reply indicates that @samp{qGetTLSAddr} is not supported by the stub.
35828 @end table
35829
35830 @item qGetTIBAddr:@var{thread-id}
35831 @cindex get thread information block address
35832 @cindex @samp{qGetTIBAddr} packet
35833 Fetch address of the Windows OS specific Thread Information Block.
35834
35835 @var{thread-id} is the thread ID associated with the thread.
35836
35837 Reply:
35838 @table @samp
35839 @item @var{XX}@dots{}
35840 Hex encoded (big endian) bytes representing the linear address of the
35841 thread information block.
35842
35843 @item E @var{nn}
35844 An error occured. This means that either the thread was not found, or the
35845 address could not be retrieved.
35846
35847 @item
35848 An empty reply indicates that @samp{qGetTIBAddr} is not supported by the stub.
35849 @end table
35850
35851 @item qL @var{startflag} @var{threadcount} @var{nextthread}
35852 Obtain thread information from RTOS. Where: @var{startflag} (one hex
35853 digit) is one to indicate the first query and zero to indicate a
35854 subsequent query; @var{threadcount} (two hex digits) is the maximum
35855 number of threads the response packet can contain; and @var{nextthread}
35856 (eight hex digits), for subsequent queries (@var{startflag} is zero), is
35857 returned in the response as @var{argthread}.
35858
35859 Don't use this packet; use the @samp{qfThreadInfo} query instead (see above).
35860
35861 Reply:
35862 @table @samp
35863 @item qM @var{count} @var{done} @var{argthread} @var{thread}@dots{}
35864 Where: @var{count} (two hex digits) is the number of threads being
35865 returned; @var{done} (one hex digit) is zero to indicate more threads
35866 and one indicates no further threads; @var{argthreadid} (eight hex
35867 digits) is @var{nextthread} from the request packet; @var{thread}@dots{}
35868 is a sequence of thread IDs from the target. @var{threadid} (eight hex
35869 digits). See @code{remote.c:parse_threadlist_response()}.
35870 @end table
35871
35872 @item qOffsets
35873 @cindex section offsets, remote request
35874 @cindex @samp{qOffsets} packet
35875 Get section offsets that the target used when relocating the downloaded
35876 image.
35877
35878 Reply:
35879 @table @samp
35880 @item Text=@var{xxx};Data=@var{yyy}@r{[};Bss=@var{zzz}@r{]}
35881 Relocate the @code{Text} section by @var{xxx} from its original address.
35882 Relocate the @code{Data} section by @var{yyy} from its original address.
35883 If the object file format provides segment information (e.g.@: @sc{elf}
35884 @samp{PT_LOAD} program headers), @value{GDBN} will relocate entire
35885 segments by the supplied offsets.
35886
35887 @emph{Note: while a @code{Bss} offset may be included in the response,
35888 @value{GDBN} ignores this and instead applies the @code{Data} offset
35889 to the @code{Bss} section.}
35890
35891 @item TextSeg=@var{xxx}@r{[};DataSeg=@var{yyy}@r{]}
35892 Relocate the first segment of the object file, which conventionally
35893 contains program code, to a starting address of @var{xxx}. If
35894 @samp{DataSeg} is specified, relocate the second segment, which
35895 conventionally contains modifiable data, to a starting address of
35896 @var{yyy}. @value{GDBN} will report an error if the object file
35897 does not contain segment information, or does not contain at least
35898 as many segments as mentioned in the reply. Extra segments are
35899 kept at fixed offsets relative to the last relocated segment.
35900 @end table
35901
35902 @item qP @var{mode} @var{thread-id}
35903 @cindex thread information, remote request
35904 @cindex @samp{qP} packet
35905 Returns information on @var{thread-id}. Where: @var{mode} is a hex
35906 encoded 32 bit mode; @var{thread-id} is a thread ID
35907 (@pxref{thread-id syntax}).
35908
35909 Don't use this packet; use the @samp{qThreadExtraInfo} query instead
35910 (see below).
35911
35912 Reply: see @code{remote.c:remote_unpack_thread_info_response()}.
35913
35914 @item QNonStop:1
35915 @item QNonStop:0
35916 @cindex non-stop mode, remote request
35917 @cindex @samp{QNonStop} packet
35918 @anchor{QNonStop}
35919 Enter non-stop (@samp{QNonStop:1}) or all-stop (@samp{QNonStop:0}) mode.
35920 @xref{Remote Non-Stop}, for more information.
35921
35922 Reply:
35923 @table @samp
35924 @item OK
35925 The request succeeded.
35926
35927 @item E @var{nn}
35928 An error occurred. @var{nn} are hex digits.
35929
35930 @item
35931 An empty reply indicates that @samp{QNonStop} is not supported by
35932 the stub.
35933 @end table
35934
35935 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
35936 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
35937 Use of this packet is controlled by the @code{set non-stop} command;
35938 @pxref{Non-Stop Mode}.
35939
35940 @item QPassSignals: @var{signal} @r{[};@var{signal}@r{]}@dots{}
35941 @cindex pass signals to inferior, remote request
35942 @cindex @samp{QPassSignals} packet
35943 @anchor{QPassSignals}
35944 Each listed @var{signal} should be passed directly to the inferior process.
35945 Signals are numbered identically to continue packets and stop replies
35946 (@pxref{Stop Reply Packets}). Each @var{signal} list item should be
35947 strictly greater than the previous item. These signals do not need to stop
35948 the inferior, or be reported to @value{GDBN}. All other signals should be
35949 reported to @value{GDBN}. Multiple @samp{QPassSignals} packets do not
35950 combine; any earlier @samp{QPassSignals} list is completely replaced by the
35951 new list. This packet improves performance when using @samp{handle
35952 @var{signal} nostop noprint pass}.
35953
35954 Reply:
35955 @table @samp
35956 @item OK
35957 The request succeeded.
35958
35959 @item E @var{nn}
35960 An error occurred. @var{nn} are hex digits.
35961
35962 @item
35963 An empty reply indicates that @samp{QPassSignals} is not supported by
35964 the stub.
35965 @end table
35966
35967 Use of this packet is controlled by the @code{set remote pass-signals}
35968 command (@pxref{Remote Configuration, set remote pass-signals}).
35969 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
35970 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
35971
35972 @item QProgramSignals: @var{signal} @r{[};@var{signal}@r{]}@dots{}
35973 @cindex signals the inferior may see, remote request
35974 @cindex @samp{QProgramSignals} packet
35975 @anchor{QProgramSignals}
35976 Each listed @var{signal} may be delivered to the inferior process.
35977 Others should be silently discarded.
35978
35979 In some cases, the remote stub may need to decide whether to deliver a
35980 signal to the program or not without @value{GDBN} involvement. One
35981 example of that is while detaching --- the program's threads may have
35982 stopped for signals that haven't yet had a chance of being reported to
35983 @value{GDBN}, and so the remote stub can use the signal list specified
35984 by this packet to know whether to deliver or ignore those pending
35985 signals.
35986
35987 This does not influence whether to deliver a signal as requested by a
35988 resumption packet (@pxref{vCont packet}).
35989
35990 Signals are numbered identically to continue packets and stop replies
35991 (@pxref{Stop Reply Packets}). Each @var{signal} list item should be
35992 strictly greater than the previous item. Multiple
35993 @samp{QProgramSignals} packets do not combine; any earlier
35994 @samp{QProgramSignals} list is completely replaced by the new list.
35995
35996 Reply:
35997 @table @samp
35998 @item OK
35999 The request succeeded.
36000
36001 @item E @var{nn}
36002 An error occurred. @var{nn} are hex digits.
36003
36004 @item
36005 An empty reply indicates that @samp{QProgramSignals} is not supported
36006 by the stub.
36007 @end table
36008
36009 Use of this packet is controlled by the @code{set remote program-signals}
36010 command (@pxref{Remote Configuration, set remote program-signals}).
36011 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36012 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36013
36014 @item qRcmd,@var{command}
36015 @cindex execute remote command, remote request
36016 @cindex @samp{qRcmd} packet
36017 @var{command} (hex encoded) is passed to the local interpreter for
36018 execution. Invalid commands should be reported using the output
36019 string. Before the final result packet, the target may also respond
36020 with a number of intermediate @samp{O@var{output}} console output
36021 packets. @emph{Implementors should note that providing access to a
36022 stubs's interpreter may have security implications}.
36023
36024 Reply:
36025 @table @samp
36026 @item OK
36027 A command response with no output.
36028 @item @var{OUTPUT}
36029 A command response with the hex encoded output string @var{OUTPUT}.
36030 @item E @var{NN}
36031 Indicate a badly formed request.
36032 @item
36033 An empty reply indicates that @samp{qRcmd} is not recognized.
36034 @end table
36035
36036 (Note that the @code{qRcmd} packet's name is separated from the
36037 command by a @samp{,}, not a @samp{:}, contrary to the naming
36038 conventions above. Please don't use this packet as a model for new
36039 packets.)
36040
36041 @item qSearch:memory:@var{address};@var{length};@var{search-pattern}
36042 @cindex searching memory, in remote debugging
36043 @cindex @samp{qSearch:memory} packet
36044 @anchor{qSearch memory}
36045 Search @var{length} bytes at @var{address} for @var{search-pattern}.
36046 @var{address} and @var{length} are encoded in hex.
36047 @var{search-pattern} is a sequence of bytes, hex encoded.
36048
36049 Reply:
36050 @table @samp
36051 @item 0
36052 The pattern was not found.
36053 @item 1,address
36054 The pattern was found at @var{address}.
36055 @item E @var{NN}
36056 A badly formed request or an error was encountered while searching memory.
36057 @item
36058 An empty reply indicates that @samp{qSearch:memory} is not recognized.
36059 @end table
36060
36061 @item QStartNoAckMode
36062 @cindex @samp{QStartNoAckMode} packet
36063 @anchor{QStartNoAckMode}
36064 Request that the remote stub disable the normal @samp{+}/@samp{-}
36065 protocol acknowledgments (@pxref{Packet Acknowledgment}).
36066
36067 Reply:
36068 @table @samp
36069 @item OK
36070 The stub has switched to no-acknowledgment mode.
36071 @value{GDBN} acknowledges this reponse,
36072 but neither the stub nor @value{GDBN} shall send or expect further
36073 @samp{+}/@samp{-} acknowledgments in the current connection.
36074 @item
36075 An empty reply indicates that the stub does not support no-acknowledgment mode.
36076 @end table
36077
36078 @item qSupported @r{[}:@var{gdbfeature} @r{[};@var{gdbfeature}@r{]}@dots{} @r{]}
36079 @cindex supported packets, remote query
36080 @cindex features of the remote protocol
36081 @cindex @samp{qSupported} packet
36082 @anchor{qSupported}
36083 Tell the remote stub about features supported by @value{GDBN}, and
36084 query the stub for features it supports. This packet allows
36085 @value{GDBN} and the remote stub to take advantage of each others'
36086 features. @samp{qSupported} also consolidates multiple feature probes
36087 at startup, to improve @value{GDBN} performance---a single larger
36088 packet performs better than multiple smaller probe packets on
36089 high-latency links. Some features may enable behavior which must not
36090 be on by default, e.g.@: because it would confuse older clients or
36091 stubs. Other features may describe packets which could be
36092 automatically probed for, but are not. These features must be
36093 reported before @value{GDBN} will use them. This ``default
36094 unsupported'' behavior is not appropriate for all packets, but it
36095 helps to keep the initial connection time under control with new
36096 versions of @value{GDBN} which support increasing numbers of packets.
36097
36098 Reply:
36099 @table @samp
36100 @item @var{stubfeature} @r{[};@var{stubfeature}@r{]}@dots{}
36101 The stub supports or does not support each returned @var{stubfeature},
36102 depending on the form of each @var{stubfeature} (see below for the
36103 possible forms).
36104 @item
36105 An empty reply indicates that @samp{qSupported} is not recognized,
36106 or that no features needed to be reported to @value{GDBN}.
36107 @end table
36108
36109 The allowed forms for each feature (either a @var{gdbfeature} in the
36110 @samp{qSupported} packet, or a @var{stubfeature} in the response)
36111 are:
36112
36113 @table @samp
36114 @item @var{name}=@var{value}
36115 The remote protocol feature @var{name} is supported, and associated
36116 with the specified @var{value}. The format of @var{value} depends
36117 on the feature, but it must not include a semicolon.
36118 @item @var{name}+
36119 The remote protocol feature @var{name} is supported, and does not
36120 need an associated value.
36121 @item @var{name}-
36122 The remote protocol feature @var{name} is not supported.
36123 @item @var{name}?
36124 The remote protocol feature @var{name} may be supported, and
36125 @value{GDBN} should auto-detect support in some other way when it is
36126 needed. This form will not be used for @var{gdbfeature} notifications,
36127 but may be used for @var{stubfeature} responses.
36128 @end table
36129
36130 Whenever the stub receives a @samp{qSupported} request, the
36131 supplied set of @value{GDBN} features should override any previous
36132 request. This allows @value{GDBN} to put the stub in a known
36133 state, even if the stub had previously been communicating with
36134 a different version of @value{GDBN}.
36135
36136 The following values of @var{gdbfeature} (for the packet sent by @value{GDBN})
36137 are defined:
36138
36139 @table @samp
36140 @item multiprocess
36141 This feature indicates whether @value{GDBN} supports multiprocess
36142 extensions to the remote protocol. @value{GDBN} does not use such
36143 extensions unless the stub also reports that it supports them by
36144 including @samp{multiprocess+} in its @samp{qSupported} reply.
36145 @xref{multiprocess extensions}, for details.
36146
36147 @item xmlRegisters
36148 This feature indicates that @value{GDBN} supports the XML target
36149 description. If the stub sees @samp{xmlRegisters=} with target
36150 specific strings separated by a comma, it will report register
36151 description.
36152
36153 @item qRelocInsn
36154 This feature indicates whether @value{GDBN} supports the
36155 @samp{qRelocInsn} packet (@pxref{Tracepoint Packets,,Relocate
36156 instruction reply packet}).
36157 @end table
36158
36159 Stubs should ignore any unknown values for
36160 @var{gdbfeature}. Any @value{GDBN} which sends a @samp{qSupported}
36161 packet supports receiving packets of unlimited length (earlier
36162 versions of @value{GDBN} may reject overly long responses). Additional values
36163 for @var{gdbfeature} may be defined in the future to let the stub take
36164 advantage of new features in @value{GDBN}, e.g.@: incompatible
36165 improvements in the remote protocol---the @samp{multiprocess} feature is
36166 an example of such a feature. The stub's reply should be independent
36167 of the @var{gdbfeature} entries sent by @value{GDBN}; first @value{GDBN}
36168 describes all the features it supports, and then the stub replies with
36169 all the features it supports.
36170
36171 Similarly, @value{GDBN} will silently ignore unrecognized stub feature
36172 responses, as long as each response uses one of the standard forms.
36173
36174 Some features are flags. A stub which supports a flag feature
36175 should respond with a @samp{+} form response. Other features
36176 require values, and the stub should respond with an @samp{=}
36177 form response.
36178
36179 Each feature has a default value, which @value{GDBN} will use if
36180 @samp{qSupported} is not available or if the feature is not mentioned
36181 in the @samp{qSupported} response. The default values are fixed; a
36182 stub is free to omit any feature responses that match the defaults.
36183
36184 Not all features can be probed, but for those which can, the probing
36185 mechanism is useful: in some cases, a stub's internal
36186 architecture may not allow the protocol layer to know some information
36187 about the underlying target in advance. This is especially common in
36188 stubs which may be configured for multiple targets.
36189
36190 These are the currently defined stub features and their properties:
36191
36192 @multitable @columnfractions 0.35 0.2 0.12 0.2
36193 @c NOTE: The first row should be @headitem, but we do not yet require
36194 @c a new enough version of Texinfo (4.7) to use @headitem.
36195 @item Feature Name
36196 @tab Value Required
36197 @tab Default
36198 @tab Probe Allowed
36199
36200 @item @samp{PacketSize}
36201 @tab Yes
36202 @tab @samp{-}
36203 @tab No
36204
36205 @item @samp{qXfer:auxv:read}
36206 @tab No
36207 @tab @samp{-}
36208 @tab Yes
36209
36210 @item @samp{qXfer:features:read}
36211 @tab No
36212 @tab @samp{-}
36213 @tab Yes
36214
36215 @item @samp{qXfer:libraries:read}
36216 @tab No
36217 @tab @samp{-}
36218 @tab Yes
36219
36220 @item @samp{qXfer:memory-map:read}
36221 @tab No
36222 @tab @samp{-}
36223 @tab Yes
36224
36225 @item @samp{qXfer:sdata:read}
36226 @tab No
36227 @tab @samp{-}
36228 @tab Yes
36229
36230 @item @samp{qXfer:spu:read}
36231 @tab No
36232 @tab @samp{-}
36233 @tab Yes
36234
36235 @item @samp{qXfer:spu:write}
36236 @tab No
36237 @tab @samp{-}
36238 @tab Yes
36239
36240 @item @samp{qXfer:siginfo:read}
36241 @tab No
36242 @tab @samp{-}
36243 @tab Yes
36244
36245 @item @samp{qXfer:siginfo:write}
36246 @tab No
36247 @tab @samp{-}
36248 @tab Yes
36249
36250 @item @samp{qXfer:threads:read}
36251 @tab No
36252 @tab @samp{-}
36253 @tab Yes
36254
36255 @item @samp{qXfer:traceframe-info:read}
36256 @tab No
36257 @tab @samp{-}
36258 @tab Yes
36259
36260 @item @samp{qXfer:uib:read}
36261 @tab No
36262 @tab @samp{-}
36263 @tab Yes
36264
36265 @item @samp{qXfer:fdpic:read}
36266 @tab No
36267 @tab @samp{-}
36268 @tab Yes
36269
36270 @item @samp{QNonStop}
36271 @tab No
36272 @tab @samp{-}
36273 @tab Yes
36274
36275 @item @samp{QPassSignals}
36276 @tab No
36277 @tab @samp{-}
36278 @tab Yes
36279
36280 @item @samp{QStartNoAckMode}
36281 @tab No
36282 @tab @samp{-}
36283 @tab Yes
36284
36285 @item @samp{multiprocess}
36286 @tab No
36287 @tab @samp{-}
36288 @tab No
36289
36290 @item @samp{ConditionalBreakpoints}
36291 @tab No
36292 @tab @samp{-}
36293 @tab No
36294
36295 @item @samp{ConditionalTracepoints}
36296 @tab No
36297 @tab @samp{-}
36298 @tab No
36299
36300 @item @samp{ReverseContinue}
36301 @tab No
36302 @tab @samp{-}
36303 @tab No
36304
36305 @item @samp{ReverseStep}
36306 @tab No
36307 @tab @samp{-}
36308 @tab No
36309
36310 @item @samp{TracepointSource}
36311 @tab No
36312 @tab @samp{-}
36313 @tab No
36314
36315 @item @samp{QAgent}
36316 @tab No
36317 @tab @samp{-}
36318 @tab No
36319
36320 @item @samp{QAllow}
36321 @tab No
36322 @tab @samp{-}
36323 @tab No
36324
36325 @item @samp{QDisableRandomization}
36326 @tab No
36327 @tab @samp{-}
36328 @tab No
36329
36330 @item @samp{EnableDisableTracepoints}
36331 @tab No
36332 @tab @samp{-}
36333 @tab No
36334
36335 @item @samp{tracenz}
36336 @tab No
36337 @tab @samp{-}
36338 @tab No
36339
36340 @end multitable
36341
36342 These are the currently defined stub features, in more detail:
36343
36344 @table @samp
36345 @cindex packet size, remote protocol
36346 @item PacketSize=@var{bytes}
36347 The remote stub can accept packets up to at least @var{bytes} in
36348 length. @value{GDBN} will send packets up to this size for bulk
36349 transfers, and will never send larger packets. This is a limit on the
36350 data characters in the packet, including the frame and checksum.
36351 There is no trailing NUL byte in a remote protocol packet; if the stub
36352 stores packets in a NUL-terminated format, it should allow an extra
36353 byte in its buffer for the NUL. If this stub feature is not supported,
36354 @value{GDBN} guesses based on the size of the @samp{g} packet response.
