2 @setfilename gdbint.info
8 * Gdb-Internals: (gdbint). The GNU debugger's internals.
14 This file documents the internals of the GNU debugger GDB.
16 Copyright 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
17 Contributed by Cygnus Support. Written by John Gilmore.
19 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
20 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
21 are preserved on all copies.
24 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
25 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
26 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
27 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
30 Permission is granted to copy or distribute modified versions of this
31 manual under the terms of the GPL (for which purpose this text may be
32 regarded as a program in the language TeX).
35 @setchapternewpage off
36 @settitle GDB Internals
38 @title{Working in GDB}
39 @subtitle{A guide to the internals of the GNU debugger}
41 @author Cygnus Support
44 \def\$#1${{#1}} % Kluge: collect RCS revision info without $...$
45 \xdef\manvers{\$Revision$} % For use in headers, footers too
47 \hfill Cygnus Support\par
49 \hfill \TeX{}info \texinfoversion\par
53 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
54 Copyright @copyright{} 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
56 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
57 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
58 are preserved on all copies.
64 This documents the internals of the GNU debugger, GDB. It is a
65 collection of miscellaneous information with little form at this point.
66 Mostly, it is a repository into which you can put information about
67 GDB as you discover it (or as you design changes to GDB).
70 * README:: The README File
71 * New Architectures:: Defining a New Host or Target Architecture
72 * Config:: Adding a New Configuration
73 * Host:: Adding a New Host
74 * Native:: Adding a New Native Configuration
75 * Target:: Adding a New Target
76 * Languages:: Defining New Source Languages
77 * Releases:: Configuring GDB for Release
78 * Partial Symbol Tables:: How GDB reads symbols quickly at startup
79 * BFD support for GDB:: How BFD and GDB interface
80 * Symbol Reading:: Defining New Symbol Readers
82 * Wrapping:: Wrapping Output Lines
83 * Frames:: Keeping track of function calls
84 * Remote Stubs:: Code that runs in targets and talks to GDB
85 * Longjmp Support:: Stepping through longjmp's in the target
86 * Coding Style:: Strunk and White for GDB maintainers
87 * Clean Design:: Frank Lloyd Wright for GDB maintainers
88 * Submitting Patches:: How to get your changes into GDB releases
89 * Host Conditionals:: What features exist in the host
90 * Target Conditionals:: What features exist in the target
91 * Native Conditionals:: Conditionals for when host and target are same
92 * Obsolete Conditionals:: Conditionals that don't exist any more
93 * XCOFF:: The Object file format used on IBM's RS/6000
97 @chapter The @file{README} File
99 Check the @file{README} file, it often has useful information that does not
100 appear anywhere else in the directory.
103 @node New Architectures
104 @chapter Defining a New Host or Target Architecture
106 When building support for a new host and/or target, much of the work you
107 need to do is handled by specifying configuration files;
108 @pxref{Config,,Adding a New Configuration}. Further work can be
109 divided into ``host-dependent'' (@pxref{Host,,Adding a New Host}) and
110 ``target-dependent'' (@pxref{Target,,Adding a New Target}). The
111 following discussion is meant to explain the difference between hosts
114 @heading What is considered ``host-dependent'' versus ``target-dependent''?
116 @dfn{Host} refers to attributes of the system where GDB runs.
117 @dfn{Target} refers to the system where the program being debugged
118 executes. In most cases they are the same machine, in which case
119 a third type of @dfn{Native} attributes come into play.
121 Defines and include files needed to build on the host are host support.
122 Examples are tty support, system defined types, host byte order, host
125 Defines and information needed to handle the target format are target
126 dependent. Examples are the stack frame format, instruction set,
127 breakpoint instruction, registers, and how to set up and tear down the stack
130 Information that is only needed when the host and target are the same,
131 is native dependent. One example is Unix child process support; if the
132 host and target are not the same, doing a fork to start the target
133 process is a bad idea. The various macros needed for finding the
134 registers in the @code{upage}, running @code{ptrace}, and such are all in the
135 native-dependent files.
137 Another example of native-dependent code is support for features
138 that are really part of the target environment, but which require
139 @code{#include} files that are only available on the host system.
140 Core file handling and @code{setjmp} handling are two common cases.
142 When you want to make GDB work ``native'' on a particular
143 machine, you have to include all three kinds of information.
145 The dependent information in GDB is organized into files by naming
151 Sets Makefile parameters
153 Global #include's and #define's and definitions
155 Global variables and functions
158 Native-Dependent Files
161 Sets Makefile parameters (for @emph{both} host and native)
163 #include's and #define's and definitions. This file
164 is only included by the small number of modules that need it,
165 so beware of doing feature-test #define's from its macros.
167 global variables and functions
170 Target-Dependent Files
173 Sets Makefile parameters
175 Global #include's and #define's and definitions
177 Global variables and functions
180 At this writing, most supported hosts have had their host and native
181 dependencies sorted out properly. There are a few stragglers, which
182 can be recognized by the absence of NATDEPFILES lines in their
186 @chapter Adding a New Configuration
188 Most of the work in making GDB compile on a new machine is in specifying
189 the configuration of the machine. This is done in a dizzying variety of
190 header files and configuration scripts, which we hope to make more
191 sensible soon. Let's say your new host is called an @var{xxx} (e.g.
192 @samp{sun4}), and its full three-part configuration name is
193 @code{@var{xarch}-@var{xvend}-@var{xos}} (e.g. @samp{sparc-sun-sunos4}). In
196 In the top level directory, edit @file{config.sub} and add @var{xarch},
197 @var{xvend}, and @var{xos} to the lists of supported architectures,
198 vendors, and operating systems near the bottom of the file. Also, add
199 @var{xxx} as an alias that maps to
200 @code{@var{xarch}-@var{xvend}-@var{xos}}. You can test your changes by
204 ./config.sub @var{xxx}
209 ./config.sub @code{@var{xarch}-@var{xvend}-@var{xos}}
212 which should both respond with @code{@var{xarch}-@var{xvend}-@var{xos}}
213 and no error messages.
215 Now, go to the @file{bfd} directory and
216 create a new file @file{bfd/hosts/h-@var{xxx}.h}. Examine the
217 other @file{h-*.h} files as templates, and create one that brings in the
218 right include files for your system, and defines any host-specific
219 macros needed by BFD, the Binutils, GNU LD, or the Opcodes directories.
220 (They all share the bfd @file{hosts} directory and the @file{configure.host}
223 Then edit @file{bfd/configure.host}. Add a line to recognize your
224 @code{@var{xarch}-@var{xvend}-@var{xos}} configuration, and set
225 @code{my_host} to @var{xxx} when you recognize it. This will cause your
226 file @file{h-@var{xxx}.h} to be linked to @file{sysdep.h} at configuration
227 time. When creating the line that recognizes your configuration,
228 only match the fields that you really need to match; e.g. don't match
229 match the architecture or manufacturer if the OS is sufficient
230 to distinguish the configuration that your @file{h-@var{xxx}.h} file supports.
231 Don't match the manufacturer name unless you really need to.
232 This should make future ports easier.
234 Also, if this host requires any changes to the Makefile, create a file
235 @file{bfd/config/@var{xxx}.mh}, which includes the required lines.
237 It's possible that the @file{libiberty} and @file{readline} directories
238 won't need any changes for your configuration, but if they do, you can
239 change the @file{configure.in} file there to recognize your system and
240 map to an @file{mh-@var{xxx}} file. Then add @file{mh-@var{xxx}}
241 to the @file{config/} subdirectory, to set any makefile variables you
242 need. The only current options in there are things like @samp{-DSYSV}.
243 (This @file{mh-@var{xxx}} naming convention differs from elsewhere
244 in GDB, by historical accident. It should be cleaned up so that all
245 such files are called @file{@var{xxx}.mh}.)
247 Aha! Now to configure GDB itself! Edit
248 @file{gdb/configure.in} to recognize your system and set @code{gdb_host}
249 to @var{xxx}, and (unless your desired target is already available) also
250 set @code{gdb_target} to something appropriate (for instance,
251 @var{xxx}). To handle new hosts, modify the segment after the comment
252 @samp{# per-host}; to handle new targets, modify after @samp{#
254 @c Would it be simpler to just use different per-host and per-target
255 @c *scripts*, and call them from {configure} ?
257 Finally, you'll need to specify and define GDB's host-, native-, and
258 target-dependent @file{.h} and @file{.c} files used for your
259 configuration; the next two chapters discuss those.
263 @chapter Adding a New Host
265 Once you have specified a new configuration for your host
266 (@pxref{Config,,Adding a New Configuration}), there are three remaining
267 pieces to making GDB work on a new machine. First, you have to make it
268 host on the new machine (compile there, handle that machine's terminals
269 properly, etc). If you will be cross-debugging to some other kind of
270 system that's already supported, you are done.
