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ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Title page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Debugging with GDB
The gnu Source-Level Debugger
Edition 4.12, for GDB version 4.16
January 1994
Richard M. Stallman and Cygnus Support
Copyright (C) 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Free Software
Foundation, Inc.
Published by the Free Software Foundation
59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
Printed copies are available for $20 each.
ISBN 1-882114-11-6
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual
provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all
copies.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual
under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the entire
resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice
identical to this one.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual into
another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Top node: "Debugging with GDB" ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This file describes GDB, the gnu symbolic debugger.
This is Edition 4.12, January 1994, for GDB Version 4.16.
Summary Summary of GDBN
Sample Session A sample GDBN session
Invocation Getting in and out of GDBN
Commands GDBN commands
Running Running programs under GDBN
Stopping Stopping and continuing
Stack Examining the stack
Source Examining source files
Data Examining data
Languages Using GDBN with different languages
C C language support
Symbols Examining the symbol table
Altering Altering execution
GDB Files GDBN files
Targets Specifying a debugging target
Controlling GDB Controlling GDBN
Sequences Canned sequences of commands
Emacs Using GDBN under gnu Emacs
GDB Bugs Reporting bugs in GDBN
Command Line Editing Facilities of the readline library
Using History Interactively
Formatting Documentation How to format and print GDBN
documentation
Installing GDB Installing GDB
Index Index
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Summary of GDB ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The purpose of a debugger such as GDB is to allow you to see what is going on
``inside'' another program while it executes---or what another program was
doing at the moment it crashed.
GDB can do four main kinds of things (plus other things in support of these) to
help you catch bugs in the act:
Start your program, specifying anything that might affect its behavior.
Make your program stop on specified conditions.
Examine what has happened, when your program has stopped.
Change things in your program, so you can experiment with correcting the
effects of one bug and go on to learn about another.
You can use GDB to debug programs written in C or C++. For more information,
see C and C++.
Support for Modula-2 and Chill is partial. For information on Modula-2, see
Modula-2. There is no further documentation on Chill yet.
Debugging Pascal programs which use sets, subranges, file variables, or nested
functions does not currently work. GDB does not support entering expressions,
printing values, or similar features using Pascal syntax.
GDB can be used to debug programs written in Fortran, although it does not yet
support entering expressions, printing values, or similar features using
Fortran syntax. It may be necessary to refer to some variables with a
trailing underscore.
Free Software Freely redistributable software
Contributors Contributors to GDB
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.1. Free software ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB is free software, protected by the gnu General Public License (GPL). The
GPL gives you the freedom to copy or adapt a licensed program---but every
person getting a copy also gets with it the freedom to modify that copy (which
means that they must get access to the source code), and the freedom to
distribute further copies. Typical software companies use copyrights to limit
your freedoms; the Free Software Foundation uses the GPL to preserve these
freedoms.
Fundamentally, the General Public License is a license which says that you have
these freedoms and that you cannot take these freedoms away from anyone else.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.2. Contributors to GDB ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Richard Stallman was the original author of GDB, and of many other gnu
programs. Many others have contributed to its development. This section
attempts to credit major contributors. One of the virtues of free software is
that everyone is free to contribute to it; with regret, we cannot actually
acknowledge everyone here. The file `ChangeLog' in the GDB distribution
approximates a blow-by-blow account.
Changes much prior to version 2.0 are lost in the mists of time.
Plea: Additions to this section are particularly welcome. If you or your
friends (or enemies, to be evenhanded) have been unfairly omitted from this
list, we would like to add your names!
So that they may not regard their long labor as thankless, we particularly
thank those who shepherded GDB through major releases: Stan Shebs (release
4.14), Fred Fish (releases 4.13, 4.12, 4.11, 4.10, and 4.9), Stu Grossman and
John Gilmore (releases 4.8, 4.7, 4.6, 4.5, and 4.4), John Gilmore (releases
4.3, 4.2, 4.1, 4.0, and 3.9); Jim Kingdon (releases 3.5, 3.4, and 3.3); and
Randy Smith (releases 3.2, 3.1, and 3.0). As major maintainer of GDB for some
period, each contributed significantly to the structure, stability, and
capabilities of the entire debugger.
Richard Stallman, assisted at various times by Peter TerMaat, Chris Hanson, and
Richard Mlynarik, handled releases through 2.8.
Michael Tiemann is the author of most of the gnu C++ support in GDB, with
significant additional contributions from Per Bothner. James Clark wrote the
gnu C++ demangler. Early work on C++ was by Peter TerMaat (who also did much
general update work leading to release 3.0).
GDB 4 uses the BFD subroutine library to examine multiple object-file formats;
BFD was a joint project of David V. Henkel-Wallace, Rich Pixley, Steve
Chamberlain, and John Gilmore.
David Johnson wrote the original COFF support; Pace Willison did the original
support for encapsulated COFF.
Adam de Boor and Bradley Davis contributed the ISI Optimum V support. Per
Bothner, Noboyuki Hikichi, and Alessandro Forin contributed MIPS support.
Jean-Daniel Fekete contributed Sun 386i support. Chris Hanson improved the
HP9000 support. Noboyuki Hikichi and Tomoyuki Hasei contributed Sony/News OS 3
support. David Johnson contributed Encore Umax support. Jyrki Kuoppala
contributed Altos 3068 support. Jeff Law contributed HP PA and SOM support.
Keith Packard contributed NS32K support. Doug Rabson contributed Acorn Risc
Machine support. Bob Rusk contributed Harris Nighthawk CX-UX support. Chris
Smith contributed Convex support (and Fortran debugging). Jonathan Stone
contributed Pyramid support. Michael Tiemann contributed SPARC support. Tim
Tucker contributed support for the Gould NP1 and Gould Powernode. Pace Willison
contributed Intel 386 support. Jay Vosburgh contributed Symmetry support.
Rich Schaefer and Peter Schauer helped with support of SunOS shared libraries.
Jay Fenlason and Roland McGrath ensured that GDB and GAS agree about several
machine instruction sets.
Patrick Duval, Ted Goldstein, Vikram Koka and Glenn Engel helped develop remote
debugging. Intel Corporation and Wind River Systems contributed remote
debugging modules for their products.
Brian Fox is the author of the readline libraries providing command-line
editing and command history.
Andrew Beers of SUNY Buffalo wrote the language-switching code, the Modula-2
support, and contributed the Languages chapter of this manual.
Fred Fish wrote most of the support for Unix System Vr4. He also enhanced the
command-completion support to cover C++ overloaded symbols.
Hitachi America, Ltd. sponsored the support for Hitachi microprocessors.
Kung Hsu, Jeff Law, and Rick Sladkey added support for hardware watchpoints.
Stu Grossman wrote gdbserver.
Jim Kingdon, Peter Schauer, Ian Taylor, and Stu Grossman made nearly
innumerable bug fixes and cleanups throughout GDB.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. A Sample GDB Session ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can use this manual at your leisure to read all about GDB. However, a
handful of commands are enough to get started using the debugger. This chapter
illustrates those commands.
One of the preliminary versions of gnu m4 (a generic macro processor) exhibits
the following bug: sometimes, when we change its quote strings from the
default, the commands used to capture one macro definition within another stop
working. In the following short m4 session, we define a macro foo which
expands to 0000; we then use the m4 built-in defn to define bar as the same
thing. However, when we change the open quote string to <QUOTE> and the close
quote string to <UNQUOTE>, the same procedure fails to define a new synonym
baz:
$ cd gnu/m4
$ ./m4
define(foo,0000)
foo
0000
define(bar,defn(`foo'))
bar
0000
changequote(<QUOTE>,<UNQUOTE>)
define(baz,defn(<QUOTE>foo<UNQUOTE>))
baz
C-d
m4: End of input: 0: fatal error: EOF in string
Let us use GDB to try to see what is going on.
$ gdb m4
GDB is free software and you are welcome to distribute copies
of it under certain conditions; type "show copying" to see
the conditions.
There is absolutely no warranty for GDB; type "show warranty"
for details.
GDB 4.16, Copyright 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc...
(gdb)
GDB reads only enough symbol data to know where to find the rest when needed;
as a result, the first prompt comes up very quickly. We now tell GDB to use a
narrower display width than usual, so that examples fit in this manual.
(gdb) set width 70
We need to see how the m4 built-in changequote works. Having looked at the
source, we know the relevant subroutine is m4_changequote, so we set a
breakpoint there with the GDB break command.
(gdb) break m4_changequote
Breakpoint 1 at 0x62f4: file builtin.c, line 879.
Using the run command, we start m4 running under GDB control; as long as
control does not reach the m4_changequote subroutine, the program runs as
usual:
(gdb) run
Starting program: /work/Editorial/gdb/gnu/m4/m4
define(foo,0000)
foo
0000
To trigger the breakpoint, we call changequote. GDB suspends execution of m4,
displaying information about the context where it stops.
changequote(<QUOTE>,<UNQUOTE>)
Breakpoint 1, m4_changequote (argc=3, argv=0x33c70)
at builtin.c:879
879 if (bad_argc(TOKEN_DATA_TEXT(argv[0]),argc,1,3))
Now we use the command n (next) to advance execution to the next line of the
current function.
(gdb) n
882 set_quotes((argc >= 2) ? TOKEN_DATA_TEXT(argv[1])\
: nil,
set_quotes looks like a promising subroutine. We can go into it by using the
command s (step) instead of next. step goes to the next line to be executed in
any subroutine, so it steps into set_quotes.
(gdb) s
set_quotes (lq=0x34c78 "<QUOTE>", rq=0x34c88 "<UNQUOTE>")
at input.c:530
530 if (lquote != def_lquote)
The display that shows the subroutine where m4 is now suspended (and its
arguments) is called a stack frame display. It shows a summary of the stack.
We can use the backtrace command (which can also be spelled bt), to see where
we are in the stack as a whole: the backtrace command displays a stack frame
for each active subroutine.
(gdb) bt
#0 set_quotes (lq=0x34c78 "<QUOTE>", rq=0x34c88 "<UNQUOTE>")
at input.c:530
#1 0x6344 in m4_changequote (argc=3, argv=0x33c70)
at builtin.c:882
#2 0x8174 in expand_macro (sym=0x33320) at macro.c:242
#3 0x7a88 in expand_token (obs=0x0, t=209696, td=0xf7fffa30)
at macro.c:71
#4 0x79dc in expand_input () at macro.c:40
#5 0x2930 in main (argc=0, argv=0xf7fffb20) at m4.c:195
We step through a few more lines to see what happens. The first two times, we
can use `s'; the next two times we use n to avoid falling into the xstrdup
subroutine.
(gdb) s
0x3b5c 532 if (rquote != def_rquote)
(gdb) s
0x3b80 535 lquote = (lq == nil || *lq == '\0') ? \
def_lquote : xstrdup(lq);
(gdb) n
536 rquote = (rq == nil || *rq == '\0') ? def_rquote\
: xstrdup(rq);
(gdb) n
538 len_lquote = strlen(rquote);
The last line displayed looks a little odd; we can examine the variables lquote
and rquote to see if they are in fact the new left and right quotes we
specified. We use the command p (print) to see their values.
(gdb) p lquote
$1 = 0x35d40 "<QUOTE>"
(gdb) p rquote
$2 = 0x35d50 "<UNQUOTE>"
lquote and rquote are indeed the new left and right quotes. To look at some
context, we can display ten lines of source surrounding the current line with
the l (list) command.
(gdb) l
533 xfree(rquote);
534
535 lquote = (lq == nil || *lq == '\0') ? def_lquote\
: xstrdup (lq);
536 rquote = (rq == nil || *rq == '\0') ? def_rquote\
: xstrdup (rq);
537
538 len_lquote = strlen(rquote);
539 len_rquote = strlen(lquote);
540 }
541
542 void
Let us step past the two lines that set len_lquote and len_rquote, and then
examine the values of those variables.
(gdb) n
539 len_rquote = strlen(lquote);
(gdb) n
540 }
(gdb) p len_lquote
$3 = 9
(gdb) p len_rquote
$4 = 7
That certainly looks wrong, assuming len_lquote and len_rquote are meant to be
the lengths of lquote and rquote respectively. We can set them to better
values using the p command, since it can print the value of any
expression---and that expression can include subroutine calls and assignments.
(gdb) p len_lquote=strlen(lquote)
$5 = 7
(gdb) p len_rquote=strlen(rquote)
$6 = 9
Is that enough to fix the problem of using the new quotes with the m4 built-in
defn? We can allow m4 to continue executing with the c (continue) command, and
then try the example that caused trouble initially:
(gdb) c
Continuing.
define(baz,defn(<QUOTE>foo<UNQUOTE>))
baz
0000
Success! The new quotes now work just as well as the default ones. The
problem seems to have been just the two typos defining the wrong lengths. We
allow m4 exit by giving it an EOF as input:
C-d
Program exited normally.
The message `Program exited normally.' is from GDB; it indicates m4 has
finished executing. We can end our GDB session with the GDB quit command.
(gdb) quit
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Getting In and Out of GDB ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This chapter discusses how to start GDB, and how to get out of it. The
essentials are:
type `gdb' to start GDB.
type quit or C-d to exit.
Invoking GDB How to start GDBN
Quitting GDB How to quit GDBN
Shell Commands How to use shell commands inside GDBN
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.1. Invoking GDB ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Invoke GDB by running the program gdb. Once started, GDB reads commands from
the terminal until you tell it to exit.
You can also run gdb with a variety of arguments and options, to specify more
of your debugging environment at the outset.
The command-line options described here are designed to cover a variety of
situations; in some environments, some of these options may effectively be
unavailable.
The most usual way to start GDB is with one argument, specifying an executable
program:
gdb program
You can also start with both an executable program and a core file specified:
gdb program core
You can, instead, specify a process ID as a second argument, if you want to
debug a running process:
gdb program 1234
would attach GDB to process 1234 (unless you also have a file named `1234'; GDB
does check for a core file first).
Taking advantage of the second command-line argument requires a fairly complete
operating system; when you use GDB as a remote debugger attached to a bare
board, there may not be any notion of ``process'', and there is often no way to
get a core dump.
You can run gdb without printing the front material, which describes GDB's
non-warranty, by specifying -silent:
gdb -silent
You can further control how GDB starts up by using command-line options. GDB
itself can remind you of the options available.
Type
gdb -help
to display all available options and briefly describe their use (`gdb -h' is a
shorter equivalent).
All options and command line arguments you give are processed in sequential
order. The order makes a difference when the `-x' option is used.
Remote Serial GDBN remote serial protocol
i960-Nindy Remote GDBN with a remote i960 (Nindy)
UDI29K Remote The UDI protocol for AMD29K
EB29K Remote The EBMON protocol for AMD29K
VxWorks Remote GDBN and VxWorks
ST2000 Remote GDBN with a Tandem ST2000
Hitachi Remote GDBN and Hitachi Microprocessors
MIPS Remote GDBN and MIPS boards
Simulator Simulated CPU target
File Options Choosing files
Mode Options Choosing modes
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.1.1. Choosing files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
When GDB starts, it reads any arguments other than options as specifying an
executable file and core file (or process ID). This is the same as if the
arguments were specified by the `-se' and `-c' options respectively. (GDB
reads the first argument that does not have an associated option flag as
equivalent to the `-se' option followed by that argument; and the second
argument that does not have an associated option flag, if any, as equivalent to
the `-c' option followed by that argument.)
Many options have both long and short forms; both are shown in the following
list. GDB also recognizes the long forms if you truncate them, so long as
enough of the option is present to be unambiguous. (If you prefer, you can flag
option arguments with `--' rather than `-', though we illustrate the more usual
convention.)
-symbols file
-s file
Read symbol table from file file.
-exec file
-e file
Use file file as the executable file to execute when appropriate,
and for examining pure data in conjunction with a core dump.
-se file
Read symbol table from file file and use it as the executable file.
-core file
-c file
Use file file as a core dump to examine.
-c number
Connect to process ID number, as with the attach command (unless
there is a file in core-dump format named number, in which case `-c'
specifies that file as a core dump to read).
-command file
-x file
Execute GDB commands from file file. See Command files.
-directory directory
-d directory
Add directory to the path to search for source files.
-m
-mapped
Warning: this option depends on operating system facilities that are
not supported on all systems.
If memory-mapped files are available on your system through the mmap
system call, you can use this option to have GDB write the symbols
from your program into a reusable file in the current directory. If
the program you are debugging is called `/tmp/fred', the mapped
symbol file is `./fred.syms'. Future GDB debugging sessions notice
the presence of this file, and can quickly map in symbol information
from it, rather than reading the symbol table from the executable
program.
The `.syms' file is specific to the host machine where GDB is run.
It holds an exact image of the internal GDB symbol table. It cannot
be shared across multiple host platforms.
-r
-readnow
Read each symbol file's entire symbol table immediately, rather than
the default, which is to read it incrementally as it is needed. This
makes startup slower, but makes future operations faster.
The -mapped and -readnow options are typically combined in order to build a
`.syms' file that contains complete symbol information. (See Commands to
specify files, for information
a `.syms' file for future use is:
gdb -batch -nx -mapped -readnow programname
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.1.2. Choosing modes ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can run GDB in various alternative modes---for example, in batch mode or
quiet mode.
-nx
-n
Do not execute commands from any initialization files (normally
called `.gdbinit'). Normally, the commands in these files are
executed after all the command options and arguments have been
processed. See Command files.
-quiet
-q
``Quiet''. Do not print the introductory and copyright messages.
These messages are also suppressed in batch mode.
-batch
Run in batch mode. Exit with status 0 after processing all the
command files specified with `-x' (and all commands from
initialization files, if not inhibited with `-n'). Exit with
nonzero status if an error occurs in executing the GDB commands in
the command files.
Batch mode may be useful for running GDB as a filter, for example to
download and run a program on another computer; in order to make
this more useful, the message
Program exited normally.
(which is ordinarily issued whenever a program running under GDB
control terminates) is not issued when running in batch mode.
-cd directory
Run GDB using directory as its working directory, instead of the
current directory.
-fullname
-f
gnu Emacs sets this option when it runs GDB as a subprocess. It
tells GDB to output the full file name and line number in a
standard, recognizable fashion each time a stack frame is displayed
(which includes each time your program stops). This recognizable
format looks like two `\032' characters, followed by the file name,
line number and character position separated by colons, and a
newline. The Emacs-to-GDB interface program uses the two `\032'
characters as a signal to display the source code for the frame.
-b bps
Set the line speed (baud rate or bits per second) of any serial
interface used by GDB for remote debugging.
-tty device
Run using device for your program's standard input and output.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.2. Quitting GDB ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
quit
To exit GDB, use the quit command (abbreviated q), or type an
end-of-file character (usually C-d). If you do not supply
expression, GDB will terminate normally; otherwise it will terminate
using the result of expression as the error code.
An interrupt (often C-c) does not exit from GDB, but rather terminates the
action of any GDB command that is in progress and returns to GDB command
level. It is safe to type the interrupt character at any time because GDB
does not allow it to take effect until a time when it is safe.
If you have been using GDB to control an attached process or device, you can
release it with the detach command (see Debugging an already-running process).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.3. Shell commands ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you need to execute occasional shell commands during your debugging session,
there is no need to leave or suspend GDB; you can just use the shell command.
shell command string
Invoke a the standard shell to execute command string. If it exists,
the environment variable SHELL determines which shell to run.
Otherwise GDB uses /bin/sh.
The utility make is often needed in development environments. You do not have
to use the shell command for this purpose in GDB:
make make-args
Execute the make program with the specified arguments. This is
equivalent to `shell make make-args'.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. GDB Commands ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can abbreviate a GDB command to the first few letters of the command name,
if that abbreviation is unambiguous; and you can repeat certain GDB commands by
typing just RET. You can also use the TAB key to get GDB to fill out the rest
of a word in a command (or to show you the alternatives available, if there is
more than one possibility).
Command Syntax How to give commands to GDBN
Completion Command completion
Help How to ask GDBN for help
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1. Command syntax ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
A GDB command is a single line of input. There is no limit on how long it can
be. It starts with a command name, which is followed by arguments whose
meaning depends on the command name. For example, the command step accepts an
argument which is the number of times to step, as in `step 5'. You can also
use the step command with no arguments. Some command names do not allow any
arguments.
GDB command names may always be truncated if that abbreviation is unambiguous.
Other possible command abbreviations are listed in the documentation for
individual commands. In some cases, even ambiguous abbreviations are allowed;
for example, s is specially defined as equivalent to step even though there are
other commands whose names start with s. You can test abbreviations by using
them as arguments to the help command.
A blank line as input to GDB (typing just RET) means to repeat the previous
command. Certain commands (for example, run) will not repeat this way; these
are commands whose unintentional repetition might cause trouble and which you
are unlikely to want to repeat.
The list and x commands, when you repeat them with RET, construct new arguments
rather than repeating exactly as typed. This permits easy scanning of source
or memory.
GDB can also use RET in another way: to partition lengthy output, in a way
similar to the common utility more (see Screen size). Since it is easy to
press one RET too many in this situation, GDB disables command repetition after
any command that generates this sort of display.
Any text from a # to the end of the line is a comment; it does nothing. This
is useful mainly in command files ( see Command files).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.2. Command completion ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB can fill in the rest of a word in a command for you, if there is only one
possibility; it can also show you what the valid possibilities are for the next
word in a command, at any time. This works for GDB commands, GDB subcommands,
and the names of symbols in your program.
Press the TAB key whenever you want GDB to fill out the rest of a word. If
there is only one possibility, GDB fills in the word, and waits for you to
finish the command (or press RET to enter it). For example, if you type
(gdb) info bre TAB
GDB fills in the rest of the word `breakpoints', since that is the only info
subcommand beginning with `bre':
(gdb) info breakpoints
You can either press RET at this point, to run the info breakpoints command, or
backspace and enter something else, if `breakpoints' does not look like the
command you expected. (If you were sure you wanted info breakpoints in the
first place, you might as well just type RET immediately after `info bre', to
exploit command abbreviations rather than command completion).
If there is more than one possibility for the next word when you press TAB, GDB
sounds a bell. You can either supply more characters and try again, or just
press TAB a second time; GDB displays all the possible completions for that
word. For example, you might want to set a breakpoint on a subroutine whose
name begins with `make_', but when you type b make_TAB GDB just sounds the
bell. Typing TAB again displays all the function names in your program that
begin with those characters, for example:
(gdb) b make_ TAB
GDB sounds bell; press TAB again, to see:
make_a_section_from_file make_environ
make_abs_section make_function_type
make_blockvector make_pointer_type
make_cleanup make_reference_type
make_command make_symbol_completion_list
(gdb) b make_
After displaying the available possibilities, GDB copies your partial input (`b
make_' in the example) so you can finish the command.
If you just want to see the list of alternatives in the first place, you can
press M-? rather than pressing TAB twice. M-? means META ?. You can type this
either by holding down a key designated as the META shift on your keyboard (if
there is one) while typing ?, or as ESC followed by ?.
Sometimes the string you need, while logically a ``word'', may contain
parentheses or other characters that GDB normally excludes from its notion of a
word. To permit word completion to work in this situation, you may enclose
words in ' (single quote marks) in GDB commands.
The most likely situation where you might need this is in typing the name of a
C++ function. This is because C++ allows function overloading (multiple
definitions of the same function, distinguished by argument type). For
example, when you want to set a breakpoint you may need to distinguish whether
you mean the version of name that takes an int parameter, name(int), or the
version that takes a float parameter, name(float). To use the word-completion
facilities in this situation, type a single quote ' at the beginning of the
function name. This alerts GDB that it may need to consider more information
than usual when you press TAB or M-? to request word completion:
(gdb) b 'bubble( M-?
bubble(double,double) bubble(int,int)
(gdb) b 'bubble(
In some cases, GDB can tell that completing a name requires using quotes. When
this happens, GDB inserts the quote for you (while completing as much as it
can) if you do not type the quote in the first place:
(gdb) b bub TAB
GDB alters your input line to the following, and rings a bell:
(gdb) b 'bubble(
In general, GDB can tell that a quote is needed (and inserts it) if you have
not yet started typing the argument list when you ask for completion on an
overloaded symbol.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.3. Getting help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can always ask GDB itself for information on its commands, using the
command help.
help
h
You can use help (abbreviated h) with no arguments to display a
short list of named classes of commands:
(gdb) help
List of classes of commands:
running -- Running the program
stack -- Examining the stack
data -- Examining data
breakpoints -- Making program stop at certain points
files -- Specifying and examining files
status -- Status inquiries
support -- Support facilities
user-defined -- User-defined commands
aliases -- Aliases of other commands
obscure -- Obscure features
Type "help" followed by a class name for a list of
commands in that class.
Type "help" followed by command name for full
documentation.
Command name abbreviations are allowed if unambiguous.
(gdb)
help class
Using one of the general help classes as an argument, you can get a
list of the individual commands in that class. For example, here is
the help display for the class status:
(gdb) help status
Status inquiries.
List of commands:
show -- Generic command for showing things set
with "set"
info -- Generic command for printing status
Type "help" followed by command name for full
documentation.
Command name abbreviations are allowed if unambiguous.
(gdb)
help command
With a command name as help argument, GDB displays a short paragraph
on how to use that command.
complete args
The complete args command lists all the possible completions for the
beginning of a command. Use args to specify the beginning of the
command you want completed. For example:
complete i
results in:
info
inspect
ignore
This is intended for use by gnu Emacs.
In addition to help, you can use the GDB commands info and show to inquire
about the state of your program, or the state of GDB itself. Each command
supports many topics of inquiry; this manual introduces each of them in the
appropriate context. The listings under info and under show in the Index
point to all the sub-commands. See Index.
info
This command (abbreviated i) is for describing the state of your
program. For example, you can list the arguments given to your
program with info args, list the registers currently in use with
info registers, or list the breakpoints you have set with info
breakpoints. You can get a complete list of the info sub-commands
with help info.
set
You can assign the result of an expresson to an environment variable
with set. For example, you can set the GDB prompt to a $-sign with
set prompt $.
show
In contrast to info, show is for describing the state of GDB itself.
You can change most of the things you can show, by using the related
command set; for example, you can control what number system is used
for displays with set radix, or simply inquire which is currently in
use with show radix.
To display all the settable parameters and their current values, you
can use show with no arguments; you may also use info set. Both
commands produce the same display.
Here are three miscellaneous show subcommands, all of which are exceptional in
lacking corresponding set commands:
show version
Show what version of GDB is running. You should include this
information in GDB bug-reports. If multiple versions of GDB are in
use at your site, you may occasionally want to determine which
version of GDB you are running; as GDB evolves, new commands are
introduced, and old ones may wither away. The version number is
also announced when you start GDB.
show copying
Display information about permission for copying GDB.
show warranty
Display the gnu ``NO WARRANTY'' statement.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Running Programs Under GDB ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
When you run a program under GDB, you must first generate debugging information
when you compile it. You may start GDB with its arguments, if any, in an
environment of your choice. You may redirect your program's input and output,
debug an already running process, or kill a child process.
Compilation Compiling for debugging
Starting Starting your program
Arguments Your program's arguments
Environment Your program's environment
Working Directory Your program's working directory
Input/Output Your program's input and output
Attach Debugging an already-running process
Kill Process Killing the child process
Process Information Additional process information
Threads Debugging programs with multiple
threads
Processes Debugging programs with multiple
processes
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1. Compiling for debugging ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
In order to debug a program effectively, you need to generate debugging
information when you compile it. This debugging information is stored in the
object file; it describes the data type of each variable or function and the
correspondence between source line numbers and addresses in the executable
code.
To request debugging information, specify the `-g' option when you run the
compiler.
Many C compilers are unable to handle the `-g' and `-O' options together.
Using those compilers, you cannot generate optimized executables containing
debugging information.
GCC, the gnu C compiler, supports `-g' with or without `-O', making it possible
to debug optimized code. We recommend that you always use `-g' whenever you
compile a program. You may think your program is correct, but there is no sense
in pushing your luck.
When you debug a program compiled with `-g -O', remember that the optimizer is
rearranging your code; the debugger shows you what is really there. Do not be
too surprised when the execution path does not exactly match your source file!
An extreme example: if you define a variable, but never use it, GDB never sees
that variable---because the compiler optimizes it out of existence.
Some things do not work as well with `-g -O' as with just `-g', particularly on
machines with instruction scheduling. If in doubt, recompile with `-g' alone,
and if this fixes the problem, please report it to us as a bug (including a
test case!).
Older versions of the gnu C compiler permitted a variant option `-gg' for
debugging information. GDB no longer supports this format; if your gnu C
compiler has this option, do not use it.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2. Starting your program ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
run
r
Use the run command to start your program under GDB. You must first
specify the program name (except on VxWorks) with an argument to GDB
( see Getting In and Out of GDB), or by using the file or exec-file
command (see Commands to specify files).
If you are running your program in an execution environment that supports
processes, run creates an inferior process and makes that process run your
program. (In environments without processes, run jumps to the start of your
program.)
The execution of a program is affected by certain information it receives from
its superior. GDB provides ways to specify this information, which you must
do before starting your program. (You can change it after starting your
program, but such changes only affect your program the next time you start
it.) This information may be divided into four categories:
The arguments.
Specify the arguments to give your program as the arguments of the
run command. If a shell is available on your target, the shell is
used to pass the arguments, so that you may use normal conventions
(such as wildcard expansion or variable substitution) in describing
the arguments. In Unix systems, you can control which shell is used
with the SHELL environment variable. See Your program_s arguments.
The environment.
Your program normally inherits its environment from GDB, but you can
use the GDB commands set environment and unset environment to change
parts of the environment that affect your program. See Your
program_s environment.
The working directory.
Your program inherits its working directory from GDB. You can set
the GDB working directory with the cd command in GDB. See Your
program_s working directory.
The standard input and output.
Your program normally uses the same device for standard input and
standard output as GDB is using. You can redirect input and output
in the run command line, or you can use the tty command to set a
different device for your program. See Your program_s input and
output.
Warning: While input and output redirection work, you cannot use
pipes to pass the output of the program you are debugging to another
program; if you attempt this, GDB is likely to wind up debugging the
wrong program.
When you issue the run command, your program begins to execute immediately.
See Stopping and continuing, for discussion of how to arrange for your program
to stop. Once your program has stopped, you may call functions in your
program, using the print or call commands. See Examining Data.