36355
36356 @item qXfer:auxv:read
36357 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:auxv:read} packet
36358 (@pxref{qXfer auxiliary vector read}).
36359
36360 @item qXfer:features:read
36361 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:features:read} packet
36362 (@pxref{qXfer target description read}).
36363
36364 @item qXfer:libraries:read
36365 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:libraries:read} packet
36366 (@pxref{qXfer library list read}).
36367
36368 @item qXfer:libraries-svr4:read
36369 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:libraries-svr4:read} packet
36370 (@pxref{qXfer svr4 library list read}).
36371
36372 @item qXfer:memory-map:read
36373 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:memory-map:read} packet
36374 (@pxref{qXfer memory map read}).
36375
36376 @item qXfer:sdata:read
36377 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:sdata:read} packet
36378 (@pxref{qXfer sdata read}).
36379
36380 @item qXfer:spu:read
36381 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:spu:read} packet
36382 (@pxref{qXfer spu read}).
36383
36384 @item qXfer:spu:write
36385 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:spu:write} packet
36386 (@pxref{qXfer spu write}).
36387
36388 @item qXfer:siginfo:read
36389 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:siginfo:read} packet
36390 (@pxref{qXfer siginfo read}).
36391
36392 @item qXfer:siginfo:write
36393 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:siginfo:write} packet
36394 (@pxref{qXfer siginfo write}).
36395
36396 @item qXfer:threads:read
36397 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:threads:read} packet
36398 (@pxref{qXfer threads read}).
36399
36400 @item qXfer:traceframe-info:read
36401 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:traceframe-info:read}
36402 packet (@pxref{qXfer traceframe info read}).
36403
36404 @item qXfer:uib:read
36405 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:uib:read}
36406 packet (@pxref{qXfer unwind info block}).
36407
36408 @item qXfer:fdpic:read
36409 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:fdpic:read}
36410 packet (@pxref{qXfer fdpic loadmap read}).
36411
36412 @item QNonStop
36413 The remote stub understands the @samp{QNonStop} packet
36414 (@pxref{QNonStop}).
36415
36416 @item QPassSignals
36417 The remote stub understands the @samp{QPassSignals} packet
36418 (@pxref{QPassSignals}).
36419
36420 @item QStartNoAckMode
36421 The remote stub understands the @samp{QStartNoAckMode} packet and
36422 prefers to operate in no-acknowledgment mode. @xref{Packet Acknowledgment}.
36423
36424 @item multiprocess
36425 @anchor{multiprocess extensions}
36426 @cindex multiprocess extensions, in remote protocol
36427 The remote stub understands the multiprocess extensions to the remote
36428 protocol syntax. The multiprocess extensions affect the syntax of
36429 thread IDs in both packets and replies (@pxref{thread-id syntax}), and
36430 add process IDs to the @samp{D} packet and @samp{W} and @samp{X}
36431 replies. Note that reporting this feature indicates support for the
36432 syntactic extensions only, not that the stub necessarily supports
36433 debugging of more than one process at a time. The stub must not use
36434 multiprocess extensions in packet replies unless @value{GDBN} has also
36435 indicated it supports them in its @samp{qSupported} request.
36436
36437 @item qXfer:osdata:read
36438 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:osdata:read} packet
36439 ((@pxref{qXfer osdata read}).
36440
36441 @item ConditionalBreakpoints
36442 The target accepts and implements evaluation of conditional expressions
36443 defined for breakpoints. The target will only report breakpoint triggers
36444 when such conditions are true (@pxref{Conditions, ,Break Conditions}).
36445
36446 @item ConditionalTracepoints
36447 The remote stub accepts and implements conditional expressions defined
36448 for tracepoints (@pxref{Tracepoint Conditions}).
36449
36450 @item ReverseContinue
36451 The remote stub accepts and implements the reverse continue packet
36452 (@pxref{bc}).
36453
36454 @item ReverseStep
36455 The remote stub accepts and implements the reverse step packet
36456 (@pxref{bs}).
36457
36458 @item TracepointSource
36459 The remote stub understands the @samp{QTDPsrc} packet that supplies
36460 the source form of tracepoint definitions.
36461
36462 @item QAgent
36463 The remote stub understands the @samp{QAgent} packet.
36464
36465 @item QAllow
36466 The remote stub understands the @samp{QAllow} packet.
36467
36468 @item QDisableRandomization
36469 The remote stub understands the @samp{QDisableRandomization} packet.
36470
36471 @item StaticTracepoint
36472 @cindex static tracepoints, in remote protocol
36473 The remote stub supports static tracepoints.
36474
36475 @item InstallInTrace
36476 @anchor{install tracepoint in tracing}
36477 The remote stub supports installing tracepoint in tracing.
36478
36479 @item EnableDisableTracepoints
36480 The remote stub supports the @samp{QTEnable} (@pxref{QTEnable}) and
36481 @samp{QTDisable} (@pxref{QTDisable}) packets that allow tracepoints
36482 to be enabled and disabled while a trace experiment is running.
36483
36484 @item tracenz
36485 @cindex string tracing, in remote protocol
36486 The remote stub supports the @samp{tracenz} bytecode for collecting strings.
36487 See @ref{Bytecode Descriptions} for details about the bytecode.
36488
36489 @end table
36490
36491 @item qSymbol::
36492 @cindex symbol lookup, remote request
36493 @cindex @samp{qSymbol} packet
36494 Notify the target that @value{GDBN} is prepared to serve symbol lookup
36495 requests. Accept requests from the target for the values of symbols.
36496
36497 Reply:
36498 @table @samp
36499 @item OK
36500 The target does not need to look up any (more) symbols.
36501 @item qSymbol:@var{sym_name}
36502 The target requests the value of symbol @var{sym_name} (hex encoded).
36503 @value{GDBN} may provide the value by using the
36504 @samp{qSymbol:@var{sym_value}:@var{sym_name}} message, described
36505 below.
36506 @end table
36507
36508 @item qSymbol:@var{sym_value}:@var{sym_name}
36509 Set the value of @var{sym_name} to @var{sym_value}.
36510
36511 @var{sym_name} (hex encoded) is the name of a symbol whose value the
36512 target has previously requested.
36513
36514 @var{sym_value} (hex) is the value for symbol @var{sym_name}. If
36515 @value{GDBN} cannot supply a value for @var{sym_name}, then this field
36516 will be empty.
36517
36518 Reply:
36519 @table @samp
36520 @item OK
36521 The target does not need to look up any (more) symbols.
36522 @item qSymbol:@var{sym_name}
36523 The target requests the value of a new symbol @var{sym_name} (hex
36524 encoded). @value{GDBN} will continue to supply the values of symbols
36525 (if available), until the target ceases to request them.
36526 @end table
36527
36528 @item qTBuffer
36529 @item QTBuffer
36530 @item QTDisconnected
36531 @itemx QTDP
36532 @itemx QTDPsrc
36533 @itemx QTDV
36534 @itemx qTfP
36535 @itemx qTfV
36536 @itemx QTFrame
36537 @itemx qTMinFTPILen
36538
36539 @xref{Tracepoint Packets}.
36540
36541 @item qThreadExtraInfo,@var{thread-id}
36542 @cindex thread attributes info, remote request
36543 @cindex @samp{qThreadExtraInfo} packet
36544 Obtain a printable string description of a thread's attributes from
36545 the target OS. @var{thread-id} is a thread ID;
36546 see @ref{thread-id syntax}. This
36547 string may contain anything that the target OS thinks is interesting
36548 for @value{GDBN} to tell the user about the thread. The string is
36549 displayed in @value{GDBN}'s @code{info threads} display. Some
36550 examples of possible thread extra info strings are @samp{Runnable}, or
36551 @samp{Blocked on Mutex}.
36552
36553 Reply:
36554 @table @samp
36555 @item @var{XX}@dots{}
36556 Where @samp{@var{XX}@dots{}} is a hex encoding of @sc{ascii} data,
36557 comprising the printable string containing the extra information about
36558 the thread's attributes.
36559 @end table
36560
36561 (Note that the @code{qThreadExtraInfo} packet's name is separated from
36562 the command by a @samp{,}, not a @samp{:}, contrary to the naming
36563 conventions above. Please don't use this packet as a model for new
36564 packets.)
36565
36566 @item QTNotes
36567 @item qTP
36568 @item QTSave
36569 @item qTsP
36570 @item qTsV
36571 @itemx QTStart
36572 @itemx QTStop
36573 @itemx QTEnable
36574 @itemx QTDisable
36575 @itemx QTinit
36576 @itemx QTro
36577 @itemx qTStatus
36578 @itemx qTV
36579 @itemx qTfSTM
36580 @itemx qTsSTM
36581 @itemx qTSTMat
36582 @xref{Tracepoint Packets}.
36583
36584 @item qXfer:@var{object}:read:@var{annex}:@var{offset},@var{length}
36585 @cindex read special object, remote request
36586 @cindex @samp{qXfer} packet
36587 @anchor{qXfer read}
36588 Read uninterpreted bytes from the target's special data area
36589 identified by the keyword @var{object}. Request @var{length} bytes
36590 starting at @var{offset} bytes into the data. The content and
36591 encoding of @var{annex} is specific to @var{object}; it can supply
36592 additional details about what data to access.
36593
36594 Here are the specific requests of this form defined so far. All
36595 @samp{qXfer:@var{object}:read:@dots{}} requests use the same reply
36596 formats, listed below.
36597
36598 @table @samp
36599 @item qXfer:auxv:read::@var{offset},@var{length}
36600 @anchor{qXfer auxiliary vector read}
36601 Access the target's @dfn{auxiliary vector}. @xref{OS Information,
36602 auxiliary vector}. Note @var{annex} must be empty.
36603
36604 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36605 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36606
36607 @item qXfer:features:read:@var{annex}:@var{offset},@var{length}
36608 @anchor{qXfer target description read}
36609 Access the @dfn{target description}. @xref{Target Descriptions}. The
36610 annex specifies which XML document to access. The main description is
36611 always loaded from the @samp{target.xml} annex.
36612
36613 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36614 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36615
36616 @item qXfer:libraries:read:@var{annex}:@var{offset},@var{length}
36617 @anchor{qXfer library list read}
36618 Access the target's list of loaded libraries. @xref{Library List Format}.
36619 The annex part of the generic @samp{qXfer} packet must be empty
36620 (@pxref{qXfer read}).
36621
36622 Targets which maintain a list of libraries in the program's memory do
36623 not need to implement this packet; it is designed for platforms where
36624 the operating system manages the list of loaded libraries.
36625
36626 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36627 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36628
36629 @item qXfer:libraries-svr4:read:@var{annex}:@var{offset},@var{length}
36630 @anchor{qXfer svr4 library list read}
36631 Access the target's list of loaded libraries when the target is an SVR4
36632 platform. @xref{Library List Format for SVR4 Targets}. The annex part
36633 of the generic @samp{qXfer} packet must be empty (@pxref{qXfer read}).
36634
36635 This packet is optional for better performance on SVR4 targets.
36636 @value{GDBN} uses memory read packets to read the SVR4 library list otherwise.
36637
36638 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36639 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36640
36641 @item qXfer:memory-map:read::@var{offset},@var{length}
36642 @anchor{qXfer memory map read}
36643 Access the target's @dfn{memory-map}. @xref{Memory Map Format}. The
36644 annex part of the generic @samp{qXfer} packet must be empty
36645 (@pxref{qXfer read}).
36646
36647 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36648 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36649
36650 @item qXfer:sdata:read::@var{offset},@var{length}
36651 @anchor{qXfer sdata read}
36652
36653 Read contents of the extra collected static tracepoint marker
36654 information. The annex part of the generic @samp{qXfer} packet must
36655 be empty (@pxref{qXfer read}). @xref{Tracepoint Actions,,Tracepoint
36656 Action Lists}.
36657
36658 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36659 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response
36660 (@pxref{qSupported}).
36661
36662 @item qXfer:siginfo:read::@var{offset},@var{length}
36663 @anchor{qXfer siginfo read}
36664 Read contents of the extra signal information on the target
36665 system. The annex part of the generic @samp{qXfer} packet must be
36666 empty (@pxref{qXfer read}).
36667
36668 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36669 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response
36670 (@pxref{qSupported}).
36671
36672 @item qXfer:spu:read:@var{annex}:@var{offset},@var{length}
36673 @anchor{qXfer spu read}
36674 Read contents of an @code{spufs} file on the target system. The
36675 annex specifies which file to read; it must be of the form
36676 @file{@var{id}/@var{name}}, where @var{id} specifies an SPU context ID
36677 in the target process, and @var{name} identifes the @code{spufs} file
36678 in that context to be accessed.
36679
36680 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36681 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response
36682 (@pxref{qSupported}).
36683
36684 @item qXfer:threads:read::@var{offset},@var{length}
36685 @anchor{qXfer threads read}
36686 Access the list of threads on target. @xref{Thread List Format}. The
36687 annex part of the generic @samp{qXfer} packet must be empty
36688 (@pxref{qXfer read}).
36689
36690 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36691 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36692
36693 @item qXfer:traceframe-info:read::@var{offset},@var{length}
36694 @anchor{qXfer traceframe info read}
36695
36696 Return a description of the current traceframe's contents.
36697 @xref{Traceframe Info Format}. The annex part of the generic
36698 @samp{qXfer} packet must be empty (@pxref{qXfer read}).
36699
36700 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36701 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36702
36703 @item qXfer:uib:read:@var{pc}:@var{offset},@var{length}
36704 @anchor{qXfer unwind info block}
36705
36706 Return the unwind information block for @var{pc}. This packet is used
36707 on OpenVMS/ia64 to ask the kernel unwind information.
36708
36709 This packet is not probed by default.
36710
36711 @item qXfer:fdpic:read:@var{annex}:@var{offset},@var{length}
36712 @anchor{qXfer fdpic loadmap read}
36713 Read contents of @code{loadmap}s on the target system. The
36714 annex, either @samp{exec} or @samp{interp}, specifies which @code{loadmap},
36715 executable @code{loadmap} or interpreter @code{loadmap} to read.
36716
36717 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36718 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36719
36720 @item qXfer:osdata:read::@var{offset},@var{length}
36721 @anchor{qXfer osdata read}
36722 Access the target's @dfn{operating system information}.
36723 @xref{Operating System Information}.
36724
36725 @end table
36726
36727 Reply:
36728 @table @samp
36729 @item m @var{data}
36730 Data @var{data} (@pxref{Binary Data}) has been read from the
36731 target. There may be more data at a higher address (although
36732 it is permitted to return @samp{m} even for the last valid
36733 block of data, as long as at least one byte of data was read).
36734 @var{data} may have fewer bytes than the @var{length} in the
36735 request.
36736
36737 @item l @var{data}
36738 Data @var{data} (@pxref{Binary Data}) has been read from the target.
36739 There is no more data to be read. @var{data} may have fewer bytes
36740 than the @var{length} in the request.
36741
36742 @item l
36743 The @var{offset} in the request is at the end of the data.
36744 There is no more data to be read.
36745
36746 @item E00
36747 The request was malformed, or @var{annex} was invalid.
36748
36749 @item E @var{nn}
36750 The offset was invalid, or there was an error encountered reading the data.
36751 @var{nn} is a hex-encoded @code{errno} value.
36752
36753 @item
36754 An empty reply indicates the @var{object} string was not recognized by
36755 the stub, or that the object does not support reading.
36756 @end table
36757
36758 @item qXfer:@var{object}:write:@var{annex}:@var{offset}:@var{data}@dots{}
36759 @cindex write data into object, remote request
36760 @anchor{qXfer write}
36761 Write uninterpreted bytes into the target's special data area
36762 identified by the keyword @var{object}, starting at @var{offset} bytes
36763 into the data. @var{data}@dots{} is the binary-encoded data
36764 (@pxref{Binary Data}) to be written. The content and encoding of @var{annex}
36765 is specific to @var{object}; it can supply additional details about what data
36766 to access.
36767
36768 Here are the specific requests of this form defined so far. All
36769 @samp{qXfer:@var{object}:write:@dots{}} requests use the same reply
36770 formats, listed below.
36771
36772 @table @samp
36773 @item qXfer:siginfo:write::@var{offset}:@var{data}@dots{}
36774 @anchor{qXfer siginfo write}
36775 Write @var{data} to the extra signal information on the target system.
36776 The annex part of the generic @samp{qXfer} packet must be
36777 empty (@pxref{qXfer write}).
36778
36779 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36780 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response
36781 (@pxref{qSupported}).
36782
36783 @item qXfer:spu:write:@var{annex}:@var{offset}:@var{data}@dots{}
36784 @anchor{qXfer spu write}
36785 Write @var{data} to an @code{spufs} file on the target system. The
36786 annex specifies which file to write; it must be of the form
36787 @file{@var{id}/@var{name}}, where @var{id} specifies an SPU context ID
36788 in the target process, and @var{name} identifes the @code{spufs} file
36789 in that context to be accessed.
36790
36791 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36792 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36793 @end table
36794
36795 Reply:
36796 @table @samp
36797 @item @var{nn}
36798 @var{nn} (hex encoded) is the number of bytes written.
36799 This may be fewer bytes than supplied in the request.
36800
36801 @item E00
36802 The request was malformed, or @var{annex} was invalid.
36803
36804 @item E @var{nn}
36805 The offset was invalid, or there was an error encountered writing the data.
36806 @var{nn} is a hex-encoded @code{errno} value.
36807
36808 @item
36809 An empty reply indicates the @var{object} string was not
36810 recognized by the stub, or that the object does not support writing.
36811 @end table
36812
36813 @item qXfer:@var{object}:@var{operation}:@dots{}
36814 Requests of this form may be added in the future. When a stub does
36815 not recognize the @var{object} keyword, or its support for
36816 @var{object} does not recognize the @var{operation} keyword, the stub
36817 must respond with an empty packet.
36818
36819 @item qAttached:@var{pid}
36820 @cindex query attached, remote request
36821 @cindex @samp{qAttached} packet
36822 Return an indication of whether the remote server attached to an
36823 existing process or created a new process. When the multiprocess
36824 protocol extensions are supported (@pxref{multiprocess extensions}),
36825 @var{pid} is an integer in hexadecimal format identifying the target
36826 process. Otherwise, @value{GDBN} will omit the @var{pid} field and
36827 the query packet will be simplified as @samp{qAttached}.
36828
36829 This query is used, for example, to know whether the remote process
36830 should be detached or killed when a @value{GDBN} session is ended with
36831 the @code{quit} command.
36832
36833 Reply:
36834 @table @samp
36835 @item 1
36836 The remote server attached to an existing process.
36837 @item 0
36838 The remote server created a new process.
36839 @item E @var{NN}
36840 A badly formed request or an error was encountered.
36841 @end table
36842
36843 @end table
36844
36845 @node Architecture-Specific Protocol Details
36846 @section Architecture-Specific Protocol Details
36847
36848 This section describes how the remote protocol is applied to specific
36849 target architectures. Also see @ref{Standard Target Features}, for
36850 details of XML target descriptions for each architecture.
36851
36852 @subsection ARM
36853
36854 @subsubsection Breakpoint Kinds
36855
36856 These breakpoint kinds are defined for the @samp{Z0} and @samp{Z1} packets.
36857
36858 @table @r
36859
36860 @item 2
36861 16-bit Thumb mode breakpoint.
36862
36863 @item 3
36864 32-bit Thumb mode (Thumb-2) breakpoint.
36865
36866 @item 4
36867 32-bit ARM mode breakpoint.
36868
36869 @end table
36870
36871 @subsection MIPS
36872
36873 @subsubsection Register Packet Format
36874
36875 The following @code{g}/@code{G} packets have previously been defined.
36876 In the below, some thirty-two bit registers are transferred as
36877 sixty-four bits. Those registers should be zero/sign extended (which?)
36878 to fill the space allocated. Register bytes are transferred in target
36879 byte order. The two nibbles within a register byte are transferred
36880 most-significant - least-significant.
36881
36882 @table @r
36883
36884 @item MIPS32
36885
36886 All registers are transferred as thirty-two bit quantities in the order:
36887 32 general-purpose; sr; lo; hi; bad; cause; pc; 32 floating-point
36888 registers; fsr; fir; fp.
