DWARF(4)                                                              DWARF(4)

NAME
     dwarf - dwarf version 2 debugging information format

SYNOPSIS
     #include <dwarf.h>

DESCRIPTION
     DWARF is a format for the information generated by compilers, assemblers,
     and linkage editors that is necessary for source-level debugging.  It
     allows a compact representation of programs in many languages and is
     easily extended to handle additional languages and individual
     compiler/debugger requirements.  Consumers reading DWARF information they
     do not understand are able to easily skip past that information, meaning
     that older consumers are not broken by the addition of new features.

     DWARF itself does not specify how to generate or use the information.
     Instead, it defines the 'bits on the disc'.  See the libdwarf(4) man page
     for information on reading and writing DWARF information.

     This format was designed by a multi-company committee called the PLSIG
     working under the auspices of Unix International.  The format is based on
     the SVR4 debugging information format, (which might be called version 0)
     and a codification of that format developed by the committee (which was
     called version 1).  Version 2 was designed by the committee to reduce the
     disk space used and to add descriptive power (as compared to versions 0
     and 1).  The Version 2.0.0 Industry Review Draft was made available July,
     1993.  The document provided below is that Draft.

     For details of the format see the document DWARF Debugging Information
     Format, which is the file dwarf.v2.mm in the IDO/dev option subsystem
     compiler_dev.opt.dwarf.  The file index.v2.mm is an index to that
     document.  The .ps files are PostScript versions of the same files.

     The DWARF debugging information is present only in programs compiled -n32
     or -64.  This information is put, as needed, into sections of an ELF
     object file named .debug_info, .debug_frame, .debug_line, .debug_aranges,
     .debug_loc, .debug_frame, .debug_str, .debug_abbrev, .debug_pubnames,
     .debug_weaknames, .debug_funcnames, .debug_typenames, and
     .debug_varnames.

     With programs compiled -32, the compiler puts debugging information into
     the .mdebug section of the ELF file (the section format is identical to
     the IRIX 4 COFF symbol table, so the .mdebug section is sometimes
     referred to as 'the symbol table', though this is incorrect terminology
     now).

FILES
     /usr/share/src/compiler/dwarf/dwarf.v2.mm
     /usr/share/src/compiler/dwarf/dwarf.v2.ps
     /usr/share/src/compiler/dwarf/index.v2.mm
     /usr/share/src/compiler/dwarf/index.v2.ps

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DWARF(4)                                                              DWARF(4)

SEE ALSO
     libdwarf(4) dwarfdump(1)

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