If the modification time of your symbol file has changed since the last time
GDB read its symbols, GDB discards its symbol table, and reads it again. When
it does this, GDB tries to retain your current breakpoints.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.3. Your program's arguments ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The arguments to your program can be specified by the arguments of the run
command. They are passed to a shell, which expands wildcard characters and
performs redirection of I/O, and thence to your program. Your SHELL environment
variable (if it exists) specifies what shell GDB uses. If you do not define
SHELL, GDB uses /bin/sh.
run with no arguments uses the same arguments used by the previous run, or
those set by the set args command.
set args
Specify the arguments to be used the next time your program is run.
If set args has no arguments, run executes your program with no
arguments. Once you have run your program with arguments, using set
args before the next run is the only way to run it again without
arguments.
show args
Show the arguments to give your program when it is started.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.4. Your program's environment ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The environment consists of a set of environment variables and their values.
Environment variables conventionally record such things as your user name, your
home directory, your terminal type, and your search path for programs to run.
Usually you set up environment variables with the shell and they are inherited
by all the other programs you run. When debugging, it can be useful to try
running your program with a modified environment without having to start GDB
over again.
path directory
Add directory to the front of the PATH environment variable (the
search path for executables), for both GDB and your program. You may
specify several directory names, separated by `:' or whitespace. If
directory is already in the path, it is moved to the front, so it is
searched sooner.
You can use the string `$cwd' to refer to whatever is the current
working directory at the time GDB searches the path. If you use `.'
instead, it refers to the directory where you executed the path
command. GDB replaces `.' in the directory argument (with the
current path) before adding directory to the search path.
show paths
Display the list of search paths for executables (the PATH
environment variable).
show environment [varname]
Print the value of environment variable varname to be given to your
program when it starts. If you do not supply varname, print the
names and values of all environment variables to be given to your
program. You can abbreviate environment as env.
set environment varname [=] value
Set environment variable varname to value. The value changes for
your program only, not for GDB itself. value may be any string; the
values of environment variables are just strings, and any
interpretation is supplied by your program itself. The value
parameter is optional; if it is eliminated, the variable is set to a
null value.
For example, this command:
set env USER = foo
tells a Unix program, when subsequently run, that its user is named
`foo'. (The spaces around `=' are used for clarity here; they are
not actually required.)
unset environment varname
Remove variable varname from the environment to be passed to your
program. This is different from `set env varname ='; unset
environment removes the variable from the environment, rather than
assigning it an empty value.
Warning: GDB runs your program using the shell indicated by your SHELL
environment variable if it exists (or /bin/sh if not). If your SHELL variable
names a shell that runs an initialization file---such as `.cshrc' for C-shell,
or `.bashrc' for BASH---any variables you set in that file affect your
program. You may wish to move setting of environment variables to files that
are only run when you sign on, such as `.login' or `.profile'.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.5. Your program's working directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Each time you start your program with run, it inherits its working directory
from the current working directory of GDB. The GDB working directory is
initially whatever it inherited from its parent process (typically the shell),
but you can specify a new working directory in GDB with the cd command.
The GDB working directory also serves as a default for the commands that
specify files for GDB to operate on. See Commands to specify files.
cd directory
Set the GDB working directory to directory.
pwd
Print the GDB working directory.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.6. Your program's input and output ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
By default, the program you run under GDB does input and output to the same
terminal that GDB uses. GDB switches the terminal to its own terminal modes to
interact with you, but it records the terminal modes your program was using and
switches back to them when you continue running your program.
info terminal
Displays information recorded by GDB about the terminal modes your
program is using.
You can redirect your program's input and/or output using shell redirection
with the run command. For example,
run > outfile
starts your program, diverting its output to the file `outfile'.
Another way to specify where your program should do input and output is with
the tty command. This command accepts a file name as argument, and causes
this file to be the default for future run commands. It also resets the
controlling terminal for the child process, for future run commands. For
example,
tty /dev/ttyb
directs that processes started with subsequent run commands default to do
input and output on the terminal `/dev/ttyb' and have that as their
controlling terminal.
An explicit redirection in run overrides the tty command's effect on the
input/output device, but not its effect on the controlling terminal.
When you use the tty command or redirect input in the run command, only the
input for your program is affected. The input for GDB still comes from your
terminal.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.7. Debugging an already-running process ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
attach process-id
This command attaches to a running process---one that was started
outside GDB. (info files shows your active targets.) The command
takes as argument a process ID. The usual way to find out the
process-id of a Unix process is with the ps utility, or with the
`jobs -l' shell command.
attach does not repeat if you press RET a second time after
executing the command.
To use attach, your program must be running in an environment which supports
processes; for example, attach does not work for programs on bare-board
targets that lack an operating system. You must also have permission to send
the process a signal.
When using attach, you should first use the file command to specify the
program running in the process and load its symbol table. See Commands to
Specify Files.
The first thing GDB does after arranging to debug the specified process is to
stop it. You can examine and modify an attached process with all the GDB
commands that are ordinarily available when you start processes with run. You
can insert breakpoints; you can step and continue; you can modify storage. If
you would rather the process continue running, you may use the continue
command after attaching GDB to the process.
detach
When you have finished debugging the attached process, you can use
the detach command to release it from GDB control. Detaching the
process continues its execution. After the detach command, that
process and GDB become completely independent once more, and you are
ready to attach another process or start one with run. detach does
not repeat if you press RET again after executing the command.
If you exit GDB or use the run command while you have an attached process, you
kill that process. By default, GDB asks for confirmation if you try to do
either of these things; you can control whether or not you need to confirm by
using the set confirm command ( see Optional warnings and messages).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.8. Killing the child process ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
kill
Kill the child process in which your program is running under GDB.
This command is useful if you wish to debug a core dump instead of a running
process. GDB ignores any core dump file while your program is running.
On some operating systems, a program cannot be executed outside GDB while you
have breakpoints set on it inside GDB. You can use the kill command in this
situation to permit running your program outside the debugger.
The kill command is also useful if you wish to recompile and relink your
program, since on many systems it is impossible to modify an executable file
while it is running in a process. In this case, when you next type run, GDB
notices that the file has changed, and reads the symbol table again (while
trying to preserve your current breakpoint settings).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.9. Additional process information ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Some operating systems provide a facility called `/proc' that can be used to
examine the image of a running process using file-system subroutines. If GDB
is configured for an operating system with this facility, the command info proc
is available to report on several kinds of information about the process
running your program. info proc works only on SVR4 systems that support procfs.
info proc
Summarize available information about the process.
info proc mappings
Report on the address ranges accessible in the program, with
information on whether your program may read, write, or execute each
range.
info proc times
Starting time, user CPU time, and system CPU time for your program
and its children.
info proc id
Report on the process IDs related to your program: its own process
ID, the ID of its parent, the process group ID, and the session ID.
info proc status
General information on the state of the process. If the process is
stopped, this report includes the reason for stopping, and any
signal received.
info proc all
Show all the above information about the process.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.10. Debugging programs with multiple threads ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
In some operating systems, a single program may have more than one thread of
execution. The precise semantics of threads differ from one operating system
to another, but in general the threads of a single program are akin to multiple
processes---except that they share one address space (that is, they can all
examine and modify the same variables). On the other hand, each thread has its
own registers and execution stack, and perhaps private memory.
GDB provides these facilities for debugging multi-thread programs:
automatic notification of new threads
`thread threadno', a command to switch among threads
`info threads', a command to inquire about existing threads
`thread apply [threadno] [all] args', a command to apply a command to a
list of threads
thread-specific breakpoints
Warning: These facilities are not yet available on every GDB configuration
where the operating system supports threads. If your GDB does not support
threads, these commands have no effect. For example, a system without thread
support shows no output from `info threads', and always rejects the thread
command, like this:
(gdb) info threads
(gdb) thread 1
Thread ID 1 not known. Use the "info threads" command to
see the IDs of currently known threads.
The GDB thread debugging facility allows you to observe all threads while your
program runs---but whenever GDB takes control, one thread in particular is
always the focus of debugging. This thread is called the current thread.
Debugging commands show program information from the perspective of the
current thread.
Whenever GDB detects a new thread in your program, it displays the target
system's identification for the thread with a message in the form `[New
systag]'. systag is a thread identifier whose form varies depending on the
particular system. For example, on LynxOS, you might see
[New process 35 thread 27]
when GDB notices a new thread. In contrast, on an SGI system, the systag is
simply something like `process 368', with no further qualifier.
For debugging purposes, GDB associates its own thread number---always a single
integer---with each thread in your program.
info threads
Display a summary of all threads currently in your program. GDB
displays for each thread (in this order):
1. the thread number assigned by GDB
2. the target system's thread identifier (systag)
3. the current stack frame summary for that thread
An asterisk `*' to the left of the GDB thread number indicates the
current thread.
For example,
(gdb) info threads
3 process 35 thread 27 0x34e5 in sigpause ()
2 process 35 thread 23 0x34e5 in sigpause ()
* 1 process 35 thread 13 main (argc=1, argv=0x7ffffff8)
at threadtest.c:68
thread threadno
Make thread number threadno the current thread. The command
argument threadno is the internal GDB thread number, as shown in the
first field of the `info threads' display. GDB responds by
displaying the system identifier of the thread you selected, and its
current stack frame summary:
(gdb) thread 2
[Switching to process 35 thread 23]
0x34e5 in sigpause ()
As with the `[New ...]' message, the form of the text after
`Switching to' depends on your system's conventions for identifying
threads.
thread apply [threadno] [all] args
The thread apply command allows you to apply a command to one or
more threads. Specify the numbers of the threads that you want
affected with the command argument threadno. threadno is the
internal GDB thread number, as shown in the first field of the `info
threads' display. To apply a command to all threads, use thread
apply all args.
Whenever GDB stops your program, due to a breakpoint or a signal, it
automatically selects the thread where that breakpoint or signal happened.
GDB alerts you to the context switch with a message of the form `[Switching to
systag]' to identify the thread.
See Stopping and starting multi-thread programs, for more information about
how GDB behaves when you stop and start programs with multiple threads.
See Setting watchpoints, for information about watchpoints in programs with
multiple threads.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.11. Debugging programs with multiple processes ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB has no special support for debugging programs which create additional
processes using the fork function. When a program forks, GDB will continue to
debug the parent process and the child process will run unimpeded. If you have
set a breakpoint in any code which the child then executes, the child will get
a SIGTRAP signal which (unless it catches the signal) will cause it to
terminate.
However, if you want to debug the child process there is a workaround which
isn't too painful. Put a call to sleep in the code which the child process
executes after the fork. It may be useful to sleep only if a certain
environment variable is set, or a certain file exists, so that the delay need
not occur when you don't want to run GDB on the child. While the child is
sleeping, use the ps program to get its process ID. Then tell GDB (a new
invocation of GDB if you are also debugging the parent process) to attach to
the child process (see Attach). From that point on you can debug the child
process just like any other process which you attached to.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. Stopping and Continuing ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The principal purposes of using a debugger are so that you can stop your
program before it terminates; or so that, if your program runs into trouble,
you can investigate and find out why.
Inside GDB, your program may stop for any of several reasons, such as a signal,
a breakpoint, or reaching a new line after a GDB command such as step. You may
then examine and change variables, set new breakpoints or remove old ones, and
then continue execution. Usually, the messages shown by GDB provide ample
explanation of the status of your program---but you can also explicitly request
this information at any time.
info program
Display information about the status of your program: whether it is
running or not, what process it is, and why it stopped.
Breakpoints Breakpoints, watchpoints, and
exceptions
Breakpoints Breakpoints and watchpoints
Continuing and Stepping Resuming execution
Signals Signals
Thread Stops Stopping and starting multi-thread
programs
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.1. Breakpoints, watchpoints, and exceptions ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
A breakpoint makes your program stop whenever a certain point in the program is
reached. For each breakpoint, you can add conditions to control in finer
detail whether your program stops. You can set breakpoints with the break
command and its variants (see Setting breakpoints), to specify the place where
your program should stop by line number, function name or exact address in the
program. In languages with exception handling (such as gnu C++), you can also
set breakpoints where an exception is raised ( see Breakpoints and exceptions).
In SunOS 4.x, SVR4, and Alpha OSF/1 configurations, you can now set breakpoints
in shared libraries before the executable is run.
A watchpoint is a special breakpoint that stops your program when the value of
an expression changes. You must use a different command to set watchpoints (
see Setting watchpoints), but aside from that, you can manage a watchpoint like
any other breakpoint: you enable, disable, and delete both breakpoints and
watchpoints using the same commands.
You can arrange to have values from your program displayed automatically
whenever GDB stops at a breakpoint. See Automatic display.
GDB assigns a number to each breakpoint or watchpoint when you create it; these
numbers are successive integers starting with one. In many of the commands for
controlling various features of breakpoints you use the breakpoint number to
say which breakpoint you want to change. Each breakpoint may be enabled or
disabled; if disabled, it has no effect on your program until you enable it
again.
Set Breaks Setting breakpoints
Set Watchpoints Setting watchpoints
Exception Handling Breakpoints and exceptions
Delete Breaks Deleting breakpoints
Disabling Disabling breakpoints
Conditions Break conditions
Break Commands Breakpoint command lists
Breakpoint Menus Breakpoint menus
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.1.1. Setting breakpoints ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Breakpoints are set with the break command (abbreviated b). The debugger
convenience variable `$bpnum' records the number of the breakpoints you've set
most recently; see Convenience variables, for a discussion of what you can do
with convenience variables.
You have several ways to say where the breakpoint should go.
break function
Set a breakpoint at entry to function function. When using source
languages that permit overloading of symbols, such as C++, function
may refer to more than one possible place to break. See Breakpoint
menus, for a discussion of that situation.
break +offset
break -offset
Set a breakpoint some number of lines forward or back from the
position at which execution stopped in the currently selected frame.
break linenum
Set a breakpoint at line linenum in the current source file. That
file is the last file whose source text was printed. This
breakpoint stops your program just before it executes any of the
code on that line.
break filename:linenum
Set a breakpoint at line linenum in source file filename.
break filename:function
Set a breakpoint at entry to function function found in file
filename. Specifying a file name as well as a function name is
superfluous except when multiple files contain similarly named
functions.
break *address
Set a breakpoint at address address. You can use this to set
breakpoints in parts of your program which do not have debugging
information or source files.
break
When called without any arguments, break sets a breakpoint at the
next instruction to be executed in the selected stack frame (see
Examining the Stack). In any selected frame but the innermost, this
makes your program stop as soon as control returns to that frame.
This is similar to the effect of a finish command in the frame
inside the selected frame---except that finish does not leave an
active breakpoint. If you use break without an argument in the
innermost frame, GDB stops the next time it reaches the current
location; this may be useful inside loops.
GDB normally ignores breakpoints when it resumes execution, until at
least one instruction has been executed. If it did not do this, you
would be unable to proceed past a breakpoint without first disabling
the breakpoint. This rule applies whether or not the breakpoint
already existed when your program stopped.
break ... if cond
Set a breakpoint with condition cond; evaluate the expression cond
each time the breakpoint is reached, and stop only if the value is
nonzero---that is, if cond evaluates as true. `...' stands for one
of the possible arguments described above (or no argument)
specifying where to break. See Break conditions, for more
information on breakpoint conditions.
tbreak args
Set a breakpoint enabled only for one stop. args are the same as
for the break command, and the breakpoint is set in the same way,
but the breakpoint is automatically deleted after the first time
your program stops there. See Disabling breakpoints.
hbreak args
Set a hardware-assisted breakpoint. args are the same as for the
break command and the breakpoint is set in the same way, but the
breakpoint requires hardware support and some target hardware may
not have this support. The main purpose of this is EPROM/ROM code
debugging, so you can set a breakpoint at an instruction without
changing the instruction. This can be used with the new
trap-generation provided by SPARClite DSU. DSU will generate traps
when a program accesses some date or instruction address that is
assigned to the debug registers. However the hardware breakpoint
registers can only take two data breakpoints, and GDB will reject
this command if more than two are used. Delete or disable usused
hardware breakpoints before setting new ones. See Break conditions.
thbreak args
Set a hardware-assisted breakpoint enabled only for one stop. args
are the same as for the hbreak command and the breakpoint is set in
the same way. However, like the tbreak command, the breakpoint is
automatically deleted after the first time your program stops there.
Also, like the hbreak command, the breakpoint requires hardware
support and some target hardware may not have this support. See
Disabling breakpoints. Also See Break conditions.
rbreak regex
Set breakpoints on all functions matching the regular expression
regex. This command sets an unconditional breakpoint on all
matches, printing a list of all breakpoints it set. Once these
breakpoints are set, they are treated just like the breakpoints set
with the break command. You can delete them, disable them, or make
them conditional the same way as any other breakpoint.
When debugging C++ programs, rbreak is useful for setting
breakpoints on overloaded functions that are not members of any
special classes.
info breakpoints [n]
info break [n]
info watchpoints [n]
Print a table of all breakpoints and watchpoints set and not
deleted, with the following columns for each breakpoint:
Breakpoint Numbers
Type
Breakpoint or watchpoint.
Disposition
Whether the breakpoint is marked to be disabled or
deleted when hit.
Enabled or Disabled
Enabled breakpoints are marked with `y'. `n' marks
breakpoints that are not enabled.
Address
Where the breakpoint is in your program, as a memory
address
What
Where the breakpoint is in the source for your
program, as a file and line number.
If a breakpoint is conditional, info break shows the condition on
the line following the affected breakpoint; breakpoint commands, if
any, are listed after that.
info break with a breakpoint number n as argument lists only that
breakpoint. The convenience variable $_ and the default
examining-address for the x command are set to the address of the
last breakpoint listed (see Examining memory).
info break now displays a count of the number of times the
breakpoint has been hit. This is especially useful in conjunction
with the ignore command. You can ignore a large number of
breakpoint hits, look at the breakpoint info to see how many times
the breakpoint was hit, and then run again, ignoring one less than
that number. This will get you quickly to the last hit of that
breakpoint.
GDB allows you to set any number of breakpoints at the same place in your
program. There is nothing silly or meaningless about this. When the
breakpoints are conditional, this is even useful (see Break conditions).
GDB itself sometimes sets breakpoints in your program for special purposes,
such as proper handling of longjmp (in C programs). These internal breakpoints
are assigned negative numbers, starting with -1; `info breakpoints' does not
display them.
You can see these breakpoints with the GDB maintenance command `maint info
breakpoints'.
maint info breakpoints
Using the same format as `info breakpoints', display both the
breakpoints you've set explicitly, and those GDB is using for
internal purposes. Internal breakpoints are shown with negative
breakpoint numbers. The type column identifies what kind of
breakpoint is shown:
breakpoint
Normal, explicitly set breakpoint.
watchpoint
Normal, explicitly set watchpoint.
longjmp
Internal breakpoint, used to handle correctly
stepping through longjmp calls.
longjmp resume
Internal breakpoint at the target of a longjmp.
until
Temporary internal breakpoint used by the GDB until
command.
finish
Temporary internal breakpoint used by the GDB finish
command.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.1.2. Setting watchpoints ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can use a watchpoint to stop execution whenever the value of an expression
changes, without having to predict a particular place where this may happen.
Watchpoints currently execute two orders of magnitude more slowly than other
breakpoints, but this can be well worth it to catch errors where you have no
clue what part of your program is the culprit.
watch expr
Set a watchpoint for an expression. GDB will break when expr is
written into by the program and its value changes. This can be used
with the new trap-generation provided by SPARClite DSU. DSU will
generate traps when a program accesses some date or instruction
address that is assigned to the debug registers. For the data
addresses, DSU facilitates the watch command. However the hardware
breakpoint registers can only take two data watchpoints, and both
watchpoints must be the same kind. For example, you can set two
watchpoints with watch commands, two with rwatch commands, *or* two
with awatch commands, but you cannot set one watchpoint with one
command and the other with a different command. will reject the
command if you try to mix watchpoints. Delete or disable unused
watchpoint commands before setting new ones.
rwatch expr
Set a watchpoint that will break when watch args is read by the
program. If you use both watchpoints, both must be set with the
rwatch command.
awatch expr
Set a watchpoint that will break when args is read and written into
by the program. If you use both watchpoints, both must be set with
the awatch command.
info watchpoints
This command prints a list of watchpoints and breakpoints; it is the
same as info break.
Warning: in multi-thread programs, watchpoints have only limited usefulness.
With the current watchpoint implementation, GDB can only watch the value of an
expression in a single thread. If you are confident that the expression can
only change due to the current thread's activity (and if you are also
confident that no other thread can become current), then you can use
watchpoints as usual. However, GDB may not notice when a non-current thread's
activity changes the expression.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.1.3. Breakpoints and exceptions ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Some languages, such as gnu C++, implement exception handling. You can use GDB
to examine what caused your program to raise an exception, and to list the
exceptions your program is prepared to handle at a given point in time.
catch exceptions
You can set breakpoints at active exception handlers by using the
catch command. exceptions is a list of names of exceptions to
catch.
You can use info catch to list active exception handlers. See Information
about a frame.
There are currently some limitations to exception handling in GDB:
If you call a function interactively, GDB normally returns control to you
when the function has finished executing. If the call raises an
exception, however, the call may bypass the mechanism that returns
control to you and cause your program to simply continue running until it
hits a breakpoint, catches a signal that GDB is listening for, or exits.
You cannot raise an exception interactively.
You cannot install an exception handler interactively.
Sometimes catch is not the best way to debug exception handling: if you need
to know exactly where an exception is raised, it is better to stop before the
exception handler is called, since that way you can see the stack before any
unwinding takes place. If you set a breakpoint in an exception handler
instead, it may not be easy to find out where the exception was raised.
To stop just before an exception handler is called, you need some knowledge of
the implementation. In the case of gnu C++, exceptions are raised by calling
a library function named __raise_exception which has the following ANSI C
interface:
/* addr is where the exception identifier is stored.
ID is the exception identifier. */
void __raise_exception (void **addr, void *id);
To make the debugger catch all exceptions before any stack unwinding takes
place, set a breakpoint on __raise_exception (see Breakpoints; watchpoints;
and exceptions).
With a conditional breakpoint (see Break conditions) that depends on the value
of id, you can stop your program when a specific exception is raised. You can
use multiple conditional breakpoints to stop your program when any of a number
of exceptions are raised.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.1.4. Deleting breakpoints ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
It is often necessary to eliminate a breakpoint or watchpoint once it has done
its job and you no longer want your program to stop there. This is called
deleting the breakpoint. A breakpoint that has been deleted no longer exists;
it is forgotten.
With the clear command you can delete breakpoints according to where they are
in your program. With the delete command you can delete individual breakpoints
or watchpoints by specifying their breakpoint numbers.
It is not necessary to delete a breakpoint to proceed past it. GDB
automatically ignores breakpoints on the first instruction to be executed when
you continue execution without changing the execution address.
clear
Delete any breakpoints at the next instruction to be executed in the
selected stack frame (see Selecting a frame). When the innermost
frame is selected, this is a good way to delete a breakpoint where
your program just stopped.
clear function
clear filename:function
Delete any breakpoints set at entry to the function function.
clear linenum
clear filename:linenum
Delete any breakpoints set at or within the code of the specified
line.
delete [breakpoints] [bnums...]
Delete the breakpoints or watchpoints of the numbers specified as
arguments. If no argument is specified, delete all breakpoints (GDB
asks confirmation, unless you have set confirm off). You can
abbreviate this command as d.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.1.5. Disabling breakpoints ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Rather than deleting a breakpoint or watchpoint, you might prefer to disable
it. This makes the breakpoint inoperative as if it had been deleted, but
remembers the information on the breakpoint so that you can enable it again
later.
You disable and enable breakpoints and watchpoints with the enable and disable
commands, optionally specifying one or more breakpoint numbers as arguments.
Use info break or info watch to print a list of breakpoints or watchpoints if
you do not know which numbers to use.
A breakpoint or watchpoint can have any of four different states of enablement:
Enabled. The breakpoint stops your program. A breakpoint set with the
break command starts out in this state.
Disabled. The breakpoint has no effect on your program.
Enabled once. The breakpoint stops your program, but then becomes
disabled. A breakpoint set with the tbreak command starts out in this
state.
Enabled for deletion. The breakpoint stops your program, but immediately
after it does so it is deleted permanently.
You can use the following commands to enable or disable breakpoints and
watchpoints:
disable [breakpoints] [bnums...]
Disable the specified breakpoints---or all breakpoints, if none are
listed. A disabled breakpoint has no effect but is not forgotten.
All options such as ignore-counts, conditions and commands are
remembered in case the breakpoint is enabled again later. You may
abbreviate disable as dis.
enable [breakpoints] [bnums...]
Enable the specified breakpoints (or all defined breakpoints). They
become effective once again in stopping your program.
enable [breakpoints] once bnums...
Enable the specified breakpoints temporarily. GDB disables any of
these breakpoints immediately after stopping your program.
enable [breakpoints] delete bnums...
Enable the specified breakpoints to work once, then die. GDB
deletes any of these breakpoints as soon as your program stops
there.
Except for a breakpoint set with tbreak ( see Setting breakpoints),
breakpoints that you set are initially enabled; subsequently, they become
disabled or enabled only when you use one of the commands above. (The command
until can set and delete a breakpoint of its own, but it does not change the
state of your other breakpoints; see Continuing and stepping.)
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.1.6. Break conditions ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The simplest sort of breakpoint breaks every time your program reaches a
specified place. You can also specify a condition for a breakpoint. A
condition is just a Boolean expression in your programming language (see
Expressions). A breakpoint with a condition evaluates the expression each time
your program reaches it, and your program stops only if the condition is true.
This is the converse of using assertions for program validation; in that
situation, you want to stop when the assertion is violated---that is, when the
condition is false. In C, if you want to test an assertion expressed by the
condition assert, you should set the condition `! assert' on the appropriate
breakpoint.
Conditions are also accepted for watchpoints; you may not need them, since a
watchpoint is inspecting the value of an expression anyhow---but it might be
simpler, say, to just set a watchpoint on a variable name, and specify a
condition that tests whether the new value is an interesting one.
Break conditions can have side effects, and may even call functions in your
program. This can be useful, for example, to activate functions that log
program progress, or to use your own print functions to format special data
structures. The effects are completely predictable unless there is another
enabled breakpoint at the same address. (In that case, GDB might see the other
breakpoint first and stop your program without checking the condition of this
one.) Note that breakpoint commands are usually more convenient and flexible
for the purpose of performing side effects when a breakpoint is reached (see
Breakpoint command lists).
Break conditions can be specified when a breakpoint is set, by using `if' in
the arguments to the break command. See Setting breakpoints. They can also be
changed at any time with the condition command. The watch command does not
recognize the if keyword; condition is the only way to impose a further
condition on a watchpoint.
condition bnum expression
Specify expression as the break condition for breakpoint or
watchpoint number bnum. After you set a condition, breakpoint bnum
stops your program only if the value of expression is true (nonzero,
in C). When you use condition, GDB checks expression immediately
for syntactic correctness, and to determine whether symbols in it
have referents in the context of your breakpoint. GDB does not
actually evaluate expression at the time the condition command is
given, however. See Expressions.
condition bnum
Remove the condition from breakpoint number bnum. It becomes an
ordinary unconditional breakpoint.
A special case of a breakpoint condition is to stop only when the breakpoint
has been reached a certain number of times. This is so useful that there is a
special way to do it, using the ignore count of the breakpoint. Every
breakpoint has an ignore count, which is an integer. Most of the time, the
ignore count is zero, and therefore has no effect. But if your program
reaches a breakpoint whose ignore count is positive, then instead of stopping,
it just decrements the ignore count by one and continues. As a result, if the
ignore count value is n, the breakpoint does not stop the next n times your
program reaches it.
ignore bnum count
Set the ignore count of breakpoint number bnum to count. The next
count times the breakpoint is reached, your program's execution does
not stop; other than to decrement the ignore count, GDB takes no
action.
To make the breakpoint stop the next time it is reached, specify a
count of zero.
When you use continue to resume execution of your program from a
breakpoint, you can specify an ignore count directly as an argument
to continue, rather than using ignore. See Continuing and stepping.
If a breakpoint has a positive ignore count and a condition, the
condition is not checked. Once the ignore count reaches zero, GDB
resumes checking the condition.
You could achieve the effect of the ignore count with a condition
such as `$foo-- <= 0' using a debugger convenience variable that is
decremented each time. See Convenience variables.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.1.7. Breakpoint command lists ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can give any breakpoint (or watchpoint) a series of commands to execute
when your program stops due to that breakpoint. For example, you might want to
print the values of certain expressions, or enable other breakpoints.
commands [bnum]
... command-list ...
end
Specify a list of commands for breakpoint number bnum. The commands
themselves appear on the following lines. Type a line containing
just end to terminate the commands.
To remove all commands from a breakpoint, type commands and follow
it immediately with end; that is, give no commands.
With no bnum argument, commands refers to the last breakpoint or
watchpoint set (not to the breakpoint most recently encountered).
Pressing RET as a means of repeating the last GDB command is disabled within a
command-list.
You can use breakpoint commands to start your program up again. Simply use
the continue command, or step, or any other command that resumes execution.
Any other commands in the command list, after a command that resumes
execution, are ignored. This is because any time you resume execution (even
with a simple next or step), you may encounter another breakpoint---which
could have its own command list, leading to ambiguities about which list to
execute.
If the first command you specify in a command list is silent, the usual
message about stopping at a breakpoint is not printed. This may be desirable
for breakpoints that are to print a specific message and then continue. If
none of the remaining commands print anything, you see no sign that the
breakpoint was reached. silent is meaningful only at the beginning of a
breakpoint command list.
The commands echo, output, and printf allow you to print precisely controlled
output, and are often useful in silent breakpoints. See Commands for
controlled output.
For example, here is how you could use breakpoint commands to print the value
of x at entry to foo whenever x is positive.
break foo if x>0
commands
silent
printf "x is %d\n",x
cont
end
One application for breakpoint commands is to compensate for one bug so you
can test for another. Put a breakpoint just after the erroneous line of code,
give it a condition to detect the case in which something erroneous has been
done, and give it commands to assign correct values to any variables that need
them. End with the continue command so that your program does not stop, and
start with the silent command so that no output is produced. Here is an
example:
break 403
commands
silent
set x = y + 4
cont
end
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.1.8. Breakpoint menus ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Some programming languages (notably C++) permit a single function name to be
defined several times, for application in different contexts. This is called
overloading. When a function name is overloaded, `break function' is not
enough to tell GDB where you want a breakpoint. If you realize this is a
problem, you can use something like `break function(types)' to specify which
particular version of the function you want. Otherwise, GDB offers you a menu
of numbered choices for different possible breakpoints, and waits for your
selection with the prompt `>'. The first two options are always `[0] cancel'
and `[1] all'. Typing 1 sets a breakpoint at each definition of function, and
typing 0 aborts the break command without setting any new breakpoints.