36889
36890 @item MIPS64
36891
36892 All registers are transferred as sixty-four bit quantities (including
36893 thirty-two bit registers such as @code{sr}). The ordering is the same
36894 as @code{MIPS32}.
36895
36896 @end table
36897
36898 @node Tracepoint Packets
36899 @section Tracepoint Packets
36900 @cindex tracepoint packets
36901 @cindex packets, tracepoint
36902
36903 Here we describe the packets @value{GDBN} uses to implement
36904 tracepoints (@pxref{Tracepoints}).
36905
36906 @table @samp
36907
36908 @item QTDP:@var{n}:@var{addr}:@var{ena}:@var{step}:@var{pass}[:F@var{flen}][:X@var{len},@var{bytes}]@r{[}-@r{]}
36909 Create a new tracepoint, number @var{n}, at @var{addr}. If @var{ena}
36910 is @samp{E}, then the tracepoint is enabled; if it is @samp{D}, then
36911 the tracepoint is disabled. @var{step} is the tracepoint's step
36912 count, and @var{pass} is its pass count. If an @samp{F} is present,
36913 then the tracepoint is to be a fast tracepoint, and the @var{flen} is
36914 the number of bytes that the target should copy elsewhere to make room
36915 for the tracepoint. If an @samp{X} is present, it introduces a
36916 tracepoint condition, which consists of a hexadecimal length, followed
36917 by a comma and hex-encoded bytes, in a manner similar to action
36918 encodings as described below. If the trailing @samp{-} is present,
36919 further @samp{QTDP} packets will follow to specify this tracepoint's
36920 actions.
36921
36922 Replies:
36923 @table @samp
36924 @item OK
36925 The packet was understood and carried out.
36926 @item qRelocInsn
36927 @xref{Tracepoint Packets,,Relocate instruction reply packet}.
36928 @item
36929 The packet was not recognized.
36930 @end table
36931
36932 @item QTDP:-@var{n}:@var{addr}:@r{[}S@r{]}@var{action}@dots{}@r{[}-@r{]}
36933 Define actions to be taken when a tracepoint is hit. @var{n} and
36934 @var{addr} must be the same as in the initial @samp{QTDP} packet for
36935 this tracepoint. This packet may only be sent immediately after
36936 another @samp{QTDP} packet that ended with a @samp{-}. If the
36937 trailing @samp{-} is present, further @samp{QTDP} packets will follow,
36938 specifying more actions for this tracepoint.
36939
36940 In the series of action packets for a given tracepoint, at most one
36941 can have an @samp{S} before its first @var{action}. If such a packet
36942 is sent, it and the following packets define ``while-stepping''
36943 actions. Any prior packets define ordinary actions --- that is, those
36944 taken when the tracepoint is first hit. If no action packet has an
36945 @samp{S}, then all the packets in the series specify ordinary
36946 tracepoint actions.
36947
36948 The @samp{@var{action}@dots{}} portion of the packet is a series of
36949 actions, concatenated without separators. Each action has one of the
36950 following forms:
36951
36952 @table @samp
36953
36954 @item R @var{mask}
36955 Collect the registers whose bits are set in @var{mask}. @var{mask} is
36956 a hexadecimal number whose @var{i}'th bit is set if register number
36957 @var{i} should be collected. (The least significant bit is numbered
36958 zero.) Note that @var{mask} may be any number of digits long; it may
36959 not fit in a 32-bit word.
36960
36961 @item M @var{basereg},@var{offset},@var{len}
36962 Collect @var{len} bytes of memory starting at the address in register
36963 number @var{basereg}, plus @var{offset}. If @var{basereg} is
36964 @samp{-1}, then the range has a fixed address: @var{offset} is the
36965 address of the lowest byte to collect. The @var{basereg},
36966 @var{offset}, and @var{len} parameters are all unsigned hexadecimal
36967 values (the @samp{-1} value for @var{basereg} is a special case).
36968
36969 @item X @var{len},@var{expr}
36970 Evaluate @var{expr}, whose length is @var{len}, and collect memory as
36971 it directs. @var{expr} is an agent expression, as described in
36972 @ref{Agent Expressions}. Each byte of the expression is encoded as a
36973 two-digit hex number in the packet; @var{len} is the number of bytes
36974 in the expression (and thus one-half the number of hex digits in the
36975 packet).
36976
36977 @end table
36978
36979 Any number of actions may be packed together in a single @samp{QTDP}
36980 packet, as long as the packet does not exceed the maximum packet
36981 length (400 bytes, for many stubs). There may be only one @samp{R}
36982 action per tracepoint, and it must precede any @samp{M} or @samp{X}
36983 actions. Any registers referred to by @samp{M} and @samp{X} actions
36984 must be collected by a preceding @samp{R} action. (The
36985 ``while-stepping'' actions are treated as if they were attached to a
36986 separate tracepoint, as far as these restrictions are concerned.)
36987
36988 Replies:
36989 @table @samp
36990 @item OK
36991 The packet was understood and carried out.
36992 @item qRelocInsn
36993 @xref{Tracepoint Packets,,Relocate instruction reply packet}.
36994 @item
36995 The packet was not recognized.
36996 @end table
36997
36998 @item QTDPsrc:@var{n}:@var{addr}:@var{type}:@var{start}:@var{slen}:@var{bytes}
36999 @cindex @samp{QTDPsrc} packet
37000 Specify a source string of tracepoint @var{n} at address @var{addr}.
37001 This is useful to get accurate reproduction of the tracepoints
37002 originally downloaded at the beginning of the trace run. @var{type}
37003 is the name of the tracepoint part, such as @samp{cond} for the
37004 tracepoint's conditional expression (see below for a list of types), while
37005 @var{bytes} is the string, encoded in hexadecimal.
37006
37007 @var{start} is the offset of the @var{bytes} within the overall source
37008 string, while @var{slen} is the total length of the source string.
37009 This is intended for handling source strings that are longer than will
37010 fit in a single packet.
37011 @c Add detailed example when this info is moved into a dedicated
37012 @c tracepoint descriptions section.
37013
37014 The available string types are @samp{at} for the location,
37015 @samp{cond} for the conditional, and @samp{cmd} for an action command.
37016 @value{GDBN} sends a separate packet for each command in the action
37017 list, in the same order in which the commands are stored in the list.
37018
37019 The target does not need to do anything with source strings except
37020 report them back as part of the replies to the @samp{qTfP}/@samp{qTsP}
37021 query packets.
37022
37023 Although this packet is optional, and @value{GDBN} will only send it
37024 if the target replies with @samp{TracepointSource} @xref{General
37025 Query Packets}, it makes both disconnected tracing and trace files
37026 much easier to use. Otherwise the user must be careful that the
37027 tracepoints in effect while looking at trace frames are identical to
37028 the ones in effect during the trace run; even a small discrepancy
37029 could cause @samp{tdump} not to work, or a particular trace frame not
37030 be found.
37031
37032 @item QTDV:@var{n}:@var{value}
37033 @cindex define trace state variable, remote request
37034 @cindex @samp{QTDV} packet
37035 Create a new trace state variable, number @var{n}, with an initial
37036 value of @var{value}, which is a 64-bit signed integer. Both @var{n}
37037 and @var{value} are encoded as hexadecimal values. @value{GDBN} has
37038 the option of not using this packet for initial values of zero; the
37039 target should simply create the trace state variables as they are
37040 mentioned in expressions.
37041
37042 @item QTFrame:@var{n}
37043 Select the @var{n}'th tracepoint frame from the buffer, and use the
37044 register and memory contents recorded there to answer subsequent
37045 request packets from @value{GDBN}.
37046
37047 A successful reply from the stub indicates that the stub has found the
37048 requested frame. The response is a series of parts, concatenated
37049 without separators, describing the frame we selected. Each part has
37050 one of the following forms:
37051
37052 @table @samp
37053 @item F @var{f}
37054 The selected frame is number @var{n} in the trace frame buffer;
37055 @var{f} is a hexadecimal number. If @var{f} is @samp{-1}, then there
37056 was no frame matching the criteria in the request packet.
37057
37058 @item T @var{t}
37059 The selected trace frame records a hit of tracepoint number @var{t};
37060 @var{t} is a hexadecimal number.
37061
37062 @end table
37063
37064 @item QTFrame:pc:@var{addr}
37065 Like @samp{QTFrame:@var{n}}, but select the first tracepoint frame after the
37066 currently selected frame whose PC is @var{addr};
37067 @var{addr} is a hexadecimal number.
37068
37069 @item QTFrame:tdp:@var{t}
37070 Like @samp{QTFrame:@var{n}}, but select the first tracepoint frame after the
37071 currently selected frame that is a hit of tracepoint @var{t}; @var{t}
37072 is a hexadecimal number.
37073
37074 @item QTFrame:range:@var{start}:@var{end}
37075 Like @samp{QTFrame:@var{n}}, but select the first tracepoint frame after the
37076 currently selected frame whose PC is between @var{start} (inclusive)
37077 and @var{end} (inclusive); @var{start} and @var{end} are hexadecimal
37078 numbers.
37079
37080 @item QTFrame:outside:@var{start}:@var{end}
37081 Like @samp{QTFrame:range:@var{start}:@var{end}}, but select the first
37082 frame @emph{outside} the given range of addresses (exclusive).
37083
37084 @item qTMinFTPILen
37085 This packet requests the minimum length of instruction at which a fast
37086 tracepoint (@pxref{Set Tracepoints}) may be placed. For instance, on
37087 the 32-bit x86 architecture, it is possible to use a 4-byte jump, but
37088 it depends on the target system being able to create trampolines in
37089 the first 64K of memory, which might or might not be possible for that
37090 system. So the reply to this packet will be 4 if it is able to
37091 arrange for that.
37092
37093 Replies:
37094
37095 @table @samp
37096 @item 0
37097 The minimum instruction length is currently unknown.
37098 @item @var{length}
37099 The minimum instruction length is @var{length}, where @var{length} is greater
37100 or equal to 1. @var{length} is a hexadecimal number. A reply of 1 means
37101 that a fast tracepoint may be placed on any instruction regardless of size.
37102 @item E
37103 An error has occurred.
37104 @item
37105 An empty reply indicates that the request is not supported by the stub.
37106 @end table
37107
37108 @item QTStart
37109 Begin the tracepoint experiment. Begin collecting data from
37110 tracepoint hits in the trace frame buffer. This packet supports the
37111 @samp{qRelocInsn} reply (@pxref{Tracepoint Packets,,Relocate
37112 instruction reply packet}).
37113
37114 @item QTStop
37115 End the tracepoint experiment. Stop collecting trace frames.
37116
37117 @item QTEnable:@var{n}:@var{addr}
37118 @anchor{QTEnable}
37119 Enable tracepoint @var{n} at address @var{addr} in a started tracepoint
37120 experiment. If the tracepoint was previously disabled, then collection
37121 of data from it will resume.
37122
37123 @item QTDisable:@var{n}:@var{addr}
37124 @anchor{QTDisable}
37125 Disable tracepoint @var{n} at address @var{addr} in a started tracepoint
37126 experiment. No more data will be collected from the tracepoint unless
37127 @samp{QTEnable:@var{n}:@var{addr}} is subsequently issued.
37128
37129 @item QTinit
37130 Clear the table of tracepoints, and empty the trace frame buffer.
37131
37132 @item QTro:@var{start1},@var{end1}:@var{start2},@var{end2}:@dots{}
37133 Establish the given ranges of memory as ``transparent''. The stub
37134 will answer requests for these ranges from memory's current contents,
37135 if they were not collected as part of the tracepoint hit.
37136
37137 @value{GDBN} uses this to mark read-only regions of memory, like those
37138 containing program code. Since these areas never change, they should
37139 still have the same contents they did when the tracepoint was hit, so
37140 there's no reason for the stub to refuse to provide their contents.
37141
37142 @item QTDisconnected:@var{value}
37143 Set the choice to what to do with the tracing run when @value{GDBN}
37144 disconnects from the target. A @var{value} of 1 directs the target to
37145 continue the tracing run, while 0 tells the target to stop tracing if
37146 @value{GDBN} is no longer in the picture.
37147
37148 @item qTStatus
37149 Ask the stub if there is a trace experiment running right now.
37150
37151 The reply has the form:
37152
37153 @table @samp
37154
37155 @item T@var{running}@r{[};@var{field}@r{]}@dots{}
37156 @var{running} is a single digit @code{1} if the trace is presently
37157 running, or @code{0} if not. It is followed by semicolon-separated
37158 optional fields that an agent may use to report additional status.
37159
37160 @end table
37161
37162 If the trace is not running, the agent may report any of several
37163 explanations as one of the optional fields:
37164
37165 @table @samp
37166
37167 @item tnotrun:0
37168 No trace has been run yet.
37169
37170 @item tstop[:@var{text}]:0
37171 The trace was stopped by a user-originated stop command. The optional
37172 @var{text} field is a user-supplied string supplied as part of the
37173 stop command (for instance, an explanation of why the trace was
37174 stopped manually). It is hex-encoded.
37175
37176 @item tfull:0
37177 The trace stopped because the trace buffer filled up.
37178
37179 @item tdisconnected:0
37180 The trace stopped because @value{GDBN} disconnected from the target.
37181
37182 @item tpasscount:@var{tpnum}
37183 The trace stopped because tracepoint @var{tpnum} exceeded its pass count.
37184
37185 @item terror:@var{text}:@var{tpnum}
37186 The trace stopped because tracepoint @var{tpnum} had an error. The
37187 string @var{text} is available to describe the nature of the error
37188 (for instance, a divide by zero in the condition expression).
37189 @var{text} is hex encoded.
37190
37191 @item tunknown:0
37192 The trace stopped for some other reason.
37193
37194 @end table
37195
37196 Additional optional fields supply statistical and other information.
37197 Although not required, they are extremely useful for users monitoring
37198 the progress of a trace run. If a trace has stopped, and these
37199 numbers are reported, they must reflect the state of the just-stopped
37200 trace.
37201
37202 @table @samp
37203
37204 @item tframes:@var{n}
37205 The number of trace frames in the buffer.
37206
37207 @item tcreated:@var{n}
37208 The total number of trace frames created during the run. This may
37209 be larger than the trace frame count, if the buffer is circular.
37210
37211 @item tsize:@var{n}
37212 The total size of the trace buffer, in bytes.
37213
37214 @item tfree:@var{n}
37215 The number of bytes still unused in the buffer.
37216
37217 @item circular:@var{n}
37218 The value of the circular trace buffer flag. @code{1} means that the
37219 trace buffer is circular and old trace frames will be discarded if
37220 necessary to make room, @code{0} means that the trace buffer is linear
37221 and may fill up.
37222
37223 @item disconn:@var{n}
37224 The value of the disconnected tracing flag. @code{1} means that
37225 tracing will continue after @value{GDBN} disconnects, @code{0} means
37226 that the trace run will stop.
37227
37228 @end table
37229
37230 @item qTP:@var{tp}:@var{addr}
37231 @cindex tracepoint status, remote request
37232 @cindex @samp{qTP} packet
37233 Ask the stub for the current state of tracepoint number @var{tp} at
37234 address @var{addr}.
37235
37236 Replies:
37237 @table @samp
37238 @item V@var{hits}:@var{usage}
37239 The tracepoint has been hit @var{hits} times so far during the trace
37240 run, and accounts for @var{usage} in the trace buffer. Note that
37241 @code{while-stepping} steps are not counted as separate hits, but the
37242 steps' space consumption is added into the usage number.
37243
37244 @end table
37245
37246 @item qTV:@var{var}
37247 @cindex trace state variable value, remote request
37248 @cindex @samp{qTV} packet
37249 Ask the stub for the value of the trace state variable number @var{var}.
37250
37251 Replies:
37252 @table @samp
37253 @item V@var{value}
37254 The value of the variable is @var{value}. This will be the current
37255 value of the variable if the user is examining a running target, or a
37256 saved value if the variable was collected in the trace frame that the
37257 user is looking at. Note that multiple requests may result in
37258 different reply values, such as when requesting values while the
37259 program is running.
37260
37261 @item U
37262 The value of the variable is unknown. This would occur, for example,
37263 if the user is examining a trace frame in which the requested variable
37264 was not collected.
37265 @end table
37266
37267 @item qTfP
37268 @itemx qTsP
37269 These packets request data about tracepoints that are being used by
37270 the target. @value{GDBN} sends @code{qTfP} to get the first piece
37271 of data, and multiple @code{qTsP} to get additional pieces. Replies
37272 to these packets generally take the form of the @code{QTDP} packets
37273 that define tracepoints. (FIXME add detailed syntax)
37274
37275 @item qTfV
37276 @itemx qTsV
37277 These packets request data about trace state variables that are on the
37278 target. @value{GDBN} sends @code{qTfV} to get the first vari of data,
37279 and multiple @code{qTsV} to get additional variables. Replies to
37280 these packets follow the syntax of the @code{QTDV} packets that define
37281 trace state variables.
37282
37283 @item qTfSTM
37284 @itemx qTsSTM
37285 These packets request data about static tracepoint markers that exist
37286 in the target program. @value{GDBN} sends @code{qTfSTM} to get the
37287 first piece of data, and multiple @code{qTsSTM} to get additional
37288 pieces. Replies to these packets take the following form:
37289
37290 Reply:
37291 @table @samp
37292 @item m @var{address}:@var{id}:@var{extra}
37293 A single marker
37294 @item m @var{address}:@var{id}:@var{extra},@var{address}:@var{id}:@var{extra}@dots{}
37295 a comma-separated list of markers
37296 @item l
37297 (lower case letter @samp{L}) denotes end of list.
37298 @item E @var{nn}
37299 An error occurred. @var{nn} are hex digits.
37300 @item
37301 An empty reply indicates that the request is not supported by the
37302 stub.
37303 @end table
37304
37305 @var{address} is encoded in hex.
37306 @var{id} and @var{extra} are strings encoded in hex.
37307
37308 In response to each query, the target will reply with a list of one or
37309 more markers, separated by commas. @value{GDBN} will respond to each
37310 reply with a request for more markers (using the @samp{qs} form of the
37311 query), until the target responds with @samp{l} (lower-case ell, for
37312 @dfn{last}).
37313
37314 @item qTSTMat:@var{address}
37315 This packets requests data about static tracepoint markers in the
37316 target program at @var{address}. Replies to this packet follow the
37317 syntax of the @samp{qTfSTM} and @code{qTsSTM} packets that list static
37318 tracepoint markers.
37319
37320 @item QTSave:@var{filename}
37321 This packet directs the target to save trace data to the file name
37322 @var{filename} in the target's filesystem. @var{filename} is encoded
37323 as a hex string; the interpretation of the file name (relative vs
37324 absolute, wild cards, etc) is up to the target.
37325
37326 @item qTBuffer:@var{offset},@var{len}
37327 Return up to @var{len} bytes of the current contents of trace buffer,
37328 starting at @var{offset}. The trace buffer is treated as if it were
37329 a contiguous collection of traceframes, as per the trace file format.
37330 The reply consists as many hex-encoded bytes as the target can deliver
37331 in a packet; it is not an error to return fewer than were asked for.
37332 A reply consisting of just @code{l} indicates that no bytes are
37333 available.
37334
37335 @item QTBuffer:circular:@var{value}
37336 This packet directs the target to use a circular trace buffer if
37337 @var{value} is 1, or a linear buffer if the value is 0.
37338
37339 @item QTNotes:@r{[}@var{type}:@var{text}@r{]}@r{[};@var{type}:@var{text}@r{]}@dots{}
37340 This packet adds optional textual notes to the trace run. Allowable
37341 types include @code{user}, @code{notes}, and @code{tstop}, the
37342 @var{text} fields are arbitrary strings, hex-encoded.
37343
37344 @end table
37345
37346 @subsection Relocate instruction reply packet
37347 When installing fast tracepoints in memory, the target may need to
37348 relocate the instruction currently at the tracepoint address to a
37349 different address in memory. For most instructions, a simple copy is
37350 enough, but, for example, call instructions that implicitly push the
37351 return address on the stack, and relative branches or other
37352 PC-relative instructions require offset adjustment, so that the effect
37353 of executing the instruction at a different address is the same as if
37354 it had executed in the original location.