272 If you want to use GDB to debug programs that run on the new machine,
273 you have to get it to understand the machine's object files, symbol
274 files, and interfaces to processes; @pxref{Target,,Adding a New Target}
275 and @pxref{Native,,Adding a New Native Configuration}
277 Several files control GDB's configuration for host systems:
280 @item gdb/config/mh-@var{xxx}
281 Specifies Makefile fragments needed when hosting on machine @var{xxx}.
282 In particular, this lists the required machine-dependent object files,
283 by defining @samp{XDEPFILES=@dots{}}. Also
284 specifies the header file which describes host @var{xxx}, by defining
285 @samp{XM_FILE= xm-@var{xxx}.h}. You can also define @samp{CC},
286 @samp{REGEX} and @samp{REGEX1}, @samp{SYSV_DEFINE}, @samp{XM_CFLAGS},
287 @samp{XM_ADD_FILES}, @samp{XM_CLIBS}, @samp{XM_CDEPS},
288 etc.; see @file{Makefile.in}.
290 @item gdb/xm-@var{xxx}.h
291 (@file{xm.h} is a link to this file, created by configure).
292 Contains C macro definitions describing the host system environment,
293 such as byte order, host C compiler and library, ptrace support,
294 and core file structure. Crib from existing @file{xm-*.h} files
297 @item gdb/@var{xxx}-xdep.c
298 Contains any miscellaneous C code required for this machine
299 as a host. On many machines it doesn't exist at all. If it does
300 exist, put @file{@var{xxx}-xdep.o} into the @code{XDEPFILES} line
301 in @file{gdb/config/mh-@var{xxx}}.
304 @subheading Generic Host Support Files
306 There are some ``generic'' versions of routines that can be used by
307 various systems. These can be customized in various ways by macros
308 defined in your @file{xm-@var{xxx}.h} file. If these routines work for
309 the @var{xxx} host, you can just include the generic file's name (with
310 @samp{.o}, not @samp{.c}) in @code{XDEPFILES}.
312 Otherwise, if your machine needs custom support routines, you will need
313 to write routines that perform the same functions as the generic file.
314 Put them into @code{@var{xxx}-xdep.c}, and put @code{@var{xxx}-xdep.o}
315 into @code{XDEPFILES}.
319 This contains serial line support for Berkeley-derived Unix systems.
322 This contains serial line support for 32-bit programs running under DOS
323 using the GO32 execution environment.
326 This contains serial line support for System V-derived Unix systems.
329 Now, you are now ready to try configuring GDB to compile using your system
330 as its host. From the top level (above @file{bfd}, @file{gdb}, etc), do:
333 ./configure @var{xxx} +target=vxworks960
336 This will configure your system to cross-compile for VxWorks on
337 the Intel 960, which is probably not what you really want, but it's
338 a test case that works at this stage. (You haven't set up to be
339 able to debug programs that run @emph{on} @var{xxx} yet.)
341 If this succeeds, you can try building it all with:
347 Repeat until the program configures, compiles, links, and runs.
348 When run, it won't be able to do much (unless you have a VxWorks/960
349 board on your network) but you will know that the host support is
352 Good luck! Comments and suggestions about this section are particularly
353 welcome; send them to @samp{bug-gdb@@prep.ai.mit.edu}.
356 @chapter Adding a New Native Configuration
358 If you are making GDB run native on the @var{xxx} machine, you have
359 plenty more work to do. Several files control GDB's configuration for
363 @item gdb/config/@var{xxx}.mh
364 Specifies Makefile fragments needed when hosting @emph{or native}
365 on machine @var{xxx}.
366 In particular, this lists the required native-dependent object files,
367 by defining @samp{NATDEPFILES=@dots{}}. Also
368 specifies the header file which describes native support on @var{xxx},
369 by defining @samp{NAT_FILE= nm-@var{xxx}.h}.
370 You can also define @samp{NAT_CFLAGS},
371 @samp{NAT_ADD_FILES}, @samp{NAT_CLIBS}, @samp{NAT_CDEPS},
372 etc.; see @file{Makefile.in}.
374 @item gdb/nm-@var{xxx}.h
375 (@file{nm.h} is a link to this file, created by configure).
376 Contains C macro definitions describing the native system environment,
377 such as child process control and core file support.
378 Crib from existing @file{nm-*.h} files to create a new one.
380 @item gdb/@var{xxx}-nat.c
381 Contains any miscellaneous C code required for this native support
382 of this machine. On some machines it doesn't exist at all.
385 @subheading Generic Native Support Files
387 There are some ``generic'' versions of routines that can be used by
388 various systems. These can be customized in various ways by macros
389 defined in your @file{nm-@var{xxx}.h} file. If these routines work for
390 the @var{xxx} host, you can just include the generic file's name (with
391 @samp{.o}, not @samp{.c}) in @code{NATDEPFILES}.
393 Otherwise, if your machine needs custom support routines, you will need
394 to write routines that perform the same functions as the generic file.
395 Put them into @code{@var{xxx}-nat.c}, and put @code{@var{xxx}-nat.o}
396 into @code{NATDEPFILES}.
401 This contains the @emph{target_ops vector} that supports Unix child
402 processes on systems which use ptrace and wait to control the child.
405 This contains the @emph{target_ops vector} that supports Unix child
406 processes on systems which use /proc to control the child.
409 This does the low-level grunge that uses Unix system calls
410 to do a "fork and exec" to start up a child process.
413 This is the low level interface to inferior processes for systems
414 using the Unix @code{ptrace} call in a vanilla way.
416 @item coredep.c::fetch_core_registers()
417 Support for reading registers out of a core file. This routine calls
418 @code{register_addr()}, see below.
419 Now that BFD is used to read core files, virtually all machines should
420 use @code{coredep.c}, and should just provide @code{fetch_core_registers} in
421 @code{@var{xxx}-nat.c} (or @code{REGISTER_U_ADDR} in @code{nm-@var{xxx}.h}).
423 @item coredep.c::register_addr()
424 If your @code{nm-@var{xxx}.h} file defines the macro
425 @code{REGISTER_U_ADDR(addr, blockend, regno)}, it should be defined to
426 set @code{addr} to the offset within the @samp{user}
427 struct of GDB register number @code{regno}. @code{blockend} is the
428 offset within the ``upage'' of @code{u.u_ar0}.
429 If @code{REGISTER_U_ADDR} is defined,
430 @file{coredep.c} will define the @code{register_addr()} function and use
431 the macro in it. If you do not define @code{REGISTER_U_ADDR}, but you
432 are using the standard @code{fetch_core_registers()}, you will need to
433 define your own version of @code{register_addr()}, put it into your
434 @code{@var{xxx}-nat.c} file, and be sure @code{@var{xxx}-nat.o} is in
435 the @code{NATDEPFILES} list. If you have your own
436 @code{fetch_core_registers()}, you may not need a separate
437 @code{register_addr()}. Many custom @code{fetch_core_registers()}
438 implementations simply locate the registers themselves.@refill
441 When making GDB run native on a new operating system,
442 to make it possible to debug
443 core files, you will need to either write specific code for parsing your
444 OS's core files, or customize @file{bfd/trad-core.c}. First, use
445 whatever @code{#include} files your machine uses to define the struct of
446 registers that is accessible (possibly in the u-area) in a core file
447 (rather than @file{machine/reg.h}), and an include file that defines whatever
448 header exists on a core file (e.g. the u-area or a @samp{struct core}). Then
449 modify @code{trad_unix_core_file_p()} to use these values to set up the
450 section information for the data segment, stack segment, any other
451 segments in the core file (perhaps shared library contents or control
452 information), ``registers'' segment, and if there are two discontiguous
453 sets of registers (e.g. integer and float), the ``reg2'' segment. This
454 section information basically delimits areas in the core file in a
455 standard way, which the section-reading routines in BFD know how to seek
458 Then back in GDB, you need a matching routine called
459 @code{fetch_core_registers()}. If you can use the generic one, it's in
460 @file{coredep.c}; if not, it's in your @file{@var{xxx}-nat.c} file.
461 It will be passed a char pointer to the entire ``registers'' segment,
462 its length, and a zero; or a char pointer to the entire ``regs2''
463 segment, its length, and a 2. The routine should suck out the supplied
464 register values and install them into GDB's ``registers'' array.
465 (@xref{New Architectures,,Defining a New Host or Target Architecture},
466 for more info about this.)
468 If your system uses @file{/proc} to control processes, and uses ELF
469 format core files, then you may be able to use the same routines
470 for reading the registers out of processes and out of core files.
473 @chapter Adding a New Target
475 For a new target called @var{ttt}, first specify the configuration as
476 described in @ref{Config,,Adding a New Configuration}. If your new
477 target is the same as your new host, you've probably already done that.
479 A variety of files specify attributes of the GDB target environment:
482 @item gdb/config/@var{ttt}.mt
483 Contains a Makefile fragment specific to this target.
484 Specifies what object files are needed for target @var{ttt}, by
485 defining @samp{TDEPFILES=@dots{}}.
