1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
2 @c Copyright (C) 1988-1996, 1998-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
5 @c makeinfo ignores cmds prev to setfilename, so its arg cannot make use
6 @c of @set vars. However, you can override filename with makeinfo -o.
11 @settitle Debugging with @value{GDBN}
12 @setchapternewpage odd
21 @c To avoid file-name clashes between index.html and Index.html, when
22 @c the manual is produced on a Posix host and then moved to a
23 @c case-insensitive filesystem (e.g., MS-Windows), we separate the
24 @c indices into two: Concept Index and all the rest.
28 @c readline appendices use @vindex, @findex and @ftable,
29 @c annotate.texi and gdbmi use @findex.
33 @c !!set GDB manual's edition---not the same as GDB version!
34 @c This is updated by GNU Press.
37 @c !!set GDB edit command default editor
40 @c THIS MANUAL REQUIRES TEXINFO 4.0 OR LATER.
42 @c This is a dir.info fragment to support semi-automated addition of
43 @c manuals to an info tree.
44 @dircategory Software development
46 * Gdb: (gdb). The GNU debugger.
50 Copyright @copyright{} 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996,
51 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
53 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
55 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
56 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
57 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
58 Invariant Sections being ``Free Software'' and ``Free Software Needs
59 Free Documentation'', with the Front-Cover Texts being ``A GNU Manual,''
60 and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below.
62 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You are free to copy and modify
63 this GNU Manual. Buying copies from GNU Press supports the FSF in
64 developing GNU and promoting software freedom.''
68 This file documents the @sc{gnu} debugger @value{GDBN}.
70 This is the @value{EDITION} Edition, of @cite{Debugging with
71 @value{GDBN}: the @sc{gnu} Source-Level Debugger} for @value{GDBN}
72 @ifset VERSION_PACKAGE
73 @value{VERSION_PACKAGE}
75 Version @value{GDBVN}.
81 @title Debugging with @value{GDBN}
82 @subtitle The @sc{gnu} Source-Level Debugger
84 @subtitle @value{EDITION} Edition, for @value{GDBN} version @value{GDBVN}
85 @ifset VERSION_PACKAGE
87 @subtitle @value{VERSION_PACKAGE}
89 @author Richard Stallman, Roland Pesch, Stan Shebs, et al.
93 \hfill (Send bugs and comments on @value{GDBN} to @value{BUGURL}.)\par
94 \hfill {\it Debugging with @value{GDBN}}\par
95 \hfill \TeX{}info \texinfoversion\par
99 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
100 Published by the Free Software Foundation @*
101 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
102 Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA@*
103 ISBN 978-0-9831592-3-0 @*
110 @node Top, Summary, (dir), (dir)
112 @top Debugging with @value{GDBN}
114 This file describes @value{GDBN}, the @sc{gnu} symbolic debugger.
116 This is the @value{EDITION} Edition, for @value{GDBN}
117 @ifset VERSION_PACKAGE
118 @value{VERSION_PACKAGE}
120 Version @value{GDBVN}.
122 Copyright (C) 1988-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
124 This edition of the GDB manual is dedicated to the memory of Fred
125 Fish. Fred was a long-standing contributor to GDB and to Free
126 software in general. We will miss him.
129 * Summary:: Summary of @value{GDBN}
130 * Sample Session:: A sample @value{GDBN} session
132 * Invocation:: Getting in and out of @value{GDBN}
133 * Commands:: @value{GDBN} commands
134 * Running:: Running programs under @value{GDBN}
135 * Stopping:: Stopping and continuing
136 * Reverse Execution:: Running programs backward
137 * Process Record and Replay:: Recording inferior's execution and replaying it
138 * Stack:: Examining the stack
139 * Source:: Examining source files
140 * Data:: Examining data
141 * Optimized Code:: Debugging optimized code
142 * Macros:: Preprocessor Macros
143 * Tracepoints:: Debugging remote targets non-intrusively
144 * Overlays:: Debugging programs that use overlays
146 * Languages:: Using @value{GDBN} with different languages
148 * Symbols:: Examining the symbol table
149 * Altering:: Altering execution
150 * GDB Files:: @value{GDBN} files
151 * Targets:: Specifying a debugging target
152 * Remote Debugging:: Debugging remote programs
153 * Configurations:: Configuration-specific information
154 * Controlling GDB:: Controlling @value{GDBN}
155 * Extending GDB:: Extending @value{GDBN}
156 * Interpreters:: Command Interpreters
157 * TUI:: @value{GDBN} Text User Interface
158 * Emacs:: Using @value{GDBN} under @sc{gnu} Emacs
159 * GDB/MI:: @value{GDBN}'s Machine Interface.
160 * Annotations:: @value{GDBN}'s annotation interface.
161 * JIT Interface:: Using the JIT debugging interface.
162 * In-Process Agent:: In-Process Agent
164 * GDB Bugs:: Reporting bugs in @value{GDBN}
166 @ifset SYSTEM_READLINE
167 * Command Line Editing: (rluserman). Command Line Editing
168 * Using History Interactively: (history). Using History Interactively
170 @ifclear SYSTEM_READLINE
171 * Command Line Editing:: Command Line Editing
172 * Using History Interactively:: Using History Interactively
174 * In Memoriam:: In Memoriam
175 * Formatting Documentation:: How to format and print @value{GDBN} documentation
176 * Installing GDB:: Installing GDB
177 * Maintenance Commands:: Maintenance Commands
178 * Remote Protocol:: GDB Remote Serial Protocol
179 * Agent Expressions:: The GDB Agent Expression Mechanism
180 * Target Descriptions:: How targets can describe themselves to
182 * Operating System Information:: Getting additional information from
184 * Trace File Format:: GDB trace file format
185 * Index Section Format:: .gdb_index section format
186 * Copying:: GNU General Public License says
187 how you can copy and share GDB
188 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation
189 * Concept Index:: Index of @value{GDBN} concepts
190 * Command and Variable Index:: Index of @value{GDBN} commands, variables,
191 functions, and Python data types
199 @unnumbered Summary of @value{GDBN}
201 The purpose of a debugger such as @value{GDBN} is to allow you to see what is
202 going on ``inside'' another program while it executes---or what another
203 program was doing at the moment it crashed.
205 @value{GDBN} can do four main kinds of things (plus other things in support of
206 these) to help you catch bugs in the act:
210 Start your program, specifying anything that might affect its behavior.
213 Make your program stop on specified conditions.
216 Examine what has happened, when your program has stopped.
219 Change things in your program, so you can experiment with correcting the
220 effects of one bug and go on to learn about another.
223 You can use @value{GDBN} to debug programs written in C and C@t{++}.
224 For more information, see @ref{Supported Languages,,Supported Languages}.
225 For more information, see @ref{C,,C and C++}.
227 Support for D is partial. For information on D, see
231 Support for Modula-2 is partial. For information on Modula-2, see
232 @ref{Modula-2,,Modula-2}.
234 Support for OpenCL C is partial. For information on OpenCL C, see
235 @ref{OpenCL C,,OpenCL C}.
238 Debugging Pascal programs which use sets, subranges, file variables, or
239 nested functions does not currently work. @value{GDBN} does not support
240 entering expressions, printing values, or similar features using Pascal
244 @value{GDBN} can be used to debug programs written in Fortran, although
245 it may be necessary to refer to some variables with a trailing
248 @value{GDBN} can be used to debug programs written in Objective-C,
249 using either the Apple/NeXT or the GNU Objective-C runtime.
252 * Free Software:: Freely redistributable software
253 * Free Documentation:: Free Software Needs Free Documentation
254 * Contributors:: Contributors to GDB
258 @unnumberedsec Free Software
260 @value{GDBN} is @dfn{free software}, protected by the @sc{gnu}
261 General Public License
262 (GPL). The GPL gives you the freedom to copy or adapt a licensed
263 program---but every person getting a copy also gets with it the
264 freedom to modify that copy (which means that they must get access to
265 the source code), and the freedom to distribute further copies.
266 Typical software companies use copyrights to limit your freedoms; the
267 Free Software Foundation uses the GPL to preserve these freedoms.
269 Fundamentally, the General Public License is a license which says that
270 you have these freedoms and that you cannot take these freedoms away
273 @node Free Documentation
274 @unnumberedsec Free Software Needs Free Documentation
276 The biggest deficiency in the free software community today is not in
277 the software---it is the lack of good free documentation that we can
278 include with the free software. Many of our most important
279 programs do not come with free reference manuals and free introductory
280 texts. Documentation is an essential part of any software package;
281 when an important free software package does not come with a free
282 manual and a free tutorial, that is a major gap. We have many such
285 Consider Perl, for instance. The tutorial manuals that people
286 normally use are non-free. How did this come about? Because the
287 authors of those manuals published them with restrictive terms---no
288 copying, no modification, source files not available---which exclude
289 them from the free software world.
291 That wasn't the first time this sort of thing happened, and it was far
292 from the last. Many times we have heard a GNU user eagerly describe a
293 manual that he is writing, his intended contribution to the community,
294 only to learn that he had ruined everything by signing a publication
295 contract to make it non-free.
297 Free documentation, like free software, is a matter of freedom, not
298 price. The problem with the non-free manual is not that publishers
299 charge a price for printed copies---that in itself is fine. (The Free
300 Software Foundation sells printed copies of manuals, too.) The
301 problem is the restrictions on the use of the manual. Free manuals
302 are available in source code form, and give you permission to copy and
303 modify. Non-free manuals do not allow this.
305 The criteria of freedom for a free manual are roughly the same as for
306 free software. Redistribution (including the normal kinds of
307 commercial redistribution) must be permitted, so that the manual can
308 accompany every copy of the program, both on-line and on paper.
310 Permission for modification of the technical content is crucial too.
311 When people modify the software, adding or changing features, if they
312 are conscientious they will change the manual too---so they can
313 provide accurate and clear documentation for the modified program. A
314 manual that leaves you no choice but to write a new manual to document
315 a changed version of the program is not really available to our
318 Some kinds of limits on the way modification is handled are
319 acceptable. For example, requirements to preserve the original
320 author's copyright notice, the distribution terms, or the list of
321 authors, are ok. It is also no problem to require modified versions
322 to include notice that they were modified. Even entire sections that
323 may not be deleted or changed are acceptable, as long as they deal
324 with nontechnical topics (like this one). These kinds of restrictions
325 are acceptable because they don't obstruct the community's normal use
328 However, it must be possible to modify all the @emph{technical}
329 content of the manual, and then distribute the result in all the usual
330 media, through all the usual channels. Otherwise, the restrictions
331 obstruct the use of the manual, it is not free, and we need another
332 manual to replace it.
334 Please spread the word about this issue. Our community continues to
335 lose manuals to proprietary publishing. If we spread the word that
336 free software needs free reference manuals and free tutorials, perhaps
337 the next person who wants to contribute by writing documentation will
338 realize, before it is too late, that only free manuals contribute to
339 the free software community.
341 If you are writing documentation, please insist on publishing it under
342 the GNU Free Documentation License or another free documentation
343 license. Remember that this decision requires your approval---you
344 don't have to let the publisher decide. Some commercial publishers
345 will use a free license if you insist, but they will not propose the
346 option; it is up to you to raise the issue and say firmly that this is
347 what you want. If the publisher you are dealing with refuses, please
348 try other publishers. If you're not sure whether a proposed license
349 is free, write to @email{licensing@@gnu.org}.
351 You can encourage commercial publishers to sell more free, copylefted
352 manuals and tutorials by buying them, and particularly by buying
353 copies from the publishers that paid for their writing or for major
354 improvements. Meanwhile, try to avoid buying non-free documentation
355 at all. Check the distribution terms of a manual before you buy it,
356 and insist that whoever seeks your business must respect your freedom.
357 Check the history of the book, and try to reward the publishers that
358 have paid or pay the authors to work on it.
360 The Free Software Foundation maintains a list of free documentation
361 published by other publishers, at
362 @url{http://www.fsf.org/doc/other-free-books.html}.
365 @unnumberedsec Contributors to @value{GDBN}
367 Richard Stallman was the original author of @value{GDBN}, and of many
368 other @sc{gnu} programs. Many others have contributed to its
369 development. This section attempts to credit major contributors. One
370 of the virtues of free software is that everyone is free to contribute
371 to it; with regret, we cannot actually acknowledge everyone here. The
372 file @file{ChangeLog} in the @value{GDBN} distribution approximates a
373 blow-by-blow account.
375 Changes much prior to version 2.0 are lost in the mists of time.
378 @emph{Plea:} Additions to this section are particularly welcome. If you
379 or your friends (or enemies, to be evenhanded) have been unfairly
380 omitted from this list, we would like to add your names!
383 So that they may not regard their many labors as thankless, we
384 particularly thank those who shepherded @value{GDBN} through major
386 Andrew Cagney (releases 6.3, 6.2, 6.1, 6.0, 5.3, 5.2, 5.1 and 5.0);
387 Jim Blandy (release 4.18);
388 Jason Molenda (release 4.17);
389 Stan Shebs (release 4.14);
390 Fred Fish (releases 4.16, 4.15, 4.13, 4.12, 4.11, 4.10, and 4.9);
391 Stu Grossman and John Gilmore (releases 4.8, 4.7, 4.6, 4.5, and 4.4);
392 John Gilmore (releases 4.3, 4.2, 4.1, 4.0, and 3.9);
393 Jim Kingdon (releases 3.5, 3.4, and 3.3);
394 and Randy Smith (releases 3.2, 3.1, and 3.0).
396 Richard Stallman, assisted at various times by Peter TerMaat, Chris
397 Hanson, and Richard Mlynarik, handled releases through 2.8.
399 Michael Tiemann is the author of most of the @sc{gnu} C@t{++} support
400 in @value{GDBN}, with significant additional contributions from Per
401 Bothner and Daniel Berlin. James Clark wrote the @sc{gnu} C@t{++}
402 demangler. Early work on C@t{++} was by Peter TerMaat (who also did
403 much general update work leading to release 3.0).
405 @value{GDBN} uses the BFD subroutine library to examine multiple
406 object-file formats; BFD was a joint project of David V.
407 Henkel-Wallace, Rich Pixley, Steve Chamberlain, and John Gilmore.
409 David Johnson wrote the original COFF support; Pace Willison did
410 the original support for encapsulated COFF.
412 Brent Benson of Harris Computer Systems contributed DWARF 2 support.
414 Adam de Boor and Bradley Davis contributed the ISI Optimum V support.
415 Per Bothner, Noboyuki Hikichi, and Alessandro Forin contributed MIPS
417 Jean-Daniel Fekete contributed Sun 386i support.
418 Chris Hanson improved the HP9000 support.
419 Noboyuki Hikichi and Tomoyuki Hasei contributed Sony/News OS 3 support.
420 David Johnson contributed Encore Umax support.
421 Jyrki Kuoppala contributed Altos 3068 support.
422 Jeff Law contributed HP PA and SOM support.
423 Keith Packard contributed NS32K support.
424 Doug Rabson contributed Acorn Risc Machine support.
425 Bob Rusk contributed Harris Nighthawk CX-UX support.
426 Chris Smith contributed Convex support (and Fortran debugging).
427 Jonathan Stone contributed Pyramid support.
428 Michael Tiemann contributed SPARC support.
429 Tim Tucker contributed support for the Gould NP1 and Gould Powernode.
430 Pace Willison contributed Intel 386 support.
431 Jay Vosburgh contributed Symmetry support.
432 Marko Mlinar contributed OpenRISC 1000 support.
434 Andreas Schwab contributed M68K @sc{gnu}/Linux support.
436 Rich Schaefer and Peter Schauer helped with support of SunOS shared
439 Jay Fenlason and Roland McGrath ensured that @value{GDBN} and GAS agree
440 about several machine instruction sets.
442 Patrick Duval, Ted Goldstein, Vikram Koka and Glenn Engel helped develop
443 remote debugging. Intel Corporation, Wind River Systems, AMD, and ARM
444 contributed remote debugging modules for the i960, VxWorks, A29K UDI,
445 and RDI targets, respectively.