37355
37356 In response to several of the tracepoint packets, the target may also
37357 respond with a number of intermediate @samp{qRelocInsn} request
37358 packets before the final result packet, to have @value{GDBN} handle
37359 this relocation operation. If a packet supports this mechanism, its
37360 documentation will explicitly say so. See for example the above
37361 descriptions for the @samp{QTStart} and @samp{QTDP} packets. The
37362 format of the request is:
37363
37364 @table @samp
37365 @item qRelocInsn:@var{from};@var{to}
37366
37367 This requests @value{GDBN} to copy instruction at address @var{from}
37368 to address @var{to}, possibly adjusted so that executing the
37369 instruction at @var{to} has the same effect as executing it at
37370 @var{from}. @value{GDBN} writes the adjusted instruction to target
37371 memory starting at @var{to}.
37372 @end table
37373
37374 Replies:
37375 @table @samp
37376 @item qRelocInsn:@var{adjusted_size}
37377 Informs the stub the relocation is complete. @var{adjusted_size} is
37378 the length in bytes of resulting relocated instruction sequence.
37379 @item E @var{NN}
37380 A badly formed request was detected, or an error was encountered while
37381 relocating the instruction.
37382 @end table
37383
37384 @node Host I/O Packets
37385 @section Host I/O Packets
37386 @cindex Host I/O, remote protocol
37387 @cindex file transfer, remote protocol
37388
37389 The @dfn{Host I/O} packets allow @value{GDBN} to perform I/O
37390 operations on the far side of a remote link. For example, Host I/O is
37391 used to upload and download files to a remote target with its own
37392 filesystem. Host I/O uses the same constant values and data structure
37393 layout as the target-initiated File-I/O protocol. However, the
37394 Host I/O packets are structured differently. The target-initiated
37395 protocol relies on target memory to store parameters and buffers.
37396 Host I/O requests are initiated by @value{GDBN}, and the
37397 target's memory is not involved. @xref{File-I/O Remote Protocol
37398 Extension}, for more details on the target-initiated protocol.
37399
37400 The Host I/O request packets all encode a single operation along with
37401 its arguments. They have this format:
37402
37403 @table @samp
37404
37405 @item vFile:@var{operation}: @var{parameter}@dots{}
37406 @var{operation} is the name of the particular request; the target
37407 should compare the entire packet name up to the second colon when checking
37408 for a supported operation. The format of @var{parameter} depends on
37409 the operation. Numbers are always passed in hexadecimal. Negative
37410 numbers have an explicit minus sign (i.e.@: two's complement is not
37411 used). Strings (e.g.@: filenames) are encoded as a series of
37412 hexadecimal bytes. The last argument to a system call may be a
37413 buffer of escaped binary data (@pxref{Binary Data}).
37414
37415 @end table
37416
37417 The valid responses to Host I/O packets are:
37418
37419 @table @samp
37420
37421 @item F @var{result} [, @var{errno}] [; @var{attachment}]
37422 @var{result} is the integer value returned by this operation, usually
37423 non-negative for success and -1 for errors. If an error has occured,
37424 @var{errno} will be included in the result. @var{errno} will have a
37425 value defined by the File-I/O protocol (@pxref{Errno Values}). For
37426 operations which return data, @var{attachment} supplies the data as a
37427 binary buffer. Binary buffers in response packets are escaped in the
37428 normal way (@pxref{Binary Data}). See the individual packet
37429 documentation for the interpretation of @var{result} and
37430 @var{attachment}.
37431
37432 @item
37433 An empty response indicates that this operation is not recognized.
37434
37435 @end table
37436
37437 These are the supported Host I/O operations:
37438
37439 @table @samp
37440 @item vFile:open: @var{pathname}, @var{flags}, @var{mode}
37441 Open a file at @var{pathname} and return a file descriptor for it, or
37442 return -1 if an error occurs. @var{pathname} is a string,
37443 @var{flags} is an integer indicating a mask of open flags
37444 (@pxref{Open Flags}), and @var{mode} is an integer indicating a mask
37445 of mode bits to use if the file is created (@pxref{mode_t Values}).
37446 @xref{open}, for details of the open flags and mode values.
37447
37448 @item vFile:close: @var{fd}
37449 Close the open file corresponding to @var{fd} and return 0, or
37450 -1 if an error occurs.
37451
37452 @item vFile:pread: @var{fd}, @var{count}, @var{offset}
37453 Read data from the open file corresponding to @var{fd}. Up to
37454 @var{count} bytes will be read from the file, starting at @var{offset}
37455 relative to the start of the file. The target may read fewer bytes;
37456 common reasons include packet size limits and an end-of-file
37457 condition. The number of bytes read is returned. Zero should only be
37458 returned for a successful read at the end of the file, or if
37459 @var{count} was zero.
37460
37461 The data read should be returned as a binary attachment on success.
37462 If zero bytes were read, the response should include an empty binary
37463 attachment (i.e.@: a trailing semicolon). The return value is the
37464 number of target bytes read; the binary attachment may be longer if
37465 some characters were escaped.
37466
37467 @item vFile:pwrite: @var{fd}, @var{offset}, @var{data}
37468 Write @var{data} (a binary buffer) to the open file corresponding
37469 to @var{fd}. Start the write at @var{offset} from the start of the
37470 file. Unlike many @code{write} system calls, there is no
37471 separate @var{count} argument; the length of @var{data} in the
37472 packet is used. @samp{vFile:write} returns the number of bytes written,
37473 which may be shorter than the length of @var{data}, or -1 if an
37474 error occurred.
37475
37476 @item vFile:unlink: @var{pathname}
37477 Delete the file at @var{pathname} on the target. Return 0,
37478 or -1 if an error occurs. @var{pathname} is a string.
37479
37480 @item vFile:readlink: @var{filename}
37481 Read value of symbolic link @var{filename} on the target. Return
37482 the number of bytes read, or -1 if an error occurs.
37483
37484 The data read should be returned as a binary attachment on success.
37485 If zero bytes were read, the response should include an empty binary
37486 attachment (i.e.@: a trailing semicolon). The return value is the
37487 number of target bytes read; the binary attachment may be longer if
37488 some characters were escaped.
37489
37490 @end table
37491
37492 @node Interrupts
37493 @section Interrupts
37494 @cindex interrupts (remote protocol)
37495
37496 When a program on the remote target is running, @value{GDBN} may
37497 attempt to interrupt it by sending a @samp{Ctrl-C}, @code{BREAK} or
37498 a @code{BREAK} followed by @code{g},
37499 control of which is specified via @value{GDBN}'s @samp{interrupt-sequence}.
37500
37501 The precise meaning of @code{BREAK} is defined by the transport
37502 mechanism and may, in fact, be undefined. @value{GDBN} does not
37503 currently define a @code{BREAK} mechanism for any of the network
37504 interfaces except for TCP, in which case @value{GDBN} sends the
37505 @code{telnet} BREAK sequence.
37506
37507 @samp{Ctrl-C}, on the other hand, is defined and implemented for all
37508 transport mechanisms. It is represented by sending the single byte
37509 @code{0x03} without any of the usual packet overhead described in
37510 the Overview section (@pxref{Overview}). When a @code{0x03} byte is
37511 transmitted as part of a packet, it is considered to be packet data
37512 and does @emph{not} represent an interrupt. E.g., an @samp{X} packet
37513 (@pxref{X packet}), used for binary downloads, may include an unescaped
37514 @code{0x03} as part of its packet.
37515
37516 @code{BREAK} followed by @code{g} is also known as Magic SysRq g.
37517 When Linux kernel receives this sequence from serial port,
37518 it stops execution and connects to gdb.
37519
37520 Stubs are not required to recognize these interrupt mechanisms and the
37521 precise meaning associated with receipt of the interrupt is
37522 implementation defined. If the target supports debugging of multiple
37523 threads and/or processes, it should attempt to interrupt all
37524 currently-executing threads and processes.
37525 If the stub is successful at interrupting the
37526 running program, it should send one of the stop
37527 reply packets (@pxref{Stop Reply Packets}) to @value{GDBN} as a result
37528 of successfully stopping the program in all-stop mode, and a stop reply
37529 for each stopped thread in non-stop mode.
37530 Interrupts received while the
37531 program is stopped are discarded.
37532
37533 @node Notification Packets
37534 @section Notification Packets
37535 @cindex notification packets
37536 @cindex packets, notification
37537
37538 The @value{GDBN} remote serial protocol includes @dfn{notifications},
37539 packets that require no acknowledgment. Both the GDB and the stub
37540 may send notifications (although the only notifications defined at
37541 present are sent by the stub). Notifications carry information
37542 without incurring the round-trip latency of an acknowledgment, and so
37543 are useful for low-impact communications where occasional packet loss
37544 is not a problem.
37545
37546 A notification packet has the form @samp{% @var{data} #
37547 @var{checksum}}, where @var{data} is the content of the notification,
37548 and @var{checksum} is a checksum of @var{data}, computed and formatted
37549 as for ordinary @value{GDBN} packets. A notification's @var{data}
37550 never contains @samp{$}, @samp{%} or @samp{#} characters. Upon
37551 receiving a notification, the recipient sends no @samp{+} or @samp{-}
37552 to acknowledge the notification's receipt or to report its corruption.
37553
37554 Every notification's @var{data} begins with a name, which contains no
37555 colon characters, followed by a colon character.
37556
37557 Recipients should silently ignore corrupted notifications and
37558 notifications they do not understand. Recipients should restart
37559 timeout periods on receipt of a well-formed notification, whether or
37560 not they understand it.
37561
37562 Senders should only send the notifications described here when this
37563 protocol description specifies that they are permitted. In the
37564 future, we may extend the protocol to permit existing notifications in
37565 new contexts; this rule helps older senders avoid confusing newer
37566 recipients.
37567
37568 (Older versions of @value{GDBN} ignore bytes received until they see
37569 the @samp{$} byte that begins an ordinary packet, so new stubs may
37570 transmit notifications without fear of confusing older clients. There
37571 are no notifications defined for @value{GDBN} to send at the moment, but we
37572 assume that most older stubs would ignore them, as well.)
37573
37574 The following notification packets from the stub to @value{GDBN} are
37575 defined:
37576
37577 @table @samp
37578 @item Stop: @var{reply}
37579 Report an asynchronous stop event in non-stop mode.
37580 The @var{reply} has the form of a stop reply, as
37581 described in @ref{Stop Reply Packets}. Refer to @ref{Remote Non-Stop},
37582 for information on how these notifications are acknowledged by
37583 @value{GDBN}.
37584 @end table
37585
37586 @node Remote Non-Stop
37587 @section Remote Protocol Support for Non-Stop Mode
37588
37589 @value{GDBN}'s remote protocol supports non-stop debugging of
37590 multi-threaded programs, as described in @ref{Non-Stop Mode}. If the stub
37591 supports non-stop mode, it should report that to @value{GDBN} by including
37592 @samp{QNonStop+} in its @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
37593
37594 @value{GDBN} typically sends a @samp{QNonStop} packet only when
37595 establishing a new connection with the stub. Entering non-stop mode
37596 does not alter the state of any currently-running threads, but targets
37597 must stop all threads in any already-attached processes when entering
37598 all-stop mode. @value{GDBN} uses the @samp{?} packet as necessary to
37599 probe the target state after a mode change.
37600
37601 In non-stop mode, when an attached process encounters an event that
37602 would otherwise be reported with a stop reply, it uses the
37603 asynchronous notification mechanism (@pxref{Notification Packets}) to
37604 inform @value{GDBN}. In contrast to all-stop mode, where all threads
37605 in all processes are stopped when a stop reply is sent, in non-stop
37606 mode only the thread reporting the stop event is stopped. That is,
37607 when reporting a @samp{S} or @samp{T} response to indicate completion
37608 of a step operation, hitting a breakpoint, or a fault, only the
37609 affected thread is stopped; any other still-running threads continue
37610 to run. When reporting a @samp{W} or @samp{X} response, all running
37611 threads belonging to other attached processes continue to run.
37612
37613 Only one stop reply notification at a time may be pending; if
37614 additional stop events occur before @value{GDBN} has acknowledged the
37615 previous notification, they must be queued by the stub for later
37616 synchronous transmission in response to @samp{vStopped} packets from
37617 @value{GDBN}. Because the notification mechanism is unreliable,
37618 the stub is permitted to resend a stop reply notification
37619 if it believes @value{GDBN} may not have received it. @value{GDBN}
37620 ignores additional stop reply notifications received before it has
37621 finished processing a previous notification and the stub has completed
37622 sending any queued stop events.
37623
37624 Otherwise, @value{GDBN} must be prepared to receive a stop reply
37625 notification at any time. Specifically, they may appear when
37626 @value{GDBN} is not otherwise reading input from the stub, or when
37627 @value{GDBN} is expecting to read a normal synchronous response or a
37628 @samp{+}/@samp{-} acknowledgment to a packet it has sent.
37629 Notification packets are distinct from any other communication from
37630 the stub so there is no ambiguity.
37631
37632 After receiving a stop reply notification, @value{GDBN} shall
37633 acknowledge it by sending a @samp{vStopped} packet (@pxref{vStopped packet})
37634 as a regular, synchronous request to the stub. Such acknowledgment
37635 is not required to happen immediately, as @value{GDBN} is permitted to
37636 send other, unrelated packets to the stub first, which the stub should
37637 process normally.
37638
37639 Upon receiving a @samp{vStopped} packet, if the stub has other queued
37640 stop events to report to @value{GDBN}, it shall respond by sending a
37641 normal stop reply response. @value{GDBN} shall then send another
37642 @samp{vStopped} packet to solicit further responses; again, it is
37643 permitted to send other, unrelated packets as well which the stub
37644 should process normally.
37645
37646 If the stub receives a @samp{vStopped} packet and there are no
37647 additional stop events to report, the stub shall return an @samp{OK}
37648 response. At this point, if further stop events occur, the stub shall
37649 send a new stop reply notification, @value{GDBN} shall accept the
37650 notification, and the process shall be repeated.
37651
37652 In non-stop mode, the target shall respond to the @samp{?} packet as
37653 follows. First, any incomplete stop reply notification/@samp{vStopped}
37654 sequence in progress is abandoned. The target must begin a new
37655 sequence reporting stop events for all stopped threads, whether or not
37656 it has previously reported those events to @value{GDBN}. The first
37657 stop reply is sent as a synchronous reply to the @samp{?} packet, and
37658 subsequent stop replies are sent as responses to @samp{vStopped} packets
37659 using the mechanism described above. The target must not send
37660 asynchronous stop reply notifications until the sequence is complete.
37661 If all threads are running when the target receives the @samp{?} packet,
37662 or if the target is not attached to any process, it shall respond
37663 @samp{OK}.
37664
37665 @node Packet Acknowledgment
37666 @section Packet Acknowledgment
37667
37668 @cindex acknowledgment, for @value{GDBN} remote
37669 @cindex packet acknowledgment, for @value{GDBN} remote
37670 By default, when either the host or the target machine receives a packet,
37671 the first response expected is an acknowledgment: either @samp{+} (to indicate
37672 the package was received correctly) or @samp{-} (to request retransmission).
37673 This mechanism allows the @value{GDBN} remote protocol to operate over
37674 unreliable transport mechanisms, such as a serial line.
37675
37676 In cases where the transport mechanism is itself reliable (such as a pipe or
37677 TCP connection), the @samp{+}/@samp{-} acknowledgments are redundant.
37678 It may be desirable to disable them in that case to reduce communication
37679 overhead, or for other reasons. This can be accomplished by means of the
37680 @samp{QStartNoAckMode} packet; @pxref{QStartNoAckMode}.
37681
37682 When in no-acknowledgment mode, neither the stub nor @value{GDBN} shall send or
37683 expect @samp{+}/@samp{-} protocol acknowledgments. The packet
37684 and response format still includes the normal checksum, as described in
37685 @ref{Overview}, but the checksum may be ignored by the receiver.
37686
37687 If the stub supports @samp{QStartNoAckMode} and prefers to operate in
37688 no-acknowledgment mode, it should report that to @value{GDBN}
37689 by including @samp{QStartNoAckMode+} in its response to @samp{qSupported};
37690 @pxref{qSupported}.
37691 If @value{GDBN} also supports @samp{QStartNoAckMode} and it has not been
37692 disabled via the @code{set remote noack-packet off} command
37693 (@pxref{Remote Configuration}),
37694 @value{GDBN} may then send a @samp{QStartNoAckMode} packet to the stub.
37695 Only then may the stub actually turn off packet acknowledgments.
37696 @value{GDBN} sends a final @samp{+} acknowledgment of the stub's @samp{OK}
37697 response, which can be safely ignored by the stub.
37698
37699 Note that @code{set remote noack-packet} command only affects negotiation
37700 between @value{GDBN} and the stub when subsequent connections are made;
37701 it does not affect the protocol acknowledgment state for any current
37702 connection.
37703 Since @samp{+}/@samp{-} acknowledgments are enabled by default when a
37704 new connection is established,
37705 there is also no protocol request to re-enable the acknowledgments
37706 for the current connection, once disabled.
37707
37708 @node Examples
37709 @section Examples
37710
37711 Example sequence of a target being re-started. Notice how the restart
37712 does not get any direct output:
37713
37714 @smallexample
37715 -> @code{R00}
37716 <- @code{+}
37717 @emph{target restarts}
37718 -> @code{?}
37719 <- @code{+}
37720 <- @code{T001:1234123412341234}
37721 -> @code{+}
37722 @end smallexample
37723
37724 Example sequence of a target being stepped by a single instruction:
37725
37726 @smallexample
37727 -> @code{G1445@dots{}}
37728 <- @code{+}
37729 -> @code{s}
37730 <- @code{+}
37731 @emph{time passes}
37732 <- @code{T001:1234123412341234}
37733 -> @code{+}
37734 -> @code{g}
37735 <- @code{+}
37736 <- @code{1455@dots{}}
37737 -> @code{+}
37738 @end smallexample
37739
37740 @node File-I/O Remote Protocol Extension
37741 @section File-I/O Remote Protocol Extension
37742 @cindex File-I/O remote protocol extension
37743
37744 @menu
37745 * File-I/O Overview::
37746 * Protocol Basics::
37747 * The F Request Packet::
37748 * The F Reply Packet::
37749 * The Ctrl-C Message::
37750 * Console I/O::
37751 * List of Supported Calls::
37752 * Protocol-specific Representation of Datatypes::
37753 * Constants::
37754 * File-I/O Examples::
37755 @end menu
37756
37757 @node File-I/O Overview
37758 @subsection File-I/O Overview
37759 @cindex file-i/o overview
37760
37761 The @dfn{File I/O remote protocol extension} (short: File-I/O) allows the
37762 target to use the host's file system and console I/O to perform various
37763 system calls. System calls on the target system are translated into a
37764 remote protocol packet to the host system, which then performs the needed
37765 actions and returns a response packet to the target system.
37766 This simulates file system operations even on targets that lack file systems.
37767
37768 The protocol is defined to be independent of both the host and target systems.
37769 It uses its own internal representation of datatypes and values. Both
37770 @value{GDBN} and the target's @value{GDBN} stub are responsible for
37771 translating the system-dependent value representations into the internal
37772 protocol representations when data is transmitted.
37773
37774 The communication is synchronous. A system call is possible only when
37775 @value{GDBN} is waiting for a response from the @samp{C}, @samp{c}, @samp{S}
37776 or @samp{s} packets. While @value{GDBN} handles the request for a system call,
37777 the target is stopped to allow deterministic access to the target's
37778 memory. Therefore File-I/O is not interruptible by target signals. On
37779 the other hand, it is possible to interrupt File-I/O by a user interrupt
37780 (@samp{Ctrl-C}) within @value{GDBN}.
37781
37782 The target's request to perform a host system call does not finish
37783 the latest @samp{C}, @samp{c}, @samp{S} or @samp{s} action. That means,
37784 after finishing the system call, the target returns to continuing the
37785 previous activity (continue, step). No additional continue or step
37786 request from @value{GDBN} is required.
37787
37788 @smallexample
37789 (@value{GDBP}) continue
37790 <- target requests 'system call X'
37791 target is stopped, @value{GDBN} executes system call
37792 -> @value{GDBN} returns result
37793 ... target continues, @value{GDBN} returns to wait for the target
37794 <- target hits breakpoint and sends a Txx packet
37795 @end smallexample
37796
37797 The protocol only supports I/O on the console and to regular files on
37798 the host file system. Character or block special devices, pipes,
37799 named pipes, sockets or any other communication method on the host
37800 system are not supported by this protocol.