For example, the following session excerpt shows an attempt to set a breakpoint
at the overloaded symbol String::after. We choose three particular definitions
of that function name:
(gdb) b String::after
[0] cancel
[1] all
[2] file:String.cc; line number:867
[3] file:String.cc; line number:860
[4] file:String.cc; line number:875
[5] file:String.cc; line number:853
[6] file:String.cc; line number:846
[7] file:String.cc; line number:735
> 2 4 6
Breakpoint 1 at 0xb26c: file String.cc, line 867.
Breakpoint 2 at 0xb344: file String.cc, line 875.
Breakpoint 3 at 0xafcc: file String.cc, line 846.
Multiple breakpoints were set.
Use the "delete" command to delete unwanted
breakpoints.
(gdb)
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.2. Continuing and stepping ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Continuing means resuming program execution until your program completes
normally. In contrast, stepping means executing just one more ``step'' of your
program, where ``step'' may mean either one line of source code, or one machine
instruction (depending on what particular command you use). Either when
continuing or when stepping, your program may stop even sooner, due to a
breakpoint or a signal. (If due to a signal, you may want to use handle, or
use `signal 0' to resume execution. See Signals.)
continue [ignore-count]
c [ignore-count]
fg [ignore-count]
Resume program execution, at the address where your program last
stopped; any breakpoints set at that address are bypassed. The
optional argument ignore-count allows you to specify a further
number of times to ignore a breakpoint at this location; its effect
is like that of ignore (see Break conditions).
The argument ignore-count is meaningful only when your program
stopped due to a breakpoint. At other times, the argument to
continue is ignored.
The synonyms c and fg are provided purely for convenience, and have
exactly the same behavior as continue.
To resume execution at a different place, you can use return (see Returning
from a function) to go back to the calling function; or jump ( see Continuing
at a different address) to go to an arbitrary location in your program.
A typical technique for using stepping is to set a breakpoint (see
Breakpoints; watchpoints; and exceptions) at the beginning of the function or
the section of your program where a problem is believed to lie, run your
program until it stops at that breakpoint, and then step through the suspect
area, examining the variables that are interesting, until you see the problem
happen.
step
Continue running your program until control reaches a different
source line, then stop it and return control to GDB. This command
is abbreviated s.
Warning: If you use the step command while control is within a
function that was compiled without debugging information, execution
proceeds until control reaches a function that does have debugging
information. Likewise, it will not step into a function which is
compiled without debugging information. To step through functions
without debugging information, use the stepi command, described
below.
The step command now only stops at the first instruction of a source
line. This prevents the multiple stops that used to occur in switch
statements, for loops, etc. step continues to stop if a function
that has debugging information is called within the line.
Also, the step command now only enters a subroutine if there is line
number information for the subroutine. Otherwise it acts like the
next command. This avoids problems when using cc -gl on MIPS
machines. Previously, step entered subroutines if there was any
debugging information about the routine.
step count
Continue running as in step, but do so count times. If a breakpoint
is reached, or a signal not related to stepping occurs before count
steps, stepping stops right away.
next [count]
Continue to the next source line in the current (innermost) stack
frame. This is similar to step, but function calls that appear
within the line of code are executed without stopping. Execution
stops when control reaches a different line of code at the original
stack level that was executing when you gave the next command. This
command is abbreviated n.
An argument count is a repeat count, as for step.
The next command now only stops at the first instruction of a source
line. This prevents the multiple stops that used to occur in swtch
statements, for loops, etc.
finish
Continue running until just after function in the selected stack
frame returns. Print the returned value (if any).
Contrast this with the return command ( see Returning from a
function).
u
until
Continue running until a source line past the current line, in the
current stack frame, is reached. This command is used to avoid
single stepping through a loop more than once. It is like the next
command, except that when until encounters a jump, it automatically
continues execution until the program counter is greater than the
address of the jump.
This means that when you reach the end of a loop after single
stepping though it, until makes your program continue execution
until it exits the loop. In contrast, a next command at the end of
a loop simply steps back to the beginning of the loop, which forces
you to step through the next iteration.
until always stops your program if it attempts to exit the current
stack frame.
until may produce somewhat counterintuitive results if the order of
machine code does not match the order of the source lines. For
example, in the following excerpt from a debugging session, the f
(frame) command shows that execution is stopped at line 206; yet
when we use until, we get to line 195:
(gdb) f
#0 main (argc=4, argv=0xf7fffae8) at m4.c:206
206 expand_input();
(gdb) until
195 for ( ; argc > 0; NEXTARG) {
This happened because, for execution efficiency, the compiler had
generated code for the loop closure test at the end, rather than the
start, of the loop---even though the test in a C for-loop is written
before the body of the loop. The until command appeared to step
back to the beginning of the loop when it advanced to this
expression; however, it has not really gone to an earlier
statement---not in terms of the actual machine code.
until with no argument works by means of single instruction
stepping, and hence is slower than until with an argument.
until location
u location
Continue running your program until either the specified location is
reached, or the current stack frame returns. location is any of the
forms of argument acceptable to break ( see Setting breakpoints).
This form of the command uses breakpoints, and hence is quicker than
until without an argument.
stepi
si
Execute one machine instruction, then stop and return to the
debugger.
It is often useful to do `display/i $pc' when stepping by machine
instructions. This makes GDB automatically display the next
instruction to be executed, each time your program stops. See
Automatic display.
An argument is a repeat count, as in step.
nexti
ni
Execute one machine instruction, but if it is a function call,
proceed until the function returns.
An argument is a repeat count, as in next.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.3. Signals ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
A signal is an asynchronous event that can happen in a program. The operating
system defines the possible kinds of signals, and gives each kind a name and a
number. For example, in Unix SIGINT is the signal a program gets when you type
an interrupt (often C-c); SIGSEGV is the signal a program gets from referencing
a place in memory far away from all the areas in use; SIGALRM occurs when the
alarm clock timer goes off (which happens only if your program has requested an
alarm).
Some signals, including SIGALRM, are a normal part of the functioning of your
program. Others, such as SIGSEGV, indicate errors; these signals are fatal
(kill your program immediately) if the program has not specified in advance
some other way to handle the signal. SIGINT does not indicate an error in your
program, but it is normally fatal so it can carry out the purpose of the
interrupt: to kill the program.
GDB has the ability to detect any occurrence of a signal in your program. You
can tell GDB in advance what to do for each kind of signal.
Normally, GDB is set up to ignore non-erroneous signals like SIGALRM (so as not
to interfere with their role in the functioning of your program) but to stop
your program immediately whenever an error signal happens. You can change these
settings with the handle command.
info signals
Print a table of all the kinds of signals and how GDB has been told
to handle each one. You can use this to see the signal numbers of
all the defined types of signals.
info handle is the new alias for info signals.
handle signal keywords...
Change the way GDB handles signal signal. signal can be the number
of a signal or its name (with or without the `SIG' at the
beginning). The keywords say what change to make.
The keywords allowed by the handle command can be abbreviated. Their full
names are:
nostop
GDB should not stop your program when this signal happens. It may
still print a message telling you that the signal has come in.
stop
GDB should stop your program when this signal happens. This implies
the print keyword as well.
print
GDB should print a message when this signal happens.
noprint
GDB should not mention the occurrence of the signal at all. This
implies the nostop keyword as well.
pass
GDB should allow your program to see this signal; your program can
handle the signal, or else it may terminate if the signal is fatal
and not handled.
nopass
GDB should not allow your program to see this signal.
When a signal stops your program, the signal is not visible until you
continue. Your program sees the signal then, if pass is in effect for the
signal in question at that time. In other words, after GDB reports a signal,
you can use the handle command with pass or nopass to control whether your
program sees that signal when you continue.
You can also use the signal command to prevent your program from seeing a
signal, or cause it to see a signal it normally would not see, or to give it
any signal at any time. For example, if your program stopped due to some sort
of memory reference error, you might store correct values into the erroneous
variables and continue, hoping to see more execution; but your program would
probably terminate immediately as a result of the fatal signal once it saw the
signal. To prevent this, you can continue with `signal 0'. See Giving your
program a signal.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.4. Stopping and starting multi-thread programs ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
When your program has multiple threads ( see Debugging programs with multiple
threads), you can choose whether to set breakpoints on all threads, or on a
particular thread.
break linespec thread threadno
break linespec thread threadno if ...
linespec specifies source lines; there are several ways of writing
them, but the effect is always to specify some source line.
Use the qualifier `thread threadno' with a breakpoint command to
specify that you only want GDB to stop the program when a particular
thread reaches this breakpoint. threadno is one of the numeric
thread identifiers assigned by GDB, shown in the first column of the
`info threads' display.
If you do not specify `thread threadno' when you set a breakpoint,
the breakpoint applies to all threads of your program.
You can use the thread qualifier on conditional breakpoints as well;
in this case, place `thread threadno' before the breakpoint
condition, like this:
(gdb) break frik.c:13 thread 28 if bartab > lim
Whenever your program stops under GDB for any reason, all threads of execution
stop, not just the current thread. This allows you to examine the overall
state of the program, including switching between threads, without worrying
that things may change underfoot.
Conversely, whenever you restart the program, all threads start executing.
This is true even when single-stepping with commands like step or next.
In particular, GDB cannot single-step all threads in lockstep. Since thread
scheduling is up to your debugging target's operating system (not controlled
by GDB), other threads may execute more than one statement while the current
thread completes a single step. Moreover, in general other threads stop in
the middle of a statement, rather than at a clean statement boundary, when the
program stops.
You might even find your program stopped in another thread after continuing or
even single-stepping. This happens whenever some other thread runs into a
breakpoint, a signal, or an exception before the first thread completes
whatever you requested.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. Examining the Stack ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
When your program has stopped, the first thing you need to know is where it
stopped and how it got there.
Each time your program performs a function call, information about the call is
generated. That information includes the location of the call in your program,
the arguments of the call, and the local variables of the function being
called. The information is saved in a block of data called a stack frame. The
stack frames are allocated in a region of memory called the call stack.
When your program stops, the GDB commands for examining the stack allow you to
see all of this information.
One of the stack frames is selected by GDB and many GDB commands refer
implicitly to the selected frame. In particular, whenever you ask GDB for the
value of a variable in your program, the value is found in the selected frame.
There are special GDB commands to select whichever frame you are interested in.
See Selecting a frame.
When your program stops, GDB automatically selects the currently executing
frame and describes it briefly, similar to the frame command (see Information
about a frame).
Frames Stack frames
Backtrace Backtraces
Selection Selecting a frame
Frame Info Information on a frame
MIPS Stack MIPS machines and the function stack
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.1. Stack frames ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The call stack is divided up into contiguous pieces called stack frames, or
frames for short; each frame is the data associated with one call to one
function. The frame contains the arguments given to the function, the
function's local variables, and the address at which the function is executing.
When your program is started, the stack has only one frame, that of the
function main. This is called the initial frame or the outermost frame. Each
time a function is called, a new frame is made. Each time a function returns,
the frame for that function invocation is eliminated. If a function is
recursive, there can be many frames for the same function. The frame for the
function in which execution is actually occurring is called the innermost
frame. This is the most recently created of all the stack frames that still
exist.
Inside your program, stack frames are identified by their addresses. A stack
frame consists of many bytes, each of which has its own address; each kind of
computer has a convention for choosing one byte whose address serves as the
address of the frame. Usually this address is kept in a register called the
frame pointer register while execution is going on in that frame.
GDB assigns numbers to all existing stack frames, starting with zero for the
innermost frame, one for the frame that called it, and so on upward. These
numbers do not really exist in your program; they are assigned by GDB to give
you a way of designating stack frames in GDB commands.
Some compilers provide a way to compile functions so that they operate without
stack frames. (For example, the gcc option `-fomit-frame-pointer' generates
functions without a frame.) This is occasionally done with heavily used library
functions to save the frame setup time. GDB has limited facilities for dealing
with these function invocations. If the innermost function invocation has no
stack frame, GDB nevertheless regards it as though it had a separate frame,
which is numbered zero as usual, allowing correct tracing of the function call
chain. However, GDB has no provision for frameless functions elsewhere in the
stack.
frame args
The frame command allows you to move from one stack frame to
another, and to print the stack frame you select. args may be
either the address of the frame of the stack frame number. Without
an argument, frame prints the current stack frame.
select-frame
The select-frame command allows you to move from one stack frame to
another without printing the frame. This is the silent version of
frame.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.2. Backtraces ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
A backtrace is a summary of how your program got where it is. It shows one
line per frame, for many frames, starting with the currently executing frame
(frame zero), followed by its caller (frame one), and on up the stack.
backtrace
bt
Print a backtrace of the entire stack: one line per frame for all
frames in the stack.
You can stop the backtrace at any time by typing the system
interrupt character, normally C-c.
backtrace n
bt n
Similar, but print only the innermost n frames.
backtrace -n
bt -n
Similar, but print only the outermost n frames.
The names where and info stack (abbreviated info s) are additional aliases for
backtrace.
Each line in the backtrace shows the frame number and the function name. The
program counter value is also shown---unless you use set print address off.
The backtrace also shows the source file name and line number, as well as the
arguments to the function. The program counter value is omitted if it is at
the beginning of the code for that line number.
Here is an example of a backtrace. It was made with the command `bt 3', so it
shows the innermost three frames.
#0 m4_traceon (obs=0x24eb0, argc=1, argv=0x2b8c8)
at builtin.c:993
#1 0x6e38 in expand_macro (sym=0x2b600) at macro.c:242
#2 0x6840 in expand_token (obs=0x0, t=177664, td=0xf7fffb08)
at macro.c:71
(More stack frames follow...)
The display for frame zero does not begin with a program counter value,
indicating that your program has stopped at the beginning of the code for line
993 of builtin.c.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.3. Selecting a frame ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Most commands for examining the stack and other data in your program work on
whichever stack frame is selected at the moment. Here are the commands for
selecting a stack frame; all of them finish by printing a brief description of
the stack frame just selected.
frame n
f n
Select frame number n. Recall that frame zero is the innermost
(currently executing) frame, frame one is the frame that called the
innermost one, and so on. The highest-numbered frame is the one for
main.
frame addr
f addr
Select the frame at address addr. This is useful mainly if the
chaining of stack frames has been damaged by a bug, making it
impossible for GDB to assign numbers properly to all frames. In
addition, this can be useful when your program has multiple stacks
and switches between them.
On the SPARC architecture, frame needs two addresses to select an
arbitrary frame: a frame pointer and a stack pointer.
On the MIPS and Alpha architecture, it needs two addresses: a stack
pointer and a program counter.
On the 29k architecture, it needs three addresses: a register stack
pointer, a program counter, and a memory stack pointer.
up n
Move n frames up the stack. For positive numbers n, this advances
toward the outermost frame, to higher frame numbers, to frames that
have existed longer. n defaults to one.
down n
Move n frames down the stack. For positive numbers n, this advances
toward the innermost frame, to lower frame numbers, to frames that
were created more recently. n defaults to one. You may abbreviate
down as do.
All of these commands end by printing two lines of output describing the
frame. The first line shows the frame number, the function name, the
arguments, and the source file and line number of execution in that frame.
The second line shows the text of that source line.
For example:
(gdb) up
#1 0x22f0 in main (argc=1, argv=0xf7fffbf4, env=0xf7fffbfc)
at env.c:10
10 read_input_file (argv[i]);
After such a printout, the list command with no arguments prints ten lines
centered on the point of execution in the frame. See Printing source lines.
up-silently n
down-silently n
These two commands are variants of up and down, respectively; they
differ in that they do their work silently, without causing display
of the new frame. They are intended primarily for use in GDB
command scripts, where the output might be unnecessary and
distracting.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.4. Information about a frame ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
There are several other commands to print information about the selected stack
frame.
frame
f
When used without any argument, this command does not change which
frame is selected, but prints a brief description of the currently
selected stack frame. It can be abbreviated f. With an argument,
this command is used to select a stack frame. See Selecting a frame.
info frame
info f
This command prints a verbose description of the selected stack
frame, including:
the address of the frame
the address of the next frame down (called by this frame)
the address of the next frame up (caller of this frame)
the language in which the source code corresponding to this
frame is written
the address of the frame's arguments
the program counter saved in it (the address of execution in
the caller frame)
which registers were saved in the frame
The verbose description is useful when something has gone wrong that
has made the stack format fail to fit the usual conventions.
info frame addr
info f addr
Print a verbose description of the frame at address addr, without
selecting that frame. The selected frame remains unchanged by this
command. This requires the same kind of address (more than one for
some architectures) that you specify in the frame command. See
Selecting a frame.
info args
Print the arguments of the selected frame, each on a separate line.
info locals
Print the local variables of the selected frame, each on a separate
line. These are all variables (declared either static or automatic)
accessible at the point of execution of the selected frame.
info catch
Print a list of all the exception handlers that are active in the
current stack frame at the current point of execution. To see other
exception handlers, visit the associated frame (using the up, down,
or frame commands); then type info catch. See Breakpoints and
exceptions.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.5. MIPS machines and the function stack ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
MIPS based computers use an unusual stack frame, which sometimes requires GDB
to search backward in the object code to find the beginning of a function.
To improve response time (especially for embedded applications, where GDB may
be restricted to a slow serial line for this search) you may want to limit the
size of this search, using one of these commands:
set heuristic-fence-post limit
Restrict GDB to examining at most limit bytes in its search for the
beginning of a function. A value of 0 (the default) means there is
no limit. However, except for 0, the larger the limit the more
bytes heuristic-fence-post must search and therefore the longer it
takes to run.
show heuristic-fence-post
Display the current limit.
These commands are available only when GDB is configured for debugging
programs on MIPS processors.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10. Examining Source Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB can print parts of your program's source, since the debugging information
recorded in the program tells GDB what source files were used to build it.
When your program stops, GDB spontaneously prints the line where it stopped.
Likewise, when you select a stack frame (see Selecting a frame), GDB prints the
line where execution in that frame has stopped. You can print other portions
of source files by explicit command.
If you use GDB through its gnu Emacs interface, you may prefer to use Emacs
facilities to view source; see Using GDB under gnu Emacs.
List Printing source lines
Search Searching source files
Source Path Specifying source directories
Machine Code Source and machine code
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.1. Printing source lines ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To print lines from a source file, use the list command (abbreviated l). By
default, ten lines are printed. There are several ways to specify what part of
the file you want to print.
Here are the forms of the list command most commonly used:
list linenum
Print lines centered around line number linenum in the current
source file.
list function
Print lines centered around the beginning of function function.
list
Print more lines. If the last lines printed were printed with a
list command, this prints lines following the last lines printed;
however, if the last line printed was a solitary line printed as
part of displaying a stack frame ( see Examining the Stack), this
prints lines centered around that line.
list -
Print lines just before the lines last printed.
By default, GDB prints ten source lines with any of these forms of the list
command. You can change this using set listsize:
set listsize count
Make the list command display count source lines (unless the list
argument explicitly specifies some other number).
show listsize
Display the number of lines that list prints.
Repeating a list command with RET discards the argument, so it is equivalent
to typing just list. This is more useful than listing the same lines again.
An exception is made for an argument of `-'; that argument is preserved in
repetition so that each repetition moves up in the source file.
In general, the list command expects you to supply zero, one or two linespecs.
Linespecs specify source lines; there are several ways of writing them but the
effect is always to specify some source line. Here is a complete description
of the possible arguments for list:
list linespec
Print lines centered around the line specified by linespec.
list first,last
Print lines from first to last. Both arguments are linespecs.
list ,last
Print lines ending with last.
list first,
Print lines starting with first.
list +
Print lines just after the lines last printed.
list -
Print lines just before the lines last printed.
list
As described in the preceding table.
Here are the ways of specifying a single source line---all the kinds of
linespec.
number
Specifies line number of the current source file. When a list
command has two linespecs, this refers to the same source file as
the first linespec.
+offset
Specifies the line offset lines after the last line printed. When
used as the second linespec in a list command that has two, this
specifies the line offset lines down from the first linespec.
-offset
Specifies the line offset lines before the last line printed.
filename:number
Specifies line number in the source file filename.
function
Specifies the line that begins the body of the function function.
For example: in C, this is the line with the open brace.
filename:function
Specifies the line of the open-brace that begins the body of the
function function in the file filename. You only need the file name
with a function name to avoid ambiguity when there are identically
named functions in different source files.
*address
Specifies the line containing the program address address. address
may be any expression.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.2. Searching source files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
There are two commands for searching through the current source file for a
regular expression.
forward-search regexp
search regexp
The command `forward-search regexp' checks each line, starting with
the one following the last line listed, for a match for regexp. It
lists the line that is found. You can use the synonym `search
regexp' or abbreviate the command name as fo.
reverse-search regexp
The command `reverse-search regexp' checks each line, starting with
the one before the last line listed and going backward, for a match
for regexp. It lists the line that is found. You can abbreviate
this command as rev.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.3. Specifying source directories ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Executable programs sometimes do not record the directories of the source files
from which they were compiled, just the names. Even when they do, the
directories could be moved between the compilation and your debugging session.
GDB has a list of directories to search for source files; this is called the
source path. Each time GDB wants a source file, it tries all the directories
in the list, in the order they are present in the list, until it finds a file
with the desired name. Note that the executable search path is not used for
this purpose. Neither is the current working directory, unless it happens to
be in the source path.
If GDB cannot find a source file in the source path, and the object program
records a directory, GDB tries that directory too. If the source path is
empty, and there is no record of the compilation directory, GDB looks in the
current directory as a last resort.
Whenever you reset or rearrange the source path, GDB clears out any information
it has cached about where source files are found and where each line is in the
file.
When you start GDB, its source path is empty. To add other directories, use the
directory command.
directory dirname ...
dir dirname ...
Add directory dirname to the front of the source path. Several
directory names may be given to this command, separated by `:' or
whitespace. You may specify a directory that is already in the
source path; this moves it forward, so GDB searches it sooner.
You can use the string `$cdir' to refer to the compilation directory
(if one is recorded), and `$cwd' to refer to the current working
directory. `$cwd' is not the same as `.'---the former tracks the
current working directory as it changes during your GDB session,
while the latter is immediately expanded to the current directory at
the time you add an entry to the source path.
directory
Reset the source path to empty again. This requires confirmation.
show directories
Print the source path: show which directories it contains.
If your source path is cluttered with directories that are no longer of
interest, GDB may sometimes cause confusion by finding the wrong versions of
source. You can correct the situation as follows:
1. Use directory with no argument to reset the source path to empty.
2. Use directory with suitable arguments to reinstall the directories you
want in the source path. You can add all the directories in one command.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.4. Source and machine code ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can use the command info line to map source lines to program addresses (and
vice versa), and the command disassemble to display a range of addresses as
machine instructions. When run under gnu Emacs mode, the info line command now
causes the arrow to point to the line specified. Also, info line prints
addresses in symbolic form as well as hex.
info line linespec
Print the starting and ending addresses of the compiled code for
source line linespec. You can specify source lines in any of the
ways understood by the list command ( see Printing source lines).
For example, we can use info line to discover the location of the object code
for the first line of function m4_changequote:
(gdb) info line m4_changecom
Line 895 of "builtin.c" starts at pc 0x634c and ends at 0x6350.
We can also inquire (using *addr as the form for linespec) what source line
covers a particular address:
(gdb) info line *0x63ff
Line 926 of "builtin.c" starts at pc 0x63e4 and ends at 0x6404.
After info line, the default address for the x command is changed to the
starting address of the line, so that `x/i' is sufficient to begin examining
the machine code ( see Examining memory). Also, this address is saved as the
value of the convenience variable $_ ( see Convenience variables).
disassemble
This specialized command dumps a range of memory as machine
instructions. The default memory range is the function surrounding
the program counter of the selected frame. A single argument to
this command is a program counter value; GDB dumps the function
surrounding this value. Two arguments specify a range of addresses
(first inclusive, second exclusive) to dump.
We can use disassemble to inspect the object code range shown in the last info
line example (the example shows SPARC machine instructions):
(gdb) disas 0x63e4 0x6404
Dump of assembler code from 0x63e4 to 0x6404:
0x63e4 <builtin_init+5340>: ble 0x63f8 <builtin_init+5360>
0x63e8 <builtin_init+5344>: sethi %hi(0x4c00), %o0
0x63ec <builtin_init+5348>: ld [%i1+4], %o0
0x63f0 <builtin_init+5352>: b 0x63fc <builtin_init+5364>
0x63f4 <builtin_init+5356>: ld [%o0+4], %o0
0x63f8 <builtin_init+5360>: or %o0, 0x1a4, %o0
0x63fc <builtin_init+5364>: call 0x9288 <path_search>
0x6400 <builtin_init+5368>: nop
End of assembler dump.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11. Examining Data ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The usual way to examine data in your program is with the print command
(abbreviated p), or its synonym inspect. It evaluates and prints the value of
an expression of the language your program is written in ( see Using GDB with
Different Languages).
print exp
print /f exp
exp is an expression (in the source language). By default the value
of exp is printed in a format appropriate to its data type; you can
choose a different format by specifying `/f', where f is a letter
specifying the format; see Output formats.
print
print /f
If you omit exp, GDB displays the last value again (from the value
history; see Value history). This allows you to conveniently
inspect the same value in an alternative format.
A more low-level way of examining data is with the x command. It examines data
in memory at a specified address and prints it in a specified format. See
Examining memory.
If you are interested in information about types, or about how the fields of a
struct or class are declared, use the ptype exp command rather than print. See
Examining the Symbol Table.
Expressions Expressions
Variables Program variables
Arrays Artificial arrays
Output Formats Output formats
Memory Examining memory
Auto Display Automatic display
Print Settings Print settings
Value History Value history
Convenience Vars Convenience variables
Registers Registers
Floating Point Hardware Floating point hardware
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.1. Expressions ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
print and many other GDB commands accept an expression and compute its value.
Any kind of constant, variable or operator defined by the programming language
you are using is valid in an expression in GDB. This includes conditional
expressions, function calls, casts and string constants. It unfortunately does
not include symbols defined by preprocessor #define commands.
GDB now supports array constants in expressions input by the user. The syntax
is {element, element...}. For example, you can now use the command print {1,
2, 3} to build up an array in memory that is malloc'd in the target program.
Because C is so widespread, most of the expressions shown in examples in this
manual are in C. See Using GDB with Different Languages, for information on how
to use expressions in other languages.
In this section, we discuss operators that you can use in GDB expressions
regardless of your programming language.
Casts are supported in all languages, not just in C, because it is so useful to
cast a number into a pointer in order to examine a structure at that address in
memory.
GDB supports these operators, in addition to those common to programming
languages:
@
`@' is a binary operator for treating parts of memory as arrays. See
Artificial arrays, for more information.
::
`::' allows you to specify a variable in terms of the file or
function where it is defined. See Program variables.
{type} addr
Refers to an object of type type stored at address addr in memory.
addr may be any expression whose value is an integer or pointer (but
parentheses are required around binary operators, just as in a
cast). This construct is allowed regardless of what kind of data is
normally supposed to reside at addr.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.2. Program variables ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The most common kind of expression to use is the name of a variable in your
program.
Variables in expressions are understood in the selected stack frame (see
Selecting a frame); they must be either:
global (or static)
or
visible according to the scope rules of the programming language from the
point of execution in that frame
This means that in the function
foo (a)
int a;
{
bar (a);
{
int b = test ();
bar (b);
}
}
you can examine and use the variable a whenever your program is executing
within the function foo, but you can only use or examine the variable b while
your program is executing inside the block where b is declared.
There is an exception: you can refer to a variable or function whose scope is
a single source file even if the current execution point is not in this file.
But it is possible to have more than one such variable or function with the
same name (in different source files). If that happens, referring to that
name has unpredictable effects. If you wish, you can specify a static
variable in a particular function or file, using the colon-colon notation:
file::variable
function::variable
Here file or function is the name of the context for the static variable. In
the case of file names, you can use quotes to make sure GDB parses the file
name as a single word---for example, to print a global value of x defined in
`f2.c':
(gdb) p 'f2.c'::x
This use of `::' is very rarely in conflict with the very similar use of the
same notation in C++. GDB also supports use of the C++ scope resolution
operator in GDB expressions.
Warning: Occasionally, a local variable may appear to have the wrong value at
certain points in a function---just after entry to a new scope, and just
before exit. You may see this problem when you are stepping by machine
instructions. This is because, on most machines, it takes more than one
instruction to set up a stack frame (including local variable definitions); if
you are stepping by machine instructions, variables may appear to have the
wrong values until the stack frame is completely built. On exit, it usually
also takes more than one machine instruction to destroy a stack frame; after
you begin stepping through that group of instructions, local variable
definitions may be gone.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.3. Artificial arrays ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
It is often useful to print out several successive objects of the same type in
memory; a section of an array, or an array of dynamically determined size for
which only a pointer exists in the program.
You can do this by referring to a contiguous span of memory as an artificial
array, using the binary operator `@'. The left operand of `@' should be the
first element of the desired array and be an individual object. The right
operand should be the desired length of the array. The result is an array
value whose elements are all of the type of the left argument. The first
element is actually the left argument; the second element comes from bytes of
memory immediately following those that hold the first element, and so on.
Here is an example. If a program says
int *array = (int *) malloc (len * sizeof (int));
you can print the contents of array with
p *array@len
The left operand of `@' must reside in memory. Array values made with `@' in
this way behave just like other arrays in terms of subscripting, and are
coerced to pointers when used in expressions. Artificial arrays most often
appear in expressions via the value history (see Value history), after printing
one out.
Another way to create an artificial array is to use a cast. This re-interprets
a value as if it were an array. The value need not be in memory:
(gdb) p/x (short[2])0x12345678
$1 = {0x1234, 0x5678}
As a convenience, if you leave the array length out (as in `(type)[])value')
gdb calculates the size to fill the value (as `sizeof(value)/sizeof(type)':
(gdb) p/x (short[])0x12345678
$2 = {0x1234, 0x5678}
Sometimes the artificial array mechanism is not quite enough; in moderately
complex data structures, the elements of interest may not actually be
adjacent---for example, if you are interested in the values of pointers in an
array. One useful work-around in this situation is to use a convenience
variable ( see Convenience variables) as a counter in an expression that prints
the first interesting value, and then repeat that expression via RET. For
instance, suppose you have an array dtab of pointers to structures, and you are
interested in the values of a field fv in each structure. Here is an example
of what you might type:
set $i = 0
p dtab[$i++]->fv
RET
RET
...
