]> Git Repo - binutils.git/blame - gdb/doc/gdbint.texinfo
2001-05-03 H.J. Lu <[email protected]>
[binutils.git] / gdb / doc / gdbint.texinfo
CommitLineData
9742079a 1\input texinfo @c -*- texinfo -*-
c906108c 2@setfilename gdbint.info
25822942 3@include gdb-cfg.texi
e9c75b65
EZ
4@dircategory Programming & development tools.
5@direntry
c906108c
SS
6START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
7* Gdb-Internals: (gdbint). The GNU debugger's internals.
8END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
e9c75b65 9@end direntry
c906108c
SS
10
11@ifinfo
25822942 12This file documents the internals of the GNU debugger @value{GDBN}.
e9c75b65
EZ
13Copyright 1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1996,1998,1999,2000,2001
14 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
c906108c
SS
15Contributed by Cygnus Solutions. Written by John Gilmore.
16Second Edition by Stan Shebs.
17
e9c75b65
EZ
18Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
19under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
20any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
21Invariant Sections being ``Algorithms'' and ``Porting GDB'', with the
22Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU Manual,'' and with the Back-Cover
23Texts as in (a) below.
c906108c 24
e9c75b65
EZ
25(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
26this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
27Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
c906108c
SS
28@end ifinfo
29
30@setchapternewpage off
25822942 31@settitle @value{GDBN} Internals
c906108c 32
56caf160
EZ
33@syncodeindex fn cp
34@syncodeindex vr cp
35
c906108c 36@titlepage
25822942 37@title @value{GDBN} Internals
c906108c
SS
38@subtitle{A guide to the internals of the GNU debugger}
39@author John Gilmore
40@author Cygnus Solutions
41@author Second Edition:
42@author Stan Shebs
43@author Cygnus Solutions
44@page
45@tex
46\def\$#1${{#1}} % Kluge: collect RCS revision info without $...$
47\xdef\manvers{\$Revision$} % For use in headers, footers too
48{\parskip=0pt
49\hfill Cygnus Solutions\par
50\hfill \manvers\par
51\hfill \TeX{}info \texinfoversion\par
52}
53@end tex
54
55@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
e9c75b65
EZ
56Copyright @copyright{} 1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1996,1998,1999,2000,2001
57 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
c906108c 58
e9c75b65
EZ
59Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
60under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
61any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
62Invariant Sections being ``Algorithms'' and ``Porting GDB'', with the
63Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU Manual,'' and with the Back-Cover
64Texts as in (a) below.
c906108c 65
e9c75b65
EZ
66(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
67this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
68Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
c906108c
SS
69@end titlepage
70
449f3b6c
AC
71@c TeX can handle the contents at the start but makeinfo 3.12 can not
72@iftex
73@contents
74@end iftex
75
c906108c
SS
76@node Top
77@c Perhaps this should be the title of the document (but only for info,
78@c not for TeX). Existing GNU manuals seem inconsistent on this point.
79@top Scope of this Document
80
25822942
DB
81This document documents the internals of the GNU debugger, @value{GDBN}. It
82includes description of @value{GDBN}'s key algorithms and operations, as well
83as the mechanisms that adapt @value{GDBN} to specific hosts and targets.
c906108c
SS
84
85@menu
86* Requirements::
87* Overall Structure::
88* Algorithms::
89* User Interface::
90* Symbol Handling::
91* Language Support::
92* Host Definition::
93* Target Architecture Definition::
94* Target Vector Definition::
95* Native Debugging::
96* Support Libraries::
97* Coding::
98* Porting GDB::
085dd6e6 99* Testsuite::
c906108c 100* Hints::
56caf160 101* Index::
c906108c
SS
102@end menu
103
104@node Requirements
105
106@chapter Requirements
56caf160 107@cindex requirements for @value{GDBN}
c906108c
SS
108
109Before diving into the internals, you should understand the formal
56caf160
EZ
110requirements and other expectations for @value{GDBN}. Although some
111of these may seem obvious, there have been proposals for @value{GDBN}
112that have run counter to these requirements.
c906108c 113
56caf160
EZ
114First of all, @value{GDBN} is a debugger. It's not designed to be a
115front panel for embedded systems. It's not a text editor. It's not a
116shell. It's not a programming environment.
c906108c 117
56caf160
EZ
118@value{GDBN} is an interactive tool. Although a batch mode is
119available, @value{GDBN}'s primary role is to interact with a human
120programmer.
c906108c 121
56caf160
EZ
122@value{GDBN} should be responsive to the user. A programmer hot on
123the trail of a nasty bug, and operating under a looming deadline, is
124going to be very impatient of everything, including the response time
125to debugger commands.
c906108c 126
56caf160
EZ
127@value{GDBN} should be relatively permissive, such as for expressions.
128While the compiler should be picky (or have the option to be made
129picky), since source code lives for a long time usuazlly, the
130programmer doing debugging shouldn't be spending time figuring out to
131mollify the debugger.
c906108c 132
56caf160
EZ
133@value{GDBN} will be called upon to deal with really large programs.
134Executable sizes of 50 to 100 megabytes occur regularly, and we've
135heard reports of programs approaching 1 gigabyte in size.
c906108c 136
56caf160
EZ
137@value{GDBN} should be able to run everywhere. No other debugger is
138available for even half as many configurations as @value{GDBN}
139supports.
c906108c
SS
140
141
142@node Overall Structure
143
144@chapter Overall Structure
145
56caf160
EZ
146@value{GDBN} consists of three major subsystems: user interface,
147symbol handling (the @dfn{symbol side}), and target system handling (the
148@dfn{target side}).
c906108c 149
2e685b93 150The user interface consists of several actual interfaces, plus
c906108c
SS
151supporting code.
152
153The symbol side consists of object file readers, debugging info
154interpreters, symbol table management, source language expression
155parsing, type and value printing.
156
157The target side consists of execution control, stack frame analysis, and
158physical target manipulation.
159
160The target side/symbol side division is not formal, and there are a
161number of exceptions. For instance, core file support involves symbolic
162elements (the basic core file reader is in BFD) and target elements (it
163supplies the contents of memory and the values of registers). Instead,
164this division is useful for understanding how the minor subsystems
165should fit together.
166
167@section The Symbol Side
168
56caf160
EZ
169The symbolic side of @value{GDBN} can be thought of as ``everything
170you can do in @value{GDBN} without having a live program running''.
171For instance, you can look at the types of variables, and evaluate
172many kinds of expressions.
c906108c
SS
173
174@section The Target Side
175
56caf160
EZ
176The target side of @value{GDBN} is the ``bits and bytes manipulator''.
177Although it may make reference to symbolic info here and there, most
178of the target side will run with only a stripped executable
179available---or even no executable at all, in remote debugging cases.
c906108c
SS
180
181Operations such as disassembly, stack frame crawls, and register
182display, are able to work with no symbolic info at all. In some cases,
25822942 183such as disassembly, @value{GDBN} will use symbolic info to present addresses
c906108c
SS
184relative to symbols rather than as raw numbers, but it will work either
185way.
186
187@section Configurations
188
56caf160
EZ
189@cindex host
190@cindex target
25822942 191@dfn{Host} refers to attributes of the system where @value{GDBN} runs.
c906108c
SS
192@dfn{Target} refers to the system where the program being debugged
193executes. In most cases they are the same machine, in which case a
194third type of @dfn{Native} attributes come into play.
195
196Defines and include files needed to build on the host are host support.
197Examples are tty support, system defined types, host byte order, host
198float format.
199
200Defines and information needed to handle the target format are target
201dependent. Examples are the stack frame format, instruction set,
202breakpoint instruction, registers, and how to set up and tear down the stack
203to call a function.
204
205Information that is only needed when the host and target are the same,
206is native dependent. One example is Unix child process support; if the
207host and target are not the same, doing a fork to start the target
208process is a bad idea. The various macros needed for finding the
209registers in the @code{upage}, running @code{ptrace}, and such are all
210in the native-dependent files.
211
212Another example of native-dependent code is support for features that
213are really part of the target environment, but which require
214@code{#include} files that are only available on the host system. Core
215file handling and @code{setjmp} handling are two common cases.
216
25822942 217When you want to make @value{GDBN} work ``native'' on a particular machine, you
c906108c
SS
218have to include all three kinds of information.
219
220
221@node Algorithms
222
223@chapter Algorithms
56caf160 224@cindex algorithms
c906108c 225
56caf160
EZ
226@value{GDBN} uses a number of debugging-specific algorithms. They are
227often not very complicated, but get lost in the thicket of special
228cases and real-world issues. This chapter describes the basic
229algorithms and mentions some of the specific target definitions that
230they use.
c906108c
SS
231
232@section Frames
233
56caf160
EZ
234@cindex frame
235@cindex call stack frame
236A frame is a construct that @value{GDBN} uses to keep track of calling
237and called functions.
c906108c 238
56caf160
EZ
239@findex create_new_frame
240@vindex FRAME_FP
c906108c 241@code{FRAME_FP} in the machine description has no meaning to the
56caf160
EZ
242machine-independent part of @value{GDBN}, except that it is used when
243setting up a new frame from scratch, as follows:
c906108c
SS
244
245@example
246 create_new_frame (read_register (FP_REGNUM), read_pc ()));
247@end example
248
56caf160 249@cindex frame pointer register
c906108c
SS
250Other than that, all the meaning imparted to @code{FP_REGNUM} is
251imparted by the machine-dependent code. So, @code{FP_REGNUM} can have
252any value that is convenient for the code that creates new frames.
253(@code{create_new_frame} calls @code{INIT_EXTRA_FRAME_INFO} if it is
254defined; that is where you should use the @code{FP_REGNUM} value, if
255your frames are nonstandard.)
256
56caf160
EZ
257@cindex frame chain
258Given a @value{GDBN} frame, define @code{FRAME_CHAIN} to determine the
259address of the calling function's frame. This will be used to create
260a new @value{GDBN} frame struct, and then @code{INIT_EXTRA_FRAME_INFO}
261and @code{INIT_FRAME_PC} will be called for the new frame.
c906108c
SS
262
263@section Breakpoint Handling
264
56caf160 265@cindex breakpoints
c906108c
SS
266In general, a breakpoint is a user-designated location in the program
267where the user wants to regain control if program execution ever reaches
268that location.
269
270There are two main ways to implement breakpoints; either as ``hardware''
271breakpoints or as ``software'' breakpoints.
272
56caf160
EZ
273@cindex hardware breakpoints
274@cindex program counter
c906108c
SS
275Hardware breakpoints are sometimes available as a builtin debugging
276features with some chips. Typically these work by having dedicated
277register into which the breakpoint address may be stored. If the PC
56caf160 278(shorthand for @dfn{program counter})
c906108c 279ever matches a value in a breakpoint registers, the CPU raises an
56caf160
EZ
280exception and reports it to @value{GDBN}.
281
282Another possibility is when an emulator is in use; many emulators
283include circuitry that watches the address lines coming out from the
284processor, and force it to stop if the address matches a breakpoint's
285address.
286
287A third possibility is that the target already has the ability to do
288breakpoints somehow; for instance, a ROM monitor may do its own
289software breakpoints. So although these are not literally ``hardware
290breakpoints'', from @value{GDBN}'s point of view they work the same;
291@value{GDBN} need not do nothing more than set the breakpoint and wait
292for something to happen.
c906108c
SS
293
294Since they depend on hardware resources, hardware breakpoints may be
56caf160 295limited in number; when the user asks for more, @value{GDBN} will
9742079a
EZ
296start trying to set software breakpoints. (On some architectures,
297notably the 32-bit x86 platforms, @value{GDBN} cannot alsways know
298whether there's enough hardware resources to insert all the hardware
299breakpoints and watchpoints. On those platforms, @value{GDBN} prints
300an error message only when the program being debugged is continued.)
56caf160
EZ
301
302@cindex software breakpoints
303Software breakpoints require @value{GDBN} to do somewhat more work.
304The basic theory is that @value{GDBN} will replace a program
305instruction with a trap, illegal divide, or some other instruction
306that will cause an exception, and then when it's encountered,
307@value{GDBN} will take the exception and stop the program. When the
308user says to continue, @value{GDBN} will restore the original
c906108c
SS
309instruction, single-step, re-insert the trap, and continue on.
310
311Since it literally overwrites the program being tested, the program area
312must be writeable, so this technique won't work on programs in ROM. It
313can also distort the behavior of programs that examine themselves,
56caf160 314although such a situation would be highly unusual.
c906108c
SS
315
316Also, the software breakpoint instruction should be the smallest size of
317instruction, so it doesn't overwrite an instruction that might be a jump
318target, and cause disaster when the program jumps into the middle of the
319breakpoint instruction. (Strictly speaking, the breakpoint must be no
320larger than the smallest interval between instructions that may be jump
321targets; perhaps there is an architecture where only even-numbered
322instructions may jumped to.) Note that it's possible for an instruction
323set not to have any instructions usable for a software breakpoint,
324although in practice only the ARC has failed to define such an
325instruction.
326
56caf160 327@findex BREAKPOINT
c906108c
SS
328The basic definition of the software breakpoint is the macro
329@code{BREAKPOINT}.
330
331Basic breakpoint object handling is in @file{breakpoint.c}. However,
332much of the interesting breakpoint action is in @file{infrun.c}.
333
334@section Single Stepping
335
336@section Signal Handling
337
338@section Thread Handling
339
340@section Inferior Function Calls
341
342@section Longjmp Support
343
56caf160 344@cindex @code{longjmp} debugging
25822942 345@value{GDBN} has support for figuring out that the target is doing a
c906108c
SS
346@code{longjmp} and for stopping at the target of the jump, if we are
347stepping. This is done with a few specialized internal breakpoints,
56caf160
EZ
348which are visible in the output of the @samp{maint info breakpoint}
349command.
c906108c 350
56caf160 351@findex GET_LONGJMP_TARGET
c906108c
SS
352To make this work, you need to define a macro called
353@code{GET_LONGJMP_TARGET}, which will examine the @code{jmp_buf}
354structure and extract the longjmp target address. Since @code{jmp_buf}
355is target specific, you will need to define it in the appropriate
56caf160 356@file{tm-@var{target}.h} file. Look in @file{tm-sun4os4.h} and
c906108c
SS
357@file{sparc-tdep.c} for examples of how to do this.
358
9742079a
EZ
359@section Watchpoints
360@cindex watchpoints
361
362Watchpoints are a special kind of breakpoints (@pxref{Algorithms,
363breakpoints}) which break when data is accessed rather than when some
364instruction is executed. When you have data which changes without
365your knowing what code does that, watchpoints are the silver bullet to
366hunt down and kill such bugs.
367
368@cindex hardware watchpoints
369@cindex software watchpoints
370Watchpoints can be either hardware-assisted or not; the latter type is
371known as ``software watchpoints.'' @value{GDBN} always uses
372hardware-assisted watchpoints if they are available, and falls back on
373software watchpoints otherwise. Typical situations where @value{GDBN}
374will use software watchpoints are:
375
376@itemize @bullet
377@item
378The watched memory region is too large for the underlying hardware
379watchpoint support. For example, each x86 debug register can watch up
380to 4 bytes of memory, so trying to watch data structures whose size is
381more than 16 bytes will cause @value{GDBN} to use software
382watchpoints.
383
384@item
385The value of the expression to be watched depends on data held in
386registers (as opposed to memory).
387
388@item
389Too many different watchpoints requested. (On some architectures,
390this situation is impossible to detect until the debugged program is
391resumed.) Note that x86 debug registers are used both for hardware
392breakpoints and for watchpoints, so setting too many hardware
393breakpoints might cause watchpoint insertion to fail.
394
395@item
396No hardware-assisted watchpoints provided by the target
397implementation.
398@end itemize
399
400Software watchpoints are very slow, since @value{GDBN} needs to
401single-step the program being debugged and test the value of the
402watched expression(s) after each instruction. The rest of this
403section is mostly irrelevant for software watchpoints.
404
405@value{GDBN} uses several macros and primitives to support hardware
406watchpoints:
407
408@table @code
409@findex TARGET_HAS_HARDWARE_WATCHPOINTS
410@item TARGET_HAS_HARDWARE_WATCHPOINTS
411If defined, the target supports hardware watchpoints.
412
413@findex TARGET_CAN_USE_HARDWARE_WATCHPOINT
414@item TARGET_CAN_USE_HARDWARE_WATCHPOINT (@var{type}, @var{count}, @var{other})
415Return the number of hardware watchpoints of type @var{type} that are
416possible to be set. The value is positive if @var{count} watchpoints
417of this type can be set, zero if setting watchpoints of this type is
418not supported, and negative if @var{count} is more than the maximum
419number of watchpoints of type @var{type} that can be set. @var{other}
420is non-zero if other types of watchpoints are currently enabled (there
421are architectures which cannot set watchpoints of different types at
422the same time).
423
424@findex TARGET_REGION_OK_FOR_HW_WATCHPOINT
425@item TARGET_REGION_OK_FOR_HW_WATCHPOINT (@var{addr}, @var{len})
426Return non-zero if hardware watchpoints can be used to watch a region
427whose address is @var{addr} and whose length in bytes is @var{len}.
428
429@findex TARGET_REGION_SIZE_OK_FOR_HW_WATCHPOINT
430@item TARGET_REGION_SIZE_OK_FOR_HW_WATCHPOINT (@var{size})
431Return non-zero if hardware watchpoints can be used to watch a region
432whose size is @var{size}. @value{GDBN} only uses this macro as a
433fall-back, in case @code{TARGET_REGION_OK_FOR_HW_WATCHPOINT} is not
434defined.
435
436@findex TARGET_DISABLE_HW_WATCHPOINTS
437@item TARGET_DISABLE_HW_WATCHPOINTS (@var{pid})
438Disables watchpoints in the process identified by @var{pid}. This is
439used, e.g., on HP-UX which provides operations to disable and enable
440the page-level memory protection that implements hardware watchpoints
441on that platform.
442
443@findex TARGET_ENABLE_HW_WATCHPOINTS
444@item TARGET_ENABLE_HW_WATCHPOINTS (@var{pid})
445Enables watchpoints in the process identified by @var{pid}. This is
446used, e.g., on HP-UX which provides operations to disable and enable
447the page-level memory protection that implements hardware watchpoints
448on that platform.
449
450@findex TARGET_RANGE_PROFITABLE_FOR_HW_WATCHPOINT
451@item TARGET_RANGE_PROFITABLE_FOR_HW_WATCHPOINT (@var{pid},@var{start},@var{len})
452Some addresses may not be profitable to use hardware to watch, or may
453be difficult to understand when the addressed object is out of scope,
454and hence should not be watched with hardware watchpoints. On some
455targets, this may have severe performance penalties, such that we
456might as well use regular watchpoints, and save (possibly precious)
457hardware watchpoints for other locations.
458
459@findex target_insert_watchpoint
460@findex target_remove_watchpoint
461@item target_insert_watchpoint (@var{addr}, @var{len}, @var{type})
462@itemx target_remove_watchpoint (@var{addr}, @var{len}, @var{type})
463Insert or remove a hardware watchpoint starting at @var{addr}, for
464@var{len} bytes. @var{type} is the watchpoint type, one of the
465possible values of the enumerated data type @code{target_hw_bp_type},
466defined by @file{breakpoint.h} as follows:
467
468@example
469 enum target_hw_bp_type
470 @{
471 hw_write = 0, /* Common (write) HW watchpoint */
472 hw_read = 1, /* Read HW watchpoint */
473 hw_access = 2, /* Access (read or write) HW watchpoint */
474 hw_execute = 3 /* Execute HW breakpoint */
475 @};
476@end example
477
478@noindent
479These two macros should return 0 for success, non-zero for failure.
480
481@cindex insert or remove hardware breakpoint
482@findex target_remove_hw_breakpoint
483@findex target_insert_hw_breakpoint
484@item target_remove_hw_breakpoint (@var{addr}, @var{shadow})
485@itemx target_insert_hw_breakpoint (@var{addr}, @var{shadow})
486Insert or remove a hardware-assisted breakpoint at address @var{addr}.
487Returns zero for success, non-zero for failure. @var{shadow} is the
488real contents of the byte where the breakpoint has been inserted; it
489is generally not valid when hardware breakpoints are used, but since
490no other code touches these values, the implementations of the above
491two macros can use them for their internal purposes.
492
493@findex target_stopped_data_address
494@item target_stopped_data_address ()
495If the inferior has some watchpoint that triggered, return the address
496associated with that watchpoint. Otherwise, return zero.
497
498@findex DECR_PC_AFTER_HW_BREAK
499@item DECR_PC_AFTER_HW_BREAK
500If defined, @value{GDBN} decrements the program counter by the value
501of @code{DECR_PC_AFTER_HW_BREAK} after a hardware break-point. This
502overrides the value of @code{DECR_PC_AFTER_BREAK} when a breakpoint
503that breaks is a hardware-assisted breakpoint.
504
505@findex HAVE_STEPPABLE_WATCHPOINT
506@item HAVE_STEPPABLE_WATCHPOINT
507If defined to a non-zero value, it is not necessary to disable a
508watchpoint to step over it.
509
510@findex HAVE_NONSTEPPABLE_WATCHPOINT
511@item HAVE_NONSTEPPABLE_WATCHPOINT
512If defined to a non-zero value, @value{GDBN} should disable a
513watchpoint to step the inferior over it.
514
515@findex HAVE_CONTINUABLE_WATCHPOINT
516@item HAVE_CONTINUABLE_WATCHPOINT
517If defined to a non-zero value, it is possible to continue the
518inferior after a watchpoint has been hit.
519
520@findex CANNOT_STEP_HW_WATCHPOINTS
521@item CANNOT_STEP_HW_WATCHPOINTS
522If this is defined to a non-zero value, @value{GDBN} will remove all
523watchpoints before stepping the inferior.
524
525@findex STOPPED_BY_WATCHPOINT
526@item STOPPED_BY_WATCHPOINT (@var{wait_status})
527Return non-zero if stopped by a watchpoint. @var{wait_status} is of
528the type @code{struct target_waitstatus}, defined by @file{target.h}.
529@end table
530
531@subsection x86 Watchpoints
532@cindex x86 debug registers
533@cindex watchpoints, on x86
534
535The 32-bit Intel x86 (a.k.a.@: ia32) processors feature special debug
536registers designed to facilitate debugging. @value{GDBN} provides a
537generic library of functions that x86-based ports can use to implement
538support for watchpoints and hardware-assisted breakpoints. This
539subsection documents the x86 watchpoint facilities in @value{GDBN}.
540
541To use the generic x86 watchpoint support, a port should do the
542following:
543
544@itemize @bullet
545@findex I386_USE_GENERIC_WATCHPOINTS
546@item
547Define the macro @code{I386_USE_GENERIC_WATCHPOINTS} somewhere in the
548target-dependent headers.
549
550@item
551Include the @file{config/i386/nm-i386.h} header file @emph{after}
552defining @code{I386_USE_GENERIC_WATCHPOINTS}.
553
554@item
555Add @file{i386-nat.o} to the value of the Make variable
556@code{NATDEPFILES} (@pxref{Native Debugging, NATDEPFILES}) or
557@code{TDEPFILES} (@pxref{Target Architecture Definition, TDEPFILES}).
558
559@item
560Provide implementations for the @code{I386_DR_LOW_*} macros described
561below. Typically, each macro should call a target-specific function
562which does the real work.
563@end itemize
564
565The x86 watchpoint support works by maintaining mirror images of the
566debug registers. Values are copied between the mirror images and the
567real debug registers via a set of macros which each target needs to
568provide:
569
570@table @code
571@findex I386_DR_LOW_SET_CONTROL
572@item I386_DR_LOW_SET_CONTROL (@var{val})
573Set the Debug Control (DR7) register to the value @var{val}.
574
575@findex I386_DR_LOW_SET_ADDR
576@item I386_DR_LOW_SET_ADDR (@var{idx}, @var{addr})
577Put the address @var{addr} into the debug register number @var{idx}.
578
579@findex I386_DR_LOW_RESET_ADDR
580@item I386_DR_LOW_RESET_ADDR (@var{idx})
581Reset (i.e.@: zero out) the address stored in the debug register
582number @var{idx}.
583
584@findex I386_DR_LOW_GET_STATUS
585@item I386_DR_LOW_GET_STATUS
586Return the value of the Debug Status (DR6) register. This value is
587used immediately after it is returned by
588@code{I386_DR_LOW_GET_STATUS}, so as to support per-thread status
589register values.
590@end table
591
592For each one of the 4 debug registers (whose indices are from 0 to 3)
593that store addresses, a reference count is maintained by @value{GDBN},
594to allow sharing of debug registers by several watchpoints. This
595allows users to define several watchpoints that watch the same
596expression, but with different conditions and/or commands, without
597wasting debug registers which are in short supply. @value{GDBN}
598maintains the reference counts internally, targets don't have to do
599anything to use this feature.
600
601The x86 debug registers can each watch a region that is 1, 2, or 4
602bytes long. The ia32 architecture requires that each watched region
603be appropriately aligned: 2-byte region on 2-byte boundary, 4-byte
604region on 4-byte boundary. However, the x86 watchpoint support in
605@value{GDBN} can watch unaligned regions and regions larger than 4
606bytes (up to 16 bytes) by allocating several debug registers to watch
607a single region. This allocation of several registers per a watched
608region is also done automatically without target code intervention.
609
610The generic x86 watchpoint support provides the following API for the
611@value{GDBN}'s application code:
612
613@table @code
614@findex i386_region_ok_for_watchpoint
615@item i386_region_ok_for_watchpoint (@var{addr}, @var{len})
616The macro @code{TARGET_REGION_OK_FOR_HW_WATCHPOINT} is set to call
617this function. It counts the number of debug registers required to
618watch a given region, and returns a non-zero value if that number is
619less than 4, the number of debug registers available to x86
620processors.
621
622@findex i386_stopped_data_address
623@item i386_stopped_data_address (void)
624The macros @code{STOPPED_BY_WATCHPOINT} and
625@code{target_stopped_data_address} are set to call this function. The
626argument passed to @code{STOPPED_BY_WATCHPOINT} is ignored. This
627function examines the breakpoint condition bits in the DR6 Debug
628Status register, as returned by the @code{I386_DR_LOW_GET_STATUS}
629macro, and returns the address associated with the first bit that is
630set in DR6.
631
632@findex i386_insert_watchpoint
633@findex i386_remove_watchpoint
634@item i386_insert_watchpoint (@var{addr}, @var{len}, @var{type})
635@itemx i386_remove_watchpoint (@var{addr}, @var{len}, @var{type})
636Insert or remove a watchpoint. The macros
637@code{target_insert_watchpoint} and @code{target_remove_watchpoint}
638are set to call these functions. @code{i386_insert_watchpoint} first
639looks for a debug register which is already set to watch the same
640region for the same access types; if found, it just increments the
641reference count of that debug register, thus implementing debug
642register sharing between watchpoints. If no such register is found,
643the function looks for a vacant debug register, sets its mirrorred
644value to @var{addr}, sets the mirrorred value of DR7 Debug Control
645register as appropriate for the @var{len} and @var{type} parameters,
646and then passes the new values of the debug register and DR7 to the
647inferior by calling @code{I386_DR_LOW_SET_ADDR} and
648@code{I386_DR_LOW_SET_CONTROL}. If more than one debug register is
649required to cover the given region, the above process is repeated for
650each debug register.