447 Brian Fox is the author of the readline libraries providing
448 command-line editing and command history.
450 Andrew Beers of SUNY Buffalo wrote the language-switching code, the
451 Modula-2 support, and contributed the Languages chapter of this manual.
453 Fred Fish wrote most of the support for Unix System Vr4.
454 He also enhanced the command-completion support to cover C@t{++} overloaded
457 Hitachi America (now Renesas America), Ltd. sponsored the support for
458 H8/300, H8/500, and Super-H processors.
460 NEC sponsored the support for the v850, Vr4xxx, and Vr5xxx processors.
462 Mitsubishi (now Renesas) sponsored the support for D10V, D30V, and M32R/D
465 Toshiba sponsored the support for the TX39 Mips processor.
467 Matsushita sponsored the support for the MN10200 and MN10300 processors.
469 Fujitsu sponsored the support for SPARClite and FR30 processors.
471 Kung Hsu, Jeff Law, and Rick Sladkey added support for hardware
474 Michael Snyder added support for tracepoints.
476 Stu Grossman wrote gdbserver.
478 Jim Kingdon, Peter Schauer, Ian Taylor, and Stu Grossman made
479 nearly innumerable bug fixes and cleanups throughout @value{GDBN}.
481 The following people at the Hewlett-Packard Company contributed
482 support for the PA-RISC 2.0 architecture, HP-UX 10.20, 10.30, and 11.0
483 (narrow mode), HP's implementation of kernel threads, HP's aC@t{++}
484 compiler, and the Text User Interface (nee Terminal User Interface):
485 Ben Krepp, Richard Title, John Bishop, Susan Macchia, Kathy Mann,
486 Satish Pai, India Paul, Steve Rehrauer, and Elena Zannoni. Kim Haase
487 provided HP-specific information in this manual.
489 DJ Delorie ported @value{GDBN} to MS-DOS, for the DJGPP project.
490 Robert Hoehne made significant contributions to the DJGPP port.
492 Cygnus Solutions has sponsored @value{GDBN} maintenance and much of its
493 development since 1991. Cygnus engineers who have worked on @value{GDBN}
494 fulltime include Mark Alexander, Jim Blandy, Per Bothner, Kevin
495 Buettner, Edith Epstein, Chris Faylor, Fred Fish, Martin Hunt, Jim
496 Ingham, John Gilmore, Stu Grossman, Kung Hsu, Jim Kingdon, John Metzler,
497 Fernando Nasser, Geoffrey Noer, Dawn Perchik, Rich Pixley, Zdenek
498 Radouch, Keith Seitz, Stan Shebs, David Taylor, and Elena Zannoni. In
499 addition, Dave Brolley, Ian Carmichael, Steve Chamberlain, Nick Clifton,
500 JT Conklin, Stan Cox, DJ Delorie, Ulrich Drepper, Frank Eigler, Doug
501 Evans, Sean Fagan, David Henkel-Wallace, Richard Henderson, Jeff
502 Holcomb, Jeff Law, Jim Lemke, Tom Lord, Bob Manson, Michael Meissner,
503 Jason Merrill, Catherine Moore, Drew Moseley, Ken Raeburn, Gavin
504 Romig-Koch, Rob Savoye, Jamie Smith, Mike Stump, Ian Taylor, Angela
505 Thomas, Michael Tiemann, Tom Tromey, Ron Unrau, Jim Wilson, and David
506 Zuhn have made contributions both large and small.
508 Andrew Cagney, Fernando Nasser, and Elena Zannoni, while working for
509 Cygnus Solutions, implemented the original @sc{gdb/mi} interface.
511 Jim Blandy added support for preprocessor macros, while working for Red
514 Andrew Cagney designed @value{GDBN}'s architecture vector. Many
515 people including Andrew Cagney, Stephane Carrez, Randolph Chung, Nick
516 Duffek, Richard Henderson, Mark Kettenis, Grace Sainsbury, Kei
517 Sakamoto, Yoshinori Sato, Michael Snyder, Andreas Schwab, Jason
518 Thorpe, Corinna Vinschen, Ulrich Weigand, and Elena Zannoni, helped
519 with the migration of old architectures to this new framework.
521 Andrew Cagney completely re-designed and re-implemented @value{GDBN}'s
522 unwinder framework, this consisting of a fresh new design featuring
523 frame IDs, independent frame sniffers, and the sentinel frame. Mark
524 Kettenis implemented the @sc{dwarf 2} unwinder, Jeff Johnston the
525 libunwind unwinder, and Andrew Cagney the dummy, sentinel, tramp, and
526 trad unwinders. The architecture-specific changes, each involving a
527 complete rewrite of the architecture's frame code, were carried out by
528 Jim Blandy, Joel Brobecker, Kevin Buettner, Andrew Cagney, Stephane
529 Carrez, Randolph Chung, Orjan Friberg, Richard Henderson, Daniel
530 Jacobowitz, Jeff Johnston, Mark Kettenis, Theodore A. Roth, Kei
531 Sakamoto, Yoshinori Sato, Michael Snyder, Corinna Vinschen, and Ulrich
534 Christian Zankel, Ross Morley, Bob Wilson, and Maxim Grigoriev from
535 Tensilica, Inc.@: contributed support for Xtensa processors. Others
536 who have worked on the Xtensa port of @value{GDBN} in the past include
537 Steve Tjiang, John Newlin, and Scott Foehner.
539 Michael Eager and staff of Xilinx, Inc., contributed support for the
540 Xilinx MicroBlaze architecture.
543 @chapter A Sample @value{GDBN} Session
545 You can use this manual at your leisure to read all about @value{GDBN}.
546 However, a handful of commands are enough to get started using the
547 debugger. This chapter illustrates those commands.
550 In this sample session, we emphasize user input like this: @b{input},
551 to make it easier to pick out from the surrounding output.
554 @c FIXME: this example may not be appropriate for some configs, where
555 @c FIXME...primary interest is in remote use.
557 One of the preliminary versions of @sc{gnu} @code{m4} (a generic macro
558 processor) exhibits the following bug: sometimes, when we change its
559 quote strings from the default, the commands used to capture one macro
560 definition within another stop working. In the following short @code{m4}
561 session, we define a macro @code{foo} which expands to @code{0000}; we
562 then use the @code{m4} built-in @code{defn} to define @code{bar} as the
563 same thing. However, when we change the open quote string to
564 @code{<QUOTE>} and the close quote string to @code{<UNQUOTE>}, the same
565 procedure fails to define a new synonym @code{baz}:
574 @b{define(bar,defn(`foo'))}
578 @b{changequote(<QUOTE>,<UNQUOTE>)}
580 @b{define(baz,defn(<QUOTE>foo<UNQUOTE>))}
583 m4: End of input: 0: fatal error: EOF in string
587 Let us use @value{GDBN} to try to see what is going on.
590 $ @b{@value{GDBP} m4}
591 @c FIXME: this falsifies the exact text played out, to permit smallbook
592 @c FIXME... format to come out better.
593 @value{GDBN} is free software and you are welcome to distribute copies
594 of it under certain conditions; type "show copying" to see
596 There is absolutely no warranty for @value{GDBN}; type "show warranty"
599 @value{GDBN} @value{GDBVN}, Copyright 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc...
604 @value{GDBN} reads only enough symbol data to know where to find the
605 rest when needed; as a result, the first prompt comes up very quickly.
606 We now tell @value{GDBN} to use a narrower display width than usual, so
607 that examples fit in this manual.
610 (@value{GDBP}) @b{set width 70}
614 We need to see how the @code{m4} built-in @code{changequote} works.
615 Having looked at the source, we know the relevant subroutine is
616 @code{m4_changequote}, so we set a breakpoint there with the @value{GDBN}
617 @code{break} command.
620 (@value{GDBP}) @b{break m4_changequote}
621 Breakpoint 1 at 0x62f4: file builtin.c, line 879.
625 Using the @code{run} command, we start @code{m4} running under @value{GDBN}
626 control; as long as control does not reach the @code{m4_changequote}
627 subroutine, the program runs as usual:
630 (@value{GDBP}) @b{run}
631 Starting program: /work/Editorial/gdb/gnu/m4/m4
639 To trigger the breakpoint, we call @code{changequote}. @value{GDBN}
640 suspends execution of @code{m4}, displaying information about the
641 context where it stops.
644 @b{changequote(<QUOTE>,<UNQUOTE>)}
646 Breakpoint 1, m4_changequote (argc=3, argv=0x33c70)
648 879 if (bad_argc(TOKEN_DATA_TEXT(argv[0]),argc,1,3))
652 Now we use the command @code{n} (@code{next}) to advance execution to
653 the next line of the current function.
657 882 set_quotes((argc >= 2) ? TOKEN_DATA_TEXT(argv[1])\
662 @code{set_quotes} looks like a promising subroutine. We can go into it
663 by using the command @code{s} (@code{step}) instead of @code{next}.
664 @code{step} goes to the next line to be executed in @emph{any}
665 subroutine, so it steps into @code{set_quotes}.
669 set_quotes (lq=0x34c78 "<QUOTE>", rq=0x34c88 "<UNQUOTE>")
671 530 if (lquote != def_lquote)
675 The display that shows the subroutine where @code{m4} is now
676 suspended (and its arguments) is called a stack frame display. It
677 shows a summary of the stack. We can use the @code{backtrace}
678 command (which can also be spelled @code{bt}), to see where we are
679 in the stack as a whole: the @code{backtrace} command displays a
680 stack frame for each active subroutine.
683 (@value{GDBP}) @b{bt}
684 #0 set_quotes (lq=0x34c78 "<QUOTE>", rq=0x34c88 "<UNQUOTE>")
686 #1 0x6344 in m4_changequote (argc=3, argv=0x33c70)
688 #2 0x8174 in expand_macro (sym=0x33320) at macro.c:242
689 #3 0x7a88 in expand_token (obs=0x0, t=209696, td=0xf7fffa30)
691 #4 0x79dc in expand_input () at macro.c:40
692 #5 0x2930 in main (argc=0, argv=0xf7fffb20) at m4.c:195
696 We step through a few more lines to see what happens. The first two
697 times, we can use @samp{s}; the next two times we use @code{n} to avoid
698 falling into the @code{xstrdup} subroutine.
702 0x3b5c 532 if (rquote != def_rquote)
704 0x3b80 535 lquote = (lq == nil || *lq == '\0') ? \
705 def_lquote : xstrdup(lq);
707 536 rquote = (rq == nil || *rq == '\0') ? def_rquote\
710 538 len_lquote = strlen(rquote);
714 The last line displayed looks a little odd; we can examine the variables
715 @code{lquote} and @code{rquote} to see if they are in fact the new left
716 and right quotes we specified. We use the command @code{p}
717 (@code{print}) to see their values.
720 (@value{GDBP}) @b{p lquote}
721 $1 = 0x35d40 "<QUOTE>"
722 (@value{GDBP}) @b{p rquote}
723 $2 = 0x35d50 "<UNQUOTE>"
727 @code{lquote} and @code{rquote} are indeed the new left and right quotes.
728 To look at some context, we can display ten lines of source
729 surrounding the current line with the @code{l} (@code{list}) command.
735 535 lquote = (lq == nil || *lq == '\0') ? def_lquote\
737 536 rquote = (rq == nil || *rq == '\0') ? def_rquote\
740 538 len_lquote = strlen(rquote);
741 539 len_rquote = strlen(lquote);
748 Let us step past the two lines that set @code{len_lquote} and
749 @code{len_rquote}, and then examine the values of those variables.
753 539 len_rquote = strlen(lquote);
756 (@value{GDBP}) @b{p len_lquote}
758 (@value{GDBP}) @b{p len_rquote}
763 That certainly looks wrong, assuming @code{len_lquote} and
764 @code{len_rquote} are meant to be the lengths of @code{lquote} and
765 @code{rquote} respectively. We can set them to better values using
766 the @code{p} command, since it can print the value of
767 any expression---and that expression can include subroutine calls and
771 (@value{GDBP}) @b{p len_lquote=strlen(lquote)}
773 (@value{GDBP}) @b{p len_rquote=strlen(rquote)}
778 Is that enough to fix the problem of using the new quotes with the
779 @code{m4} built-in @code{defn}? We can allow @code{m4} to continue
780 executing with the @code{c} (@code{continue}) command, and then try the
781 example that caused trouble initially:
787 @b{define(baz,defn(<QUOTE>foo<UNQUOTE>))}
794 Success! The new quotes now work just as well as the default ones. The
795 problem seems to have been just the two typos defining the wrong
796 lengths. We allow @code{m4} exit by giving it an EOF as input:
800 Program exited normally.
804 The message @samp{Program exited normally.} is from @value{GDBN}; it
805 indicates @code{m4} has finished executing. We can end our @value{GDBN}
806 session with the @value{GDBN} @code{quit} command.
809 (@value{GDBP}) @b{quit}
813 @chapter Getting In and Out of @value{GDBN}
815 This chapter discusses how to start @value{GDBN}, and how to get out of it.
819 type @samp{@value{GDBP}} to start @value{GDBN}.
821 type @kbd{quit} or @kbd{Ctrl-d} to exit.
825 * Invoking GDB:: How to start @value{GDBN}
826 * Quitting GDB:: How to quit @value{GDBN}
827 * Shell Commands:: How to use shell commands inside @value{GDBN}
828 * Logging Output:: How to log @value{GDBN}'s output to a file
832 @section Invoking @value{GDBN}
834 Invoke @value{GDBN} by running the program @code{@value{GDBP}}. Once started,
835 @value{GDBN} reads commands from the terminal until you tell it to exit.
837 You can also run @code{@value{GDBP}} with a variety of arguments and options,
838 to specify more of your debugging environment at the outset.
840 The command-line options described here are designed
841 to cover a variety of situations; in some environments, some of these
842 options may effectively be unavailable.
844 The most usual way to start @value{GDBN} is with one argument,
845 specifying an executable program:
848 @value{GDBP} @var{program}
852 You can also start with both an executable program and a core file
856 @value{GDBP} @var{program} @var{core}
859 You can, instead, specify a process ID as a second argument, if you want
860 to debug a running process:
863 @value{GDBP} @var{program} 1234
867 would attach @value{GDBN} to process @code{1234} (unless you also have a file
868 named @file{1234}; @value{GDBN} does check for a core file first).
870 Taking advantage of the second command-line argument requires a fairly
871 complete operating system; when you use @value{GDBN} as a remote
872 debugger attached to a bare board, there may not be any notion of
873 ``process'', and there is often no way to get a core dump. @value{GDBN}
874 will warn you if it is unable to attach or to read core dumps.
876 You can optionally have @code{@value{GDBP}} pass any arguments after the
877 executable file to the inferior using @code{--args}. This option stops
880 @value{GDBP} --args gcc -O2 -c foo.c
882 This will cause @code{@value{GDBP}} to debug @code{gcc}, and to set
883 @code{gcc}'s command-line arguments (@pxref{Arguments}) to @samp{-O2 -c foo.c}.
885 You can run @code{@value{GDBP}} without printing the front material, which describes
886 @value{GDBN}'s non-warranty, by specifying @code{-silent}:
893 You can further control how @value{GDBN} starts up by using command-line
894 options. @value{GDBN} itself can remind you of the options available.
904 to display all available options and briefly describe their use
905 (@samp{@value{GDBP} -h} is a shorter equivalent).
907 All options and command line arguments you give are processed
908 in sequential order. The order makes a difference when the
909 @samp{-x} option is used.
913 * File Options:: Choosing files
914 * Mode Options:: Choosing modes
915 * Startup:: What @value{GDBN} does during startup
919 @subsection Choosing Files
921 When @value{GDBN} starts, it reads any arguments other than options as
922 specifying an executable file and core file (or process ID). This is
923 the same as if the arguments were specified by the @samp{-se} and
924 @samp{-c} (or @samp{-p}) options respectively. (@value{GDBN} reads the
925 first argument that does not have an associated option flag as
926 equivalent to the @samp{-se} option followed by that argument; and the
927 second argument that does not have an associated option flag, if any, as
928 equivalent to the @samp{-c}/@samp{-p} option followed by that argument.)