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.4. Output formats ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
By default, GDB prints a value according to its data type. Sometimes this is
not what you want. For example, you might want to print a number in hex, or a
pointer in decimal. Or you might want to view data in memory at a certain
address as a character string or as an instruction. To do these things,
specify an output format when you print a value.
The simplest use of output formats is to say how to print a value already
computed. This is done by starting the arguments of the print command with a
slash and a format letter. The format letters supported are:
x
Regard the bits of the value as an integer, and print the integer in
hexadecimal.
d
Print as integer in signed decimal.
u
Print as integer in unsigned decimal.
o
Print as integer in octal.
t
Print as integer in binary. The letter `t' stands for ``two''. (1)
a
Print as an address, both absolute in hexadecimal and as an offset
from the nearest preceding symbol. You can use this format used to
discover where (in what function) an unknown address is located:
(gdb) p/a 0x54320
$3 = 0x54320 <_initialize_vx+396>
c
Regard as an integer and print it as a character constant.
f
Regard the bits of the value as a floating point number and print
using typical floating point syntax.
For example, to print the program counter in hex (see Registers), type
p/x $pc
Note that no space is required before the slash; this is because command names
in GDB cannot contain a slash.
To reprint the last value in the value history with a different format, you
can use the print command with just a format and no expression. For example,
`p/x' reprints the last value in hex.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.5. Examining memory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can use the command x (for ``examine'') to examine memory in any of several
formats, independently of your program's data types.
x/nfu addr
x addr
x
Use the x command to examine memory.
n, f, and u are all optional parameters that specify how much memory to
display and how to format it; addr is an expression giving the address where
you want to start displaying memory. If you use defaults for nfu, you need not
type the slash `/'. Several commands set convenient defaults for addr.
n, the repeat count
The repeat count is a decimal integer; the default is 1. It
specifies how much memory (counting by units u) to display.
f, the display format
The display format is one of the formats used by print, `s'
(null-terminated string), or `i' (machine instruction). The default
is `x' (hexadecimal) initially. The default changes each time you
use either x or print.
u, the unit size
The unit size is any of
b
Bytes.
h
Halfwords (two bytes).
w
Words (four bytes). This is the initial default.
g
Giant words (eight bytes).
Each time you specify a unit size with x, that size becomes the
default unit the next time you use x. (For the `s' and `i' formats,
the unit size is ignored and is normally not written.)
addr, starting display address
addr is the address where you want GDB to begin displaying memory.
The expression need not have a pointer value (though it may); it is
always interpreted as an integer address of a byte of memory. See
Expressions, for more information on expressions. The default for
addr is usually just after the last address examined---but several
other commands also set the default address: info breakpoints (to
the address of the last breakpoint listed), info line (to the
starting address of a line), and print (if you use it to display a
value from memory).
For example, `x/3uh 0x54320' is a request to display three halfwords (h) of
memory, formatted as unsigned decimal integers (`u'), starting at address
0x54320. `x/4xw $sp' prints the four words (`w') of memory above the stack
pointer (here, `$sp'; see Registers) in hexadecimal (`x').
Since the letters indicating unit sizes are all distinct from the letters
specifying output formats, you do not have to remember whether unit size or
format comes first; either order works. The output specifications `4xw' and
`4wx' mean exactly the same thing. (However, the count n must come first;
`wx4' does not work.)
Even though the unit size u is ignored for the formats `s' and `i', you might
still want to use a count n; for example, `3i' specifies that you want to see
three machine instructions, including any operands. The command disassemble
gives an alternative way of inspecting machine instructions; see Source and
machine code.
All the defaults for the arguments to x are designed to make it easy to
continue scanning memory with minimal specifications each time you use x. For
example, after you have inspected three machine instructions with `x/3i addr',
you can inspect the next seven with just `x/7'. If you use RET to repeat the
x command, the repeat count n is used again; the other arguments default as
for successive uses of x.
The addresses and contents printed by the x command are not saved in the value
history because there is often too much of them and they would get in the way.
Instead, GDB makes these values available for subsequent use in expressions as
values of the convenience variables $_ and $__. After an x command, the last
address examined is available for use in expressions in the convenience
variable $_. The contents of that address, as examined, are available in the
convenience variable $__.
If the x command has a repeat count, the address and contents saved are from
the last memory unit printed; this is not the same as the last address printed
if several units were printed on the last line of output.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.6. Automatic display ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you find that you want to print the value of an expression frequently (to
see how it changes), you might want to add it to the automatic display list so
that GDB prints its value each time your program stops. Each expression added
to the list is given a number to identify it; to remove an expression from the
list, you specify that number. The automatic display looks like this:
2: foo = 38
3: bar[5] = (struct hack *) 0x3804
This display shows item numbers, expressions and their current values. As with
displays you request manually using x or print, you can specify the output
format you prefer; in fact, display decides whether to use print or x depending
on how elaborate your format specification is---it uses x if you specify a unit
size, or one of the two formats (`i' and `s') that are only supported by x;
otherwise it uses print.
display exp
Add the expression exp to the list of expressions to display each
time your program stops. See Expressions.
display does not repeat if you press RET again after using it.
display/fmt exp
For fmt specifying only a display format and not a size or count,
add the expression exp to the auto-display list but arrange to
display it each time in the specified format fmt. See Output
formats.
display/fmt addr
For fmt `i' or `s', or including a unit-size or a number of units,
add the expression addr as a memory address to be examined each time
your program stops. Examining means in effect doing `x/fmt addr'.
See Examining memory.
For example, `display/i $pc' can be helpful, to see the machine instruction
about to be executed each time execution stops (`$pc' is a common name for the
program counter; see Registers).
undisplay dnums...
delete display dnums...
Remove item numbers dnums from the list of expressions to display.
undisplay does not repeat if you press RET after using it.
(Otherwise you would just get the error `No display number ...'.)
disable display dnums...
Disable the display of item numbers dnums. A disabled display item
is not printed automatically, but is not forgotten. It may be
enabled again later.
enable display dnums...
Enable display of item numbers dnums. It becomes effective once
again in auto display of its expression, until you specify
otherwise.
display
Display the current values of the expressions on the list, just as
is done when your program stops.
info display
Print the list of expressions previously set up to display
automatically, each one with its item number, but without showing
the values. This includes disabled expressions, which are marked as
such. It also includes expressions which would not be displayed
right now because they refer to automatic variables not currently
available.
If a display expression refers to local variables, then it does not make sense
outside the lexical context for which it was set up. Such an expression is
disabled when execution enters a context where one of its variables is not
defined. For example, if you give the command display last_char while inside
a function with an argument last_char, GDB displays this argument while your
program continues to stop inside that function. When it stops
elsewhere---where there is no variable last_char---the display is disabled
automatically. The next time your program stops where last_char is
meaningful, you can enable the display expression once again.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.7. Print settings ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB provides the following ways to control how arrays, structures, and symbols
are printed.
These settings are useful for debugging programs in any language:
set print address
set print address on
GDB prints memory addresses showing the location of stack traces,
structure values, pointer values, breakpoints, and so forth, even
when it also displays the contents of those addresses. The default
is on. For example, this is what a stack frame display looks like
with set print address on:
(gdb) f
#0 set_quotes (lq=0x34c78 "<<", rq=0x34c88 ">>")
at input.c:530
530 if (lquote != def_lquote)
set print address off
Do not print addresses when displaying their contents. For example,
this is the same stack frame displayed with set print address off:
(gdb) set print addr off
(gdb) f
#0 set_quotes (lq="<<", rq=">>") at input.c:530
530 if (lquote != def_lquote)
You can use `set print address off' to eliminate all machine
dependent displays from the GDB interface. For example, with print
address off, you should get the same text for backtraces on all
machines---whether or not they involve pointer arguments.
show print address
Show whether or not addresses are to be printed.
When GDB prints a symbolic address, it normally prints the closest earlier
symbol plus an offset. If that symbol does not uniquely identify the address
(for example, it is a name whose scope is a single source file), you may need
to clarify. One way to do this is with info line, for example `info line
*0x4537'. Alternately, you can set GDB to print the source file and line
number when it prints a symbolic address:
set print symbol-filename on
Tell GDB to print the source file name and line number of a symbol
in the symbolic form of an address.
set print symbol-filename off
Do not print source file name and line number of a symbol. This is
the default.
show print symbol-filename
Show whether or not GDB will print the source file name and line
number of a symbol in the symbolic form of an address.
Another situation where it is helpful to show symbol filenames and line
numbers is when disassembling code; GDB shows you the line number and source
file that corresponds to each instruction.
Also, you may wish to see the symbolic form only if the address being printed
is reasonably close to the closest earlier symbol:
set print max-symbolic-offset max-offset
Tell GDB to only display the symbolic form of an address if the
offset between the closest earlier symbol and the address is less
than max-offset. The default is 0, which tells GDB to always print
the symbolic form of an address if any symbol precedes it.
show print max-symbolic-offset
Ask how large the maximum offset is that GDB prints in a symbolic
address.
If you have a pointer and you are not sure where it points, try `set print
symbol-filename on'. Then you can determine the name and source file location
of the variable where it points, using `p/a pointer'. This interprets the
address in symbolic form. For example, here GDB shows that a variable ptt
points at another variable t, defined in `hi2.c':
(gdb) set print symbol-filename on
(gdb) p/a ptt
$4 = 0xe008 <t in hi2.c>
Warning: For pointers that point to a local variable, `p/a' does not show the
symbol name and filename of the referent, even with the appropriate set print
options turned on.
Other settings control how different kinds of objects are printed:
set print array
set print array on
Pretty print arrays. This format is more convenient to read, but
uses more space. The default is off.
set print array off
Return to compressed format for arrays.
show print array
Show whether compressed or pretty format is selected for displaying
arrays.
set print elements number-of-elements
Set a limit on how many elements of an array GDB will print. If GDB
is printing a large array, it stops printing after it has printed
the number of elements set by the set print elements command. This
limit also applies to the display of strings. Setting
number-of-elements to zero means that the printing is unlimited.
show print elements
Display the number of elements of a large array that GDB will print.
If the number is 0, then the printing is unlimited.
set print null-stop
Cause GDB to stop printing the characters of an array when the first
NULL is encountered. This is useful when large arrays actually
contain only short strings.
set print pretty on
Cause GDB to print structures in an indented format with one member
per line, like this:
$1 = {
next = 0x0,
flags = {
sweet = 1,
sour = 1
},
meat = 0x54 "Pork"
}
set print pretty off
Cause GDB to print structures in a compact format, like this:
$1 = {next = 0x0, flags = {sweet = 1, sour = 1}, \
meat = 0x54 "Pork"}
This is the default format.
show print pretty
Show which format GDB is using to print structures.
set print sevenbit-strings on
Print using only seven-bit characters; if this option is set, GDB
displays any eight-bit characters (in strings or character values)
using the notation \nnn. This setting is best if you are working in
English (ascii) and you use the high-order bit of characters as a
marker or ``meta'' bit.
set print sevenbit-strings off
Print full eight-bit characters. This allows the use of more
international character sets, and is the default.
show print sevenbit-strings
Show whether or not GDB is printing only seven-bit characters.
set print union on
Tell GDB to print unions which are contained in structures. This is
the default setting.
set print union off
Tell GDB not to print unions which are contained in structures.
show print union
Ask GDB whether or not it will print unions which are contained in
structures.
For example, given the declarations
typedef enum {Tree, Bug} Species;
typedef enum {Big_tree, Acorn, Seedling} Tree_forms;
typedef enum {Caterpillar, Cocoon, Butterfly}
Bug_forms;
struct thing {
Species it;
union {
Tree_forms tree;
Bug_forms bug;
} form;
};
struct thing foo = {Tree, {Acorn}};
with set print union on in effect `p foo' would print
$1 = {it = Tree, form = {tree = Acorn, bug = Cocoon}}
and with set print union off in effect it would print
$1 = {it = Tree, form = {...}}
These settings are of interest when debugging C++ programs:
set print demangle
set print demangle on
Print C++ names in their source form rather than in the encoded
(``mangled'') form passed to the assembler and linker for type-safe
linkage. The default is `on'.
show print demangle
Show whether C++ names are printed in mangled or demangled form.
set print asm-demangle
set print asm-demangle on
Print C++ names in their source form rather than their mangled form,
even in assembler code printouts such as instruction disassemblies.
The default is off.
show print asm-demangle
Show whether C++ names in assembly listings are printed in mangled
or demangled form.
set demangle-style style
Choose among several encoding schemes used by different compilers to
represent C++ names. The choices for style are currently:
auto
Allow GDB to choose a decoding style by inspecting
your program.
gnu
Decode based on the gnu C++ compiler (g++) encoding
algorithm. This is the default.
lucid
Decode based on the Lucid C++ compiler (lcc) encoding
algorithm.
arm
Decode using the algorithm in the C++ Annotated
Reference Manual. *Warning:* this setting alone is
not sufficient to allow debugging cfront-generated
executables. GDB would require further enhancement
to permit that.
foo
Show the list of formats.
show demangle-style
Display the encoding style currently in use for decoding C++
symbols.
set print object
set print object on
When displaying a pointer to an object, identify the actual
(derived) type of the object rather than the declared type, using
the virtual function table.
set print object off
Display only the declared type of objects, without reference to the
virtual function table. This is the default setting.
show print object
Show whether actual, or declared, object types are displayed.
set print static-members
set print static-members on
Print static members when displaying a C++ object. The default is
on.
set print static-members off
Do not print static members when displaying a C++ object.
show print static-members
Show whether C++ static members are printed, or not.
set print vtbl
set print vtbl on
Pretty print C++ virtual function tables. The default is off.
set print vtbl off
Do not pretty print C++ virtual function tables.
show print vtbl
Show whether C++ virtual function tables are pretty printed, or not.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.8. Value history ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Values printed by the print command are saved in the GDB value history. This
allows you to refer to them in other expressions. Values are kept until the
symbol table is re-read or discarded (for example with the file or symbol-file
commands). When the symbol table changes, the value history is discarded, since
the values may contain pointers back to the types defined in the symbol table.
The values printed are given history numbers by which you can refer to them.
These are successive integers starting with one. print shows you the history
number assigned to a value by printing `$num = ' before the value; here num is
the history number.
To refer to any previous value, use `$' followed by the value's history number.
The way print labels its output is designed to remind you of this. Just $
refers to the most recent value in the history, and $$ refers to the value
before that. $$n refers to the nth value from the end; $$2 is the value just
prior to $$, $$1 is equivalent to $$, and $$0 is equivalent to $.
For example, suppose you have just printed a pointer to a structure and want to
see the contents of the structure. It suffices to type
p *$
If you have a chain of structures where the component next points to the next
one, you can print the contents of the next one with this:
p *$.next
You can print successive links in the chain by repeating this command---which
you can do by just typing RET.
Note that the history records values, not expressions. If the value of x is 4
and you type these commands:
print x
set x=5
then the value recorded in the value history by the print command remains 4
even though the value of x has changed.
show values
Print the last ten values in the value history, with their item
numbers. This is like `p@ $$9' repeated ten times, except that show
values does not change the history.
show values n
Print ten history values centered on history item number n.
show values +
Print ten history values just after the values last printed. If no
more values are available, show values + produces no display.
Pressing RET to repeat show values n has exactly the same effect as `show
values +'.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.9. Convenience variables ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB provides convenience variables that you can use within GDB to hold on to a
value and refer to it later. These variables exist entirely within GDB; they
are not part of your program, and setting a convenience variable has no direct
effect on further execution of your program. That is why you can use them
freely.
Convenience variables are prefixed with `$'. Any name preceded by `$' can be
used for a convenience variable, unless it is one of the predefined
machine-specific register names (see Registers). (Value history references, in
contrast, are numbers preceded by `$'. See Value history.)
You can save a value in a convenience variable with an assignment expression,
just as you would set a variable in your program. For example:
set $foo = *object_ptr
would save in $foo the value contained in the object pointed to by object_ptr.
Using a convenience variable for the first time creates it, but its value is
void until you assign a new value. You can alter the value with another
assignment at any time.
Convenience variables have no fixed types. You can assign a convenience
variable any type of value, including structures and arrays, even if that
variable already has a value of a different type. The convenience variable,
when used as an expression, has the type of its current value.
show convenience
Print a list of convenience variables used so far, and their values.
Abbreviated show con.
One of the ways to use a convenience variable is as a counter to be
incremented or a pointer to be advanced. For example, to print a field from
successive elements of an array of structures:
set $i = 0
print bar[$i++]->contents
Repeat that command by typing RET.
Some convenience variables are created automatically by GDB and given values
likely to be useful.
$_
The variable $_ is automatically set by the x command to the last
address examined (see Examining memory). Other commands which
provide a default address for x to examine also set $_ to that
address; these commands include info line and info breakpoint. The
type of $_ is void * except when set by the x command, in which case
it is a pointer to the type of $__.
$__
The variable $__ is automatically set by the x command to the value
found in the last address examined. Its type is chosen to match the
format in which the data was printed.
$_exitcode
The variable $_exitcode is automatically set to the exit code when
the program being debugged terminates.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.10. Registers ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can refer to machine register contents, in expressions, as variables with
names starting with `$'. The names of registers are different for each
machine; use info registers to see the names used on your machine.
info registers
Print the names and values of all registers except floating-point
registers (in the selected stack frame).
info all-registers
Print the names and values of all registers, including
floating-point registers.
info registers regname ...
Print the relativized value of each specified register regname. As
discussed in detail below, register values are normally relative to
the selected stack frame. regname may be any register name valid on
the machine you are using, with or without the initial `$'.
GDB has four ``standard'' register names that are available (in expressions)
on most machines---whenever they do not conflict with an architecture's
canonical mnemonics for registers. The register names $pc and $sp are used
for the program counter register and the stack pointer. $fp is used for a
register that contains a pointer to the current stack frame, and $ps is used
for a register that contains the processor status. For example, you could
print the program counter in hex with
p/x $pc
or print the instruction to be executed next with
x/i $pc
or add four to the stack pointer(2) with
set $sp += 4
Whenever possible, these four standard register names are available on your
machine even though the machine has different canonical mnemonics, so long as
there is no conflict. The info registers command shows the canonical names.
For example, on the SPARC, info registers displays the processor status
register as $psr but you can also refer to it as $ps.
GDB always considers the contents of an ordinary register as an integer when
the register is examined in this way. Some machines have special registers
which can hold nothing but floating point; these registers are considered to
have floating point values. There is no way to refer to the contents of an
ordinary register as floating point value (although you can print it as a
floating point value with `print/f $regname').
Some registers have distinct ``raw'' and ``virtual'' data formats. This means
that the data format in which the register contents are saved by the operating
system is not the same one that your program normally sees. For example, the
registers of the 68881 floating point coprocessor are always saved in
``extended'' (raw) format, but all C programs expect to work with ``double''
(virtual) format. In such cases, GDB normally works with the virtual format
only (the format that makes sense for your program), but the info registers
command prints the data in both formats.
Normally, register values are relative to the selected stack frame (see
Selecting a frame). This means that you get the value that the register would
contain if all stack frames farther in were exited and their saved registers
restored. In order to see the true contents of hardware registers, you must
select the innermost frame (with `frame 0').
However, GDB must deduce where registers are saved, from the machine code
generated by your compiler. If some registers are not saved, or if GDB is
unable to locate the saved registers, the selected stack frame makes no
difference.
set rstack_high_address address
On AMD 29000 family processors, registers are saved in a separate
``register stack''. There is no way for GDB to determine the extent
of this stack. Normally, GDB just assumes that the stack is ``large
enough''. This may result in GDB referencing memory locations that
do not exist. If necessary, you can get around this problem by
specifying the ending address of the register stack with the set
rstack_high_address command. The argument should be an address,
which you probably want to precede with `0x' to specify in
hexadecimal.
show rstack_high_address
Display the current limit of the register stack, on AMD 29000 family
processors.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.11. Floating point hardware ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Depending on the configuration, GDB may be able to give you more information
about the status of the floating point hardware.
info float
Display hardware-dependent information about the floating point
unit. The exact contents and layout vary depending on the floating
point chip. Currently, `info float' is supported on the ARM and x86
machines.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12. Using GDB with Different Languages ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Although programming languages generally have common aspects, they are rarely
expressed in the same manner. For instance, in ANSI C, dereferencing a pointer
p is accomplished by *p, but in Modula-2, it is accomplished by p^. Values can
also be represented (and displayed) differently. Hex numbers in C appear as
`0x1ae', while in Modula-2 they appear as `1AEH'.
Language-specific information is built into GDB for some languages, allowing
you to express operations like the above in your program's native language, and
allowing GDB to output values in a manner consistent with the syntax of your
program's native language. The language you use to build expressions is called
the working language.
Setting Switching between source languages
Show Displaying the language
Checks Type and range checks
Support Supported languages
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.1. Switching between source languages ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
There are two ways to control the working language---either have GDB set it
automatically, or select it manually yourself. You can use the set language
command for either purpose. On startup, GDB defaults to setting the language
automatically. The working language is used to determine how expressions you
type are interpreted, how values are printed, etc.
In addition to the working language, every source file that GDB knows about has
its own working language. For some object file formats, the compiler might
indicate which language a particular source file is in. However, most of the
time GDB infers the language from the name of the file. The language of a
source file controls whether C++ names are demangled---this way backtrace can
show each frame appropriately for its own language. There is no way to set the
language of a source file from within GDB.
This is most commonly a problem when you use a program, such as cfront or f2c,
that generates C but is written in another language. In that case, make the
program use #line directives in its C output; that way GDB will know the
correct language of the source code of the original program, and will display
that source code, not the generated C code.
Filenames Filename extensions and languages.
Manually Setting the working language manually
Automatically Having GDBN infer the source language
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.1.1. List of filename extensions and languages ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If a source file name ends in one of the following extensions, then GDB infers
that its language is the one indicated.
`.mod'
Modula-2 source file
`.c'
C source file
`.C'
`.cc'
`.cxx'
`.cpp'
`.cp'
`.c++'
C++ source file
`.ch'
`.c186'
`.c286'
CHILL source file.
`.s'
`.S'
Assembler source file. This actually behaves almost like C, but GDB
does not skip over function prologues when stepping.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.1.2. Setting the working language ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you allow GDB to set the language automatically, expressions are interpreted
the same way in your debugging session and your program.
If you wish, you may set the language manually. To do this, issue the command
`set language lang', where lang is the name of a language, such as c or
modula-2. For a list of the supported languages, type `set language'.
Setting the language manually prevents GDB from updating the working language
automatically. This can lead to confusion if you try to debug a program when
the working language is not the same as the source language, when an expression
is acceptable to both languages---but means different things. For instance, if
the current source file were written in C, and GDB was parsing Modula-2, a
command such as:
print a = b + c
might not have the effect you intended. In C, this means to add b and c and
place the result in a. The result printed would be the value of a. In
Modula-2, this means to compare a to the result of b+c, yielding a BOOLEAN
value.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.1.3. Having GDB infer the source language ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To have GDB set the working language automatically, use `set language local' or
`set language auto'. GDB then infers the working language. That is, when your
program stops in a frame (usually by encountering a breakpoint), GDB sets the
working language to the language recorded for the function in that frame. If
the language for a frame is unknown (that is, if the function or block
corresponding to the frame was defined in a source file that does not have a
recognized extension), the current working language is not changed, and GDB
issues a warning.
This may not seem necessary for most programs, which are written entirely in
one source language. However, program modules and libraries written in one
source language can be used by a main program written in a different source
language. Using `set language auto' in this case frees you from having to set
the working language manually.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.2. Displaying the language ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The following commands help you find out which language is the working
language, and also what language source files were written in.
show language
Display the current working language. This is the language you can
use with commands such as print to build and compute expressions
that may involve variables in your program.
info frame
Display the source language for this frame. This language becomes
the working language if you use an identifier from this frame. See
Information about a frame, to identify the other information listed
here.
info source
Display the source language of this source file. See Examining the
Symbol Table, to identify the other information listed here.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.3. Type and range checking ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Warning: In this release, the GDB commands for type and range checking are
included, but they do not yet have any effect. This section documents the
intended facilities.
Some languages are designed to guard you against making seemingly common errors
through a series of compile- and run-time checks. These include checking the
type of arguments to functions and operators, and making sure mathematical
overflows are caught at run time. Checks such as these help to ensure a
program's correctness once it has been compiled by eliminating type mismatches,
and providing active checks for range errors when your program is running.
GDB can check for conditions like the above if you wish. Although GDB does not
check the statements in your program, it can check expressions entered directly
into GDB for evaluation via the print command, for example. As with the
working language, GDB can also decide whether or not to check automatically
based on your program's source language. See Supported languages, for the
default settings of supported languages.
Type Checking An overview of type checking
Range Checking An overview of range checking
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.3.1. An overview of type checking ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Some languages, such as Modula-2, are strongly typed, meaning that the
arguments to operators and functions have to be of the correct type, otherwise
an error occurs. These checks prevent type mismatch errors from ever causing
any run-time problems. For example,
1 + 2 => 3
but
error--> 1 + 2.3
The second example fails because the CARDINAL 1 is not type-compatible with the
REAL 2.3.
For the expressions you use in GDB commands, you can tell the GDB type checker
to skip checking; to treat any mismatches as errors and abandon the expression;
or to only issue warnings when type mismatches occur, but evaluate the
expression anyway. When you choose the last of these, GDB evaluates
expressions like the second example above, but also issues a warning.
Even if you turn type checking off, there may be other reasons related to type
that prevent GDB from evaluating an expression. For instance, GDB does not know
how to add an int and a struct foo. These particular type errors have nothing
to do with the language in use, and usually arise from expressions, such as the
one described above, which make little sense to evaluate anyway.
Each language defines to what degree it is strict about type. For instance,
both Modula-2 and C require the arguments to arithmetical operators to be
numbers. In C, enumerated types and pointers can be represented as numbers, so
that they are valid arguments to mathematical operators. See Supported
languages, for further details on specific languages.
GDB provides some additional commands for controlling the type checker:
set check type auto
Set type checking on or off based on the current working language.
See Supported languages, for the default settings for each language.
set check type on
set check type off
Set type checking on or off, overriding the default setting for the
current working language. Issue a warning if the setting does not
match the language default. If any type mismatches occur in
evaluating an expression while typechecking is on, GDB prints a
message and aborts evaluation of the expression.
set check type warn
Cause the type checker to issue warnings, but to always attempt to
evaluate the expression. Evaluating the expression may still be
impossible for other reasons. For example, GDB cannot add numbers
and structures.
show type
Show the current setting of the type checker, and whether or not GDB
is setting it automatically.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.3.2. An overview of range checking ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
In some languages (such as Modula-2), it is an error to exceed the bounds of a
type; this is enforced with run-time checks. Such range checking is meant to
ensure program correctness by making sure computations do not overflow, or
indices on an array element access do not exceed the bounds of the array.
For expressions you use in GDB commands, you can tell GDB to treat range errors
in one of three ways: ignore them, always treat them as errors and abandon the
expression, or issue warnings but evaluate the expression anyway.
A range error can result from numerical overflow, from exceeding an array index
bound, or when you type a constant that is not a member of any type. Some
languages, however, do not treat overflows as an error. In many
implementations of C, mathematical overflow causes the result to ``wrap
around'' to lower values---for example, if m is the largest integer value, and
s is the smallest, then
m + 1 => s
This, too, is specific to individual languages, and in some cases specific to
individual compilers or machines. See Supported languages, for further details
on specific languages.
GDB provides some additional commands for controlling the range checker:
set check range auto
Set range checking on or off based on the current working language.
See Supported languages, for the default settings for each language.
set check range on
set check range off
Set range checking on or off, overriding the default setting for the
current working language. A warning is issued if the setting does
not match the language default. If a range error occurs, then a
message is printed and evaluation of the expression is aborted.
set check range warn
Output messages when the GDB range checker detects a range error,
but attempt to evaluate the expression anyway. Evaluating the
expression may still be impossible for other reasons, such as
accessing memory that the process does not own (a typical example
from many Unix systems).
show range
Show the current setting of the range checker, and whether or not it
is being set automatically by GDB.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4. Supported languages ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB 4 supports C, C++, and Modula-2. Some GDB features may be used in
expressions regardless of the language you use: the GDB @ and :: operators, and
the `{type}addr' construct ( see Expressions) can be used with the constructs
of any supported language.
The following sections detail to what degree each source language is supported
by GDB. These sections are not meant to be language tutorials or references,
but serve only as a reference guide to what the GDB expression parser accepts,
and what input and output formats should look like for different languages.
There are many good books written on each of these languages; please look to
these for a language reference or tutorial.
C C and C++
Modula-2 Modula-2
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.1. C and C++ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Since C and C++ are so closely related, many features of GDB apply to both
languages. Whenever this is the case, we discuss those languages together.
The C++ debugging facilities are jointly implemented by the gnu C++ compiler
and GDB. Therefore, to debug your C++ code effectively, you must compile your
C++ programs with the gnu C++ compiler, g++.
For best results when debugging C++ programs, use the stabs debugging format.
You can select that format explicitly with the g++ command-line options
`-gstabs' or `-gstabs+'. See Options for Debugging Your Program or gnu CC, for
more information.
C Operators C operators
C Constants C constants
Debugging C GDBN and C
C Operators C and C++ operators
C Constants C and C++ constants
Cplus expressions C++ expressions
C Defaults Default settings for C and C++
C Checks C and C++ type and range checks
Debugging C GDBN and C
Debugging C plus plus Special features for C++
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.1.1. C and C++ operators ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Operators must be defined on values of specific types. For instance,
+ is defined on numbers, but not on structures. Operators are often defined on
groups of types.
For the purposes of C and C++, the following definitions hold:
Integral types include int with any of its storage-class specifiers;
char; and enum.
Floating-point types include float and double.
Pointer types include all types defined as (type *).
Scalar types include all of the above.
The following operators are supported. They are listed here in order of
increasing precedence:
,
The comma or sequencing operator. Expressions in a comma-separated
list are evaluated from left to right, with the result of the entire
expression being the last expression evaluated.
=
Assignment. The value of an assignment expression is the value
assigned. Defined on scalar types.
op=
Used in an expression of the form a op= b, and translated to a = a
op b. op= and = have the same precendence. op is any one of the
operators |, ^, &, <<, >>, +, -, *, /, %.
?:
The ternary operator. a ? b : c can be thought of as: if a then b
else c. a should be of an integral type.
||
Logical or. Defined on integral types.
&&
Logical and. Defined on integral types.
|
Bitwise or. Defined on integral types.
^
Bitwise exclusive-or. Defined on integral types.
&
Bitwise and. Defined on integral types.