486 Also specifies the header file which describes @var{ttt}, by defining
487 @samp{TM_FILE= tm-@var{ttt}.h}. You can also define @samp{TM_CFLAGS},
488 @samp{TM_CLIBS}, @samp{TM_CDEPS},
489 and other Makefile variables here; see @file{Makefile.in}.
491 @item gdb/tm-@var{ttt}.h
492 (@file{tm.h} is a link to this file, created by configure).
493 Contains macro definitions about the target machine's
494 registers, stack frame format and instructions.
495 Crib from existing @file{tm-*.h} files when building a new one.
497 @item gdb/@var{ttt}-tdep.c
498 Contains any miscellaneous code required for this target machine.
499 On some machines it doesn't exist at all. Sometimes the macros
500 in @file{tm-@var{ttt}.h} become very complicated, so they are
501 implemented as functions here instead, and the macro is simply
502 defined to call the function.
505 Defines functions for accessing files that are
506 executable on the target system. These functions open and examine an
507 exec file, extract data from one, write data to one, print information
508 about one, etc. Now that executable files are handled with BFD, every
509 target should be able to use the generic exec.c rather than its
512 @item gdb/@var{arch}-pinsn.c
513 Prints (disassembles) the target machine's instructions.
514 This file is usually shared with other target machines which use the
515 same processor, which is why it is @file{@var{arch}-pinsn.c} rather
516 than @file{@var{ttt}-pinsn.c}.
518 @item gdb/@var{arch}-opcode.h
519 Contains some large initialized
520 data structures describing the target machine's instructions.
521 This is a bit strange for a @file{.h} file, but it's OK since
522 it is only included in one place. @file{@var{arch}-opcode.h} is shared
523 between the debugger and the assembler, if the GNU assembler has been
524 ported to the target machine.
526 @item gdb/tm-@var{arch}.h
527 This often exists to describe the basic layout of the target machine's
528 processor chip (registers, stack, etc).
529 If used, it is included by @file{tm-@var{xxx}.h}. It can
530 be shared among many targets that use the same processor.
532 @item gdb/@var{arch}-tdep.c
533 Similarly, there are often common subroutines that are shared by all
534 target machines that use this particular architecture.
537 When adding support for a new target machine, there are various areas
538 of support that might need change, or might be OK.
540 If you are using an existing object file format (a.out or COFF),
541 there is probably little to be done. See @file{bfd/doc/bfd.texinfo}
542 for more information on writing new a.out or COFF versions.
544 If you need to add a new object file format, you must first add it to
545 BFD. This is beyond the scope of this document right now. Basically
546 you must build a transfer vector (of type @code{bfd_target}), which will
547 mean writing all the required routines, and add it to the list in
548 @file{bfd/targets.c}.
550 You must then arrange for the BFD code to provide access to the
551 debugging symbols. Generally GDB will have to call swapping routines
552 from BFD and a few other BFD internal routines to locate the debugging
553 information. As much as possible, GDB should not depend on the BFD
554 internal data structures.
556 For some targets (e.g., COFF), there is a special transfer vector used
557 to call swapping routines, since the external data structures on various
558 platforms have different sizes and layouts. Specialized routines that
559 will only ever be implemented by one object file format may be called
560 directly. This interface should be described in a file
561 @file{bfd/libxxx.h}, which is included by GDB.
563 If you are adding a new operating system for an existing CPU chip, add a
564 @file{tm-@var{xos}.h} file that describes the operating system
565 facilities that are unusual (extra symbol table info; the breakpoint
566 instruction needed; etc). Then write a
567 @file{tm-@var{xarch}-@var{xos}.h} that just @code{#include}s
568 @file{tm-@var{xarch}.h} and @file{tm-@var{xos}.h}. (Now that we have
569 three-part configuration names, this will probably get revised to
570 separate the @var{xos} configuration from the @var{xarch}
575 @chapter Adding a Source Language to GDB
577 To add other languages to GDB's expression parser, follow the following steps:
580 @item Create the expression parser.
582 This should reside in a file @file{@var{lang}-exp.y}. Routines for building
583 parsed expressions into a @samp{union exp_element} list are in @file{parse.c}.
585 Since we can't depend upon everyone having Bison, and YACC produces
586 parsers that define a bunch of global names, the following lines
587 @emph{must} be included at the top of the YACC parser, to prevent
588 the various parsers from defining the same global names:
591 #define yyparse @var{lang}_parse
592 #define yylex @var{lang}_lex
593 #define yyerror @var{lang}_error
594 #define yylval @var{lang}_lval
595 #define yychar @var{lang}_char
596 #define yydebug @var{lang}_debug
597 #define yypact @var{lang}_pact
598 #define yyr1 @var{lang}_r1
599 #define yyr2 @var{lang}_r2
600 #define yydef @var{lang}_def
601 #define yychk @var{lang}_chk
602 #define yypgo @var{lang}_pgo
603 #define yyact @var{lang}_act
604 #define yyexca @var{lang}_exca
605 #define yyerrflag @var{lang}_errflag
606 #define yynerrs @var{lang}_nerrs
609 At the bottom of your parser, define a @code{struct language_defn} and
610 initialize it with the right values for your language. Define an
611 @code{initialize_@var{lang}} routine and have it call
612 @samp{add_language(@var{lang}_language_defn)} to tell the rest of GDB
613 that your language exists. You'll need some other supporting variables
614 and functions, which will be used via pointers from your
615 @code{@var{lang}_language_defn}. See the declaration of @code{struct
616 language_defn} in @file{language.h}, and the other @file{*-exp.y} files,
617 for more information.
619 @item Add any evaluation routines, if necessary
621 If you need new opcodes (that represent the operations of the language),
622 add them to the enumerated type in @file{expression.h}. Add support
623 code for these operations in @code{eval.c:evaluate_subexp()}. Add cases
624 for new opcodes in two functions from @file{parse.c}:
625 @code{prefixify_subexp()} and @code{length_of_subexp()}. These compute
626 the number of @code{exp_element}s that a given operation takes up.
628 @item Update some existing code
630 Add an enumerated identifier for your language to the enumerated type
631 @code{enum language} in @file{defs.h}.
633 Update the routines in @file{language.c} so your language is included. These
634 routines include type predicates and such, which (in some cases) are
635 language dependent. If your language does not appear in the switch
636 statement, an error is reported.
638 Also included in @file{language.c} is the code that updates the variable
639 @code{current_language}, and the routines that translate the
640 @code{language_@var{lang}} enumerated identifier into a printable
643 Update the function @code{_initialize_language} to include your language. This
644 function picks the default language upon startup, so is dependent upon
645 which languages that GDB is built for.
647 Update @code{allocate_symtab} in @file{symfile.c} and/or symbol-reading
648 code so that the language of each symtab (source file) is set properly.
649 This is used to determine the language to use at each stack frame level.
650 Currently, the language is set based upon the extension of the source
651 file. If the language can be better inferred from the symbol
652 information, please set the language of the symtab in the symbol-reading
655 Add helper code to @code{expprint.c:print_subexp()} to handle any new
656 expression opcodes you have added to @file{expression.h}. Also, add the
657 printed representations of your operators to @code{op_print_tab}.
659 @item Add a place of call
661 Add a call to @code{@var{lang}_parse()} and @code{@var{lang}_error} in
662 @code{parse.c:parse_exp_1()}.
664 @item Use macros to trim code
666 The user has the option of building GDB for some or all of the
667 languages. If the user decides to build GDB for the language
668 @var{lang}, then every file dependent on @file{language.h} will have the
669 macro @code{_LANG_@var{lang}} defined in it. Use @code{#ifdef}s to
670 leave out large routines that the user won't need if he or she is not
673 Note that you do not need to do this in your YACC parser, since if GDB
674 is not build for @var{lang}, then @file{@var{lang}-exp.tab.o} (the
675 compiled form of your parser) is not linked into GDB at all.
677 See the file @file{configure.in} for how GDB is configured for different
680 @item Edit @file{Makefile.in}
682 Add dependencies in @file{Makefile.in}. Make sure you update the macro
683 variables such as @code{HFILES} and @code{OBJS}, otherwise your code may
684 not get linked in, or, worse yet, it may not get @code{tar}red into the
690 @chapter Configuring GDB for Release
692 From the top level directory (containing @file{gdb}, @file{bfd},
693 @file{libiberty}, and so on):
695 make -f Makefile.in gdb.tar.Z
698 This will properly configure, clean, rebuild any files that are
699 distributed pre-built (e.g. @file{c-exp.tab.c} or @file{refcard.ps}),
700 and will then make a tarfile. (If the top level directory has already
701 beenn configured, you can just do @code{make gdb.tar.Z} instead.)
703 This procedure requires:
706 @item @code{makeinfo} (texinfo2 level)
709 @item @code{yacc} or @code{bison}
712 @dots{} and the usual slew of utilities (@code{sed}, @code{tar}, etc.).