929 If the second argument begins with a decimal digit, @value{GDBN} will
930 first attempt to attach to it as a process, and if that fails, attempt
931 to open it as a corefile. If you have a corefile whose name begins with
932 a digit, you can prevent @value{GDBN} from treating it as a pid by
933 prefixing it with @file{./}, e.g.@: @file{./12345}.
935 If @value{GDBN} has not been configured to included core file support,
936 such as for most embedded targets, then it will complain about a second
937 argument and ignore it.
939 Many options have both long and short forms; both are shown in the
940 following list. @value{GDBN} also recognizes the long forms if you truncate
941 them, so long as enough of the option is present to be unambiguous.
942 (If you prefer, you can flag option arguments with @samp{--} rather
943 than @samp{-}, though we illustrate the more usual convention.)
945 @c NOTE: the @cindex entries here use double dashes ON PURPOSE. This
946 @c way, both those who look for -foo and --foo in the index, will find
950 @item -symbols @var{file}
952 @cindex @code{--symbols}
954 Read symbol table from file @var{file}.
956 @item -exec @var{file}
958 @cindex @code{--exec}
960 Use file @var{file} as the executable file to execute when appropriate,
961 and for examining pure data in conjunction with a core dump.
965 Read symbol table from file @var{file} and use it as the executable
968 @item -core @var{file}
970 @cindex @code{--core}
972 Use file @var{file} as a core dump to examine.
974 @item -pid @var{number}
975 @itemx -p @var{number}
978 Connect to process ID @var{number}, as with the @code{attach} command.
980 @item -command @var{file}
982 @cindex @code{--command}
984 Execute commands from file @var{file}. The contents of this file is
985 evaluated exactly as the @code{source} command would.
986 @xref{Command Files,, Command files}.
988 @item -eval-command @var{command}
989 @itemx -ex @var{command}
990 @cindex @code{--eval-command}
992 Execute a single @value{GDBN} command.
994 This option may be used multiple times to call multiple commands. It may
995 also be interleaved with @samp{-command} as required.
998 @value{GDBP} -ex 'target sim' -ex 'load' \
999 -x setbreakpoints -ex 'run' a.out
1002 @item -init-command @var{file}
1003 @itemx -ix @var{file}
1004 @cindex @code{--init-command}
1006 Execute commands from file @var{file} before loading the inferior (but
1007 after loading gdbinit files).
1010 @item -init-eval-command @var{command}
1011 @itemx -iex @var{command}
1012 @cindex @code{--init-eval-command}
1014 Execute a single @value{GDBN} command before loading the inferior (but
1015 after loading gdbinit files).
1018 @item -directory @var{directory}
1019 @itemx -d @var{directory}
1020 @cindex @code{--directory}
1022 Add @var{directory} to the path to search for source and script files.
1026 @cindex @code{--readnow}
1028 Read each symbol file's entire symbol table immediately, rather than
1029 the default, which is to read it incrementally as it is needed.
1030 This makes startup slower, but makes future operations faster.
1035 @subsection Choosing Modes
1037 You can run @value{GDBN} in various alternative modes---for example, in
1038 batch mode or quiet mode.
1046 Do not execute commands found in any initialization files. Normally,
1047 @value{GDBN} executes the commands in these files after all the command
1048 options and arguments have been processed. @xref{Command Files,,Command
1054 @cindex @code{--quiet}
1055 @cindex @code{--silent}
1057 ``Quiet''. Do not print the introductory and copyright messages. These
1058 messages are also suppressed in batch mode.
1061 @cindex @code{--batch}
1062 Run in batch mode. Exit with status @code{0} after processing all the
1063 command files specified with @samp{-x} (and all commands from
1064 initialization files, if not inhibited with @samp{-n}). Exit with
1065 nonzero status if an error occurs in executing the @value{GDBN} commands
1066 in the command files. Batch mode also disables pagination, sets unlimited
1067 terminal width and height @pxref{Screen Size}, and acts as if @kbd{set confirm
1068 off} were in effect (@pxref{Messages/Warnings}).
1070 Batch mode may be useful for running @value{GDBN} as a filter, for
1071 example to download and run a program on another computer; in order to
1072 make this more useful, the message
1075 Program exited normally.
1079 (which is ordinarily issued whenever a program running under
1080 @value{GDBN} control terminates) is not issued when running in batch
1084 @cindex @code{--batch-silent}
1085 Run in batch mode exactly like @samp{-batch}, but totally silently. All
1086 @value{GDBN} output to @code{stdout} is prevented (@code{stderr} is
1087 unaffected). This is much quieter than @samp{-silent} and would be useless
1088 for an interactive session.
1090 This is particularly useful when using targets that give @samp{Loading section}
1091 messages, for example.
1093 Note that targets that give their output via @value{GDBN}, as opposed to
1094 writing directly to @code{stdout}, will also be made silent.
1096 @item -return-child-result
1097 @cindex @code{--return-child-result}
1098 The return code from @value{GDBN} will be the return code from the child
1099 process (the process being debugged), with the following exceptions:
1103 @value{GDBN} exits abnormally. E.g., due to an incorrect argument or an
1104 internal error. In this case the exit code is the same as it would have been
1105 without @samp{-return-child-result}.
1107 The user quits with an explicit value. E.g., @samp{quit 1}.
1109 The child process never runs, or is not allowed to terminate, in which case
1110 the exit code will be -1.
1113 This option is useful in conjunction with @samp{-batch} or @samp{-batch-silent},
1114 when @value{GDBN} is being used as a remote program loader or simulator
1119 @cindex @code{--nowindows}
1121 ``No windows''. If @value{GDBN} comes with a graphical user interface
1122 (GUI) built in, then this option tells @value{GDBN} to only use the command-line
1123 interface. If no GUI is available, this option has no effect.
1127 @cindex @code{--windows}
1129 If @value{GDBN} includes a GUI, then this option requires it to be
1132 @item -cd @var{directory}
1134 Run @value{GDBN} using @var{directory} as its working directory,
1135 instead of the current directory.
1137 @item -data-directory @var{directory}
1138 @cindex @code{--data-directory}
1139 Run @value{GDBN} using @var{directory} as its data directory.
1140 The data directory is where @value{GDBN} searches for its
1141 auxiliary files. @xref{Data Files}.
1145 @cindex @code{--fullname}
1147 @sc{gnu} Emacs sets this option when it runs @value{GDBN} as a
1148 subprocess. It tells @value{GDBN} to output the full file name and line
1149 number in a standard, recognizable fashion each time a stack frame is
1150 displayed (which includes each time your program stops). This
1151 recognizable format looks like two @samp{\032} characters, followed by
1152 the file name, line number and character position separated by colons,
1153 and a newline. The Emacs-to-@value{GDBN} interface program uses the two
1154 @samp{\032} characters as a signal to display the source code for the
1158 @cindex @code{--epoch}
1159 The Epoch Emacs-@value{GDBN} interface sets this option when it runs
1160 @value{GDBN} as a subprocess. It tells @value{GDBN} to modify its print
1161 routines so as to allow Epoch to display values of expressions in a
1164 @item -annotate @var{level}
1165 @cindex @code{--annotate}
1166 This option sets the @dfn{annotation level} inside @value{GDBN}. Its
1167 effect is identical to using @samp{set annotate @var{level}}
1168 (@pxref{Annotations}). The annotation @var{level} controls how much
1169 information @value{GDBN} prints together with its prompt, values of
1170 expressions, source lines, and other types of output. Level 0 is the
1171 normal, level 1 is for use when @value{GDBN} is run as a subprocess of
1172 @sc{gnu} Emacs, level 3 is the maximum annotation suitable for programs
1173 that control @value{GDBN}, and level 2 has been deprecated.
1175 The annotation mechanism has largely been superseded by @sc{gdb/mi}
1179 @cindex @code{--args}
1180 Change interpretation of command line so that arguments following the
1181 executable file are passed as command line arguments to the inferior.
1182 This option stops option processing.
1184 @item -baud @var{bps}
1186 @cindex @code{--baud}
1188 Set the line speed (baud rate or bits per second) of any serial
1189 interface used by @value{GDBN} for remote debugging.
1191 @item -l @var{timeout}
1193 Set the timeout (in seconds) of any communication used by @value{GDBN}
1194 for remote debugging.
1196 @item -tty @var{device}
1197 @itemx -t @var{device}
1198 @cindex @code{--tty}
1200 Run using @var{device} for your program's standard input and output.
1201 @c FIXME: kingdon thinks there is more to -tty. Investigate.
1203 @c resolve the situation of these eventually
1205 @cindex @code{--tui}
1206 Activate the @dfn{Text User Interface} when starting. The Text User
1207 Interface manages several text windows on the terminal, showing
1208 source, assembly, registers and @value{GDBN} command outputs
1209 (@pxref{TUI, ,@value{GDBN} Text User Interface}). Do not use this
1210 option if you run @value{GDBN} from Emacs (@pxref{Emacs, ,
1211 Using @value{GDBN} under @sc{gnu} Emacs}).
1214 @c @cindex @code{--xdb}
1215 @c Run in XDB compatibility mode, allowing the use of certain XDB commands.
1216 @c For information, see the file @file{xdb_trans.html}, which is usually
1217 @c installed in the directory @code{/opt/langtools/wdb/doc} on HP-UX
1220 @item -interpreter @var{interp}
1221 @cindex @code{--interpreter}
1222 Use the interpreter @var{interp} for interface with the controlling
1223 program or device. This option is meant to be set by programs which
1224 communicate with @value{GDBN} using it as a back end.
1225 @xref{Interpreters, , Command Interpreters}.
1227 @samp{--interpreter=mi} (or @samp{--interpreter=mi2}) causes
1228 @value{GDBN} to use the @dfn{@sc{gdb/mi} interface} (@pxref{GDB/MI, ,
1229 The @sc{gdb/mi} Interface}) included since @value{GDBN} version 6.0. The
1230 previous @sc{gdb/mi} interface, included in @value{GDBN} version 5.3 and
1231 selected with @samp{--interpreter=mi1}, is deprecated. Earlier
1232 @sc{gdb/mi} interfaces are no longer supported.
1235 @cindex @code{--write}
1236 Open the executable and core files for both reading and writing. This
1237 is equivalent to the @samp{set write on} command inside @value{GDBN}
1241 @cindex @code{--statistics}
1242 This option causes @value{GDBN} to print statistics about time and
1243 memory usage after it completes each command and returns to the prompt.
1246 @cindex @code{--version}
1247 This option causes @value{GDBN} to print its version number and
1248 no-warranty blurb, and exit.
1253 @subsection What @value{GDBN} Does During Startup
1254 @cindex @value{GDBN} startup
1256 Here's the description of what @value{GDBN} does during session startup:
1260 Sets up the command interpreter as specified by the command line
1261 (@pxref{Mode Options, interpreter}).
1265 Reads the system-wide @dfn{init file} (if @option{--with-system-gdbinit} was
1266 used when building @value{GDBN}; @pxref{System-wide configuration,
1267 ,System-wide configuration and settings}) and executes all the commands in
1270 @anchor{Home Directory Init File}
1272 Reads the init file (if any) in your home directory@footnote{On
1273 DOS/Windows systems, the home directory is the one pointed to by the
1274 @code{HOME} environment variable.} and executes all the commands in
1277 @anchor{Option -init-eval-command}
1279 Executes commands and command files specified by the @samp{-iex} and
1280 @samp{-ix} options in their specified order. Usually you should use the
1281 @samp{-ex} and @samp{-x} options instead, but this way you can apply
1282 settings before @value{GDBN} init files get executed and before inferior
1286 Processes command line options and operands.
1288 @anchor{Init File in the Current Directory during Startup}
1290 Reads and executes the commands from init file (if any) in the current
1291 working directory as long as @samp{set auto-load local-gdbinit} is set to
1292 @samp{on} (@pxref{Init File in the Current Directory}).
1293 This is only done if the current directory is
1294 different from your home directory. Thus, you can have more than one
1295 init file, one generic in your home directory, and another, specific
1296 to the program you are debugging, in the directory where you invoke
1300 If the command line specified a program to debug, or a process to
1301 attach to, or a core file, @value{GDBN} loads any auto-loaded
1302 scripts provided for the program or for its loaded shared libraries.
1303 @xref{Auto-loading}.
1305 If you wish to disable the auto-loading during startup,
1306 you must do something like the following:
1309 $ gdb -iex "set auto-load python-scripts off" myprogram
1312 Option @samp{-ex} does not work because the auto-loading is then turned
1316 Executes commands and command files specified by the @samp{-ex} and
1317 @samp{-x} options in their specified order. @xref{Command Files}, for
1318 more details about @value{GDBN} command files.
1321 Reads the command history recorded in the @dfn{history file}.
1322 @xref{Command History}, for more details about the command history and the
1323 files where @value{GDBN} records it.
1326 Init files use the same syntax as @dfn{command files} (@pxref{Command
1327 Files}) and are processed by @value{GDBN} in the same way. The init
1328 file in your home directory can set options (such as @samp{set
1329 complaints}) that affect subsequent processing of command line options
1330 and operands. Init files are not executed if you use the @samp{-nx}
1331 option (@pxref{Mode Options, ,Choosing Modes}).
1333 To display the list of init files loaded by gdb at startup, you
1334 can use @kbd{gdb --help}.
1336 @cindex init file name
1337 @cindex @file{.gdbinit}
1338 @cindex @file{gdb.ini}
1339 The @value{GDBN} init files are normally called @file{.gdbinit}.
1340 The DJGPP port of @value{GDBN} uses the name @file{gdb.ini}, due to
1341 the limitations of file names imposed by DOS filesystems. The Windows
1342 ports of @value{GDBN} use the standard name, but if they find a
1343 @file{gdb.ini} file, they warn you about that and suggest to rename
1344 the file to the standard name.
1348 @section Quitting @value{GDBN}
1349 @cindex exiting @value{GDBN}
1350 @cindex leaving @value{GDBN}
1353 @kindex quit @r{[}@var{expression}@r{]}
1354 @kindex q @r{(@code{quit})}
1355 @item quit @r{[}@var{expression}@r{]}
1357 To exit @value{GDBN}, use the @code{quit} command (abbreviated
1358 @code{q}), or type an end-of-file character (usually @kbd{Ctrl-d}). If you
1359 do not supply @var{expression}, @value{GDBN} will terminate normally;
1360 otherwise it will terminate using the result of @var{expression} as the
1365 An interrupt (often @kbd{Ctrl-c}) does not exit from @value{GDBN}, but rather
1366 terminates the action of any @value{GDBN} command that is in progress and
1367 returns to @value{GDBN} command level. It is safe to type the interrupt
1368 character at any time because @value{GDBN} does not allow it to take effect
1369 until a time when it is safe.
1371 If you have been using @value{GDBN} to control an attached process or
1372 device, you can release it with the @code{detach} command
1373 (@pxref{Attach, ,Debugging an Already-running Process}).
1375 @node Shell Commands
1376 @section Shell Commands
1378 If you need to execute occasional shell commands during your
1379 debugging session, there is no need to leave or suspend @value{GDBN}; you can
1380 just use the @code{shell} command.
1385 @cindex shell escape
1386 @item shell @var{command-string}
1387 @itemx !@var{command-string}
1388 Invoke a standard shell to execute @var{command-string}.
1389 Note that no space is needed between @code{!} and @var{command-string}.
1390 If it exists, the environment variable @code{SHELL} determines which
1391 shell to run. Otherwise @value{GDBN} uses the default shell
1392 (@file{/bin/sh} on Unix systems, @file{COMMAND.COM} on MS-DOS, etc.).
1395 The utility @code{make} is often needed in development environments.
1396 You do not have to use the @code{shell} command for this purpose in
1401 @cindex calling make
1402 @item make @var{make-args}
1403 Execute the @code{make} program with the specified
1404 arguments. This is equivalent to @samp{shell make @var{make-args}}.