==, !=
Equality and inequality. Defined on scalar types. The value of
these expressions is 0 for false and non-zero for true.
<, >, <=, >=
Less than, greater than, less than or equal, greater than or equal.
Defined on scalar types. The value of these expressions is 0 for
false and non-zero for true.
<<, >>
left shift, and right shift. Defined on integral types.
@
The GDB ``artificial array'' operator (see Expressions).
+, -
Addition and subtraction. Defined on integral types, floating-point
types and pointer types.
*, /, %
Multiplication, division, and modulus. Multiplication and division
are defined on integral and floating-point types. Modulus is
defined on integral types.
++, --
Increment and decrement. When appearing before a variable, the
operation is performed before the variable is used in an expression;
when appearing after it, the variable's value is used before the
operation takes place.
*
Pointer dereferencing. Defined on pointer types. Same precedence
as ++.
&
Address operator. Defined on variables. Same precedence as ++.
For debugging C++, GDB implements a use of `&' beyond what is
allowed in the C++ language itself: you can use `&(&ref)' (or, if
you prefer, simply `&&ref') to examine the address where a C++
reference variable (declared with `&ref') is stored.
-
Negative. Defined on integral and floating-point types. Same
precedence as ++.
!
Logical negation. Defined on integral types. Same precedence as
++.
~
Bitwise complement operator. Defined on integral types. Same
precedence as ++.
., ->
Structure member, and pointer-to-structure member. For convenience,
GDB regards the two as equivalent, choosing whether to dereference a
pointer based on the stored type information. Defined on struct and
union data.
[]
Array indexing. a[i] is defined as *(a+i). Same precedence as ->.
()
Function parameter list. Same precedence as ->.
::
C++ scope resolution operator. Defined on struct, union, and class
types.
::
Doubled colons also represent the GDB scope operator ( see
Expressions). Same precedence as ::, above.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.1.2. C and C++ constants ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB allows you to express the constants of C and C++ in the following ways:
Integer constants are a sequence of digits. Octal constants are
specified by a leading `0' (i.e. zero), and hexadecimal constants by a
leading `0x' or `0X'. Constants may also end with a letter `l',
specifying that the constant should be treated as a long value.
Floating point constants are a sequence of digits, followed by a decimal
point, followed by a sequence of digits, and optionally followed by an
exponent. An exponent is of the form: `e[[+]|-]nnn', where nnn is
another sequence of digits. The `+' is optional for positive exponents.
Enumerated constants consist of enumerated identifiers, or their integral
equivalents.
Character constants are a single character surrounded by single quotes
('), or a number---the ordinal value of the corresponding character
(usually its ASCII value). Within quotes, the single character may be
represented by a letter or by escape sequences, which are of the form
`\nnn', where nnn is the octal representation of the character's ordinal
value; or of the form `\x', where `x' is a predefined special
character---for example, `\n' for newline.
String constants are a sequence of character constants surrounded by
double quotes (").
Pointer constants are an integral value. You can also write pointers to
constants using the C operator `&'.
Array constants are comma-separated lists surrounded by braces `{' and
`}'; for example, `{1,2,3}' is a three-element array of integers,
`{{1,2}, {3,4}, {5,6}}' is a three-by-two array, and `{&"hi", &"there",
&"fred"}' is a three-element array of pointers.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.1.3. C++ expressions ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB expression handling has a number of extensions to interpret a significant
subset of C++ expressions.
Warning: GDB can only debug C++ code if you compile with the gnu C++ compiler.
Moreover, C++ debugging depends on the use of additional debugging information
in the symbol table, and thus requires special support. GDB has this support
only with the stabs debug format. In particular, if your compiler generates
a.out, MIPS ecoff, RS/6000 xcoff, or elf with stabs extensions to the symbol
table, these facilities are all available. (With gnu CC, you can use the
`-gstabs' option to request stabs debugging extensions explicitly.) Where the
object code format is standard coff or dwarf in elf, on the other hand, most of
the C++ support in GDB does not work.
1. Member function calls are allowed; you can use expressions like
count = aml->GetOriginal(x, y)
2. While a member function is active (in the selected stack frame), your
expressions have the same namespace available as the member function;
that is, GDB allows implicit references to the class instance pointer
this following the same rules as C++.
3. You can call overloaded functions; GDB resolves the function call to the
right definition, with one restriction---you must use arguments of the
type required by the function that you want to call. GDB does not perform
conversions requiring constructors or user-defined type operators.
4. GDB understands variables declared as C++ references; you can use them in
expressions just as you do in C++ source---they are automatically
dereferenced.
In the parameter list shown when GDB displays a frame, the values of
reference variables are not displayed (unlike other variables); this
avoids clutter, since references are often used for large structures. The
address of a reference variable is always shown, unless you have
specified `set print address off'.
5. GDB supports the C++ name resolution operator ::---your expressions can
use it just as expressions in your program do. Since one scope may be
defined in another, you can use :: repeatedly if necessary, for example
in an expression like `scope1::scope2::name'. GDB also allows resolving
name scope by reference to source files, in both C and C++ debugging (see
Program variables).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.1.4. C and C++ defaults ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you allow GDB to set type and range checking automatically, they both
default to off whenever the working language changes to C or C++. This happens
regardless of whether you or GDB selects the working language.
If you allow GDB to set the language automatically, it recognizes source files
whose names end with `.c', `.C', or `.cc', and when GDB enters code compiled
from one of these files, it sets the working language to C or C++. See Having
GDB infer the source language, for further details.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.1.5. C and C++ type and range checks ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
By default, when GDB parses C or C++ expressions, type checking is not used.
However, if you turn type checking on, GDB considers two variables type
equivalent if:
The two variables are structured and have the same structure, union, or
enumerated tag.
The two variables have the same type name, or types that have been
declared equivalent through typedef.
Range checking, if turned on, is done on mathematical operations. Array
indices are not checked, since they are often used to index a pointer that is
not itself an array.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.1.6. GDB and C ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The set print union and show print union commands apply to
the union type. When set to `on', any union that is inside a struct or class
is also printed. Otherwise, it appears as `{...}'.
The @ operator aids in the debugging of dynamic arrays, formed with pointers
and a memory allocation function. See Expressions.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.1.7. GDB features for C++ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Some GDB commands are particularly useful with C++, and some are designed
specifically for use with C++. Here is a summary:
breakpoint menus
When you want a breakpoint in a function whose name is overloaded,
GDB breakpoint menus help you specify which function definition you
want. See Breakpoint menus.
rbreak regex
Setting breakpoints using regular expressions is helpful for setting
breakpoints on overloaded functions that are not members of any
special classes. See Setting breakpoints.
catch exceptions
info catch
Debug C++ exception handling using these commands. See Breakpoints
and exceptions.
ptype typename
Print inheritance relationships as well as other information for
type typename. See Examining the Symbol Table.
set print demangle
show print demangle
set print asm-demangle
show print asm-demangle
Control whether C++ symbols display in their source form, both when
displaying code as C++ source and when displaying disassemblies. See
Print settings.
set print object
show print object
Choose whether to print derived (actual) or declared types of
objects. See Print settings.
set print vtbl
show print vtbl
Control the format for printing virtual function tables. See Print
settings.
Overloaded symbol names
You can specify a particular definition of an overloaded symbol,
using the same notation that is used to declare such symbols in C++:
type symbol(types) rather than just symbol. You can also use the
GDB command-line word completion facilities to list the available
choices, or to finish the type list for you. See Command completion,
for details on how to do this.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.2. Modula-2 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The extensions made to GDB to support Modula-2 only support output from the gnu
Modula-2 compiler (which is currently being developed). Other Modula-2
compilers are not currently supported, and attempting to debug executables
produced by them is most likely to give an error as GDB reads in the
executable's symbol table.
M2 Operators Built-in operators
Built-In Func/Proc Built-in functions and procedures
M2 Constants Modula-2 constants
M2 Defaults Default settings for Modula-2
Deviations Deviations from standard Modula-2
M2 Checks Modula-2 type and range checks
M2 Scope The scope operators :: and .
GDB/M2 GDBN and Modula-2
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.2.1. Operators ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Operators must be defined on values of specific types. For instance, + is
defined on numbers, but not on structures. Operators are often defined on
groups of types. For the purposes of Modula-2, the following definitions hold:
Integral types consist of INTEGER, CARDINAL, and their subranges.
Character types consist of CHAR and its subranges.
Floating-point types consist of REAL.
Pointer types consist of anything declared as POINTER TO type.
Scalar types consist of all of the above.
Set types consist of SET and BITSET types.
Boolean types consist of BOOLEAN.
The following operators are supported, and appear in order of increasing
precedence:
,
Function argument or array index separator.
:=
Assignment. The value of var := value is value.
<, >
Less than, greater than on integral, floating-point, or enumerated
types.
<=, >=
Less than, greater than, less than or equal to, greater than or
equal to on integral, floating-point and enumerated types, or set
inclusion on set types. Same precedence as <.
=, <>, #
Equality and two ways of expressing inequality, valid on scalar
types. Same precedence as <. In GDB scripts, only <> is available
for inequality, since # conflicts with the script comment character.
IN
Set membership. Defined on set types and the types of their
members. Same precedence as <.
OR
Boolean disjunction. Defined on boolean types.
AND, &
Boolean conjuction. Defined on boolean types.
@
The GDB ``artificial array'' operator (see Expressions).
+, -
Addition and subtraction on integral and floating-point types, or
union and difference on set types.
*
Multiplication on integral and floating-point types, or set
intersection on set types.
/
Division on floating-point types, or symmetric set difference on set
types. Same precedence as *.
DIV, MOD
Integer division and remainder. Defined on integral types. Same
precedence as *.
-
Negative. Defined on INTEGER and REAL data.
^
Pointer dereferencing. Defined on pointer types.
NOT
Boolean negation. Defined on boolean types. Same precedence as ^.
.
RECORD field selector. Defined on RECORD data. Same precedence as
^.
[]
Array indexing. Defined on ARRAY data. Same precedence as ^.
()
Procedure argument list. Defined on PROCEDURE objects. Same
precedence as ^.
::, .
GDB and Modula-2 scope operators.
Warning: Sets and their operations are not yet supported, so GDB treats the
use of the operator IN, or the use of operators +, -, *, /, =, , <>, #, <=,
and >= on sets as an error.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.2.2. Built-in functions and procedures ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Modula-2 also makes available several built-in procedures and functions. In
describing these, the following metavariables are used:
a
represents an ARRAY variable.
c
represents a CHAR constant or variable.
i
represents a variable or constant of integral type.
m
represents an identifier that belongs to a set. Generally used in
the same function with the metavariable s. The type of s should be
SET OF mtype (where mtype is the type of m).
n
represents a variable or constant of integral or floating-point
type.
r
represents a variable or constant of floating-point type.
t
represents a type.
v
represents a variable.
x
represents a variable or constant of one of many types. See the
explanation of the function for details.
All Modula-2 built-in procedures also return a result, described below.
ABS(n)
Returns the absolute value of n.
CAP(c)
If c is a lower case letter, it returns its upper case equivalent,
otherwise it returns its argument
CHR(i)
Returns the character whose ordinal value is i.
DEC(v)
Decrements the value in the variable v. Returns the new value.
DEC(v,i)
Decrements the value in the variable v by i. Returns the new value.
EXCL(m,s)
Removes the element m from the set s. Returns the new set.
FLOAT(i)
Returns the floating point equivalent of the integer i.
HIGH(a)
Returns the index of the last member of a.
INC(v)
Increments the value in the variable v. Returns the new value.
INC(v,i)
Increments the value in the variable v by i. Returns the new value.
INCL(m,s)
Adds the element m to the set s if it is not already there. Returns
the new set.
MAX(t)
Returns the maximum value of the type t.
MIN(t)
Returns the minimum value of the type t.
ODD(i)
Returns boolean TRUE if i is an odd number.
ORD(x)
Returns the ordinal value of its argument. For example, the ordinal
value of a character is its ASCII value (on machines supporting the
ASCII character set). x must be of an ordered type, which include
integral, character and enumerated types.
SIZE(x)
Returns the size of its argument. x can be a variable or a type.
TRUNC(r)
Returns the integral part of r.
VAL(t,i)
Returns the member of the type t whose ordinal value is i.
Warning: Sets and their operations are not yet supported, so GDB treats the
use of procedures INCL and EXCL as an error.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.2.3. Constants ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB allows you to express the constants of Modula-2 in the following ways:
Integer constants are simply a sequence of digits. When used in an
expression, a constant is interpreted to be type-compatible with the rest
of the expression. Hexadecimal integers are specified by a trailing `H',
and octal integers by a trailing `B'.
Floating point constants appear as a sequence of digits, followed by a
decimal point and another sequence of digits. An optional exponent can
then be specified, in the form `E[+|-]nnn', where `[+|-]nnn' is the
desired exponent. All of the digits of the floating point constant must
be valid decimal (base 10) digits.
Character constants consist of a single character enclosed by a pair of
like quotes, either single (') or double ("). They may also be expressed
by their ordinal value (their ASCII value, usually) followed by a `C'.
String constants consist of a sequence of characters enclosed by a pair
of like quotes, either single (') or double ("). Escape sequences in the
style of C are also allowed. See C and C++ constants, for a brief
explanation of escape sequences.
Enumerated constants consist of an enumerated identifier.
Boolean constants consist of the identifiers TRUE and FALSE.
Pointer constants consist of integral values only.
Set constants are not yet supported.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.2.4. Modula-2 defaults ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If type and range checking are set automatically by GDB, they both default to
on whenever the working language changes to Modula-2. This happens regardless
of whether you, or GDB, selected the working language.
If you allow GDB to set the language automatically, then entering code compiled
from a file whose name ends with `.mod' sets the working language to Modula-2.
See Having GDB set the language automatically, for further details.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.2.5. Deviations from standard Modula-2 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
A few changes have been made to make Modula-2 programs easier to debug. This is
done primarily via loosening its type strictness:
Unlike in standard Modula-2, pointer constants can be formed by integers.
This allows you to modify pointer variables during debugging. (In
standard Modula-2, the actual address contained in a pointer variable is
hidden from you; it can only be modified through direct assignment to
another pointer variable or expression that returned a pointer.)
C escape sequences can be used in strings and characters to represent
non-printable characters. GDB prints out strings with these escape
sequences embedded. Single non-printable characters are printed using
the `CHR(nnn)' format.
The assignment operator (:=) returns the value of its right-hand
argument.
All built-in procedures both modify and return their argument.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.2.6. Modula-2 type and range checks ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Warning: in this release, GDB does not yet perform type or range checking.
GDB considers two Modula-2 variables type equivalent if:
They are of types that have been declared equivalent via a TYPE t1 = t2
statement
They have been declared on the same line. (Note: This is true of the
gnu Modula-2 compiler, but it may not be true of other compilers.)
As long as type checking is enabled, any attempt to combine variables whose
types are not equivalent is an error.
Range checking is done on all mathematical operations, assignment, array index
bounds, and all built-in functions and procedures.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.2.7. The scope operators :: and . ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
There are a few subtle differences between the Modula-2 scope operator
(.) and the GDB scope operator (::). The two have similar syntax:
module . id
scope :: id
where scope is the name of a module or a procedure, module the name of a
module, and id is any declared identifier within your program, except another
module.
Using the :: operator makes GDB search the scope specified by scope for the
identifier id. If it is not found in the specified scope, then GDB searches
all scopes enclosing the one specified by scope.
Using the . operator makes GDB search the current scope for the identifier
specified by id that was imported from the definition module specified by
module. With this operator, it is an error if the identifier id was not
imported from definition module module, or if id is not an identifier in
module.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12.4.2.8. GDB and Modula-2 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Some GDB commands have little use when debugging Modula-2 programs. Five
subcommands of set print and show print apply specifically to C and C++:
`vtbl', `demangle', `asm-demangle', `object', and `union'. The first four
apply to C++, and the last to the C union type, which has no direct analogue in
Modula-2.
The @ operator (see Expressions), while available while using any language, is
not useful with Modula-2. Its intent is to aid the debugging of dynamic
arrays, which cannot be created in Modula-2 as they can in C or C++. However,
because an address can be specified by an integral constant, the construct
`{type}adrexp' is still useful. (see Expressions)
In GDB scripts, the Modula-2 inequality operator # is interpreted as the
beginning of a comment. Use <> instead.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13. Examining the Symbol Table ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The commands described in this section allow you to inquire about the symbols
(names of variables, functions and types) defined in your program. This
information is inherent in the text of your program and does not change as your
program executes. GDB finds it in your program's symbol table, in the file
indicated when you started GDB (see Choosing files), or by one of the
file-management commands (see Commands to specify files).
Occasionally, you may need to refer to symbols that contain unusual characters,
which GDB ordinarily treats as word delimiters. The most frequent case is in
referring to static variables in other source files (see Program variables).
File names are recorded in object files as debugging symbols, but GDB would
ordinarily parse a typical file name, like `foo.c', as the three words `foo'
`.' `c'. To allow GDB to recognize `foo.c' as a single symbol, enclose it in
single quotes; for example,
p 'foo.c'::x
looks up the value of x in the scope of the file `foo.c'.
info address symbol
Describe where the data for symbol is stored. For a register
variable, this says which register it is kept in. For a
non-register local variable, this prints the stack-frame offset at
which the variable is always stored.
Note the contrast with `print &symbol', which does not work at all
for a register variable, and for a stack local variable prints the
exact address of the current instantiation of the variable.
whatis exp
Print the data type of expression exp. exp is not actually
evaluated, and any side-effecting operations (such as assignments or
function calls) inside it do not take place. See Expressions.
whatis
Print the data type of $, the last value in the value history.
ptype typename
Print a description of data type typename. typename may be the name
of a type, or for C code it may have the form `class class-name',
`struct struct-tag', `union union-tag' or `enum enum-tag'.
ptype exp
ptype
Print a description of the type of expression exp. ptype differs
from whatis by printing a detailed description, instead of just the
name of the type.
For example, for this variable declaration:
struct complex {double real; double imag;} v;
the two commands give this output:
(gdb) whatis v
type = struct complex
(gdb) ptype v
type = struct complex {
double real;
double imag;
}
As with whatis, using ptype without an argument refers to the type
of $, the last value in the value history.
info types regexp
info types
Print a brief description of all types whose name matches regexp (or
all types in your program, if you supply no argument). Each
complete typename is matched as though it were a complete line;
thus, `i type value' gives information on all types in your program
whose name includes the string value, but `i type ^value$' gives
information only on types whose complete name is value.
This command differs from ptype in two ways: first, like whatis, it
does not print a detailed description; second, it lists all source
files where a type is defined.
info source
Show the name of the current source file---that is, the source file
for the function containing the current point of execution---and the
language it was written in.
info sources
Print the names of all source files in your program for which there
is debugging information, organized into two lists: files whose
symbols have already been read, and files whose symbols will be read
when needed.
info functions
Print the names and data types of all defined functions.
info functions regexp
Print the names and data types of all defined functions whose names
contain a match for regular expression regexp. Thus, `info fun step'
finds all functions whose names include step; `info fun ^step' finds
those whose names start with step.
info variables
Print the names and data types of all variables that are declared
outside of functions (i.e., excluding local variables).
info variables regexp
Print the names and data types of all variables (except for local
variables) whose names contain a match for regular expression
regexp.
Some systems allow individual object files that make up your program
to be replaced without stopping and restarting your program. For
example, in VxWorks you can simply recompile a defective object file
and keep on running. If you are running on one of these systems, you
can allow GDB to reload the symbols for automatically relinked
modules:
set symbol-reloading on
Replace symbol definitions for the corresponding
source file when an object file with a particular
name is seen again.
set symbol-reloading off
Do not replace symbol definitions when
re-encountering object files of the same name. This
is the default state; if you are not running on a
system that permits automatically relinking modules,
you should leave symbol-reloading off, since
otherwise GDB may discard symbols when linking large
programs, that may contain several modules (from
different directories or libraries) with the same
name.
show symbol-reloading
Show the current on or off setting.
maint print symbols filename
maint print psymbols filename
maint print msymbols filename
Write a dump of debugging symbol data into the file filename. These
commands are used to debug the GDB symbol-reading code. Only
symbols with debugging data are included. If you use `maint print
symbols', GDB includes all the symbols for which it has already
collected full details: that is, filename reflects symbols for only
those files whose symbols GDB has read. You can use the command
info sources to find out which files these are. If you use `maint
print psymbols' instead, the dump shows information about symbols
that GDB only knows partially---that is, symbols defined in files
that GDB has skimmed, but not yet read completely. Finally, `maint
print msymbols' dumps just the minimal symbol information required
for each object file from which GDB has read some symbols. See
Commands to specify files, for a discussion of how GDB reads symbols
(in the description of symbol-file).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14. Altering Execution ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Once you think you have found an error in your program, you might want to find
out for certain whether correcting the apparent error would lead to correct
results in the rest of the run. You can find the answer by experiment, using
the GDB features for altering execution of the program.
For example, you can store new values into variables or memory locations, give
your program a signal, restart it at a different address, or even return
prematurely from a function.
Assignment Assignment to variables
Jumping Continuing at a different address
Signaling Giving your program a signal
Returning Returning from a function
Calling Calling your program's functions
Patching Patching your program
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14.1. Assignment to variables ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To alter the value of a variable, evaluate an assignment expression. See
Expressions. For example,
print x=4
stores the value 4 into the variable x, and then prints the value of the
assignment expression (which is 4). See Using GDB with Different Languages, for
more information on operators in supported languages.
If you are not interested in seeing the value of the assignment, use the set
command instead of the print command. set is really the same as print except
that the expression's value is not printed and is not put in the value history
( see Value history). The expression is evaluated only for its effects.
If the beginning of the argument string of the set command appears identical to
a set subcommand, use the set variable command instead of just set. This
command is identical to set except for its lack of subcommands. For example,
if your program has a variable width, you get an error if you try to set a new
value with just `set width=13', because GDB has the command set width:
(gdb) whatis width
type = double
(gdb) p width
$4 = 13
(gdb) set width=47
Invalid syntax in expression.
The invalid expression, of course, is `=47'. In order to actually set the
program's variable width, use
(gdb) set var width=47
GDB allows more implicit conversions in assignments than C; you can freely
store an integer value into a pointer variable or vice versa, and you can
convert any structure to any other structure that is the same length or
shorter.
To store values into arbitrary places in memory, use the `{...}' construct to
generate a value of specified type at a specified address (see Expressions).
For example, {int}0x83040 refers to memory location 0x83040 as an integer
(which implies a certain size and representation in memory), and
set {int}0x83040 = 4
stores the value 4 into that memory location.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14.2. Continuing at a different address ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Ordinarily, when you continue your program, you do so at the place where it
stopped, with the continue command. You can instead continue at an address of
your own choosing, with the following commands:
jump linespec
Resume execution at line linespec. Execution stops again
immediately if there is a breakpoint there. See Printing source
lines, for a description of the different forms of linespec.
The jump command does not change the current stack frame, or the
stack pointer, or the contents of any memory location or any
register other than the program counter. If line linespec is in a
different function from the one currently executing, the results may
be bizarre if the two functions expect different patterns of
arguments or of local variables. For this reason, the jump command
requests confirmation if the specified line is not in the function
currently executing. However, even bizarre results are predictable
if you are well acquainted with the machine-language code of your
program.
jump *address
Resume execution at the instruction at address address.
You can get much the same effect as the jump command by storing a new value
into the register $pc. The difference is that this does not start your
program running; it only changes the address of where it will run when you
continue. For example,
set $pc = 0x485
makes the next continue command or stepping command execute at address 0x485,
rather than at the address where your program stopped. See Continuing and
stepping.
The most common occasion to use the jump command is to back up-- perhaps with
more breakpoints set--over a portion of a program that has already executed,
in order to examine its execution in more detail.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14.3. Giving your program a signal ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
signal signal
Resume execution where your program stopped, but immediately give it
the signal signal. signal can be the name or the number of a
signal. For example, on many systems signal 2 and signal SIGINT are
both ways of sending an interrupt signal.
Alternatively, if signal is zero, continue execution without giving
a signal. This is useful when your program stopped on account of a
signal and would ordinary see the signal when resumed with the
continue command; `signal 0' causes it to resume without a signal.
signal does not repeat when you press RET a second time after
executing the command.
Invoking the signal command is not the same as invoking the kill utility from
the shell. Sending a signal with kill causes GDB to decide what to do with
the signal depending on the signal handling tables (see Signals). The signal
command passes the signal directly to your program.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14.4. Returning from a function ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
return
return expression
You can cancel execution of a function call with the return command.
If you give an expression argument, its value is used as the
function's return value.
When you use return, GDB discards the selected stack frame (and all frames
within it). You can think of this as making the discarded frame return
prematurely. If you wish to specify a value to be returned, give that value
as the argument to return.
This pops the selected stack frame ( see Selecting a frame), and any other
frames inside of it, leaving its caller as the innermost remaining frame.
That frame becomes selected. The specified value is stored in the registers
used for returning values of functions.
The return command does not resume execution; it leaves the program stopped in
the state that would exist if the function had just returned. In contrast,
the finish command ( see Continuing and stepping) resumes execution until the
selected stack frame returns naturally.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14.5. Calling program functions ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
call expr
Evaluate the expression expr without displaying void returned
values.
You can use this variant of the print command if you want to execute a
function from your program, but without cluttering the output with void
returned values. If the result is not void, it is printed and saved in the
value history.
A new user-controlled variable, call_scratch_address, specifies the location
of a scratch area to be used when GDB calls a function in the target. This is
necessary because the usual method of putting the scratch area on the stack
does not work in systems that have separate instruction and data spaces.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14.6. Patching programs ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
By default, GDB opens the file containing your program's executable code (or
the corefile) read-only. This prevents accidental alterations to machine code;
but it also prevents you from intentionally patching your program's binary.
If you'd like to be able to patch the binary, you can specify that explicitly
with the set write command. For example, you might want to turn on internal
debugging flags, or even to make emergency repairs.
set write on
set write off
If you specify `set write on', GDB opens executable and core files
for both reading and writing; if you specify `set write off' (the
default), GDB opens them read-only.
If you have already loaded a file, you must load it again (using the
exec-file or core-file command) after changing set write, for your
new setting to take effect.
show write
Display whether executable files and core files are opened for
writing as well as reading.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15. GDB Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB needs to know the file name of the program to be debugged, both in order to
read its symbol table and in order to start your program. To debug a core dump
of a previous run, you must also tell GDB the name of the core dump file.
Files Commands to specify files
Symbol Errors Errors reading symbol files
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15.1. Commands to specify files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You may want to specify executable and core dump file names. The usual way to
do this is at start-up time, using the arguments to GDB's start-up commands (
see Getting In and Out of GDB).
Occasionally it is necessary to change to a different file during a GDB
session. Or you may run GDB and forget to specify a file you want to use. In
these situations the GDB commands to specify new files are useful.
file filename
Use filename as the program to be debugged. It is read for its
symbols and for the contents of pure memory. It is also the program
executed when you use the run command. If you do not specify a
directory and the file is not found in the GDB working directory,
GDB uses the environment variable PATH as a list of directories to
search, just as the shell does when looking for a program to run.
You can change the value of this variable, for both GDB and your
program, using the path command.
On systems with memory-mapped files, an auxiliary file
`filename.syms' may hold symbol table information for filename. If
so, GDB maps in the symbol table from `filename.syms', starting up
more quickly. See the descriptions of the file options `-mapped'
and `-readnow' (available on the command line, and with the commands
file, symbol-file, or add-symbol-file, described below), for more
information.
file
file with no argument makes GDB discard any information it has on
both executable file and the symbol table.
exec-file [ filename ]
Specify that the program to be run (but not the symbol table) is
found in filename. GDB searches the environment variable PATH if
necessary to locate your program. Omitting filename means to
discard information on the executable file.
symbol-file [ filename ]
Read symbol table information from file filename. PATH is searched
when necessary. Use the file command to get both symbol table and
program to run from the same file.
symbol-file with no argument clears out GDB information on your
program's symbol table.
The symbol-file command causes GDB to forget the contents of its
convenience variables, the value history, and all breakpoints and
auto-display expressions. This is because they may contain pointers
to the internal data recording symbols and data types, which are
part of the old symbol table data being discarded inside GDB.
symbol-file does not repeat if you press RET again after executing
it once.
When GDB is configured for a particular environment, it understands
debugging information in whatever format is the standard generated
for that environment; you may use either a gnu compiler, or other
compilers that adhere to the local conventions. Best results are
usually obtained from gnu compilers; for example, using gcc you can
generate debugging information for optimized code.
On some kinds of object files, the symbol-file command does not
normally read the symbol table in full right away. Instead, it
scans the symbol table quickly to find which source files and which
symbols are present. The details are read later, one source file at
a time, as they are needed.
The purpose of this two-stage reading strategy is to make GDB start
up faster. For the most part, it is invisible except for occasional
pauses while the symbol table details for a particular source file
are being read. (The set verbose command can turn these pauses into
messages if desired. See Optional warnings and messages.)
We have not implemented the two-stage strategy for COFF yet. When
the symbol table is stored in COFF format, symbol-file reads the
symbol table data in full right away.
symbol-file filename [ -readnow ] [ -mapped ]
file filename [ -readnow ] [ -mapped ]
You can override the GDB two-stage strategy for reading symbol
tables by using the `-readnow' option with any of the commands that
load symbol table information, if you want to be sure GDB has the
entire symbol table available.
If memory-mapped files are available on your system through the mmap
system call, you can use another option, `-mapped', to cause GDB to
write the symbols for your program into a reusable file. Future GDB
debugging sessions map in symbol information from this auxiliary
symbol file (if the program has not changed), rather than spending
time reading the symbol table from the executable program. Using
the `-mapped' option has the same effect as starting GDB with the
`-mapped' command-line option.
You can use both options together, to make sure the auxiliary symbol
file has all the symbol information for your program.
The auxiliary symbol file for a program called myprog is called
`myprog.syms'. Once this file exists (so long as it is newer than
the corresponding executable), GDB always attempts to use it when
you debug myprog; no special options or commands are needed.
The `.syms' file is specific to the host machine where you run GDB.
It holds an exact image of the internal GDB symbol table. It cannot
be shared across multiple host platforms.
core-file [ filename ]
Specify the whereabouts of a core dump file to be used as the
``contents of memory''. Traditionally, core files contain only some
parts of the address space of the process that generated them; GDB
can access the executable file itself for other parts.
core-file with no argument specifies that no core file is to be
used.