714 @subheading TEMPORARY RELEASE PROCEDURE FOR DOCUMENTATION
716 @file{gdb.texinfo} is currently marked up using the texinfo-2 macros,
717 which are not yet a default for anything (but we have to start using
720 For making paper, the only thing this implies is the right generation of
721 @file{texinfo.tex} needs to be included in the distribution.
723 For making info files, however, rather than duplicating the texinfo2
724 distribution, generate @file{gdb-all.texinfo} locally, and include the files
725 @file{gdb.info*} in the distribution. Note the plural; @code{makeinfo} will
726 split the document into one overall file and five or so included files.
729 @node Partial Symbol Tables
730 @chapter Partial Symbol Tables
732 GDB has three types of symbol tables.
735 @item full symbol tables (symtabs). These contain the main
736 information about symbols and addresses.
737 @item partial symbol tables (psymtabs). These contain enough
738 information to know when to read the corresponding
739 part of the full symbol table.
740 @item minimal symbol tables (msymtabs). These contain information
741 gleaned from non-debugging symbols.
744 This section describes partial symbol tables.
746 A psymtab is constructed by doing a very quick pass over an executable
747 file's debugging information. Small amounts of information are
748 extracted -- enough to identify which parts of the symbol table will
749 need to be re-read and fully digested later, when the user needs the
750 information. The speed of this pass causes GDB to start up very
751 quickly. Later, as the detailed rereading occurs, it occurs in small
752 pieces, at various times, and the delay therefrom is mostly invisible to
753 the user. (@xref{Symbol Reading}.)
755 The symbols that show up in a file's psymtab should be, roughly, those
756 visible to the debugger's user when the program is not running code from
757 that file. These include external symbols and types, static
758 symbols and types, and enum values declared at file scope.
760 The psymtab also contains the range of instruction addresses that the
761 full symbol table would represent.
763 The idea is that there are only two ways for the user (or much of
764 the code in the debugger) to reference a symbol:
769 (e.g. execution stops at some address which is inside a function
770 in this file). The address will be noticed to be in the
771 range of this psymtab, and the full symtab will be read in.
772 @code{find_pc_function}, @code{find_pc_line}, and other @code{find_pc_@dots{}}
773 functions handle this.
776 (e.g. the user asks to print a variable, or set a breakpoint on a
777 function). Global names and file-scope names will be found in the
778 psymtab, which will cause the symtab to be pulled in. Local names will
779 have to be qualified by a global name, or a file-scope name, in which
780 case we will have already read in the symtab as we evaluated the
781 qualifier. Or, a local symbol can be referenced when
782 we are "in" a local scope, in which case the first case applies.
783 @code{lookup_symbol} does most of the work here.
787 The only reason that psymtabs exist is to cause a symtab to be read in
788 at the right moment. Any symbol that can be elided from a psymtab,
789 while still causing that to happen, should not appear in it. Since
790 psymtabs don't have the idea of scope, you can't put local symbols in
791 them anyway. Psymtabs don't have the idea of the type of a symbol,
792 either, so types need not appear, unless they will be referenced by
795 It is a bug for GDB to behave one way when only a psymtab has been read,
796 and another way if the corresponding symtab has been read in. Such
797 bugs are typically caused by a psymtab that does not contain all the
798 visible symbols, or which has the wrong instruction address ranges.
800 The psymtab for a particular section of a symbol-file (objfile)
801 could be thrown away after the symtab has been read in. The symtab
802 should always be searched before the psymtab, so the psymtab will
803 never be used (in a bug-free environment). Currently,
804 psymtabs are allocated on an obstack, and all the psymbols themselves
805 are allocated in a pair of large arrays on an obstack, so there is
806 little to be gained by trying to free them unless you want to do a lot
809 @node BFD support for GDB
810 @chapter Binary File Descriptor Library Support for GDB
812 BFD provides support for GDB in several ways:
815 @item identifying executable and core files
816 BFD will identify a variety of file types, including a.out, coff, and
817 several variants thereof, as well as several kinds of core files.
819 @item access to sections of files
820 BFD parses the file headers to determine the names, virtual addresses,
821 sizes, and file locations of all the various named sections in files
822 (such as the text section or the data section). GDB simply calls
823 BFD to read or write section X at byte offset Y for length Z.
825 @item specialized core file support
826 BFD provides routines to determine the failing command name stored
827 in a core file, the signal with which the program failed, and whether
828 a core file matches (i.e. could be a core dump of) a particular executable
831 @item locating the symbol information
832 GDB uses an internal interface of BFD to determine where to find the
833 symbol information in an executable file or symbol-file. GDB itself
834 handles the reading of symbols, since BFD does not ``understand'' debug
835 symbols, but GDB uses BFD's cached information to find the symbols,
839 @c The interface for symbol reading is described in @ref{Symbol
840 @c Reading,,Symbol Reading}.
844 @chapter Symbol Reading
846 GDB reads symbols from "symbol files". The usual symbol file is the
847 file containing the program which gdb is debugging. GDB can be directed
848 to use a different file for symbols (with the ``symbol-file''
849 command), and it can also read more symbols via the ``add-file'' and ``load''
850 commands, or while reading symbols from shared libraries.
852 Symbol files are initially opened by @file{symfile.c} using the BFD
853 library. BFD identifies the type of the file by examining its header.
854 @code{symfile_init} then uses this identification to locate a
855 set of symbol-reading functions.
857 Symbol reading modules identify themselves to GDB by calling
858 @code{add_symtab_fns} during their module initialization. The argument
859 to @code{add_symtab_fns} is a @code{struct sym_fns} which contains
860 the name (or name prefix) of the symbol format, the length of the prefix,
861 and pointers to four functions. These functions are called at various
862 times to process symbol-files whose identification matches the specified
865 The functions supplied by each module are:
868 @item @var{xxx}_symfile_init(struct sym_fns *sf)
870 Called from @code{symbol_file_add} when we are about to read a new
871 symbol file. This function should clean up any internal state
872 (possibly resulting from half-read previous files, for example)
873 and prepare to read a new symbol file. Note that the symbol file
874 which we are reading might be a new "main" symbol file, or might
875 be a secondary symbol file whose symbols are being added to the
876 existing symbol table.
878 The argument to @code{@var{xxx}_symfile_init} is a newly allocated
879 @code{struct sym_fns} whose @code{bfd} field contains the BFD
880 for the new symbol file being read. Its @code{private} field
881 has been zeroed, and can be modified as desired. Typically,
882 a struct of private information will be @code{malloc}'d, and
883 a pointer to it will be placed in the @code{private} field.
885 There is no result from @code{@var{xxx}_symfile_init}, but it can call
886 @code{error} if it detects an unavoidable problem.
888 @item @var{xxx}_new_init()
890 Called from @code{symbol_file_add} when discarding existing symbols.
891 This function need only handle
892 the symbol-reading module's internal state; the symbol table data
893 structures visible to the rest of GDB will be discarded by
894 @code{symbol_file_add}. It has no arguments and no result.
895 It may be called after @code{@var{xxx}_symfile_init}, if a new symbol
896 table is being read, or may be called alone if all symbols are
897 simply being discarded.
899 @item @var{xxx}_symfile_read(struct sym_fns *sf, CORE_ADDR addr, int mainline)
901 Called from @code{symbol_file_add} to actually read the symbols from a
902 symbol-file into a set of psymtabs or symtabs.
904 @code{sf} points to the struct sym_fns originally passed to
905 @code{@var{xxx}_sym_init} for possible initialization. @code{addr} is the
906 offset between the file's specified start address and its true address
907 in memory. @code{mainline} is 1 if this is the main symbol table being
908 read, and 0 if a secondary symbol file (e.g. shared library or
909 dynamically loaded file) is being read.@refill
912 In addition, if a symbol-reading module creates psymtabs when
913 @var{xxx}_symfile_read is called, these psymtabs will contain a pointer to
914 a function @code{@var{xxx}_psymtab_to_symtab}, which can be called from
915 any point in the GDB symbol-handling code.
918 @item @var{xxx}_psymtab_to_symtab (struct partial_symtab *pst)
920 Called from @code{psymtab_to_symtab} (or the PSYMTAB_TO_SYMTAB
921 macro) if the psymtab has not already been read in and had its
922 @code{pst->symtab} pointer set. The argument is the psymtab
923 to be fleshed-out into a symtab. Upon return, pst->readin
924 should have been set to 1, and pst->symtab should contain a
925 pointer to the new corresponding symtab, or zero if there
926 were no symbols in that part of the symbol file.
933 Cleanups are a structured way to deal with things that need to be done
934 later. When your code does something (like @code{malloc} some memory, or open
935 a file) that needs to be undone later (e.g. free the memory or close
936 the file), it can make a cleanup. The cleanup will be done at some
937 future point: when the command is finished, when an error occurs, or
938 when your code decides it's time to do cleanups.