651
652@code{i386_remove_watchpoint} does the opposite: it resets the address
653in the mirrorred value of the debug register and its read/write and
654length bits in the mirrorred value of DR7, then passes these new
655values to the inferior via @code{I386_DR_LOW_RESET_ADDR} and
656@code{I386_DR_LOW_SET_CONTROL}. If a register is shared by several
657watchpoints, each time a @code{i386_remove_watchpoint} is called, it
658decrements the reference count, and only calls
659@code{I386_DR_LOW_RESET_ADDR} and @code{I386_DR_LOW_SET_CONTROL} when
660the count goes to zero.
661
662@findex i386_insert_hw_breakpoint
663@findex i386_remove_hw_breakpoint
664@item i386_insert_hw_breakpoint (@var{addr}, @var{shadow}
665@itemx i386_remove_hw_breakpoint (@var{addr}, @var{shadow})
666These functions insert and remove hardware-assisted breakpoints. The
667macros @code{target_insert_hw_breakpoint} and
668@code{target_remove_hw_breakpoint} are set to call these functions.
669These functions work like @code{i386_insert_watchpoint} and
670@code{i386_remove_watchpoint}, respectively, except that they set up
671the debug registers to watch instruction execution, and each
672hardware-assisted breakpoint always requires exactly one debug
673register.
674
675@findex i386_stopped_by_hwbp
676@item i386_stopped_by_hwbp (void)
677This function returns non-zero if the inferior has some watchpoint or
678hardware breakpoint that triggered. It works like
679@code{i386_stopped_data_address}, except that it doesn't return the
680address whose watchpoint triggered.
681
682@findex i386_cleanup_dregs
683@item i386_cleanup_dregs (void)
684This function clears all the reference counts, addresses, and control
685bits in the mirror images of the debug registers. It doesn't affect
686the actual debug registers in the inferior process.
687@end table
688
689@noindent
690@strong{Notes:}
691@enumerate 1
692@item
693x86 processors support setting watchpoints on I/O reads or writes.
694However, since no target supports this (as of March 2001), and since
695@code{enum target_hw_bp_type} doesn't even have an enumeration for I/O
696watchpoints, this feature is not yet available to @value{GDBN} running
697on x86.
698
699@item
700x86 processors can enable watchpoints locally, for the current task
701only, or globally, for all the tasks. For each debug register,
702there's a bit in the DR7 Debug Control register that determines
703whether the associated address is watched locally or globally. The
704current implementation of x86 watchpoint support in @value{GDBN}
705always sets watchpoints to be locally enabled, since global
706watchpoints might interfere with the underlying OS and are probably
707unavailable in many platforms.
708@end enumerate
709
c906108c
SS
710@node User Interface
711
712@chapter User Interface
713
25822942 714@value{GDBN} has several user interfaces. Although the command-line interface
c906108c
SS
715is the most common and most familiar, there are others.
716
717@section Command Interpreter
718
56caf160 719@cindex command interpreter
0ee54786 720@cindex CLI
25822942 721The command interpreter in @value{GDBN} is fairly simple. It is designed to
c906108c
SS
722allow for the set of commands to be augmented dynamically, and also
723has a recursive subcommand capability, where the first argument to
724a command may itself direct a lookup on a different command list.
725
56caf160
EZ
726For instance, the @samp{set} command just starts a lookup on the
727@code{setlist} command list, while @samp{set thread} recurses
c906108c
SS
728to the @code{set_thread_cmd_list}.
729
56caf160
EZ
730@findex add_cmd
731@findex add_com
c906108c
SS
732To add commands in general, use @code{add_cmd}. @code{add_com} adds to
733the main command list, and should be used for those commands. The usual
cfeada60 734place to add commands is in the @code{_initialize_@var{xyz}} routines at
9742079a 735the ends of most source files.
cfeada60 736
56caf160
EZ
737@cindex deprecating commands
738@findex deprecate_cmd
cfeada60
FN
739Before removing commands from the command set it is a good idea to
740deprecate them for some time. Use @code{deprecate_cmd} on commands or
741aliases to set the deprecated flag. @code{deprecate_cmd} takes a
742@code{struct cmd_list_element} as it's first argument. You can use the
743return value from @code{add_com} or @code{add_cmd} to deprecate the
744command immediately after it is created.
745
746The first time a comamnd is used the user will be warned and offered a
747replacement (if one exists). Note that the replacement string passed to
748@code{deprecate_cmd} should be the full name of the command, i.e. the
749entire string the user should type at the command line.
c906108c 750
0ee54786
EZ
751@section UI-Independent Output---the @code{ui_out} Functions
752@c This section is based on the documentation written by Fernando
753@c Nasser <[email protected]>.
754
755@cindex @code{ui_out} functions
756The @code{ui_out} functions present an abstraction level for the
757@value{GDBN} output code. They hide the specifics of different user
758interfaces supported by @value{GDBN}, and thus free the programmer
759from the need to write several versions of the same code, one each for
760every UI, to produce output.
761
762@subsection Overview and Terminology
763
764In general, execution of each @value{GDBN} command produces some sort
765of output, and can even generate an input request.
766
767Output can be generated for the following purposes:
768
769@itemize @bullet
770@item
771to display a @emph{result} of an operation;
772
773@item
774to convey @emph{info} or produce side-effects of a requested
775operation;
776
777@item
778to provide a @emph{notification} of an asynchronous event (including
779progress indication of a prolonged asynchronous operation);
780
781@item
782to display @emph{error messages} (including warnings);
783
784@item
785to show @emph{debug data};
786
787@item
788to @emph{query} or prompt a user for input (a special case).
789@end itemize
790
791@noindent
792This section mainly concentrates on how to build result output,
793although some of it also applies to other kinds of output.
794
795Generation of output that displays the results of an operation
796involves one or more of the following:
797
798@itemize @bullet
799@item
800output of the actual data
801
802@item
803formatting the output as appropriate for console output, to make it
804easily readable by humans
805
806@item
807machine oriented formatting--a more terse formatting to allow for easy
808parsing by programs which read @value{GDBN}'s output
809
810@item
811annotation, whose purpose is to help a GUI (such as GDBTK or Emacs) to
812identify interesting parts in the output
813@end itemize
814
815The @code{ui_out} routines take care of the first three aspects.
816Annotations are provided by separate annotation routines. Note that
817use of annotations for an interface between a GUI and @value{GDBN} is
818deprecated.
819
820Output can be in the form of a single item, which we call a
821@dfn{field}; a @dfn{list} of fields; or a @dfn{table}, which is a list
822of fields with a header. In a BNF-like form:
823
824@example
825<field> ::= any single item of data kept by gdb ;;
826
827<list> ::= @{ <field> @} ;;
828
829<table> ::= <header> @{ <list> @} ;;
830
831<header> ::= @{ <column> @} ;;
832
833<column> ::= <width> <alignment> <title> ;;
834@end example
835
836
837@subsection General Conventions
838
839All @code{ui_out} routines currently are of type @code{void}, except
840for @code{ui_out_stream_new} which returns a pointer to the newly
841created object.
842
843The first parameter is always the @code{ui_out} vector object, a
844pointer to a @code{struct ui_out}.
845
846The @var{format} parameter is like in @code{printf} family of
847functions. When it is present, there is usually also a variable list
848of arguments used to satisfy the @code{%} specifiers in the supplied
849format.
850
851When a character string argument is not used in a @code{ui_out}
852function call, a @code{NULL} pointer has to be supplied instead.
853
854
855@subsection Table and List Functions
856
857@cindex list output functions
858@cindex table output functions
859This section introduces @code{ui_out} routines for building lists and
860tables. The routines to output the actual data items (fields) are
861presented in the next section.
862
863To recap: A @dfn{list} is a sequence of @dfn{fields} with information
864about an object; a @dfn{table} is a list of lists, each on a separate
865line, prefixed by a @dfn{header} line with the column @dfn{titles}.
866
867Use the table functions if your output is composed of a list of fields
868for several objects and the console output should have a header. Use
869this even when you are listing just one object but you still want the
870header.
871
872Use the list functions for the output of each object of a table or if
873your output consists of a single list of fields.
874
875You can nest a list into a table, but not the other way around.
876
877@cindex nesting level in @code{ui_out} functions
878Lists can also be nested: some of your fields may be lists or
879@dfn{tuples}--@code{@{@var{name},@var{value}@}} pairs. The maximum
880nesting level is currently 4.
881
882The overall structure of the table output code is something like this:
883
884@example
885 ui_out_table_begin
886 ui_out_table_header
887 ...
888 ui_out_table_body
889 ui_out_list_begin
890 ui_out_field_*
891 ...
892 ui_out_list_end
893 ...
894 ui_out_table_end
895@end example
896
897Here's the description of table- and list-related @code{ui_out}
898functions:
899
900@deftypefun void ui_out_table_begin (struct ui_out *@var{uiout}, int @var{nbrofcols}, char *@var{tblid})
901The function @code{ui_out_table_begin} marks the beginning of the
902output of a table. It should always be called before any other
903@code{ui_out} function for a given table. @var{nbrofcols} is the
904number of columns in the table, and @var{tblid} is an optional string
905identifying the table. The string pointed to by @var{tblid} is copied
906by the implementation of @code{ui_out_table_begin}, so the application
907can free the string if it was @code{malloc}ed.
908
909The companion function @code{ui_out_table_end}, described below, marks
910the end of the table's output.
911@end deftypefun
912
913@deftypefun void ui_out_table_header (struct ui_out *@var{uiout}, int @var{width}, enum ui_align @var{alignment}, char *@var{colhdr})
914@code{ui_out_table_header} provides the header information for a
915single table column. You call this function several times, one each
916for every column of the table, after @code{ui_out_table_begin}, but
917before @code{ui_out_table_body}.
918
919The value of @var{width} gives the column width in characters. The
920value of @var{alignment} is one of @code{left}, @code{center}, and
921@code{right}, and it specifies how to align the header: left-justify,
922center, or right-justify it. @var{colhdr} points to a string that
923specifies the column header; the implementation copies that string, so
924column header strings in @code{malloc}ed storage can be freed after
925the call.
926@end deftypefun
927
928@deftypefun void ui_out_table_body (struct ui_out *@var{uiout})
929This function marks the end of header information and the beginning of
930table body output. It doesn't by itself produce any data output; that
931is done by the list and field output functions described below.
932@end deftypefun
933
934@deftypefun void ui_out_table_end (struct ui_out *@var{uiout})
935This function signals the end of a table's output. It should be
936called after the table body has been produced by the list and field
937output functions.
938
939There should be exactly one call to @code{ui_out_table_end} for each
940call to @code{ui_out_table_begin}, otherwise the @code{ui_out}
941functions will signal an internal error.
942@end deftypefun
943
944The output of the lists that represent the table rows must follow the
945call to @code{ui_out_table_body} and precede the call to
946@code{ui_out_table_end}. You produce the lists by calling
947@code{ui_out_list_begin} and @code{ui_out_list_end}, with suitable
948calls to functions which actually output fields between them.
949
950@deftypefun void ui_out_list_begin (struct ui_out *@var{uiout}, char *@var{lstid})
951This function marks the beginning or a list output. @var{lstid}
952points to an optional string that identifies the list; it is copied by
953the implementation, and so strings in @code{malloc}ed storage can be
954freed after the call.
955@end deftypefun
956
957@deftypefun void ui_out_list_end (struct ui_out *@var{uiout})
958This function signals an end of a list output. There should be
959exactly one call to @code{ui_out_list_end} for each call to
960@code{ui_out_list_begin}, otherwise an internal @value{GDBN} error
961will be signaled.
962@end deftypefun
963
964@subsection Item Output Functions
965
966@cindex item output functions
967@cindex field output functions
968@cindex data output
969The functions described below produce output for the actual data
970items, or fields, which contain information about the object.
971
972Choose the appropriate function accordingly to your particular needs.
973
974@deftypefun void ui_out_field_fmt (struct ui_out *@var{uiout}, char *@var{fldname}, char *@var{format}, ...)
975This is the most general output function. It produces the
976representation of the data in the variable-length argument list
977according to formatting specifications in @var{format}, a
978@code{printf}-like format string. The optional argument @var{fldname}
979supplies the name of the field. The data items themselves are
980supplied as additional arguments after @var{format}.
981
982This generic function should be used only when it is not possible to
983use one of the specialized versions (see below).
984@end deftypefun
985
986@deftypefun void ui_out_field_int (struct ui_out *@var{uiout}, char *@var{fldname}, int @var{value})
987This function outputs a value of an @code{int} variable. It uses the
988@code{"%d"} output conversion specification. @var{fldname} specifies
989the name of the field.
990@end deftypefun
991
992@deftypefun void ui_out_field_core_addr (struct ui_out *@var{uiout}, char *@var{fldname}, CORE_ADDR @var{address})
993This function outputs an address.
994@end deftypefun
995
996@deftypefun void ui_out_field_string (struct ui_out *@var{uiout}, char *@var{fldname}, const char *@var{string})
997This function outputs a string using the @code{"%s"} conversion
998specification.
999@end deftypefun
1000
1001Sometimes, there's a need to compose your output piece by piece using
1002functions that operate on a stream, such as @code{value_print} or
1003@code{fprintf_symbol_filtered}. These functions accept an argument of
1004the type @code{struct ui_file *}, a pointer to a @code{ui_file} object
1005used to store the data stream used for the output. When you use one
1006of these functions, you need a way to pass their results stored in a
1007@code{ui_file} object to the @code{ui_out} functions. To this end,
1008you first create a @code{ui_stream} object by calling
1009@code{ui_out_stream_new}, pass the @code{stream} member of that
1010@code{ui_stream} object to @code{value_print} and similar functions,
1011and finally call @code{ui_out_field_stream} to output the field you
1012constructed. When the @code{ui_stream} object is no longer needed,
1013you should destroy it and free its memory by calling
1014@code{ui_out_stream_delete}.
1015
1016@deftypefun struct ui_stream *ui_out_stream_new (struct ui_out *@var{uiout})
1017This function creates a new @code{ui_stream} object which uses the
1018same output methods as the @code{ui_out} object whose pointer is
1019passed in @var{uiout}. It returns a pointer to the newly created
1020@code{ui_stream} object.
1021@end deftypefun
1022
1023@deftypefun void ui_out_stream_delete (struct ui_stream *@var{streambuf})
1024This functions destroys a @code{ui_stream} object specified by
1025@var{streambuf}.
1026@end deftypefun
1027
1028@deftypefun void ui_out_field_stream (struct ui_out *@var{uiout}, char *@var{fieldname}, struct ui_stream *@var{streambuf})
1029This function consumes all the data accumulated in
1030@code{streambuf->stream} and outputs it like
1031@code{ui_out_field_string} does. After a call to
1032@code{ui_out_field_stream}, the accumulated data no longer exists, but
1033the stream is still valid and may be used for producing more fields.
1034@end deftypefun
1035
1036@strong{Important:} If there is any chance that your code could bail
1037out before completing output generation and reaching the point where
1038@code{ui_out_stream_delete} is called, it is necessary to set up a
1039cleanup, to avoid leaking memory and other resources. Here's a
1040skeleton code to do that:
1041
1042@smallexample
1043 struct ui_stream *mybuf = ui_out_stream_new (uiout);
1044 struct cleanup *old = make_cleanup (ui_out_stream_delete, mybuf);
1045 ...
1046 do_cleanups (old);
1047@end smallexample
1048
1049If the function already has the old cleanup chain set (for other kinds
1050of cleanups), you just have to add your cleanup to it:
1051
1052@smallexample
1053 mybuf = ui_out_stream_new (uiout);
1054 make_cleanup (ui_out_stream_delete, mybuf);
1055@end smallexample
1056
1057Note that with cleanups in place, you should not call
1058@code{ui_out_stream_delete} directly, or you would attempt to free the
1059same buffer twice.
1060
1061@subsection Utility Output Functions
1062
1063@deftypefun void ui_out_field_skip (struct ui_out *@var{uiout}, char *@var{fldname})
1064This function skips a field in a table. Use it if you have to leave
1065an empty field without disrupting the table alignment. The argument
1066@var{fldname} specifies a name for the (missing) filed.
1067@end deftypefun
1068
1069@deftypefun void ui_out_text (struct ui_out *@var{uiout}, char *@var{string})
1070This function outputs the text in @var{string} in a way that makes it
1071easy to be read by humans. For example, the console implementation of
1072this method filters the text through a built-in pager, to prevent it
1073from scrolling off the visible portion of the screen.
1074
1075Use this function for printing relatively long chunks of text around
1076the actual field data: the text it produces is not aligned according
1077to the table's format. Use @code{ui_out_field_string} to output a
1078string field, and use @code{ui_out_message}, described below, to
1079output short messages.
1080@end deftypefun
1081
1082@deftypefun void ui_out_spaces (struct ui_out *@var{uiout}, int @var{nspaces})
1083This function outputs @var{nspaces} spaces. It is handy to align the
1084text produced by @code{ui_out_text} with the rest of the table or
1085list.
1086@end deftypefun
1087
1088@deftypefun void ui_out_message (struct ui_out *@var{uiout}, int @var{verbosity}, char *@var{format}, ...)
1089This function produces a formatted message, provided that the current
1090verbosity level is at least as large as given by @var{verbosity}. The
1091current verbosity level is specified by the user with the @samp{set
1092verbositylevel} command.@footnote{As of this writing (April 2001),
1093setting verbosity level is not yet implemented, and is always returned
1094as zero. So calling @code{ui_out_message} with a @var{verbosity}
1095argument more than zero will cause the message to never be printed.}
1096@end deftypefun
1097
1098@deftypefun void ui_out_wrap_hint (struct ui_out *@var{uiout}, char *@var{indent})
1099This function gives the console output filter (a paging filter) a hint
1100of where to break lines which are too long. Ignored for all other
1101output consumers. @var{indent}, if non-@code{NULL}, is the string to
1102be printed to indent the wrapped text on the next line; it must remain
1103accessible until the next call to @code{ui_out_wrap_hint}, or until an
1104explicit newline is produced by one of the other functions. If
1105@var{indent} is @code{NULL}, the wrapped text will not be indented.
1106@end deftypefun
1107
1108@deftypefun void ui_out_flush (struct ui_out *@var{uiout})
1109This function flushes whatever output has been accumulated so far, if
1110the UI buffers output.
1111@end deftypefun
1112
1113
1114@subsection Examples of Use of @code{ui_out} functions
1115
1116@cindex using @code{ui_out} functions
1117@cindex @code{ui_out} functions, usage examples
1118This section gives some practical examples of using the @code{ui_out}
1119functions to generalize the old console-oriented code in
1120@value{GDBN}. The examples all come from functions defined on the
1121@file{breakpoints.c} file.
1122
1123This example, from the @code{breakpoint_1} function, shows how to
1124produce a table.
1125
1126The original code was:
1127
1128@example
1129 if (!found_a_breakpoint++)
1130 @{
1131 annotate_breakpoints_headers ();
1132
1133 annotate_field (0);
1134 printf_filtered ("Num ");
1135 annotate_field (1);
1136 printf_filtered ("Type ");
1137 annotate_field (2);
1138 printf_filtered ("Disp ");
1139 annotate_field (3);
1140 printf_filtered ("Enb ");
1141 if (addressprint)
1142 @{
1143 annotate_field (4);
1144 printf_filtered ("Address ");
1145 @}
1146 annotate_field (5);
1147 printf_filtered ("What\n");
1148
1149 annotate_breakpoints_table ();
1150 @}
1151@end example
1152
1153Here's the new version:
1154
1155@example
1156 if (!found_a_breakpoint++)
1157 @{
1158 annotate_breakpoints_headers ();
1159 if (addressprint)
1160 ui_out_table_begin (ui, 6);
1161 else
1162 ui_out_table_begin (ui, 5);
1163
1164 annotate_field (0);
1165 ui_out_table_header (ui, 4, left, "Num");
1166 annotate_field (1);
1167 ui_out_table_header (ui, 15, left, "Type");
1168 annotate_field (2);
1169 ui_out_table_header (ui, 5, left, "Disp");
1170 annotate_field (3);
1171 ui_out_table_header (ui, 4, left, "Enb");
1172 if (addressprint)
1173 @{
1174 annotate_field (4);
1175 ui_out_table_header (ui, 11, left, "Address");
1176 @}
1177 annotate_field (5);
1178 ui_out_table_header (ui, 40, left, "What");
1179
1180 ui_out_table_body (ui);
1181 annotate_breakpoints_table ();
1182 @}
1183@end example
1184
1185This example, from the @code{print_one_breakpoint} function, shows how
1186to produce the actual data for the table whose structure was defined
1187in the above example. The original code was:
1188
1189@example
1190 annotate_record ();
1191 annotate_field (0);
1192 printf_filtered ("%-3d ", b->number);
1193 annotate_field (1);
1194 if ((int)b->type > (sizeof(bptypes)/sizeof(bptypes[0]))
1195 || ((int) b->type != bptypes[(int) b->type].type))
1196 internal_error ("bptypes table does not describe type #%d.",
1197 (int)b->type);
1198 printf_filtered ("%-14s ", bptypes[(int)b->type].description);
1199 annotate_field (2);
1200 printf_filtered ("%-4s ", bpdisps[(int)b->disposition]);
1201 annotate_field (3);
1202 printf_filtered ("%-3c ", bpenables[(int)b->enable]);
1203@end example
1204
1205This is the new version:
1206
1207@example
1208 annotate_record ();
1209 ui_out_list_begin (uiout, "bkpt");
1210 annotate_field (0);
1211 ui_out_field_int (uiout, "number", b->number);
1212 annotate_field (1);
1213 if (((int) b->type > (sizeof (bptypes) / sizeof (bptypes[0])))
1214 || ((int) b->type != bptypes[(int) b->type].type))
1215 internal_error ("bptypes table does not describe type #%d.",
1216 (int) b->type);
1217 ui_out_field_string (uiout, "type", bptypes[(int)b->type].description);
1218 annotate_field (2);
1219 ui_out_field_string (uiout, "disp", bpdisps[(int)b->disposition]);
1220 annotate_field (3);
1221 ui_out_field_fmt (uiout, "enabled", "%c", bpenables[(int)b->enable]);
1222@end example
1223
1224This example, also from @code{print_one_breakpoint}, shows how to
1225produce a complicated output field using the @code{print_expression}
1226functions which requires a stream to be passed. It also shows how to
1227automate stream destruction with cleanups. The original code was:
1228
1229@example
1230 annotate_field (5);
1231 print_expression (b->exp, gdb_stdout);
1232@end example
1233
1234The new version is:
1235
1236@example
1237 struct ui_stream *stb = ui_out_stream_new (uiout);
1238 struct cleanup *old_chain = make_cleanup_ui_out_stream_delete (stb);
1239 ...
1240 annotate_field (5);
1241 print_expression (b->exp, stb->stream);
1242 ui_out_field_stream (uiout, "what", local_stream);
1243@end example
1244
1245This example, also from @code{print_one_breakpoint}, shows how to use
1246@code{ui_out_text} and @code{ui_out_field_string}. The original code
1247was:
1248
1249@example
1250 annotate_field (5);
1251 if (b->dll_pathname == NULL)
1252 printf_filtered ("<any library> ");
1253 else
1254 printf_filtered ("library \"%s\" ", b->dll_pathname);
1255@end example
1256
1257It became:
1258
1259@example
1260 annotate_field (5);
1261 if (b->dll_pathname == NULL)
1262 @{
1263 ui_out_field_string (uiout, "what", "<any library>");
1264 ui_out_spaces (uiout, 1);
1265 @}
1266 else
1267 @{
1268 ui_out_text (uiout, "library \"");
1269 ui_out_field_string (uiout, "what", b->dll_pathname);
1270 ui_out_text (uiout, "\" ");
1271 @}
1272@end example
1273
1274The following example from @code{print_one_breakpoint} shows how to
1275use @code{ui_out_field_int} and @code{ui_out_spaces}. The original
1276code was:
1277
1278@example
1279 annotate_field (5);
1280 if (b->forked_inferior_pid != 0)
1281 printf_filtered ("process %d ", b->forked_inferior_pid);
1282@end example
1283
1284It became:
1285
1286@example
1287 annotate_field (5);
1288 if (b->forked_inferior_pid != 0)
1289 @{
1290 ui_out_text (uiout, "process ");
1291 ui_out_field_int (uiout, "what", b->forked_inferior_pid);
1292 ui_out_spaces (uiout, 1);
1293 @}
1294@end example
1295
1296Here's an example of using @code{ui_out_field_string}. The original
1297code was:
1298
1299@example
1300 annotate_field (5);
1301 if (b->exec_pathname != NULL)
1302 printf_filtered ("program \"%s\" ", b->exec_pathname);
1303@end example
1304
1305It became:
1306
1307@example
1308 annotate_field (5);
1309 if (b->exec_pathname != NULL)
1310 @{
1311 ui_out_text (uiout, "program \"");
1312 ui_out_field_string (uiout, "what", b->exec_pathname);
1313 ui_out_text (uiout, "\" ");
1314 @}
1315@end example
1316
1317Finally, here's an example of printing an address. The original code:
1318
1319@example
1320 annotate_field (4);
1321 printf_filtered ("%s ",
1322 local_hex_string_custom ((unsigned long) b->address, "08l"));
1323@end example
1324
1325It became:
1326
1327@example
1328 annotate_field (4);
1329 ui_out_field_core_addr (uiout, "Address", b->address);
1330@end example
1331
1332
c906108c
SS
1333@section Console Printing
1334
1335@section TUI
1336
1337@section libgdb
1338
56caf160 1339@cindex @code{libgdb}
c906108c 1340@code{libgdb} was an abortive project of years ago. The theory was to
25822942 1341provide an API to @value{GDBN}'s functionality.
c906108c
SS
1342
1343@node Symbol Handling
1344
1345@chapter Symbol Handling
1346
25822942 1347Symbols are a key part of @value{GDBN}'s operation. Symbols include variables,
c906108c
SS
1348functions, and types.
1349
1350@section Symbol Reading
1351
56caf160
EZ
1352@cindex symbol reading
1353@cindex reading of symbols
1354@cindex symbol files
1355@value{GDBN} reads symbols from @dfn{symbol files}. The usual symbol
1356file is the file containing the program which @value{GDBN} is
1357debugging. @value{GDBN} can be directed to use a different file for
1358symbols (with the @samp{symbol-file} command), and it can also read
1359more symbols via the @samp{add-file} and @samp{load} commands, or while
1360reading symbols from shared libraries.
1361
1362@findex find_sym_fns
1363Symbol files are initially opened by code in @file{symfile.c} using
1364the BFD library (@pxref{Support Libraries}). BFD identifies the type
1365of the file by examining its header. @code{find_sym_fns} then uses
1366this identification to locate a set of symbol-reading functions.
1367
1368@findex add_symtab_fns
1369@cindex @code{sym_fns} structure
1370@cindex adding a symbol-reading module
1371Symbol-reading modules identify themselves to @value{GDBN} by calling
c906108c
SS
1372@code{add_symtab_fns} during their module initialization. The argument
1373to @code{add_symtab_fns} is a @code{struct sym_fns} which contains the
1374name (or name prefix) of the symbol format, the length of the prefix,
1375and pointers to four functions. These functions are called at various
56caf160 1376times to process symbol files whose identification matches the specified
c906108c
SS
1377prefix.