37801
37802 File I/O is not supported in non-stop mode.
37803
37804 @node Protocol Basics
37805 @subsection Protocol Basics
37806 @cindex protocol basics, file-i/o
37807
37808 The File-I/O protocol uses the @code{F} packet as the request as well
37809 as reply packet. Since a File-I/O system call can only occur when
37810 @value{GDBN} is waiting for a response from the continuing or stepping target,
37811 the File-I/O request is a reply that @value{GDBN} has to expect as a result
37812 of a previous @samp{C}, @samp{c}, @samp{S} or @samp{s} packet.
37813 This @code{F} packet contains all information needed to allow @value{GDBN}
37814 to call the appropriate host system call:
37815
37816 @itemize @bullet
37817 @item
37818 A unique identifier for the requested system call.
37819
37820 @item
37821 All parameters to the system call. Pointers are given as addresses
37822 in the target memory address space. Pointers to strings are given as
37823 pointer/length pair. Numerical values are given as they are.
37824 Numerical control flags are given in a protocol-specific representation.
37825
37826 @end itemize
37827
37828 At this point, @value{GDBN} has to perform the following actions.
37829
37830 @itemize @bullet
37831 @item
37832 If the parameters include pointer values to data needed as input to a
37833 system call, @value{GDBN} requests this data from the target with a
37834 standard @code{m} packet request. This additional communication has to be
37835 expected by the target implementation and is handled as any other @code{m}
37836 packet.
37837
37838 @item
37839 @value{GDBN} translates all value from protocol representation to host
37840 representation as needed. Datatypes are coerced into the host types.
37841
37842 @item
37843 @value{GDBN} calls the system call.
37844
37845 @item
37846 It then coerces datatypes back to protocol representation.
37847
37848 @item
37849 If the system call is expected to return data in buffer space specified
37850 by pointer parameters to the call, the data is transmitted to the
37851 target using a @code{M} or @code{X} packet. This packet has to be expected
37852 by the target implementation and is handled as any other @code{M} or @code{X}
37853 packet.
37854
37855 @end itemize
37856
37857 Eventually @value{GDBN} replies with another @code{F} packet which contains all
37858 necessary information for the target to continue. This at least contains
37859
37860 @itemize @bullet
37861 @item
37862 Return value.
37863
37864 @item
37865 @code{errno}, if has been changed by the system call.
37866
37867 @item
37868 ``Ctrl-C'' flag.
37869
37870 @end itemize
37871
37872 After having done the needed type and value coercion, the target continues
37873 the latest continue or step action.
37874
37875 @node The F Request Packet
37876 @subsection The @code{F} Request Packet
37877 @cindex file-i/o request packet
37878 @cindex @code{F} request packet
37879
37880 The @code{F} request packet has the following format:
37881
37882 @table @samp
37883 @item F@var{call-id},@var{parameter@dots{}}
37884
37885 @var{call-id} is the identifier to indicate the host system call to be called.
37886 This is just the name of the function.
37887
37888 @var{parameter@dots{}} are the parameters to the system call.
37889 Parameters are hexadecimal integer values, either the actual values in case
37890 of scalar datatypes, pointers to target buffer space in case of compound
37891 datatypes and unspecified memory areas, or pointer/length pairs in case
37892 of string parameters. These are appended to the @var{call-id} as a
37893 comma-delimited list. All values are transmitted in ASCII
37894 string representation, pointer/length pairs separated by a slash.
37895
37896 @end table
37897
37898
37899
37900 @node The F Reply Packet
37901 @subsection The @code{F} Reply Packet
37902 @cindex file-i/o reply packet
37903 @cindex @code{F} reply packet
37904
37905 The @code{F} reply packet has the following format:
37906
37907 @table @samp
37908
37909 @item F@var{retcode},@var{errno},@var{Ctrl-C flag};@var{call-specific attachment}
37910
37911 @var{retcode} is the return code of the system call as hexadecimal value.
37912
37913 @var{errno} is the @code{errno} set by the call, in protocol-specific
37914 representation.
37915 This parameter can be omitted if the call was successful.
37916
37917 @var{Ctrl-C flag} is only sent if the user requested a break. In this
37918 case, @var{errno} must be sent as well, even if the call was successful.
37919 The @var{Ctrl-C flag} itself consists of the character @samp{C}:
37920
37921 @smallexample
37922 F0,0,C
37923 @end smallexample
37924
37925 @noindent
37926 or, if the call was interrupted before the host call has been performed:
37927
37928 @smallexample
37929 F-1,4,C
37930 @end smallexample
37931
37932 @noindent
37933 assuming 4 is the protocol-specific representation of @code{EINTR}.
37934
37935 @end table
37936
37937
37938 @node The Ctrl-C Message
37939 @subsection The @samp{Ctrl-C} Message
37940 @cindex ctrl-c message, in file-i/o protocol
37941
37942 If the @samp{Ctrl-C} flag is set in the @value{GDBN}
37943 reply packet (@pxref{The F Reply Packet}),
37944 the target should behave as if it had
37945 gotten a break message. The meaning for the target is ``system call
37946 interrupted by @code{SIGINT}''. Consequentially, the target should actually stop
37947 (as with a break message) and return to @value{GDBN} with a @code{T02}
37948 packet.
37949
37950 It's important for the target to know in which
37951 state the system call was interrupted. There are two possible cases:
37952
37953 @itemize @bullet
37954 @item
37955 The system call hasn't been performed on the host yet.
37956
37957 @item
37958 The system call on the host has been finished.
37959
37960 @end itemize
37961
37962 These two states can be distinguished by the target by the value of the
37963 returned @code{errno}. If it's the protocol representation of @code{EINTR}, the system
37964 call hasn't been performed. This is equivalent to the @code{EINTR} handling
37965 on POSIX systems. In any other case, the target may presume that the
37966 system call has been finished --- successfully or not --- and should behave
37967 as if the break message arrived right after the system call.
37968
37969 @value{GDBN} must behave reliably. If the system call has not been called
37970 yet, @value{GDBN} may send the @code{F} reply immediately, setting @code{EINTR} as
37971 @code{errno} in the packet. If the system call on the host has been finished
37972 before the user requests a break, the full action must be finished by
37973 @value{GDBN}. This requires sending @code{M} or @code{X} packets as necessary.
37974 The @code{F} packet may only be sent when either nothing has happened
37975 or the full action has been completed.
37976
37977 @node Console I/O
37978 @subsection Console I/O
37979 @cindex console i/o as part of file-i/o
37980
37981 By default and if not explicitly closed by the target system, the file
37982 descriptors 0, 1 and 2 are connected to the @value{GDBN} console. Output
37983 on the @value{GDBN} console is handled as any other file output operation
37984 (@code{write(1, @dots{})} or @code{write(2, @dots{})}). Console input is handled
37985 by @value{GDBN} so that after the target read request from file descriptor
37986 0 all following typing is buffered until either one of the following
37987 conditions is met:
37988
37989 @itemize @bullet
37990 @item
37991 The user types @kbd{Ctrl-c}. The behaviour is as explained above, and the
37992 @code{read}
37993 system call is treated as finished.
37994
37995 @item
37996 The user presses @key{RET}. This is treated as end of input with a trailing
37997 newline.
37998
37999 @item
38000 The user types @kbd{Ctrl-d}. This is treated as end of input. No trailing
38001 character (neither newline nor @samp{Ctrl-D}) is appended to the input.
38002
38003 @end itemize
38004
38005 If the user has typed more characters than fit in the buffer given to
38006 the @code{read} call, the trailing characters are buffered in @value{GDBN} until
38007 either another @code{read(0, @dots{})} is requested by the target, or debugging
38008 is stopped at the user's request.
38009
38010
38011 @node List of Supported Calls
38012 @subsection List of Supported Calls
38013 @cindex list of supported file-i/o calls
38014
38015 @menu
38016 * open::
38017 * close::
38018 * read::
38019 * write::
38020 * lseek::
38021 * rename::
38022 * unlink::
38023 * stat/fstat::
38024 * gettimeofday::
38025 * isatty::
38026 * system::
38027 @end menu
38028
38029 @node open
38030 @unnumberedsubsubsec open
38031 @cindex open, file-i/o system call
38032
38033 @table @asis
38034 @item Synopsis:
38035 @smallexample
38036 int open(const char *pathname, int flags);
38037 int open(const char *pathname, int flags, mode_t mode);
38038 @end smallexample
38039
38040 @item Request:
38041 @samp{Fopen,@var{pathptr}/@var{len},@var{flags},@var{mode}}
38042
38043 @noindent
38044 @var{flags} is the bitwise @code{OR} of the following values:
38045
38046 @table @code
38047 @item O_CREAT
38048 If the file does not exist it will be created. The host
38049 rules apply as far as file ownership and time stamps
38050 are concerned.
38051
38052 @item O_EXCL
38053 When used with @code{O_CREAT}, if the file already exists it is
38054 an error and open() fails.
38055
38056 @item O_TRUNC
38057 If the file already exists and the open mode allows
38058 writing (@code{O_RDWR} or @code{O_WRONLY} is given) it will be
38059 truncated to zero length.
38060
38061 @item O_APPEND
38062 The file is opened in append mode.
38063
38064 @item O_RDONLY
38065 The file is opened for reading only.
38066
38067 @item O_WRONLY
38068 The file is opened for writing only.
38069
38070 @item O_RDWR
38071 The file is opened for reading and writing.
38072 @end table
38073
38074 @noindent
38075 Other bits are silently ignored.
38076
38077
38078 @noindent
38079 @var{mode} is the bitwise @code{OR} of the following values:
38080
38081 @table @code
38082 @item S_IRUSR
38083 User has read permission.
38084
38085 @item S_IWUSR
38086 User has write permission.
38087
38088 @item S_IRGRP
38089 Group has read permission.
38090
38091 @item S_IWGRP
38092 Group has write permission.
38093
38094 @item S_IROTH
38095 Others have read permission.
38096
38097 @item S_IWOTH
38098 Others have write permission.
38099 @end table
38100
38101 @noindent
38102 Other bits are silently ignored.
38103
38104
38105 @item Return value:
38106 @code{open} returns the new file descriptor or -1 if an error
38107 occurred.
38108
38109 @item Errors:
38110
38111 @table @code
38112 @item EEXIST
38113 @var{pathname} already exists and @code{O_CREAT} and @code{O_EXCL} were used.
38114
38115 @item EISDIR
38116 @var{pathname} refers to a directory.
38117
38118 @item EACCES
38119 The requested access is not allowed.
38120
38121 @item ENAMETOOLONG
38122 @var{pathname} was too long.
38123
38124 @item ENOENT
38125 A directory component in @var{pathname} does not exist.
38126
38127 @item ENODEV
38128 @var{pathname} refers to a device, pipe, named pipe or socket.
38129
38130 @item EROFS
38131 @var{pathname} refers to a file on a read-only filesystem and
38132 write access was requested.
38133
38134 @item EFAULT
38135 @var{pathname} is an invalid pointer value.
38136
38137 @item ENOSPC
38138 No space on device to create the file.
38139
38140 @item EMFILE
38141 The process already has the maximum number of files open.
38142
38143 @item ENFILE
38144 The limit on the total number of files open on the system
38145 has been reached.
38146
38147 @item EINTR
38148 The call was interrupted by the user.
38149 @end table
38150
38151 @end table
38152
38153 @node close
38154 @unnumberedsubsubsec close
38155 @cindex close, file-i/o system call
38156
38157 @table @asis
38158 @item Synopsis:
38159 @smallexample
38160 int close(int fd);
38161 @end smallexample
38162
38163 @item Request:
38164 @samp{Fclose,@var{fd}}
38165
38166 @item Return value:
38167 @code{close} returns zero on success, or -1 if an error occurred.
38168
38169 @item Errors:
38170
38171 @table @code
38172 @item EBADF
38173 @var{fd} isn't a valid open file descriptor.
38174
38175 @item EINTR
38176 The call was interrupted by the user.
38177 @end table
38178
38179 @end table
38180
38181 @node read
38182 @unnumberedsubsubsec read
38183 @cindex read, file-i/o system call
38184
38185 @table @asis
38186 @item Synopsis:
38187 @smallexample
38188 int read(int fd, void *buf, unsigned int count);
38189 @end smallexample
38190
38191 @item Request:
38192 @samp{Fread,@var{fd},@var{bufptr},@var{count}}
38193
38194 @item Return value:
38195 On success, the number of bytes read is returned.
38196 Zero indicates end of file. If count is zero, read
38197 returns zero as well. On error, -1 is returned.
38198
38199 @item Errors:
38200
38201 @table @code
38202 @item EBADF
38203 @var{fd} is not a valid file descriptor or is not open for
38204 reading.
38205
38206 @item EFAULT
38207 @var{bufptr} is an invalid pointer value.
38208
38209 @item EINTR
38210 The call was interrupted by the user.
38211 @end table
38212
38213 @end table
38214
38215 @node write
38216 @unnumberedsubsubsec write
38217 @cindex write, file-i/o system call
38218
38219 @table @asis
38220 @item Synopsis:
38221 @smallexample
38222 int write(int fd, const void *buf, unsigned int count);
38223 @end smallexample
38224
38225 @item Request:
38226 @samp{Fwrite,@var{fd},@var{bufptr},@var{count}}
38227
38228 @item Return value:
38229 On success, the number of bytes written are returned.
38230 Zero indicates nothing was written. On error, -1
38231 is returned.
38232
38233 @item Errors:
38234
38235 @table @code
38236 @item EBADF
38237 @var{fd} is not a valid file descriptor or is not open for
38238 writing.
38239
38240 @item EFAULT
38241 @var{bufptr} is an invalid pointer value.
38242
38243 @item EFBIG
38244 An attempt was made to write a file that exceeds the
38245 host-specific maximum file size allowed.
38246
38247 @item ENOSPC
38248 No space on device to write the data.
38249
38250 @item EINTR
38251 The call was interrupted by the user.
38252 @end table
38253
38254 @end table
38255
38256 @node lseek
38257 @unnumberedsubsubsec lseek
38258 @cindex lseek, file-i/o system call
38259
38260 @table @asis
38261 @item Synopsis:
38262 @smallexample
38263 long lseek (int fd, long offset, int flag);
38264 @end smallexample
38265
38266 @item Request:
38267 @samp{Flseek,@var{fd},@var{offset},@var{flag}}
38268
38269 @var{flag} is one of:
38270
38271 @table @code
38272 @item SEEK_SET
38273 The offset is set to @var{offset} bytes.
38274
38275 @item SEEK_CUR
38276 The offset is set to its current location plus @var{offset}
38277 bytes.
38278
38279 @item SEEK_END
38280 The offset is set to the size of the file plus @var{offset}
38281 bytes.
38282 @end table
38283
38284 @item Return value:
38285 On success, the resulting unsigned offset in bytes from
38286 the beginning of the file is returned. Otherwise, a
38287 value of -1 is returned.
38288
38289 @item Errors:
38290
38291 @table @code
38292 @item EBADF
38293 @var{fd} is not a valid open file descriptor.
38294
38295 @item ESPIPE
38296 @var{fd} is associated with the @value{GDBN} console.
38297
38298 @item EINVAL
38299 @var{flag} is not a proper value.
38300
38301 @item EINTR
38302 The call was interrupted by the user.
38303 @end table
38304
38305 @end table
38306
38307 @node rename
38308 @unnumberedsubsubsec rename
38309 @cindex rename, file-i/o system call
38310
38311 @table @asis
38312 @item Synopsis:
38313 @smallexample
38314 int rename(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath);
38315 @end smallexample
38316
38317 @item Request:
38318 @samp{Frename,@var{oldpathptr}/@var{len},@var{newpathptr}/@var{len}}
38319
38320 @item Return value:
38321 On success, zero is returned. On error, -1 is returned.
38322
38323 @item Errors:
38324
38325 @table @code
38326 @item EISDIR
38327 @var{newpath} is an existing directory, but @var{oldpath} is not a
38328 directory.
38329
38330 @item EEXIST
38331 @var{newpath} is a non-empty directory.
38332
38333 @item EBUSY
38334 @var{oldpath} or @var{newpath} is a directory that is in use by some
38335 process.
38336
38337 @item EINVAL
38338 An attempt was made to make a directory a subdirectory
38339 of itself.
38340
38341 @item ENOTDIR
38342 A component used as a directory in @var{oldpath} or new
38343 path is not a directory. Or @var{oldpath} is a directory
38344 and @var{newpath} exists but is not a directory.
38345
38346 @item EFAULT
38347 @var{oldpathptr} or @var{newpathptr} are invalid pointer values.
38348
38349 @item EACCES
38350 No access to the file or the path of the file.
38351
38352 @item ENAMETOOLONG
38353
38354 @var{oldpath} or @var{newpath} was too long.
38355
38356 @item ENOENT
38357 A directory component in @var{oldpath} or @var{newpath} does not exist.
38358
38359 @item EROFS
38360 The file is on a read-only filesystem.
38361
38362 @item ENOSPC
38363 The device containing the file has no room for the new
38364 directory entry.
38365
38366 @item EINTR
38367 The call was interrupted by the user.
38368 @end table
38369
38370 @end table
38371
38372 @node unlink
38373 @unnumberedsubsubsec unlink
38374 @cindex unlink, file-i/o system call
38375
38376 @table @asis
38377 @item Synopsis:
38378 @smallexample
38379 int unlink(const char *pathname);
38380 @end smallexample
38381
38382 @item Request:
38383 @samp{Funlink,@var{pathnameptr}/@var{len}}
38384
38385 @item Return value:
38386 On success, zero is returned. On error, -1 is returned.
38387
38388 @item Errors:
38389
38390 @table @code
38391 @item EACCES
38392 No access to the file or the path of the file.
38393
38394 @item EPERM
38395 The system does not allow unlinking of directories.
38396
38397 @item EBUSY
38398 The file @var{pathname} cannot be unlinked because it's
38399 being used by another process.
38400
38401 @item EFAULT
38402 @var{pathnameptr} is an invalid pointer value.
38403
38404 @item ENAMETOOLONG
38405 @var{pathname} was too long.
38406
38407 @item ENOENT
38408 A directory component in @var{pathname} does not exist.
38409
38410 @item ENOTDIR
38411 A component of the path is not a directory.
38412
38413 @item EROFS
38414 The file is on a read-only filesystem.
38415
38416 @item EINTR
38417 The call was interrupted by the user.
38418 @end table
38419
38420 @end table
38421
38422 @node stat/fstat
38423 @unnumberedsubsubsec stat/fstat
38424 @cindex fstat, file-i/o system call
38425 @cindex stat, file-i/o system call
38426
38427 @table @asis
38428 @item Synopsis:
38429 @smallexample
38430 int stat(const char *pathname, struct stat *buf);
38431 int fstat(int fd, struct stat *buf);
38432 @end smallexample
38433
38434 @item Request:
38435 @samp{Fstat,@var{pathnameptr}/@var{len},@var{bufptr}}@*
38436 @samp{Ffstat,@var{fd},@var{bufptr}}
38437
38438 @item Return value:
38439 On success, zero is returned. On error, -1 is returned.
38440
38441 @item Errors:
38442
38443 @table @code
38444 @item EBADF
38445 @var{fd} is not a valid open file.
38446
38447 @item ENOENT
38448 A directory component in @var{pathname} does not exist or the
38449 path is an empty string.
38450
38451 @item ENOTDIR
38452 A component of the path is not a directory.
38453
38454 @item EFAULT
38455 @var{pathnameptr} is an invalid pointer value.
38456
38457 @item EACCES
38458 No access to the file or the path of the file.
38459
38460 @item ENAMETOOLONG
38461 @var{pathname} was too long.