940 You can also discard cleanups, that is, throw them away without doing
941 what they say. This is only done if you ask that it be done.
946 @item struct cleanup *@var{old_chain};
947 Declare a variable which will hold a cleanup chain handle.
949 @item @var{old_chain} = make_cleanup (@var{function}, @var{arg});
950 Make a cleanup which will cause @var{function} to be called with @var{arg}
951 (a @code{char *}) later. The result, @var{old_chain}, is a handle that can be
952 passed to @code{do_cleanups} or @code{discard_cleanups} later. Unless you are
953 going to call @code{do_cleanups} or @code{discard_cleanups} yourself,
954 you can ignore the result from @code{make_cleanup}.
957 @item do_cleanups (@var{old_chain});
958 Perform all cleanups done since @code{make_cleanup} returned @var{old_chain}.
962 old = make_cleanup (b, 0);
966 will call @code{b()} but will not call @code{a()}. The cleanup that calls @code{a()} will remain
967 in the cleanup chain, and will be done later unless otherwise discarded.@refill
969 @item discard_cleanups (@var{old_chain});
970 Same as @code{do_cleanups} except that it just removes the cleanups from the
971 chain and does not call the specified functions.
975 Some functions, e.g. @code{fputs_filtered()} or @code{error()}, specify that they
976 ``should not be called when cleanups are not in place''. This means
977 that any actions you need to reverse in the case of an error or
978 interruption must be on the cleanup chain before you call these functions,
979 since they might never return to your code (they @samp{longjmp} instead).
983 @chapter Wrapping Output Lines
985 Output that goes through @code{printf_filtered} or @code{fputs_filtered} or
986 @code{fputs_demangled} needs only to have calls to @code{wrap_here} added
987 in places that would be good breaking points. The utility routines
988 will take care of actually wrapping if the line width is exceeded.
990 The argument to @code{wrap_here} is an indentation string which is printed
991 @emph{only} if the line breaks there. This argument is saved away and used
992 later. It must remain valid until the next call to @code{wrap_here} or
993 until a newline has been printed through the @code{*_filtered} functions.
994 Don't pass in a local variable and then return!
996 It is usually best to call @code{wrap_here()} after printing a comma or space.
997 If you call it before printing a space, make sure that your indentation
998 properly accounts for the leading space that will print if the line wraps
1001 Any function or set of functions that produce filtered output must finish
1002 by printing a newline, to flush the wrap buffer, before switching to
1003 unfiltered (``@code{printf}'') output. Symbol reading routines that print
1004 warnings are a good example.
1010 A frame is a construct that GDB uses to keep track of calling and called
1015 in the machine description has no meaning to the machine-independent
1016 part of GDB, except that it is used when setting up a new frame from
1017 scratch, as follows:
1020 create_new_frame (read_register (FP_REGNUM), read_pc ()));
1023 Other than that, all the meaning imparted to @code{FP_REGNUM} is imparted by
1024 the machine-dependent code. So, @code{FP_REGNUM} can have any value that
1025 is convenient for the code that creates new frames. (@code{create_new_frame}
1026 calls @code{INIT_EXTRA_FRAME_INFO} if it is defined; that is where you should
1027 use the @code{FP_REGNUM} value, if your frames are nonstandard.)
1030 Given a GDB frame, determine the address of the calling function's
1031 frame. This will be used to create a new GDB frame struct, and then
1032 @code{INIT_EXTRA_FRAME_INFO} and @code{INIT_FRAME_PC} will be called for
1037 @chapter Remote Stubs
1039 GDB's file @file{remote.c} talks a serial protocol to code that runs
1040 in the target system. GDB provides several sample ``stubs'' that can
1041 be integrated into target programs or operating systems for this purpose;
1042 they are named @file{*-stub.c}.
1044 The GDB user's manual describes how to put such a stub into your target
1045 code. What follows is a discussion of integrating the SPARC stub
1046 into a complicated operating system (rather than a simple program),
1047 by Stu Grossman, the author of this stub.
1049 The trap handling code in the stub assumes the following upon entry to
1053 @item %l1 and %l2 contain pc and npc respectively at the time of the trap
1054 @item traps are disabled
1055 @item you are in the correct trap window
1058 As long as your trap handler can guarantee those conditions, then there is no
1059 reason why you shouldn't be able to `share' traps with the stub. The stub has
1060 no requirement that it be jumped to directly from the hardware trap vector.
1061 That is why it calls @code{exceptionHandler()}, which is provided by the external
1062 environment. For instance, this could setup the hardware traps to actually
1063 execute code which calls the stub first, and then transfers to its own trap
1066 For the most point, there probably won't be much of an issue with `sharing'
1067 traps, as the traps we use are usually not used by the kernel, and often
1068 indicate unrecoverable error conditions. Anyway, this is all controlled by a
1069 table, and is trivial to modify.
1070 The most important trap for us is for @code{ta 1}. Without that, we
1071 can't single step or do breakpoints. Everything else is unnecessary
1072 for the proper operation of the debugger/stub.
1074 From reading the stub, it's probably not obvious how breakpoints work. They
1075 are simply done by deposit/examine operations from GDB.
1077 @node Longjmp Support
1078 @chapter Longjmp Support
1080 GDB has support for figuring out that the target is doing a
1081 @code{longjmp} and for stopping at the target of the jump, if we are
1082 stepping. This is done with a few specialized internal breakpoints,
1083 which are visible in the @code{maint info breakpoint} command.
1085 To make this work, you need to define a macro called
1086 @code{GET_LONGJMP_TARGET}, which will examine the @code{jmp_buf}
1087 structure and extract the longjmp target address. Since @code{jmp_buf}
1088 is target specific, you will need to define it in the appropriate
1089 @file{tm-xxx.h} file. Look in @file{tm-sun4os4.h} and
1090 @file{sparc-tdep.c} for examples of how to do this.
1093 @chapter Coding Style
1095 GDB is generally written using the GNU coding standards, as described in
1096 @file{standards.texi}, which you can get from the Free Software
1097 Foundation. There are some additional considerations for GDB maintainers
1098 that reflect the unique environment and style of GDB maintenance.
1099 If you follow these guidelines, GDB will be more consistent and easier
1102 GDB's policy on the use of prototypes is that prototypes are used
1103 to @emph{declare} functions but never to @emph{define} them. Simple
1104 macros are used in the declarations, so that a non-ANSI compiler can
1105 compile GDB without trouble. The simple macro calls are used like
1110 memory_remove_breakpoint PARAMS ((CORE_ADDR, char *));
1113 Note the double parentheses around the parameter types. This allows
1114 an arbitrary number of parameters to be described, without freaking
1115 out the C preprocessor. When the function has no parameters, it
1116 should be described like:
1120 noprocess PARAMS ((void));
1123 The @code{PARAMS} macro expands to its argument in ANSI C, or to a simple
1124 @code{()} in traditional C.
1126 All external functions should have a @code{PARAMS} declaration in a
1127 header file that callers include. All static functions should have such
1128 a declaration near the top of their source file.
1130 We don't have a gcc option that will properly check that these rules
1131 have been followed, but it's GDB policy, and we periodically check it
1132 using the tools available (plus manual labor), and clean up any remnants.
1135 @chapter Clean Design
1137 In addition to getting the syntax right, there's the little question of
1138 semantics. Some things are done in certain ways in GDB because long
1139 experience has shown that the more obvious ways caused various kinds of
1140 trouble. In particular:
1144 You can't assume the byte order of anything that comes from a
1145 target (including @var{value}s, object files, and instructions). Such
1146 things must be byte-swapped using @code{SWAP_TARGET_AND_HOST} in GDB,
1147 or one of the swap routines defined in @file{bfd.h}, such as @code{bfd_get_32}.
1150 You can't assume that you know what interface is being used to talk to
1151 the target system. All references to the target must go through the
1152 current @code{target_ops} vector.
1155 You can't assume that the host and target machines are the same machine
1156 (except in the ``native'' support modules).
1157 In particular, you can't assume that the target machine's header files
1158 will be available on the host machine. Target code must bring along its
1159 own header files -- written from scratch or explicitly donated by their
1160 owner, to avoid copyright problems.
1163 Insertion of new @code{#ifdef}'s will be frowned upon. It's much better
1164 to write the code portably than to conditionalize it for various systems.
1167 New @code{#ifdef}'s which test for specific compilers or manufacturers
1168 or operating systems are unacceptable. All @code{#ifdef}'s should test
1169 for features. The information about which configurations contain which
1170 features should be segregated into the configuration files. Experience
1171 has proven far too often that a feature unique to one particular system
1172 often creeps into other systems; and that a conditional based on
1173 some predefined macro for your current system will become worthless
1174 over time, as new versions of your system come out that behave differently
1175 with regard to this feature.