1378
1379The functions supplied by each module are:
1380
1381@table @code
1382@item @var{xyz}_symfile_init(struct sym_fns *sf)
1383
56caf160 1384@cindex secondary symbol file
c906108c
SS
1385Called from @code{symbol_file_add} when we are about to read a new
1386symbol file. This function should clean up any internal state (possibly
1387resulting from half-read previous files, for example) and prepare to
56caf160
EZ
1388read a new symbol file. Note that the symbol file which we are reading
1389might be a new ``main'' symbol file, or might be a secondary symbol file
c906108c
SS
1390whose symbols are being added to the existing symbol table.
1391
1392The argument to @code{@var{xyz}_symfile_init} is a newly allocated
1393@code{struct sym_fns} whose @code{bfd} field contains the BFD for the
1394new symbol file being read. Its @code{private} field has been zeroed,
1395and can be modified as desired. Typically, a struct of private
1396information will be @code{malloc}'d, and a pointer to it will be placed
1397in the @code{private} field.
1398
1399There is no result from @code{@var{xyz}_symfile_init}, but it can call
1400@code{error} if it detects an unavoidable problem.
1401
1402@item @var{xyz}_new_init()
1403
1404Called from @code{symbol_file_add} when discarding existing symbols.
56caf160
EZ
1405This function needs only handle the symbol-reading module's internal
1406state; the symbol table data structures visible to the rest of
1407@value{GDBN} will be discarded by @code{symbol_file_add}. It has no
1408arguments and no result. It may be called after
1409@code{@var{xyz}_symfile_init}, if a new symbol table is being read, or
1410may be called alone if all symbols are simply being discarded.
c906108c
SS
1411
1412@item @var{xyz}_symfile_read(struct sym_fns *sf, CORE_ADDR addr, int mainline)
1413
1414Called from @code{symbol_file_add} to actually read the symbols from a
1415symbol-file into a set of psymtabs or symtabs.
1416
56caf160 1417@code{sf} points to the @code{struct sym_fns} originally passed to
c906108c
SS
1418@code{@var{xyz}_sym_init} for possible initialization. @code{addr} is
1419the offset between the file's specified start address and its true
1420address in memory. @code{mainline} is 1 if this is the main symbol
1421table being read, and 0 if a secondary symbol file (e.g. shared library
1422or dynamically loaded file) is being read.@refill
1423@end table
1424
1425In addition, if a symbol-reading module creates psymtabs when
1426@var{xyz}_symfile_read is called, these psymtabs will contain a pointer
1427to a function @code{@var{xyz}_psymtab_to_symtab}, which can be called
25822942 1428from any point in the @value{GDBN} symbol-handling code.
c906108c
SS
1429
1430@table @code
1431@item @var{xyz}_psymtab_to_symtab (struct partial_symtab *pst)
1432
56caf160 1433Called from @code{psymtab_to_symtab} (or the @code{PSYMTAB_TO_SYMTAB} macro) if
c906108c
SS
1434the psymtab has not already been read in and had its @code{pst->symtab}
1435pointer set. The argument is the psymtab to be fleshed-out into a
56caf160
EZ
1436symtab. Upon return, @code{pst->readin} should have been set to 1, and
1437@code{pst->symtab} should contain a pointer to the new corresponding symtab, or
c906108c
SS
1438zero if there were no symbols in that part of the symbol file.
1439@end table
1440
1441@section Partial Symbol Tables
1442
56caf160 1443@value{GDBN} has three types of symbol tables:
c906108c
SS
1444
1445@itemize @bullet
56caf160
EZ
1446@cindex full symbol table
1447@cindex symtabs
1448@item
1449Full symbol tables (@dfn{symtabs}). These contain the main
1450information about symbols and addresses.
c906108c 1451
56caf160
EZ
1452@cindex psymtabs
1453@item
1454Partial symbol tables (@dfn{psymtabs}). These contain enough
c906108c
SS
1455information to know when to read the corresponding part of the full
1456symbol table.
1457
56caf160
EZ
1458@cindex minimal symbol table
1459@cindex minsymtabs
1460@item
1461Minimal symbol tables (@dfn{msymtabs}). These contain information
c906108c 1462gleaned from non-debugging symbols.
c906108c
SS
1463@end itemize
1464
56caf160 1465@cindex partial symbol table
c906108c
SS
1466This section describes partial symbol tables.
1467
1468A psymtab is constructed by doing a very quick pass over an executable
1469file's debugging information. Small amounts of information are
56caf160 1470extracted---enough to identify which parts of the symbol table will
c906108c 1471need to be re-read and fully digested later, when the user needs the
25822942 1472information. The speed of this pass causes @value{GDBN} to start up very
c906108c
SS
1473quickly. Later, as the detailed rereading occurs, it occurs in small
1474pieces, at various times, and the delay therefrom is mostly invisible to
1475the user.
1476@c (@xref{Symbol Reading}.)
1477
1478The symbols that show up in a file's psymtab should be, roughly, those
1479visible to the debugger's user when the program is not running code from
1480that file. These include external symbols and types, static symbols and
56caf160 1481types, and @code{enum} values declared at file scope.
c906108c
SS
1482
1483The psymtab also contains the range of instruction addresses that the
1484full symbol table would represent.
1485
56caf160
EZ
1486@cindex finding a symbol
1487@cindex symbol lookup
c906108c
SS
1488The idea is that there are only two ways for the user (or much of the
1489code in the debugger) to reference a symbol:
1490
1491@itemize @bullet
56caf160
EZ
1492@findex find_pc_function
1493@findex find_pc_line
1494@item
1495By its address (e.g. execution stops at some address which is inside a
1496function in this file). The address will be noticed to be in the
1497range of this psymtab, and the full symtab will be read in.
1498@code{find_pc_function}, @code{find_pc_line}, and other
1499@code{find_pc_@dots{}} functions handle this.
c906108c 1500
56caf160
EZ
1501@cindex lookup_symbol
1502@item
1503By its name
c906108c
SS
1504(e.g. the user asks to print a variable, or set a breakpoint on a
1505function). Global names and file-scope names will be found in the
1506psymtab, which will cause the symtab to be pulled in. Local names will
1507have to be qualified by a global name, or a file-scope name, in which
1508case we will have already read in the symtab as we evaluated the
56caf160 1509qualifier. Or, a local symbol can be referenced when we are ``in'' a
c906108c
SS
1510local scope, in which case the first case applies. @code{lookup_symbol}
1511does most of the work here.
c906108c
SS
1512@end itemize
1513
1514The only reason that psymtabs exist is to cause a symtab to be read in
1515at the right moment. Any symbol that can be elided from a psymtab,
1516while still causing that to happen, should not appear in it. Since
1517psymtabs don't have the idea of scope, you can't put local symbols in
1518them anyway. Psymtabs don't have the idea of the type of a symbol,
1519either, so types need not appear, unless they will be referenced by
1520name.
1521
56caf160
EZ
1522It is a bug for @value{GDBN} to behave one way when only a psymtab has
1523been read, and another way if the corresponding symtab has been read
1524in. Such bugs are typically caused by a psymtab that does not contain
1525all the visible symbols, or which has the wrong instruction address
1526ranges.
c906108c 1527
56caf160 1528The psymtab for a particular section of a symbol file (objfile) could be
c906108c
SS
1529thrown away after the symtab has been read in. The symtab should always
1530be searched before the psymtab, so the psymtab will never be used (in a
1531bug-free environment). Currently, psymtabs are allocated on an obstack,
1532and all the psymbols themselves are allocated in a pair of large arrays
1533on an obstack, so there is little to be gained by trying to free them
1534unless you want to do a lot more work.
1535
1536@section Types
1537
56caf160 1538@unnumberedsubsec Fundamental Types (e.g., @code{FT_VOID}, @code{FT_BOOLEAN}).
c906108c 1539
56caf160 1540@cindex fundamental types
25822942 1541These are the fundamental types that @value{GDBN} uses internally. Fundamental
c906108c
SS
1542types from the various debugging formats (stabs, ELF, etc) are mapped
1543into one of these. They are basically a union of all fundamental types
56caf160
EZ
1544that @value{GDBN} knows about for all the languages that @value{GDBN}
1545knows about.
c906108c 1546
56caf160 1547@unnumberedsubsec Type Codes (e.g., @code{TYPE_CODE_PTR}, @code{TYPE_CODE_ARRAY}).
c906108c 1548
56caf160
EZ
1549@cindex type codes
1550Each time @value{GDBN} builds an internal type, it marks it with one
1551of these types. The type may be a fundamental type, such as
1552@code{TYPE_CODE_INT}, or a derived type, such as @code{TYPE_CODE_PTR}
1553which is a pointer to another type. Typically, several @code{FT_*}
1554types map to one @code{TYPE_CODE_*} type, and are distinguished by
1555other members of the type struct, such as whether the type is signed
1556or unsigned, and how many bits it uses.
c906108c 1557
56caf160 1558@unnumberedsubsec Builtin Types (e.g., @code{builtin_type_void}, @code{builtin_type_char}).
c906108c
SS
1559
1560These are instances of type structs that roughly correspond to
56caf160
EZ
1561fundamental types and are created as global types for @value{GDBN} to
1562use for various ugly historical reasons. We eventually want to
1563eliminate these. Note for example that @code{builtin_type_int}
1564initialized in @file{gdbtypes.c} is basically the same as a
1565@code{TYPE_CODE_INT} type that is initialized in @file{c-lang.c} for
1566an @code{FT_INTEGER} fundamental type. The difference is that the
1567@code{builtin_type} is not associated with any particular objfile, and
1568only one instance exists, while @file{c-lang.c} builds as many
1569@code{TYPE_CODE_INT} types as needed, with each one associated with
1570some particular objfile.
c906108c
SS
1571
1572@section Object File Formats
56caf160 1573@cindex object file formats
c906108c
SS
1574
1575@subsection a.out
1576
56caf160
EZ
1577@cindex @code{a.out} format
1578The @code{a.out} format is the original file format for Unix. It
1579consists of three sections: @code{text}, @code{data}, and @code{bss},
1580which are for program code, initialized data, and uninitialized data,
1581respectively.
c906108c 1582
56caf160 1583The @code{a.out} format is so simple that it doesn't have any reserved
c906108c 1584place for debugging information. (Hey, the original Unix hackers used
56caf160
EZ
1585@samp{adb}, which is a machine-language debugger!) The only debugging
1586format for @code{a.out} is stabs, which is encoded as a set of normal
c906108c
SS
1587symbols with distinctive attributes.
1588
56caf160 1589The basic @code{a.out} reader is in @file{dbxread.c}.
c906108c
SS
1590
1591@subsection COFF
1592
56caf160 1593@cindex COFF format
c906108c
SS
1594The COFF format was introduced with System V Release 3 (SVR3) Unix.
1595COFF files may have multiple sections, each prefixed by a header. The
1596number of sections is limited.
1597
1598The COFF specification includes support for debugging. Although this
1599was a step forward, the debugging information was woefully limited. For
1600instance, it was not possible to represent code that came from an
1601included file.
1602
1603The COFF reader is in @file{coffread.c}.
1604
1605@subsection ECOFF
1606
56caf160 1607@cindex ECOFF format
c906108c
SS
1608ECOFF is an extended COFF originally introduced for Mips and Alpha
1609workstations.
1610
1611The basic ECOFF reader is in @file{mipsread.c}.
1612
1613@subsection XCOFF
1614
56caf160 1615@cindex XCOFF format
c906108c
SS
1616The IBM RS/6000 running AIX uses an object file format called XCOFF.
1617The COFF sections, symbols, and line numbers are used, but debugging
56caf160
EZ
1618symbols are @code{dbx}-style stabs whose strings are located in the
1619@code{.debug} section (rather than the string table). For more
1620information, see @ref{Top,,,stabs,The Stabs Debugging Format}.
c906108c
SS
1621
1622The shared library scheme has a clean interface for figuring out what
1623shared libraries are in use, but the catch is that everything which
1624refers to addresses (symbol tables and breakpoints at least) needs to be
1625relocated for both shared libraries and the main executable. At least
1626using the standard mechanism this can only be done once the program has
1627been run (or the core file has been read).
1628
1629@subsection PE
1630
56caf160
EZ
1631@cindex PE-COFF format
1632Windows 95 and NT use the PE (@dfn{Portable Executable}) format for their
c906108c
SS
1633executables. PE is basically COFF with additional headers.
1634
25822942 1635While BFD includes special PE support, @value{GDBN} needs only the basic
c906108c
SS
1636COFF reader.
1637
1638@subsection ELF
1639
56caf160 1640@cindex ELF format
c906108c
SS
1641The ELF format came with System V Release 4 (SVR4) Unix. ELF is similar
1642to COFF in being organized into a number of sections, but it removes
1643many of COFF's limitations.
1644
1645The basic ELF reader is in @file{elfread.c}.
1646
1647@subsection SOM
1648
56caf160 1649@cindex SOM format
c906108c
SS
1650SOM is HP's object file and debug format (not to be confused with IBM's
1651SOM, which is a cross-language ABI).
1652
1653The SOM reader is in @file{hpread.c}.
1654
1655@subsection Other File Formats
1656
56caf160 1657@cindex Netware Loadable Module format
25822942 1658Other file formats that have been supported by @value{GDBN} include Netware
c906108c
SS
1659Loadable Modules (@file{nlmread.c}.
1660
1661@section Debugging File Formats
1662
1663This section describes characteristics of debugging information that
1664are independent of the object file format.
1665
1666@subsection stabs
1667
56caf160 1668@cindex stabs debugging info
c906108c
SS
1669@code{stabs} started out as special symbols within the @code{a.out}
1670format. Since then, it has been encapsulated into other file
1671formats, such as COFF and ELF.
1672
1673While @file{dbxread.c} does some of the basic stab processing,
1674including for encapsulated versions, @file{stabsread.c} does
1675the real work.
1676
1677@subsection COFF
1678
56caf160 1679@cindex COFF debugging info
c906108c
SS
1680The basic COFF definition includes debugging information. The level
1681of support is minimal and non-extensible, and is not often used.
1682
1683@subsection Mips debug (Third Eye)
1684
56caf160 1685@cindex ECOFF debugging info
c906108c
SS
1686ECOFF includes a definition of a special debug format.
1687
1688The file @file{mdebugread.c} implements reading for this format.
1689
1690@subsection DWARF 1
1691
56caf160 1692@cindex DWARF 1 debugging info
c906108c
SS
1693DWARF 1 is a debugging format that was originally designed to be
1694used with ELF in SVR4 systems.
1695
1696@c CHILL_PRODUCER
1697@c GCC_PRODUCER
1698@c GPLUS_PRODUCER
1699@c LCC_PRODUCER
1700@c If defined, these are the producer strings in a DWARF 1 file. All of
1701@c these have reasonable defaults already.
1702
1703The DWARF 1 reader is in @file{dwarfread.c}.
1704
1705@subsection DWARF 2
1706
56caf160 1707@cindex DWARF 2 debugging info
c906108c
SS
1708DWARF 2 is an improved but incompatible version of DWARF 1.
1709
1710The DWARF 2 reader is in @file{dwarf2read.c}.
1711
1712@subsection SOM
1713
56caf160 1714@cindex SOM debugging info
c906108c
SS
1715Like COFF, the SOM definition includes debugging information.
1716
25822942 1717@section Adding a New Symbol Reader to @value{GDBN}
c906108c 1718
56caf160
EZ
1719@cindex adding debugging info reader
1720If you are using an existing object file format (@code{a.out}, COFF, ELF, etc),
c906108c
SS
1721there is probably little to be done.
1722
1723If you need to add a new object file format, you must first add it to
1724BFD. This is beyond the scope of this document.
1725
1726You must then arrange for the BFD code to provide access to the
25822942 1727debugging symbols. Generally @value{GDBN} will have to call swapping routines
c906108c 1728from BFD and a few other BFD internal routines to locate the debugging
25822942 1729information. As much as possible, @value{GDBN} should not depend on the BFD
c906108c
SS
1730internal data structures.
1731
1732For some targets (e.g., COFF), there is a special transfer vector used
1733to call swapping routines, since the external data structures on various
1734platforms have different sizes and layouts. Specialized routines that
1735will only ever be implemented by one object file format may be called
1736directly. This interface should be described in a file
56caf160 1737@file{bfd/lib@var{xyz}.h}, which is included by @value{GDBN}.
c906108c
SS
1738
1739
1740@node Language Support
1741
1742@chapter Language Support
1743
56caf160
EZ
1744@cindex language support
1745@value{GDBN}'s language support is mainly driven by the symbol reader,
1746although it is possible for the user to set the source language
1747manually.
c906108c 1748
56caf160
EZ
1749@value{GDBN} chooses the source language by looking at the extension
1750of the file recorded in the debug info; @file{.c} means C, @file{.f}
1751means Fortran, etc. It may also use a special-purpose language
1752identifier if the debug format supports it, like with DWARF.
c906108c 1753
25822942 1754@section Adding a Source Language to @value{GDBN}
c906108c 1755
56caf160
EZ
1756@cindex adding source language
1757To add other languages to @value{GDBN}'s expression parser, follow the
1758following steps:
c906108c
SS
1759
1760@table @emph
1761@item Create the expression parser.
1762
56caf160 1763@cindex expression parser
c906108c 1764This should reside in a file @file{@var{lang}-exp.y}. Routines for
56caf160 1765building parsed expressions into a @code{union exp_element} list are in
c906108c
SS
1766@file{parse.c}.
1767
56caf160 1768@cindex language parser
c906108c
SS
1769Since we can't depend upon everyone having Bison, and YACC produces
1770parsers that define a bunch of global names, the following lines
56caf160 1771@strong{must} be included at the top of the YACC parser, to prevent the
c906108c
SS
1772various parsers from defining the same global names:
1773
1774@example
56caf160
EZ
1775#define yyparse @var{lang}_parse
1776#define yylex @var{lang}_lex
1777#define yyerror @var{lang}_error
1778#define yylval @var{lang}_lval
1779#define yychar @var{lang}_char
1780#define yydebug @var{lang}_debug
1781#define yypact @var{lang}_pact
1782#define yyr1 @var{lang}_r1
1783#define yyr2 @var{lang}_r2
1784#define yydef @var{lang}_def
1785#define yychk @var{lang}_chk
1786#define yypgo @var{lang}_pgo
1787#define yyact @var{lang}_act
1788#define yyexca @var{lang}_exca
1789#define yyerrflag @var{lang}_errflag
1790#define yynerrs @var{lang}_nerrs
c906108c
SS
1791@end example
1792
1793At the bottom of your parser, define a @code{struct language_defn} and
1794initialize it with the right values for your language. Define an
1795@code{initialize_@var{lang}} routine and have it call
25822942 1796@samp{add_language(@var{lang}_language_defn)} to tell the rest of @value{GDBN}
c906108c
SS
1797that your language exists. You'll need some other supporting variables
1798and functions, which will be used via pointers from your
1799@code{@var{lang}_language_defn}. See the declaration of @code{struct
1800language_defn} in @file{language.h}, and the other @file{*-exp.y} files,
1801for more information.
1802
1803@item Add any evaluation routines, if necessary
1804
56caf160
EZ
1805@cindex expression evaluation routines
1806@findex evaluate_subexp
1807@findex prefixify_subexp
1808@findex length_of_subexp
c906108c
SS
1809If you need new opcodes (that represent the operations of the language),
1810add them to the enumerated type in @file{expression.h}. Add support
56caf160
EZ
1811code for these operations in the @code{evaluate_subexp} function
1812defined in the file @file{eval.c}. Add cases
c906108c 1813for new opcodes in two functions from @file{parse.c}:
56caf160 1814@code{prefixify_subexp} and @code{length_of_subexp}. These compute
c906108c
SS
1815the number of @code{exp_element}s that a given operation takes up.
1816
1817@item Update some existing code
1818
1819Add an enumerated identifier for your language to the enumerated type
1820@code{enum language} in @file{defs.h}.
1821
1822Update the routines in @file{language.c} so your language is included.
1823These routines include type predicates and such, which (in some cases)
1824are language dependent. If your language does not appear in the switch
1825statement, an error is reported.
1826
56caf160 1827@vindex current_language
c906108c
SS
1828Also included in @file{language.c} is the code that updates the variable
1829@code{current_language}, and the routines that translate the
1830@code{language_@var{lang}} enumerated identifier into a printable
1831string.
1832
56caf160 1833@findex _initialize_language
c906108c
SS
1834Update the function @code{_initialize_language} to include your
1835language. This function picks the default language upon startup, so is
25822942 1836dependent upon which languages that @value{GDBN} is built for.
c906108c 1837
56caf160 1838@findex allocate_symtab
c906108c
SS
1839Update @code{allocate_symtab} in @file{symfile.c} and/or symbol-reading
1840code so that the language of each symtab (source file) is set properly.
1841This is used to determine the language to use at each stack frame level.
1842Currently, the language is set based upon the extension of the source
1843file. If the language can be better inferred from the symbol
1844information, please set the language of the symtab in the symbol-reading
1845code.
1846
56caf160
EZ
1847@findex print_subexp
1848@findex op_print_tab
1849Add helper code to @code{print_subexp} (in @file{expprint.c}) to handle any new
c906108c
SS
1850expression opcodes you have added to @file{expression.h}. Also, add the
1851printed representations of your operators to @code{op_print_tab}.
1852
1853@item Add a place of call
1854
56caf160 1855@findex parse_exp_1
c906108c 1856Add a call to @code{@var{lang}_parse()} and @code{@var{lang}_error} in
56caf160 1857@code{parse_exp_1} (defined in @file{parse.c}).
c906108c
SS
1858
1859@item Use macros to trim code
1860
56caf160 1861@cindex trimming language-dependent code
25822942
DB
1862The user has the option of building @value{GDBN} for some or all of the
1863languages. If the user decides to build @value{GDBN} for the language
c906108c
SS
1864@var{lang}, then every file dependent on @file{language.h} will have the
1865macro @code{_LANG_@var{lang}} defined in it. Use @code{#ifdef}s to
1866leave out large routines that the user won't need if he or she is not
1867using your language.
1868
25822942 1869Note that you do not need to do this in your YACC parser, since if @value{GDBN}
c906108c 1870is not build for @var{lang}, then @file{@var{lang}-exp.tab.o} (the
25822942 1871compiled form of your parser) is not linked into @value{GDBN} at all.
c906108c 1872
56caf160
EZ
1873See the file @file{configure.in} for how @value{GDBN} is configured
1874for different languages.
c906108c
SS
1875
1876@item Edit @file{Makefile.in}
1877
1878Add dependencies in @file{Makefile.in}. Make sure you update the macro
1879variables such as @code{HFILES} and @code{OBJS}, otherwise your code may
1880not get linked in, or, worse yet, it may not get @code{tar}red into the
1881distribution!
c906108c
SS
1882@end table
1883
1884
1885@node Host Definition
1886
1887@chapter Host Definition
1888
56caf160 1889With the advent of Autoconf, it's rarely necessary to have host
c906108c
SS
1890definition machinery anymore.
1891
1892@section Adding a New Host
1893
56caf160
EZ
1894@cindex adding a new host
1895@cindex host, adding
1896Most of @value{GDBN}'s host configuration support happens via
1897Autoconf. New host-specific definitions should be rarely needed.
1898@value{GDBN} still uses the host-specific definitions and files listed
1899below, but these mostly exist for historical reasons, and should
1900eventually disappear.
c906108c 1901
25822942 1902Several files control @value{GDBN}'s configuration for host systems:
c906108c
SS
1903
1904@table @file
56caf160 1905@vindex XDEPFILES
c906108c
SS
1906@item gdb/config/@var{arch}/@var{xyz}.mh
1907Specifies Makefile fragments needed when hosting on machine @var{xyz}.
1908In particular, this lists the required machine-dependent object files,
1909by defining @samp{XDEPFILES=@dots{}}. Also specifies the header file
1910which describes host @var{xyz}, by defining @code{XM_FILE=
1911xm-@var{xyz}.h}. You can also define @code{CC}, @code{SYSV_DEFINE},
1912@code{XM_CFLAGS}, @code{XM_ADD_FILES}, @code{XM_CLIBS}, @code{XM_CDEPS},
1913etc.; see @file{Makefile.in}.
1914
1915@item gdb/config/@var{arch}/xm-@var{xyz}.h
56caf160 1916(@file{xm.h} is a link to this file, created by @code{configure}). Contains C
c906108c
SS
1917macro definitions describing the host system environment, such as byte
1918order, host C compiler and library.
1919
1920@item gdb/@var{xyz}-xdep.c
1921Contains any miscellaneous C code required for this machine as a host.
1922On most machines it doesn't exist at all. If it does exist, put
1923@file{@var{xyz}-xdep.o} into the @code{XDEPFILES} line in
1924@file{gdb/config/@var{arch}/@var{xyz}.mh}.
c906108c
SS
1925@end table
1926
1927@subheading Generic Host Support Files
1928
56caf160 1929@cindex generic host support
c906108c
SS
1930There are some ``generic'' versions of routines that can be used by
1931various systems. These can be customized in various ways by macros
1932defined in your @file{xm-@var{xyz}.h} file. If these routines work for
1933the @var{xyz} host, you can just include the generic file's name (with
1934@samp{.o}, not @samp{.c}) in @code{XDEPFILES}.
1935
1936Otherwise, if your machine needs custom support routines, you will need
1937to write routines that perform the same functions as the generic file.
1938Put them into @code{@var{xyz}-xdep.c}, and put @code{@var{xyz}-xdep.o}
1939into @code{XDEPFILES}.
1940
1941@table @file
56caf160
EZ
1942@cindex remote debugging support
1943@cindex serial line support
c906108c
SS
1944@item ser-unix.c
1945This contains serial line support for Unix systems. This is always
1946included, via the makefile variable @code{SER_HARDWIRE}; override this
1947variable in the @file{.mh} file to avoid it.
1948
1949@item ser-go32.c
1950This contains serial line support for 32-bit programs running under DOS,
56caf160 1951using the DJGPP (a.k.a.@: GO32) execution environment.
c906108c 1952
56caf160 1953@cindex TCP remote support
c906108c
SS
1954@item ser-tcp.c
1955This contains generic TCP support using sockets.
c906108c
SS
1956@end table
1957
1958@section Host Conditionals
1959
56caf160
EZ
1960When @value{GDBN} is configured and compiled, various macros are
1961defined or left undefined, to control compilation based on the
1962attributes of the host system. These macros and their meanings (or if
1963the meaning is not documented here, then one of the source files where
1964they are used is indicated) are:
c906108c 1965
56caf160 1966@ftable @code
25822942 1967@item @value{GDBN}INIT_FILENAME
56caf160
EZ
1968The default name of @value{GDBN}'s initialization file (normally
1969@file{.gdbinit}).
c906108c
SS
1970
1971@item MEM_FNS_DECLARED
1972Your host config file defines this if it includes declarations of
1973@code{memcpy} and @code{memset}. Define this to avoid conflicts between
1974the native include files and the declarations in @file{defs.h}.
1975
cce74817
JM
1976@item NO_STD_REGS
1977This macro is deprecated.