1407 @node Logging Output
1408 @section Logging Output
1409 @cindex logging @value{GDBN} output
1410 @cindex save @value{GDBN} output to a file
1412 You may want to save the output of @value{GDBN} commands to a file.
1413 There are several commands to control @value{GDBN}'s logging.
1417 @item set logging on
1419 @item set logging off
1421 @cindex logging file name
1422 @item set logging file @var{file}
1423 Change the name of the current logfile. The default logfile is @file{gdb.txt}.
1424 @item set logging overwrite [on|off]
1425 By default, @value{GDBN} will append to the logfile. Set @code{overwrite} if
1426 you want @code{set logging on} to overwrite the logfile instead.
1427 @item set logging redirect [on|off]
1428 By default, @value{GDBN} output will go to both the terminal and the logfile.
1429 Set @code{redirect} if you want output to go only to the log file.
1430 @kindex show logging
1432 Show the current values of the logging settings.
1436 @chapter @value{GDBN} Commands
1438 You can abbreviate a @value{GDBN} command to the first few letters of the command
1439 name, if that abbreviation is unambiguous; and you can repeat certain
1440 @value{GDBN} commands by typing just @key{RET}. You can also use the @key{TAB}
1441 key to get @value{GDBN} to fill out the rest of a word in a command (or to
1442 show you the alternatives available, if there is more than one possibility).
1445 * Command Syntax:: How to give commands to @value{GDBN}
1446 * Completion:: Command completion
1447 * Help:: How to ask @value{GDBN} for help
1450 @node Command Syntax
1451 @section Command Syntax
1453 A @value{GDBN} command is a single line of input. There is no limit on
1454 how long it can be. It starts with a command name, which is followed by
1455 arguments whose meaning depends on the command name. For example, the
1456 command @code{step} accepts an argument which is the number of times to
1457 step, as in @samp{step 5}. You can also use the @code{step} command
1458 with no arguments. Some commands do not allow any arguments.
1460 @cindex abbreviation
1461 @value{GDBN} command names may always be truncated if that abbreviation is
1462 unambiguous. Other possible command abbreviations are listed in the
1463 documentation for individual commands. In some cases, even ambiguous
1464 abbreviations are allowed; for example, @code{s} is specially defined as
1465 equivalent to @code{step} even though there are other commands whose
1466 names start with @code{s}. You can test abbreviations by using them as
1467 arguments to the @code{help} command.
1469 @cindex repeating commands
1470 @kindex RET @r{(repeat last command)}
1471 A blank line as input to @value{GDBN} (typing just @key{RET}) means to
1472 repeat the previous command. Certain commands (for example, @code{run})
1473 will not repeat this way; these are commands whose unintentional
1474 repetition might cause trouble and which you are unlikely to want to
1475 repeat. User-defined commands can disable this feature; see
1476 @ref{Define, dont-repeat}.
1478 The @code{list} and @code{x} commands, when you repeat them with
1479 @key{RET}, construct new arguments rather than repeating
1480 exactly as typed. This permits easy scanning of source or memory.
1482 @value{GDBN} can also use @key{RET} in another way: to partition lengthy
1483 output, in a way similar to the common utility @code{more}
1484 (@pxref{Screen Size,,Screen Size}). Since it is easy to press one
1485 @key{RET} too many in this situation, @value{GDBN} disables command
1486 repetition after any command that generates this sort of display.
1488 @kindex # @r{(a comment)}
1490 Any text from a @kbd{#} to the end of the line is a comment; it does
1491 nothing. This is useful mainly in command files (@pxref{Command
1492 Files,,Command Files}).
1494 @cindex repeating command sequences
1495 @kindex Ctrl-o @r{(operate-and-get-next)}
1496 The @kbd{Ctrl-o} binding is useful for repeating a complex sequence of
1497 commands. This command accepts the current line, like @key{RET}, and
1498 then fetches the next line relative to the current line from the history
1502 @section Command Completion
1505 @cindex word completion
1506 @value{GDBN} can fill in the rest of a word in a command for you, if there is
1507 only one possibility; it can also show you what the valid possibilities
1508 are for the next word in a command, at any time. This works for @value{GDBN}
1509 commands, @value{GDBN} subcommands, and the names of symbols in your program.
1511 Press the @key{TAB} key whenever you want @value{GDBN} to fill out the rest
1512 of a word. If there is only one possibility, @value{GDBN} fills in the
1513 word, and waits for you to finish the command (or press @key{RET} to
1514 enter it). For example, if you type
1516 @c FIXME "@key" does not distinguish its argument sufficiently to permit
1517 @c complete accuracy in these examples; space introduced for clarity.
1518 @c If texinfo enhancements make it unnecessary, it would be nice to
1519 @c replace " @key" by "@key" in the following...
1521 (@value{GDBP}) info bre @key{TAB}
1525 @value{GDBN} fills in the rest of the word @samp{breakpoints}, since that is
1526 the only @code{info} subcommand beginning with @samp{bre}:
1529 (@value{GDBP}) info breakpoints
1533 You can either press @key{RET} at this point, to run the @code{info
1534 breakpoints} command, or backspace and enter something else, if
1535 @samp{breakpoints} does not look like the command you expected. (If you
1536 were sure you wanted @code{info breakpoints} in the first place, you
1537 might as well just type @key{RET} immediately after @samp{info bre},
1538 to exploit command abbreviations rather than command completion).
1540 If there is more than one possibility for the next word when you press
1541 @key{TAB}, @value{GDBN} sounds a bell. You can either supply more
1542 characters and try again, or just press @key{TAB} a second time;
1543 @value{GDBN} displays all the possible completions for that word. For
1544 example, you might want to set a breakpoint on a subroutine whose name
1545 begins with @samp{make_}, but when you type @kbd{b make_@key{TAB}} @value{GDBN}
1546 just sounds the bell. Typing @key{TAB} again displays all the
1547 function names in your program that begin with those characters, for
1551 (@value{GDBP}) b make_ @key{TAB}
1552 @exdent @value{GDBN} sounds bell; press @key{TAB} again, to see:
1553 make_a_section_from_file make_environ
1554 make_abs_section make_function_type
1555 make_blockvector make_pointer_type
1556 make_cleanup make_reference_type
1557 make_command make_symbol_completion_list
1558 (@value{GDBP}) b make_
1562 After displaying the available possibilities, @value{GDBN} copies your
1563 partial input (@samp{b make_} in the example) so you can finish the
1566 If you just want to see the list of alternatives in the first place, you
1567 can press @kbd{M-?} rather than pressing @key{TAB} twice. @kbd{M-?}
1568 means @kbd{@key{META} ?}. You can type this either by holding down a
1569 key designated as the @key{META} shift on your keyboard (if there is
1570 one) while typing @kbd{?}, or as @key{ESC} followed by @kbd{?}.
1572 @cindex quotes in commands
1573 @cindex completion of quoted strings
1574 Sometimes the string you need, while logically a ``word'', may contain
1575 parentheses or other characters that @value{GDBN} normally excludes from
1576 its notion of a word. To permit word completion to work in this
1577 situation, you may enclose words in @code{'} (single quote marks) in
1578 @value{GDBN} commands.
1580 The most likely situation where you might need this is in typing the
1581 name of a C@t{++} function. This is because C@t{++} allows function
1582 overloading (multiple definitions of the same function, distinguished
1583 by argument type). For example, when you want to set a breakpoint you
1584 may need to distinguish whether you mean the version of @code{name}
1585 that takes an @code{int} parameter, @code{name(int)}, or the version
1586 that takes a @code{float} parameter, @code{name(float)}. To use the
1587 word-completion facilities in this situation, type a single quote
1588 @code{'} at the beginning of the function name. This alerts
1589 @value{GDBN} that it may need to consider more information than usual
1590 when you press @key{TAB} or @kbd{M-?} to request word completion:
1593 (@value{GDBP}) b 'bubble( @kbd{M-?}
1594 bubble(double,double) bubble(int,int)
1595 (@value{GDBP}) b 'bubble(
1598 In some cases, @value{GDBN} can tell that completing a name requires using
1599 quotes. When this happens, @value{GDBN} inserts the quote for you (while
1600 completing as much as it can) if you do not type the quote in the first
1604 (@value{GDBP}) b bub @key{TAB}
1605 @exdent @value{GDBN} alters your input line to the following, and rings a bell:
1606 (@value{GDBP}) b 'bubble(
1610 In general, @value{GDBN} can tell that a quote is needed (and inserts it) if
1611 you have not yet started typing the argument list when you ask for
1612 completion on an overloaded symbol.
1614 For more information about overloaded functions, see @ref{C Plus Plus
1615 Expressions, ,C@t{++} Expressions}. You can use the command @code{set
1616 overload-resolution off} to disable overload resolution;
1617 see @ref{Debugging C Plus Plus, ,@value{GDBN} Features for C@t{++}}.
1619 @cindex completion of structure field names
1620 @cindex structure field name completion
1621 @cindex completion of union field names
1622 @cindex union field name completion
1623 When completing in an expression which looks up a field in a
1624 structure, @value{GDBN} also tries@footnote{The completer can be
1625 confused by certain kinds of invalid expressions. Also, it only
1626 examines the static type of the expression, not the dynamic type.} to
1627 limit completions to the field names available in the type of the
1631 (@value{GDBP}) p gdb_stdout.@kbd{M-?}
1632 magic to_fputs to_rewind
1633 to_data to_isatty to_write
1634 to_delete to_put to_write_async_safe
1639 This is because the @code{gdb_stdout} is a variable of the type
1640 @code{struct ui_file} that is defined in @value{GDBN} sources as
1647 ui_file_flush_ftype *to_flush;
1648 ui_file_write_ftype *to_write;
1649 ui_file_write_async_safe_ftype *to_write_async_safe;
1650 ui_file_fputs_ftype *to_fputs;
1651 ui_file_read_ftype *to_read;
1652 ui_file_delete_ftype *to_delete;
1653 ui_file_isatty_ftype *to_isatty;
1654 ui_file_rewind_ftype *to_rewind;
1655 ui_file_put_ftype *to_put;
1662 @section Getting Help
1663 @cindex online documentation
1666 You can always ask @value{GDBN} itself for information on its commands,
1667 using the command @code{help}.
1670 @kindex h @r{(@code{help})}
1673 You can use @code{help} (abbreviated @code{h}) with no arguments to
1674 display a short list of named classes of commands:
1678 List of classes of commands:
1680 aliases -- Aliases of other commands
1681 breakpoints -- Making program stop at certain points
1682 data -- Examining data
1683 files -- Specifying and examining files
1684 internals -- Maintenance commands
1685 obscure -- Obscure features
1686 running -- Running the program
1687 stack -- Examining the stack
1688 status -- Status inquiries
1689 support -- Support facilities
1690 tracepoints -- Tracing of program execution without
1691 stopping the program
1692 user-defined -- User-defined commands
1694 Type "help" followed by a class name for a list of
1695 commands in that class.
1696 Type "help" followed by command name for full
1698 Command name abbreviations are allowed if unambiguous.
1701 @c the above line break eliminates huge line overfull...
1703 @item help @var{class}
1704 Using one of the general help classes as an argument, you can get a
1705 list of the individual commands in that class. For example, here is the
1706 help display for the class @code{status}:
1709 (@value{GDBP}) help status
1714 @c Line break in "show" line falsifies real output, but needed
1715 @c to fit in smallbook page size.
1716 info -- Generic command for showing things
1717 about the program being debugged
1718 show -- Generic command for showing things
1721 Type "help" followed by command name for full
1723 Command name abbreviations are allowed if unambiguous.
1727 @item help @var{command}
1728 With a command name as @code{help} argument, @value{GDBN} displays a
1729 short paragraph on how to use that command.
1732 @item apropos @var{args}
1733 The @code{apropos} command searches through all of the @value{GDBN}
1734 commands, and their documentation, for the regular expression specified in
1735 @var{args}. It prints out all matches found. For example:
1746 alias -- Define a new command that is an alias of an existing command
1747 aliases -- Aliases of other commands
1748 d -- Delete some breakpoints or auto-display expressions
1749 del -- Delete some breakpoints or auto-display expressions
1750 delete -- Delete some breakpoints or auto-display expressions
1755 @item complete @var{args}
1756 The @code{complete @var{args}} command lists all the possible completions
1757 for the beginning of a command. Use @var{args} to specify the beginning of the
1758 command you want completed. For example:
1764 @noindent results in:
1775 @noindent This is intended for use by @sc{gnu} Emacs.
1778 In addition to @code{help}, you can use the @value{GDBN} commands @code{info}
1779 and @code{show} to inquire about the state of your program, or the state
1780 of @value{GDBN} itself. Each command supports many topics of inquiry; this
1781 manual introduces each of them in the appropriate context. The listings
1782 under @code{info} and under @code{show} in the Command, Variable, and
1783 Function Index point to all the sub-commands. @xref{Command and Variable
1789 @kindex i @r{(@code{info})}
1791 This command (abbreviated @code{i}) is for describing the state of your
1792 program. For example, you can show the arguments passed to a function
1793 with @code{info args}, list the registers currently in use with @code{info
1794 registers}, or list the breakpoints you have set with @code{info breakpoints}.
1795 You can get a complete list of the @code{info} sub-commands with
1796 @w{@code{help info}}.
1800 You can assign the result of an expression to an environment variable with
1801 @code{set}. For example, you can set the @value{GDBN} prompt to a $-sign with
1802 @code{set prompt $}.
1806 In contrast to @code{info}, @code{show} is for describing the state of
1807 @value{GDBN} itself.
1808 You can change most of the things you can @code{show}, by using the
1809 related command @code{set}; for example, you can control what number
1810 system is used for displays with @code{set radix}, or simply inquire
1811 which is currently in use with @code{show radix}.
1814 To display all the settable parameters and their current
1815 values, you can use @code{show} with no arguments; you may also use
1816 @code{info set}. Both commands produce the same display.
1817 @c FIXME: "info set" violates the rule that "info" is for state of
1818 @c FIXME...program. Ck w/ GNU: "info set" to be called something else,
1819 @c FIXME...or change desc of rule---eg "state of prog and debugging session"?
1823 Here are three miscellaneous @code{show} subcommands, all of which are
1824 exceptional in lacking corresponding @code{set} commands:
1827 @kindex show version
1828 @cindex @value{GDBN} version number
1830 Show what version of @value{GDBN} is running. You should include this
1831 information in @value{GDBN} bug-reports. If multiple versions of
1832 @value{GDBN} are in use at your site, you may need to determine which
1833 version of @value{GDBN} you are running; as @value{GDBN} evolves, new
1834 commands are introduced, and old ones may wither away. Also, many
1835 system vendors ship variant versions of @value{GDBN}, and there are
1836 variant versions of @value{GDBN} in @sc{gnu}/Linux distributions as well.
1837 The version number is the same as the one announced when you start
1840 @kindex show copying
1841 @kindex info copying
1842 @cindex display @value{GDBN} copyright
1845 Display information about permission for copying @value{GDBN}.
1847 @kindex show warranty
1848 @kindex info warranty
1850 @itemx info warranty
1851 Display the @sc{gnu} ``NO WARRANTY'' statement, or a warranty,
1852 if your version of @value{GDBN} comes with one.
1857 @chapter Running Programs Under @value{GDBN}
1859 When you run a program under @value{GDBN}, you must first generate
1860 debugging information when you compile it.
1862 You may start @value{GDBN} with its arguments, if any, in an environment
1863 of your choice. If you are doing native debugging, you may redirect
1864 your program's input and output, debug an already running process, or
1865 kill a child process.
1868 * Compilation:: Compiling for debugging
1869 * Starting:: Starting your program
1870 * Arguments:: Your program's arguments
1871 * Environment:: Your program's environment
1873 * Working Directory:: Your program's working directory
1874 * Input/Output:: Your program's input and output
1875 * Attach:: Debugging an already-running process
1876 * Kill Process:: Killing the child process
1878 * Inferiors and Programs:: Debugging multiple inferiors and programs
1879 * Threads:: Debugging programs with multiple threads
1880 * Forks:: Debugging forks
1881 * Checkpoint/Restart:: Setting a @emph{bookmark} to return to later
1885 @section Compiling for Debugging
1887 In order to debug a program effectively, you need to generate
1888 debugging information when you compile it. This debugging information
1889 is stored in the object file; it describes the data type of each
1890 variable or function and the correspondence between source line numbers
1891 and addresses in the executable code.