1178 Adding code that handles specific architectures, operating systems, target
1179 interfaces, or hosts, is not acceptable in generic code. If a hook
1180 is needed at that point, invent a generic hook and define it for your
1181 configuration, with something like:
1184 #ifdef WRANGLE_SIGNALS
1185 WRANGLE_SIGNALS (signo);
1189 In your host, target, or native configuration file, as appropriate,
1190 define @code{WRANGLE_SIGNALS} to do the machine-dependent thing. Take
1191 a bit of care in defining the hook, so that it can be used by other
1192 ports in the future, if they need a hook in the same place.
1195 @emph{Do} write code that doesn't depend on the sizes of C data types,
1196 the format of the host's floating point numbers, the alignment of anything,
1197 or the order of evaluation of expressions. In short, follow good
1198 programming practices for writing portable C code.
1202 @node Submitting Patches
1203 @chapter Submitting Patches
1205 Thanks for thinking of offering your changes back to the community of
1206 GDB users. In general we like to get well designed enhancements.
1207 Thanks also for checking in advance about the best way to transfer the
1210 The two main problems with getting your patches in are,
1214 The GDB maintainers will only install "cleanly designed" patches.
1215 You may not always agree on what is clean design.
1216 @pxref{Coding Style}, @pxref{Clean Design}.
1219 If the maintainers don't have time to put the patch in when it
1220 arrives, or if there is any question about a patch, it
1221 goes into a large queue with everyone else's patches and
1225 I don't know how to get past these problems except by continuing to try.
1227 There are two issues here -- technical and legal.
1229 The legal issue is that to incorporate substantial changes requires a
1230 copyright assignment from you and/or your employer, granting ownership of the changes to
1231 the Free Software Foundation. You can get the standard document for
1232 doing this by sending mail to @code{gnu@@prep.ai.mit.edu} and asking for it.
1233 I recommend that people write in "All programs owned by the
1234 Free Software Foundation" as "NAME OF PROGRAM", so that changes in
1235 many programs (not just GDB, but GAS, Emacs, GCC, etc) can be
1236 contributed with only one piece of legalese pushed through the
1237 bureacracy and filed with the FSF. I can't start merging changes until
1238 this paperwork is received by the FSF (their rules, which I follow since
1239 I maintain it for them).
1241 Technically, the easiest way to receive changes is to receive each
1242 feature as a small context diff or unidiff, suitable for "patch".
1243 Each message sent to me should include the changes to C code and
1244 header files for a single feature, plus ChangeLog entries for each
1245 directory where files were modified, and diffs for any changes needed
1246 to the manuals (gdb/doc/gdb.texi or gdb/doc/gdbint.texi). If there
1247 are a lot of changes for a single feature, they can be split down
1248 into multiple messages.
1250 In this way, if I read and like the feature, I can add it to the
1251 sources with a single patch command, do some testing, and check it in.
1252 If you leave out the ChangeLog, I have to write one. If you leave
1253 out the doc, I have to puzzle out what needs documenting. Etc.
1255 The reason to send each change in a separate message is that I will
1256 not install some of the changes. They'll be returned to you with
1257 questions or comments. If I'm doing my job, my message back to you
1258 will say what you have to fix in order to make the change acceptable.
1259 The reason to have separate messages for separate features is so
1260 that other changes (which I @emph{am} willing to accept) can be installed
1261 while one or more changes are being reworked. If multiple features
1262 are sent in a single message, I tend to not put in the effort to sort
1263 out the acceptable changes from the unacceptable, so none of the
1264 features get installed until all are acceptable.
1266 If this sounds painful or authoritarian, well, it is. But I get a lot
1267 of bug reports and a lot of patches, and most of them don't get
1268 installed because I don't have the time to finish the job that the bug
1269 reporter or the contributor could have done. Patches that arrive
1270 complete, working, and well designed, tend to get installed on the day
1271 they arrive. The others go into a queue and get installed if and when
1272 I scan back over the queue -- which can literally take months
1273 sometimes. It's in both our interests to make patch installation easy
1274 -- you get your changes installed, and I make some forward progress on
1275 GDB in a normal 12-hour day (instead of them having to wait until I
1276 have a 14-hour or 16-hour day to spend cleaning up patches before I
1279 @node Host Conditionals
1280 @chapter Host Conditionals
1282 When GDB is configured and compiled, various macros are defined or left
1283 undefined, to control compilation based on the attributes of the host
1284 system. These macros and their meanings are:
1286 @emph{NOTE: For now, both host and target conditionals are here.
1287 Eliminate target conditionals from this list as they are identified.}
1292 @item BLOCK_ADDRESS_FUNCTION_RELATIVE
1294 @item GDBINIT_FILENAME
1298 @item MEM_FNS_DECLARED
1299 Your host config file defines this if it includes
1300 declarations of @code{memcpy} and @code{memset}. Define this
1301 to avoid conflicts between the native include
1302 files and the declarations in @file{defs.h}.
1305 @item PYRAMID_CONTROL_FRAME_DEBUGGING
1307 @item SIGWINCH_HANDLER_BODY
1325 @item ADDITIONAL_OPTIONS
1327 @item ADDITIONAL_OPTION_CASES
1329 @item ADDITIONAL_OPTION_HANDLER
1331 @item ADDITIONAL_OPTION_HELP
1333 @item ADDR_BITS_REMOVE
1335 @item AIX_BUGGY_PTRACE_CONTINUE
1337 @item ALIGN_STACK_ON_STARTUP
1349 @item BEFORE_MAIN_LOOP_HOOK
1351 @item BELIEVE_PCC_PROMOTION
1353 @item BELIEVE_PCC_PROMOTION_TYPE
1357 @item BITS_BIG_ENDIAN
1361 @item BLOCK_ADDRESS_ABSOLUTE
1367 @item BREAKPOINT_DEBUG
1369 @item BROKEN_LARGE_ALLOCA
1370 Avoid large @code{alloca}'s. For example, on sun's, Large alloca's fail
1371 because the attempt to increase the stack limit in main() fails because
1372 shared libraries are allocated just below the initial stack limit. The
1373 SunOS kernel will not allow the stack to grow into the area occupied by
1374 the shared libraries.
1379 @item CALL_DUMMY_LOCATION
1381 @item CALL_DUMMY_STACK_ADJUST
1383 @item CANNOT_FETCH_REGISTER
1385 @item CANNOT_STORE_REGISTER
1387 @item CFRONT_PRODUCER
1389 @item CHILD_PREPARE_TO_STORE
1391 @item CLEAR_DEFERRED_STORES
1395 @item COFF_ENCAPSULATE
1399 @item CORE_NEEDS_RELOCATION
1403 @item CREATE_INFERIOR_HOOK
1413 @item DBX_PARM_SYMBOL_CLASS
1421 @item DECR_PC_AFTER_BREAK
1423 @item DEFAULT_PROMPT
1431 @item DISABLE_UNSETTABLE_BREAK
1433 @item DONT_USE_REMOTE
1435 @item DO_DEFERRED_STORES
1437 @item DO_REGISTERS_INFO
1439 @item END_OF_TEXT_DEFAULT
1443 @item EXTRACT_RETURN_VALUE
1445 @item EXTRACT_STRUCT_VALUE_ADDRESS
1447 @item EXTRA_FRAME_INFO
1449 @item EXTRA_SYMTAB_INFO
1451 @item FILES_INFO_HOOK
1465 @item FRAMELESS_FUNCTION_INVOCATION
1467 @item FRAME_ARGS_ADDRESS_CORRECT
1469 @item FRAME_CHAIN_COMBINE
1471 @item FRAME_CHAIN_VALID
1473 @item FRAME_CHAIN_VALID_ALTERNATE
1475 @item FRAME_FIND_SAVED_REGS
1477 @item FRAME_GET_BASEREG_VALUE
1479 @item FRAME_NUM_ARGS
1481 @item FRAME_SPECIFICATION_DYADIC
1483 @item FUNCTION_EPILOGUE_SIZE
1487 @item GCC2_COMPILED_FLAG_SYMBOL
1489 @item GCC_COMPILED_FLAG_SYMBOL
1491 @item GCC_MANGLE_BUG
1495 @item GET_SAVED_REGISTER
1497 @item GPLUS_PRODUCER
1508 In some cases, use the system call @code{mmap} for reading symbol
1509 tables. For some machines this allows for sharing and quick updates.
1510 @item HAVE_REGISTER_WINDOWS
1512 @item HAVE_SIGSETMASK
1516 @item HEADER_SEEK_FD
1520 @item HOST_BYTE_ORDER
1524 @item HPUX_VERSION_5
1536 @item INIT_EXTRA_FRAME_INFO
1538 @item INIT_EXTRA_SYMTAB_INFO
1552 @item IN_SOLIB_TRAMPOLINE
1556 @item IS_TRAPPED_INTERNALVAR
1560 @item KERNEL_DEBUGGING
1563 Define this to the address of the @code{u} structure (the ``user struct'',
1564 also known as the ``u-page'') in kernel virtual memory. GDB needs to know
1565 this so that it can subtract this address from absolute addresses in
1566 the upage, that are obtained via ptrace or from core files. On systems
1567 that don't need this value, set it to zero.