1978
c906108c
SS
1979@item NO_SYS_FILE
1980Define this if your system does not have a @code{<sys/file.h>}.
1981
1982@item SIGWINCH_HANDLER
1983If your host defines @code{SIGWINCH}, you can define this to be the name
1984of a function to be called if @code{SIGWINCH} is received.
1985
1986@item SIGWINCH_HANDLER_BODY
1987Define this to expand into code that will define the function named by
1988the expansion of @code{SIGWINCH_HANDLER}.
1989
1990@item ALIGN_STACK_ON_STARTUP
56caf160 1991@cindex stack alignment
c906108c
SS
1992Define this if your system is of a sort that will crash in
1993@code{tgetent} if the stack happens not to be longword-aligned when
1994@code{main} is called. This is a rare situation, but is known to occur
1995on several different types of systems.
1996
1997@item CRLF_SOURCE_FILES
56caf160 1998@cindex DOS text files
c906108c
SS
1999Define this if host files use @code{\r\n} rather than @code{\n} as a
2000line terminator. This will cause source file listings to omit @code{\r}
56caf160
EZ
2001characters when printing and it will allow @code{\r\n} line endings of files
2002which are ``sourced'' by gdb. It must be possible to open files in binary
c906108c
SS
2003mode using @code{O_BINARY} or, for fopen, @code{"rb"}.
2004
2005@item DEFAULT_PROMPT
56caf160 2006@cindex prompt
c906108c
SS
2007The default value of the prompt string (normally @code{"(gdb) "}).
2008
2009@item DEV_TTY
56caf160 2010@cindex terminal device
c906108c
SS
2011The name of the generic TTY device, defaults to @code{"/dev/tty"}.
2012
2013@item FCLOSE_PROVIDED
2014Define this if the system declares @code{fclose} in the headers included
2015in @code{defs.h}. This isn't needed unless your compiler is unusually
2016anal.
2017
2018@item FOPEN_RB
2019Define this if binary files are opened the same way as text files.
2020
2021@item GETENV_PROVIDED
2022Define this if the system declares @code{getenv} in its headers included
56caf160 2023in @code{defs.h}. This isn't needed unless your compiler is unusually
c906108c
SS
2024anal.
2025
2026@item HAVE_MMAP
56caf160 2027@findex mmap
c906108c
SS
2028In some cases, use the system call @code{mmap} for reading symbol
2029tables. For some machines this allows for sharing and quick updates.
2030
2031@item HAVE_SIGSETMASK
56caf160 2032@findex sigsetmask
c906108c 2033Define this if the host system has job control, but does not define
56caf160 2034@code{sigsetmask}. Currently, this is only true of the RS/6000.
c906108c
SS
2035
2036@item HAVE_TERMIO
2037Define this if the host system has @code{termio.h}.
2038
2039@item HOST_BYTE_ORDER
56caf160 2040@cindex byte order
c906108c
SS
2041The ordering of bytes in the host. This must be defined to be either
2042@code{BIG_ENDIAN} or @code{LITTLE_ENDIAN}.
2043
2044@item INT_MAX
9742079a
EZ
2045@itemx INT_MIN
2046@itemx LONG_MAX
2047@itemx UINT_MAX
2048@itemx ULONG_MAX
c906108c
SS
2049Values for host-side constants.
2050
2051@item ISATTY
2052Substitute for isatty, if not available.
2053
2054@item LONGEST
2055This is the longest integer type available on the host. If not defined,
2056it will default to @code{long long} or @code{long}, depending on
2057@code{CC_HAS_LONG_LONG}.
2058
2059@item CC_HAS_LONG_LONG
56caf160
EZ
2060@cindex @code{long long} data type
2061Define this if the host C compiler supports @code{long long}. This is set
2062by the @code{configure} script.
c906108c
SS
2063
2064@item PRINTF_HAS_LONG_LONG
2065Define this if the host can handle printing of long long integers via
56caf160
EZ
2066the printf format conversion specifier @code{ll}. This is set by the
2067@code{configure} script.
c906108c
SS
2068
2069@item HAVE_LONG_DOUBLE
56caf160
EZ
2070Define this if the host C compiler supports @code{long double}. This is
2071set by the @code{configure} script.
c906108c
SS
2072
2073@item PRINTF_HAS_LONG_DOUBLE
2074Define this if the host can handle printing of long double float-point
56caf160
EZ
2075numbers via the printf format conversion specifier @code{Lg}. This is
2076set by the @code{configure} script.
c906108c
SS
2077
2078@item SCANF_HAS_LONG_DOUBLE
2079Define this if the host can handle the parsing of long double
56caf160
EZ
2080float-point numbers via the scanf format conversion specifier
2081@code{Lg}. This is set by the @code{configure} script.
c906108c
SS
2082
2083@item LSEEK_NOT_LINEAR
2084Define this if @code{lseek (n)} does not necessarily move to byte number
2085@code{n} in the file. This is only used when reading source files. It
2086is normally faster to define @code{CRLF_SOURCE_FILES} when possible.
2087
2088@item L_SET
56caf160
EZ
2089This macro is used as the argument to @code{lseek} (or, most commonly,
2090@code{bfd_seek}). FIXME, should be replaced by SEEK_SET instead,
2091which is the POSIX equivalent.
c906108c 2092
c906108c
SS
2093@item MALLOC_INCOMPATIBLE
2094Define this if the system's prototype for @code{malloc} differs from the
56caf160 2095@sc{ansi} definition.
c906108c
SS
2096
2097@item MMAP_BASE_ADDRESS
2098When using HAVE_MMAP, the first mapping should go at this address.
2099
2100@item MMAP_INCREMENT
2101when using HAVE_MMAP, this is the increment between mappings.
2102
2103@item NEED_POSIX_SETPGID
56caf160 2104@findex setpgid
c906108c
SS
2105Define this to use the POSIX version of @code{setpgid} to determine
2106whether job control is available.
2107
2108@item NORETURN
2109If defined, this should be one or more tokens, such as @code{volatile},
2110that can be used in both the declaration and definition of functions to
2111indicate that they never return. The default is already set correctly
2112if compiling with GCC. This will almost never need to be defined.
2113
2114@item ATTR_NORETURN
2115If defined, this should be one or more tokens, such as
2116@code{__attribute__ ((noreturn))}, that can be used in the declarations
2117of functions to indicate that they never return. The default is already
2118set correctly if compiling with GCC. This will almost never need to be
2119defined.
2120
7a292a7a 2121@item USE_GENERIC_DUMMY_FRAMES
56caf160 2122@cindex generic dummy frames
7a292a7a
SS
2123Define this to 1 if the target is using the generic inferior function
2124call code. See @code{blockframe.c} for more information.
2125
c906108c 2126@item USE_MMALLOC
56caf160
EZ
2127@findex mmalloc
2128@value{GDBN} will use the @code{mmalloc} library for memory allocation
2129for symbol reading if this symbol is defined. Be careful defining it
2130since there are systems on which @code{mmalloc} does not work for some
2131reason. One example is the DECstation, where its RPC library can't
2132cope with our redefinition of @code{malloc} to call @code{mmalloc}.
2133When defining @code{USE_MMALLOC}, you will also have to set
2134@code{MMALLOC} in the Makefile, to point to the @code{mmalloc} library. This
2135define is set when you configure with @samp{--with-mmalloc}.
c906108c
SS
2136
2137@item NO_MMCHECK
56caf160 2138@findex mmcheck
c906108c
SS
2139Define this if you are using @code{mmalloc}, but don't want the overhead
2140of checking the heap with @code{mmcheck}. Note that on some systems,
56caf160 2141the C runtime makes calls to @code{malloc} prior to calling @code{main}, and if
c906108c
SS
2142@code{free} is ever called with these pointers after calling
2143@code{mmcheck} to enable checking, a memory corruption abort is certain
56caf160
EZ
2144to occur. These systems can still use @code{mmalloc}, but must define
2145@code{NO_MMCHECK}.
c906108c
SS
2146
2147@item MMCHECK_FORCE
2148Define this to 1 if the C runtime allocates memory prior to
2149@code{mmcheck} being called, but that memory is never freed so we don't
2150have to worry about it triggering a memory corruption abort. The
2151default is 0, which means that @code{mmcheck} will only install the heap
2152checking functions if there has not yet been any memory allocation
56caf160 2153calls, and if it fails to install the functions, @value{GDBN} will issue a
c906108c 2154warning. This is currently defined if you configure using
56caf160 2155@samp{--with-mmalloc}.
c906108c
SS
2156
2157@item NO_SIGINTERRUPT
56caf160
EZ
2158@findex siginterrupt
2159Define this to indicate that @code{siginterrupt} is not available.
c906108c
SS
2160
2161@item R_OK
56caf160 2162Define if this is not in a system header file (typically, @file{unistd.h}).
c906108c
SS
2163
2164@item SEEK_CUR
9742079a 2165@itemx SEEK_SET
56caf160 2166Define these to appropriate value for the system @code{lseek}, if not already
c906108c
SS
2167defined.
2168
2169@item STOP_SIGNAL
56caf160
EZ
2170This is the signal for stopping @value{GDBN}. Defaults to
2171@code{SIGTSTP}. (Only redefined for the Convex.)
c906108c
SS
2172
2173@item USE_O_NOCTTY
56caf160 2174Define this if the interior's tty should be opened with the @code{O_NOCTTY}
c906108c
SS
2175flag. (FIXME: This should be a native-only flag, but @file{inflow.c} is
2176always linked in.)
2177
2178@item USG
2179Means that System V (prior to SVR4) include files are in use. (FIXME:
2180This symbol is abused in @file{infrun.c}, @file{regex.c},
2181@file{remote-nindy.c}, and @file{utils.c} for other things, at the
2182moment.)
2183
2184@item lint
56caf160 2185Define this to help placate @code{lint} in some situations.
c906108c
SS
2186
2187@item volatile
2188Define this to override the defaults of @code{__volatile__} or
2189@code{/**/}.
56caf160 2190@end ftable
c906108c
SS
2191
2192
2193@node Target Architecture Definition
2194
2195@chapter Target Architecture Definition
2196
56caf160
EZ
2197@cindex target architecture definition
2198@value{GDBN}'s target architecture defines what sort of
2199machine-language programs @value{GDBN} can work with, and how it works
2200with them.
c906108c
SS
2201
2202At present, the target architecture definition consists of a number of C
2203macros.
2204
2205@section Registers and Memory
2206
56caf160
EZ
2207@value{GDBN}'s model of the target machine is rather simple.
2208@value{GDBN} assumes the machine includes a bank of registers and a
2209block of memory. Each register may have a different size.
c906108c 2210
56caf160
EZ
2211@value{GDBN} does not have a magical way to match up with the
2212compiler's idea of which registers are which; however, it is critical
2213that they do match up accurately. The only way to make this work is
2214to get accurate information about the order that the compiler uses,
2215and to reflect that in the @code{REGISTER_NAME} and related macros.
c906108c 2216
25822942 2217@value{GDBN} can handle big-endian, little-endian, and bi-endian architectures.
c906108c 2218
93e79dbd
JB
2219@section Pointers Are Not Always Addresses
2220@cindex pointer representation
2221@cindex address representation
2222@cindex word-addressed machines
2223@cindex separate data and code address spaces
2224@cindex spaces, separate data and code address
2225@cindex address spaces, separate data and code
2226@cindex code pointers, word-addressed
2227@cindex converting between pointers and addresses
2228@cindex D10V addresses
2229
2230On almost all 32-bit architectures, the representation of a pointer is
2231indistinguishable from the representation of some fixed-length number
2232whose value is the byte address of the object pointed to. On such
56caf160 2233machines, the words ``pointer'' and ``address'' can be used interchangeably.
93e79dbd
JB
2234However, architectures with smaller word sizes are often cramped for
2235address space, so they may choose a pointer representation that breaks this
2236identity, and allows a larger code address space.
2237
2238For example, the Mitsubishi D10V is a 16-bit VLIW processor whose
2239instructions are 32 bits long@footnote{Some D10V instructions are
2240actually pairs of 16-bit sub-instructions. However, since you can't
2241jump into the middle of such a pair, code addresses can only refer to
2242full 32 bit instructions, which is what matters in this explanation.}.
2243If the D10V used ordinary byte addresses to refer to code locations,
2244then the processor would only be able to address 64kb of instructions.
2245However, since instructions must be aligned on four-byte boundaries, the
56caf160
EZ
2246low two bits of any valid instruction's byte address are always
2247zero---byte addresses waste two bits. So instead of byte addresses,
2248the D10V uses word addresses---byte addresses shifted right two bits---to
93e79dbd
JB
2249refer to code. Thus, the D10V can use 16-bit words to address 256kb of
2250code space.
2251
2252However, this means that code pointers and data pointers have different
2253forms on the D10V. The 16-bit word @code{0xC020} refers to byte address
2254@code{0xC020} when used as a data address, but refers to byte address
2255@code{0x30080} when used as a code address.
2256
2257(The D10V also uses separate code and data address spaces, which also
2258affects the correspondence between pointers and addresses, but we're
2259going to ignore that here; this example is already too long.)
2260
56caf160
EZ
2261To cope with architectures like this---the D10V is not the only
2262one!---@value{GDBN} tries to distinguish between @dfn{addresses}, which are
93e79dbd
JB
2263byte numbers, and @dfn{pointers}, which are the target's representation
2264of an address of a particular type of data. In the example above,
2265@code{0xC020} is the pointer, which refers to one of the addresses
2266@code{0xC020} or @code{0x30080}, depending on the type imposed upon it.
2267@value{GDBN} provides functions for turning a pointer into an address
2268and vice versa, in the appropriate way for the current architecture.
2269
2270Unfortunately, since addresses and pointers are identical on almost all
2271processors, this distinction tends to bit-rot pretty quickly. Thus,
2272each time you port @value{GDBN} to an architecture which does
2273distinguish between pointers and addresses, you'll probably need to
2274clean up some architecture-independent code.
2275
2276Here are functions which convert between pointers and addresses:
2277
2278@deftypefun CORE_ADDR extract_typed_address (void *@var{buf}, struct type *@var{type})
2279Treat the bytes at @var{buf} as a pointer or reference of type
2280@var{type}, and return the address it represents, in a manner
2281appropriate for the current architecture. This yields an address
2282@value{GDBN} can use to read target memory, disassemble, etc. Note that
2283@var{buf} refers to a buffer in @value{GDBN}'s memory, not the
2284inferior's.
2285
2286For example, if the current architecture is the Intel x86, this function
2287extracts a little-endian integer of the appropriate length from
2288@var{buf} and returns it. However, if the current architecture is the
2289D10V, this function will return a 16-bit integer extracted from
2290@var{buf}, multiplied by four if @var{type} is a pointer to a function.
2291
2292If @var{type} is not a pointer or reference type, then this function
2293will signal an internal error.
2294@end deftypefun
2295
2296@deftypefun CORE_ADDR store_typed_address (void *@var{buf}, struct type *@var{type}, CORE_ADDR @var{addr})
2297Store the address @var{addr} in @var{buf}, in the proper format for a
2298pointer of type @var{type} in the current architecture. Note that
2299@var{buf} refers to a buffer in @value{GDBN}'s memory, not the
2300inferior's.
2301
2302For example, if the current architecture is the Intel x86, this function
2303stores @var{addr} unmodified as a little-endian integer of the
2304appropriate length in @var{buf}. However, if the current architecture
2305is the D10V, this function divides @var{addr} by four if @var{type} is
2306a pointer to a function, and then stores it in @var{buf}.
2307
2308If @var{type} is not a pointer or reference type, then this function
2309will signal an internal error.
2310@end deftypefun
2311
2312@deftypefun CORE_ADDR value_as_pointer (value_ptr @var{val})
2313Assuming that @var{val} is a pointer, return the address it represents,
2314as appropriate for the current architecture.
2315
2316This function actually works on integral values, as well as pointers.
2317For pointers, it performs architecture-specific conversions as
2318described above for @code{extract_typed_address}.
2319@end deftypefun
2320
2321@deftypefun CORE_ADDR value_from_pointer (struct type *@var{type}, CORE_ADDR @var{addr})
2322Create and return a value representing a pointer of type @var{type} to
2323the address @var{addr}, as appropriate for the current architecture.
2324This function performs architecture-specific conversions as described
2325above for @code{store_typed_address}.
2326@end deftypefun
2327
2328
2329@value{GDBN} also provides functions that do the same tasks, but assume
2330that pointers are simply byte addresses; they aren't sensitive to the
2331current architecture, beyond knowing the appropriate endianness.
2332
2333@deftypefun CORE_ADDR extract_address (void *@var{addr}, int len)
2334Extract a @var{len}-byte number from @var{addr} in the appropriate
2335endianness for the current architecture, and return it. Note that
2336@var{addr} refers to @value{GDBN}'s memory, not the inferior's.
2337
2338This function should only be used in architecture-specific code; it
2339doesn't have enough information to turn bits into a true address in the
2340appropriate way for the current architecture. If you can, use
2341@code{extract_typed_address} instead.
2342@end deftypefun
2343
2344@deftypefun void store_address (void *@var{addr}, int @var{len}, LONGEST @var{val})
2345Store @var{val} at @var{addr} as a @var{len}-byte integer, in the
2346appropriate endianness for the current architecture. Note that
2347@var{addr} refers to a buffer in @value{GDBN}'s memory, not the
2348inferior's.
2349
2350This function should only be used in architecture-specific code; it
2351doesn't have enough information to turn a true address into bits in the
2352appropriate way for the current architecture. If you can, use
2353@code{store_typed_address} instead.
2354@end deftypefun
2355
2356
2357Here are some macros which architectures can define to indicate the
2358relationship between pointers and addresses. These have default
2359definitions, appropriate for architectures on which all pointers are
2360simple byte addresses.
2361
2362@deftypefn {Target Macro} CORE_ADDR POINTER_TO_ADDRESS (struct type *@var{type}, char *@var{buf})
2363Assume that @var{buf} holds a pointer of type @var{type}, in the
2364appropriate format for the current architecture. Return the byte
2365address the pointer refers to.
2366
2367This function may safely assume that @var{type} is either a pointer or a
56caf160 2368C@t{++} reference type.
93e79dbd
JB
2369@end deftypefn
2370
2371@deftypefn {Target Macro} void ADDRESS_TO_POINTER (struct type *@var{type}, char *@var{buf}, CORE_ADDR @var{addr})
2372Store in @var{buf} a pointer of type @var{type} representing the address
2373@var{addr}, in the appropriate format for the current architecture.
2374
2375This function may safely assume that @var{type} is either a pointer or a
56caf160 2376C@t{++} reference type.
93e79dbd
JB
2377@end deftypefn
2378
2379
9fb4dd36
JB
2380@section Using Different Register and Memory Data Representations
2381@cindex raw representation
2382@cindex virtual representation
2383@cindex representations, raw and virtual
2384@cindex register data formats, converting
2385@cindex @code{struct value}, converting register contents to
2386
2387Some architectures use one representation for a value when it lives in a
2388register, but use a different representation when it lives in memory.
25822942 2389In @value{GDBN}'s terminology, the @dfn{raw} representation is the one used in
9fb4dd36 2390the target registers, and the @dfn{virtual} representation is the one
25822942 2391used in memory, and within @value{GDBN} @code{struct value} objects.
9fb4dd36
JB
2392
2393For almost all data types on almost all architectures, the virtual and
2394raw representations are identical, and no special handling is needed.
2395However, they do occasionally differ. For example:
2396
2397@itemize @bullet
9fb4dd36 2398@item
56caf160 2399The x86 architecture supports an 80-bit @code{long double} type. However, when
9fb4dd36
JB
2400we store those values in memory, they occupy twelve bytes: the
2401floating-point number occupies the first ten, and the final two bytes
2402are unused. This keeps the values aligned on four-byte boundaries,
2403allowing more efficient access. Thus, the x86 80-bit floating-point
2404type is the raw representation, and the twelve-byte loosely-packed
2405arrangement is the virtual representation.
2406
2407@item
25822942
DB
2408Some 64-bit MIPS targets present 32-bit registers to @value{GDBN} as 64-bit
2409registers, with garbage in their upper bits. @value{GDBN} ignores the top 32
9fb4dd36
JB
2410bits. Thus, the 64-bit form, with garbage in the upper 32 bits, is the
2411raw representation, and the trimmed 32-bit representation is the
2412virtual representation.
9fb4dd36
JB
2413@end itemize
2414
2415In general, the raw representation is determined by the architecture, or
25822942
DB
2416@value{GDBN}'s interface to the architecture, while the virtual representation
2417can be chosen for @value{GDBN}'s convenience. @value{GDBN}'s register file,
56caf160
EZ
2418@code{registers}, holds the register contents in raw format, and the
2419@value{GDBN} remote protocol transmits register values in raw format.
9fb4dd36 2420
56caf160
EZ
2421Your architecture may define the following macros to request
2422conversions between the raw and virtual format:
9fb4dd36
JB
2423
2424@deftypefn {Target Macro} int REGISTER_CONVERTIBLE (int @var{reg})
2425Return non-zero if register number @var{reg}'s value needs different raw
2426and virtual formats.
6f6ef15a
EZ
2427
2428You should not use @code{REGISTER_CONVERT_TO_VIRTUAL} for a register
2429unless this macro returns a non-zero value for that register.
9fb4dd36
JB
2430@end deftypefn
2431
2432@deftypefn {Target Macro} int REGISTER_RAW_SIZE (int @var{reg})
2433The size of register number @var{reg}'s raw value. This is the number
25822942 2434of bytes the register will occupy in @code{registers}, or in a @value{GDBN}
9fb4dd36
JB
2435remote protocol packet.
2436@end deftypefn
2437
2438@deftypefn {Target Macro} int REGISTER_VIRTUAL_SIZE (int @var{reg})
2439The size of register number @var{reg}'s value, in its virtual format.
2440This is the size a @code{struct value}'s buffer will have, holding that
2441register's value.
2442@end deftypefn
2443
2444@deftypefn {Target Macro} struct type *REGISTER_VIRTUAL_TYPE (int @var{reg})
2445This is the type of the virtual representation of register number
2446@var{reg}. Note that there is no need for a macro giving a type for the
25822942 2447register's raw form; once the register's value has been obtained, @value{GDBN}
9fb4dd36
JB
2448always uses the virtual form.
2449@end deftypefn
2450
2451@deftypefn {Target Macro} void REGISTER_CONVERT_TO_VIRTUAL (int @var{reg}, struct type *@var{type}, char *@var{from}, char *@var{to})
2452Convert the value of register number @var{reg} to @var{type}, which
2453should always be @code{REGISTER_VIRTUAL_TYPE (@var{reg})}. The buffer
2454at @var{from} holds the register's value in raw format; the macro should
2455convert the value to virtual format, and place it at @var{to}.
2456
6f6ef15a
EZ
2457Note that @code{REGISTER_CONVERT_TO_VIRTUAL} and
2458@code{REGISTER_CONVERT_TO_RAW} take their @var{reg} and @var{type}
2459arguments in different orders.
2460
2461You should only use @code{REGISTER_CONVERT_TO_VIRTUAL} with registers
2462for which the @code{REGISTER_CONVERTIBLE} macro returns a non-zero
2463value.
9fb4dd36
JB
2464@end deftypefn
2465
2466@deftypefn {Target Macro} void REGISTER_CONVERT_TO_RAW (struct type *@var{type}, int @var{reg}, char *@var{from}, char *@var{to})
2467Convert the value of register number @var{reg} to @var{type}, which
2468should always be @code{REGISTER_VIRTUAL_TYPE (@var{reg})}. The buffer
2469at @var{from} holds the register's value in raw format; the macro should
2470convert the value to virtual format, and place it at @var{to}.
2471
2472Note that REGISTER_CONVERT_TO_VIRTUAL and REGISTER_CONVERT_TO_RAW take
2473their @var{reg} and @var{type} arguments in different orders.
2474@end deftypefn
2475
2476
c906108c
SS
2477@section Frame Interpretation
2478
2479@section Inferior Call Setup
2480
2481@section Compiler Characteristics
2482
2483@section Target Conditionals
2484
2485This section describes the macros that you can use to define the target
2486machine.
2487
2488@table @code
2489
2490@item ADDITIONAL_OPTIONS
56caf160
EZ
2491@itemx ADDITIONAL_OPTION_CASES
2492@itemx ADDITIONAL_OPTION_HANDLER
2493@itemx ADDITIONAL_OPTION_HELP
2494@findex ADDITIONAL_OPTION_HELP
2495@findex ADDITIONAL_OPTION_HANDLER
2496@findex ADDITIONAL_OPTION_CASES
2497@findex ADDITIONAL_OPTIONS
c906108c 2498These are a set of macros that allow the addition of additional command
25822942 2499line options to @value{GDBN}. They are currently used only for the unsupported
c906108c
SS
2500i960 Nindy target, and should not be used in any other configuration.
2501
2502@item ADDR_BITS_REMOVE (addr)
56caf160 2503@findex ADDR_BITS_REMOVE
adf40b2e
JM
2504If a raw machine instruction address includes any bits that are not
2505really part of the address, then define this macro to expand into an
56caf160 2506expression that zeroes those bits in @var{addr}. This is only used for
adf40b2e
JM
2507addresses of instructions, and even then not in all contexts.
2508
2509For example, the two low-order bits of the PC on the Hewlett-Packard PA
25102.0 architecture contain the privilege level of the corresponding
2511instruction. Since instructions must always be aligned on four-byte
2512boundaries, the processor masks out these bits to generate the actual
2513address of the instruction. ADDR_BITS_REMOVE should filter out these
2514bits with an expression such as @code{((addr) & ~3)}.
c906108c 2515
93e79dbd 2516@item ADDRESS_TO_POINTER (@var{type}, @var{buf}, @var{addr})
56caf160 2517@findex ADDRESS_TO_POINTER
93e79dbd
JB
2518Store in @var{buf} a pointer of type @var{type} representing the address
2519@var{addr}, in the appropriate format for the current architecture.
2520This macro may safely assume that @var{type} is either a pointer or a
56caf160 2521C@t{++} reference type.
93e79dbd
JB
2522@xref{Target Architecture Definition, , Pointers Are Not Always Addresses}.
2523
c906108c 2524@item BEFORE_MAIN_LOOP_HOOK
56caf160 2525@findex BEFORE_MAIN_LOOP_HOOK
c906108c
SS
2526Define this to expand into any code that you want to execute before the
2527main loop starts. Although this is not, strictly speaking, a target
2528conditional, that is how it is currently being used. Note that if a
2529configuration were to define it one way for a host and a different way
56caf160
EZ
2530for the target, @value{GDBN} will probably not compile, let alone run
2531correctly. This macro is currently used only for the unsupported i960 Nindy
2532target, and should not be used in any other configuration.
c906108c
SS
2533
2534@item BELIEVE_PCC_PROMOTION
56caf160
EZ
2535@findex BELIEVE_PCC_PROMOTION
2536Define if the compiler promotes a @code{short} or @code{char}
2537parameter to an @code{int}, but still reports the parameter as its
2538original type, rather than the promoted type.
c906108c
SS
2539
2540@item BELIEVE_PCC_PROMOTION_TYPE
56caf160
EZ
2541@findex BELIEVE_PCC_PROMOTION_TYPE
2542Define this if @value{GDBN} should believe the type of a @code{short}
2543argument when compiled by @code{pcc}, but look within a full int space to get
2544its value. Only defined for Sun-3 at present.
c906108c
SS
2545
2546@item BITS_BIG_ENDIAN
56caf160
EZ
2547@findex BITS_BIG_ENDIAN
2548Define this if the numbering of bits in the targets does @strong{not} match the
c906108c 2549endianness of the target byte order. A value of 1 means that the bits
56caf160 2550are numbered in a big-endian bit order, 0 means little-endian.
c906108c
SS
2551
2552@item BREAKPOINT
56caf160 2553@findex BREAKPOINT
c906108c
SS
2554This is the character array initializer for the bit pattern to put into
2555memory where a breakpoint is set. Although it's common to use a trap
2556instruction for a breakpoint, it's not required; for instance, the bit
2557pattern could be an invalid instruction. The breakpoint must be no
2558longer than the shortest instruction of the architecture.