Note that the core file is ignored when your program is actually
running under GDB. So, if you have been running your program and
you wish to debug a core file instead, you must kill the subprocess
in which the program is running. To do this, use the kill command
(see Killing the child process).
load filename
Depending on what remote debugging facilities are configured into
GDB, the load command may be available. Where it exists, it is
meant to make filename (an executable) available for debugging on
the remote system---by downloading, or dynamic linking, for example.
load also records the filename symbol table in GDB, like the
add-symbol-file command.
If your GDB does not have a load command, attempting to execute it
gets the error message ``You can't do that when your target is ...''
The file is loaded at whatever address is specified in the
executable. For some object file formats, you can specify the load
address when you link the program; for other formats, like a.out,
the object file format specifies a fixed address.
On VxWorks, load links filename dynamically on the current target
system as well as adding its symbols in GDB.
With the Nindy interface to an Intel 960 board, load downloads
filename to the 960 as well as adding its symbols in GDB. load does
not repeat if you press RET again after using it.
add-symbol-file filename address
add-symbol-file filename address [ -readnow ] [ -mapped ]
The add-symbol-file command reads additional symbol table
information from the file filename. You would use this command when
filename has been dynamically loaded (by some other means) into the
program that is running. address should be the memory address at
which the file has been loaded; GDB cannot figure this out for
itself. You can specify address as an expression.
The symbol table of the file filename is added to the symbol table
originally read with the symbol-file command. You can use the
add-symbol-file command any number of times; the new symbol data
thus read keeps adding to the old. To discard all old symbol data
instead, use the symbol-file command.
add-symbol-file does not repeat if you press RET after using it.
You can use the `-mapped' and `-readnow' options just as with the
symbol-file command, to change how GDB manages the symbol table
information for filename.
add-shared-symbol-file
The add-shared-symbol-file command can be used only under Harris'
CXUX operating system for the Motorola 88k. GDB automatically looks
for shared libraries, however if GDB does not find yours, you can
run add-shared-symbol-file. It takes no arguments.
section
The section command changes the base address of section SECTION of
the exec file to ADDR. This can be used if the exec file does not
contain section addresses, (such as in the a.out format), or when
the addresses specified in the file itself are wrong. Each section
must be changed separately. The ``info files'' command lists all
the sections and their addresses.
info files
info target
info files and info target are synonymous; both print the current
target (see Specifying a Debugging Target), including the names of
the executable and core dump files currently in use by GDB, and the
files from which symbols were loaded. The command help target lists
all possible targets rather than current ones.
All file-specifying commands allow both absolute and relative file names as
arguments. GDB always converts the file name to an absolute file name and
remembers it that way.
GDB supports SunOS, SVr4, Irix 5, and IBM RS/6000 shared libraries. GDB
automatically loads symbol definitions from shared libraries when you use the
run command, or when you examine a core file. (Before you issue the run
command, GDB does not understand references to a function in a shared library,
however---unless you are debugging a core file).
info share
info sharedlibrary
Print the names of the shared libraries which are currently loaded.
sharedlibrary regex
share regex
Load shared object library symbols for files matching a Unix regular
expression. As with files loaded automatically, it only loads shared
libraries required by your program for a core file or after typing
run. If regex is omitted all shared libraries required by your
program are loaded.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15.2. Errors reading symbol files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
While reading a symbol file, GDB occasionally encounters problems, such as
symbol types it does not recognize, or known bugs in compiler output. By
default, GDB does not notify you of such problems, since they are relatively
common and primarily of interest to people debugging compilers. If you are
interested in seeing information about ill-constructed symbol tables, you can
either ask GDB to print only one message about each such type of problem, no
matter how many times the problem occurs; or you can ask GDB to print more
messages, to see how many times the problems occur, with the set complaints
command ( see Optional warnings and messages).
The messages currently printed, and their meanings, include:
inner block not inside outer block in symbol
The symbol information shows where symbol scopes begin and end (such
as at the start of a function or a block of statements). This error
indicates that an inner scope block is not fully contained in its
outer scope blocks.
GDB circumvents the problem by treating the inner block as if it had
the same scope as the outer block. In the error message, symbol may
be shown as ``(don't know)'' if the outer block is not a function.
block at address out of order
The symbol information for symbol scope blocks should occur in order
of increasing addresses. This error indicates that it does not do
so.
GDB does not circumvent this problem, and has trouble locating
symbols in the source file whose symbols it is reading. (You can
often determine what source file is affected by specifying set
verbose on. See Optional warnings and messages.)
bad block start address patched
The symbol information for a symbol scope block has a start address
smaller than the address of the preceding source line. This is
known to occur in the SunOS 4.1.1 (and earlier) C compiler.
GDB circumvents the problem by treating the symbol scope block as
starting on the previous source line.
bad string table offset in symbol n
Symbol number n contains a pointer into the string table which is
larger than the size of the string table.
GDB circumvents the problem by considering the symbol to have the
name foo, which may cause other problems if many symbols end up with
this name.
unknown symbol type 0xnn
The symbol information contains new data types that GDB does not yet
know how to read. 0xnn is the symbol type of the misunderstood
information, in hexadecimal.
GDB circumvents the error by ignoring this symbol information. This
usually allows you to debug your program, though certain symbols are
not accessible. If you encounter such a problem and feel like
debugging it, you can debug gdb with itself, breakpoint on complain,
then go up to the function read_dbx_symtab and examine *bufp to see
the symbol.
stub type has NULL name
GDB could not find the full definition for a struct or class.
const/volatile indicator missing (ok if using g++ v1.x), got...
The symbol information for a C++ member function is missing some
information that recent versions of the compiler should have output
for it.
info mismatch between compiler and debugger
GDB could not parse a type specification output by the compiler.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16. Specifying a Debugging Target ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
A target is the execution environment occupied by your program. Often, GDB runs
in the same host environment as your program; in that case, the debugging
target is specified as a side effect when you use the file or core commands.
When you need more flexibility---for example, running GDB on a physically
separate host, or controlling a standalone system over a serial port or a
realtime system over a TCP/IP connection---you can use the target command to
specify one of the target types configured for GDB ( see Commands for managing
targets).
Active Targets Active targets
Target Commands Commands for managing targets
Remote Remote debugging
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.1. Active targets ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
There are three classes of targets: processes, core files, and executable
files. GDB can work concurrently on up to three active targets, one in each
class. This allows you to (for example) start a process and inspect its
activity without abandoning your work on a core file.
For example, if you execute `gdb a.out', then the executable file a.out is the
only active target. If you designate a core file as well---presumably from a
prior run that crashed and coredumped---then GDB has two active targets and
uses them in tandem, looking first in the corefile target, then in the
executable file, to satisfy requests for memory addresses. (Typically, these
two classes of target are complementary, since core files contain only a
program's read-write memory---variables and so on---plus machine status, while
executable files contain only the program text and initialized data.)
When you type run, your executable file becomes an active process target as
well. When a process target is active, all GDB commands requesting memory
addresses refer to that target; addresses in an active core file or executable
file target are obscured while the process target is active.
Use the core-file and exec-file commands to select a new core file or
executable target ( see Commands to specify files). To specify as a target a
process that is already running, use the attach command ( see Debugging an
already-running process).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.2. Commands for managing targets ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
target type parameters
Connects the GDB host environment to a target machine or process. A
target is typically a protocol for talking to debugging facilities.
You use the argument type to specify the type or protocol of the
target machine.
Further parameters are interpreted by the target protocol, but
typically include things like device names or host names to connect
with, process numbers, and baud rates.
The target command does not repeat if you press RET again after
executing the command.
help target
Displays the names of all targets available. To display targets
currently selected, use either info target or info files (see
Commands to specify files).
help target name
Describe a particular target, including any parameters necessary to
select it.
set gnutarget args
GDBuses its own library BFD to read your files. GDB knows whether
it is reading an executable, a core, or a .o file, however you can
specify the file format with the set gnutarget command. Unlike most
target commands, with gnutarget the target refers to a program, not
a machine.
Warning: To specify a file format with set gnutarget, you must know
the actual BFD name.
See Commands to specify files.
show gnutarget
Use the show gnutarget command to display what file format gnutarget
is set to read. If you have not set gnutarget, GDB will determine
the file format for each file automatically and show gnutarget
displays The current BDF target is "auto".
Here are some common targets (available, or not, depending on the GDB
configuration):
target exec program
An executable file. `target exec program' is the same as `exec-file
program'.
target core filename
A core dump file. `target core filename' is the same as `core-file
filename'.
target remote dev
Remote serial target in GDB-specific protocol. The argument dev
specifies what serial device to use for the connection (e.g.
`/dev/ttya'). See Remote debugging. target remote now supports the
load command. This is only useful if you have some other way of
getting the stub to the target system, and you can put it somewhere
in memory where it won't get clobbered by the download.
target sim
CPU simulator. See Simulated CPU Target.
target udi keyword
Remote AMD29K target, using the AMD UDI protocol. The keyword
argument specifies which 29K board or simulator to use. See The UDI
protocol for AMD29K.
target amd-eb dev speed PROG
Remote PC-resident AMD EB29K board, attached over serial lines. dev
is the serial device, as for target remote; speed allows you to
specify the linespeed; and PROG is the name of the program to be
debugged, as it appears to DOS on the PC. See The EBMON protocol for
AMD29K.
target nindy devicename
An Intel 960 board controlled by a Nindy Monitor. devicename is the
name of the serial device to use for the connection, e.g.
`/dev/ttya'. See GDB with a remote i960 (Nindy).
target st2000 dev speed
A Tandem ST2000 phone switch, running Tandem's STDBUG protocol. dev
is the name of the device attached to the ST2000 serial line; speed
is the communication line speed. The arguments are not used if GDB
is configured to connect to the ST2000 using TCP or Telnet. See GDB
with a Tandem ST2000.
target vxworks machinename
A VxWorks system, attached via TCP/IP. The argument machinename is
the target system's machine name or IP address. See GDB and VxWorks.
target cpu32bug dev
CPU32BUG monitor, running on a CPU32 (M68K) board.
target op50n dev
OP50N monitor, running on an OKI HPPA board.
target w89k dev
W89K monitor, running on a Winbond HPPA board.
target est dev
EST-300 ICE monitor, running on a CPU32 (M68K) board.
target rom68k dev
ROM 68K monitor, running on an IDP board.
target array dev
Array Tech LSI33K RAID controller board.
target sparclite dev
Fujitsu sparclite boards, used only for the purpose of loading. You
must use an additional command to debug the program. For example:
target remote dev using GDB standard remote protocol.
Different targets are available on different configurations of GDB; your
configuration may have more or fewer targets.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.3. Choosing target byte order ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can now choose which byte order to use with a target system. Use the set
endian big and set endian little commands. Use the set endian auto command to
instruct GDB to use the byte order associated with the executable. You can see
the current setting for byte order with the show endian command.
Warning: Currently, only embedded MIPS configurations support dynamic selection
of target byte order.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4. Remote debugging ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you are trying to debug a program running on a machine that cannot run GDB
in the usual way, it is often useful to use remote debugging. For example, you
might use remote debugging on an operating system kernel, or on a small system
which does not have a general purpose operating system powerful enough to run a
full-featured debugger.
Some configurations of GDB have special serial or TCP/IP interfaces to make
this work with particular debugging targets. In addition, GDB comes with a
generic serial protocol (specific to GDB, but not specific to any particular
target system) which you can use if you write the remote stubs---the code that
runs on the remote system to communicate with GDB.
Other remote targets may be available in your configuration of GDB; use help
target to list them.
Remote Serial GDBN remote serial protocol
i960-Nindy Remote GDBN with a remote i960 (Nindy)
UDI29K Remote The UDI protocol for AMD29K
EB29K Remote The EBMON protocol for AMD29K
VxWorks Remote GDBN and VxWorks
ST2000 Remote GDBN with a Tandem ST2000
Hitachi Remote GDBN and Hitachi Microprocessors
MIPS Remote GDBN and MIPS boards
Simulator Simulated CPU target
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.1. The GDB remote serial protocol ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To debug a program running on another machine (the debugging target machine),
you must first arrange for all the usual prerequisites for the program to run
by itself. For example, for a C program, you need:
1. A startup routine to set up the C runtime environment; these usually have
a name like `crt0'. The startup routine may be supplied by your hardware
supplier, or you may have to write your own.
2. You probably need a C subroutine library to support your program's
subroutine calls, notably managing input and output.
3. A way of getting your program to the other machine---for example, a
download program. These are often supplied by the hardware manufacturer,
but you may have to write your own from hardware documentation.
The next step is to arrange for your program to use a serial port to
communicate with the machine where GDB is running (the host machine). In
general terms, the scheme looks like this:
On the host,
GDB already understands how to use this protocol; when everything
else is set up, you can simply use the `target remote' command (see
Specifying a Debugging Target).
On the target,
you must link with your program a few special-purpose subroutines
that implement the GDB remote serial protocol. The file containing
these subroutines is called a debugging stub.
On certain remote targets, you can use an auxiliary program
gdbserver instead of linking a stub into your program. See Using the
gdbserver program, for details.
The debugging stub is specific to the architecture of the remote machine; for
example, use `sparc-stub.c' to debug programs on sparc boards.
These working remote stubs are distributed with GDB:
sparc-stub.c
For sparc architectures.
m68k-stub.c
For Motorola 680x0 architectures.
i386-stub.c
For Intel 386 and compatible architectures.
The `README' file in the GDB distribution may list other recently added stubs.
Stub Contents What the stub can do for you
Bootstrapping What you must do for the stub
Debug Session Putting it all together
Protocol Outline of the communication protocol
Server Using the `gdbserver' program
NetWare Using the `gdbserve.nlm' program
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.1.1. What the stub can do for you ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The debugging stub for your architecture supplies these three subroutines:
set_debug_traps
This routine arranges for handle_exception to run when your program
stops. You must call this subroutine explicitly near the beginning
of your program.
handle_exception
This is the central workhorse, but your program never calls it
explicitly---the setup code arranges for handle_exception to run
when a trap is triggered.
handle_exception takes control when your program stops during
execution (for example, on a breakpoint), and mediates
communications with GDB on the host machine. This is where the
communications protocol is implemented; handle_exception acts as the
GDB representative on the target machine; it begins by sending
summary information on the state of your program, then continues to
execute, retrieving and transmitting any information GDB needs,
until you execute a GDB command that makes your program resume; at
that point, handle_exception returns control to your own code on the
target machine.
breakpoint
Use this auxiliary subroutine to make your program contain a
breakpoint. Depending on the particular situation, this may be the
only way for GDB to get control. For instance, if your target
machine has some sort of interrupt button, you won't need to call
this; pressing the interrupt button transfers control to
handle_exception---in effect, to GDB. On some machines, simply
receiving characters on the serial port may also trigger a trap;
again, in that situation, you don't need to call breakpoint from
your own program---simply running `target remote' from the host GDB
session gets control.
Call breakpoint if none of these is true, or if you simply want to
make certain your program stops at a predetermined point for the
start of your debugging session.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.1.2. What you must do for the stub ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The debugging stubs that come with GDB are set up for a particular chip
architecture, but they have no information about the rest of your debugging
target machine.
First of all you need to tell the stub how to communicate with the serial port.
int getDebugChar()
Write this subroutine to read a single character from the serial
port. It may be identical to getchar for your target system; a
different name is used to allow you to distinguish the two if you
wish.
void putDebugChar(int)
Write this subroutine to write a single character to the serial
port. It may be identical to putchar for your target system; a
different name is used to allow you to distinguish the two if you
wish.
If you want GDB to be able to stop your program while it is running, you need
to use an interrupt-driven serial driver, and arrange for it to stop when it
receives a ^C (`\003', the control-C character). That is the character which
GDB uses to tell the remote system to stop.
Getting the debugging target to return the proper status to GDB probably
requires changes to the standard stub; one quick and dirty way is to just
execute a breakpoint instruction (the ``dirty'' part is that GDB reports a
SIGTRAP instead of a SIGINT).
Other routines you need to supply are:
void exceptionHandler (int exception_number, void *exception_address)
Write this function to install exception_address in the exception
handling tables. You need to do this because the stub does not have
any way of knowing what the exception handling tables on your target
system are like (for example, the processor's table might be in rom,
containing entries which point to a table in ram). exception_number
is the exception number which should be changed; its meaning is
architecture-dependent (for example, different numbers might
represent divide by zero, misaligned access, etc). When this
exception occurs, control should be transferred directly to
exception_address, and the processor state (stack, registers, and so
on) should be just as it is when a processor exception occurs. So
if you want to use a jump instruction to reach exception_address, it
should be a simple jump, not a jump to subroutine.
For the 386, exception_address should be installed as an interrupt
gate so that interrupts are masked while the handler runs. The gate
should be at privilege level 0 (the most privileged level). The
sparc and 68k stubs are able to mask interrup themselves without
help from exceptionHandler.
void flush_i_cache()
(sparc and sparclite only) Write this subroutine to flush the
instruction cache, if any, on your target machine. If there is no
instruction cache, this subroutine may be a no-op.
On target machines that have instruction caches, GDB requires this
function to make certain that the state of your program is stable.
You must also make sure this library routine is available:
void *memset(void *, int, int)
This is the standard library function memset that sets an area of
memory to a known value. If you have one of the free versions of
libc.a, memset can be found there; otherwise, you must either obtain
it from your hardware manufacturer, or write your own.
If you do not use the GNU C compiler, you may need other standard library
subroutines as well; this varies from one stub to another, but in general the
stubs are likely to use any of the common library subroutines which gcc
generates as inline code.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.1.3. Putting it all together ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
In summary, when your program is ready to debug, you must follow these steps.
1. Make sure you have the supporting low-level routines (see What you must
do for the stub):
getDebugChar, putDebugChar,
flush_i_cache, memset, exceptionHandler.
2. Insert these lines near the top of your program:
set_debug_traps();
breakpoint();
3. For the 680x0 stub only, you need to provide a variable called
exceptionHook. Normally you just use:
void (*exceptionHook)() = 0;
but if before calling set_debug_traps, you set it to point to a function
in your program, that function is called when GDB continues after
stopping on a trap (for example, bus error). The function indicated by
exceptionHook is called with one parameter: an int which is the exception
number.
4. Compile and link together: your program, the GDB debugging stub for your
target architecture, and the supporting subroutines.
5. Make sure you have a serial connection between your target machine and
the GDB host, and identify the serial port on the host.
6. Download your program to your target machine (or get it there by whatever
means the manufacturer provides), and start it.
7. To start remote debugging, run GDB on the host machine, and specify as an
executable file the program that is running in the remote machine. This
tells GDB how to find your program's symbols and the contents of its pure
text.
Then establish communication using the target remote command. Its
argument specifies how to communicate with the target machine---either
via a devicename attached to a direct serial line, or a TCP port (usually
to a terminal server which in turn has a serial line to the target). For
example, to use a serial line connected to the device named `/dev/ttyb':
target remote /dev/ttyb
To use a TCP connection, use an argument of the form host:port. For
example, to connect to port 2828 on a terminal server named manyfarms:
target remote manyfarms:2828
Now you can use all the usual commands to examine and change data and to step
and continue the remote program.
To resume the remote program and stop debugging it, use the detach command.
Whenever GDB is waiting for the remote program, if you type the interrupt
character (often C-C), GDB attempts to stop the program. This may or may not
succeed, depending in part on the hardware and the serial drivers the remote
system uses. If you type the interrupt character once again, GDB displays
this prompt:
Interrupted while waiting for the program.
Give up (and stop debugging it)? (y or n)
If you type y, GDB abandons the remote debugging session. (If you decide you
want to try again later, you can use `target remote' again to connect once
more.) If you type n, GDB goes back to waiting.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.1.4. Communication protocol ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The stub files provided with GDB implement the target side of the communication
protocol, and the GDB side is implemented in the GDB source file `remote.c'.
Normally, you can simply allow these subroutines to communicate, and ignore the
details. (If you're implementing your own stub file, you can still ignore the
details: start with one of the existing stub files. `sparc-stub.c' is the best
organized, and therefore the easiest to read.)
However, there may be occasions when you need to know something about the
protocol---for example, if there is only one serial port to your target
machine, you might want your program to do something special if it recognizes a
packet meant for GDB.
All GDB commands and responses (other than acknowledgements, which are single
characters) are sent as a packet which includes a checksum. A packet is
introduced with the character `$', and ends with the character `#' followed by
a two-digit checksum:
$packet info#checksum
checksum is computed as the modulo 256 sum of the packet info characters.
When either the host or the target machine receives a packet, the first
response expected is an acknowledgement: a single character, either `+' (to
indicate the package was received correctly) or `-' (to request
retransmission).
The host (GDB) sends commands, and the target (the debugging stub incorporated
in your program) sends data in response. The target also sends data when your
program stops.
Command packets are distinguished by their first character, which identifies
the kind of command.
These are some of the commands currently supported (for a complete list of
commands, look in `gdb/remote.c.'):
g
Requests the values of CPU registers.
G
Sets the values of CPU registers.
maddr,count
Read count bytes at location addr.
Maddr,count:...
Write count bytes at location addr.
c
caddr
Resume execution at the current address (or at addr if supplied).
s
saddr
Step the target program for one instruction, from either the current
program counter or from addr if supplied.
k
Kill the target program.
?
Report the most recent signal. To allow you to take advantage of
the GDB signal handling commands, one of the functions of the
debugging stub is to report CPU traps as the corresponding POSIX
signal values.
T
Allows the remote stub to send only the registers that GDB needs to
make a quick decision about single-stepping or conditional
breakpoints. This eliminates the need to fetch the entire register
set for each instruction being stepped through.
The GDB remote serial protocol now implements a write-through cache
for registers. GDB only re-reads the registers if the target has
run.
If you have trouble with the serial connection, you can use the command set
remotedebug. This makes GDB report on all packets sent back and forth across
the serial line to the remote machine. The packet-debugging information is
printed on the GDB standard output stream. set remotedebug off turns it off,
and show remotedebug shows you its current state.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.1.5. Using the gdbserver program ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
gdbserver is a control program for Unix-like systems, which allows you to
connect your program with a remote GDB via target remote---but without linking
in the usual debugging stub.
gdbserver is not a complete replacement for the debugging stubs, because it
requires essentially the same operating-system facilities that GDB itself does.
In fact, a system that can run gdbserver to connect to a remote GDB could also
run GDB locally! gdbserver is sometimes useful nevertheless, because it is a
much smaller program than GDB itself. It is also easier to port than all of
GDB, so you may be able to get started more quickly on a new system by using
gdbserver. Finally, if you develop code for real-time systems, you may find
that the tradeoffs involved in real-time operation make it more convenient to
do as much development work as possible on another system, for example by
cross-compiling. You can use gdbserver to make a similar choice for debugging.
GDB and gdbserver communicate via either a serial line or a TCP connection,
using the standard GDB remote serial protocol.
On the target machine,
you need to have a copy of the program you want to debug. gdbserver
does not need your program's symbol table, so you can strip the
program if necessary to save space. GDB on the host system does all
the symbol handling.
To use the server, you must tell it how to communicate with GDB; the
name of your program; and the arguments for your program. The
syntax is:
target> gdbserver comm program [ args ... ]
comm is either a device name (to use a serial line) or a TCP
hostname and portnumber. For example, to debug Emacs with the
argument `foo.txt' and communicate with GDB over the serial port
`/dev/com1':
target> gdbserver /dev/com1 emacs foo.txt
gdbserver waits passively for the host GDB to communicate with it.
To use a TCP connection instead of a serial line:
target> gdbserver host:2345 emacs foo.txt
The only difference from the previous example is the first argument,
specifying that you are communicating with the host GDB via TCP.
The `host:2345' argument means that gdbserver is to expect a TCP
connection from machine `host' to local TCP port 2345. (Currently,
the `host' part is ignored.) You can choose any number you want for
the port number as long as it does not conflict with any TCP ports
already in use on the target system (for example, 23 is reserved for
telnet).(3) You must use the same port number with the host GDB
target remote command.
On the GDBN host machine,
you need an unstripped copy of your program, since GDB needs symbols
and debugging information. Start up GDB as usual, using the name of
the local copy of your program as the first argument. (You may also
need the `--baud' option if the serial line is running at anything
other than 9600 bps.) After that, use target remote to establish
communications with gdbserver. Its argument is either a device name
(usually a serial device, like `/dev/ttyb'), or a TCP port
descriptor in the form host:PORT. For example:
(gdb) target remote /dev/ttyb
communicates with the server via serial line `/dev/ttyb', and
(gdb) target remote the-target:2345
communicates via a TCP connection to port 2345 on host `the-target'.
For TCP connections, you must start up gdbserver prior to using the
target remote command. Otherwise you may get an error whose text
depends on the host system, but which usually looks something like
`Connection refused'.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.1.6. Using the gdbserve.nlm program ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
gdbserve.nlm is a control program for NetWare systems, which allows you to
connect your program with a remote GDB via target remote.
GDB and gdbserve.nlm communicate via a serial line, using the standard GDB
remote serial protocol.
On the target machine,
you need to have a copy of the program you want to debug.
gdbserve.nlm does not need your program's symbol table, so you can
strip the program if necessary to save space. GDB on the host
system does all the symbol handling.
To use the server, you must tell it how to communicate with GDB; the
name of your program; and the arguments for your program. The
syntax is:
load gdbserve [ BOARD=board ] [ PORT=port ]
[ BAUD=baud ] program [ args ... ]
board and port specify the serial line; baud specifies the baud rate
used by the connection. port and node default to 0, baud defaults
to 9600 bps.
For example, to debug Emacs with the argument `foo.txt'and
communicate with GDB over serial port number 2 or board 1 using a
19200 bps connection:
load gdbserve BOARD=1 PORT=2 BAUD=19200 emacs foo.txt
On the GDBN host machine,
you need an unstripped copy of your program, since GDB needs symbols
and debugging information. Start up GDB as usual, using the name of
the local copy of your program as the first argument. (You may also
need the `--baud' option if the serial line is running at anything
other than 9600 bps. After that, use target remote to establish
communications with gdbserve.nlm. Its argument is a device name
(usually a serial device, like `/dev/ttyb'). For example:
(gdb) target remote /dev/ttyb
communications with the server via serial line `/dev/ttyb'.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.2. GDB with a remote i960 (Nindy) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Nindy is a ROM Monitor program for Intel 960 target systems. When GDB is
configured to control a remote Intel 960 using Nindy, you can tell GDB how to
connect to the 960 in several ways:
Through command line options specifying serial port, version of the Nindy
protocol, and communications speed;
By responding to a prompt on startup;
By using the target command at any point during your GDB session. See
Commands for managing targets.
Nindy Startup Startup with Nindy
Nindy Options Options for Nindy
Nindy Reset Nindy reset command
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.2.1. Startup with Nindy ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you simply start gdb without using any command-line options, you are
prompted for what serial port to use, before you reach the ordinary GDB prompt:
Attach /dev/ttyNN -- specify NN, or "quit" to quit:
Respond to the prompt with whatever suffix (after `/dev/tty') identifies the
serial port you want to use. You can, if you choose, simply start up with no
Nindy connection by responding to the prompt with an empty line. If you do
this and later wish to attach to Nindy, use target (see Commands for managing
targets).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.2.2. Options for Nindy ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
These are the startup options for beginning your GDB session with a Nindy-960
board attached:
-r port
Specify the serial port name of a serial interface to be used to
connect to the target system. This option is only available when
GDB is configured for the Intel 960 target architecture. You may
specify port as any of: a full pathname (e.g. `-r /dev/ttya'), a
device name in `/dev' (e.g. `-r ttya'), or simply the unique suffix
for a specific tty (e.g. `-r a').
-O
(An uppercase letter ``O'', not a zero.) Specify that GDB should
use the ``old'' Nindy monitor protocol to connect to the target
system. This option is only available when GDB is configured for the
Intel 960 target architecture.
Warning: if you specify `-O', but are actually trying to connect to
a target system that expects the newer protocol, the connection
fails, appearing to be a speed mismatch. GDB repeatedly attempts to
reconnect at several different line speeds. You can abort this
process with an interrupt.
-brk
Specify that GDB should first send a BREAK signal to the target
system, in an attempt to reset it, before connecting to a Nindy
target.
Warning: Many target systems do not have the hardware that this
requires; it only works with a few boards.
The standard `-b' option controls the line speed used on the serial port.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.2.3. Nindy reset command ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
reset
For a Nindy target, this command sends a ``break'' to the remote
target system; this is only useful if the target has been equipped
with a circuit to perform a hard reset (or some other interesting
action) when a break is detected.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.3. The UDI protocol for AMD29K ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB supports AMD's UDI (``Universal Debugger Interface'') protocol for
debugging the a29k processor family. To use this configuration with AMD
targets running the MiniMON monitor, you need the program MONTIP, available
from AMD at no charge. You can also use GDB with the UDI-conformant a29k
simulator program ISSTIP, also available from AMD.
target udi keyword
Select the UDI interface to a remote a29k board or simulator, where
keyword is an entry in the AMD configuration file `udi_soc'. This
file contains keyword entries which specify parameters used to
connect to a29k targets. If the `udi_soc' file is not in your
working directory, you must set the environment variable `UDICONF'
to its pathname.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.4. The EBMON protocol for AMD29K ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
AMD distributes a 29K development board meant to fit in a PC, together with a
DOS-hosted monitor program called EBMON. As a shorthand term, this development
system is called the ``EB29K''. To use GDB from a Unix system to run programs
on the EB29K board, you must first connect a serial cable between the PC (which
hosts the EB29K board) and a serial port on the Unix system. In the following,
we assume you've hooked the cable between the PC's `COM1' port and `/dev/ttya'
on the Unix system.
Comms (EB29K) Communications setup
gdb-EB29K EB29K cross-debugging
Remote Log Remote log
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.4.1. Communications setup ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The next step is to set up the PC's port, by doing something like this in DOS
on the PC:
C:\> MODE com1:9600,n,8,1,none
This example---run on an MS DOS 4.0 system---sets the PC port to 9600 bps, no
parity, eight data bits, one stop bit, and no ``retry'' action; you must match
the communications parameters when establishing the Unix end of the connection
as well.
To give control of the PC to the Unix side of the serial line, type the
following at the DOS console:
C:\> CTTY com1
(Later, if you wish to return control to the DOS console, you can use the
command CTTY con---but you must send it over the device that had control, in
our example over the `COM1' serial line).
From the Unix host, use a communications program such as tip or cu to
communicate with the PC; for example,
cu -s 9600 -l /dev/ttya
The cu options shown specify, respectively, the linespeed and the serial port
to use. If you use tip instead, your command line may look something like the
following:
tip -9600 /dev/ttya
Your system may require a different name where we show `/dev/ttya' as the
argument to tip. The communications parameters, including which port to use,
are associated with the tip argument in the ``remote'' descriptions
file---normally the system table `/etc/remote'.