38462
38463 @item EINTR
38464 The call was interrupted by the user.
38465 @end table
38466
38467 @end table
38468
38469 @node gettimeofday
38470 @unnumberedsubsubsec gettimeofday
38471 @cindex gettimeofday, file-i/o system call
38472
38473 @table @asis
38474 @item Synopsis:
38475 @smallexample
38476 int gettimeofday(struct timeval *tv, void *tz);
38477 @end smallexample
38478
38479 @item Request:
38480 @samp{Fgettimeofday,@var{tvptr},@var{tzptr}}
38481
38482 @item Return value:
38483 On success, 0 is returned, -1 otherwise.
38484
38485 @item Errors:
38486
38487 @table @code
38488 @item EINVAL
38489 @var{tz} is a non-NULL pointer.
38490
38491 @item EFAULT
38492 @var{tvptr} and/or @var{tzptr} is an invalid pointer value.
38493 @end table
38494
38495 @end table
38496
38497 @node isatty
38498 @unnumberedsubsubsec isatty
38499 @cindex isatty, file-i/o system call
38500
38501 @table @asis
38502 @item Synopsis:
38503 @smallexample
38504 int isatty(int fd);
38505 @end smallexample
38506
38507 @item Request:
38508 @samp{Fisatty,@var{fd}}
38509
38510 @item Return value:
38511 Returns 1 if @var{fd} refers to the @value{GDBN} console, 0 otherwise.
38512
38513 @item Errors:
38514
38515 @table @code
38516 @item EINTR
38517 The call was interrupted by the user.
38518 @end table
38519
38520 @end table
38521
38522 Note that the @code{isatty} call is treated as a special case: it returns
38523 1 to the target if the file descriptor is attached
38524 to the @value{GDBN} console, 0 otherwise. Implementing through system calls
38525 would require implementing @code{ioctl} and would be more complex than
38526 needed.
38527
38528
38529 @node system
38530 @unnumberedsubsubsec system
38531 @cindex system, file-i/o system call
38532
38533 @table @asis
38534 @item Synopsis:
38535 @smallexample
38536 int system(const char *command);
38537 @end smallexample
38538
38539 @item Request:
38540 @samp{Fsystem,@var{commandptr}/@var{len}}
38541
38542 @item Return value:
38543 If @var{len} is zero, the return value indicates whether a shell is
38544 available. A zero return value indicates a shell is not available.
38545 For non-zero @var{len}, the value returned is -1 on error and the
38546 return status of the command otherwise. Only the exit status of the
38547 command is returned, which is extracted from the host's @code{system}
38548 return value by calling @code{WEXITSTATUS(retval)}. In case
38549 @file{/bin/sh} could not be executed, 127 is returned.
38550
38551 @item Errors:
38552
38553 @table @code
38554 @item EINTR
38555 The call was interrupted by the user.
38556 @end table
38557
38558 @end table
38559
38560 @value{GDBN} takes over the full task of calling the necessary host calls
38561 to perform the @code{system} call. The return value of @code{system} on
38562 the host is simplified before it's returned
38563 to the target. Any termination signal information from the child process
38564 is discarded, and the return value consists
38565 entirely of the exit status of the called command.
38566
38567 Due to security concerns, the @code{system} call is by default refused
38568 by @value{GDBN}. The user has to allow this call explicitly with the
38569 @code{set remote system-call-allowed 1} command.
38570
38571 @table @code
38572 @item set remote system-call-allowed
38573 @kindex set remote system-call-allowed
38574 Control whether to allow the @code{system} calls in the File I/O
38575 protocol for the remote target. The default is zero (disabled).
38576
38577 @item show remote system-call-allowed
38578 @kindex show remote system-call-allowed
38579 Show whether the @code{system} calls are allowed in the File I/O
38580 protocol.
38581 @end table
38582
38583 @node Protocol-specific Representation of Datatypes
38584 @subsection Protocol-specific Representation of Datatypes
38585 @cindex protocol-specific representation of datatypes, in file-i/o protocol
38586
38587 @menu
38588 * Integral Datatypes::
38589 * Pointer Values::
38590 * Memory Transfer::
38591 * struct stat::
38592 * struct timeval::
38593 @end menu
38594
38595 @node Integral Datatypes
38596 @unnumberedsubsubsec Integral Datatypes
38597 @cindex integral datatypes, in file-i/o protocol
38598
38599 The integral datatypes used in the system calls are @code{int},
38600 @code{unsigned int}, @code{long}, @code{unsigned long},
38601 @code{mode_t}, and @code{time_t}.
38602
38603 @code{int}, @code{unsigned int}, @code{mode_t} and @code{time_t} are
38604 implemented as 32 bit values in this protocol.
38605
38606 @code{long} and @code{unsigned long} are implemented as 64 bit types.
38607
38608 @xref{Limits}, for corresponding MIN and MAX values (similar to those
38609 in @file{limits.h}) to allow range checking on host and target.
38610
38611 @code{time_t} datatypes are defined as seconds since the Epoch.
38612
38613 All integral datatypes transferred as part of a memory read or write of a
38614 structured datatype e.g.@: a @code{struct stat} have to be given in big endian
38615 byte order.
38616
38617 @node Pointer Values
38618 @unnumberedsubsubsec Pointer Values
38619 @cindex pointer values, in file-i/o protocol
38620
38621 Pointers to target data are transmitted as they are. An exception
38622 is made for pointers to buffers for which the length isn't
38623 transmitted as part of the function call, namely strings. Strings
38624 are transmitted as a pointer/length pair, both as hex values, e.g.@:
38625
38626 @smallexample
38627 @code{1aaf/12}
38628 @end smallexample
38629
38630 @noindent
38631 which is a pointer to data of length 18 bytes at position 0x1aaf.
38632 The length is defined as the full string length in bytes, including
38633 the trailing null byte. For example, the string @code{"hello world"}
38634 at address 0x123456 is transmitted as
38635
38636 @smallexample
38637 @code{123456/d}
38638 @end smallexample
38639
38640 @node Memory Transfer
38641 @unnumberedsubsubsec Memory Transfer
38642 @cindex memory transfer, in file-i/o protocol
38643
38644 Structured data which is transferred using a memory read or write (for
38645 example, a @code{struct stat}) is expected to be in a protocol-specific format
38646 with all scalar multibyte datatypes being big endian. Translation to
38647 this representation needs to be done both by the target before the @code{F}
38648 packet is sent, and by @value{GDBN} before
38649 it transfers memory to the target. Transferred pointers to structured
38650 data should point to the already-coerced data at any time.
38651
38652
38653 @node struct stat
38654 @unnumberedsubsubsec struct stat
38655 @cindex struct stat, in file-i/o protocol
38656
38657 The buffer of type @code{struct stat} used by the target and @value{GDBN}
38658 is defined as follows:
38659
38660 @smallexample
38661 struct stat @{
38662 unsigned int st_dev; /* device */
38663 unsigned int st_ino; /* inode */
38664 mode_t st_mode; /* protection */
38665 unsigned int st_nlink; /* number of hard links */
38666 unsigned int st_uid; /* user ID of owner */
38667 unsigned int st_gid; /* group ID of owner */
38668 unsigned int st_rdev; /* device type (if inode device) */
38669 unsigned long st_size; /* total size, in bytes */
38670 unsigned long st_blksize; /* blocksize for filesystem I/O */
38671 unsigned long st_blocks; /* number of blocks allocated */
38672 time_t st_atime; /* time of last access */
38673 time_t st_mtime; /* time of last modification */
38674 time_t st_ctime; /* time of last change */
38675 @};
38676 @end smallexample
38677
38678 The integral datatypes conform to the definitions given in the
38679 appropriate section (see @ref{Integral Datatypes}, for details) so this
38680 structure is of size 64 bytes.
38681
38682 The values of several fields have a restricted meaning and/or
38683 range of values.
38684
38685 @table @code
38686
38687 @item st_dev
38688 A value of 0 represents a file, 1 the console.
38689
38690 @item st_ino
38691 No valid meaning for the target. Transmitted unchanged.
38692
38693 @item st_mode
38694 Valid mode bits are described in @ref{Constants}. Any other
38695 bits have currently no meaning for the target.
38696
38697 @item st_uid
38698 @itemx st_gid
38699 @itemx st_rdev
38700 No valid meaning for the target. Transmitted unchanged.
38701
38702 @item st_atime
38703 @itemx st_mtime
38704 @itemx st_ctime
38705 These values have a host and file system dependent
38706 accuracy. Especially on Windows hosts, the file system may not
38707 support exact timing values.
38708 @end table
38709
38710 The target gets a @code{struct stat} of the above representation and is
38711 responsible for coercing it to the target representation before
38712 continuing.
38713
38714 Note that due to size differences between the host, target, and protocol
38715 representations of @code{struct stat} members, these members could eventually
38716 get truncated on the target.
38717
38718 @node struct timeval
38719 @unnumberedsubsubsec struct timeval
38720 @cindex struct timeval, in file-i/o protocol
38721
38722 The buffer of type @code{struct timeval} used by the File-I/O protocol
38723 is defined as follows:
38724
38725 @smallexample
38726 struct timeval @{
38727 time_t tv_sec; /* second */
38728 long tv_usec; /* microsecond */
38729 @};
38730 @end smallexample
38731
38732 The integral datatypes conform to the definitions given in the
38733 appropriate section (see @ref{Integral Datatypes}, for details) so this
38734 structure is of size 8 bytes.
38735
38736 @node Constants
38737 @subsection Constants
38738 @cindex constants, in file-i/o protocol
38739
38740 The following values are used for the constants inside of the
38741 protocol. @value{GDBN} and target are responsible for translating these
38742 values before and after the call as needed.
38743
38744 @menu
38745 * Open Flags::
38746 * mode_t Values::
38747 * Errno Values::
38748 * Lseek Flags::
38749 * Limits::
38750 @end menu
38751
38752 @node Open Flags
38753 @unnumberedsubsubsec Open Flags
38754 @cindex open flags, in file-i/o protocol
38755
38756 All values are given in hexadecimal representation.
38757
38758 @smallexample
38759 O_RDONLY 0x0
38760 O_WRONLY 0x1
38761 O_RDWR 0x2
38762 O_APPEND 0x8
38763 O_CREAT 0x200
38764 O_TRUNC 0x400
38765 O_EXCL 0x800
38766 @end smallexample
38767
38768 @node mode_t Values
38769 @unnumberedsubsubsec mode_t Values
38770 @cindex mode_t values, in file-i/o protocol
38771
38772 All values are given in octal representation.
38773
38774 @smallexample
38775 S_IFREG 0100000
38776 S_IFDIR 040000
38777 S_IRUSR 0400
38778 S_IWUSR 0200
38779 S_IXUSR 0100
38780 S_IRGRP 040
38781 S_IWGRP 020
38782 S_IXGRP 010
38783 S_IROTH 04
38784 S_IWOTH 02
38785 S_IXOTH 01
38786 @end smallexample
38787
38788 @node Errno Values
38789 @unnumberedsubsubsec Errno Values
38790 @cindex errno values, in file-i/o protocol
38791
38792 All values are given in decimal representation.
38793
38794 @smallexample
38795 EPERM 1
38796 ENOENT 2
38797 EINTR 4
38798 EBADF 9
38799 EACCES 13
38800 EFAULT 14
38801 EBUSY 16
38802 EEXIST 17
38803 ENODEV 19
38804 ENOTDIR 20
38805 EISDIR 21
38806 EINVAL 22
38807 ENFILE 23
38808 EMFILE 24
38809 EFBIG 27
38810 ENOSPC 28
38811 ESPIPE 29
38812 EROFS 30
38813 ENAMETOOLONG 91
38814 EUNKNOWN 9999
38815 @end smallexample
38816
38817 @code{EUNKNOWN} is used as a fallback error value if a host system returns
38818 any error value not in the list of supported error numbers.
38819
38820 @node Lseek Flags
38821 @unnumberedsubsubsec Lseek Flags
38822 @cindex lseek flags, in file-i/o protocol
38823
38824 @smallexample
38825 SEEK_SET 0
38826 SEEK_CUR 1
38827 SEEK_END 2
38828 @end smallexample
38829
38830 @node Limits
38831 @unnumberedsubsubsec Limits
38832 @cindex limits, in file-i/o protocol
38833
38834 All values are given in decimal representation.
38835
38836 @smallexample
38837 INT_MIN -2147483648
38838 INT_MAX 2147483647
38839 UINT_MAX 4294967295
38840 LONG_MIN -9223372036854775808
38841 LONG_MAX 9223372036854775807
38842 ULONG_MAX 18446744073709551615
38843 @end smallexample
38844
38845 @node File-I/O Examples
38846 @subsection File-I/O Examples
38847 @cindex file-i/o examples
38848
38849 Example sequence of a write call, file descriptor 3, buffer is at target
38850 address 0x1234, 6 bytes should be written:
38851
38852 @smallexample
38853 <- @code{Fwrite,3,1234,6}
38854 @emph{request memory read from target}
38855 -> @code{m1234,6}
38856 <- XXXXXX
38857 @emph{return "6 bytes written"}
38858 -> @code{F6}
38859 @end smallexample
38860
38861 Example sequence of a read call, file descriptor 3, buffer is at target
38862 address 0x1234, 6 bytes should be read:
38863
38864 @smallexample
38865 <- @code{Fread,3,1234,6}
38866 @emph{request memory write to target}
38867 -> @code{X1234,6:XXXXXX}
38868 @emph{return "6 bytes read"}
38869 -> @code{F6}
38870 @end smallexample
38871
38872 Example sequence of a read call, call fails on the host due to invalid
38873 file descriptor (@code{EBADF}):
38874
38875 @smallexample
38876 <- @code{Fread,3,1234,6}
38877 -> @code{F-1,9}
38878 @end smallexample
38879
38880 Example sequence of a read call, user presses @kbd{Ctrl-c} before syscall on
38881 host is called:
38882
38883 @smallexample
38884 <- @code{Fread,3,1234,6}
38885 -> @code{F-1,4,C}
38886 <- @code{T02}
38887 @end smallexample
38888
38889 Example sequence of a read call, user presses @kbd{Ctrl-c} after syscall on
38890 host is called:
38891
38892 @smallexample
38893 <- @code{Fread,3,1234,6}
38894 -> @code{X1234,6:XXXXXX}
38895 <- @code{T02}
38896 @end smallexample
38897
38898 @node Library List Format
38899 @section Library List Format
38900 @cindex library list format, remote protocol
38901
38902 On some platforms, a dynamic loader (e.g.@: @file{ld.so}) runs in the
38903 same process as your application to manage libraries. In this case,
38904 @value{GDBN} can use the loader's symbol table and normal memory
38905 operations to maintain a list of shared libraries. On other
38906 platforms, the operating system manages loaded libraries.
38907 @value{GDBN} can not retrieve the list of currently loaded libraries
38908 through memory operations, so it uses the @samp{qXfer:libraries:read}
38909 packet (@pxref{qXfer library list read}) instead. The remote stub
38910 queries the target's operating system and reports which libraries
38911 are loaded.
38912
38913 The @samp{qXfer:libraries:read} packet returns an XML document which
38914 lists loaded libraries and their offsets. Each library has an
38915 associated name and one or more segment or section base addresses,
38916 which report where the library was loaded in memory.
38917
38918 For the common case of libraries that are fully linked binaries, the
38919 library should have a list of segments. If the target supports
38920 dynamic linking of a relocatable object file, its library XML element
38921 should instead include a list of allocated sections. The segment or
38922 section bases are start addresses, not relocation offsets; they do not
38923 depend on the library's link-time base addresses.
38924
38925 @value{GDBN} must be linked with the Expat library to support XML
38926 library lists. @xref{Expat}.
38927
38928 A simple memory map, with one loaded library relocated by a single
38929 offset, looks like this:
38930
38931 @smallexample
38932 <library-list>
38933 <library name="/lib/libc.so.6">
38934 <segment address="0x10000000"/>
38935 </library>
38936 </library-list>
38937 @end smallexample
38938
38939 Another simple memory map, with one loaded library with three
38940 allocated sections (.text, .data, .bss), looks like this:
38941
38942 @smallexample
38943 <library-list>
38944 <library name="sharedlib.o">
38945 <section address="0x10000000"/>
38946 <section address="0x20000000"/>
38947 <section address="0x30000000"/>
38948 </library>
38949 </library-list>
38950 @end smallexample
38951
38952 The format of a library list is described by this DTD:
38953
38954 @smallexample
38955 <!-- library-list: Root element with versioning -->
38956 <!ELEMENT library-list (library)*>
38957 <!ATTLIST library-list version CDATA #FIXED "1.0">
38958 <!ELEMENT library (segment*, section*)>
38959 <!ATTLIST library name CDATA #REQUIRED>
38960 <!ELEMENT segment EMPTY>
38961 <!ATTLIST segment address CDATA #REQUIRED>
38962 <!ELEMENT section EMPTY>
38963 <!ATTLIST section address CDATA #REQUIRED>
38964 @end smallexample
38965
38966 In addition, segments and section descriptors cannot be mixed within a
38967 single library element, and you must supply at least one segment or
38968 section for each library.
38969
38970 @node Library List Format for SVR4 Targets
38971 @section Library List Format for SVR4 Targets
38972 @cindex library list format, remote protocol
38973
38974 On SVR4 platforms @value{GDBN} can use the symbol table of a dynamic loader
38975 (e.g.@: @file{ld.so}) and normal memory operations to maintain a list of
38976 shared libraries. Still a special library list provided by this packet is
38977 more efficient for the @value{GDBN} remote protocol.
38978
38979 The @samp{qXfer:libraries-svr4:read} packet returns an XML document which lists
38980 loaded libraries and their SVR4 linker parameters. For each library on SVR4
38981 target, the following parameters are reported:
38982
38983 @itemize @minus
38984 @item
38985 @code{name}, the absolute file name from the @code{l_name} field of
38986 @code{struct link_map}.
38987 @item
38988 @code{lm} with address of @code{struct link_map} used for TLS
38989 (Thread Local Storage) access.
38990 @item
38991 @code{l_addr}, the displacement as read from the field @code{l_addr} of
38992 @code{struct link_map}. For prelinked libraries this is not an absolute
38993 memory address. It is a displacement of absolute memory address against
38994 address the file was prelinked to during the library load.
38995 @item
38996 @code{l_ld}, which is memory address of the @code{PT_DYNAMIC} segment
38997 @end itemize
38998
38999 Additionally the single @code{main-lm} attribute specifies address of
39000 @code{struct link_map} used for the main executable. This parameter is used
39001 for TLS access and its presence is optional.
39002
39003 @value{GDBN} must be linked with the Expat library to support XML
39004 SVR4 library lists. @xref{Expat}.
39005
39006 A simple memory map, with two loaded libraries (which do not use prelink),
39007 looks like this:
39008
39009 @smallexample
39010 <library-list-svr4 version="1.0" main-lm="0xe4f8f8">
39011 <library name="/lib/ld-linux.so.2" lm="0xe4f51c" l_addr="0xe2d000"
39012 l_ld="0xe4eefc"/>
39013 <library name="/lib/libc.so.6" lm="0xe4fbe8" l_addr="0x154000"
39014 l_ld="0x152350"/>
39015 </library-list-svr>
39016 @end smallexample
39017
39018 The format of an SVR4 library list is described by this DTD:
39019
39020 @smallexample
39021 <!-- library-list-svr4: Root element with versioning -->
39022 <!ELEMENT library-list-svr4 (library)*>
39023 <!ATTLIST library-list-svr4 version CDATA #FIXED "1.0">
39024 <!ATTLIST library-list-svr4 main-lm CDATA #IMPLIED>
39025 <!ELEMENT library EMPTY>
39026 <!ATTLIST library name CDATA #REQUIRED>
39027 <!ATTLIST library lm CDATA #REQUIRED>
39028 <!ATTLIST library l_addr CDATA #REQUIRED>
39029 <!ATTLIST library l_ld CDATA #REQUIRED>
39030 @end smallexample
39031
39032 @node Memory Map Format
39033 @section Memory Map Format
39034 @cindex memory map format
39035
39036 To be able to write into flash memory, @value{GDBN} needs to obtain a
39037 memory map from the target. This section describes the format of the
39038 memory map.
39039
39040 The memory map is obtained using the @samp{qXfer:memory-map:read}
39041 (@pxref{qXfer memory map read}) packet and is an XML document that
39042 lists memory regions.
39043
39044 @value{GDBN} must be linked with the Expat library to support XML
39045 memory maps. @xref{Expat}.