2559
56caf160
EZ
2560@code{BREAKPOINT} has been deprecated in favor of
2561@code{BREAKPOINT_FROM_PC}.
7a292a7a 2562
c906108c 2563@item BIG_BREAKPOINT
56caf160
EZ
2564@itemx LITTLE_BREAKPOINT
2565@findex LITTLE_BREAKPOINT
2566@findex BIG_BREAKPOINT
c906108c
SS
2567Similar to BREAKPOINT, but used for bi-endian targets.
2568
56caf160
EZ
2569@code{BIG_BREAKPOINT} and @code{LITTLE_BREAKPOINT} have been deprecated in
2570favor of @code{BREAKPOINT_FROM_PC}.
7a292a7a 2571
c906108c 2572@item REMOTE_BREAKPOINT
56caf160
EZ
2573@itemx LITTLE_REMOTE_BREAKPOINT
2574@itemx BIG_REMOTE_BREAKPOINT
2575@findex BIG_REMOTE_BREAKPOINT
2576@findex LITTLE_REMOTE_BREAKPOINT
2577@findex REMOTE_BREAKPOINT
c906108c
SS
2578Similar to BREAKPOINT, but used for remote targets.
2579
56caf160
EZ
2580@code{BIG_REMOTE_BREAKPOINT} and @code{LITTLE_REMOTE_BREAKPOINT} have been
2581deprecated in favor of @code{BREAKPOINT_FROM_PC}.
c906108c 2582
56caf160
EZ
2583@item BREAKPOINT_FROM_PC (@var{pcptr}, @var{lenptr})
2584@findex BREAKPOINT_FROM_PC
c906108c 2585Use the program counter to determine the contents and size of a
56caf160
EZ
2586breakpoint instruction. It returns a pointer to a string of bytes
2587that encode a breakpoint instruction, stores the length of the string
2588to *@var{lenptr}, and adjusts pc (if necessary) to point to the actual
2589memory location where the breakpoint should be inserted.
c906108c
SS
2590
2591Although it is common to use a trap instruction for a breakpoint, it's
2592not required; for instance, the bit pattern could be an invalid
2593instruction. The breakpoint must be no longer than the shortest
2594instruction of the architecture.
2595
7a292a7a
SS
2596Replaces all the other @var{BREAKPOINT} macros.
2597
56caf160
EZ
2598@item MEMORY_INSERT_BREAKPOINT (@var{addr}, @var{contents_cache})
2599@itemx MEMORY_REMOVE_BREAKPOINT (@var{addr}, @var{contents_cache})
2600@findex MEMORY_REMOVE_BREAKPOINT
2601@findex MEMORY_INSERT_BREAKPOINT
917317f4
JM
2602Insert or remove memory based breakpoints. Reasonable defaults
2603(@code{default_memory_insert_breakpoint} and
2604@code{default_memory_remove_breakpoint} respectively) have been
2605provided so that it is not necessary to define these for most
2606architectures. Architectures which may want to define
56caf160 2607@code{MEMORY_INSERT_BREAKPOINT} and @code{MEMORY_REMOVE_BREAKPOINT} will
917317f4
JM
2608likely have instructions that are oddly sized or are not stored in a
2609conventional manner.
2610
2611It may also be desirable (from an efficiency standpoint) to define
2612custom breakpoint insertion and removal routines if
56caf160 2613@code{BREAKPOINT_FROM_PC} needs to read the target's memory for some
917317f4
JM
2614reason.
2615
7a292a7a 2616@item CALL_DUMMY_P
56caf160 2617@findex CALL_DUMMY_P
7a292a7a
SS
2618A C expresson that is non-zero when the target suports inferior function
2619calls.
2620
2621@item CALL_DUMMY_WORDS
56caf160
EZ
2622@findex CALL_DUMMY_WORDS
2623Pointer to an array of @code{LONGEST} words of data containing
2624host-byte-ordered @code{REGISTER_BYTES} sized values that partially
7a292a7a
SS
2625specify the sequence of instructions needed for an inferior function
2626call.
2627
56caf160 2628Should be deprecated in favor of a macro that uses target-byte-ordered
7a292a7a
SS
2629data.
2630
2631@item SIZEOF_CALL_DUMMY_WORDS
56caf160
EZ
2632@findex SIZEOF_CALL_DUMMY_WORDS
2633The size of @code{CALL_DUMMY_WORDS}. When @code{CALL_DUMMY_P} this must
2634return a positive value. See also @code{CALL_DUMMY_LENGTH}.
c906108c
SS
2635
2636@item CALL_DUMMY
56caf160
EZ
2637@findex CALL_DUMMY
2638A static initializer for @code{CALL_DUMMY_WORDS}. Deprecated.
7a292a7a 2639
c906108c 2640@item CALL_DUMMY_LOCATION
56caf160
EZ
2641@findex CALL_DUMMY_LOCATION
2642See the file @file{inferior.h}.
7a292a7a 2643
c906108c 2644@item CALL_DUMMY_STACK_ADJUST
56caf160 2645@findex CALL_DUMMY_STACK_ADJUST
7a292a7a
SS
2646Stack adjustment needed when performing an inferior function call.
2647
56caf160 2648Should be deprecated in favor of something like @code{STACK_ALIGN}.
7a292a7a
SS
2649
2650@item CALL_DUMMY_STACK_ADJUST_P
56caf160
EZ
2651@findex CALL_DUMMY_STACK_ADJUST_P
2652Predicate for use of @code{CALL_DUMMY_STACK_ADJUST}.
7a292a7a 2653
56caf160 2654Should be deprecated in favor of something like @code{STACK_ALIGN}.
c906108c 2655
56caf160
EZ
2656@item CANNOT_FETCH_REGISTER (@var{regno})
2657@findex CANNOT_FETCH_REGISTER
c906108c
SS
2658A C expression that should be nonzero if @var{regno} cannot be fetched
2659from an inferior process. This is only relevant if
2660@code{FETCH_INFERIOR_REGISTERS} is not defined.
2661
56caf160
EZ
2662@item CANNOT_STORE_REGISTER (@var{regno})
2663@findex CANNOT_STORE_REGISTER
c906108c
SS
2664A C expression that should be nonzero if @var{regno} should not be
2665written to the target. This is often the case for program counters,
56caf160
EZ
2666status words, and other special registers. If this is not defined,
2667@value{GDBN} will assume that all registers may be written.
c906108c
SS
2668
2669@item DO_DEFERRED_STORES
56caf160
EZ
2670@itemx CLEAR_DEFERRED_STORES@item
2671@findex CLEAR_DEFERRED_STORES
2672@findex DO_DEFERRED_STORES
c906108c
SS
2673Define this to execute any deferred stores of registers into the inferior,
2674and to cancel any deferred stores.
2675
2676Currently only implemented correctly for native Sparc configurations?
2677
ef36d45e 2678@item COERCE_FLOAT_TO_DOUBLE (@var{formal}, @var{actual})
56caf160
EZ
2679@findex COERCE_FLOAT_TO_DOUBLE
2680@cindex promotion to @code{double}
ef36d45e
JB
2681If we are calling a function by hand, and the function was declared
2682(according to the debug info) without a prototype, should we
56caf160
EZ
2683automatically promote @code{float}s to @code{double}s? This macro
2684must evaluate to non-zero if we should, or zero if we should leave the
2685value alone.
ef36d45e
JB
2686
2687The argument @var{actual} is the type of the value we want to pass to
2688the function. The argument @var{formal} is the type of this argument,
2689as it appears in the function's definition. Note that @var{formal} may
2690be zero if we have no debugging information for the function, or if
2691we're passing more arguments than are officially declared (for example,
2692varargs). This macro is never invoked if the function definitely has a
2693prototype.
2694
56caf160
EZ
2695@findex set_gdbarch_coerce_float_to_double
2696@findex standard_coerce_float_to_double
ef36d45e
JB
2697The default behavior is to promote only when we have no type information
2698for the formal parameter. This is different from the obvious behavior,
2699which would be to promote whenever we have no prototype, just as the
2700compiler does. It's annoying, but some older targets rely on this. If
56caf160
EZ
2701you want @value{GDBN} to follow the typical compiler behavior---to always
2702promote when there is no prototype in scope---your gdbarch @code{init}
ef36d45e
JB
2703function can call @code{set_gdbarch_coerce_float_to_double} and select
2704the @code{standard_coerce_float_to_double} function.
2705
c906108c 2706@item CPLUS_MARKER
56caf160
EZ
2707@findex CPLUS_MARKERz
2708Define this to expand into the character that G@t{++} uses to distinguish
c906108c
SS
2709compiler-generated identifiers from programmer-specified identifiers.
2710By default, this expands into @code{'$'}. Most System V targets should
2711define this to @code{'.'}.
2712
2713@item DBX_PARM_SYMBOL_CLASS
56caf160 2714@findex DBX_PARM_SYMBOL_CLASS
c906108c
SS
2715Hook for the @code{SYMBOL_CLASS} of a parameter when decoding DBX symbol
2716information. In the i960, parameters can be stored as locals or as
2717args, depending on the type of the debug record.
2718
2719@item DECR_PC_AFTER_BREAK
56caf160 2720@findex DECR_PC_AFTER_BREAK
c906108c
SS
2721Define this to be the amount by which to decrement the PC after the
2722program encounters a breakpoint. This is often the number of bytes in
56caf160 2723@code{BREAKPOINT}, though not always. For most targets this value will be 0.
c906108c
SS
2724
2725@item DECR_PC_AFTER_HW_BREAK
56caf160 2726@findex DECR_PC_AFTER_HW_BREAK
c906108c
SS
2727Similarly, for hardware breakpoints.
2728
56caf160
EZ
2729@item DISABLE_UNSETTABLE_BREAK (@var{addr})
2730@findex DISABLE_UNSETTABLE_BREAK
c906108c
SS
2731If defined, this should evaluate to 1 if @var{addr} is in a shared
2732library in which breakpoints cannot be set and so should be disabled.
2733
2734@item DO_REGISTERS_INFO
56caf160 2735@findex DO_REGISTERS_INFO
c906108c
SS
2736If defined, use this to print the value of a register or all registers.
2737
0dcedd82 2738@item DWARF_REG_TO_REGNUM
56caf160 2739@findex DWARF_REG_TO_REGNUM
0dcedd82
AC
2740Convert DWARF register number into @value{GDBN} regnum. If not defined,
2741no conversion will be performed.
2742
2743@item DWARF2_REG_TO_REGNUM
56caf160 2744@findex DWARF2_REG_TO_REGNUM
0dcedd82
AC
2745Convert DWARF2 register number into @value{GDBN} regnum. If not
2746defined, no conversion will be performed.
2747
2748@item ECOFF_REG_TO_REGNUM
56caf160 2749@findex ECOFF_REG_TO_REGNUM
0dcedd82
AC
2750Convert ECOFF register number into @value{GDBN} regnum. If not defined,
2751no conversion will be performed.
2752
c906108c 2753@item END_OF_TEXT_DEFAULT
56caf160
EZ
2754@findex END_OF_TEXT_DEFAULT
2755This is an expression that should designate the end of the text section.
2756@c (? FIXME ?)
c906108c 2757
56caf160
EZ
2758@item EXTRACT_RETURN_VALUE(@var{type}, @var{regbuf}, @var{valbuf})
2759@findex EXTRACT_RETURN_VALUE
c906108c
SS
2760Define this to extract a function's return value of type @var{type} from
2761the raw register state @var{regbuf} and copy that, in virtual format,
2762into @var{valbuf}.
2763
56caf160
EZ
2764@item EXTRACT_STRUCT_VALUE_ADDRESS(@var{regbuf})
2765@findex EXTRACT_STRUCT_VALUE_ADDRESS
2766When @code{EXTRACT_STRUCT_VALUE_ADDRESS_P} is non-zero, this is used to extract
ac9a91a7
JM
2767from an array @var{regbuf} (containing the raw register state) the
2768address in which a function should return its structure value, as a
56caf160 2769@code{CORE_ADDR} (or an expression that can be used as one).
ac9a91a7
JM
2770
2771@item EXTRACT_STRUCT_VALUE_ADDRESS_P
56caf160
EZ
2772@findex EXTRACT_STRUCT_VALUE_ADDRESS_P
2773Predicate for @code{EXTRACT_STRUCT_VALUE_ADDRESS}.
c906108c
SS
2774
2775@item FLOAT_INFO
56caf160
EZ
2776@findex FLOAT_INFO
2777If defined, then the @samp{info float} command will print information about
c906108c
SS
2778the processor's floating point unit.
2779
2780@item FP_REGNUM
56caf160 2781@findex FP_REGNUM
cce74817
JM
2782If the virtual frame pointer is kept in a register, then define this
2783macro to be the number (greater than or equal to zero) of that register.
2784
2785This should only need to be defined if @code{TARGET_READ_FP} and
2786@code{TARGET_WRITE_FP} are not defined.
c906108c 2787
56caf160
EZ
2788@item FRAMELESS_FUNCTION_INVOCATION(@var{fi})
2789@findex FRAMELESS_FUNCTION_INVOCATION
392a587b
JM
2790Define this to an expression that returns 1 if the function invocation
2791represented by @var{fi} does not have a stack frame associated with it.
2792Otherwise return 0.
c906108c 2793
56caf160
EZ
2794@item FRAME_ARGS_ADDRESS_CORRECT@item
2795@findex FRAME_ARGS_ADDRESS_CORRECT
2796See @file{stack.c}.
c906108c 2797
56caf160
EZ
2798@item FRAME_CHAIN(@var{frame})
2799@findex FRAME_CHAIN
c906108c
SS
2800Given @var{frame}, return a pointer to the calling frame.
2801
56caf160
EZ
2802@item FRAME_CHAIN_COMBINE(@var{chain}, @var{frame})
2803@findex FRAME_CHAIN_COMBINE
c906108c
SS
2804Define this to take the frame chain pointer and the frame's nominal
2805address and produce the nominal address of the caller's frame.
2806Presently only defined for HP PA.
2807
56caf160
EZ
2808@item FRAME_CHAIN_VALID(@var{chain}, @var{thisframe})
2809@findex FRAME_CHAIN_VALID
c906108c 2810Define this to be an expression that returns zero if the given frame is
c4093a6a 2811an outermost frame, with no caller, and nonzero otherwise. Several
56caf160 2812common definitions are available:
c4093a6a 2813
56caf160
EZ
2814@itemize @bullet
2815@item
c4093a6a
JM
2816@code{file_frame_chain_valid} is nonzero if the chain pointer is nonzero
2817and given frame's PC is not inside the startup file (such as
56caf160
EZ
2818@file{crt0.o}).
2819
2820@item
2821@code{func_frame_chain_valid} is nonzero if the chain
2822pointer is nonzero and the given frame's PC is not in @code{main} or a
2823known entry point function (such as @code{_start}).
2824
2825@item
c4093a6a
JM
2826@code{generic_file_frame_chain_valid} and
2827@code{generic_func_frame_chain_valid} are equivalent implementations for
2828targets using generic dummy frames.
56caf160 2829@end itemize
c906108c 2830
56caf160
EZ
2831@item FRAME_INIT_SAVED_REGS(@var{frame})
2832@findex FRAME_INIT_SAVED_REGS
c906108c
SS
2833See @file{frame.h}. Determines the address of all registers in the
2834current stack frame storing each in @code{frame->saved_regs}. Space for
2835@code{frame->saved_regs} shall be allocated by
2836@code{FRAME_INIT_SAVED_REGS} using either
2837@code{frame_saved_regs_zalloc} or @code{frame_obstack_alloc}.
2838
56caf160 2839@code{FRAME_FIND_SAVED_REGS} and @code{EXTRA_FRAME_INFO} are deprecated.
c906108c 2840
56caf160
EZ
2841@item FRAME_NUM_ARGS (@var{fi})
2842@findex FRAME_NUM_ARGS
392a587b
JM
2843For the frame described by @var{fi} return the number of arguments that
2844are being passed. If the number of arguments is not known, return
2845@code{-1}.
c906108c 2846
56caf160
EZ
2847@item FRAME_SAVED_PC(@var{frame})
2848@findex FRAME_SAVED_PC
2849Given @var{frame}, return the pc saved there. This is the return
c906108c
SS
2850address.
2851
2852@item FUNCTION_EPILOGUE_SIZE
56caf160 2853@findex FUNCTION_EPILOGUE_SIZE
c906108c
SS
2854For some COFF targets, the @code{x_sym.x_misc.x_fsize} field of the
2855function end symbol is 0. For such targets, you must define
2856@code{FUNCTION_EPILOGUE_SIZE} to expand into the standard size of a
2857function's epilogue.
2858
f7cb2b90 2859@item FUNCTION_START_OFFSET
56caf160 2860@findex FUNCTION_START_OFFSET
f7cb2b90
JB
2861An integer, giving the offset in bytes from a function's address (as
2862used in the values of symbols, function pointers, etc.), and the
2863function's first genuine instruction.
2864
2865This is zero on almost all machines: the function's address is usually
2866the address of its first instruction. However, on the VAX, for example,
2867each function starts with two bytes containing a bitmask indicating
2868which registers to save upon entry to the function. The VAX @code{call}
2869instructions check this value, and save the appropriate registers
2870automatically. Thus, since the offset from the function's address to
2871its first instruction is two bytes, @code{FUNCTION_START_OFFSET} would
2872be 2 on the VAX.
2873
c906108c 2874@item GCC_COMPILED_FLAG_SYMBOL
56caf160
EZ
2875@itemx GCC2_COMPILED_FLAG_SYMBOL
2876@findex GCC2_COMPILED_FLAG_SYMBOL
2877@findex GCC_COMPILED_FLAG_SYMBOL
2878If defined, these are the names of the symbols that @value{GDBN} will
2879look for to detect that GCC compiled the file. The default symbols
2880are @code{gcc_compiled.} and @code{gcc2_compiled.},
2881respectively. (Currently only defined for the Delta 68.)
c906108c 2882
25822942 2883@item @value{GDBN}_MULTI_ARCH
56caf160 2884@findex @value{GDBN}_MULTI_ARCH
0f71a2f6 2885If defined and non-zero, enables suport for multiple architectures
25822942 2886within @value{GDBN}.
0f71a2f6 2887
56caf160 2888This support can be enabled at two levels. At level one, only
0f71a2f6
JM
2889definitions for previously undefined macros are provided; at level two,
2890a multi-arch definition of all architecture dependant macros will be
2891defined.
2892
25822942 2893@item @value{GDBN}_TARGET_IS_HPPA
56caf160
EZ
2894@findex @value{GDBN}_TARGET_IS_HPPA
2895This determines whether horrible kludge code in @file{dbxread.c} and
2896@file{partial-stab.h} is used to mangle multiple-symbol-table files from
2897HPPA's. This should all be ripped out, and a scheme like @file{elfread.c}
2898used instead.
c906108c 2899
c906108c 2900@item GET_LONGJMP_TARGET
56caf160 2901@findex GET_LONGJMP_TARGET
c906108c
SS
2902For most machines, this is a target-dependent parameter. On the
2903DECstation and the Iris, this is a native-dependent parameter, since
56caf160 2904trhe header file @file{setjmp.h} is needed to define it.
c906108c 2905
56caf160
EZ
2906This macro determines the target PC address that @code{longjmp} will jump to,
2907assuming that we have just stopped at a @code{longjmp} breakpoint. It takes a
2908@code{CORE_ADDR *} as argument, and stores the target PC value through this
c906108c
SS
2909pointer. It examines the current state of the machine as needed.
2910
2911@item GET_SAVED_REGISTER
56caf160
EZ
2912@findex GET_SAVED_REGISTER
2913@findex get_saved_register
c906108c 2914Define this if you need to supply your own definition for the function
7a292a7a 2915@code{get_saved_register}.
c906108c
SS
2916
2917@item HAVE_REGISTER_WINDOWS
56caf160 2918@findex HAVE_REGISTER_WINDOWS
c906108c 2919Define this if the target has register windows.
56caf160
EZ
2920
2921@item REGISTER_IN_WINDOW_P (@var{regnum})
2922@findex REGISTER_IN_WINDOW_P
c906108c
SS
2923Define this to be an expression that is 1 if the given register is in
2924the window.
2925
2926@item IBM6000_TARGET
56caf160 2927@findex IBM6000_TARGET
c906108c
SS
2928Shows that we are configured for an IBM RS/6000 target. This
2929conditional should be eliminated (FIXME) and replaced by
56caf160 2930feature-specific macros. It was introduced in a haste and we are
c906108c
SS
2931repenting at leisure.
2932
9742079a
EZ
2933@item I386_USE_GENERIC_WATCHPOINTS
2934An x86-based target can define this to use the generic x86 watchpoint
2935support; see @ref{Algorithms, I386_USE_GENERIC_WATCHPOINTS}.
2936
2df3850c 2937@item SYMBOLS_CAN_START_WITH_DOLLAR
56caf160 2938@findex SYMBOLS_CAN_START_WITH_DOLLAR
2df3850c 2939Some systems have routines whose names start with @samp{$}. Giving this
25822942 2940macro a non-zero value tells @value{GDBN}'s expression parser to check for such
2df3850c
JM
2941routines when parsing tokens that begin with @samp{$}.
2942
2943On HP-UX, certain system routines (millicode) have names beginning with
2944@samp{$} or @samp{$$}. For example, @code{$$dyncall} is a millicode
2945routine that handles inter-space procedure calls on PA-RISC.
2946
c906108c 2947@item IEEE_FLOAT
56caf160 2948@findex IEEE_FLOAT
c906108c
SS
2949Define this if the target system uses IEEE-format floating point numbers.
2950
56caf160
EZ
2951@item INIT_EXTRA_FRAME_INFO (@var{fromleaf}, @var{frame})
2952@findex INIT_EXTRA_FRAME_INFO
c906108c
SS
2953If additional information about the frame is required this should be
2954stored in @code{frame->extra_info}. Space for @code{frame->extra_info}
2955is allocated using @code{frame_obstack_alloc}.
2956
56caf160
EZ
2957@item INIT_FRAME_PC (@var{fromleaf}, @var{prev})
2958@findex INIT_FRAME_PC
c906108c
SS
2959This is a C statement that sets the pc of the frame pointed to by
2960@var{prev}. [By default...]
2961
56caf160
EZ
2962@item INNER_THAN (@var{lhs}, @var{rhs})
2963@findex INNER_THAN
c906108c
SS
2964Returns non-zero if stack address @var{lhs} is inner than (nearer to the
2965stack top) stack address @var{rhs}. Define this as @code{lhs < rhs} if
2966the target's stack grows downward in memory, or @code{lhs > rsh} if the
2967stack grows upward.
2968
56caf160
EZ
2969@item IN_SIGTRAMP (@var{pc}, @var{name})
2970@findex IN_SIGTRAMP
2971Define this to return non-zero if the given @var{pc} and/or @var{name}
2972indicates that the current function is a @code{sigtramp}.
c906108c 2973
56caf160
EZ
2974@item SIGTRAMP_START (@var{pc})
2975@findex SIGTRAMP_START
2976@itemx SIGTRAMP_END (@var{pc})
2977@findex SIGTRAMP_END
2978Define these to be the start and end address of the @code{sigtramp} for the
c906108c
SS
2979given @var{pc}. On machines where the address is just a compile time
2980constant, the macro expansion will typically just ignore the supplied
2981@var{pc}.
2982
56caf160
EZ
2983@item IN_SOLIB_CALL_TRAMPOLINE (@var{pc}, @var{name})
2984@findex IN_SOLIB_CALL_TRAMPOLINE
c906108c
SS
2985Define this to evaluate to nonzero if the program is stopped in the
2986trampoline that connects to a shared library.
2987
56caf160
EZ
2988@item IN_SOLIB_RETURN_TRAMPOLINE (@var{pc}, @var{name})
2989@findex IN_SOLIB_RETURN_TRAMPOLINE
c906108c
SS
2990Define this to evaluate to nonzero if the program is stopped in the
2991trampoline that returns from a shared library.
2992
56caf160
EZ
2993@item IN_SOLIB_DYNSYM_RESOLVE_CODE (@var{pc})
2994@findex IN_SOLIB_DYNSYM_RESOLVE_CODE
d4f3574e
SS
2995Define this to evaluate to nonzero if the program is stopped in the
2996dynamic linker.
2997
56caf160
EZ
2998@item SKIP_SOLIB_RESOLVER (@var{pc})
2999@findex SKIP_SOLIB_RESOLVER
d4f3574e
SS
3000Define this to evaluate to the (nonzero) address at which execution
3001should continue to get past the dynamic linker's symbol resolution
3002function. A zero value indicates that it is not important or necessary
3003to set a breakpoint to get through the dynamic linker and that single
3004stepping will suffice.
3005
56caf160
EZ
3006@item IS_TRAPPED_INTERNALVAR (@var{name})
3007@findex IS_TRAPPED_INTERNALVAR
c906108c
SS
3008This is an ugly hook to allow the specification of special actions that
3009should occur as a side-effect of setting the value of a variable
25822942 3010internal to @value{GDBN}. Currently only used by the h8500. Note that this
c906108c
SS
3011could be either a host or target conditional.
3012
3013@item NEED_TEXT_START_END
56caf160 3014@findex NEED_TEXT_START_END
25822942 3015Define this if @value{GDBN} should determine the start and end addresses of the
c906108c
SS
3016text section. (Seems dubious.)
3017
3018@item NO_HIF_SUPPORT
56caf160 3019@findex NO_HIF_SUPPORT
c906108c
SS
3020(Specific to the a29k.)
3021
93e79dbd 3022@item POINTER_TO_ADDRESS (@var{type}, @var{buf})
56caf160 3023@findex POINTER_TO_ADDRESS
93e79dbd
JB
3024Assume that @var{buf} holds a pointer of type @var{type}, in the
3025appropriate format for the current architecture. Return the byte
3026address the pointer refers to.
3027@xref{Target Architecture Definition, , Pointers Are Not Always Addresses}.
3028
9fb4dd36 3029@item REGISTER_CONVERTIBLE (@var{reg})
56caf160 3030@findex REGISTER_CONVERTIBLE
9fb4dd36 3031Return non-zero if @var{reg} uses different raw and virtual formats.
4281a42e 3032@xref{Target Architecture Definition, , Using Different Register and Memory Data Representations}.
9fb4dd36
JB
3033
3034@item REGISTER_RAW_SIZE (@var{reg})
56caf160 3035@findex REGISTER_RAW_SIZE
9fb4dd36 3036Return the raw size of @var{reg}.