Using the tip or cu connection, change the DOS working directory to the
directory containing a copy of your 29K program, then start the PC program
EBMON (an EB29K control program supplied with your board by AMD). You should
see an initial display from EBMON similar to the one that follows, ending with
the EBMON prompt `#'---
C:\> G:
G:\> CD \usr\joe\work29k
G:\USR\JOE\WORK29K> EBMON
Am29000 PC Coprocessor Board Monitor, version 3.0-18
Copyright 1990 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Written by Gibbons and Associates, Inc.
Enter '?' or 'H' for help
PC Coprocessor Type = EB29K
I/O Base = 0x208
Memory Base = 0xd0000
Data Memory Size = 2048KB
Available I-RAM Range = 0x8000 to 0x1fffff
Available D-RAM Range = 0x80002000 to 0x801fffff
PageSize = 0x400
Register Stack Size = 0x800
Memory Stack Size = 0x1800
CPU PRL = 0x3
Am29027 Available = No
Byte Write Available = Yes
# ~.
Then exit the cu or tip program (done in the example by typing ~. at the EBMON
prompt). EBMON keeps running, ready for GDB to take over.
For this example, we've assumed what is probably the most convenient way to
make sure the same 29K program is on both the PC and the Unix system: a PC/NFS
connection that establishes ``drive G:'' on the PC as a file system on the Unix
host. If you do not have PC/NFS or something similar connecting the two
systems, you must arrange some other way---perhaps floppy-disk transfer---of
getting the 29K program from the Unix system to the PC; GDB does not download
it over the serial line.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.4.2. EB29K cross-debugging ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Finally, cd to the directory containing an image of your 29K program on the
Unix system, and start GDB---specifying as argument the name of your 29K
program:
cd /usr/joe/work29k
gdb myfoo
Now you can use the target command:
target amd-eb /dev/ttya 9600 MYFOO
In this example, we've assumed your program is in a file called `myfoo'. Note
that the filename given as the last argument to target amd-eb should be the
name of the program as it appears to DOS. In our example this is simply MYFOO,
but in general it can include a DOS path, and depending on your transfer
mechanism may not resemble the name on the Unix side.
At this point, you can set any breakpoints you wish; when you are ready to see
your program run on the 29K board, use the GDB command run.
To stop debugging the remote program, use the GDB detach command.
To return control of the PC to its console, use tip or cu once again, after
your GDB session has concluded, to attach to EBMON. You can then type the
command q to shut down EBMON, returning control to the DOS command-line
interpreter. Type CTTY con to return command input to the main DOS console, and
type ~. to leave tip or cu.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.4.3. Remote log ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The target amd-eb command creates a file `eb.log' in the current working
directory, to help debug problems with the connection. `eb.log' records all the
output from EBMON, including echoes of the commands sent to it. Running `tail
-f' on this file in another window often helps to understand trouble with
EBMON, or unexpected events on the PC side of the connection.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.5. GDB with a Tandem ST2000 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To connect your ST2000 to the host system, see the manufacturer's manual. Once
the ST2000 is physically attached, you can run:
target st2000 dev speed
to establish it as your debugging environment. dev is normally the name of a
serial device, such as `/dev/ttya', connected to the ST2000 via a serial line.
You can instead specify dev as a TCP connection (for example, to a serial line
attached via a terminal concentrator) using the syntax hostname:portnumber.
The load and attach commands are not defined for this target; you must load
your program into the ST2000 as you normally would for standalone operation.
GDB reads debugging information (such as symbols) from a separate, debugging
version of the program available on your host computer.
These auxiliary GDB commands are available to help you with the ST2000
environment:
st2000 command
Send a command to the STDBUG monitor. See the manufacturer's manual
for available commands.
connect
Connect the controlling terminal to the STDBUG command monitor.
When you are done interacting with STDBUG, typing either of two
character sequences gets you back to the GDB command prompt: RET~.
(Return, followed by tilde and period) or RET~C-d (Return, followed
by tilde and control-D).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.6. GDB and VxWorks ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB enables developers to spawn and debug tasks running on networked VxWorks
targets from a Unix host. Already-running tasks spawned from the VxWorks shell
can also be debugged. GDB uses code that runs on both the Unix host and on the
VxWorks target. The program gdb is installed and executed on the Unix host.
(It may be installed with the name vxgdb, to distinguish it from a GDB for
debugging programs on the host itself.)
VxWorks-timeout args
All VxWorks-based targets now support the option vxworks-timeout.
This option is set by the user, and args represents the number of
seconds GDB waits for responses to rpc's. You might use this if
your VxWorks target is a slow software simulator or is on the far
side of a thin network line.
The following information on connecting to VxWorks was current when this
manual was produced; newer releases of VxWorks may use revised procedures.
To use GDB with VxWorks, you must rebuild your VxWorks kernel to include the
remote debugging interface routines in the VxWorks library `rdb.a'. To do
this, define INCLUDE_RDB in the VxWorks configuration file `configAll.h' and
rebuild your VxWorks kernel. The resulting kernel contains `rdb.a', and
spawns the source debugging task tRdbTask when VxWorks is booted. For more
information on configuring and remaking VxWorks, see the manufacturer's
manual.
Once you have included `rdb.a' in your VxWorks system image and set your Unix
execution search path to find GDB, you are ready to run GDB. From your Unix
host, run gdb (or vxgdb, depending on your installation).
GDB comes up showing the prompt:
(vxgdb)
VxWorks Connection Connecting to VxWorks
VxWorks Download VxWorks download
VxWorks Attach Running tasks
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.6.1. Connecting to VxWorks ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The GDB command target lets you connect to a VxWorks target on the network. To
connect to a target whose host name is ``tt'', type:
(vxgdb) target vxworks tt
GDB displays messages like these:
Attaching remote machine across net...
Connected to tt.
GDB then attempts to read the symbol tables of any object modules loaded into
the VxWorks target since it was last booted. GDB locates these files by
searching the directories listed in the command search path (see Your program_s
environment); if it fails to find an object file, it displays a message such
as:
prog.o: No such file or directory.
When this happens, add the appropriate directory to the search path with the
GDB command path, and execute the target command again.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.6.2. VxWorks download ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you have connected to the VxWorks target and you want to debug an object
that has not yet been loaded, you can use the GDB load command to download a
file from Unix to VxWorks incrementally. The object file given as an argument
to the load command is actually opened twice: first by the VxWorks target in
order to download the code, then by GDB in order to read the symbol table.
This can lead to problems if the current working directories on the two systems
differ. If both systems have NFS mounted the same filesystems, you can avoid
these problems by using absolute paths. Otherwise, it is simplest to set the
working directory on both systems to the directory in which the object file
resides, and then to reference the file by its name, without any path. For
instance, a program `prog.o' may reside in `vxpath/vw/demo/rdb' in VxWorks and
in `hostpath/vw/demo/rdb' on the host. To load this program, type this on
VxWorks:
-> cd "vxpath/vw/demo/rdb"
v Then, in GDB, type:
(vxgdb) cd hostpath/vw/demo/rdb
(vxgdb) load prog.o
GDB displays a response similar to this:
Reading symbol data from wherever/vw/demo/rdb/prog.o... done.
You can also use the load command to reload an object module after editing and
recompiling the corresponding source file. Note that this makes GDB delete all
currently-defined breakpoints, auto-displays, and convenience variables, and to
clear the value history. (This is necessary in order to preserve the integrity
of debugger data structures that reference the target system's symbol table.)
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.6.3. Running tasks ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can also attach to an existing task using the attach command as follows:
(vxgdb) attach task
where task is the VxWorks hexadecimal task ID. The task can be running or
suspended when you attach to it. Running tasks are suspended at the time of
attachment.
Hitachi Boards Connecting to Hitachi boards.
Hitachi ICE Using the E7000 In-Circuit Emulator.
Hitachi Special Special GDBN commands for Hitachi
micros.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.6.4. Using the E7000 in-circuit emulator ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can use the E7000 in-circuit emulator to develop code for either the
Hitachi SH or the H8/300H. Use one of these forms of the `target e7000'
command to connect GDB to your E7000:
target e7000 port speed
Use this form if your E7000 is connected to a serial port. The port
argument identifies what serial port to use (for example, `com2').
The third argument is the line speed in bits per second (for
example, `9600').
target e7000 hostname
If your E7000 is installed as a host on a TCP/IP network, you can
just specify its hostname; GDB uses telnet to connect.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.6.5. Special GDB commands for Hitachi micros ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Some GDB commands are available only on the H8/300 or the H8/500
configurations:
set machine h8300
set machine h8300h
Condition GDB for one of the two variants of the H8/300 architecture
with `set machine'. You can use `show machine' to check which
variant is currently in effect.
set memory mod
show memory
Specify which H8/500 memory model (mod) you are using with `set
memory'; check which memory model is in effect with `show memory'.
The accepted values for mod are small, big, medium, and compact.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.7. GDB and remote MIPS boards ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB can use the MIPS remote debugging protocol to talk to a MIPS board attached
to a serial line. This is available when you configure GDB with
`--target=mips-idt-ecoff'.
Use these GDB commands to specify the connection to your target board:
target mips port
To run a program on the board, start up gdb with the name of your
program as the argument. To connect to the board, use the command
`target mips port', where port is the name of the serial port
connected to the board. If the program has not already been
downloaded to the board, you may use the load command to download
it. You can then use all the usual GDB commands.
For example, this sequence connects to the target board through a
serial port, and loads and runs a program called prog through the
debugger:
host$ gdb prog
GDB is free software and ...
(gdb) target mips /dev/ttyb
(gdb) load prog
(gdb) run
target mips hostname:portnumber
On some GDB host configurations, you can specify a TCP connection
(for instance, to a serial line managed by a terminal concentrator)
instead of a serial port, using the syntax `hostname:portnumber'.
GDB also supports these special commands for MIPS targets:
set processor args
show processor
Use the set processor command to set the type of MIPS processor when
you want to access processor-type-specific registers. For example,
set processor r3041 tells GDB to use the CPO registers appropriate
for the 3041 chip. Use the show processor command to see what MIPS
processor GDB is using. Use the info reg command to see what
registers GDB is using.
set mipsfpu double
set mipsfpu single
set mipsfpu none
show mipsfpu
If your target board does not support the MIPS floating point
coprocessor, you should use the command `set mipsfpu none' (if you
need this, you may wish to put the command in your .gdbinit file).
This tells GDB how to find the return value of functions which
return floating point values. It also allows GDB to avoid saving
the floating point registers when calling functions on the board.
If you are using a floating point coprocessor with only single
precision floating point support, as on the r4650 processor, use the
command `set mipsfpu single'. The default double precision floating
point coprocessor may be selected using `set mipsfpu double'.
In previous versions the only choices were double precision or no
floating point, so `set mipsfpu on' will select double precision and
`set mipsfpu off' will select no floating point.
As usual, you can inquire about the mipsfpu variable with `show
mipsfpu'.
set remotedebug n
show remotedebug
You can see some debugging information about communications with the
board by setting the remotedebug variable. If you set it to 1 using
`set remotedebug 1', every packet is displayed. If you set it to 2,
every character is displayed. You can check the current value at
any time with the command `show remotedebug'.
set timeout seconds
set retransmit-timeout seconds
show timeout
show retransmit-timeout
You can control the timeout used while waiting for a packet, in the
MIPS remote protocol, with the set timeout seconds command. The
default is 5 seconds. Similarly, you can control the timeout used
while waiting for an acknowledgement of a packet with the set
retransmit-timeout seconds command. The default is 3 seconds. You
can inspect both values with show timeout and show
retransmit-timeout. (These commands are only available when GDB is
configured for `--target=mips-idt-ecoff'.)
The timeout set by set timeout does not apply when GDB is waiting
for your program to stop. In that case, GDB waits forever because
it has no way of knowing how long the program is going to run before
stopping.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16.4.8. Simulated CPU target ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
For some configurations, GDB includes a CPU simulator that you can use instead
of a hardware CPU to debug your programs. Currently, a simulator is available
when GDB is configured to debug Zilog Z8000 or Hitachi microprocessor targets.
For the Z8000 family, `target sim' simulates either the Z8002 (the
unsegmented variant of the Z8000 architecture) or the Z8001 (the segmented
variant). The simulator recognizes which architecture is appropriate by
inspecting the object code.
target sim
Debug programs on a simulated CPU (which CPU depends on the GDB
configuration)
After specifying this target, you can debug programs for the simulated CPU in
the same style as programs for your host computer; use the file command to
load a new program image, the run command to run your program, and so on.
As well as making available all the usual machine registers (see info reg),
this debugging target provides three additional items of information as
specially named registers:
cycles
Counts clock-ticks in the simulator.
insts
Counts instructions run in the simulator.
time
Execution time in 60ths of a second.
You can refer to these values in GDB expressions with the usual conventions;
for example, `b fputc if $cycles>5000' sets a conditional breakpoint that
suspends only after at least 5000 simulated clock ticks.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 17. Controlling GDB ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can alter the way GDB interacts with you by using the set command. For
commands controlling how GDB displays data, see Print settings; other settings
are described here.
Prompt Prompt
Editing Command editing
History Command history
Screen Size Screen size
Numbers Numbers
Messages/Warnings Optional warnings and messages
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 17.1. Prompt ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB indicates its readiness to read a command by printing a string called the
prompt. This string is normally `(gdb)'. You can change the prompt string
with the set prompt command. For instance, when debugging GDB with GDB, it is
useful to change the prompt in one of the GDB sessions so that you can always
tell which one you are talking to.
Note: set prompt no longer adds a space for you after the prompt you set.
This allows you to set a prompt which ends in a space or a prompt that does
not.
set prompt newprompt
Directs GDB to use newprompt as its prompt string henceforth.
show prompt
Prints a line of the form: `Gdb's prompt is: your-prompt'
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 17.2. Command editing ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB reads its input commands via the readline interface. This gnu library
provides consistent behavior for programs which provide a command line
interface to the user. Advantages are gnu Emacs-style or vi-style inline
editing of commands, csh-like history substitution, and a storage and recall of
command history across debugging sessions.
You may control the behavior of command line editing in GDB with the command
set.
set editing
set editing on
Enable command line editing (enabled by default).
set editing off
Disable command line editing.
show editing
Show whether command line editing is enabled.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 17.3. Command history ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB can keep track of the commands you type during your debugging sessions, so
that you can be certain of precisely what happened. Use these commands to
manage the GDB command history facility.
set history filename fname
Set the name of the GDB command history file to fname. This is the
file where GDB reads an initial command history list, and where it
writes the command history from this session when it exits. You can
access this list through history expansion or through the history
command editing characters listed below. This file defaults to the
value of the environment variable GDBHISTFILE, or to
`./.gdb_history' if this variable is not set.
set history save
set history save on
Record command history in a file, whose name may be specified with
the set history filename command. By default, this option is
disabled.
set history save off
Stop recording command history in a file.
set history size size
Set the number of commands which GDB keeps in its history list. This
defaults to the value of the environment variable HISTSIZE, or to
256 if this variable is not set.
History expansion assigns special meaning to the character !.
Since ! is also the logical not operator in C, history expansion is off by
default. If you decide to enable history expansion with the set history
expansion on command, you may sometimes need to follow ! (when it is used as
logical not, in an expression) with a space or a tab to prevent it from being
expanded. The readline history facilities do not attempt substitution on the
strings != and !(, even when history expansion is enabled.
The commands to control history expansion are:
set history expansion on
set history expansion
Enable history expansion. History expansion is off by default.
set history expansion off
Disable history expansion.
The readline code comes with more complete documentation of editing
and history expansion features. Users unfamiliar with gnu Emacs or
vi may wish to read it.
show history
show history filename
show history save
show history size
show history expansion
These commands display the state of the GDB history parameters. show
history by itself displays all four states.
show commands
Display the last ten commands in the command history.
show commands n
Print ten commands centered on command number n.
show commands +
Print ten commands just after the commands last printed.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 17.4. Screen size ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Certain commands to GDB may produce large amounts of information output to the
screen. To help you read all of it, GDB pauses and asks you for input at the
end of each page of output. Type RET when you want to continue the output, or
q to discard the remaining output. Also, the screen width setting determines
when to wrap lines of output. Depending on what is being printed, GDB tries to
break the line at a readable place, rather than simply letting it overflow onto
the following line.
Normally GDB knows the size of the screen from the termcap data base together
with the value of the TERM environment variable and the stty rows and stty cols
settings. If this is not correct, you can override it with the set height and
set width commands:
set height lpp
show height
set width cpl
show width
These set commands specify a screen height of lpp lines and a screen
width of cpl characters. The associated show commands display the
current settings.
If you specify a height of zero lines, GDB does not pause during
output no matter how long the output is. This is useful if output
is to a file or to an editor buffer.
Likewise, you can specify `set width 0' to prevent GDB from wrapping
its output.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 17.5. Numbers ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can always enter numbers in octal, decimal, or hexadecimal in GDB by the
usual conventions: octal numbers begin with `0', decimal numbers end with `.',
and hexadecimal numbers begin with `0x'. Numbers that begin with none of these
are, by default, entered in base 10; likewise, the default display for
numbers---when no particular format is specified---is base 10. You can change
the default base for both input and output with the set radix command.
set input-radix base
Set the default base for numeric input. Supported choices for base
are decimal 8, 10, or 16. base must itself be specified either
unambiguously or using the current default radix; for example, any
of
set radix 012
set radix 10.
set radix 0xa
sets the base to decimal. On the other hand, `set radix 10' leaves
the radix unchanged no matter what it was.
set output-radix base
Set the default base for numeric display. Supported choices for
base are decimal 8, 10, or 16. base must itself be specified either
unambiguously or using the current default radix.
show input-radix
Display the current default base for numeric input.
show output-radix
Display the current default base for numeric display.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 17.6. Optional warnings and messages ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
By default, GDB is silent about its inner workings. If you are running on a
slow machine, you may want to use the set verbose command. This makes GDB tell
you when it does a lengthy internal operation, so you will not think it has
crashed.
Currently, the messages controlled by set verbose are those which announce that
the symbol table for a source file is being read; see symbol-file in Commands
to specify files.
set verbose on
Enables GDB output of certain informational messages.
set verbose off
Disables GDB output of certain informational messages.
show verbose
Displays whether set verbose is on or off.
By default, if GDB encounters bugs in the symbol table of an object file, it
is silent; but if you are debugging a compiler, you may find this information
useful (see Errors reading symbol files).
set complaints limit
Permits GDB to output limit complaints about each type of unusual
symbols before becoming silent about the problem. Set limit to zero
to suppress all complaints; set it to a large number to prevent
complaints from being suppressed.
show complaints
Displays how many symbol complaints GDB is permitted to produce.
By default, GDB is cautious, and asks what sometimes seems to be a lot of
stupid questions to confirm certain commands. For example, if you try to run
a program which is already running:
(gdb) run
The program being debugged has been started already.
Start it from the beginning? (y or n)
If you are willing to unflinchingly face the consequences of your own
commands, you can disable this ``feature'':
set confirm off
Disables confirmation requests.
set confirm on
Enables confirmation requests (the default).
show confirm
Displays state of confirmation requests.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 18. Canned Sequences of Commands ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Aside from breakpoint commands ( see Breakpoint command lists), GDB provides
two ways to store sequences of commands for execution as a unit: user-defined
commands and command files.
Define User-defined commands
Hooks User-defined command hooks
Command Files Command files
Output Commands for controlled output
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 18.1. User-defined commands ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
A user-defined command is a sequence of GDB commands to which you assign a new
name as a command. This is done with the define command. User commands may
accept up to 10 arguments separated by whitespace. Arguments are accessed
within the user command via $arg0...$arg9. A trivial example:
define adder
print $arg0 + $arg1 + $arg2
To execute the command use:
adder 1 2 3
This defines the command adder, which prints the sum of its three arguments.
Note the arguments are text substitutions, so they may reference variables, use
complex expressions, or even perform inferior functions calls.
define commandname
Define a command named commandname. If there is already a command
by that name, you are asked to confirm that you want to redefine it.
The definition of the command is made up of other GDB command lines,
which are given following the define command. The end of these
commands is marked by a line containing end.
if
Takes a single argument, which is an expression to evaluate. It is
followed by a series of commands that are executed only if the
expression is true (nonzero). There can then optionally be a line
else, followed by a series of commands that are only executed if the
expression was false. The end of the list is marked by a line
containing end.
while
The syntax is similar to if: the command takes a single argument,
which is an expression to evaluate, and must be followed by the
commands to execute, one per line, terminated by an end. The
commands are executed repeatedly as long as the expression evaluates
to true.
document commandname
Document the user-defined command commandname, so that it can be
accessed by help. The command commandname must already be defined.
This command reads lines of documentation just as define reads the
lines of the command definition, ending with end. After the document
command is finished, help on command commandname displays the
documentation you have written.
You may use the document command again to change the documentation
of a command. Redefining the command with define does not change
the documentation.
help user-defined
List all user-defined commands, with the first line of the
documentation (if any) for each.
show user
show user commandname
Display the GDB commands used to define commandname (but not its
documentation). If no commandname is given, display the definitions
for all user-defined commands.
When user-defined commands are executed, the commands of the definition are
not printed. An error in any command stops execution of the user-defined
command.
If used interactively, commands that would ask for confirmation proceed
without asking when used inside a user-defined command. Many GDB commands
that normally print messages to say what they are doing omit the messages when
used in a user-defined command.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 18.2. User-defined command hooks ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You may define hooks, which are a special kind of user-defined command.
Whenever you run the command `foo', if the user-defined command `hook-foo'
exists, it is executed (with no arguments) before that command.
In addition, a pseudo-command, `stop' exists. Defining (`hook-stop') makes the
associated commands execute every time execution stops in your program: before
breakpoint commands are run, displays are printed, or the stack frame is
printed.
For example, to ignore SIGALRM signals while single-stepping, but treat them
normally during normal execution, you could define:
define hook-stop
handle SIGALRM nopass
end
define hook-run
handle SIGALRM pass
end
define hook-continue
handle SIGLARM pass
end
You can define a hook for any single-word command in GDB, but not for command
aliases; you should define a hook for the basic command name, e.g. backtrace
rather than bt. If an error occurs during the execution of your hook, execution
of GDB commands stops and GDB issues a prompt (before the command that you
actually typed had a chance to run).
If you try to define a hook which does not match any known command, you get a
warning from the define command.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 18.3. Command files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
A command file for GDB is a file of lines that are GDB commands. Comments
(lines starting with #) may also be included. An empty line in a command file
does nothing; it does not mean to repeat the last command, as it would from the
terminal.
When you start GDB, it automatically executes commands from its init files.
These are files named `.gdbinit'. GDB reads the init file (if any) in your home
directory, then processes command line options and operands, and then reads the
init file (if any) in the current working directory. This is so the init file
in your home directory can set options (such as set complaints) which affect
the processing of the command line options and operands. The init files are
not executed if you use the `-nx' option; see Choosing modes.
On some configurations of GDB, the init file is known by a different name
(these are typically environments where a specialized form of GDB may need to
coexist with other forms, hence a different name for the specialized version's
init file). These are the environments with special init file names:
VxWorks (Wind River Systems real-time OS): `.vxgdbinit'
OS68K (Enea Data Systems real-time OS): `.os68gdbinit'
ES-1800 (Ericsson Telecom AB M68000 emulator): `.esgdbinit'
You can also request the execution of a command file with the source command:
source filename
Execute the command file filename.
The lines in a command file are executed sequentially. They are not printed
as they are executed. An error in any command terminates execution of the
command file.
Commands that would ask for confirmation if used interactively proceed without
asking when used in a command file. Many GDB commands that normally print
messages to say what they are doing omit the messages when called from command
files.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 18.4. Commands for controlled output ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
During the execution of a command file or a user-defined command, normal GDB
output is suppressed; the only output that appears is what is explicitly
printed by the commands in the definition. This section describes three
commands useful for generating exactly the output you want.
echo text
Print text. Nonprinting characters can be included in text using C
escape sequences, such as `\n' to print a newline. *No newline is
printed unless you specify one.* In addition to the standard C
escape sequences, a backslash followed by a space stands for a
space. This is useful for displaying a string with spaces at the
beginning or the end, since leading and trailing spaces are
otherwise trimmed from all arguments. To print `and foo =', use the
command `echo \and foo = \'.
A backslash at the end of text can be used, as in C, to continue the
command onto subsequent lines. For example,
echo This is some text\n\
which is continued\n\
onto several lines.\n
produces the same output as
echo This is some text\n
echo which is continued\n
echo onto several lines.\n
output expression
Print the value of expression and nothing but that value: no
newlines, no `$nn = '. The value is not entered in the value
history either. See Expressions, for more information on
expressions.
output/fmt expression
Print the value of expression in format fmt. You can use the same
formats as for print. See Output formats, for more information.
printf string, expressions...
Print the values of the expressions under the control of string.
The expressions are separated by commas and may be either numbers or
pointers. Their values are printed as specified by string, exactly
as if your program were to execute the C subroutine
printf (string, expressions...);
For example, you can print two values in hex like this:
printf "foo, bar-foo = 0x%x, 0x%x\n", foo, bar-foo
The only backslash-escape sequences that you can use in the format
string are the simple ones that consist of backslash followed by a
letter.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 19. Using GDB under gnu Emacs ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
A special interface allows you to use gnu Emacs to view (and edit) the source
files for the program you are debugging with GDB.
To use this interface, use the command M-x gdb in Emacs. Give the executable
file you want to debug as an argument. This command starts GDB as a subprocess
of Emacs, with input and output through a newly created Emacs buffer.
Using GDB under Emacs is just like using GDB normally except for two things:
All ``terminal'' input and output goes through the Emacs buffer.
This applies both to GDB commands and their output, and to the input and
output done by the program you are debugging.
This is useful because it means that you can copy the text of previous
commands and input them again; you can even use parts of the output in this
way.
All the facilities of Emacs' Shell mode are available for interacting with
your program. In particular, you can send signals the usual way---for
example, C-c C-c for an interrupt, C-c C-z for a stop.
GDB displays source code through Emacs.
Each time GDB displays a stack frame, Emacs automatically finds the source
file for that frame and puts an arrow (`=>') at the left margin of the current
line. Emacs uses a separate buffer for source display, and splits the screen
to show both your GDB session and the source.
Explicit GDB list or search commands still produce output as usual, but you
probably have no reason to use them from Emacs.
Warning: If the directory where your program resides is not your current
directory, it can be easy to confuse Emacs about the location of the source
files, in which case the auxiliary display buffer does not appear to show your
source. GDB can find programs by searching your environment's PATH variable,
so the GDB input and output session proceeds normally; but Emacs does not get
enough information back from GDB to locate the source files in this situation.
To avoid this problem, either start GDB mode from the directory where your
program resides, or specify an absolute file name when prompted for the M-x
gdb argument.
A similar confusion can result if you use the GDB file command to switch to
debugging a program in some other location, from an existing GDB buffer in
Emacs.
By default, M-x gdb calls the program called `gdb'. If you need to call GDB
by a different name (for example, if you keep several configurations around,
with different names) you can set the Emacs variable gdb-command-name; for
example,
(setq gdb-command-name "mygdb")
(preceded by ESC ESC, or typed in the *scratch* buffer, or in your `.emacs'
file) makes Emacs call the program named ``mygdb'' instead.
In the GDB I/O buffer, you can use these special Emacs commands in addition to
the standard Shell mode commands:
C-h m
Describe the features of Emacs' GDB Mode.
M-s
Execute to another source line, like the GDB step command; also
update the display window to show the current file and location.
M-n
Execute to next source line in this function, skipping all function
calls, like the GDB next command. Then update the display window to
show the current file and location.
M-i
Execute one instruction, like the GDB stepi command; update display
window accordingly.
M-x gdb-nexti
Execute to next instruction, using the GDB nexti command; update
display window accordingly.
C-c C-f
Execute until exit from the selected stack frame, like the GDB
finish command.
M-c
Continue execution of your program, like the GDB continue command.
Warning: In Emacs v19, this command is C-c C-p.
M-u
Go up the number of frames indicated by the numeric argument (see
Numeric Arguments), like the GDB up command.
Warning: In Emacs v19, this command is C-c C-u.
M-d
Go down the number of frames indicated by the numeric argument, like
the GDB down command.
Warning: In Emacs v19, this command is C-c C-d.
C-x &
Read the number where the cursor is positioned, and insert it at the
end of the GDB I/O buffer. For example, if you wish to disassemble
code around an address that was displayed earlier, type disassemble;
then move the cursor to the address display, and pick up the
argument for disassemble by typing C-x &.
You can customize this further by defining elements of the list
gdb-print-command; once it is defined, you can format or otherwise
process numbers picked up by C-x & before they are inserted. A
numeric argument to C-x & indicates that you wish special
formatting, and also acts as an index to pick an element of the
list. If the list element is a string, the number to be inserted is
formatted using the Emacs function format; otherwise the number is
passed as an argument to the corresponding list element.
In any source file, the Emacs command C-x SPC (gdb-break) tells GDB to set a
breakpoint on the source line point is on.
If you accidentally delete the source-display buffer, an easy way to get it
back is to type the command f in the GDB buffer, to request a frame display;
when you run under Emacs, this recreates the source buffer if necessary to
show you the context of the current frame.
The source files displayed in Emacs are in ordinary Emacs buffers which are
visiting the source files in the usual way. You can edit the files with these
buffers if you wish; but keep in mind that GDB communicates with Emacs in
terms of line numbers. If you add or delete lines from the text, the line
numbers that GDB knows cease to correspond properly with the code.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 20. Reporting Bugs in GDB ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Your bug reports play an essential role in making GDB reliable.
Reporting a bug may help you by bringing a solution to your problem, or it may
not. But in any case the principal function of a bug report is to help the
entire community by making the next version of GDB work better. Bug reports
are your contribution to the maintenance of GDB.
In order for a bug report to serve its purpose, you must include the
information that enables us to fix the bug.
Bug Criteria Have you found a bug?
Bug Reporting How to report bugs
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 20.1. Have you found a bug? ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you are not sure whether you have found a bug, here are some guidelines:
If the debugger gets a fatal signal, for any input whatever, that is a
GDB bug. Reliable debuggers never crash.
If GDB produces an error message for valid input, that is a bug.
If GDB does not produce an error message for invalid input, that is a
bug. However, you should note that your idea of ``invalid input'' might
be our idea of ``an extension'' or ``support for traditional practice''.