1893 To request debugging information, specify the @samp{-g} option when you run
1896 Programs that are to be shipped to your customers are compiled with
1897 optimizations, using the @samp{-O} compiler option. However, some
1898 compilers are unable to handle the @samp{-g} and @samp{-O} options
1899 together. Using those compilers, you cannot generate optimized
1900 executables containing debugging information.
1902 @value{NGCC}, the @sc{gnu} C/C@t{++} compiler, supports @samp{-g} with or
1903 without @samp{-O}, making it possible to debug optimized code. We
1904 recommend that you @emph{always} use @samp{-g} whenever you compile a
1905 program. You may think your program is correct, but there is no sense
1906 in pushing your luck. For more information, see @ref{Optimized Code}.
1908 Older versions of the @sc{gnu} C compiler permitted a variant option
1909 @w{@samp{-gg}} for debugging information. @value{GDBN} no longer supports this
1910 format; if your @sc{gnu} C compiler has this option, do not use it.
1912 @value{GDBN} knows about preprocessor macros and can show you their
1913 expansion (@pxref{Macros}). Most compilers do not include information
1914 about preprocessor macros in the debugging information if you specify
1915 the @option{-g} flag alone. Version 3.1 and later of @value{NGCC},
1916 the @sc{gnu} C compiler, provides macro information if you are using
1917 the DWARF debugging format, and specify the option @option{-g3}.
1919 @xref{Debugging Options,,Options for Debugging Your Program or GCC,
1920 gcc.info, Using the @sc{gnu} Compiler Collection (GCC)}, for more
1921 information on @value{NGCC} options affecting debug information.
1923 You will have the best debugging experience if you use the latest
1924 version of the DWARF debugging format that your compiler supports.
1925 DWARF is currently the most expressive and best supported debugging
1926 format in @value{GDBN}.
1930 @section Starting your Program
1936 @kindex r @r{(@code{run})}
1939 Use the @code{run} command to start your program under @value{GDBN}.
1940 You must first specify the program name (except on VxWorks) with an
1941 argument to @value{GDBN} (@pxref{Invocation, ,Getting In and Out of
1942 @value{GDBN}}), or by using the @code{file} or @code{exec-file} command
1943 (@pxref{Files, ,Commands to Specify Files}).
1947 If you are running your program in an execution environment that
1948 supports processes, @code{run} creates an inferior process and makes
1949 that process run your program. In some environments without processes,
1950 @code{run} jumps to the start of your program. Other targets,
1951 like @samp{remote}, are always running. If you get an error
1952 message like this one:
1955 The "remote" target does not support "run".
1956 Try "help target" or "continue".
1960 then use @code{continue} to run your program. You may need @code{load}
1961 first (@pxref{load}).
1963 The execution of a program is affected by certain information it
1964 receives from its superior. @value{GDBN} provides ways to specify this
1965 information, which you must do @emph{before} starting your program. (You
1966 can change it after starting your program, but such changes only affect
1967 your program the next time you start it.) This information may be
1968 divided into four categories:
1971 @item The @emph{arguments.}
1972 Specify the arguments to give your program as the arguments of the
1973 @code{run} command. If a shell is available on your target, the shell
1974 is used to pass the arguments, so that you may use normal conventions
1975 (such as wildcard expansion or variable substitution) in describing
1977 In Unix systems, you can control which shell is used with the
1978 @code{SHELL} environment variable.
1979 @xref{Arguments, ,Your Program's Arguments}.
1981 @item The @emph{environment.}
1982 Your program normally inherits its environment from @value{GDBN}, but you can
1983 use the @value{GDBN} commands @code{set environment} and @code{unset
1984 environment} to change parts of the environment that affect
1985 your program. @xref{Environment, ,Your Program's Environment}.
1987 @item The @emph{working directory.}
1988 Your program inherits its working directory from @value{GDBN}. You can set
1989 the @value{GDBN} working directory with the @code{cd} command in @value{GDBN}.
1990 @xref{Working Directory, ,Your Program's Working Directory}.
1992 @item The @emph{standard input and output.}
1993 Your program normally uses the same device for standard input and
1994 standard output as @value{GDBN} is using. You can redirect input and output
1995 in the @code{run} command line, or you can use the @code{tty} command to
1996 set a different device for your program.
1997 @xref{Input/Output, ,Your Program's Input and Output}.
2000 @emph{Warning:} While input and output redirection work, you cannot use
2001 pipes to pass the output of the program you are debugging to another
2002 program; if you attempt this, @value{GDBN} is likely to wind up debugging the
2006 When you issue the @code{run} command, your program begins to execute
2007 immediately. @xref{Stopping, ,Stopping and Continuing}, for discussion
2008 of how to arrange for your program to stop. Once your program has
2009 stopped, you may call functions in your program, using the @code{print}
2010 or @code{call} commands. @xref{Data, ,Examining Data}.
2012 If the modification time of your symbol file has changed since the last
2013 time @value{GDBN} read its symbols, @value{GDBN} discards its symbol
2014 table, and reads it again. When it does this, @value{GDBN} tries to retain
2015 your current breakpoints.
2020 @cindex run to main procedure
2021 The name of the main procedure can vary from language to language.
2022 With C or C@t{++}, the main procedure name is always @code{main}, but
2023 other languages such as Ada do not require a specific name for their
2024 main procedure. The debugger provides a convenient way to start the
2025 execution of the program and to stop at the beginning of the main
2026 procedure, depending on the language used.
2028 The @samp{start} command does the equivalent of setting a temporary
2029 breakpoint at the beginning of the main procedure and then invoking
2030 the @samp{run} command.
2032 @cindex elaboration phase
2033 Some programs contain an @dfn{elaboration} phase where some startup code is
2034 executed before the main procedure is called. This depends on the
2035 languages used to write your program. In C@t{++}, for instance,
2036 constructors for static and global objects are executed before
2037 @code{main} is called. It is therefore possible that the debugger stops
2038 before reaching the main procedure. However, the temporary breakpoint
2039 will remain to halt execution.
2041 Specify the arguments to give to your program as arguments to the
2042 @samp{start} command. These arguments will be given verbatim to the
2043 underlying @samp{run} command. Note that the same arguments will be
2044 reused if no argument is provided during subsequent calls to
2045 @samp{start} or @samp{run}.
2047 It is sometimes necessary to debug the program during elaboration. In
2048 these cases, using the @code{start} command would stop the execution of
2049 your program too late, as the program would have already completed the
2050 elaboration phase. Under these circumstances, insert breakpoints in your
2051 elaboration code before running your program.
2053 @kindex set exec-wrapper
2054 @item set exec-wrapper @var{wrapper}
2055 @itemx show exec-wrapper
2056 @itemx unset exec-wrapper
2057 When @samp{exec-wrapper} is set, the specified wrapper is used to
2058 launch programs for debugging. @value{GDBN} starts your program
2059 with a shell command of the form @kbd{exec @var{wrapper}
2060 @var{program}}. Quoting is added to @var{program} and its
2061 arguments, but not to @var{wrapper}, so you should add quotes if
2062 appropriate for your shell. The wrapper runs until it executes
2063 your program, and then @value{GDBN} takes control.
2065 You can use any program that eventually calls @code{execve} with
2066 its arguments as a wrapper. Several standard Unix utilities do
2067 this, e.g.@: @code{env} and @code{nohup}. Any Unix shell script ending
2068 with @code{exec "$@@"} will also work.
2070 For example, you can use @code{env} to pass an environment variable to
2071 the debugged program, without setting the variable in your shell's
2075 (@value{GDBP}) set exec-wrapper env 'LD_PRELOAD=libtest.so'
2079 This command is available when debugging locally on most targets, excluding
2080 @sc{djgpp}, Cygwin, MS Windows, and QNX Neutrino.
2082 @kindex set disable-randomization
2083 @item set disable-randomization
2084 @itemx set disable-randomization on
2085 This option (enabled by default in @value{GDBN}) will turn off the native
2086 randomization of the virtual address space of the started program. This option
2087 is useful for multiple debugging sessions to make the execution better
2088 reproducible and memory addresses reusable across debugging sessions.
2090 This feature is implemented only on certain targets, including @sc{gnu}/Linux.
2091 On @sc{gnu}/Linux you can get the same behavior using
2094 (@value{GDBP}) set exec-wrapper setarch `uname -m` -R
2097 @item set disable-randomization off
2098 Leave the behavior of the started executable unchanged. Some bugs rear their
2099 ugly heads only when the program is loaded at certain addresses. If your bug
2100 disappears when you run the program under @value{GDBN}, that might be because
2101 @value{GDBN} by default disables the address randomization on platforms, such
2102 as @sc{gnu}/Linux, which do that for stand-alone programs. Use @kbd{set
2103 disable-randomization off} to try to reproduce such elusive bugs.
2105 On targets where it is available, virtual address space randomization
2106 protects the programs against certain kinds of security attacks. In these
2107 cases the attacker needs to know the exact location of a concrete executable
2108 code. Randomizing its location makes it impossible to inject jumps misusing
2109 a code at its expected addresses.
2111 Prelinking shared libraries provides a startup performance advantage but it
2112 makes addresses in these libraries predictable for privileged processes by
2113 having just unprivileged access at the target system. Reading the shared
2114 library binary gives enough information for assembling the malicious code
2115 misusing it. Still even a prelinked shared library can get loaded at a new
2116 random address just requiring the regular relocation process during the
2117 startup. Shared libraries not already prelinked are always loaded at
2118 a randomly chosen address.
2120 Position independent executables (PIE) contain position independent code
2121 similar to the shared libraries and therefore such executables get loaded at
2122 a randomly chosen address upon startup. PIE executables always load even
2123 already prelinked shared libraries at a random address. You can build such
2124 executable using @command{gcc -fPIE -pie}.
2126 Heap (malloc storage), stack and custom mmap areas are always placed randomly
2127 (as long as the randomization is enabled).
2129 @item show disable-randomization
2130 Show the current setting of the explicit disable of the native randomization of
2131 the virtual address space of the started program.
2136 @section Your Program's Arguments
2138 @cindex arguments (to your program)
2139 The arguments to your program can be specified by the arguments of the
2141 They are passed to a shell, which expands wildcard characters and
2142 performs redirection of I/O, and thence to your program. Your
2143 @code{SHELL} environment variable (if it exists) specifies what shell
2144 @value{GDBN} uses. If you do not define @code{SHELL}, @value{GDBN} uses
2145 the default shell (@file{/bin/sh} on Unix).
2147 On non-Unix systems, the program is usually invoked directly by
2148 @value{GDBN}, which emulates I/O redirection via the appropriate system
2149 calls, and the wildcard characters are expanded by the startup code of
2150 the program, not by the shell.
2152 @code{run} with no arguments uses the same arguments used by the previous
2153 @code{run}, or those set by the @code{set args} command.
2158 Specify the arguments to be used the next time your program is run. If
2159 @code{set args} has no arguments, @code{run} executes your program
2160 with no arguments. Once you have run your program with arguments,
2161 using @code{set args} before the next @code{run} is the only way to run
2162 it again without arguments.
2166 Show the arguments to give your program when it is started.
2170 @section Your Program's Environment
2172 @cindex environment (of your program)
2173 The @dfn{environment} consists of a set of environment variables and
2174 their values. Environment variables conventionally record such things as
2175 your user name, your home directory, your terminal type, and your search
2176 path for programs to run. Usually you set up environment variables with
2177 the shell and they are inherited by all the other programs you run. When
2178 debugging, it can be useful to try running your program with a modified
2179 environment without having to start @value{GDBN} over again.
2183 @item path @var{directory}
2184 Add @var{directory} to the front of the @code{PATH} environment variable
2185 (the search path for executables) that will be passed to your program.
2186 The value of @code{PATH} used by @value{GDBN} does not change.
2187 You may specify several directory names, separated by whitespace or by a
2188 system-dependent separator character (@samp{:} on Unix, @samp{;} on
2189 MS-DOS and MS-Windows). If @var{directory} is already in the path, it
2190 is moved to the front, so it is searched sooner.
2192 You can use the string @samp{$cwd} to refer to whatever is the current
2193 working directory at the time @value{GDBN} searches the path. If you
2194 use @samp{.} instead, it refers to the directory where you executed the
2195 @code{path} command. @value{GDBN} replaces @samp{.} in the
2196 @var{directory} argument (with the current path) before adding
2197 @var{directory} to the search path.
2198 @c 'path' is explicitly nonrepeatable, but RMS points out it is silly to
2199 @c document that, since repeating it would be a no-op.
2203 Display the list of search paths for executables (the @code{PATH}
2204 environment variable).
2206 @kindex show environment
2207 @item show environment @r{[}@var{varname}@r{]}
2208 Print the value of environment variable @var{varname} to be given to
2209 your program when it starts. If you do not supply @var{varname},
2210 print the names and values of all environment variables to be given to
2211 your program. You can abbreviate @code{environment} as @code{env}.
2213 @kindex set environment
2214 @item set environment @var{varname} @r{[}=@var{value}@r{]}
2215 Set environment variable @var{varname} to @var{value}. The value
2216 changes for your program only, not for @value{GDBN} itself. @var{value} may
2217 be any string; the values of environment variables are just strings, and
2218 any interpretation is supplied by your program itself. The @var{value}
2219 parameter is optional; if it is eliminated, the variable is set to a
2221 @c "any string" here does not include leading, trailing
2222 @c blanks. Gnu asks: does anyone care?
2224 For example, this command:
2231 tells the debugged program, when subsequently run, that its user is named
2232 @samp{foo}. (The spaces around @samp{=} are used for clarity here; they
2233 are not actually required.)
2235 @kindex unset environment
2236 @item unset environment @var{varname}
2237 Remove variable @var{varname} from the environment to be passed to your
2238 program. This is different from @samp{set env @var{varname} =};
2239 @code{unset environment} removes the variable from the environment,
2240 rather than assigning it an empty value.
2243 @emph{Warning:} On Unix systems, @value{GDBN} runs your program using
2245 by your @code{SHELL} environment variable if it exists (or
2246 @code{/bin/sh} if not). If your @code{SHELL} variable names a shell
2247 that runs an initialization file---such as @file{.cshrc} for C-shell, or
2248 @file{.bashrc} for BASH---any variables you set in that file affect
2249 your program. You may wish to move setting of environment variables to
2250 files that are only run when you sign on, such as @file{.login} or
2253 @node Working Directory
2254 @section Your Program's Working Directory
2256 @cindex working directory (of your program)
2257 Each time you start your program with @code{run}, it inherits its
2258 working directory from the current working directory of @value{GDBN}.
2259 The @value{GDBN} working directory is initially whatever it inherited
2260 from its parent process (typically the shell), but you can specify a new
2261 working directory in @value{GDBN} with the @code{cd} command.
2263 The @value{GDBN} working directory also serves as a default for the commands
2264 that specify files for @value{GDBN} to operate on. @xref{Files, ,Commands to
2269 @cindex change working directory
2270 @item cd @r{[}@var{directory}@r{]}
2271 Set the @value{GDBN} working directory to @var{directory}. If not
2272 given, @var{directory} uses @file{'~'}.
2276 Print the @value{GDBN} working directory.
2279 It is generally impossible to find the current working directory of
2280 the process being debugged (since a program can change its directory
2281 during its run). If you work on a system where @value{GDBN} is
2282 configured with the @file{/proc} support, you can use the @code{info
2283 proc} command (@pxref{SVR4 Process Information}) to find out the
2284 current working directory of the debuggee.
2287 @section Your Program's Input and Output
2292 By default, the program you run under @value{GDBN} does input and output to
2293 the same terminal that @value{GDBN} uses. @value{GDBN} switches the terminal
2294 to its own terminal modes to interact with you, but it records the terminal
2295 modes your program was using and switches back to them when you continue
2296 running your program.