39046
39047 The top-level structure of the document is shown below:
39048
39049 @smallexample
39050 <?xml version="1.0"?>
39051 <!DOCTYPE memory-map
39052 PUBLIC "+//IDN gnu.org//DTD GDB Memory Map V1.0//EN"
39053 "http://sourceware.org/gdb/gdb-memory-map.dtd">
39054 <memory-map>
39055 region...
39056 </memory-map>
39057 @end smallexample
39058
39059 Each region can be either:
39060
39061 @itemize
39062
39063 @item
39064 A region of RAM starting at @var{addr} and extending for @var{length}
39065 bytes from there:
39066
39067 @smallexample
39068 <memory type="ram" start="@var{addr}" length="@var{length}"/>
39069 @end smallexample
39070
39071
39072 @item
39073 A region of read-only memory:
39074
39075 @smallexample
39076 <memory type="rom" start="@var{addr}" length="@var{length}"/>
39077 @end smallexample
39078
39079
39080 @item
39081 A region of flash memory, with erasure blocks @var{blocksize}
39082 bytes in length:
39083
39084 @smallexample
39085 <memory type="flash" start="@var{addr}" length="@var{length}">
39086 <property name="blocksize">@var{blocksize}</property>
39087 </memory>
39088 @end smallexample
39089
39090 @end itemize
39091
39092 Regions must not overlap. @value{GDBN} assumes that areas of memory not covered
39093 by the memory map are RAM, and uses the ordinary @samp{M} and @samp{X}
39094 packets to write to addresses in such ranges.
39095
39096 The formal DTD for memory map format is given below:
39097
39098 @smallexample
39099 <!-- ................................................... -->
39100 <!-- Memory Map XML DTD ................................ -->
39101 <!-- File: memory-map.dtd .............................. -->
39102 <!-- .................................... .............. -->
39103 <!-- memory-map.dtd -->
39104 <!-- memory-map: Root element with versioning -->
39105 <!ELEMENT memory-map (memory | property)>
39106 <!ATTLIST memory-map version CDATA #FIXED "1.0.0">
39107 <!ELEMENT memory (property)>
39108 <!-- memory: Specifies a memory region,
39109 and its type, or device. -->
39110 <!ATTLIST memory type CDATA #REQUIRED
39111 start CDATA #REQUIRED
39112 length CDATA #REQUIRED
39113 device CDATA #IMPLIED>
39114 <!-- property: Generic attribute tag -->
39115 <!ELEMENT property (#PCDATA | property)*>
39116 <!ATTLIST property name CDATA #REQUIRED>
39117 @end smallexample
39118
39119 @node Thread List Format
39120 @section Thread List Format
39121 @cindex thread list format
39122
39123 To efficiently update the list of threads and their attributes,
39124 @value{GDBN} issues the @samp{qXfer:threads:read} packet
39125 (@pxref{qXfer threads read}) and obtains the XML document with
39126 the following structure:
39127
39128 @smallexample
39129 <?xml version="1.0"?>
39130 <threads>
39131 <thread id="id" core="0">
39132 ... description ...
39133 </thread>
39134 </threads>
39135 @end smallexample
39136
39137 Each @samp{thread} element must have the @samp{id} attribute that
39138 identifies the thread (@pxref{thread-id syntax}). The
39139 @samp{core} attribute, if present, specifies which processor core
39140 the thread was last executing on. The content of the of @samp{thread}
39141 element is interpreted as human-readable auxilliary information.
39142
39143 @node Traceframe Info Format
39144 @section Traceframe Info Format
39145 @cindex traceframe info format
39146
39147 To be able to know which objects in the inferior can be examined when
39148 inspecting a tracepoint hit, @value{GDBN} needs to obtain the list of
39149 memory ranges, registers and trace state variables that have been
39150 collected in a traceframe.
39151
39152 This list is obtained using the @samp{qXfer:traceframe-info:read}
39153 (@pxref{qXfer traceframe info read}) packet and is an XML document.
39154
39155 @value{GDBN} must be linked with the Expat library to support XML
39156 traceframe info discovery. @xref{Expat}.
39157
39158 The top-level structure of the document is shown below:
39159
39160 @smallexample
39161 <?xml version="1.0"?>
39162 <!DOCTYPE traceframe-info
39163 PUBLIC "+//IDN gnu.org//DTD GDB Memory Map V1.0//EN"
39164 "http://sourceware.org/gdb/gdb-traceframe-info.dtd">
39165 <traceframe-info>
39166 block...
39167 </traceframe-info>
39168 @end smallexample
39169
39170 Each traceframe block can be either:
39171
39172 @itemize
39173
39174 @item
39175 A region of collected memory starting at @var{addr} and extending for
39176 @var{length} bytes from there:
39177
39178 @smallexample
39179 <memory start="@var{addr}" length="@var{length}"/>
39180 @end smallexample
39181
39182 @end itemize
39183
39184 The formal DTD for the traceframe info format is given below:
39185
39186 @smallexample
39187 <!ELEMENT traceframe-info (memory)* >
39188 <!ATTLIST traceframe-info version CDATA #FIXED "1.0">
39189
39190 <!ELEMENT memory EMPTY>
39191 <!ATTLIST memory start CDATA #REQUIRED
39192 length CDATA #REQUIRED>
39193 @end smallexample
39194
39195 @include agentexpr.texi
39196
39197 @node Target Descriptions
39198 @appendix Target Descriptions
39199 @cindex target descriptions
39200
39201 One of the challenges of using @value{GDBN} to debug embedded systems
39202 is that there are so many minor variants of each processor
39203 architecture in use. It is common practice for vendors to start with
39204 a standard processor core --- ARM, PowerPC, or MIPS, for example ---
39205 and then make changes to adapt it to a particular market niche. Some
39206 architectures have hundreds of variants, available from dozens of
39207 vendors. This leads to a number of problems:
39208
39209 @itemize @bullet
39210 @item
39211 With so many different customized processors, it is difficult for
39212 the @value{GDBN} maintainers to keep up with the changes.
39213 @item
39214 Since individual variants may have short lifetimes or limited
39215 audiences, it may not be worthwhile to carry information about every
39216 variant in the @value{GDBN} source tree.
39217 @item
39218 When @value{GDBN} does support the architecture of the embedded system
39219 at hand, the task of finding the correct architecture name to give the
39220 @command{set architecture} command can be error-prone.
39221 @end itemize
39222
39223 To address these problems, the @value{GDBN} remote protocol allows a
39224 target system to not only identify itself to @value{GDBN}, but to
39225 actually describe its own features. This lets @value{GDBN} support
39226 processor variants it has never seen before --- to the extent that the
39227 descriptions are accurate, and that @value{GDBN} understands them.
39228
39229 @value{GDBN} must be linked with the Expat library to support XML
39230 target descriptions. @xref{Expat}.
39231
39232 @menu
39233 * Retrieving Descriptions:: How descriptions are fetched from a target.
39234 * Target Description Format:: The contents of a target description.
39235 * Predefined Target Types:: Standard types available for target
39236 descriptions.
39237 * Standard Target Features:: Features @value{GDBN} knows about.
39238 @end menu
39239
39240 @node Retrieving Descriptions
39241 @section Retrieving Descriptions
39242
39243 Target descriptions can be read from the target automatically, or
39244 specified by the user manually. The default behavior is to read the
39245 description from the target. @value{GDBN} retrieves it via the remote
39246 protocol using @samp{qXfer} requests (@pxref{General Query Packets,
39247 qXfer}). The @var{annex} in the @samp{qXfer} packet will be
39248 @samp{target.xml}. The contents of the @samp{target.xml} annex are an
39249 XML document, of the form described in @ref{Target Description
39250 Format}.
39251
39252 Alternatively, you can specify a file to read for the target description.
39253 If a file is set, the target will not be queried. The commands to
39254 specify a file are:
39255
39256 @table @code
39257 @cindex set tdesc filename
39258 @item set tdesc filename @var{path}
39259 Read the target description from @var{path}.
39260
39261 @cindex unset tdesc filename
39262 @item unset tdesc filename
39263 Do not read the XML target description from a file. @value{GDBN}
39264 will use the description supplied by the current target.
39265
39266 @cindex show tdesc filename
39267 @item show tdesc filename
39268 Show the filename to read for a target description, if any.
39269 @end table
39270
39271
39272 @node Target Description Format
39273 @section Target Description Format
39274 @cindex target descriptions, XML format
39275
39276 A target description annex is an @uref{http://www.w3.org/XML/, XML}
39277 document which complies with the Document Type Definition provided in
39278 the @value{GDBN} sources in @file{gdb/features/gdb-target.dtd}. This
39279 means you can use generally available tools like @command{xmllint} to
39280 check that your feature descriptions are well-formed and valid.
39281 However, to help people unfamiliar with XML write descriptions for
39282 their targets, we also describe the grammar here.
39283
39284 Target descriptions can identify the architecture of the remote target
39285 and (for some architectures) provide information about custom register
39286 sets. They can also identify the OS ABI of the remote target.
39287 @value{GDBN} can use this information to autoconfigure for your
39288 target, or to warn you if you connect to an unsupported target.
39289
39290 Here is a simple target description:
39291
39292 @smallexample
39293 <target version="1.0">
39294 <architecture>i386:x86-64</architecture>
39295 </target>
39296 @end smallexample
39297
39298 @noindent
39299 This minimal description only says that the target uses
39300 the x86-64 architecture.
39301
39302 A target description has the following overall form, with [ ] marking
39303 optional elements and @dots{} marking repeatable elements. The elements
39304 are explained further below.
39305
39306 @smallexample
39307 <?xml version="1.0"?>
39308 <!DOCTYPE target SYSTEM "gdb-target.dtd">
39309 <target version="1.0">
39310 @r{[}@var{architecture}@r{]}
39311 @r{[}@var{osabi}@r{]}
39312 @r{[}@var{compatible}@r{]}
39313 @r{[}@var{feature}@dots{}@r{]}
39314 </target>
39315 @end smallexample
39316
39317 @noindent
39318 The description is generally insensitive to whitespace and line
39319 breaks, under the usual common-sense rules. The XML version
39320 declaration and document type declaration can generally be omitted
39321 (@value{GDBN} does not require them), but specifying them may be
39322 useful for XML validation tools. The @samp{version} attribute for
39323 @samp{<target>} may also be omitted, but we recommend
39324 including it; if future versions of @value{GDBN} use an incompatible
39325 revision of @file{gdb-target.dtd}, they will detect and report
39326 the version mismatch.
39327
39328 @subsection Inclusion
39329 @cindex target descriptions, inclusion
39330 @cindex XInclude
39331 @ifnotinfo
39332 @cindex <xi:include>
39333 @end ifnotinfo
39334
39335 It can sometimes be valuable to split a target description up into
39336 several different annexes, either for organizational purposes, or to
39337 share files between different possible target descriptions. You can
39338 divide a description into multiple files by replacing any element of
39339 the target description with an inclusion directive of the form:
39340
39341 @smallexample
39342 <xi:include href="@var{document}"/>
39343 @end smallexample
39344
39345 @noindent
39346 When @value{GDBN} encounters an element of this form, it will retrieve
39347 the named XML @var{document}, and replace the inclusion directive with
39348 the contents of that document. If the current description was read
39349 using @samp{qXfer}, then so will be the included document;
39350 @var{document} will be interpreted as the name of an annex. If the
39351 current description was read from a file, @value{GDBN} will look for
39352 @var{document} as a file in the same directory where it found the
39353 original description.
39354
39355 @subsection Architecture
39356 @cindex <architecture>
39357
39358 An @samp{<architecture>} element has this form:
39359
39360 @smallexample
39361 <architecture>@var{arch}</architecture>
39362 @end smallexample
39363
39364 @var{arch} is one of the architectures from the set accepted by
39365 @code{set architecture} (@pxref{Targets, ,Specifying a Debugging Target}).
39366
39367 @subsection OS ABI
39368 @cindex @code{<osabi>}
39369
39370 This optional field was introduced in @value{GDBN} version 7.0.
39371 Previous versions of @value{GDBN} ignore it.
39372
39373 An @samp{<osabi>} element has this form:
39374
39375 @smallexample
39376 <osabi>@var{abi-name}</osabi>
39377 @end smallexample
39378
39379 @var{abi-name} is an OS ABI name from the same selection accepted by
39380 @w{@code{set osabi}} (@pxref{ABI, ,Configuring the Current ABI}).
39381
39382 @subsection Compatible Architecture
39383 @cindex @code{<compatible>}
39384
39385 This optional field was introduced in @value{GDBN} version 7.0.
39386 Previous versions of @value{GDBN} ignore it.
39387
39388 A @samp{<compatible>} element has this form:
39389
39390 @smallexample
39391 <compatible>@var{arch}</compatible>
39392 @end smallexample
39393
39394 @var{arch} is one of the architectures from the set accepted by
39395 @code{set architecture} (@pxref{Targets, ,Specifying a Debugging Target}).
39396
39397 A @samp{<compatible>} element is used to specify that the target
39398 is able to run binaries in some other than the main target architecture
39399 given by the @samp{<architecture>} element. For example, on the
39400 Cell Broadband Engine, the main architecture is @code{powerpc:common}
39401 or @code{powerpc:common64}, but the system is able to run binaries
39402 in the @code{spu} architecture as well. The way to describe this
39403 capability with @samp{<compatible>} is as follows:
39404
39405 @smallexample
39406 <architecture>powerpc:common</architecture>
39407 <compatible>spu</compatible>
39408 @end smallexample
39409
39410 @subsection Features
39411 @cindex <feature>
39412
39413 Each @samp{<feature>} describes some logical portion of the target
39414 system. Features are currently used to describe available CPU
39415 registers and the types of their contents. A @samp{<feature>} element
39416 has this form:
39417
39418 @smallexample
39419 <feature name="@var{name}">
39420 @r{[}@var{type}@dots{}@r{]}
39421 @var{reg}@dots{}
39422 </feature>
39423 @end smallexample
39424
39425 @noindent
39426 Each feature's name should be unique within the description. The name
39427 of a feature does not matter unless @value{GDBN} has some special
39428 knowledge of the contents of that feature; if it does, the feature
39429 should have its standard name. @xref{Standard Target Features}.
39430
39431 @subsection Types
39432
39433 Any register's value is a collection of bits which @value{GDBN} must
39434 interpret. The default interpretation is a two's complement integer,
39435 but other types can be requested by name in the register description.
39436 Some predefined types are provided by @value{GDBN} (@pxref{Predefined
39437 Target Types}), and the description can define additional composite types.
39438
39439 Each type element must have an @samp{id} attribute, which gives
39440 a unique (within the containing @samp{<feature>}) name to the type.
39441 Types must be defined before they are used.
39442
39443 @cindex <vector>
39444 Some targets offer vector registers, which can be treated as arrays
39445 of scalar elements. These types are written as @samp{<vector>} elements,
39446 specifying the array element type, @var{type}, and the number of elements,
39447 @var{count}:
39448
39449 @smallexample
39450 <vector id="@var{id}" type="@var{type}" count="@var{count}"/>
39451 @end smallexample
39452
39453 @cindex <union>
39454 If a register's value is usefully viewed in multiple ways, define it
39455 with a union type containing the useful representations. The
39456 @samp{<union>} element contains one or more @samp{<field>} elements,
39457 each of which has a @var{name} and a @var{type}:
39458
39459 @smallexample
39460 <union id="@var{id}">
39461 <field name="@var{name}" type="@var{type}"/>
39462 @dots{}
39463 </union>
39464 @end smallexample
39465
39466 @cindex <struct>
39467 If a register's value is composed from several separate values, define
39468 it with a structure type. There are two forms of the @samp{<struct>}
39469 element; a @samp{<struct>} element must either contain only bitfields
39470 or contain no bitfields. If the structure contains only bitfields,
39471 its total size in bytes must be specified, each bitfield must have an
39472 explicit start and end, and bitfields are automatically assigned an
39473 integer type. The field's @var{start} should be less than or
39474 equal to its @var{end}, and zero represents the least significant bit.
39475
39476 @smallexample
39477 <struct id="@var{id}" size="@var{size}">
39478 <field name="@var{name}" start="@var{start}" end="@var{end}"/>
39479 @dots{}
39480 </struct>
39481 @end smallexample
39482
39483 If the structure contains no bitfields, then each field has an
39484 explicit type, and no implicit padding is added.
39485
39486 @smallexample
39487 <struct id="@var{id}">
39488 <field name="@var{name}" type="@var{type}"/>
39489 @dots{}
39490 </struct>
39491 @end smallexample
39492
39493 @cindex <flags>
39494 If a register's value is a series of single-bit flags, define it with
39495 a flags type. The @samp{<flags>} element has an explicit @var{size}
39496 and contains one or more @samp{<field>} elements. Each field has a
39497 @var{name}, a @var{start}, and an @var{end}. Only single-bit flags
39498 are supported.
39499
39500 @smallexample
39501 <flags id="@var{id}" size="@var{size}">
39502 <field name="@var{name}" start="@var{start}" end="@var{end}"/>
39503 @dots{}
39504 </flags>
39505 @end smallexample
39506
39507 @subsection Registers
39508 @cindex <reg>
39509
39510 Each register is represented as an element with this form:
39511
39512 @smallexample
39513 <reg name="@var{name}"
39514 bitsize="@var{size}"
39515 @r{[}regnum="@var{num}"@r{]}
39516 @r{[}save-restore="@var{save-restore}"@r{]}
39517 @r{[}type="@var{type}"@r{]}
39518 @r{[}group="@var{group}"@r{]}/>
39519 @end smallexample
39520
39521 @noindent
39522 The components are as follows:
39523
39524 @table @var
39525
39526 @item name
39527 The register's name; it must be unique within the target description.
39528
39529 @item bitsize
39530 The register's size, in bits.
39531
39532 @item regnum
39533 The register's number. If omitted, a register's number is one greater
39534 than that of the previous register (either in the current feature or in
39535 a preceding feature); the first register in the target description
39536 defaults to zero. This register number is used to read or write
39537 the register; e.g.@: it is used in the remote @code{p} and @code{P}
39538 packets, and registers appear in the @code{g} and @code{G} packets
39539 in order of increasing register number.
39540
39541 @item save-restore
39542 Whether the register should be preserved across inferior function
39543 calls; this must be either @code{yes} or @code{no}. The default is
39544 @code{yes}, which is appropriate for most registers except for
39545 some system control registers; this is not related to the target's
39546 ABI.
39547
39548 @item type
39549 The type of the register. @var{type} may be a predefined type, a type
39550 defined in the current feature, or one of the special types @code{int}
39551 and @code{float}. @code{int} is an integer type of the correct size
39552 for @var{bitsize}, and @code{float} is a floating point type (in the
39553 architecture's normal floating point format) of the correct size for
39554 @var{bitsize}. The default is @code{int}.
39555
39556 @item group
39557 The register group to which this register belongs. @var{group} must
39558 be either @code{general}, @code{float}, or @code{vector}. If no
39559 @var{group} is specified, @value{GDBN} will not display the register
39560 in @code{info registers}.
39561
39562 @end table
39563
39564 @node Predefined Target Types
39565 @section Predefined Target Types
39566 @cindex target descriptions, predefined types
39567
39568 Type definitions in the self-description can build up composite types
39569 from basic building blocks, but can not define fundamental types. Instead,
39570 standard identifiers are provided by @value{GDBN} for the fundamental
39571 types. The currently supported types are:
39572
39573 @table @code
39574
39575 @item int8
39576 @itemx int16
39577 @itemx int32
39578 @itemx int64
39579 @itemx int128
39580 Signed integer types holding the specified number of bits.
39581
39582 @item uint8
39583 @itemx uint16
39584 @itemx uint32
39585 @itemx uint64
39586 @itemx uint128
39587 Unsigned integer types holding the specified number of bits.
39588
39589 @item code_ptr
39590 @itemx data_ptr
39591 Pointers to unspecified code and data. The program counter and
39592 any dedicated return address register may be marked as code
39593 pointers; printing a code pointer converts it into a symbolic
39594 address. The stack pointer and any dedicated address registers
39595 may be marked as data pointers.