If you are an experienced user of debugging tools, your suggestions for
improvement of GDB are welcome in any case.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 20.2. How to report bugs ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
A number of companies and individuals offer support for gnu products. If you
obtained GDB from a support organization, we recommend you contact that
organization first.
You can find contact information for many support companies and individuals in
the file `etc/SERVICE' in the gnu Emacs distribution.
In any event, we also recommend that you send bug reports for GDB to one of
these addresses:
bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu
{ucbvax|mit-eddie|uunet}!prep.ai.mit.edu!bug-gdb
*Do not send bug reports to `info-gdb', or to `help-gdb', or to any
newsgroups.* Most users of GDB do not want to receive bug reports. Those that
do have arranged to receive `bug-gdb'.
The mailing list `bug-gdb' has a newsgroup `gnu.gdb.bug' which serves as a
repeater. The mailing list and the newsgroup carry exactly the same messages.
Often people think of posting bug reports to the newsgroup instead of mailing
them. This appears to work, but it has one problem which can be crucial: a
newsgroup posting often lacks a mail path back to the sender. Thus, if we need
to ask for more information, we may be unable to reach you. For this reason,
it is better to send bug reports to the mailing list.
As a last resort, send bug reports on paper to:
gnu Debugger Bugs
Free Software Foundation Inc.
59 Temple Place - Suite 330
Boston, MA 02111-1307
USA
The fundamental principle of reporting bugs usefully is this: *report all the
facts*. If you are not sure whether to state a fact or leave it out, state it!
Often people omit facts because they think they know what causes the problem
and assume that some details do not matter. Thus, you might assume that the
name of the variable you use in an example does not matter. Well, probably it
does not, but one cannot be sure. Perhaps the bug is a stray memory reference
which happens to fetch from the location where that name is stored in memory;
perhaps, if the name were different, the contents of that location would fool
the debugger into doing the right thing despite the bug. Play it safe and give
a specific, complete example. That is the easiest thing for you to do, and the
most helpful.
Keep in mind that the purpose of a bug report is to enable us to fix the bug if
it is new to us. Therefore, always write your bug reports on the assumption
that the bug has not been reported previously.
Sometimes people give a few sketchy facts and ask, ``Does this ring a bell?''
Those bug reports are useless, and we urge everyone to refuse to respond to
them except to chide the sender to report bugs properly.
To enable us to fix the bug, you should include all these things:
The version of GDB. GDB announces it if you start with no arguments; you
can also print it at any time using show version.
Without this, we will not know whether there is any point in looking for
the bug in the current version of GDB.
The type of machine you are using, and the operating system name and
version number.
What compiler (and its version) was used to compile GDB---e.g.
``gcc--2.0''.
What compiler (and its version) was used to compile the program you are
debugging---e.g. ``gcc--2.0''.
The command arguments you gave the compiler to compile your example and
observe the bug. For example, did you use `-O'? To guarantee you will
not omit something important, list them all. A copy of the Makefile (or
the output from make) is sufficient.
If we were to try to guess the arguments, we would probably guess wrong
and then we might not encounter the bug.
A complete input script, and all necessary source files, that will
reproduce the bug.
A description of what behavior you observe that you believe is incorrect.
For example, ``It gets a fatal signal.''
Of course, if the bug is that GDB gets a fatal signal, then we will
certainly notice it. But if the bug is incorrect output, we might not
notice unless it is glaringly wrong. You might as well not give us a
chance to make a mistake.
Even if the problem you experience is a fatal signal, you should still
say so explicitly. Suppose something strange is going on, such as, your
copy of GDB is out of synch, or you have encountered a bug in the C
library on your system. (This has happened!) Your copy might crash and
ours would not. If you told us to expect a crash, then when ours fails
to crash, we would know that the bug was not happening for us. If you
had not told us to expect a crash, then we would not be able to draw any
conclusion from our observations.
If you wish to suggest changes to the GDB source, send us context diffs.
If you even discuss something in the GDB source, refer to it by context,
not by line number.
The line numbers in our development sources will not match those in your
sources. Your line numbers would convey no useful information to us.
Here are some things that are not necessary:
A description of the envelope of the bug.
Often people who encounter a bug spend a lot of time investigating which
changes to the input file will make the bug go away and which changes
will not affect it.
This is often time consuming and not very useful, because the way we will
find the bug is by running a single example under the debugger with
breakpoints, not by pure deduction from a series of examples. We
recommend that you save your time for something else.
Of course, if you can find a simpler example to report instead of the
original one, that is a convenience for us. Errors in the output will be
easier to spot, running under the debugger will take less time, and so
on.
However, simplification is not vital; if you do not want to do this,
report the bug anyway and send us the entire test case you used.
A patch for the bug.
A patch for the bug does help us if it is a good one. But do not omit
the necessary information, such as the test case, on the assumption that
a patch is all we need. We might see problems with your patch and decide
to fix the problem another way, or we might not understand it at all.
Sometimes with a program as complicated as GDB it is very hard to
construct an example that will make the program follow a certain path
through the code. If you do not send us the example, we will not be able
to construct one, so we will not be able to verify that the bug is fixed.
And if we cannot understand what bug you are trying to fix, or why your
patch should be an improvement, we will not install it. A test case will
help us to understand.
A guess about what the bug is or what it depends on.
Such guesses are usually wrong. Even we cannot guess right about such
things without first using the debugger to find the facts.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21. Command Line Editing ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This text describes GNU's command line editing interface.
Introduction and Notation Notation used in this text.
Readline Interaction The minimum set of commands for
editing a line.
Readline Init File Customizing Readline from a user's
view.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.1. Introduction to Line Editing ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The following paragraphs describe the notation we use to represent keystrokes.
The text C-k is read as `Control-K' and describes the character produced when
the Control key is depressed and the k key is struck.
The text M-k is read as `Meta-K' and describes the character produced when the
meta key (if you have one) is depressed, and the k key is struck. If you do
not have a meta key, the identical keystroke can be generated by typing ESC
first, and then typing k. Either process is known as metafying the k key.
The text M-C-k is read as `Meta-Control-k' and describes the character produced
by metafying C-k.
In addition, several keys have their own names. Specifically, DEL, ESC, LFD,
SPC, RET, and TAB all stand for themselves when seen in this text, or in an
init file (see Readline Init File, for more info).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.2. Readline Interaction ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Often during an interactive session you type in a long line of text, only to
notice that the first word on the line is misspelled. The Readline library
gives you a set of commands for manipulating the text as you type it in,
allowing you to just fix your typo, and not forcing you to retype the majority
of the line. Using these editing commands, you move the cursor to the place
that needs correction, and delete or insert the text of the corrections. Then,
when you are satisfied with the line, you simply press RET. You do not have to
be at the end of the line to press RET; the entire line is accepted regardless
of the location of the cursor within the line.
Readline Bare Essentials The least you need to know about
Readline.
Readline Movement Commands Moving about the input line.
Readline Killing Commands How to delete text, and how to get it
back!
Readline Arguments Giving numeric arguments to commands.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.2.1. Readline Bare Essentials ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
In order to enter characters into the line, simply type them. The typed
character appears where the cursor was, and then the cursor moves one space to
the right. If you mistype a character, you can use DEL to back up, and delete
the mistyped character.
Sometimes you may miss typing a character that you wanted to type, and not
notice your error until you have typed several other characters. In that case,
you can type C-b to move the cursor to the left, and then correct your mistake.
Aftwerwards, you can move the cursor to the right with C-f.
When you add text in the middle of a line, you will notice that characters to
the right of the cursor get `pushed over' to make room for the text that you
have inserted. Likewise, when you delete text behind the cursor, characters to
the right of the cursor get `pulled back' to fill in the blank space created by
the removal of the text. A list of the basic bare essentials for editing the
text of an input line follows.
C-b
Move back one character.
C-f
Move forward one character.
DEL
Delete the character to the left of the cursor.
C-d
Delete the character underneath the cursor.
Printing characters
Insert itself into the line at the cursor.
C-_
Undo the last thing that you did. You can undo all the way back to
an empty line.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.2.2. Readline Movement Commands ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The above table describes the most basic possible keystrokes that you need in
order to do editing of the input line. For your convenience, many other
commands have been added in addition to C-b, C-f, C-d, and DEL. Here are some
commands for moving more rapidly about the line.
C-a
Move to the start of the line.
C-e
Move to the end of the line.
M-f
Move forward a word.
M-b
Move backward a word.
C-l
Clear the screen, reprinting the current line at the top.
Notice how C-f moves forward a character, while M-f moves forward a word. It
is a loose convention that control keystrokes operate on characters while meta
keystrokes operate on words.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.2.3. Readline Killing Commands ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Killing text means to delete the text from the line, but to save it away for
later use, usually by yanking it back into the line. If the description for a
command says that it `kills' text, then you can be sure that you can get the
text back in a different (or the same) place later.
Here is the list of commands for killing text.
C-k
Kill the text from the current cursor position to the end of the
line.
M-d
Kill from the cursor to the end of the current word, or if between
words, to the end of the next word.
M-DEL
Kill from the cursor to the start of the previous word, or if
between words, to the start of the previous word.
C-w
Kill from the cursor to the previous whitespace. This is different
than M-DEL because the word boundaries differ.
And, here is how to yank the text back into the line.
C-y
Yank the most recently killed text back into the buffer at the
cursor.
M-y
Rotate the kill-ring, and yank the new top. You can only do this if
the prior command is C-y or M-y.
When you use a kill command, the text is saved in a kill-ring. Any number of
consecutive kills save all of the killed text together, so that when you yank
it back, you get it in one clean sweep. The kill ring is not line specific;
the text that you killed on a previously typed line is available to be yanked
back later, when you are typing another line.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.2.4. Readline Arguments ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
You can pass numeric arguments to Readline commands. Sometimes the argument
acts as a repeat count, other times it is the sign of the argument that is
significant. If you pass a negative argument to a command which normally acts
in a forward direction, that command will act in a backward direction. For
example, to kill text back to the start of the line, you might type M-- C-k.
The general way to pass numeric arguments to a command is to type meta digits
before the command. If the first `digit' you type is a minus sign (-), then
the sign of the argument will be negative. Once you have typed one meta digit
to get the argument started, you can type the remainder of the digits, and then
the command. For example, to give the C-d command an argument of 10, you could
type M-1 0 C-d.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.3. Readline Init File ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Although the Readline library comes with a set of gnu Emacs-like keybindings,
it is possible that you would like to use a different set of keybindings. You
can customize programs that use Readline by putting commands in an init file in
your home directory. The name of this file is `~/.inputrc'.
When a program which uses the Readline library starts up, the `~/.inputrc' file
is read, and the keybindings are set.
In addition, the C-x C-r command re-reads this init file, thus incorporating
any changes that you might have made to it.
Readline Init Syntax Syntax for the commands in ~/.inputrc.
Readline vi Mode Switching to vi mode in Readline.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.3.1. Readline Init Syntax ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
There are only four constructs allowed in the `~/.inputrc' file:
Variable Settings
You can change the state of a few variables in Readline. You do
this by using the set command within the init file. Here is how you
would specify that you wish to use vi line editing commands:
set editing-mode vi
Right now, there are only a few variables which can be set; so few
in fact, that we just iterate them here:
editing-mode
The editing-mode variable controls which editing mode
you are using. By default, gnu Readline starts up in
Emacs editing mode, where the keystrokes are most
similar to Emacs. This variable can either be set to
emacs or vi.
horizontal-scroll-mode
This variable can either be set to On or Off.
Setting it to On means that the text of the lines
that you edit will scroll horizontally on a single
screen line when they are larger than the width of
the screen, instead of wrapping onto a new screen
line. By default, this variable is set to Off.
mark-modified-lines
This variable when set to On, says to display an
asterisk (`*') at the starts of history lines which
have been modified. This variable is off by default.
prefer-visible-bell
If this variable is set to On it means to use a
visible bell if one is available, rather than simply
ringing the terminal bell. By default, the value is
Off.
Key Bindings
The syntax for controlling keybindings in the `~/.inputrc' file is
simple. First you have to know the name of the command that you
want to change. The following pages contain tables of the command
name, the default keybinding, and a short description of what the
command does.
Once you know the name of the command, simply place the name of the
key you wish to bind the command to, a colon, and then the name of
the command on a line in the `~/.inputrc' file. The name of the key
can be expressed in different ways, depending on which is most
comfortable for you.
keyname: function-name or macro
keyname is the name of a key spelled out in English.
For example:
Control-u: universal-argument
Meta-Rubout: backward-kill-word
Control-o: ">&output"
In the above example, C-u is bound to the function
universal-argument, and C-o is bound to run the macro
expressed on the right hand side (that is, to insert
the text `>&output' into the line).
"keyseq": function-name or macro
keyseq differs from keyname above in that strings
denoting an entire key sequence can be specified.
Simply place the key sequence in double quotes. gnu
Emacs style key escapes can be used, as in the
following example:
"\C-u": universal-argument
"\C-x\C-r": re-read-init-file
"\e[11~": "Function Key 1"
In the above example, C-u is bound to the function
universal-argument (just as it was in the first
example), C-x C-r is bound to the function
re-read-init-file, and ESC [ 1 1 ~ is bound to insert
the text `Function Key 1'.
Commands For Moving Moving about the line.
Commands For History Getting at previous lines.
Commands For Text Commands for changing text.
Commands For Killing Commands for killing and yanking.
Numeric Arguments Specifying numeric arguments, repeat
counts.
Commands For Completion Getting Readline to do the typing for
you.
Miscellaneous Commands Other miscillaneous commands.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.3.1.1. Commands For Moving ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
beginning-of-line (C-a)
Move to the start of the current line.
end-of-line (C-e)
Move to the end of the line.
forward-char (C-f)
Move forward a character.
backward-char (C-b)
Move back a character.
forward-word (M-f)
Move forward to the end of the next word.
backward-word (M-b)
Move back to the start of this, or the previous, word.
clear-screen (C-l)
Clear the screen leaving the current line at the top of the screen.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.3.1.2. Commands For Manipulating The History ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
accept-line (Newline, Return)
Accept the line regardless of where the cursor is. If this line is
non-empty, add it to the history list. If this line was a history
line, then restore the history line to its original state.
previous-history (C-p)
Move `up' through the history list.
next-history (C-n)
Move `down' through the history list.
beginning-of-history (M-<)
Move to the first line in the history.
end-of-history (M->)
Move to the end of the input history, i.e., the line you are
entering.
reverse-search-history (C-r)
Search backward starting at the current line and moving `up' through
the history as necessary. This is an incremental search.
forward-search-history (C-s)
Search forward starting at the current line and moving `down'
through the the history as necessary.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.3.1.3. Commands For Changing Text ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
delete-char (C-d)
Delete the character under the cursor. If the cursor is at the
beginning of the line, and there are no characters in the line, and
the last character typed was not C-d, then return EOF.
backward-delete-char (Rubout)
Delete the character behind the cursor. A numeric argument says to
kill the characters instead of deleting them.
quoted-insert (C-q, C-v)
Add the next character that you type to the line verbatim. This is
how to insert things like C-q for example.
tab-insert (M-TAB)
Insert a tab character.
self-insert (a, b, A, 1, !, ...)
Insert yourself.
transpose-chars (C-t)
Drag the character before point forward over the character at point.
Point moves forward as well. If point is at the end of the line,
then transpose the two characters before point. Negative arguments
don't work.
transpose-words (M-t)
Drag the word behind the cursor past the word in front of the cursor
moving the cursor over that word as well.
upcase-word (M-u)
Uppercase all letters in the current (or following) word. With a
negative argument, do the previous word, but do not move point.
downcase-word (M-l)
Lowercase all letters in the current (or following) word. With a
negative argument, do the previous word, but do not move point.
capitalize-word (M-c)
Uppercase the first letter in the current (or following) word. With
a negative argument, do the previous word, but do not move point.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.3.1.4. Killing And Yanking ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
kill-line (C-k)
Kill the text from the current cursor position to the end of the
line.
backward-kill-line ()
Kill backward to the beginning of the line. This is normally
unbound.
kill-word (M-d)
Kill from the cursor to the end of the current word, or if between
words, to the end of the next word.
backward-kill-word (M-DEL)
Kill the word behind the cursor.
unix-line-discard (C-u)
Kill the whole line the way C-u used to in Unix line input. The
killed text is saved on the kill-ring.
unix-word-rubout (C-w)
Kill the word the way C-w used to in Unix line input. The killed
text is saved on the kill-ring. This is different than
backward-kill-word because the word boundaries differ.
yank (C-y)
Yank the top of the kill ring into the buffer at point.
yank-pop (M-y)
Rotate the kill-ring, and yank the new top. You can only do this if
the prior command is yank or yank-pop.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.3.1.5. Specifying Numeric Arguments ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
digit-argument (M-0, M-1, ... M--)
Add this digit to the argument already accumulating, or start a new
argument. M-- starts a negative argument.
universal-argument ()
Do what C-u does in gnu Emacs. By default, this is not bound.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.3.1.6. Letting Readline Type For You ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
complete (TAB)
Attempt to do completion on the text before point. This is
implementation defined. Generally, if you are typing a filename
argument, you can do filename completion; if you are typing a
command, you can do command completion, if you are typing in a
symbol to GDB, you can do symbol name completion, if you are typing
in a variable to Bash, you can do variable name completion.
possible-completions (M-?)
List the possible completions of the text before point.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.3.1.7. Some Miscellaneous Commands ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
re-read-init-file (C-x C-r)
Read in the contents of your `~/.inputrc' file, and incorporate any
bindings found there.
abort (C-g)
Stop running the current editing command.
prefix-meta (ESC)
Make the next character that you type be metafied. This is for
people without a meta key. Typing ESC f is equivalent to typing
M-f.
undo (C-_)
Incremental undo, separately remembered for each line.
revert-line (M-r)
Undo all changes made to this line. This is like typing the `undo'
command enough times to get back to the beginning.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21.3.2. Readline vi Mode ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
While the Readline library does not have a full set of vi editing functions, it
does contain enough to allow simple editing of the line.
In order to switch interactively between gnu Emacs and vi editing modes, use
the command M-C-j (toggle-editing-mode).
When you enter a line in vi mode, you are already placed in `insertion' mode,
as if you had typed an `i'. Pressing ESC switches you into `edit' mode, where
you can edit the text of the line with the standard vi movement keys, move to
previous history lines with `k', and following lines with `j', and so forth.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 22. Using History Interactively ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This chapter describes how to use the GNU History Library interactively, from a
user's standpoint.
History Interaction What it feels like using History as a
user.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 22.1. History Interaction ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The History library provides a history expansion feature similar to the history
expansion in csh. The following text describes the syntax you use to
manipulate history information.
History expansion takes two parts. In the first part, determine which line
from the previous history will be used for substitution. This line is called
the event. In the second part, select portions of that line for inclusion into
the current line. These portions are called words. GDB breaks the line into
words in the same way that the Bash shell does, so that several English (or
Unix) words surrounded by quotes are considered one word.
Event Designators How to specify which history line to
use.
Word Designators Specifying which words are of
interest.
Modifiers Modifying the results of
susbstitution.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 22.1.1. Event Designators ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
An event designator is a reference to a command line entry in the history list.
!
Start a history subsititution, except when followed by a space, tab,
or the end of the line... = or (.
!!
Refer to the previous command. This is a synonym for !-1.
!n
Refer to command line n.
!-n
Refer to the command line n lines back.
!string
Refer to the most recent command starting with string.
!?string[?]
Refer to the most recent command containing string.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 22.1.2. Word Designators ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
A : separates the event designator from the word designator. It can be omitted
if the word designator begins with a ^, $, * or %. Words are numbered from the
beginning of the line, with the first word being denoted by a 0 (zero).
0 (zero)
The zero'th word. For many applications, this is the command word.
n
The n'th word.
^
The first argument. that is, word 1.
$
The last argument.
%
The word matched by the most recent ?string? search.
x-y
A range of words; -y Abbreviates 0-y.
*
All of the words, excepting the zero'th. This is a synonym for 1-$.
It is not an error to use * if there is just one word in the event.
The empty string is returned in that case.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 22.1.3. Modifiers ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
After the optional word designator, you can add a sequence of one or more of
the following modifiers, each preceded by a :.
#
The entire command line typed so far. This means the current
command, not the previous command.
h
Remove a trailing pathname component, leaving only the head.
r
Remove a trailing suffix of the form `.'suffix, leaving the
basename.
e
Remove all but the suffix.
t
Remove all leading pathname components, leaving the tail.
p
Print the new command but do not execute it.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 23. Formatting Documentation ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The GDB 4 release includes an already-formatted reference card, ready for
printing with PostScript or Ghostscript, in the `gdb' subdirectory of the main
source directory(4). If you can use PostScript or Ghostscript with your
printer, you can print the reference card immediately with `refcard.ps'.
The release also includes the source for the reference card. You can format
it, using TeX, by typing:
make refcard.dvi
The GDB reference card is designed to print in landscape mode on US ``letter''
size paper; that is, on a sheet 11 inches wide by 8.5 inches high. You will
need to specify this form of printing as an option to your dvi output program.
All the documentation for GDB comes as part of the machine-readable
distribution. The documentation is written in Texinfo format, which is a
documentation system that uses a single source file to produce both on-line
information and a printed manual. You can use one of the Info formatting
commands to create the on-line version of the documentation and TeX (or
texi2roff) to typeset the printed version.
GDB includes an already formatted copy of the on-line Info version of this
manual in the `gdb' subdirectory. The main Info file is
`gdb-version-number/gdb/gdb.info', and it refers to subordinate files matching
`gdb.info*' in the same directory. If necessary, you can print out these
files, or read them with any editor; but they are easier to read using the info
subsystem in gnu Emacs or the standalone info program, available as part of the
gnu Texinfo distribution.
If you want to format these Info files yourself, you need one of the Info
formatting programs, such as texinfo-format-buffer or makeinfo.
If you have makeinfo installed, and are in the top level GDB source directory
(`gdb-4.16', in the case of version 4.16), you can make the Info file by
typing:
cd gdb
make gdb.info
If you want to typeset and print copies of this manual, you need TeX, a program
to print its dvi output files, and `texinfo.tex', the Texinfo definitions file.
TeX is a typesetting program; it does not print files directly, but produces
output files called dvi files. To print a typeset document, you need a program
to print dvi files. If your system has TeX installed, chances are it has such
a program. The precise command to use depends on your system; lpr -d is
common; another (for PostScript devices) is dvips. The dvi print command may
require a file name without any extension or a `.dvi' extension.
TeX also requires a macro definitions file called `texinfo.tex'. This file
tells TeX how to typeset a document written in Texinfo format. On its own, TeX
cannot either read or typeset a Texinfo file. `texinfo.tex' is distributed
with GDB and is located in the `gdb-version-number/texinfo' directory.
If you have TeX and a dvi printer program installed, you can typeset and print
this manual. First switch to the the `gdb' subdirectory of the main source
directory (for example, to `gdb-4.16/gdb') and then type:
make gdb.dvi
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 24. Installing GDB ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
GDB comes with a configure script that automates the process of preparing GDB
for installation; you can then use make to build the gdb program.
The GDB distribution includes all the source code you need for GDB in a single
directory, whose name is usually composed by appending the version number to
`gdb'.
For example, the GDB version 4.16 distribution is in the `gdb-4.16' directory.
That directory contains:
gdb-GDBVN/configure (and supporting files)
script for configuring GDB and all its supporting libraries
gdb-GDBVN/gdb
the source specific to GDB itself
gdb-GDBVN/bfd
source for the Binary File Descriptor library
gdb-GDBVN/include
gnu include files
gdb-GDBVN/libiberty
source for the `-liberty' free software library
gdb-GDBVN/opcodes
source for the library of opcode tables and disassemblers
gdb-GDBVN/readline
source for the gnu command-line interface
gdb-GDBVN/glob
source for the gnu filename pattern-matching subroutine
gdb-GDBVN/mmalloc
source for the gnu memory-mapped malloc package
The simplest way to configure and build GDB is to run configure from the
`gdb-version-number' source directory, which in this example is the `gdb-4.16'
directory.
First switch to the `gdb-version-number' source directory if you are not
already in it; then run configure. Pass the identifier for the platform on
which GDB will run as an argument.
For example:
cd gdb-4.16
./configure host
make
where host is an identifier such as `sun4' or `decstation', that identifies
the platform where GDB will run. (You can often leave off host; configure
tries to guess the correct value by examining your system.)
Running `configure host' and then running make builds the `bfd', `readline',
`mmalloc', and `libiberty' libraries, then gdb itself. The configured source
files, and the binaries, are left in the corresponding source directories.
configure is a Bourne-shell (/bin/sh) script; if your system does not
recognize this automatically when you run a different shell, you may need to
run sh on it explicitly:
sh configure host
If you run configure from a directory that contains source directories for
multiple libraries or programs, such as the `gdb-4.16' source directory for
version 4.16, configure creates configuration files for every directory level
underneath (unless you tell it not to, with the `--norecursion' option).
You can run the configure script from any of the subordinate directories in
the GDB distribution if you only want to configure that subdirectory, but be
sure to specify a path to it.
For example, with version 4.16, type the following to configure only the bfd
subdirectory:
cd gdb-4.16/bfd
../configure host
You can install gdb anywhere; it has no hardwired paths. However, you should
make sure that the shell on your path (named by the `SHELL' environment
variable) is publicly readable. Remember that GDB uses the shell to start
your program---some systems refuse to let GDB debug child processes whose
programs are not readable.
Separate Objdir Compiling GDBN in another directory
Config Names Specifying names for hosts and targets
configure Options Summary of options for configure
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 24.1. Compiling GDB in another directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you want to run GDB versions for several host or target machines, you need a
different gdb compiled for each combination of host and target. configure is
designed to make this easy by allowing you to generate each configuration in a
separate subdirectory, rather than in the source directory. If your make
program handles the `VPATH' feature (gnu make does), running make in each of
these directories builds the gdb program specified there.
To build gdb in a separate directory, run configure with the `--srcdir' option
to specify where to find the source. (You also need to specify a path to find
configure itself from your working directory. If the path to configure would
be the same as the argument to `--srcdir', you can leave out the `--srcdir'
option; it is assumed.)
For example, with version 4.16, you can build GDB in a separate directory for a
Sun 4 like this:
cd gdb-4.16
mkdir ../gdb-sun4
cd ../gdb-sun4
../gdb-4.16/configure sun4
make
When configure builds a configuration using a remote source directory, it
creates a tree for the binaries with the same structure (and using the same
names) as the tree under the source directory. In the example, you'd find the
Sun 4 library `libiberty.a' in the directory `gdb-sun4/libiberty', and GDB
itself in `gdb-sun4/gdb'.
One popular reason to build several GDB configurations in separate directories
is to configure GDB for cross-compiling (where GDB runs on one machine---the
host---while debugging programs that run on another machine---the target). You
specify a cross-debugging target by giving the `--target=target' option to
configure.
When you run make to build a program or library, you must run it in a
configured directory---whatever directory you were in when you called configure
(or one of its subdirectories).
The Makefile that configure generates in each source directory also runs
recursively. If you type make in a source directory such as `gdb-4.16' (or in
a separate configured directory configured with `--srcdir=dirname/gdb-4.16'),
you will build all the required libraries, and then build GDB.
When you have multiple hosts or targets configured in separate directories, you
can run make on them in parallel (for example, if they are NFS-mounted on each
of the hosts); they will not interfere with each other.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 24.2. Specifying names for hosts and targets ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The specifications used for hosts and targets in the configure script are based
on a three-part naming scheme, but some short predefined aliases are also
supported. The full naming scheme encodes three pieces of information in the
following pattern:
architecture-vendor-os
For example, you can use the alias sun4 as a host argument, or as the value for
target in a --target=target option. The equivalent full name is
`sparc-sun-sunos4'.
The configure script accompanying GDB does not provide any query facility to
list all supported host and target names or aliases. configure calls the
Bourne shell script config.sub to map abbreviations to full names; you can read
the script, if you wish, or you can use it to test your guesses on
abbreviations---for example:
% sh config.sub sun4
sparc-sun-sunos4.1.1
% sh config.sub sun3
m68k-sun-sunos4.1.1
% sh config.sub decstation
mips-dec-ultrix4.2
% sh config.sub hp300bsd
m68k-hp-bsd
% sh config.sub i386v
i386-unknown-sysv
% sh config.sub i786v
Invalid configuration `i786v': machine `i786v' not recognized
config.sub is also distributed in the GDB source directory (`gdb-4.16', for
version 4.16).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 24.3. configure options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Here is a summary of the configure options and arguments that are most often
useful for building GDB. configure also has several other options not listed
here. See Info file What Configure Does,,configure.info, for a full
explanation of configure.
configure [--help]
[--prefix=dir]
[--srcdir=dirname]
[--norecursion] [--rm]
[--target=target] host
You may introduce options with a single `-' rather than `--' if you prefer; but
you may abbreviate option names if you use `--'.
--help
Display a quick summary of how to invoke configure.
-prefix=dir
Configure the source to install programs and files under directory
`dir'.
--srcdir=dirname
*Warning: using this option requires gnu make, or another make that
implements the VPATH feature.*
Use this option to make configurations in directories separate from
the GDB source directories. Among other things, you can use this to
build (or maintain) several configurations simultaneously, in
separate directories. configure writes configuration specific files
in the current directory, but arranges for them to use the source in
the directory dirname. configure creates directories under the
working directory in parallel to the source directories below
dirname.
--norecursion
Configure only the directory level where configure is executed; do
not propagate configuration to subdirectories.
--rm
Remove files otherwise built during configuration.
--target=target
Configure GDB for cross-debugging programs running on the specified
target. Without this option, GDB is configured to debug programs
that run on the same machine (host) as GDB itself.
There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available
targets.
host ...
Configure GDB to run on the specified host.
There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available
hosts.
configure accepts other options, for compatibility with configuring other gnu
tools recursively; but these are the only options that affect GDB or its
supporting libraries.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 25. Index ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Sorry, no cp index
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
`b' cannot be used because these format letters are also used with the x
command, where `b' stands for ``byte''; see Examining memory.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This is a way of removing one word from the stack, on machines where stacks
grow downward in memory (most machines, nowadays). This assumes that the
innermost stack frame is selected; setting $sp is not allowed when other stack
frames are selected. To pop entire frames off the stack, regardless of machine
architecture, use return; see Returning from a function.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you choose a port number that conflicts with another service, gdbserver
prints an error message and exits.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
In `gdb-4.16/gdb/refcard.ps' of the version 4.16