2299 @kindex info terminal
2301 Displays information recorded by @value{GDBN} about the terminal modes your
2305 You can redirect your program's input and/or output using shell
2306 redirection with the @code{run} command. For example,
2313 starts your program, diverting its output to the file @file{outfile}.
2316 @cindex controlling terminal
2317 Another way to specify where your program should do input and output is
2318 with the @code{tty} command. This command accepts a file name as
2319 argument, and causes this file to be the default for future @code{run}
2320 commands. It also resets the controlling terminal for the child
2321 process, for future @code{run} commands. For example,
2328 directs that processes started with subsequent @code{run} commands
2329 default to do input and output on the terminal @file{/dev/ttyb} and have
2330 that as their controlling terminal.
2332 An explicit redirection in @code{run} overrides the @code{tty} command's
2333 effect on the input/output device, but not its effect on the controlling
2336 When you use the @code{tty} command or redirect input in the @code{run}
2337 command, only the input @emph{for your program} is affected. The input
2338 for @value{GDBN} still comes from your terminal. @code{tty} is an alias
2339 for @code{set inferior-tty}.
2341 @cindex inferior tty
2342 @cindex set inferior controlling terminal
2343 You can use the @code{show inferior-tty} command to tell @value{GDBN} to
2344 display the name of the terminal that will be used for future runs of your
2348 @item set inferior-tty /dev/ttyb
2349 @kindex set inferior-tty
2350 Set the tty for the program being debugged to /dev/ttyb.
2352 @item show inferior-tty
2353 @kindex show inferior-tty
2354 Show the current tty for the program being debugged.
2358 @section Debugging an Already-running Process
2363 @item attach @var{process-id}
2364 This command attaches to a running process---one that was started
2365 outside @value{GDBN}. (@code{info files} shows your active
2366 targets.) The command takes as argument a process ID. The usual way to
2367 find out the @var{process-id} of a Unix process is with the @code{ps} utility,
2368 or with the @samp{jobs -l} shell command.
2370 @code{attach} does not repeat if you press @key{RET} a second time after
2371 executing the command.
2374 To use @code{attach}, your program must be running in an environment
2375 which supports processes; for example, @code{attach} does not work for
2376 programs on bare-board targets that lack an operating system. You must
2377 also have permission to send the process a signal.
2379 When you use @code{attach}, the debugger finds the program running in
2380 the process first by looking in the current working directory, then (if
2381 the program is not found) by using the source file search path
2382 (@pxref{Source Path, ,Specifying Source Directories}). You can also use
2383 the @code{file} command to load the program. @xref{Files, ,Commands to
2386 The first thing @value{GDBN} does after arranging to debug the specified
2387 process is to stop it. You can examine and modify an attached process
2388 with all the @value{GDBN} commands that are ordinarily available when
2389 you start processes with @code{run}. You can insert breakpoints; you
2390 can step and continue; you can modify storage. If you would rather the
2391 process continue running, you may use the @code{continue} command after
2392 attaching @value{GDBN} to the process.
2397 When you have finished debugging the attached process, you can use the
2398 @code{detach} command to release it from @value{GDBN} control. Detaching
2399 the process continues its execution. After the @code{detach} command,
2400 that process and @value{GDBN} become completely independent once more, and you
2401 are ready to @code{attach} another process or start one with @code{run}.
2402 @code{detach} does not repeat if you press @key{RET} again after
2403 executing the command.
2406 If you exit @value{GDBN} while you have an attached process, you detach
2407 that process. If you use the @code{run} command, you kill that process.
2408 By default, @value{GDBN} asks for confirmation if you try to do either of these
2409 things; you can control whether or not you need to confirm by using the
2410 @code{set confirm} command (@pxref{Messages/Warnings, ,Optional Warnings and
2414 @section Killing the Child Process
2419 Kill the child process in which your program is running under @value{GDBN}.
2422 This command is useful if you wish to debug a core dump instead of a
2423 running process. @value{GDBN} ignores any core dump file while your program
2426 On some operating systems, a program cannot be executed outside @value{GDBN}
2427 while you have breakpoints set on it inside @value{GDBN}. You can use the
2428 @code{kill} command in this situation to permit running your program
2429 outside the debugger.
2431 The @code{kill} command is also useful if you wish to recompile and
2432 relink your program, since on many systems it is impossible to modify an
2433 executable file while it is running in a process. In this case, when you
2434 next type @code{run}, @value{GDBN} notices that the file has changed, and
2435 reads the symbol table again (while trying to preserve your current
2436 breakpoint settings).
2438 @node Inferiors and Programs
2439 @section Debugging Multiple Inferiors and Programs
2441 @value{GDBN} lets you run and debug multiple programs in a single
2442 session. In addition, @value{GDBN} on some systems may let you run
2443 several programs simultaneously (otherwise you have to exit from one
2444 before starting another). In the most general case, you can have
2445 multiple threads of execution in each of multiple processes, launched
2446 from multiple executables.
2449 @value{GDBN} represents the state of each program execution with an
2450 object called an @dfn{inferior}. An inferior typically corresponds to
2451 a process, but is more general and applies also to targets that do not
2452 have processes. Inferiors may be created before a process runs, and
2453 may be retained after a process exits. Inferiors have unique
2454 identifiers that are different from process ids. Usually each
2455 inferior will also have its own distinct address space, although some
2456 embedded targets may have several inferiors running in different parts
2457 of a single address space. Each inferior may in turn have multiple
2458 threads running in it.
2460 To find out what inferiors exist at any moment, use @w{@code{info
2464 @kindex info inferiors
2465 @item info inferiors
2466 Print a list of all inferiors currently being managed by @value{GDBN}.
2468 @value{GDBN} displays for each inferior (in this order):
2472 the inferior number assigned by @value{GDBN}
2475 the target system's inferior identifier
2478 the name of the executable the inferior is running.
2483 An asterisk @samp{*} preceding the @value{GDBN} inferior number
2484 indicates the current inferior.
2488 @c end table here to get a little more width for example
2491 (@value{GDBP}) info inferiors
2492 Num Description Executable
2493 2 process 2307 hello
2494 * 1 process 3401 goodbye
2497 To switch focus between inferiors, use the @code{inferior} command:
2500 @kindex inferior @var{infno}
2501 @item inferior @var{infno}
2502 Make inferior number @var{infno} the current inferior. The argument
2503 @var{infno} is the inferior number assigned by @value{GDBN}, as shown
2504 in the first field of the @samp{info inferiors} display.
2508 You can get multiple executables into a debugging session via the
2509 @code{add-inferior} and @w{@code{clone-inferior}} commands. On some
2510 systems @value{GDBN} can add inferiors to the debug session
2511 automatically by following calls to @code{fork} and @code{exec}. To
2512 remove inferiors from the debugging session use the
2513 @w{@code{remove-inferiors}} command.
2516 @kindex add-inferior
2517 @item add-inferior [ -copies @var{n} ] [ -exec @var{executable} ]
2518 Adds @var{n} inferiors to be run using @var{executable} as the
2519 executable. @var{n} defaults to 1. If no executable is specified,
2520 the inferiors begins empty, with no program. You can still assign or
2521 change the program assigned to the inferior at any time by using the
2522 @code{file} command with the executable name as its argument.
2524 @kindex clone-inferior
2525 @item clone-inferior [ -copies @var{n} ] [ @var{infno} ]
2526 Adds @var{n} inferiors ready to execute the same program as inferior
2527 @var{infno}. @var{n} defaults to 1. @var{infno} defaults to the
2528 number of the current inferior. This is a convenient command when you
2529 want to run another instance of the inferior you are debugging.
2532 (@value{GDBP}) info inferiors
2533 Num Description Executable
2534 * 1 process 29964 helloworld
2535 (@value{GDBP}) clone-inferior
2538 (@value{GDBP}) info inferiors
2539 Num Description Executable
2541 * 1 process 29964 helloworld
2544 You can now simply switch focus to inferior 2 and run it.
2546 @kindex remove-inferiors
2547 @item remove-inferiors @var{infno}@dots{}
2548 Removes the inferior or inferiors @var{infno}@dots{}. It is not
2549 possible to remove an inferior that is running with this command. For
2550 those, use the @code{kill} or @code{detach} command first.
2554 To quit debugging one of the running inferiors that is not the current
2555 inferior, you can either detach from it by using the @w{@code{detach
2556 inferior}} command (allowing it to run independently), or kill it
2557 using the @w{@code{kill inferiors}} command:
2560 @kindex detach inferiors @var{infno}@dots{}
2561 @item detach inferior @var{infno}@dots{}
2562 Detach from the inferior or inferiors identified by @value{GDBN}
2563 inferior number(s) @var{infno}@dots{}. Note that the inferior's entry
2564 still stays on the list of inferiors shown by @code{info inferiors},
2565 but its Description will show @samp{<null>}.
2567 @kindex kill inferiors @var{infno}@dots{}
2568 @item kill inferiors @var{infno}@dots{}
2569 Kill the inferior or inferiors identified by @value{GDBN} inferior
2570 number(s) @var{infno}@dots{}. Note that the inferior's entry still
2571 stays on the list of inferiors shown by @code{info inferiors}, but its
2572 Description will show @samp{<null>}.
2575 After the successful completion of a command such as @code{detach},
2576 @code{detach inferiors}, @code{kill} or @code{kill inferiors}, or after
2577 a normal process exit, the inferior is still valid and listed with
2578 @code{info inferiors}, ready to be restarted.
2581 To be notified when inferiors are started or exit under @value{GDBN}'s
2582 control use @w{@code{set print inferior-events}}:
2585 @kindex set print inferior-events
2586 @cindex print messages on inferior start and exit
2587 @item set print inferior-events
2588 @itemx set print inferior-events on
2589 @itemx set print inferior-events off
2590 The @code{set print inferior-events} command allows you to enable or
2591 disable printing of messages when @value{GDBN} notices that new
2592 inferiors have started or that inferiors have exited or have been
2593 detached. By default, these messages will not be printed.
2595 @kindex show print inferior-events
2596 @item show print inferior-events
2597 Show whether messages will be printed when @value{GDBN} detects that
2598 inferiors have started, exited or have been detached.
2601 Many commands will work the same with multiple programs as with a
2602 single program: e.g., @code{print myglobal} will simply display the
2603 value of @code{myglobal} in the current inferior.
2606 Occasionaly, when debugging @value{GDBN} itself, it may be useful to
2607 get more info about the relationship of inferiors, programs, address
2608 spaces in a debug session. You can do that with the @w{@code{maint
2609 info program-spaces}} command.
2612 @kindex maint info program-spaces
2613 @item maint info program-spaces
2614 Print a list of all program spaces currently being managed by
2617 @value{GDBN} displays for each program space (in this order):
2621 the program space number assigned by @value{GDBN}
2624 the name of the executable loaded into the program space, with e.g.,
2625 the @code{file} command.
2630 An asterisk @samp{*} preceding the @value{GDBN} program space number
2631 indicates the current program space.
2633 In addition, below each program space line, @value{GDBN} prints extra
2634 information that isn't suitable to display in tabular form. For
2635 example, the list of inferiors bound to the program space.
2638 (@value{GDBP}) maint info program-spaces
2641 Bound inferiors: ID 1 (process 21561)
2645 Here we can see that no inferior is running the program @code{hello},
2646 while @code{process 21561} is running the program @code{goodbye}. On
2647 some targets, it is possible that multiple inferiors are bound to the
2648 same program space. The most common example is that of debugging both
2649 the parent and child processes of a @code{vfork} call. For example,
2652 (@value{GDBP}) maint info program-spaces
2655 Bound inferiors: ID 2 (process 18050), ID 1 (process 18045)
2658 Here, both inferior 2 and inferior 1 are running in the same program
2659 space as a result of inferior 1 having executed a @code{vfork} call.
2663 @section Debugging Programs with Multiple Threads
2665 @cindex threads of execution
2666 @cindex multiple threads
2667 @cindex switching threads
2668 In some operating systems, such as HP-UX and Solaris, a single program
2669 may have more than one @dfn{thread} of execution. The precise semantics
2670 of threads differ from one operating system to another, but in general
2671 the threads of a single program are akin to multiple processes---except
2672 that they share one address space (that is, they can all examine and
2673 modify the same variables). On the other hand, each thread has its own
2674 registers and execution stack, and perhaps private memory.
2676 @value{GDBN} provides these facilities for debugging multi-thread
2680 @item automatic notification of new threads
2681 @item @samp{thread @var{threadno}}, a command to switch among threads
2682 @item @samp{info threads}, a command to inquire about existing threads
2683 @item @samp{thread apply [@var{threadno}] [@var{all}] @var{args}},
2684 a command to apply a command to a list of threads
2685 @item thread-specific breakpoints
2686 @item @samp{set print thread-events}, which controls printing of
2687 messages on thread start and exit.
2688 @item @samp{set libthread-db-search-path @var{path}}, which lets
2689 the user specify which @code{libthread_db} to use if the default choice
2690 isn't compatible with the program.
2694 @emph{Warning:} These facilities are not yet available on every
2695 @value{GDBN} configuration where the operating system supports threads.
2696 If your @value{GDBN} does not support threads, these commands have no
2697 effect. For example, a system without thread support shows no output
2698 from @samp{info threads}, and always rejects the @code{thread} command,
2702 (@value{GDBP}) info threads
2703 (@value{GDBP}) thread 1
2704 Thread ID 1 not known. Use the "info threads" command to
2705 see the IDs of currently known threads.
2707 @c FIXME to implementors: how hard would it be to say "sorry, this GDB
2708 @c doesn't support threads"?
2711 @cindex focus of debugging
2712 @cindex current thread
2713 The @value{GDBN} thread debugging facility allows you to observe all
2714 threads while your program runs---but whenever @value{GDBN} takes
2715 control, one thread in particular is always the focus of debugging.
2716 This thread is called the @dfn{current thread}. Debugging commands show
2717 program information from the perspective of the current thread.
2719 @cindex @code{New} @var{systag} message
2720 @cindex thread identifier (system)
2721 @c FIXME-implementors!! It would be more helpful if the [New...] message
2722 @c included GDB's numeric thread handle, so you could just go to that
2723 @c thread without first checking `info threads'.
2724 Whenever @value{GDBN} detects a new thread in your program, it displays
2725 the target system's identification for the thread with a message in the
2726 form @samp{[New @var{systag}]}. @var{systag} is a thread identifier
2727 whose form varies depending on the particular system. For example, on
2728 @sc{gnu}/Linux, you might see
2731 [New Thread 0x41e02940 (LWP 25582)]
2735 when @value{GDBN} notices a new thread. In contrast, on an SGI system,
2736 the @var{systag} is simply something like @samp{process 368}, with no
2739 @c FIXME!! (1) Does the [New...] message appear even for the very first
2740 @c thread of a program, or does it only appear for the
2741 @c second---i.e.@: when it becomes obvious we have a multithread
2743 @c (2) *Is* there necessarily a first thread always? Or do some
2744 @c multithread systems permit starting a program with multiple
2745 @c threads ab initio?
2747 @cindex thread number
2748 @cindex thread identifier (GDB)
2749 For debugging purposes, @value{GDBN} associates its own thread
2750 number---always a single integer---with each thread in your program.
2753 @kindex info threads
2754 @item info threads @r{[}@var{id}@dots{}@r{]}
2755 Display a summary of all threads currently in your program. Optional
2756 argument @var{id}@dots{} is one or more thread ids separated by spaces, and
2757 means to print information only about the specified thread or threads.
2758 @value{GDBN} displays for each thread (in this order):
2762 the thread number assigned by @value{GDBN}
2765 the target system's thread identifier (@var{systag})
2768 the thread's name, if one is known. A thread can either be named by
2769 the user (see @code{thread name}, below), or, in some cases, by the
2773 the current stack frame summary for that thread
2777 An asterisk @samp{*} to the left of the @value{GDBN} thread number
2778 indicates the current thread.