4281a42e 3037@xref{Target Architecture Definition, , Using Different Register and Memory Data Representations}.
9fb4dd36
JB
3038
3039@item REGISTER_VIRTUAL_SIZE (@var{reg})
56caf160 3040@findex REGISTER_VIRTUAL_SIZE
9fb4dd36 3041Return the virtual size of @var{reg}.
4281a42e 3042@xref{Target Architecture Definition, , Using Different Register and Memory Data Representations}.
9fb4dd36
JB
3043
3044@item REGISTER_VIRTUAL_TYPE (@var{reg})
56caf160 3045@findex REGISTER_VIRTUAL_TYPE
9fb4dd36 3046Return the virtual type of @var{reg}.
4281a42e 3047@xref{Target Architecture Definition, , Using Different Register and Memory Data Representations}.
9fb4dd36
JB
3048
3049@item REGISTER_CONVERT_TO_VIRTUAL(@var{reg}, @var{type}, @var{from}, @var{to})
56caf160 3050@findex REGISTER_CONVERT_TO_VIRTUAL
9fb4dd36 3051Convert the value of register @var{reg} from its raw form to its virtual
4281a42e
JB
3052form.
3053@xref{Target Architecture Definition, , Using Different Register and Memory Data Representations}.
9fb4dd36
JB
3054
3055@item REGISTER_CONVERT_TO_RAW(@var{type}, @var{reg}, @var{from}, @var{to})
56caf160 3056@findex REGISTER_CONVERT_TO_RAW
9fb4dd36 3057Convert the value of register @var{reg} from its virtual form to its raw
4281a42e
JB
3058form.
3059@xref{Target Architecture Definition, , Using Different Register and Memory Data Representations}.
9fb4dd36 3060
e5419804
JB
3061@item RETURN_VALUE_ON_STACK(@var{type})
3062@findex RETURN_VALUE_ON_STACK
3063@cindex returning structures by value
3064@cindex structures, returning by value
3065
3066Return non-zero if values of type TYPE are returned on the stack, using
3067the ``struct convention'' (i.e., the caller provides a pointer to a
3068buffer in which the callee should store the return value). This
3069controls how the @samp{finish} command finds a function's return value,
3070and whether an inferior function call reserves space on the stack for
3071the return value.
3072
3073The full logic @value{GDBN} uses here is kind of odd.
e5419804 3074
56caf160 3075@itemize @bullet
e5419804
JB
3076@item
3077If the type being returned by value is not a structure, union, or array,
3078and @code{RETURN_VALUE_ON_STACK} returns zero, then @value{GDBN}
3079concludes the value is not returned using the struct convention.
3080
3081@item
3082Otherwise, @value{GDBN} calls @code{USE_STRUCT_CONVENTION} (see below).
3083If that returns non-zero, @value{GDBN} assumes the struct convention is
3084in use.
e5419804
JB
3085@end itemize
3086
3087In other words, to indicate that a given type is returned by value using
3088the struct convention, that type must be either a struct, union, array,
3089or something @code{RETURN_VALUE_ON_STACK} likes, @emph{and} something
3090that @code{USE_STRUCT_CONVENTION} likes.
3091
56caf160 3092Note that, in C and C@t{++}, arrays are never returned by value. In those
e5419804
JB
3093languages, these predicates will always see a pointer type, never an
3094array type. All the references above to arrays being returned by value
3095apply only to other languages.
3096
b0ed3589 3097@item SOFTWARE_SINGLE_STEP_P()
56caf160 3098@findex SOFTWARE_SINGLE_STEP_P
c906108c 3099Define this as 1 if the target does not have a hardware single-step
56caf160 3100mechanism. The macro @code{SOFTWARE_SINGLE_STEP} must also be defined.
c906108c 3101
56caf160
EZ
3102@item SOFTWARE_SINGLE_STEP(@var{signal}, @var{insert_breapoints_p})
3103@findex SOFTWARE_SINGLE_STEP
3104A function that inserts or removes (depending on
c906108c 3105@var{insert_breapoints_p}) breakpoints at each possible destinations of
56caf160 3106the next instruction. See @file{sparc-tdep.c} and @file{rs6000-tdep.c}
c906108c
SS
3107for examples.
3108
da59e081 3109@item SOFUN_ADDRESS_MAYBE_MISSING
56caf160 3110@findex SOFUN_ADDRESS_MAYBE_MISSING
da59e081
JM
3111Somebody clever observed that, the more actual addresses you have in the
3112debug information, the more time the linker has to spend relocating
3113them. So whenever there's some other way the debugger could find the
3114address it needs, you should omit it from the debug info, to make
3115linking faster.
3116
3117@code{SOFUN_ADDRESS_MAYBE_MISSING} indicates that a particular set of
3118hacks of this sort are in use, affecting @code{N_SO} and @code{N_FUN}
3119entries in stabs-format debugging information. @code{N_SO} stabs mark
3120the beginning and ending addresses of compilation units in the text
3121segment. @code{N_FUN} stabs mark the starts and ends of functions.
3122
3123@code{SOFUN_ADDRESS_MAYBE_MISSING} means two things:
da59e081 3124
56caf160 3125@itemize @bullet
da59e081
JM
3126@item
3127@code{N_FUN} stabs have an address of zero. Instead, you should find the
3128addresses where the function starts by taking the function name from
56caf160
EZ
3129the stab, and then looking that up in the minsyms (the
3130linker/assembler symbol table). In other words, the stab has the
3131name, and the linker/assembler symbol table is the only place that carries
da59e081
JM
3132the address.
3133
3134@item
3135@code{N_SO} stabs have an address of zero, too. You just look at the
3136@code{N_FUN} stabs that appear before and after the @code{N_SO} stab,
3137and guess the starting and ending addresses of the compilation unit from
3138them.
da59e081
JM
3139@end itemize
3140
c906108c 3141@item PCC_SOL_BROKEN
56caf160 3142@findex PCC_SOL_BROKEN
c906108c
SS
3143(Used only in the Convex target.)
3144
3145@item PC_IN_CALL_DUMMY
56caf160
EZ
3146@findex PC_IN_CALL_DUMMY
3147See @file{inferior.h}.
c906108c
SS
3148
3149@item PC_LOAD_SEGMENT
56caf160 3150@findex PC_LOAD_SEGMENT
c906108c
SS
3151If defined, print information about the load segment for the program
3152counter. (Defined only for the RS/6000.)
3153
3154@item PC_REGNUM
56caf160 3155@findex PC_REGNUM
c906108c 3156If the program counter is kept in a register, then define this macro to
cce74817
JM
3157be the number (greater than or equal to zero) of that register.
3158
3159This should only need to be defined if @code{TARGET_READ_PC} and
3160@code{TARGET_WRITE_PC} are not defined.
c906108c
SS
3161
3162@item NPC_REGNUM
56caf160 3163@findex NPC_REGNUM
c906108c
SS
3164The number of the ``next program counter'' register, if defined.
3165
3166@item NNPC_REGNUM
56caf160 3167@findex NNPC_REGNUM
c906108c
SS
3168The number of the ``next next program counter'' register, if defined.
3169Currently, this is only defined for the Motorola 88K.
3170
2df3850c 3171@item PARM_BOUNDARY
56caf160 3172@findex PARM_BOUNDARY
2df3850c
JM
3173If non-zero, round arguments to a boundary of this many bits before
3174pushing them on the stack.
3175
56caf160
EZ
3176@item PRINT_REGISTER_HOOK (@var{regno})
3177@findex PRINT_REGISTER_HOOK
c906108c
SS
3178If defined, this must be a function that prints the contents of the
3179given register to standard output.
3180
3181@item PRINT_TYPELESS_INTEGER
56caf160 3182@findex PRINT_TYPELESS_INTEGER
c906108c
SS
3183This is an obscure substitute for @code{print_longest} that seems to
3184have been defined for the Convex target.
3185
3186@item PROCESS_LINENUMBER_HOOK
56caf160 3187@findex PROCESS_LINENUMBER_HOOK
c906108c
SS
3188A hook defined for XCOFF reading.
3189
3190@item PROLOGUE_FIRSTLINE_OVERLAP
56caf160 3191@findex PROLOGUE_FIRSTLINE_OVERLAP
c906108c
SS
3192(Only used in unsupported Convex configuration.)
3193
3194@item PS_REGNUM
56caf160 3195@findex PS_REGNUM
c906108c
SS
3196If defined, this is the number of the processor status register. (This
3197definition is only used in generic code when parsing "$ps".)
3198
3199@item POP_FRAME
56caf160
EZ
3200@findex POP_FRAME
3201@findex call_function_by_hand
3202@findex return_command
c906108c 3203Used in @samp{call_function_by_hand} to remove an artificial stack
1c6147de 3204frame and in @samp{return_command} to remove a real stack frame.
c906108c 3205
56caf160
EZ
3206@item PUSH_ARGUMENTS (@var{nargs}, @var{args}, @var{sp}, @var{struct_return}, @var{struct_addr})
3207@findex PUSH_ARGUMENTS
392a587b 3208Define this to push arguments onto the stack for inferior function
56caf160 3209call. Returns the updated stack pointer value.
c906108c
SS
3210
3211@item PUSH_DUMMY_FRAME
56caf160 3212@findex PUSH_DUMMY_FRAME
c906108c
SS
3213Used in @samp{call_function_by_hand} to create an artificial stack frame.
3214
3215@item REGISTER_BYTES
56caf160 3216@findex REGISTER_BYTES
25822942 3217The total amount of space needed to store @value{GDBN}'s copy of the machine's
c906108c
SS
3218register state.
3219
56caf160
EZ
3220@item REGISTER_NAME(@var{i})
3221@findex REGISTER_NAME
3222Return the name of register @var{i} as a string. May return @code{NULL}
3223or @code{NUL} to indicate that register @var{i} is not valid.
c906108c 3224
7a292a7a 3225@item REGISTER_NAMES
56caf160
EZ
3226@findex REGISTER_NAMES
3227Deprecated in favor of @code{REGISTER_NAME}.
7a292a7a 3228
56caf160
EZ
3229@item REG_STRUCT_HAS_ADDR (@var{gcc_p}, @var{type})
3230@findex REG_STRUCT_HAS_ADDR
c906108c
SS
3231Define this to return 1 if the given type will be passed by pointer
3232rather than directly.
3233
56caf160
EZ
3234@item SAVE_DUMMY_FRAME_TOS (@var{sp})
3235@findex SAVE_DUMMY_FRAME_TOS
43ff13b4
JM
3236Used in @samp{call_function_by_hand} to notify the target dependent code
3237of the top-of-stack value that will be passed to the the inferior code.
56caf160 3238This is the value of the @code{SP} after both the dummy frame and space
43ff13b4
JM
3239for parameters/results have been allocated on the stack.
3240
c906108c 3241@item SDB_REG_TO_REGNUM
56caf160 3242@findex SDB_REG_TO_REGNUM
25822942 3243Define this to convert sdb register numbers into @value{GDBN} regnums. If not
c906108c
SS
3244defined, no conversion will be done.
3245
3246@item SHIFT_INST_REGS
56caf160 3247@findex SHIFT_INST_REGS
c906108c
SS
3248(Only used for m88k targets.)
3249
c2c6d25f 3250@item SKIP_PERMANENT_BREAKPOINT
56caf160 3251@findex SKIP_PERMANENT_BREAKPOINT
25822942 3252Advance the inferior's PC past a permanent breakpoint. @value{GDBN} normally
c2c6d25f
JM
3253steps over a breakpoint by removing it, stepping one instruction, and
3254re-inserting the breakpoint. However, permanent breakpoints are
3255hardwired into the inferior, and can't be removed, so this strategy
56caf160 3256doesn't work. Calling @code{SKIP_PERMANENT_BREAKPOINT} adjusts the processor's
c2c6d25f
JM
3257state so that execution will resume just after the breakpoint. This
3258macro does the right thing even when the breakpoint is in the delay slot
3259of a branch or jump.
3260
56caf160
EZ
3261@item SKIP_PROLOGUE (@var{pc})
3262@findex SKIP_PROLOGUE
b83266a0
SS
3263A C expression that returns the address of the ``real'' code beyond the
3264function entry prologue found at @var{pc}.
c906108c
SS
3265
3266@item SKIP_PROLOGUE_FRAMELESS_P
56caf160 3267@findex SKIP_PROLOGUE_FRAMELESS_P
b83266a0
SS
3268A C expression that should behave similarly, but that can stop as soon
3269as the function is known to have a frame. If not defined,
c906108c
SS
3270@code{SKIP_PROLOGUE} will be used instead.
3271
56caf160
EZ
3272@item SKIP_TRAMPOLINE_CODE (@var{pc})
3273@findex SKIP_TRAMPOLINE_CODE
c906108c
SS
3274If the target machine has trampoline code that sits between callers and
3275the functions being called, then define this macro to return a new PC
3276that is at the start of the real function.
3277
3278@item SP_REGNUM
56caf160 3279@findex SP_REGNUM
cce74817
JM
3280If the stack-pointer is kept in a register, then define this macro to be
3281the number (greater than or equal to zero) of that register.
3282
3283This should only need to be defined if @code{TARGET_WRITE_SP} and
3284@code{TARGET_WRITE_SP} are not defined.
c906108c
SS
3285
3286@item STAB_REG_TO_REGNUM
56caf160 3287@findex STAB_REG_TO_REGNUM
c906108c 3288Define this to convert stab register numbers (as gotten from `r'
25822942 3289declarations) into @value{GDBN} regnums. If not defined, no conversion will be
c906108c
SS
3290done.
3291
56caf160
EZ
3292@item STACK_ALIGN (@var{addr})
3293@findex STACK_ALIGN
c906108c
SS
3294Define this to adjust the address to the alignment required for the
3295processor's stack.
3296
56caf160
EZ
3297@item STEP_SKIPS_DELAY (@var{addr})
3298@findex STEP_SKIPS_DELAY
c906108c
SS
3299Define this to return true if the address is of an instruction with a
3300delay slot. If a breakpoint has been placed in the instruction's delay
25822942 3301slot, @value{GDBN} will single-step over that instruction before resuming
c906108c
SS
3302normally. Currently only defined for the Mips.
3303
56caf160
EZ
3304@item STORE_RETURN_VALUE (@var{type}, @var{valbuf})
3305@findex STORE_RETURN_VALUE
c906108c
SS
3306A C expression that stores a function return value of type @var{type},
3307where @var{valbuf} is the address of the value to be stored.
3308
3309@item SUN_FIXED_LBRAC_BUG
56caf160 3310@findex SUN_FIXED_LBRAC_BUG
c906108c
SS
3311(Used only for Sun-3 and Sun-4 targets.)
3312
3313@item SYMBOL_RELOADING_DEFAULT
56caf160
EZ
3314@findex SYMBOL_RELOADING_DEFAULT
3315The default value of the ``symbol-reloading'' variable. (Never defined in
c906108c
SS
3316current sources.)
3317
3318@item TARGET_BYTE_ORDER_DEFAULT
56caf160 3319@findex TARGET_BYTE_ORDER_DEFAULT
c906108c
SS
3320The ordering of bytes in the target. This must be either
3321@code{BIG_ENDIAN} or @code{LITTLE_ENDIAN}. This macro replaces
56caf160 3322@code{TARGET_BYTE_ORDER} which is deprecated.
c906108c
SS
3323
3324@item TARGET_BYTE_ORDER_SELECTABLE_P
56caf160 3325@findex TARGET_BYTE_ORDER_SELECTABLE_P
c906108c
SS
3326Non-zero if the target has both @code{BIG_ENDIAN} and
3327@code{LITTLE_ENDIAN} variants. This macro replaces
56caf160 3328@code{TARGET_BYTE_ORDER_SELECTABLE} which is deprecated.
c906108c
SS
3329
3330@item TARGET_CHAR_BIT
56caf160 3331@findex TARGET_CHAR_BIT
c906108c
SS
3332Number of bits in a char; defaults to 8.
3333
3334@item TARGET_COMPLEX_BIT
56caf160 3335@findex TARGET_COMPLEX_BIT
c906108c
SS
3336Number of bits in a complex number; defaults to @code{2 * TARGET_FLOAT_BIT}.
3337
ac9a91a7
JM
3338At present this macro is not used.
3339
c906108c 3340@item TARGET_DOUBLE_BIT
56caf160 3341@findex TARGET_DOUBLE_BIT
c906108c
SS
3342Number of bits in a double float; defaults to @code{8 * TARGET_CHAR_BIT}.
3343
3344@item TARGET_DOUBLE_COMPLEX_BIT
56caf160 3345@findex TARGET_DOUBLE_COMPLEX_BIT
c906108c
SS
3346Number of bits in a double complex; defaults to @code{2 * TARGET_DOUBLE_BIT}.
3347
ac9a91a7
JM
3348At present this macro is not used.
3349
c906108c 3350@item TARGET_FLOAT_BIT
56caf160 3351@findex TARGET_FLOAT_BIT
c906108c
SS
3352Number of bits in a float; defaults to @code{4 * TARGET_CHAR_BIT}.
3353
3354@item TARGET_INT_BIT
56caf160 3355@findex TARGET_INT_BIT
c906108c
SS
3356Number of bits in an integer; defaults to @code{4 * TARGET_CHAR_BIT}.
3357
3358@item TARGET_LONG_BIT
56caf160 3359@findex TARGET_LONG_BIT
c906108c
SS
3360Number of bits in a long integer; defaults to @code{4 * TARGET_CHAR_BIT}.
3361
3362@item TARGET_LONG_DOUBLE_BIT
56caf160 3363@findex TARGET_LONG_DOUBLE_BIT
c906108c
SS
3364Number of bits in a long double float;
3365defaults to @code{2 * TARGET_DOUBLE_BIT}.
3366
3367@item TARGET_LONG_LONG_BIT
56caf160 3368@findex TARGET_LONG_LONG_BIT
c906108c
SS
3369Number of bits in a long long integer; defaults to @code{2 * TARGET_LONG_BIT}.
3370
3371@item TARGET_PTR_BIT
56caf160 3372@findex TARGET_PTR_BIT
c906108c
SS
3373Number of bits in a pointer; defaults to @code{TARGET_INT_BIT}.
3374
3375@item TARGET_SHORT_BIT
56caf160 3376@findex TARGET_SHORT_BIT
c906108c
SS
3377Number of bits in a short integer; defaults to @code{2 * TARGET_CHAR_BIT}.
3378
3379@item TARGET_READ_PC
56caf160
EZ
3380@findex TARGET_READ_PC
3381@itemx TARGET_WRITE_PC (@var{val}, @var{pid})
3382@findex TARGET_WRITE_PC
3383@itemx TARGET_READ_SP
3384@findex TARGET_READ_SP
3385@itemx TARGET_WRITE_SP
3386@findex TARGET_WRITE_SP
3387@itemx TARGET_READ_FP
3388@findex TARGET_READ_FP
3389@itemx TARGET_WRITE_FP
3390@findex TARGET_WRITE_FP
3391@findex read_pc
3392@findex write_pc
3393@findex read_sp
3394@findex write_sp
3395@findex read_fp
3396@findex write_fp
c906108c
SS
3397These change the behavior of @code{read_pc}, @code{write_pc},
3398@code{read_sp}, @code{write_sp}, @code{read_fp} and @code{write_fp}.
25822942 3399For most targets, these may be left undefined. @value{GDBN} will call the read
c906108c
SS
3400and write register functions with the relevant @code{_REGNUM} argument.
3401
3402These macros are useful when a target keeps one of these registers in a
3403hard to get at place; for example, part in a segment register and part
3404in an ordinary register.
3405
56caf160
EZ
3406@item TARGET_VIRTUAL_FRAME_POINTER(@var{pc}, @var{regp}, @var{offsetp})
3407@findex TARGET_VIRTUAL_FRAME_POINTER
c906108c 3408Returns a @code{(register, offset)} pair representing the virtual
56caf160 3409frame pointer in use at the code address @var{pc}. If virtual
c906108c
SS
3410frame pointers are not used, a default definition simply returns
3411@code{FP_REGNUM}, with an offset of zero.
3412
9742079a
EZ
3413@item TARGET_HAS_HARDWARE_WATCHPOINTS
3414If non-zero, the target has support for hardware-assisted
3415watchpoints. @xref{Algorithms, watchpoints}, for more details and
3416other related macros.
3417
56caf160
EZ
3418@item USE_STRUCT_CONVENTION (@var{gcc_p}, @var{type})
3419@findex USE_STRUCT_CONVENTION
c906108c
SS
3420If defined, this must be an expression that is nonzero if a value of the
3421given @var{type} being returned from a function must have space
3422allocated for it on the stack. @var{gcc_p} is true if the function
3423being considered is known to have been compiled by GCC; this is helpful
3424for systems where GCC is known to use different calling convention than
3425other compilers.
3426
56caf160
EZ
3427@item VARIABLES_INSIDE_BLOCK (@var{desc}, @var{gcc_p})
3428@findex VARIABLES_INSIDE_BLOCK
c906108c
SS
3429For dbx-style debugging information, if the compiler puts variable
3430declarations inside LBRAC/RBRAC blocks, this should be defined to be
3431nonzero. @var{desc} is the value of @code{n_desc} from the
25822942 3432@code{N_RBRAC} symbol, and @var{gcc_p} is true if @value{GDBN} has noticed the
c906108c
SS
3433presence of either the @code{GCC_COMPILED_SYMBOL} or the
3434@code{GCC2_COMPILED_SYMBOL}. By default, this is 0.
3435
56caf160
EZ
3436@item OS9K_VARIABLES_INSIDE_BLOCK (@var{desc}, @var{gcc_p})
3437@findex OS9K_VARIABLES_INSIDE_BLOCK
c906108c 3438Similarly, for OS/9000. Defaults to 1.
c906108c
SS
3439@end table
3440
3441Motorola M68K target conditionals.
3442
56caf160 3443@ftable @code
c906108c
SS
3444@item BPT_VECTOR
3445Define this to be the 4-bit location of the breakpoint trap vector. If
3446not defined, it will default to @code{0xf}.
3447
3448@item REMOTE_BPT_VECTOR
3449Defaults to @code{1}.
56caf160 3450@end ftable
c906108c
SS
3451
3452@section Adding a New Target
3453
56caf160 3454@cindex adding a target
25822942 3455The following files define a target to @value{GDBN}:
c906108c
SS
3456
3457@table @file
56caf160 3458@vindex TDEPFILES
c906108c
SS
3459@item gdb/config/@var{arch}/@var{ttt}.mt
3460Contains a Makefile fragment specific to this target. Specifies what
3461object files are needed for target @var{ttt}, by defining
104c1213
JM
3462@samp{TDEPFILES=@dots{}} and @samp{TDEPLIBS=@dots{}}. Also specifies
3463the header file which describes @var{ttt}, by defining @samp{TM_FILE=
3464tm-@var{ttt}.h}.
3465
3466You can also define @samp{TM_CFLAGS}, @samp{TM_CLIBS}, @samp{TM_CDEPS},
3467but these are now deprecated, replaced by autoconf, and may go away in
25822942 3468future versions of @value{GDBN}.
c906108c
SS
3469
3470@item gdb/config/@var{arch}/tm-@var{ttt}.h
56caf160 3471(@file{tm.h} is a link to this file, created by @code{configure}). Contains
c906108c
SS
3472macro definitions about the target machine's registers, stack frame
3473format and instructions.
3474
3475@item gdb/@var{ttt}-tdep.c
3476Contains any miscellaneous code required for this target machine. On
3477some machines it doesn't exist at all. Sometimes the macros in
3478@file{tm-@var{ttt}.h} become very complicated, so they are implemented
3479as functions here instead, and the macro is simply defined to call the
3480function. This is vastly preferable, since it is easier to understand
3481and debug.
3482
3483@item gdb/config/@var{arch}/tm-@var{arch}.h
3484This often exists to describe the basic layout of the target machine's
56caf160 3485processor chip (registers, stack, etc.). If used, it is included by
c906108c
SS
3486@file{tm-@var{ttt}.h}. It can be shared among many targets that use the
3487same processor.
3488
3489@item gdb/@var{arch}-tdep.c
3490Similarly, there are often common subroutines that are shared by all
3491target machines that use this particular architecture.
c906108c
SS
3492@end table
3493
3494If you are adding a new operating system for an existing CPU chip, add a
3495@file{config/tm-@var{os}.h} file that describes the operating system
3496facilities that are unusual (extra symbol table info; the breakpoint
56caf160 3497instruction needed; etc.). Then write a @file{@var{arch}/tm-@var{os}.h}
c906108c
SS
3498that just @code{#include}s @file{tm-@var{arch}.h} and
3499@file{config/tm-@var{os}.h}.
3500
3501
3502@node Target Vector Definition
3503
3504@chapter Target Vector Definition
56caf160 3505@cindex target vector
c906108c 3506
56caf160
EZ
3507The target vector defines the interface between @value{GDBN}'s
3508abstract handling of target systems, and the nitty-gritty code that
3509actually exercises control over a process or a serial port.
3510@value{GDBN} includes some 30-40 different target vectors; however,
3511each configuration of @value{GDBN} includes only a few of them.
c906108c
SS
3512
3513@section File Targets
3514
3515Both executables and core files have target vectors.
3516
3517@section Standard Protocol and Remote Stubs
3518
56caf160
EZ
3519@value{GDBN}'s file @file{remote.c} talks a serial protocol to code
3520that runs in the target system. @value{GDBN} provides several sample
3521@dfn{stubs} that can be integrated into target programs or operating
3522systems for this purpose; they are named @file{*-stub.c}.
c906108c 3523
56caf160
EZ
3524The @value{GDBN} user's manual describes how to put such a stub into
3525your target code. What follows is a discussion of integrating the
3526SPARC stub into a complicated operating system (rather than a simple
3527program), by Stu Grossman, the author of this stub.
c906108c
SS
3528
3529The trap handling code in the stub assumes the following upon entry to
56caf160 3530@code{trap_low}:
c906108c
SS
3531
3532@enumerate
56caf160
EZ
3533@item
3534%l1 and %l2 contain pc and npc respectively at the time of the trap;
c906108c 3535
56caf160
EZ
3536@item
3537traps are disabled;
c906108c 3538
56caf160
EZ
3539@item
3540you are in the correct trap window.
c906108c
SS
3541@end enumerate
3542
3543As long as your trap handler can guarantee those conditions, then there
56caf160 3544is no reason why you shouldn't be able to ``share'' traps with the stub.
c906108c
SS
3545The stub has no requirement that it be jumped to directly from the
3546hardware trap vector. That is why it calls @code{exceptionHandler()},
3547which is provided by the external environment. For instance, this could
56caf160 3548set up the hardware traps to actually execute code which calls the stub
c906108c
SS
3549first, and then transfers to its own trap handler.
3550
3551For the most point, there probably won't be much of an issue with
56caf160 3552``sharing'' traps, as the traps we use are usually not used by the kernel,
c906108c
SS
3553and often indicate unrecoverable error conditions. Anyway, this is all
3554controlled by a table, and is trivial to modify. The most important
3555trap for us is for @code{ta 1}. Without that, we can't single step or
3556do breakpoints. Everything else is unnecessary for the proper operation
3557of the debugger/stub.