1568 @item KERNEL_U_ADDR_BSD
1569 Define this to cause GDB to determine the address of @code{u} at runtime,
1570 by using Berkeley-style @code{nlist} on the kernel's image in the root
1572 @item KERNEL_U_ADDR_HPUX
1573 Define this to cause GDB to determine the address of @code{u} at runtime,
1574 by using HP-style @code{nlist} on the kernel's image in the root
1590 @item LSEEK_NOT_LINEAR
1595 This macro is used as the argument to lseek (or, most commonly, bfd_seek).
1596 FIXME, it should be replaced by SEEK_SET instead, which is the POSIX equivalent.
1597 @item MACHKERNELDEBUG
1603 @item MAINTENANCE_CMDS
1605 @item MAINTENANCE_CMDS
1607 @item MALLOC_INCOMPATIBLE
1608 Define this if the system's prototype for @code{malloc} differs from the
1609 @sc{ANSI} definition.
1612 @item MMAP_BASE_ADDRESS
1613 When using HAVE_MMAP, the first mapping should go at this address.
1614 @item MMAP_INCREMENT
1615 when using HAVE_MMAP, this is the increment between mappings.
1622 @item NEED_POSIX_SETPGID
1624 @item NEED_TEXT_START_END
1638 @item NOTICE_SIGNAL_HANDLING_CHANGE
1640 @item NO_DEFINE_SYMBOL
1642 @item NO_HIF_SUPPORT
1644 @item NO_JOB_CONTROL
1646 @item NO_MALLOC_CHECK
1654 @item NO_SIGINTERRUPT
1656 @item NO_SINGLE_STEP
1664 @item NS32K_SVC_IMMED_OPERANDS
1666 @item NUMERIC_REG_NAMES
1674 @item ONE_PROCESS_WRITETEXT
1682 @item PCC_SOL_BROKEN
1684 @item PC_IN_CALL_DUMMY
1686 @item PC_LOAD_SEGMENT
1690 @item PRINT_RANDOM_SIGNAL
1692 @item PRINT_REGISTER_HOOK
1694 @item PRINT_TYPELESS_INTEGER
1696 @item PROCESS_LINENUMBER_HOOK
1698 @item PROLOGUE_FIRSTLINE_OVERLAP
1700 @item PSIGNAL_IN_SIGNAL_H
1704 @item PUSH_ARGUMENTS
1706 @item PYRAMID_CONTROL_FRAME_DEBUGGING
1710 @item PYRAMID_PTRACE
1712 @item REGISTER_BYTES
1714 @item REGISTER_NAMES
1716 @item REG_STACK_SEGMENT
1718 @item REG_STRUCT_HAS_ADDR
1726 @item SDB_REG_TO_REGNUM
1734 @item SET_STACK_LIMIT_HUGE
1735 When defined, stack limits will be raised to their maximum. Use this
1736 if your host supports @code{setrlimit} and you have trouble with
1737 @code{stringtab} in @file{dbxread.c}.
1739 Also used in @file{fork-child.c} to return stack limits before child
1740 processes are forked.
1741 @item SHELL_COMMAND_CONCAT
1745 @item SHIFT_INST_REGS
1747 @item SIGN_EXTEND_CHAR
1749 @item SIGTRAP_STOP_AFTER_LOAD
1753 @item SKIP_PROLOGUE_FRAMELESS_P
1755 @item SKIP_TRAMPOLINE_CODE
1759 @item SOLIB_CREATE_INFERIOR_HOOK
1763 @item STAB_REG_TO_REGNUM
1767 @item STACK_DIRECTION
1769 @item START_INFERIOR_TRAPS_EXPECTED
1773 @item STORE_RETURN_VALUE
1775 @item SUN4_COMPILER_FEATURE
1777 @item SUN_FIXED_LBRAC_BUG
1779 @item SVR4_SHARED_LIBS
1781 @item SWITCH_ENUM_BUG
1785 @item SYMBOL_RELOADING_DEFAULT
1805 @item TM_FILE_OVERRIDE
1821 @item USE_STRUCT_CONVENTION
1824 Means that System V (prior to SVR4) include files are in use.
1825 (FIXME: This symbol is abused in @file{infrun.c}, @file{regex.c},
1826 @file{remote-nindy.c}, and @file{utils.c} for other things, at the moment.)
1831 @item VARIABLES_INSIDE_BLOCK
1843 @item __HAVE_68881__
1847 @item __INT_VARARGS_H
1849 @item __not_on_pyr_yet
1865 @item longest_to_int
1895 @node Target Conditionals
1896 @chapter Target Conditionals
1898 When GDB is configured and compiled, various macros are defined or left
1899 undefined, to control compilation based on the attributes of the target
1900 system. These macros and their meanings are:
1902 @emph{NOTE: For now, both host and target conditionals are here.
1903 Eliminate host conditionals from this list as they are identified.}
1906 @item PUSH_DUMMY_FRAME
1907 Used in @samp{call_function_by_hand} to create an artificial stack frame.
1909 Used in @samp{call_function_by_hand} to remove an artificial stack frame.
1912 @item BLOCK_ADDRESS_FUNCTION_RELATIVE
1914 @item GDBINIT_FILENAME
1920 @item PYRAMID_CONTROL_FRAME_DEBUGGING
1922 @item SIGWINCH_HANDLER_BODY
1924 @item ADDITIONAL_OPTIONS
1926 @item ADDITIONAL_OPTION_CASES
1928 @item ADDITIONAL_OPTION_HANDLER
1930 @item ADDITIONAL_OPTION_HELP
1932 @item ADDR_BITS_REMOVE
1934 @item ALIGN_STACK_ON_STARTUP
1946 @item BEFORE_MAIN_LOOP_HOOK
1948 @item BELIEVE_PCC_PROMOTION
1950 @item BELIEVE_PCC_PROMOTION_TYPE
1954 @item BITS_BIG_ENDIAN
1958 @item BLOCK_ADDRESS_ABSOLUTE
1964 @item BREAKPOINT_DEBUG
1970 @item CALL_DUMMY_LOCATION
1972 @item CALL_DUMMY_STACK_ADJUST
1974 @item CANNOT_FETCH_REGISTER
1976 @item CANNOT_STORE_REGISTER
1978 @item CFRONT_PRODUCER
1980 @item CHILD_PREPARE_TO_STORE
1982 @item CLEAR_DEFERRED_STORES
1986 @item COFF_ENCAPSULATE
1990 @item CORE_NEEDS_RELOCATION
1994 @item CREATE_INFERIOR_HOOK
2004 @item DBX_PARM_SYMBOL_CLASS
2012 @item DECR_PC_AFTER_BREAK
2014 @item DEFAULT_PROMPT
2022 @item DISABLE_UNSETTABLE_BREAK
2024 @item DONT_USE_REMOTE
2026 @item DO_DEFERRED_STORES
2028 @item DO_REGISTERS_INFO
2030 @item END_OF_TEXT_DEFAULT
2034 @item EXTRACT_RETURN_VALUE
2036 @item EXTRACT_STRUCT_VALUE_ADDRESS
2038 @item EXTRA_FRAME_INFO
2040 @item EXTRA_SYMTAB_INFO
2042 @item FILES_INFO_HOOK
2057 Unused? 6-oct-92 rich@@cygnus.com. FIXME.
2058 @item FRAMELESS_FUNCTION_INVOCATION
2060 @item FRAME_ARGS_ADDRESS_CORRECT
2062 @item FRAME_CHAIN_COMBINE
2064 @item FRAME_CHAIN_VALID
2066 @item FRAME_CHAIN_VALID_ALTERNATE
2068 @item FRAME_FIND_SAVED_REGS
2070 @item FRAME_GET_BASEREG_VALUE
2072 @item FRAME_NUM_ARGS
2074 @item FRAME_SPECIFICATION_DYADIC
2076 @item FUNCTION_EPILOGUE_SIZE
2080 @item GCC2_COMPILED_FLAG_SYMBOL
2082 @item GCC_COMPILED_FLAG_SYMBOL
2084 @item GCC_MANGLE_BUG
2088 @item GDB_TARGET_IS_HPPA
2089 This determines whether horrible kludge code in dbxread.c and partial-stab.h
2090 is used to mangle multiple-symbol-table files from HPPA's. This should all
2091 be ripped out, and a scheme like elfread.c used.
2092 @item GDB_TARGET_IS_MACH386
2094 @item GDB_TARGET_IS_SUN3
2096 @item GDB_TARGET_IS_SUN386
2098 @item GET_LONGJMP_TARGET
2099 For most machines, this is a target-dependent parameter. On the DECstation
2100 and the Iris, this is a native-dependent parameter, since <setjmp.h> is
2101 needed to define it.