2782 @c end table here to get a little more width for example
2785 (@value{GDBP}) info threads
2787 3 process 35 thread 27 0x34e5 in sigpause ()
2788 2 process 35 thread 23 0x34e5 in sigpause ()
2789 * 1 process 35 thread 13 main (argc=1, argv=0x7ffffff8)
2793 On Solaris, you can display more information about user threads with a
2794 Solaris-specific command:
2797 @item maint info sol-threads
2798 @kindex maint info sol-threads
2799 @cindex thread info (Solaris)
2800 Display info on Solaris user threads.
2804 @kindex thread @var{threadno}
2805 @item thread @var{threadno}
2806 Make thread number @var{threadno} the current thread. The command
2807 argument @var{threadno} is the internal @value{GDBN} thread number, as
2808 shown in the first field of the @samp{info threads} display.
2809 @value{GDBN} responds by displaying the system identifier of the thread
2810 you selected, and its current stack frame summary:
2813 (@value{GDBP}) thread 2
2814 [Switching to thread 2 (Thread 0xb7fdab70 (LWP 12747))]
2815 #0 some_function (ignore=0x0) at example.c:8
2816 8 printf ("hello\n");
2820 As with the @samp{[New @dots{}]} message, the form of the text after
2821 @samp{Switching to} depends on your system's conventions for identifying
2824 @vindex $_thread@r{, convenience variable}
2825 The debugger convenience variable @samp{$_thread} contains the number
2826 of the current thread. You may find this useful in writing breakpoint
2827 conditional expressions, command scripts, and so forth. See
2828 @xref{Convenience Vars,, Convenience Variables}, for general
2829 information on convenience variables.
2831 @kindex thread apply
2832 @cindex apply command to several threads
2833 @item thread apply [@var{threadno} | all] @var{command}
2834 The @code{thread apply} command allows you to apply the named
2835 @var{command} to one or more threads. Specify the numbers of the
2836 threads that you want affected with the command argument
2837 @var{threadno}. It can be a single thread number, one of the numbers
2838 shown in the first field of the @samp{info threads} display; or it
2839 could be a range of thread numbers, as in @code{2-4}. To apply a
2840 command to all threads, type @kbd{thread apply all @var{command}}.
2843 @cindex name a thread
2844 @item thread name [@var{name}]
2845 This command assigns a name to the current thread. If no argument is
2846 given, any existing user-specified name is removed. The thread name
2847 appears in the @samp{info threads} display.
2849 On some systems, such as @sc{gnu}/Linux, @value{GDBN} is able to
2850 determine the name of the thread as given by the OS. On these
2851 systems, a name specified with @samp{thread name} will override the
2852 system-give name, and removing the user-specified name will cause
2853 @value{GDBN} to once again display the system-specified name.
2856 @cindex search for a thread
2857 @item thread find [@var{regexp}]
2858 Search for and display thread ids whose name or @var{systag}
2859 matches the supplied regular expression.
2861 As well as being the complement to the @samp{thread name} command,
2862 this command also allows you to identify a thread by its target
2863 @var{systag}. For instance, on @sc{gnu}/Linux, the target @var{systag}
2867 (@value{GDBN}) thread find 26688
2868 Thread 4 has target id 'Thread 0x41e02940 (LWP 26688)'
2869 (@value{GDBN}) info thread 4
2871 4 Thread 0x41e02940 (LWP 26688) 0x00000031ca6cd372 in select ()
2874 @kindex set print thread-events
2875 @cindex print messages on thread start and exit
2876 @item set print thread-events
2877 @itemx set print thread-events on
2878 @itemx set print thread-events off
2879 The @code{set print thread-events} command allows you to enable or
2880 disable printing of messages when @value{GDBN} notices that new threads have
2881 started or that threads have exited. By default, these messages will
2882 be printed if detection of these events is supported by the target.
2883 Note that these messages cannot be disabled on all targets.
2885 @kindex show print thread-events
2886 @item show print thread-events
2887 Show whether messages will be printed when @value{GDBN} detects that threads
2888 have started and exited.
2891 @xref{Thread Stops,,Stopping and Starting Multi-thread Programs}, for
2892 more information about how @value{GDBN} behaves when you stop and start
2893 programs with multiple threads.
2895 @xref{Set Watchpoints,,Setting Watchpoints}, for information about
2896 watchpoints in programs with multiple threads.
2898 @anchor{set libthread-db-search-path}
2900 @kindex set libthread-db-search-path
2901 @cindex search path for @code{libthread_db}
2902 @item set libthread-db-search-path @r{[}@var{path}@r{]}
2903 If this variable is set, @var{path} is a colon-separated list of
2904 directories @value{GDBN} will use to search for @code{libthread_db}.
2905 If you omit @var{path}, @samp{libthread-db-search-path} will be reset to
2906 its default value (@code{$sdir:$pdir} on @sc{gnu}/Linux and Solaris systems).
2907 Internally, the default value comes from the @code{LIBTHREAD_DB_SEARCH_PATH}
2910 On @sc{gnu}/Linux and Solaris systems, @value{GDBN} uses a ``helper''
2911 @code{libthread_db} library to obtain information about threads in the
2912 inferior process. @value{GDBN} will use @samp{libthread-db-search-path}
2913 to find @code{libthread_db}. @value{GDBN} also consults first if inferior
2914 specific thread debugging library loading is enabled
2915 by @samp{set auto-load libthread-db} (@pxref{libthread_db.so.1 file}).
2917 A special entry @samp{$sdir} for @samp{libthread-db-search-path}
2918 refers to the default system directories that are
2919 normally searched for loading shared libraries. The @samp{$sdir} entry
2920 is the only kind not needing to be enabled by @samp{set auto-load libthread-db}
2921 (@pxref{libthread_db.so.1 file}).
2923 A special entry @samp{$pdir} for @samp{libthread-db-search-path}
2924 refers to the directory from which @code{libpthread}
2925 was loaded in the inferior process.
2927 For any @code{libthread_db} library @value{GDBN} finds in above directories,
2928 @value{GDBN} attempts to initialize it with the current inferior process.
2929 If this initialization fails (which could happen because of a version
2930 mismatch between @code{libthread_db} and @code{libpthread}), @value{GDBN}
2931 will unload @code{libthread_db}, and continue with the next directory.
2932 If none of @code{libthread_db} libraries initialize successfully,
2933 @value{GDBN} will issue a warning and thread debugging will be disabled.
2935 Setting @code{libthread-db-search-path} is currently implemented
2936 only on some platforms.
2938 @kindex show libthread-db-search-path
2939 @item show libthread-db-search-path
2940 Display current libthread_db search path.
2942 @kindex set debug libthread-db
2943 @kindex show debug libthread-db
2944 @cindex debugging @code{libthread_db}
2945 @item set debug libthread-db
2946 @itemx show debug libthread-db
2947 Turns on or off display of @code{libthread_db}-related events.
2948 Use @code{1} to enable, @code{0} to disable.
2952 @section Debugging Forks
2954 @cindex fork, debugging programs which call
2955 @cindex multiple processes
2956 @cindex processes, multiple
2957 On most systems, @value{GDBN} has no special support for debugging
2958 programs which create additional processes using the @code{fork}
2959 function. When a program forks, @value{GDBN} will continue to debug the
2960 parent process and the child process will run unimpeded. If you have
2961 set a breakpoint in any code which the child then executes, the child
2962 will get a @code{SIGTRAP} signal which (unless it catches the signal)
2963 will cause it to terminate.
2965 However, if you want to debug the child process there is a workaround
2966 which isn't too painful. Put a call to @code{sleep} in the code which
2967 the child process executes after the fork. It may be useful to sleep
2968 only if a certain environment variable is set, or a certain file exists,
2969 so that the delay need not occur when you don't want to run @value{GDBN}
2970 on the child. While the child is sleeping, use the @code{ps} program to
2971 get its process ID. Then tell @value{GDBN} (a new invocation of
2972 @value{GDBN} if you are also debugging the parent process) to attach to
2973 the child process (@pxref{Attach}). From that point on you can debug
2974 the child process just like any other process which you attached to.
2976 On some systems, @value{GDBN} provides support for debugging programs that
2977 create additional processes using the @code{fork} or @code{vfork} functions.
2978 Currently, the only platforms with this feature are HP-UX (11.x and later
2979 only?) and @sc{gnu}/Linux (kernel version 2.5.60 and later).
2981 By default, when a program forks, @value{GDBN} will continue to debug
2982 the parent process and the child process will run unimpeded.
2984 If you want to follow the child process instead of the parent process,
2985 use the command @w{@code{set follow-fork-mode}}.
2988 @kindex set follow-fork-mode
2989 @item set follow-fork-mode @var{mode}
2990 Set the debugger response to a program call of @code{fork} or
2991 @code{vfork}. A call to @code{fork} or @code{vfork} creates a new
2992 process. The @var{mode} argument can be:
2996 The original process is debugged after a fork. The child process runs
2997 unimpeded. This is the default.
3000 The new process is debugged after a fork. The parent process runs
3005 @kindex show follow-fork-mode
3006 @item show follow-fork-mode
3007 Display the current debugger response to a @code{fork} or @code{vfork} call.
3010 @cindex debugging multiple processes
3011 On Linux, if you want to debug both the parent and child processes, use the
3012 command @w{@code{set detach-on-fork}}.
3015 @kindex set detach-on-fork
3016 @item set detach-on-fork @var{mode}
3017 Tells gdb whether to detach one of the processes after a fork, or
3018 retain debugger control over them both.
3022 The child process (or parent process, depending on the value of
3023 @code{follow-fork-mode}) will be detached and allowed to run
3024 independently. This is the default.
3027 Both processes will be held under the control of @value{GDBN}.
3028 One process (child or parent, depending on the value of
3029 @code{follow-fork-mode}) is debugged as usual, while the other
3034 @kindex show detach-on-fork
3035 @item show detach-on-fork
3036 Show whether detach-on-fork mode is on/off.
3039 If you choose to set @samp{detach-on-fork} mode off, then @value{GDBN}
3040 will retain control of all forked processes (including nested forks).
3041 You can list the forked processes under the control of @value{GDBN} by
3042 using the @w{@code{info inferiors}} command, and switch from one fork
3043 to another by using the @code{inferior} command (@pxref{Inferiors and
3044 Programs, ,Debugging Multiple Inferiors and Programs}).
3046 To quit debugging one of the forked processes, you can either detach
3047 from it by using the @w{@code{detach inferiors}} command (allowing it
3048 to run independently), or kill it using the @w{@code{kill inferiors}}
3049 command. @xref{Inferiors and Programs, ,Debugging Multiple Inferiors
3052 If you ask to debug a child process and a @code{vfork} is followed by an
3053 @code{exec}, @value{GDBN} executes the new target up to the first
3054 breakpoint in the new target. If you have a breakpoint set on
3055 @code{main} in your original program, the breakpoint will also be set on
3056 the child process's @code{main}.
3058 On some systems, when a child process is spawned by @code{vfork}, you
3059 cannot debug the child or parent until an @code{exec} call completes.
3061 If you issue a @code{run} command to @value{GDBN} after an @code{exec}
3062 call executes, the new target restarts. To restart the parent
3063 process, use the @code{file} command with the parent executable name
3064 as its argument. By default, after an @code{exec} call executes,
3065 @value{GDBN} discards the symbols of the previous executable image.
3066 You can change this behaviour with the @w{@code{set follow-exec-mode}}
3070 @kindex set follow-exec-mode
3071 @item set follow-exec-mode @var{mode}
3073 Set debugger response to a program call of @code{exec}. An
3074 @code{exec} call replaces the program image of a process.
3076 @code{follow-exec-mode} can be:
3080 @value{GDBN} creates a new inferior and rebinds the process to this
3081 new inferior. The program the process was running before the
3082 @code{exec} call can be restarted afterwards by restarting the
3088 (@value{GDBP}) info inferiors
3090 Id Description Executable
3093 process 12020 is executing new program: prog2
3094 Program exited normally.
3095 (@value{GDBP}) info inferiors
3096 Id Description Executable
3102 @value{GDBN} keeps the process bound to the same inferior. The new
3103 executable image replaces the previous executable loaded in the
3104 inferior. Restarting the inferior after the @code{exec} call, with
3105 e.g., the @code{run} command, restarts the executable the process was
3106 running after the @code{exec} call. This is the default mode.
3111 (@value{GDBP}) info inferiors
3112 Id Description Executable
3115 process 12020 is executing new program: prog2
3116 Program exited normally.
3117 (@value{GDBP}) info inferiors
3118 Id Description Executable
3125 You can use the @code{catch} command to make @value{GDBN} stop whenever
3126 a @code{fork}, @code{vfork}, or @code{exec} call is made. @xref{Set
3127 Catchpoints, ,Setting Catchpoints}.
3129 @node Checkpoint/Restart
3130 @section Setting a @emph{Bookmark} to Return to Later
3135 @cindex snapshot of a process
3136 @cindex rewind program state
3138 On certain operating systems@footnote{Currently, only
3139 @sc{gnu}/Linux.}, @value{GDBN} is able to save a @dfn{snapshot} of a
3140 program's state, called a @dfn{checkpoint}, and come back to it
3143 Returning to a checkpoint effectively undoes everything that has
3144 happened in the program since the @code{checkpoint} was saved. This
3145 includes changes in memory, registers, and even (within some limits)
3146 system state. Effectively, it is like going back in time to the
3147 moment when the checkpoint was saved.
3149 Thus, if you're stepping thru a program and you think you're
3150 getting close to the point where things go wrong, you can save
3151 a checkpoint. Then, if you accidentally go too far and miss
3152 the critical statement, instead of having to restart your program
3153 from the beginning, you can just go back to the checkpoint and
3154 start again from there.
3156 This can be especially useful if it takes a lot of time or
3157 steps to reach the point where you think the bug occurs.
3159 To use the @code{checkpoint}/@code{restart} method of debugging:
3164 Save a snapshot of the debugged program's current execution state.
3165 The @code{checkpoint} command takes no arguments, but each checkpoint
3166 is assigned a small integer id, similar to a breakpoint id.
3168 @kindex info checkpoints
3169 @item info checkpoints
3170 List the checkpoints that have been saved in the current debugging
3171 session. For each checkpoint, the following information will be
3178 @item Source line, or label
3181 @kindex restart @var{checkpoint-id}
3182 @item restart @var{checkpoint-id}
3183 Restore the program state that was saved as checkpoint number
3184 @var{checkpoint-id}. All program variables, registers, stack frames
3185 etc.@: will be returned to the values that they had when the checkpoint
3186 was saved. In essence, gdb will ``wind back the clock'' to the point
3187 in time when the checkpoint was saved.
3189 Note that breakpoints, @value{GDBN} variables, command history etc.
3190 are not affected by restoring a checkpoint. In general, a checkpoint
3191 only restores things that reside in the program being debugged, not in
3194 @kindex delete checkpoint @var{checkpoint-id}
3195 @item delete checkpoint @var{checkpoint-id}
3196 Delete the previously-saved checkpoint identified by @var{checkpoint-id}.
3200 Returning to a previously saved checkpoint will restore the user state
3201 of the program being debugged, plus a significant subset of the system
3202 (OS) state, including file pointers. It won't ``un-write'' data from
3203 a file, but it will rewind the file pointer to the previous location,
3204 so that the previously written data can be overwritten. For files
3205 opened in read mode, the pointer will also be restored so that the
3206 previously read data can be read again.
3208 Of course, characters that have been sent to a printer (or other
3209 external device) cannot be ``snatched back'', and characters received
3210 from eg.@: a serial device can be removed from internal program buffers,
3211 but they cannot be ``pushed back'' into the serial pipeline, ready to
3212 be received again. Similarly, the actual contents of files that have
3213 been changed cannot be restored (at this time).
3215 However, within those constraints, you actually can ``rewind'' your
3216 program to a previously saved point in time, and begin debugging it
3217 again --- and you can change the course of events so as to debug a
3218 different execution path this time.
3220 @cindex checkpoints and process id
3221 Finally, there is one bit of internal program state that will be
3222 different when you return to a checkpoint --- the program's process
3223 id. Each checkpoint will have a unique process id (or @var{pid}),
3224 and each will be different from the program's original @var{pid}.