3558
3559From reading the stub, it's probably not obvious how breakpoints work.
25822942 3560They are simply done by deposit/examine operations from @value{GDBN}.
c906108c
SS
3561
3562@section ROM Monitor Interface
3563
3564@section Custom Protocols
3565
3566@section Transport Layer
3567
3568@section Builtin Simulator
3569
3570
3571@node Native Debugging
3572
3573@chapter Native Debugging
56caf160 3574@cindex native debugging
c906108c 3575
25822942 3576Several files control @value{GDBN}'s configuration for native support:
c906108c
SS
3577
3578@table @file
56caf160 3579@vindex NATDEPFILES
c906108c
SS
3580@item gdb/config/@var{arch}/@var{xyz}.mh
3581Specifies Makefile fragments needed when hosting @emph{or native} on
3582machine @var{xyz}. In particular, this lists the required
3583native-dependent object files, by defining @samp{NATDEPFILES=@dots{}}.
3584Also specifies the header file which describes native support on
3585@var{xyz}, by defining @samp{NAT_FILE= nm-@var{xyz}.h}. You can also
3586define @samp{NAT_CFLAGS}, @samp{NAT_ADD_FILES}, @samp{NAT_CLIBS},
3587@samp{NAT_CDEPS}, etc.; see @file{Makefile.in}.
3588
3589@item gdb/config/@var{arch}/nm-@var{xyz}.h
56caf160 3590(@file{nm.h} is a link to this file, created by @code{configure}). Contains C
c906108c
SS
3591macro definitions describing the native system environment, such as
3592child process control and core file support.
3593
3594@item gdb/@var{xyz}-nat.c
3595Contains any miscellaneous C code required for this native support of
3596this machine. On some machines it doesn't exist at all.
c906108c
SS
3597@end table
3598
3599There are some ``generic'' versions of routines that can be used by
3600various systems. These can be customized in various ways by macros
3601defined in your @file{nm-@var{xyz}.h} file. If these routines work for
3602the @var{xyz} host, you can just include the generic file's name (with
3603@samp{.o}, not @samp{.c}) in @code{NATDEPFILES}.
3604
3605Otherwise, if your machine needs custom support routines, you will need
3606to write routines that perform the same functions as the generic file.
56caf160 3607Put them into @file{@var{xyz}-nat.c}, and put @file{@var{xyz}-nat.o}
c906108c
SS
3608into @code{NATDEPFILES}.
3609
3610@table @file
c906108c
SS
3611@item inftarg.c
3612This contains the @emph{target_ops vector} that supports Unix child
3613processes on systems which use ptrace and wait to control the child.
3614
3615@item procfs.c
3616This contains the @emph{target_ops vector} that supports Unix child
3617processes on systems which use /proc to control the child.
3618
3619@item fork-child.c
56caf160
EZ
3620This does the low-level grunge that uses Unix system calls to do a ``fork
3621and exec'' to start up a child process.
c906108c
SS
3622
3623@item infptrace.c
3624This is the low level interface to inferior processes for systems using
3625the Unix @code{ptrace} call in a vanilla way.
c906108c
SS
3626@end table
3627
3628@section Native core file Support
56caf160 3629@cindex native core files
c906108c
SS
3630
3631@table @file
56caf160 3632@findex fetch_core_registers
c906108c
SS
3633@item core-aout.c::fetch_core_registers()
3634Support for reading registers out of a core file. This routine calls
3635@code{register_addr()}, see below. Now that BFD is used to read core
3636files, virtually all machines should use @code{core-aout.c}, and should
3637just provide @code{fetch_core_registers} in @code{@var{xyz}-nat.c} (or
3638@code{REGISTER_U_ADDR} in @code{nm-@var{xyz}.h}).
3639
3640@item core-aout.c::register_addr()
3641If your @code{nm-@var{xyz}.h} file defines the macro
3642@code{REGISTER_U_ADDR(addr, blockend, regno)}, it should be defined to
25822942 3643set @code{addr} to the offset within the @samp{user} struct of @value{GDBN}
c906108c
SS
3644register number @code{regno}. @code{blockend} is the offset within the
3645``upage'' of @code{u.u_ar0}. If @code{REGISTER_U_ADDR} is defined,
3646@file{core-aout.c} will define the @code{register_addr()} function and
3647use the macro in it. If you do not define @code{REGISTER_U_ADDR}, but
3648you are using the standard @code{fetch_core_registers()}, you will need
3649to define your own version of @code{register_addr()}, put it into your
3650@code{@var{xyz}-nat.c} file, and be sure @code{@var{xyz}-nat.o} is in
3651the @code{NATDEPFILES} list. If you have your own
3652@code{fetch_core_registers()}, you may not need a separate
3653@code{register_addr()}. Many custom @code{fetch_core_registers()}
3654implementations simply locate the registers themselves.@refill
c906108c
SS
3655@end table
3656
25822942 3657When making @value{GDBN} run native on a new operating system, to make it
c906108c
SS
3658possible to debug core files, you will need to either write specific
3659code for parsing your OS's core files, or customize
3660@file{bfd/trad-core.c}. First, use whatever @code{#include} files your
3661machine uses to define the struct of registers that is accessible
3662(possibly in the u-area) in a core file (rather than
3663@file{machine/reg.h}), and an include file that defines whatever header
56caf160
EZ
3664exists on a core file (e.g. the u-area or a @code{struct core}). Then
3665modify @code{trad_unix_core_file_p} to use these values to set up the
c906108c
SS
3666section information for the data segment, stack segment, any other
3667segments in the core file (perhaps shared library contents or control
3668information), ``registers'' segment, and if there are two discontiguous
3669sets of registers (e.g. integer and float), the ``reg2'' segment. This
3670section information basically delimits areas in the core file in a
3671standard way, which the section-reading routines in BFD know how to seek
3672around in.
3673
25822942 3674Then back in @value{GDBN}, you need a matching routine called
56caf160 3675@code{fetch_core_registers}. If you can use the generic one, it's in
c906108c
SS
3676@file{core-aout.c}; if not, it's in your @file{@var{xyz}-nat.c} file.
3677It will be passed a char pointer to the entire ``registers'' segment,
3678its length, and a zero; or a char pointer to the entire ``regs2''
3679segment, its length, and a 2. The routine should suck out the supplied
25822942 3680register values and install them into @value{GDBN}'s ``registers'' array.
c906108c
SS
3681
3682If your system uses @file{/proc} to control processes, and uses ELF
3683format core files, then you may be able to use the same routines for
3684reading the registers out of processes and out of core files.
3685
3686@section ptrace
3687
3688@section /proc
3689
3690@section win32
3691
3692@section shared libraries
3693
3694@section Native Conditionals
56caf160 3695@cindex native conditionals
c906108c 3696
56caf160
EZ
3697When @value{GDBN} is configured and compiled, various macros are
3698defined or left undefined, to control compilation when the host and
3699target systems are the same. These macros should be defined (or left
3700undefined) in @file{nm-@var{system}.h}.
c906108c
SS
3701
3702@table @code
c906108c 3703@item ATTACH_DETACH
56caf160 3704@findex ATTACH_DETACH
25822942 3705If defined, then @value{GDBN} will include support for the @code{attach} and
c906108c
SS
3706@code{detach} commands.
3707
3708@item CHILD_PREPARE_TO_STORE
56caf160 3709@findex CHILD_PREPARE_TO_STORE
c906108c
SS
3710If the machine stores all registers at once in the child process, then
3711define this to ensure that all values are correct. This usually entails
3712a read from the child.
3713
3714[Note that this is incorrectly defined in @file{xm-@var{system}.h} files
3715currently.]
3716
3717@item FETCH_INFERIOR_REGISTERS
56caf160 3718@findex FETCH_INFERIOR_REGISTERS
c906108c
SS
3719Define this if the native-dependent code will provide its own routines
3720@code{fetch_inferior_registers} and @code{store_inferior_registers} in
56caf160 3721@file{@var{host}-nat.c}. If this symbol is @emph{not} defined, and
c906108c
SS
3722@file{infptrace.c} is included in this configuration, the default
3723routines in @file{infptrace.c} are used for these functions.
3724
3725@item FILES_INFO_HOOK
56caf160 3726@findex FILES_INFO_HOOK
c906108c
SS
3727(Only defined for Convex.)
3728
3729@item FP0_REGNUM
56caf160 3730@findex FP0_REGNUM
c906108c
SS
3731This macro is normally defined to be the number of the first floating
3732point register, if the machine has such registers. As such, it would
56caf160 3733appear only in target-specific code. However, @file{/proc} support uses this
c906108c
SS
3734to decide whether floats are in use on this target.
3735
3736@item GET_LONGJMP_TARGET
56caf160 3737@findex GET_LONGJMP_TARGET
c906108c
SS
3738For most machines, this is a target-dependent parameter. On the
3739DECstation and the Iris, this is a native-dependent parameter, since
56caf160 3740@file{setjmp.h} is needed to define it.
c906108c 3741
56caf160 3742This macro determines the target PC address that @code{longjmp} will jump to,
c906108c 3743assuming that we have just stopped at a longjmp breakpoint. It takes a
56caf160 3744@code{CORE_ADDR *} as argument, and stores the target PC value through this
c906108c
SS
3745pointer. It examines the current state of the machine as needed.
3746
9742079a
EZ
3747@item I386_USE_GENERIC_WATCHPOINTS
3748An x86-based machine can define this to use the generic x86 watchpoint
3749support; see @ref{Algorithms, I386_USE_GENERIC_WATCHPOINTS}.
3750
c906108c 3751@item KERNEL_U_ADDR
56caf160 3752@findex KERNEL_U_ADDR
c906108c 3753Define this to the address of the @code{u} structure (the ``user
25822942 3754struct'', also known as the ``u-page'') in kernel virtual memory. @value{GDBN}
c906108c
SS
3755needs to know this so that it can subtract this address from absolute
3756addresses in the upage, that are obtained via ptrace or from core files.
3757On systems that don't need this value, set it to zero.
3758
3759@item KERNEL_U_ADDR_BSD
56caf160 3760@findex KERNEL_U_ADDR_BSD
25822942 3761Define this to cause @value{GDBN} to determine the address of @code{u} at
c906108c
SS
3762runtime, by using Berkeley-style @code{nlist} on the kernel's image in
3763the root directory.
3764
3765@item KERNEL_U_ADDR_HPUX
56caf160 3766@findex KERNEL_U_ADDR_HPUX
25822942 3767Define this to cause @value{GDBN} to determine the address of @code{u} at
c906108c
SS
3768runtime, by using HP-style @code{nlist} on the kernel's image in the
3769root directory.
3770
3771@item ONE_PROCESS_WRITETEXT
56caf160 3772@findex ONE_PROCESS_WRITETEXT
c906108c
SS
3773Define this to be able to, when a breakpoint insertion fails, warn the
3774user that another process may be running with the same executable.
3775
56caf160
EZ
3776@item PREPARE_TO_PROCEED (@var{select_it})
3777@findex PREPARE_TO_PROCEED
adf40b2e
JM
3778This (ugly) macro allows a native configuration to customize the way the
3779@code{proceed} function in @file{infrun.c} deals with switching between
3780threads.
3781
3782In a multi-threaded task we may select another thread and then continue
3783or step. But if the old thread was stopped at a breakpoint, it will
3784immediately cause another breakpoint stop without any execution (i.e. it
25822942 3785will report a breakpoint hit incorrectly). So @value{GDBN} must step over it
adf40b2e
JM
3786first.
3787
3788If defined, @code{PREPARE_TO_PROCEED} should check the current thread
3789against the thread that reported the most recent event. If a step-over
3790is required, it returns TRUE. If @var{select_it} is non-zero, it should
3791reselect the old thread.
3792
c906108c 3793@item PROC_NAME_FMT
56caf160 3794@findex PROC_NAME_FMT
c906108c
SS
3795Defines the format for the name of a @file{/proc} device. Should be
3796defined in @file{nm.h} @emph{only} in order to override the default
3797definition in @file{procfs.c}.
3798
3799@item PTRACE_FP_BUG
56caf160
EZ
3800@findex PTRACE_FP_BUG
3801See @file{mach386-xdep.c}.
c906108c
SS
3802
3803@item PTRACE_ARG3_TYPE
56caf160 3804@findex PTRACE_ARG3_TYPE
c906108c
SS
3805The type of the third argument to the @code{ptrace} system call, if it
3806exists and is different from @code{int}.
3807
3808@item REGISTER_U_ADDR
56caf160 3809@findex REGISTER_U_ADDR
c906108c
SS
3810Defines the offset of the registers in the ``u area''.
3811
3812@item SHELL_COMMAND_CONCAT
56caf160 3813@findex SHELL_COMMAND_CONCAT
c906108c
SS
3814If defined, is a string to prefix on the shell command used to start the
3815inferior.
3816
3817@item SHELL_FILE
56caf160 3818@findex SHELL_FILE
c906108c
SS
3819If defined, this is the name of the shell to use to run the inferior.
3820Defaults to @code{"/bin/sh"}.
3821
56caf160
EZ
3822@item SOLIB_ADD (@var{filename}, @var{from_tty}, @var{targ})
3823@findex SOLIB_ADD
c906108c 3824Define this to expand into an expression that will cause the symbols in
25822942 3825@var{filename} to be added to @value{GDBN}'s symbol table.
c906108c
SS
3826
3827@item SOLIB_CREATE_INFERIOR_HOOK
56caf160 3828@findex SOLIB_CREATE_INFERIOR_HOOK
c906108c
SS
3829Define this to expand into any shared-library-relocation code that you
3830want to be run just after the child process has been forked.
3831
3832@item START_INFERIOR_TRAPS_EXPECTED
56caf160
EZ
3833@findex START_INFERIOR_TRAPS_EXPECTED
3834When starting an inferior, @value{GDBN} normally expects to trap
3835twice; once when
c906108c
SS
3836the shell execs, and once when the program itself execs. If the actual
3837number of traps is something other than 2, then define this macro to
3838expand into the number expected.
3839
3840@item SVR4_SHARED_LIBS
56caf160 3841@findex SVR4_SHARED_LIBS
c906108c
SS
3842Define this to indicate that SVR4-style shared libraries are in use.
3843
3844@item USE_PROC_FS
56caf160 3845@findex USE_PROC_FS
c906108c 3846This determines whether small routines in @file{*-tdep.c}, which
56caf160
EZ
3847translate register values between @value{GDBN}'s internal
3848representation and the @file{/proc} representation, are compiled.
c906108c
SS
3849
3850@item U_REGS_OFFSET
56caf160 3851@findex U_REGS_OFFSET
c906108c
SS
3852This is the offset of the registers in the upage. It need only be
3853defined if the generic ptrace register access routines in
3854@file{infptrace.c} are being used (that is, @file{infptrace.c} is
3855configured in, and @code{FETCH_INFERIOR_REGISTERS} is not defined). If
3856the default value from @file{infptrace.c} is good enough, leave it
3857undefined.
3858
3859The default value means that u.u_ar0 @emph{points to} the location of
3860the registers. I'm guessing that @code{#define U_REGS_OFFSET 0} means
56caf160 3861that @code{u.u_ar0} @emph{is} the location of the registers.
c906108c
SS
3862
3863@item CLEAR_SOLIB
56caf160
EZ
3864@findex CLEAR_SOLIB
3865See @file{objfiles.c}.
c906108c
SS
3866
3867@item DEBUG_PTRACE
56caf160
EZ
3868@findex DEBUG_PTRACE
3869Define this to debug @code{ptrace} calls.
c906108c
SS
3870@end table
3871
3872
3873@node Support Libraries
3874
3875@chapter Support Libraries
3876
3877@section BFD
56caf160 3878@cindex BFD library
c906108c 3879
25822942 3880BFD provides support for @value{GDBN} in several ways:
c906108c
SS
3881
3882@table @emph
c906108c
SS
3883@item identifying executable and core files
3884BFD will identify a variety of file types, including a.out, coff, and
3885several variants thereof, as well as several kinds of core files.
3886
3887@item access to sections of files
3888BFD parses the file headers to determine the names, virtual addresses,
3889sizes, and file locations of all the various named sections in files
56caf160
EZ
3890(such as the text section or the data section). @value{GDBN} simply
3891calls BFD to read or write section @var{x} at byte offset @var{y} for
3892length @var{z}.
c906108c
SS
3893
3894@item specialized core file support
3895BFD provides routines to determine the failing command name stored in a
3896core file, the signal with which the program failed, and whether a core
56caf160 3897file matches (i.e.@: could be a core dump of) a particular executable
c906108c
SS
3898file.
3899
3900@item locating the symbol information
25822942
DB
3901@value{GDBN} uses an internal interface of BFD to determine where to find the
3902symbol information in an executable file or symbol-file. @value{GDBN} itself
c906108c 3903handles the reading of symbols, since BFD does not ``understand'' debug
25822942 3904symbols, but @value{GDBN} uses BFD's cached information to find the symbols,
c906108c 3905string table, etc.
c906108c
SS
3906@end table
3907
3908@section opcodes
56caf160 3909@cindex opcodes library
c906108c 3910
25822942 3911The opcodes library provides @value{GDBN}'s disassembler. (It's a separate
c906108c
SS
3912library because it's also used in binutils, for @file{objdump}).
3913
3914@section readline
3915
3916@section mmalloc
3917
3918@section libiberty
3919
3920@section gnu-regex
56caf160 3921@cindex regular expressions library
c906108c
SS
3922
3923Regex conditionals.
3924
3925@table @code
c906108c
SS
3926@item C_ALLOCA
3927
3928@item NFAILURES
3929
3930@item RE_NREGS
3931
3932@item SIGN_EXTEND_CHAR
3933
3934@item SWITCH_ENUM_BUG
3935
3936@item SYNTAX_TABLE
3937
3938@item Sword
3939
3940@item sparc
c906108c
SS
3941@end table
3942
3943@section include
3944
3945@node Coding
3946
3947@chapter Coding
3948
3949This chapter covers topics that are lower-level than the major
25822942 3950algorithms of @value{GDBN}.
c906108c
SS
3951
3952@section Cleanups
56caf160 3953@cindex cleanups
c906108c
SS
3954
3955Cleanups are a structured way to deal with things that need to be done
3956later. When your code does something (like @code{malloc} some memory,
56caf160 3957or open a file) that needs to be undone later (e.g., free the memory or
c906108c
SS
3958close the file), it can make a cleanup. The cleanup will be done at
3959some future point: when the command is finished, when an error occurs,
3960or when your code decides it's time to do cleanups.
3961
3962You can also discard cleanups, that is, throw them away without doing
3963what they say. This is only done if you ask that it be done.
3964
3965Syntax:
3966
3967@table @code
c906108c
SS
3968@item struct cleanup *@var{old_chain};
3969Declare a variable which will hold a cleanup chain handle.
3970
56caf160 3971@findex make_cleanup
c906108c
SS
3972@item @var{old_chain} = make_cleanup (@var{function}, @var{arg});
3973Make a cleanup which will cause @var{function} to be called with
3974@var{arg} (a @code{char *}) later. The result, @var{old_chain}, is a
3975handle that can be passed to @code{do_cleanups} or
3976@code{discard_cleanups} later. Unless you are going to call
3977@code{do_cleanups} or @code{discard_cleanups} yourself, you can ignore
3978the result from @code{make_cleanup}.
3979
56caf160 3980@findex do_cleanups
c906108c
SS
3981@item do_cleanups (@var{old_chain});
3982Perform all cleanups done since @code{make_cleanup} returned
3983@var{old_chain}. E.g.:
56caf160 3984
c906108c
SS
3985@example
3986make_cleanup (a, 0);
3987old = make_cleanup (b, 0);
3988do_cleanups (old);
3989@end example
56caf160 3990
c906108c
SS
3991@noindent
3992will call @code{b()} but will not call @code{a()}. The cleanup that
3993calls @code{a()} will remain in the cleanup chain, and will be done
3994later unless otherwise discarded.@refill
3995
56caf160 3996@findex discard_cleanups
c906108c
SS
3997@item discard_cleanups (@var{old_chain});
3998Same as @code{do_cleanups} except that it just removes the cleanups from
3999the chain and does not call the specified functions.
c906108c
SS
4000@end table
4001
4002Some functions, e.g. @code{fputs_filtered()} or @code{error()}, specify
4003that they ``should not be called when cleanups are not in place''. This
4004means that any actions you need to reverse in the case of an error or
4005interruption must be on the cleanup chain before you call these
4006functions, since they might never return to your code (they
4007@samp{longjmp} instead).
4008
4009@section Wrapping Output Lines
56caf160 4010@cindex line wrap in output
c906108c 4011
56caf160 4012@findex wrap_here
c906108c
SS
4013Output that goes through @code{printf_filtered} or @code{fputs_filtered}
4014or @code{fputs_demangled} needs only to have calls to @code{wrap_here}
4015added in places that would be good breaking points. The utility
4016routines will take care of actually wrapping if the line width is
4017exceeded.
4018
4019The argument to @code{wrap_here} is an indentation string which is
4020printed @emph{only} if the line breaks there. This argument is saved
4021away and used later. It must remain valid until the next call to
4022@code{wrap_here} or until a newline has been printed through the
4023@code{*_filtered} functions. Don't pass in a local variable and then
4024return!
4025
56caf160 4026It is usually best to call @code{wrap_here} after printing a comma or
c906108c
SS
4027space. If you call it before printing a space, make sure that your
4028indentation properly accounts for the leading space that will print if
4029the line wraps there.
4030
4031Any function or set of functions that produce filtered output must
4032finish by printing a newline, to flush the wrap buffer, before switching
56caf160 4033to unfiltered (@code{printf}) output. Symbol reading routines that
c906108c
SS
4034print warnings are a good example.
4035
25822942 4036@section @value{GDBN} Coding Standards
56caf160 4037@cindex coding standards
c906108c 4038
25822942 4039@value{GDBN} follows the GNU coding standards, as described in
c906108c 4040@file{etc/standards.texi}. This file is also available for anonymous
25822942 4041FTP from GNU archive sites. @value{GDBN} takes a strict interpretation of the
c906108c 4042standard; in general, when the GNU standard recommends a practice but
25822942 4043does not require it, @value{GDBN} requires it.
c906108c 4044
56caf160
EZ
4045@value{GDBN} follows an additional set of coding standards specific to
4046@value{GDBN}, as described in the following sections.
c906108c 4047
56caf160 4048@cindex compiler warnings
3b851bce
AC
4049You can configure with @samp{--enable-build-warnings} or
4050@samp{--enable-gdb-build-warnings} to get GCC to check on a number of
4051these rules. @value{GDBN} sources ought not to engender any complaints,
4052unless they are caused by bogus host systems. (The exact set of enabled
4053warnings is currently @samp{-Wimplicit -Wreturn-type -Wcomment
4054-Wtrigraphs -Wformat -Wparentheses -Wpointer-arith -Wuninitialized}.
c906108c
SS
4055
4056@subsection Formatting
4057
56caf160 4058@cindex source code formatting
c906108c
SS
4059The standard GNU recommendations for formatting must be followed
4060strictly.
4061
4062Note that while in a definition, the function's name must be in column
4063zero; in a function declaration, the name must be on the same line as
4064the return type.
4065
4066In addition, there must be a space between a function or macro name and
4067the opening parenthesis of its argument list (except for macro
4068definitions, as required by C). There must not be a space after an open
4069paren/bracket or before a close paren/bracket.
4070
4071While additional whitespace is generally helpful for reading, do not use
4072more than one blank line to separate blocks, and avoid adding whitespace
4073after the end of a program line (as of 1/99, some 600 lines had whitespace
56caf160
EZ
4074after the semicolon). Excess whitespace causes difficulties for
4075@code{diff} and @code{patch} utilities.
c906108c
SS
4076
4077@subsection Comments
4078
56caf160 4079@cindex comment formatting
c906108c
SS
4080The standard GNU requirements on comments must be followed strictly.
4081
56caf160
EZ
4082Block comments must appear in the following form, with no @samp{/*}- or
4083@samp{*/}-only lines, and no leading @samp{*}:
c906108c 4084
56caf160 4085@example
c906108c
SS
4086/* Wait for control to return from inferior to debugger. If inferior
4087 gets a signal, we may decide to start it up again instead of
4088 returning. That is why there is a loop in this function. When
4089 this function actually returns it means the inferior should be left
25822942 4090 stopped and @value{GDBN} should read more commands. */
c906108c
SS
4091@end example
4092
4093(Note that this format is encouraged by Emacs; tabbing for a multi-line
56caf160 4094comment works correctly, and @kbd{M-q} fills the block consistently.)
c906108c
SS
4095
4096Put a blank line between the block comments preceding function or
4097variable definitions, and the definition itself.
4098
4099In general, put function-body comments on lines by themselves, rather
4100than trying to fit them into the 20 characters left at the end of a
4101line, since either the comment or the code will inevitably get longer
4102than will fit, and then somebody will have to move it anyhow.
4103
4104@subsection C Usage
4105
56caf160 4106@cindex C data types
c906108c
SS
4107Code must not depend on the sizes of C data types, the format of the
4108host's floating point numbers, the alignment of anything, or the order
4109of evaluation of expressions.
4110
56caf160 4111@cindex function usage
c906108c 4112Use functions freely. There are only a handful of compute-bound areas
56caf160
EZ
4113in @value{GDBN} that might be affected by the overhead of a function
4114call, mainly in symbol reading. Most of @value{GDBN}'s performance is
4115limited by the target interface (whether serial line or system call).
c906108c
SS
4116
4117However, use functions with moderation. A thousand one-line functions
4118are just as hard to understand as a single thousand-line function.
4119
4120@subsection Function Prototypes
4121
56caf160
EZ
4122@cindex function prototypes
4123Prototypes must be used to @emph{declare} functions, and may be used
4124to @emph{define} them. Prototypes for @value{GDBN} functions must
4125include both the argument type and name, with the name matching that
4126used in the actual function definition.
c906108c 4127
53a5351d
JM
4128All external functions should have a declaration in a header file that
4129callers include, except for @code{_initialize_*} functions, which must
4130be external so that @file{init.c} construction works, but shouldn't be
4131visible to random source files.
c906108c
SS
4132
4133All static functions must be declared in a block near the top of the
4134source file.
4135
4136@subsection Clean Design
4137
56caf160 4138@cindex design
c906108c 4139In addition to getting the syntax right, there's the little question of
25822942 4140semantics. Some things are done in certain ways in @value{GDBN} because long
c906108c
SS
4141experience has shown that the more obvious ways caused various kinds of
4142trouble.
4143
56caf160 4144@cindex assumptions about targets
c906108c
SS
4145You can't assume the byte order of anything that comes from a target
4146(including @var{value}s, object files, and instructions). Such things
56caf160
EZ
4147must be byte-swapped using @code{SWAP_TARGET_AND_HOST} in
4148@value{GDBN}, or one of the swap routines defined in @file{bfd.h},
4149such as @code{bfd_get_32}.
c906108c
SS
4150
4151You can't assume that you know what interface is being used to talk to
4152the target system. All references to the target must go through the
4153current @code{target_ops} vector.
4154
4155You can't assume that the host and target machines are the same machine
4156(except in the ``native'' support modules). In particular, you can't
4157assume that the target machine's header files will be available on the
4158host machine. Target code must bring along its own header files --
4159written from scratch or explicitly donated by their owner, to avoid
4160copyright problems.