39596
39597 @item ieee_single
39598 Single precision IEEE floating point.
39599
39600 @item ieee_double
39601 Double precision IEEE floating point.
39602
39603 @item arm_fpa_ext
39604 The 12-byte extended precision format used by ARM FPA registers.
39605
39606 @item i387_ext
39607 The 10-byte extended precision format used by x87 registers.
39608
39609 @item i386_eflags
39610 32bit @sc{eflags} register used by x86.
39611
39612 @item i386_mxcsr
39613 32bit @sc{mxcsr} register used by x86.
39614
39615 @end table
39616
39617 @node Standard Target Features
39618 @section Standard Target Features
39619 @cindex target descriptions, standard features
39620
39621 A target description must contain either no registers or all the
39622 target's registers. If the description contains no registers, then
39623 @value{GDBN} will assume a default register layout, selected based on
39624 the architecture. If the description contains any registers, the
39625 default layout will not be used; the standard registers must be
39626 described in the target description, in such a way that @value{GDBN}
39627 can recognize them.
39628
39629 This is accomplished by giving specific names to feature elements
39630 which contain standard registers. @value{GDBN} will look for features
39631 with those names and verify that they contain the expected registers;
39632 if any known feature is missing required registers, or if any required
39633 feature is missing, @value{GDBN} will reject the target
39634 description. You can add additional registers to any of the
39635 standard features --- @value{GDBN} will display them just as if
39636 they were added to an unrecognized feature.
39637
39638 This section lists the known features and their expected contents.
39639 Sample XML documents for these features are included in the
39640 @value{GDBN} source tree, in the directory @file{gdb/features}.
39641
39642 Names recognized by @value{GDBN} should include the name of the
39643 company or organization which selected the name, and the overall
39644 architecture to which the feature applies; so e.g.@: the feature
39645 containing ARM core registers is named @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.core}.
39646
39647 The names of registers are not case sensitive for the purpose
39648 of recognizing standard features, but @value{GDBN} will only display
39649 registers using the capitalization used in the description.
39650
39651 @menu
39652 * ARM Features::
39653 * i386 Features::
39654 * MIPS Features::
39655 * M68K Features::
39656 * PowerPC Features::
39657 * TIC6x Features::
39658 @end menu
39659
39660
39661 @node ARM Features
39662 @subsection ARM Features
39663 @cindex target descriptions, ARM features
39664
39665 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.core} feature is required for non-M-profile
39666 ARM targets.
39667 It should contain registers @samp{r0} through @samp{r13}, @samp{sp},
39668 @samp{lr}, @samp{pc}, and @samp{cpsr}.
39669
39670 For M-profile targets (e.g. Cortex-M3), the @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.core}
39671 feature is replaced by @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.m-profile}. It should contain
39672 registers @samp{r0} through @samp{r13}, @samp{sp}, @samp{lr}, @samp{pc},
39673 and @samp{xpsr}.
39674
39675 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.fpa} feature is optional. If present, it
39676 should contain registers @samp{f0} through @samp{f7} and @samp{fps}.
39677
39678 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.xscale.iwmmxt} feature is optional. If present,
39679 it should contain at least registers @samp{wR0} through @samp{wR15} and
39680 @samp{wCGR0} through @samp{wCGR3}. The @samp{wCID}, @samp{wCon},
39681 @samp{wCSSF}, and @samp{wCASF} registers are optional.
39682
39683 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.vfp} feature is optional. If present, it
39684 should contain at least registers @samp{d0} through @samp{d15}. If
39685 they are present, @samp{d16} through @samp{d31} should also be included.
39686 @value{GDBN} will synthesize the single-precision registers from
39687 halves of the double-precision registers.
39688
39689 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.neon} feature is optional. It does not
39690 need to contain registers; it instructs @value{GDBN} to display the
39691 VFP double-precision registers as vectors and to synthesize the
39692 quad-precision registers from pairs of double-precision registers.
39693 If this feature is present, @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.vfp} must also
39694 be present and include 32 double-precision registers.
39695
39696 @node i386 Features
39697 @subsection i386 Features
39698 @cindex target descriptions, i386 features
39699
39700 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.i386.core} feature is required for i386/amd64
39701 targets. It should describe the following registers:
39702
39703 @itemize @minus
39704 @item
39705 @samp{eax} through @samp{edi} plus @samp{eip} for i386
39706 @item
39707 @samp{rax} through @samp{r15} plus @samp{rip} for amd64
39708 @item
39709 @samp{eflags}, @samp{cs}, @samp{ss}, @samp{ds}, @samp{es},
39710 @samp{fs}, @samp{gs}
39711 @item
39712 @samp{st0} through @samp{st7}
39713 @item
39714 @samp{fctrl}, @samp{fstat}, @samp{ftag}, @samp{fiseg}, @samp{fioff},
39715 @samp{foseg}, @samp{fooff} and @samp{fop}
39716 @end itemize
39717
39718 The register sets may be different, depending on the target.
39719
39720 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.i386.sse} feature is optional. It should
39721 describe registers:
39722
39723 @itemize @minus
39724 @item
39725 @samp{xmm0} through @samp{xmm7} for i386
39726 @item
39727 @samp{xmm0} through @samp{xmm15} for amd64
39728 @item
39729 @samp{mxcsr}
39730 @end itemize
39731
39732 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.i386.avx} feature is optional and requires the
39733 @samp{org.gnu.gdb.i386.sse} feature. It should
39734 describe the upper 128 bits of @sc{ymm} registers:
39735
39736 @itemize @minus
39737 @item
39738 @samp{ymm0h} through @samp{ymm7h} for i386
39739 @item
39740 @samp{ymm0h} through @samp{ymm15h} for amd64
39741 @end itemize
39742
39743 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.i386.linux} feature is optional. It should
39744 describe a single register, @samp{orig_eax}.
39745
39746 @node MIPS Features
39747 @subsection MIPS Features
39748 @cindex target descriptions, MIPS features
39749
39750 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.mips.cpu} feature is required for MIPS targets.
39751 It should contain registers @samp{r0} through @samp{r31}, @samp{lo},
39752 @samp{hi}, and @samp{pc}. They may be 32-bit or 64-bit depending
39753 on the target.
39754
39755 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.mips.cp0} feature is also required. It should
39756 contain at least the @samp{status}, @samp{badvaddr}, and @samp{cause}
39757 registers. They may be 32-bit or 64-bit depending on the target.
39758
39759 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.mips.fpu} feature is currently required, though
39760 it may be optional in a future version of @value{GDBN}. It should
39761 contain registers @samp{f0} through @samp{f31}, @samp{fcsr}, and
39762 @samp{fir}. They may be 32-bit or 64-bit depending on the target.
39763
39764 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.mips.dsp} feature is optional. It should
39765 contain registers @samp{hi1} through @samp{hi3}, @samp{lo1} through
39766 @samp{lo3}, and @samp{dspctl}. The @samp{dspctl} register should
39767 be 32-bit and the rest may be 32-bit or 64-bit depending on the target.
39768
39769 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.mips.linux} feature is optional. It should
39770 contain a single register, @samp{restart}, which is used by the
39771 Linux kernel to control restartable syscalls.
39772
39773 @node M68K Features
39774 @subsection M68K Features
39775 @cindex target descriptions, M68K features
39776
39777 @table @code
39778 @item @samp{org.gnu.gdb.m68k.core}
39779 @itemx @samp{org.gnu.gdb.coldfire.core}
39780 @itemx @samp{org.gnu.gdb.fido.core}
39781 One of those features must be always present.
39782 The feature that is present determines which flavor of m68k is
39783 used. The feature that is present should contain registers
39784 @samp{d0} through @samp{d7}, @samp{a0} through @samp{a5}, @samp{fp},
39785 @samp{sp}, @samp{ps} and @samp{pc}.
39786
39787 @item @samp{org.gnu.gdb.coldfire.fp}
39788 This feature is optional. If present, it should contain registers
39789 @samp{fp0} through @samp{fp7}, @samp{fpcontrol}, @samp{fpstatus} and
39790 @samp{fpiaddr}.
39791 @end table
39792
39793 @node PowerPC Features
39794 @subsection PowerPC Features
39795 @cindex target descriptions, PowerPC features
39796
39797 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.power.core} feature is required for PowerPC
39798 targets. It should contain registers @samp{r0} through @samp{r31},
39799 @samp{pc}, @samp{msr}, @samp{cr}, @samp{lr}, @samp{ctr}, and
39800 @samp{xer}. They may be 32-bit or 64-bit depending on the target.
39801
39802 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.power.fpu} feature is optional. It should
39803 contain registers @samp{f0} through @samp{f31} and @samp{fpscr}.
39804
39805 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.power.altivec} feature is optional. It should
39806 contain registers @samp{vr0} through @samp{vr31}, @samp{vscr},
39807 and @samp{vrsave}.
39808
39809 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.power.vsx} feature is optional. It should
39810 contain registers @samp{vs0h} through @samp{vs31h}. @value{GDBN}
39811 will combine these registers with the floating point registers
39812 (@samp{f0} through @samp{f31}) and the altivec registers (@samp{vr0}
39813 through @samp{vr31}) to present the 128-bit wide registers @samp{vs0}
39814 through @samp{vs63}, the set of vector registers for POWER7.
39815
39816 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.power.spe} feature is optional. It should
39817 contain registers @samp{ev0h} through @samp{ev31h}, @samp{acc}, and
39818 @samp{spefscr}. SPE targets should provide 32-bit registers in
39819 @samp{org.gnu.gdb.power.core} and provide the upper halves in
39820 @samp{ev0h} through @samp{ev31h}. @value{GDBN} will combine
39821 these to present registers @samp{ev0} through @samp{ev31} to the
39822 user.
39823
39824 @node TIC6x Features
39825 @subsection TMS320C6x Features
39826 @cindex target descriptions, TIC6x features
39827 @cindex target descriptions, TMS320C6x features
39828 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.tic6x.core} feature is required for TMS320C6x
39829 targets. It should contain registers @samp{A0} through @samp{A15},
39830 registers @samp{B0} through @samp{B15}, @samp{CSR} and @samp{PC}.
39831
39832 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.tic6x.gp} feature is optional. It should
39833 contain registers @samp{A16} through @samp{A31} and @samp{B16}
39834 through @samp{B31}.
39835
39836 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.tic6x.c6xp} feature is optional. It should
39837 contain registers @samp{TSR}, @samp{ILC} and @samp{RILC}.
39838
39839 @node Operating System Information
39840 @appendix Operating System Information
39841 @cindex operating system information
39842
39843 @menu
39844 * Process list::
39845 @end menu
39846
39847 Users of @value{GDBN} often wish to obtain information about the state of
39848 the operating system running on the target---for example the list of
39849 processes, or the list of open files. This section describes the
39850 mechanism that makes it possible. This mechanism is similar to the
39851 target features mechanism (@pxref{Target Descriptions}), but focuses
39852 on a different aspect of target.
39853
39854 Operating system information is retrived from the target via the
39855 remote protocol, using @samp{qXfer} requests (@pxref{qXfer osdata
39856 read}). The object name in the request should be @samp{osdata}, and
39857 the @var{annex} identifies the data to be fetched.
39858
39859 @node Process list
39860 @appendixsection Process list
39861 @cindex operating system information, process list
39862
39863 When requesting the process list, the @var{annex} field in the
39864 @samp{qXfer} request should be @samp{processes}. The returned data is
39865 an XML document. The formal syntax of this document is defined in
39866 @file{gdb/features/osdata.dtd}.
39867
39868 An example document is:
39869
39870 @smallexample
39871 <?xml version="1.0"?>
39872 <!DOCTYPE target SYSTEM "osdata.dtd">
39873 <osdata type="processes">
39874 <item>
39875 <column name="pid">1</column>
39876 <column name="user">root</column>
39877 <column name="command">/sbin/init</column>
39878 <column name="cores">1,2,3</column>
39879 </item>
39880 </osdata>
39881 @end smallexample
39882
39883 Each item should include a column whose name is @samp{pid}. The value
39884 of that column should identify the process on the target. The
39885 @samp{user} and @samp{command} columns are optional, and will be
39886 displayed by @value{GDBN}. The @samp{cores} column, if present,
39887 should contain a comma-separated list of cores that this process
39888 is running on. Target may provide additional columns,
39889 which @value{GDBN} currently ignores.
39890
39891 @node Trace File Format
39892 @appendix Trace File Format
39893 @cindex trace file format
39894
39895 The trace file comes in three parts: a header, a textual description
39896 section, and a trace frame section with binary data.
39897
39898 The header has the form @code{\x7fTRACE0\n}. The first byte is
39899 @code{0x7f} so as to indicate that the file contains binary data,
39900 while the @code{0} is a version number that may have different values
39901 in the future.
39902
39903 The description section consists of multiple lines of @sc{ascii} text
39904 separated by newline characters (@code{0xa}). The lines may include a
39905 variety of optional descriptive or context-setting information, such
39906 as tracepoint definitions or register set size. @value{GDBN} will
39907 ignore any line that it does not recognize. An empty line marks the end
39908 of this section.
39909
39910 @c FIXME add some specific types of data
39911
39912 The trace frame section consists of a number of consecutive frames.
39913 Each frame begins with a two-byte tracepoint number, followed by a
39914 four-byte size giving the amount of data in the frame. The data in
39915 the frame consists of a number of blocks, each introduced by a
39916 character indicating its type (at least register, memory, and trace
39917 state variable). The data in this section is raw binary, not a
39918 hexadecimal or other encoding; its endianness matches the target's
39919 endianness.
39920
39921 @c FIXME bi-arch may require endianness/arch info in description section
39922
39923 @table @code
39924 @item R @var{bytes}
39925 Register block. The number and ordering of bytes matches that of a
39926 @code{g} packet in the remote protocol. Note that these are the
39927 actual bytes, in target order and @value{GDBN} register order, not a
39928 hexadecimal encoding.
39929
39930 @item M @var{address} @var{length} @var{bytes}...
39931 Memory block. This is a contiguous block of memory, at the 8-byte
39932 address @var{address}, with a 2-byte length @var{length}, followed by
39933 @var{length} bytes.
39934
39935 @item V @var{number} @var{value}
39936 Trace state variable block. This records the 8-byte signed value
39937 @var{value} of trace state variable numbered @var{number}.
39938
39939 @end table
39940
39941 Future enhancements of the trace file format may include additional types
39942 of blocks.
39943
39944 @node Index Section Format
39945 @appendix @code{.gdb_index} section format
39946 @cindex .gdb_index section format
39947 @cindex index section format
39948
39949 This section documents the index section that is created by @code{save
39950 gdb-index} (@pxref{Index Files}). The index section is
39951 DWARF-specific; some knowledge of DWARF is assumed in this
39952 description.
39953
39954 The mapped index file format is designed to be directly
39955 @code{mmap}able on any architecture. In most cases, a datum is
39956 represented using a little-endian 32-bit integer value, called an
39957 @code{offset_type}. Big endian machines must byte-swap the values
39958 before using them. Exceptions to this rule are noted. The data is
39959 laid out such that alignment is always respected.
39960
39961 A mapped index consists of several areas, laid out in order.
39962
39963 @enumerate
39964 @item
39965 The file header. This is a sequence of values, of @code{offset_type}
39966 unless otherwise noted:
39967
39968 @enumerate
39969 @item
39970 The version number, currently 6. Versions 1, 2 and 3 are obsolete.
39971 Version 4 uses a different hashing function from versions 5 and 6.
39972 Version 6 includes symbols for inlined functions, whereas versions
39973 4 and 5 do not. @value{GDBN} will only read version 4 and 5 indices
39974 if the @code{--use-deprecated-index-sections} option is used.
39975
39976 @item
39977 The offset, from the start of the file, of the CU list.
39978
39979 @item
39980 The offset, from the start of the file, of the types CU list. Note
39981 that this area can be empty, in which case this offset will be equal
39982 to the next offset.
39983
39984 @item
39985 The offset, from the start of the file, of the address area.
39986
39987 @item
39988 The offset, from the start of the file, of the symbol table.
39989
39990 @item
39991 The offset, from the start of the file, of the constant pool.
39992 @end enumerate
39993
39994 @item
39995 The CU list. This is a sequence of pairs of 64-bit little-endian
39996 values, sorted by the CU offset. The first element in each pair is
39997 the offset of a CU in the @code{.debug_info} section. The second
39998 element in each pair is the length of that CU. References to a CU
39999 elsewhere in the map are done using a CU index, which is just the
40000 0-based index into this table. Note that if there are type CUs, then
40001 conceptually CUs and type CUs form a single list for the purposes of
40002 CU indices.
40003
40004 @item
40005 The types CU list. This is a sequence of triplets of 64-bit
40006 little-endian values. In a triplet, the first value is the CU offset,
40007 the second value is the type offset in the CU, and the third value is
40008 the type signature. The types CU list is not sorted.
40009
40010 @item
40011 The address area. The address area consists of a sequence of address
40012 entries. Each address entry has three elements:
40013
40014 @enumerate
40015 @item
40016 The low address. This is a 64-bit little-endian value.
40017
40018 @item
40019 The high address. This is a 64-bit little-endian value. Like
40020 @code{DW_AT_high_pc}, the value is one byte beyond the end.
40021
40022 @item
40023 The CU index. This is an @code{offset_type} value.
40024 @end enumerate
40025
40026 @item
40027 The symbol table. This is an open-addressed hash table. The size of
40028 the hash table is always a power of 2.
40029
40030 Each slot in the hash table consists of a pair of @code{offset_type}
40031 values. The first value is the offset of the symbol's name in the
40032 constant pool. The second value is the offset of the CU vector in the
40033 constant pool.
40034
40035 If both values are 0, then this slot in the hash table is empty. This
40036 is ok because while 0 is a valid constant pool index, it cannot be a
40037 valid index for both a string and a CU vector.
40038
40039 The hash value for a table entry is computed by applying an
40040 iterative hash function to the symbol's name. Starting with an
40041 initial value of @code{r = 0}, each (unsigned) character @samp{c} in
40042 the string is incorporated into the hash using the formula depending on the
40043 index version:
40044
40045 @table @asis
40046 @item Version 4
40047 The formula is @code{r = r * 67 + c - 113}.
40048
40049 @item Versions 5 and 6
40050 The formula is @code{r = r * 67 + tolower (c) - 113}.
40051 @end table
40052
40053 The terminating @samp{\0} is not incorporated into the hash.
40054
40055 The step size used in the hash table is computed via
40056 @code{((hash * 17) & (size - 1)) | 1}, where @samp{hash} is the hash
40057 value, and @samp{size} is the size of the hash table. The step size
40058 is used to find the next candidate slot when handling a hash
40059 collision.
40060
40061 The names of C@t{++} symbols in the hash table are canonicalized. We
40062 don't currently have a simple description of the canonicalization
40063 algorithm; if you intend to create new index sections, you must read
40064 the code.
40065
40066 @item
40067 The constant pool. This is simply a bunch of bytes. It is organized
40068 so that alignment is correct: CU vectors are stored first, followed by
40069 strings.
40070
40071 A CU vector in the constant pool is a sequence of @code{offset_type}
40072 values. The first value is the number of CU indices in the vector.
40073 Each subsequent value is the index of a CU in the CU list. This
40074 element in the hash table is used to indicate which CUs define the
40075 symbol.
40076
40077 A string in the constant pool is zero-terminated.
40078 @end enumerate
40079
40080 @include gpl.texi
40081
40082 @node GNU Free Documentation License
40083 @appendix GNU Free Documentation License
40084 @include fdl.texi
40085
40086 @node Index
40087 @unnumbered Index
40088
40089 @printindex cp
40090
40091 @tex
40092 % I think something like @colophon should be in texinfo. In the
40093 % meantime:
40094 \long\def\colophon{\hbox to0pt{}\vfill
40095 \centerline{The body of this manual is set in}
40096 \centerline{\fontname\tenrm,}
40097 \centerline{with headings in {\bf\fontname\tenbf}}
40098 \centerline{and examples in {\tt\fontname\tentt}.}
40099 \centerline{{\it\fontname\tenit\/},}
40100 \centerline{{\bf\fontname\tenbf}, and}
40101 \centerline{{\sl\fontname\tensl\/}}
40102 \centerline{are used for emphasis.}\vfill}
40103 \page\colophon
40104 % Blame: doc@cygnus.com, 1991.
40105 @end tex
40106
40107 @bye
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