2103 This macro determines the target PC address that longjmp() will jump
2104 to, assuming that we have just stopped at a longjmp breakpoint. It
2105 takes a CORE_ADDR * as argument, and stores the target PC value through
2106 this pointer. It examines the current state of the machine as needed.
2107 @item GET_SAVED_REGISTER
2109 @item GPLUS_PRODUCER
2119 @item HAVE_REGISTER_WINDOWS
2121 @item HAVE_SIGSETMASK
2125 @item HEADER_SEEK_FD
2129 @item HOST_BYTE_ORDER
2133 @item HPUX_VERSION_5
2139 @item IBM6000_TARGET
2140 Shows that we are configured for an IBM RS/6000 target. This conditional
2141 should be eliminated (FIXME) and replaced by feature-specific macros.
2142 It was introduced in haste and we are repenting at leisure.
2149 @item INIT_EXTRA_FRAME_INFO
2151 @item INIT_EXTRA_SYMTAB_INFO
2165 @item IN_SOLIB_TRAMPOLINE
2169 @item IS_TRAPPED_INTERNALVAR
2173 @item KERNEL_DEBUGGING
2191 @item MACHKERNELDEBUG
2197 @item MAINTENANCE_CMDS
2199 @item MAINTENANCE_CMDS
2207 @item NEED_POSIX_SETPGID
2209 @item NEED_TEXT_START_END
2223 @item NOTICE_SIGNAL_HANDLING_CHANGE
2225 @item NO_DEFINE_SYMBOL
2227 @item NO_HIF_SUPPORT
2229 @item NO_JOB_CONTROL
2231 @item NO_MALLOC_CHECK
2239 @item NO_SIGINTERRUPT
2241 @item NO_SINGLE_STEP
2249 @item NS32K_SVC_IMMED_OPERANDS
2251 @item NUMERIC_REG_NAMES
2259 @item ONE_PROCESS_WRITETEXT
2263 @item PCC_SOL_BROKEN
2265 @item PC_IN_CALL_DUMMY
2267 @item PC_LOAD_SEGMENT
2271 @item PRINT_RANDOM_SIGNAL
2273 @item PRINT_REGISTER_HOOK
2275 @item PRINT_TYPELESS_INTEGER
2277 @item PROCESS_LINENUMBER_HOOK
2279 @item PROLOGUE_FIRSTLINE_OVERLAP
2281 @item PSIGNAL_IN_SIGNAL_H
2285 @item PUSH_ARGUMENTS
2287 @item REGISTER_BYTES
2289 @item REGISTER_NAMES
2291 @item REG_STACK_SEGMENT
2293 @item REG_STRUCT_HAS_ADDR
2301 @item SDB_REG_TO_REGNUM
2309 @item SHELL_COMMAND_CONCAT
2313 @item SHIFT_INST_REGS
2315 @item SIGN_EXTEND_CHAR
2317 @item SIGTRAP_STOP_AFTER_LOAD
2321 @item SKIP_PROLOGUE_FRAMELESS_P
2323 @item SKIP_TRAMPOLINE_CODE
2327 @item SOLIB_CREATE_INFERIOR_HOOK
2331 @item STAB_REG_TO_REGNUM
2335 @item STACK_DIRECTION
2337 @item START_INFERIOR_TRAPS_EXPECTED
2341 @item STORE_RETURN_VALUE
2343 @item SUN4_COMPILER_FEATURE
2345 @item SUN_FIXED_LBRAC_BUG
2347 @item SVR4_SHARED_LIBS
2349 @item SWITCH_ENUM_BUG
2353 @item SYMBOL_RELOADING_DEFAULT
2359 @item TARGET_BYTE_ORDER
2361 @item TARGET_CHAR_BIT
2363 @item TARGET_COMPLEX_BIT
2365 @item TARGET_DOUBLE_BIT
2367 @item TARGET_DOUBLE_COMPLEX_BIT
2369 @item TARGET_FLOAT_BIT
2371 @item TARGET_INT_BIT
2373 @item TARGET_LONG_BIT
2375 @item TARGET_LONG_DOUBLE_BIT
2377 @item TARGET_LONG_LONG_BIT
2379 @item TARGET_PTR_BIT
2381 @item TARGET_SHORT_BIT
2385 @item TM_FILE_OVERRIDE
2397 @item USE_STRUCT_CONVENTION
2403 @item VARIABLES_INSIDE_BLOCK
2413 @item __HAVE_68881__
2417 @item __INT_VARARGS_H
2419 @item __not_on_pyr_yet
2429 @item longest_to_int
2453 @node Native Conditionals
2454 @chapter Native Conditionals
2456 When GDB is configured and compiled, various macros are defined or left
2457 undefined, to control compilation when the host and target systems
2458 are the same. These macros should be defined (or left undefined)
2459 in @file{nm-@var{system}.h}.
2463 If defined, then gdb will include support for the @code{attach} and
2464 @code{detach} commands.
2465 @item FETCH_INFERIOR_REGISTERS
2466 Define this if the native-dependent code will provide its
2468 @code{fetch_inferior_registers} and @code{store_inferior_registers} in
2469 @file{@var{HOST}-nat.c}.
2470 If this symbol is @emph{not} defined, and @file{infptrace.c}
2471 is included in this configuration, the default routines in
2472 @file{infptrace.c} are used for these functions.
2473 @item GET_LONGJMP_TARGET
2474 For most machines, this is a target-dependent parameter. On the DECstation
2475 and the Iris, this is a native-dependent parameter, since <setjmp.h> is
2476 needed to define it.
2478 This macro determines the target PC address that longjmp() will jump
2479 to, assuming that we have just stopped at a longjmp breakpoint. It
2480 takes a CORE_ADDR * as argument, and stores the target PC value through
2481 this pointer. It examines the current state of the machine as needed.
2483 Defines the format for the name of a @file{/proc} device. Should be
2484 defined in @file{nm.h} @emph{only} in order to override the default
2485 definition in @file{procfs.c}.
2488 @item PTRACE_ARG3_TYPE
2489 The type of the third argument to the @code{ptrace} system call, if it exists
2490 and is different from @code{int}.
2491 @item REGISTER_U_ADDR
2492 Defines the offset of the registers in the ``u area''; @pxref{Host}.
2494 This determines whether small routines in @file{*-tdep.c}, which
2495 translate register values
2496 between GDB's internal representation and the /proc representation,
2499 This is the offset of the registers in the upage. It need only be
2500 defined if the generic ptrace register access routines in
2501 @file{infptrace.c} are being used (that is,
2502 @file{infptrace.c} is configured in, and
2503 @code{FETCH_INFERIOR_REGISTERS} is not defined). If the default value
2504 from @file{infptrace.c} is good enough, leave it undefined.
2506 The default value means that u.u_ar0 @emph{points to} the location of the
2507 registers. I'm guessing that @code{#define U_REGS_OFFSET 0} means that
2508 u.u_ar0 @emph{is} the location of the registers.
2511 @node Obsolete Conditionals
2512 @chapter Obsolete Conditionals
2514 Fragments of old code in GDB sometimes reference or set the following
2515 configuration macros. They should not be used by new code, and
2516 old uses should be removed as those parts of the debugger are
2520 @item STACK_END_ADDR
2521 This macro used to define where the end of the stack appeared, for use
2522 in interpreting core file formats that don't record this address in the
2523 core file itself. This information is now configured in BFD, and GDB
2524 gets the info portably from there. The values in GDB's configuration
2525 files should be moved into BFD configuration files (if needed there),
2526 and deleted from all of GDB's config files.
2528 Any @file{@var{foo}-xdep.c} file that references STACK_END_ADDR
2529 is so old that it has never been converted to use BFD. Now that's old!
2533 @chapter The XCOFF Object File Format
2535 The IBM RS/6000 running AIX uses an object file format called xcoff.
2536 The COFF sections, symbols, and line numbers are used, but debugging
2537 symbols are dbx-style stabs whose strings are located in the
2538 @samp{.debug} section (rather than the string table). Files are
2539 indicated with a @samp{C_FILE} symbol (.file) which is analogous to
2540 @samp{N_SO}; include files are delimited with @samp{C_BINCL} (.bi) and
2541 @samp{C_EINCL} (.ei) which correspond to @samp{N_SOL} rather than Sun's
2542 @samp{N_BINCL}. The values of the @samp{C_BINCL} and @samp{C_EINCL}
2543 symbols are offsets into the executable file which point to the
2544 beginning and the end of the portion of the linetable which correspond
2545 to this include file (warning: C_EINCL is @emph{inclusive} not exclusive
2546 like most end of something pointers). Other differences from standard
2547 stabs include the use of negative type numbers for builtin types.
2549 The shared library scheme has a nice clean interface for figuring out
2550 what shared libraries are in use, but the catch is that everything which
2551 refers to addresses (symbol tables and breakpoints at least) needs to be
2552 relocated for both shared libraries and the main executable. At least
2553 using the standard mechanism this can only be done once the program has
2554 been run (or the core file has been read).