4161
56caf160 4162@cindex portability
c906108c
SS
4163Insertion of new @code{#ifdef}'s will be frowned upon. It's much better
4164to write the code portably than to conditionalize it for various
4165systems.
4166
56caf160 4167@cindex system dependencies
c906108c
SS
4168New @code{#ifdef}'s which test for specific compilers or manufacturers
4169or operating systems are unacceptable. All @code{#ifdef}'s should test
4170for features. The information about which configurations contain which
4171features should be segregated into the configuration files. Experience
4172has proven far too often that a feature unique to one particular system
4173often creeps into other systems; and that a conditional based on some
4174predefined macro for your current system will become worthless over
4175time, as new versions of your system come out that behave differently
4176with regard to this feature.
4177
4178Adding code that handles specific architectures, operating systems,
4179target interfaces, or hosts, is not acceptable in generic code. If a
4180hook is needed at that point, invent a generic hook and define it for
4181your configuration, with something like:
4182
4183@example
4184#ifdef WRANGLE_SIGNALS
4185 WRANGLE_SIGNALS (signo);
4186#endif
4187@end example
4188
4189In your host, target, or native configuration file, as appropriate,
4190define @code{WRANGLE_SIGNALS} to do the machine-dependent thing. Take a
4191bit of care in defining the hook, so that it can be used by other ports
4192in the future, if they need a hook in the same place.
4193
56caf160 4194If the hook is not defined, the code should do whatever ``most'' machines
c906108c
SS
4195want. Using @code{#ifdef}, as above, is the preferred way to do this,
4196but sometimes that gets convoluted, in which case use
4197
4198@example
4199#ifndef SPECIAL_FOO_HANDLING
4200#define SPECIAL_FOO_HANDLING(pc, sp) (0)
4201#endif
4202@end example
4203
56caf160 4204@noindent
c906108c
SS
4205where the macro is used or in an appropriate header file.
4206
4207Whether to include a @dfn{small} hook, a hook around the exact pieces of
4208code which are system-dependent, or whether to replace a whole function
56caf160 4209with a hook, depends on the case. A good example of this dilemma can be
25822942 4210found in @code{get_saved_register}. All machines that @value{GDBN} 2.8 ran on
c906108c
SS
4211just needed the @code{FRAME_FIND_SAVED_REGS} hook to find the saved
4212registers. Then the SPARC and Pyramid came along, and
4213@code{HAVE_REGISTER_WINDOWS} and @code{REGISTER_IN_WINDOW_P} were
4214introduced. Then the 29k and 88k required the @code{GET_SAVED_REGISTER}
4215hook. The first three are examples of small hooks; the latter replaces
4216a whole function. In this specific case, it is useful to have both
4217kinds; it would be a bad idea to replace all the uses of the small hooks
4218with @code{GET_SAVED_REGISTER}, since that would result in much
4219duplicated code. Other times, duplicating a few lines of code here or
4220there is much cleaner than introducing a large number of small hooks.
4221
25822942
DB
4222Another way to generalize @value{GDBN} along a particular interface is with an
4223attribute struct. For example, @value{GDBN} has been generalized to handle
56caf160
EZ
4224multiple kinds of remote interfaces---not by @code{#ifdef}s everywhere, but
4225by defining the @code{target_ops} structure and having a current target (as
c906108c
SS
4226well as a stack of targets below it, for memory references). Whenever
4227something needs to be done that depends on which remote interface we are
56caf160
EZ
4228using, a flag in the current target_ops structure is tested (e.g.,
4229@code{target_has_stack}), or a function is called through a pointer in the
c906108c 4230current target_ops structure. In this way, when a new remote interface
56caf160 4231is added, only one module needs to be touched---the one that actually
c906108c
SS
4232implements the new remote interface. Other examples of
4233attribute-structs are BFD access to multiple kinds of object file
25822942 4234formats, or @value{GDBN}'s access to multiple source languages.
c906108c 4235
56caf160
EZ
4236Please avoid duplicating code. For example, in @value{GDBN} 3.x all
4237the code interfacing between @code{ptrace} and the rest of
4238@value{GDBN} was duplicated in @file{*-dep.c}, and so changing
4239something was very painful. In @value{GDBN} 4.x, these have all been
4240consolidated into @file{infptrace.c}. @file{infptrace.c} can deal
4241with variations between systems the same way any system-independent
4242file would (hooks, @code{#if defined}, etc.), and machines which are
4243radically different don't need to use @file{infptrace.c} at all.
c906108c 4244
56caf160 4245Don't put debugging @code{printf}s in the code.
c906108c 4246
8487521e 4247@node Porting GDB
c906108c 4248
25822942 4249@chapter Porting @value{GDBN}
56caf160 4250@cindex porting to new machines
c906108c 4251
56caf160
EZ
4252Most of the work in making @value{GDBN} compile on a new machine is in
4253specifying the configuration of the machine. This is done in a
4254dizzying variety of header files and configuration scripts, which we
4255hope to make more sensible soon. Let's say your new host is called an
4256@var{xyz} (e.g., @samp{sun4}), and its full three-part configuration
4257name is @code{@var{arch}-@var{xvend}-@var{xos}} (e.g.,
4258@samp{sparc-sun-sunos4}). In particular:
c906108c 4259
56caf160
EZ
4260@itemize @bullet
4261@item
c906108c
SS
4262In the top level directory, edit @file{config.sub} and add @var{arch},
4263@var{xvend}, and @var{xos} to the lists of supported architectures,
4264vendors, and operating systems near the bottom of the file. Also, add
4265@var{xyz} as an alias that maps to
4266@code{@var{arch}-@var{xvend}-@var{xos}}. You can test your changes by
4267running
4268
4269@example
4270./config.sub @var{xyz}
4271@end example
56caf160 4272
c906108c
SS
4273@noindent
4274and
56caf160 4275
c906108c
SS
4276@example
4277./config.sub @code{@var{arch}-@var{xvend}-@var{xos}}
4278@end example
56caf160 4279
c906108c
SS
4280@noindent
4281which should both respond with @code{@var{arch}-@var{xvend}-@var{xos}}
4282and no error messages.
4283
56caf160 4284@noindent
c906108c
SS
4285You need to port BFD, if that hasn't been done already. Porting BFD is
4286beyond the scope of this manual.
4287
56caf160 4288@item
25822942 4289To configure @value{GDBN} itself, edit @file{gdb/configure.host} to recognize
c906108c
SS
4290your system and set @code{gdb_host} to @var{xyz}, and (unless your
4291desired target is already available) also edit @file{gdb/configure.tgt},
4292setting @code{gdb_target} to something appropriate (for instance,
4293@var{xyz}).
4294
56caf160 4295@item
25822942 4296Finally, you'll need to specify and define @value{GDBN}'s host-, native-, and
c906108c
SS
4297target-dependent @file{.h} and @file{.c} files used for your
4298configuration.
56caf160 4299@end itemize
c906108c 4300
25822942 4301@section Configuring @value{GDBN} for Release
c906108c 4302
56caf160
EZ
4303@cindex preparing a release
4304@cindex making a distribution tarball
c906108c
SS
4305From the top level directory (containing @file{gdb}, @file{bfd},
4306@file{libiberty}, and so on):
56caf160 4307
c906108c
SS
4308@example
4309make -f Makefile.in gdb.tar.gz
4310@end example
4311
56caf160 4312@noindent
c906108c
SS
4313This will properly configure, clean, rebuild any files that are
4314distributed pre-built (e.g. @file{c-exp.tab.c} or @file{refcard.ps}),
4315and will then make a tarfile. (If the top level directory has already
4316been configured, you can just do @code{make gdb.tar.gz} instead.)
4317
4318This procedure requires:
56caf160 4319
c906108c 4320@itemize @bullet
56caf160
EZ
4321
4322@item
4323symbolic links;
4324
4325@item
4326@code{makeinfo} (texinfo2 level);
4327
4328@item
4329@TeX{};
4330
4331@item
4332@code{dvips};
4333
4334@item
4335@code{yacc} or @code{bison}.
c906108c 4336@end itemize
56caf160 4337
c906108c
SS
4338@noindent
4339@dots{} and the usual slew of utilities (@code{sed}, @code{tar}, etc.).
4340
4341@subheading TEMPORARY RELEASE PROCEDURE FOR DOCUMENTATION
4342
4343@file{gdb.texinfo} is currently marked up using the texinfo-2 macros,
4344which are not yet a default for anything (but we have to start using
4345them sometime).
4346
4347For making paper, the only thing this implies is the right generation of
4348@file{texinfo.tex} needs to be included in the distribution.
4349
4350For making info files, however, rather than duplicating the texinfo2
4351distribution, generate @file{gdb-all.texinfo} locally, and include the
4352files @file{gdb.info*} in the distribution. Note the plural;
4353@code{makeinfo} will split the document into one overall file and five
4354or so included files.
4355
085dd6e6
JM
4356@node Testsuite
4357
4358@chapter Testsuite
56caf160 4359@cindex test suite
085dd6e6 4360
56caf160
EZ
4361The testsuite is an important component of the @value{GDBN} package.
4362While it is always worthwhile to encourage user testing, in practice
4363this is rarely sufficient; users typically use only a small subset of
4364the available commands, and it has proven all too common for a change
4365to cause a significant regression that went unnoticed for some time.
085dd6e6 4366
56caf160
EZ
4367The @value{GDBN} testsuite uses the DejaGNU testing framework.
4368DejaGNU is built using @code{Tcl} and @code{expect}. The tests
4369themselves are calls to various @code{Tcl} procs; the framework runs all the
4370procs and summarizes the passes and fails.
085dd6e6
JM
4371
4372@section Using the Testsuite
4373
56caf160 4374@cindex running the test suite
25822942 4375To run the testsuite, simply go to the @value{GDBN} object directory (or to the
085dd6e6
JM
4376testsuite's objdir) and type @code{make check}. This just sets up some
4377environment variables and invokes DejaGNU's @code{runtest} script. While
4378the testsuite is running, you'll get mentions of which test file is in use,
4379and a mention of any unexpected passes or fails. When the testsuite is
4380finished, you'll get a summary that looks like this:
56caf160 4381
085dd6e6
JM
4382@example
4383 === gdb Summary ===
4384
4385# of expected passes 6016
4386# of unexpected failures 58
4387# of unexpected successes 5
4388# of expected failures 183
4389# of unresolved testcases 3
4390# of untested testcases 5
4391@end example
56caf160 4392
085dd6e6
JM
4393The ideal test run consists of expected passes only; however, reality
4394conspires to keep us from this ideal. Unexpected failures indicate
56caf160
EZ
4395real problems, whether in @value{GDBN} or in the testsuite. Expected
4396failures are still failures, but ones which have been decided are too
4397hard to deal with at the time; for instance, a test case might work
4398everywhere except on AIX, and there is no prospect of the AIX case
4399being fixed in the near future. Expected failures should not be added
4400lightly, since you may be masking serious bugs in @value{GDBN}.
4401Unexpected successes are expected fails that are passing for some
4402reason, while unresolved and untested cases often indicate some minor
4403catastrophe, such as the compiler being unable to deal with a test
4404program.
4405
4406When making any significant change to @value{GDBN}, you should run the
4407testsuite before and after the change, to confirm that there are no
4408regressions. Note that truly complete testing would require that you
4409run the testsuite with all supported configurations and a variety of
4410compilers; however this is more than really necessary. In many cases
4411testing with a single configuration is sufficient. Other useful
4412options are to test one big-endian (Sparc) and one little-endian (x86)
4413host, a cross config with a builtin simulator (powerpc-eabi,
4414mips-elf), or a 64-bit host (Alpha).
4415
4416If you add new functionality to @value{GDBN}, please consider adding
4417tests for it as well; this way future @value{GDBN} hackers can detect
4418and fix their changes that break the functionality you added.
4419Similarly, if you fix a bug that was not previously reported as a test
4420failure, please add a test case for it. Some cases are extremely
4421difficult to test, such as code that handles host OS failures or bugs
4422in particular versions of compilers, and it's OK not to try to write
4423tests for all of those.
085dd6e6
JM
4424
4425@section Testsuite Organization
4426
56caf160 4427@cindex test suite organization
085dd6e6
JM
4428The testsuite is entirely contained in @file{gdb/testsuite}. While the
4429testsuite includes some makefiles and configury, these are very minimal,
4430and used for little besides cleaning up, since the tests themselves
25822942 4431handle the compilation of the programs that @value{GDBN} will run. The file
085dd6e6 4432@file{testsuite/lib/gdb.exp} contains common utility procs useful for
25822942 4433all @value{GDBN} tests, while the directory @file{testsuite/config} contains
085dd6e6
JM
4434configuration-specific files, typically used for special-purpose
4435definitions of procs like @code{gdb_load} and @code{gdb_start}.
4436
4437The tests themselves are to be found in @file{testsuite/gdb.*} and
4438subdirectories of those. The names of the test files must always end
4439with @file{.exp}. DejaGNU collects the test files by wildcarding
4440in the test directories, so both subdirectories and individual files
4441get chosen and run in alphabetical order.
4442
4443The following table lists the main types of subdirectories and what they
4444are for. Since DejaGNU finds test files no matter where they are
4445located, and since each test file sets up its own compilation and
4446execution environment, this organization is simply for convenience and
4447intelligibility.
4448
56caf160 4449@table @file
085dd6e6 4450@item gdb.base
085dd6e6 4451This is the base testsuite. The tests in it should apply to all
25822942 4452configurations of @value{GDBN} (but generic native-only tests may live here).
085dd6e6 4453The test programs should be in the subset of C that is valid K&R,
56caf160 4454ANSI/ISO, and C++ (@code{#ifdef}s are allowed if necessary, for instance
085dd6e6
JM
4455for prototypes).
4456
4457@item gdb.@var{lang}
56caf160 4458Language-specific tests for any language @var{lang} besides C. Examples are
085dd6e6
JM
4459@file{gdb.c++} and @file{gdb.java}.
4460
4461@item gdb.@var{platform}
085dd6e6
JM
4462Non-portable tests. The tests are specific to a specific configuration
4463(host or target), such as HP-UX or eCos. Example is @file{gdb.hp}, for
4464HP-UX.
4465
4466@item gdb.@var{compiler}
085dd6e6
JM
4467Tests specific to a particular compiler. As of this writing (June
44681999), there aren't currently any groups of tests in this category that
4469couldn't just as sensibly be made platform-specific, but one could
56caf160
EZ
4470imagine a @file{gdb.gcc}, for tests of @value{GDBN}'s handling of GCC
4471extensions.
085dd6e6
JM
4472
4473@item gdb.@var{subsystem}
25822942 4474Tests that exercise a specific @value{GDBN} subsystem in more depth. For
085dd6e6
JM
4475instance, @file{gdb.disasm} exercises various disassemblers, while
4476@file{gdb.stabs} tests pathways through the stabs symbol reader.
085dd6e6
JM
4477@end table
4478
4479@section Writing Tests
56caf160 4480@cindex writing tests
085dd6e6 4481
25822942 4482In many areas, the @value{GDBN} tests are already quite comprehensive; you
085dd6e6
JM
4483should be able to copy existing tests to handle new cases.
4484
4485You should try to use @code{gdb_test} whenever possible, since it
4486includes cases to handle all the unexpected errors that might happen.
4487However, it doesn't cost anything to add new test procedures; for
4488instance, @file{gdb.base/exprs.exp} defines a @code{test_expr} that
4489calls @code{gdb_test} multiple times.
4490
4491Only use @code{send_gdb} and @code{gdb_expect} when absolutely
25822942 4492necessary, such as when @value{GDBN} has several valid responses to a command.
085dd6e6
JM
4493
4494The source language programs do @emph{not} need to be in a consistent
25822942 4495style. Since @value{GDBN} is used to debug programs written in many different
085dd6e6 4496styles, it's worth having a mix of styles in the testsuite; for
25822942 4497instance, some @value{GDBN} bugs involving the display of source lines would
085dd6e6
JM
4498never manifest themselves if the programs used GNU coding style
4499uniformly.
4500
c906108c
SS
4501@node Hints
4502
4503@chapter Hints
4504
4505Check the @file{README} file, it often has useful information that does not
4506appear anywhere else in the directory.
4507
4508@menu
25822942 4509* Getting Started:: Getting started working on @value{GDBN}
33e16fad 4510* Debugging GDB:: Debugging @value{GDBN} with itself
c906108c
SS
4511@end menu
4512
4513@node Getting Started,,, Hints
4514
4515@section Getting Started
4516
25822942 4517@value{GDBN} is a large and complicated program, and if you first starting to
c906108c
SS
4518work on it, it can be hard to know where to start. Fortunately, if you
4519know how to go about it, there are ways to figure out what is going on.
4520
25822942
DB
4521This manual, the @value{GDBN} Internals manual, has information which applies
4522generally to many parts of @value{GDBN}.
c906108c
SS
4523
4524Information about particular functions or data structures are located in
4525comments with those functions or data structures. If you run across a
4526function or a global variable which does not have a comment correctly
25822942 4527explaining what is does, this can be thought of as a bug in @value{GDBN}; feel
c906108c
SS
4528free to submit a bug report, with a suggested comment if you can figure
4529out what the comment should say. If you find a comment which is
4530actually wrong, be especially sure to report that.
4531
4532Comments explaining the function of macros defined in host, target, or
4533native dependent files can be in several places. Sometimes they are
4534repeated every place the macro is defined. Sometimes they are where the
4535macro is used. Sometimes there is a header file which supplies a
4536default definition of the macro, and the comment is there. This manual
4537also documents all the available macros.
4538@c (@pxref{Host Conditionals}, @pxref{Target
4539@c Conditionals}, @pxref{Native Conditionals}, and @pxref{Obsolete
4540@c Conditionals})
4541
56caf160
EZ
4542Start with the header files. Once you have some idea of how
4543@value{GDBN}'s internal symbol tables are stored (see @file{symtab.h},
4544@file{gdbtypes.h}), you will find it much easier to understand the
4545code which uses and creates those symbol tables.
c906108c
SS
4546
4547You may wish to process the information you are getting somehow, to
4548enhance your understanding of it. Summarize it, translate it to another
25822942 4549language, add some (perhaps trivial or non-useful) feature to @value{GDBN}, use
c906108c
SS
4550the code to predict what a test case would do and write the test case
4551and verify your prediction, etc. If you are reading code and your eyes
4552are starting to glaze over, this is a sign you need to use a more active
4553approach.
4554
25822942 4555Once you have a part of @value{GDBN} to start with, you can find more
c906108c
SS
4556specifically the part you are looking for by stepping through each
4557function with the @code{next} command. Do not use @code{step} or you
4558will quickly get distracted; when the function you are stepping through
4559calls another function try only to get a big-picture understanding
4560(perhaps using the comment at the beginning of the function being
4561called) of what it does. This way you can identify which of the
4562functions being called by the function you are stepping through is the
4563one which you are interested in. You may need to examine the data
4564structures generated at each stage, with reference to the comments in
4565the header files explaining what the data structures are supposed to
4566look like.
4567
4568Of course, this same technique can be used if you are just reading the
4569code, rather than actually stepping through it. The same general
4570principle applies---when the code you are looking at calls something
4571else, just try to understand generally what the code being called does,
4572rather than worrying about all its details.
4573
56caf160
EZ
4574@cindex command implementation
4575A good place to start when tracking down some particular area is with
4576a command which invokes that feature. Suppose you want to know how
4577single-stepping works. As a @value{GDBN} user, you know that the
4578@code{step} command invokes single-stepping. The command is invoked
4579via command tables (see @file{command.h}); by convention the function
4580which actually performs the command is formed by taking the name of
4581the command and adding @samp{_command}, or in the case of an
4582@code{info} subcommand, @samp{_info}. For example, the @code{step}
4583command invokes the @code{step_command} function and the @code{info
4584display} command invokes @code{display_info}. When this convention is
4585not followed, you might have to use @code{grep} or @kbd{M-x
4586tags-search} in emacs, or run @value{GDBN} on itself and set a
4587breakpoint in @code{execute_command}.
4588
4589@cindex @code{bug-gdb} mailing list
c906108c
SS
4590If all of the above fail, it may be appropriate to ask for information
4591on @code{bug-gdb}. But @emph{never} post a generic question like ``I was
4592wondering if anyone could give me some tips about understanding
25822942 4593@value{GDBN}''---if we had some magic secret we would put it in this manual.
c906108c
SS
4594Suggestions for improving the manual are always welcome, of course.
4595
33e16fad 4596@node Debugging GDB,,,Hints
c906108c 4597
25822942 4598@section Debugging @value{GDBN} with itself
56caf160 4599@cindex debugging @value{GDBN}
c906108c 4600
25822942 4601If @value{GDBN} is limping on your machine, this is the preferred way to get it
c906108c
SS
4602fully functional. Be warned that in some ancient Unix systems, like
4603Ultrix 4.2, a program can't be running in one process while it is being
56caf160 4604debugged in another. Rather than typing the command @kbd{@w{./gdb
c906108c 4605./gdb}}, which works on Suns and such, you can copy @file{gdb} to
56caf160 4606@file{gdb2} and then type @kbd{@w{./gdb ./gdb2}}.
c906108c 4607
25822942 4608When you run @value{GDBN} in the @value{GDBN} source directory, it will read a
c906108c
SS
4609@file{.gdbinit} file that sets up some simple things to make debugging
4610gdb easier. The @code{info} command, when executed without a subcommand
25822942 4611in a @value{GDBN} being debugged by gdb, will pop you back up to the top level
c906108c
SS
4612gdb. See @file{.gdbinit} for details.
4613
4614If you use emacs, you will probably want to do a @code{make TAGS} after
4615you configure your distribution; this will put the machine dependent
4616routines for your local machine where they will be accessed first by
4617@kbd{M-.}
4618
25822942 4619Also, make sure that you've either compiled @value{GDBN} with your local cc, or
c906108c
SS
4620have run @code{fixincludes} if you are compiling with gcc.
4621
4622@section Submitting Patches
4623
56caf160 4624@cindex submitting patches
c906108c 4625Thanks for thinking of offering your changes back to the community of
25822942 4626@value{GDBN} users. In general we like to get well designed enhancements.
c906108c
SS
4627Thanks also for checking in advance about the best way to transfer the
4628changes.
4629
25822942
DB
4630The @value{GDBN} maintainers will only install ``cleanly designed'' patches.
4631This manual summarizes what we believe to be clean design for @value{GDBN}.
c906108c
SS
4632
4633If the maintainers don't have time to put the patch in when it arrives,
4634or if there is any question about a patch, it goes into a large queue
4635with everyone else's patches and bug reports.
4636
56caf160 4637@cindex legal papers for code contributions
c906108c
SS
4638The legal issue is that to incorporate substantial changes requires a
4639copyright assignment from you and/or your employer, granting ownership
4640of the changes to the Free Software Foundation. You can get the
9e0b60a8
JM
4641standard documents for doing this by sending mail to @code{gnu@@gnu.org}
4642and asking for it. We recommend that people write in "All programs
4643owned by the Free Software Foundation" as "NAME OF PROGRAM", so that
56caf160
EZ
4644changes in many programs (not just @value{GDBN}, but GAS, Emacs, GCC,
4645etc) can be
9e0b60a8
JM
4646contributed with only one piece of legalese pushed through the
4647bureacracy and filed with the FSF. We can't start merging changes until
4648this paperwork is received by the FSF (their rules, which we follow
4649since we maintain it for them).
c906108c
SS
4650
4651Technically, the easiest way to receive changes is to receive each
56caf160
EZ
4652feature as a small context diff or unidiff, suitable for @code{patch}.
4653Each message sent to me should include the changes to C code and
4654header files for a single feature, plus @file{ChangeLog} entries for
4655each directory where files were modified, and diffs for any changes
4656needed to the manuals (@file{gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo} or
4657@file{gdb/doc/gdbint.texinfo}). If there are a lot of changes for a
4658single feature, they can be split down into multiple messages.
9e0b60a8
JM
4659
4660In this way, if we read and like the feature, we can add it to the
c906108c 4661sources with a single patch command, do some testing, and check it in.
56caf160
EZ
4662If you leave out the @file{ChangeLog}, we have to write one. If you leave
4663out the doc, we have to puzzle out what needs documenting. Etc., etc.
c906108c 4664
9e0b60a8
JM
4665The reason to send each change in a separate message is that we will not
4666install some of the changes. They'll be returned to you with questions
4667or comments. If we're doing our job correctly, the message back to you
c906108c 4668will say what you have to fix in order to make the change acceptable.
9e0b60a8
JM
4669The reason to have separate messages for separate features is so that
4670the acceptable changes can be installed while one or more changes are
4671being reworked. If multiple features are sent in a single message, we
4672tend to not put in the effort to sort out the acceptable changes from
4673the unacceptable, so none of the features get installed until all are
4674acceptable.
4675
4676If this sounds painful or authoritarian, well, it is. But we get a lot
4677of bug reports and a lot of patches, and many of them don't get
4678installed because we don't have the time to finish the job that the bug
c906108c
SS
4679reporter or the contributor could have done. Patches that arrive
4680complete, working, and well designed, tend to get installed on the day
9e0b60a8
JM
4681they arrive. The others go into a queue and get installed as time
4682permits, which, since the maintainers have many demands to meet, may not
4683be for quite some time.
c906108c 4684
56caf160
EZ
4685Please send patches directly to
4686@email{gdb-patches@@sourceware.cygnus.com, the @value{GDBN} maintainers}.
c906108c
SS
4687
4688@section Obsolete Conditionals
56caf160 4689@cindex obsolete code
c906108c 4690
25822942 4691Fragments of old code in @value{GDBN} sometimes reference or set the following
c906108c
SS
4692configuration macros. They should not be used by new code, and old uses
4693should be removed as those parts of the debugger are otherwise touched.
4694
4695@table @code
c906108c
SS
4696@item STACK_END_ADDR
4697This macro used to define where the end of the stack appeared, for use
4698in interpreting core file formats that don't record this address in the
25822942
DB
4699core file itself. This information is now configured in BFD, and @value{GDBN}
4700gets the info portably from there. The values in @value{GDBN}'s configuration
c906108c 4701files should be moved into BFD configuration files (if needed there),
25822942 4702and deleted from all of @value{GDBN}'s config files.
c906108c
SS
4703
4704Any @file{@var{foo}-xdep.c} file that references STACK_END_ADDR
4705is so old that it has never been converted to use BFD. Now that's old!
4706
4707@item PYRAMID_CONTROL_FRAME_DEBUGGING
4708pyr-xdep.c
4709@item PYRAMID_CORE
4710pyr-xdep.c
4711@item PYRAMID_PTRACE
4712pyr-xdep.c
4713
4714@item REG_STACK_SEGMENT
4715exec.c
4716
4717@end table
4718
56caf160
EZ
4719@node Index
4720@unnumbered Index
4721
4722@printindex cp
4723
449f3b6c
AC
4724@c TeX can handle the contents at the start but makeinfo 3.12 can not
4725@ifinfo
c906108c 4726@contents
449f3b6c
AC
4727@end ifinfo
4728@ifhtml
4729@contents
4730@end ifhtml
4731
c906108c 4732@bye
This page took 0.781092 seconds and 4 git commands to generate.