3225 If your program has saved a local copy of its process id, this could
3226 potentially pose a problem.
3228 @subsection A Non-obvious Benefit of Using Checkpoints
3230 On some systems such as @sc{gnu}/Linux, address space randomization
3231 is performed on new processes for security reasons. This makes it
3232 difficult or impossible to set a breakpoint, or watchpoint, on an
3233 absolute address if you have to restart the program, since the
3234 absolute location of a symbol will change from one execution to the
3237 A checkpoint, however, is an @emph{identical} copy of a process.
3238 Therefore if you create a checkpoint at (eg.@:) the start of main,
3239 and simply return to that checkpoint instead of restarting the
3240 process, you can avoid the effects of address randomization and
3241 your symbols will all stay in the same place.
3244 @chapter Stopping and Continuing
3246 The principal purposes of using a debugger are so that you can stop your
3247 program before it terminates; or so that, if your program runs into
3248 trouble, you can investigate and find out why.
3250 Inside @value{GDBN}, your program may stop for any of several reasons,
3251 such as a signal, a breakpoint, or reaching a new line after a
3252 @value{GDBN} command such as @code{step}. You may then examine and
3253 change variables, set new breakpoints or remove old ones, and then
3254 continue execution. Usually, the messages shown by @value{GDBN} provide
3255 ample explanation of the status of your program---but you can also
3256 explicitly request this information at any time.
3259 @kindex info program
3261 Display information about the status of your program: whether it is
3262 running or not, what process it is, and why it stopped.
3266 * Breakpoints:: Breakpoints, watchpoints, and catchpoints
3267 * Continuing and Stepping:: Resuming execution
3268 * Skipping Over Functions and Files::
3269 Skipping over functions and files
3271 * Thread Stops:: Stopping and starting multi-thread programs
3275 @section Breakpoints, Watchpoints, and Catchpoints
3278 A @dfn{breakpoint} makes your program stop whenever a certain point in
3279 the program is reached. For each breakpoint, you can add conditions to
3280 control in finer detail whether your program stops. You can set
3281 breakpoints with the @code{break} command and its variants (@pxref{Set
3282 Breaks, ,Setting Breakpoints}), to specify the place where your program
3283 should stop by line number, function name or exact address in the
3286 On some systems, you can set breakpoints in shared libraries before
3287 the executable is run. There is a minor limitation on HP-UX systems:
3288 you must wait until the executable is run in order to set breakpoints
3289 in shared library routines that are not called directly by the program
3290 (for example, routines that are arguments in a @code{pthread_create}
3294 @cindex data breakpoints
3295 @cindex memory tracing
3296 @cindex breakpoint on memory address
3297 @cindex breakpoint on variable modification
3298 A @dfn{watchpoint} is a special breakpoint that stops your program
3299 when the value of an expression changes. The expression may be a value
3300 of a variable, or it could involve values of one or more variables
3301 combined by operators, such as @samp{a + b}. This is sometimes called
3302 @dfn{data breakpoints}. You must use a different command to set
3303 watchpoints (@pxref{Set Watchpoints, ,Setting Watchpoints}), but aside
3304 from that, you can manage a watchpoint like any other breakpoint: you
3305 enable, disable, and delete both breakpoints and watchpoints using the
3308 You can arrange to have values from your program displayed automatically
3309 whenever @value{GDBN} stops at a breakpoint. @xref{Auto Display,,
3313 @cindex breakpoint on events
3314 A @dfn{catchpoint} is another special breakpoint that stops your program
3315 when a certain kind of event occurs, such as the throwing of a C@t{++}
3316 exception or the loading of a library. As with watchpoints, you use a
3317 different command to set a catchpoint (@pxref{Set Catchpoints, ,Setting
3318 Catchpoints}), but aside from that, you can manage a catchpoint like any
3319 other breakpoint. (To stop when your program receives a signal, use the
3320 @code{handle} command; see @ref{Signals, ,Signals}.)
3322 @cindex breakpoint numbers
3323 @cindex numbers for breakpoints
3324 @value{GDBN} assigns a number to each breakpoint, watchpoint, or
3325 catchpoint when you create it; these numbers are successive integers
3326 starting with one. In many of the commands for controlling various
3327 features of breakpoints you use the breakpoint number to say which
3328 breakpoint you want to change. Each breakpoint may be @dfn{enabled} or
3329 @dfn{disabled}; if disabled, it has no effect on your program until you
3332 @cindex breakpoint ranges
3333 @cindex ranges of breakpoints
3334 Some @value{GDBN} commands accept a range of breakpoints on which to
3335 operate. A breakpoint range is either a single breakpoint number, like
3336 @samp{5}, or two such numbers, in increasing order, separated by a
3337 hyphen, like @samp{5-7}. When a breakpoint range is given to a command,
3338 all breakpoints in that range are operated on.
3341 * Set Breaks:: Setting breakpoints
3342 * Set Watchpoints:: Setting watchpoints
3343 * Set Catchpoints:: Setting catchpoints
3344 * Delete Breaks:: Deleting breakpoints
3345 * Disabling:: Disabling breakpoints
3346 * Conditions:: Break conditions
3347 * Break Commands:: Breakpoint command lists
3348 * Dynamic Printf:: Dynamic printf
3349 * Save Breakpoints:: How to save breakpoints in a file
3350 * Static Probe Points:: Listing static probe points
3351 * Error in Breakpoints:: ``Cannot insert breakpoints''
3352 * Breakpoint-related Warnings:: ``Breakpoint address adjusted...''
3356 @subsection Setting Breakpoints
3358 @c FIXME LMB what does GDB do if no code on line of breakpt?
3359 @c consider in particular declaration with/without initialization.
3361 @c FIXME 2 is there stuff on this already? break at fun start, already init?
3364 @kindex b @r{(@code{break})}
3365 @vindex $bpnum@r{, convenience variable}
3366 @cindex latest breakpoint
3367 Breakpoints are set with the @code{break} command (abbreviated
3368 @code{b}). The debugger convenience variable @samp{$bpnum} records the
3369 number of the breakpoint you've set most recently; see @ref{Convenience
3370 Vars,, Convenience Variables}, for a discussion of what you can do with
3371 convenience variables.
3374 @item break @var{location}
3375 Set a breakpoint at the given @var{location}, which can specify a
3376 function name, a line number, or an address of an instruction.
3377 (@xref{Specify Location}, for a list of all the possible ways to
3378 specify a @var{location}.) The breakpoint will stop your program just
3379 before it executes any of the code in the specified @var{location}.
3381 When using source languages that permit overloading of symbols, such as
3382 C@t{++}, a function name may refer to more than one possible place to break.
3383 @xref{Ambiguous Expressions,,Ambiguous Expressions}, for a discussion of
3386 It is also possible to insert a breakpoint that will stop the program
3387 only if a specific thread (@pxref{Thread-Specific Breakpoints})
3388 or a specific task (@pxref{Ada Tasks}) hits that breakpoint.
3391 When called without any arguments, @code{break} sets a breakpoint at
3392 the next instruction to be executed in the selected stack frame
3393 (@pxref{Stack, ,Examining the Stack}). In any selected frame but the
3394 innermost, this makes your program stop as soon as control
3395 returns to that frame. This is similar to the effect of a
3396 @code{finish} command in the frame inside the selected frame---except
3397 that @code{finish} does not leave an active breakpoint. If you use
3398 @code{break} without an argument in the innermost frame, @value{GDBN} stops
3399 the next time it reaches the current location; this may be useful
3402 @value{GDBN} normally ignores breakpoints when it resumes execution, until at
3403 least one instruction has been executed. If it did not do this, you
3404 would be unable to proceed past a breakpoint without first disabling the
3405 breakpoint. This rule applies whether or not the breakpoint already
3406 existed when your program stopped.
3408 @item break @dots{} if @var{cond}
3409 Set a breakpoint with condition @var{cond}; evaluate the expression
3410 @var{cond} each time the breakpoint is reached, and stop only if the
3411 value is nonzero---that is, if @var{cond} evaluates as true.
3412 @samp{@dots{}} stands for one of the possible arguments described
3413 above (or no argument) specifying where to break. @xref{Conditions,
3414 ,Break Conditions}, for more information on breakpoint conditions.
3417 @item tbreak @var{args}
3418 Set a breakpoint enabled only for one stop. @var{args} are the
3419 same as for the @code{break} command, and the breakpoint is set in the same
3420 way, but the breakpoint is automatically deleted after the first time your
3421 program stops there. @xref{Disabling, ,Disabling Breakpoints}.
3424 @cindex hardware breakpoints
3425 @item hbreak @var{args}
3426 Set a hardware-assisted breakpoint. @var{args} are the same as for the
3427 @code{break} command and the breakpoint is set in the same way, but the
3428 breakpoint requires hardware support and some target hardware may not
3429 have this support. The main purpose of this is EPROM/ROM code
3430 debugging, so you can set a breakpoint at an instruction without
3431 changing the instruction. This can be used with the new trap-generation
3432 provided by SPARClite DSU and most x86-based targets. These targets
3433 will generate traps when a program accesses some data or instruction
3434 address that is assigned to the debug registers. However the hardware
3435 breakpoint registers can take a limited number of breakpoints. For
3436 example, on the DSU, only two data breakpoints can be set at a time, and
3437 @value{GDBN} will reject this command if more than two are used. Delete
3438 or disable unused hardware breakpoints before setting new ones
3439 (@pxref{Disabling, ,Disabling Breakpoints}).
3440 @xref{Conditions, ,Break Conditions}.
3441 For remote targets, you can restrict the number of hardware
3442 breakpoints @value{GDBN} will use, see @ref{set remote
3443 hardware-breakpoint-limit}.
3446 @item thbreak @var{args}
3447 Set a hardware-assisted breakpoint enabled only for one stop. @var{args}
3448 are the same as for the @code{hbreak} command and the breakpoint is set in
3449 the same way. However, like the @code{tbreak} command,
3450 the breakpoint is automatically deleted after the
3451 first time your program stops there. Also, like the @code{hbreak}
3452 command, the breakpoint requires hardware support and some target hardware
3453 may not have this support. @xref{Disabling, ,Disabling Breakpoints}.
3454 See also @ref{Conditions, ,Break Conditions}.
3457 @cindex regular expression
3458 @cindex breakpoints at functions matching a regexp
3459 @cindex set breakpoints in many functions
3460 @item rbreak @var{regex}
3461 Set breakpoints on all functions matching the regular expression
3462 @var{regex}. This command sets an unconditional breakpoint on all
3463 matches, printing a list of all breakpoints it set. Once these
3464 breakpoints are set, they are treated just like the breakpoints set with
3465 the @code{break} command. You can delete them, disable them, or make
3466 them conditional the same way as any other breakpoint.
3468 The syntax of the regular expression is the standard one used with tools
3469 like @file{grep}. Note that this is different from the syntax used by
3470 shells, so for instance @code{foo*} matches all functions that include
3471 an @code{fo} followed by zero or more @code{o}s. There is an implicit
3472 @code{.*} leading and trailing the regular expression you supply, so to
3473 match only functions that begin with @code{foo}, use @code{^foo}.
3475 @cindex non-member C@t{++} functions, set breakpoint in
3476 When debugging C@t{++} programs, @code{rbreak} is useful for setting
3477 breakpoints on overloaded functions that are not members of any special
3480 @cindex set breakpoints on all functions
3481 The @code{rbreak} command can be used to set breakpoints in
3482 @strong{all} the functions in a program, like this:
3485 (@value{GDBP}) rbreak .
3488 @item rbreak @var{file}:@var{regex}
3489 If @code{rbreak} is called with a filename qualification, it limits
3490 the search for functions matching the given regular expression to the
3491 specified @var{file}. This can be used, for example, to set breakpoints on
3492 every function in a given file:
3495 (@value{GDBP}) rbreak file.c:.
3498 The colon separating the filename qualifier from the regex may
3499 optionally be surrounded by spaces.
3501 @kindex info breakpoints
3502 @cindex @code{$_} and @code{info breakpoints}
3503 @item info breakpoints @r{[}@var{n}@dots{}@r{]}
3504 @itemx info break @r{[}@var{n}@dots{}@r{]}
3505 Print a table of all breakpoints, watchpoints, and catchpoints set and
3506 not deleted. Optional argument @var{n} means print information only
3507 about the specified breakpoint(s) (or watchpoint(s) or catchpoint(s)).
3508 For each breakpoint, following columns are printed:
3511 @item Breakpoint Numbers
3513 Breakpoint, watchpoint, or catchpoint.
3515 Whether the breakpoint is marked to be disabled or deleted when hit.
3516 @item Enabled or Disabled
3517 Enabled breakpoints are marked with @samp{y}. @samp{n} marks breakpoints
3518 that are not enabled.
3520 Where the breakpoint is in your program, as a memory address. For a
3521 pending breakpoint whose address is not yet known, this field will
3522 contain @samp{<PENDING>}. Such breakpoint won't fire until a shared
3523 library that has the symbol or line referred by breakpoint is loaded.
3524 See below for details. A breakpoint with several locations will
3525 have @samp{<MULTIPLE>} in this field---see below for details.
3527 Where the breakpoint is in the source for your program, as a file and
3528 line number. For a pending breakpoint, the original string passed to
3529 the breakpoint command will be listed as it cannot be resolved until
3530 the appropriate shared library is loaded in the future.
3534 If a breakpoint is conditional, there are two evaluation modes: ``host'' and
3535 ``target''. If mode is ``host'', breakpoint condition evaluation is done by
3536 @value{GDBN} on the host's side. If it is ``target'', then the condition
3537 is evaluated by the target. The @code{info break} command shows
3538 the condition on the line following the affected breakpoint, together with
3539 its condition evaluation mode in between parentheses.
3541 Breakpoint commands, if any, are listed after that. A pending breakpoint is
3542 allowed to have a condition specified for it. The condition is not parsed for
3543 validity until a shared library is loaded that allows the pending
3544 breakpoint to resolve to a valid location.
3547 @code{info break} with a breakpoint
3548 number @var{n} as argument lists only that breakpoint. The
3549 convenience variable @code{$_} and the default examining-address for
3550 the @code{x} command are set to the address of the last breakpoint
3551 listed (@pxref{Memory, ,Examining Memory}).
3554 @code{info break} displays a count of the number of times the breakpoint
3555 has been hit. This is especially useful in conjunction with the
3556 @code{ignore} command. You can ignore a large number of breakpoint
3557 hits, look at the breakpoint info to see how many times the breakpoint
3558 was hit, and then run again, ignoring one less than that number. This
3559 will get you quickly to the last hit of that breakpoint.
3562 For a breakpoints with an enable count (xref) greater than 1,
3563 @code{info break} also displays that count.
3567 @value{GDBN} allows you to set any number of breakpoints at the same place in
3568 your program. There is nothing silly or meaningless about this. When
3569 the breakpoints are conditional, this is even useful
3570 (@pxref{Conditions, ,Break Conditions}).
3572 @cindex multiple locations, breakpoints
3573 @cindex breakpoints, multiple locations
3574 It is possible that a breakpoint corresponds to several locations
3575 in your program. Examples of this situation are:
3579 Multiple functions in the program may have the same name.
3582 For a C@t{++} constructor, the @value{NGCC} compiler generates several
3583 instances of the function body, used in different cases.
3586 For a C@t{++} template function, a given line in the function can
3587 correspond to any number of instantiations.
3590 For an inlined function, a given source line can correspond to
3591 several places where that function is inlined.
3594 In all those cases, @value{GDBN} will insert a breakpoint at all
3595 the relevant locations.
3597 A breakpoint with multiple locations is displayed in the breakpoint
3598 table using several rows---one header row, followed by one row for
3599 each breakpoint location. The header row has @samp{<MULTIPLE>} in the
3600 address column. The rows for individual locations contain the actual
3601 addresses for locations, and show the functions to which those
3602 locations belong. The number column for a location is of the form
3603 @var{breakpoint-number}.@var{location-number}.
3608 Num Type Disp Enb Address What
3609 1 breakpoint keep y <MULTIPLE>
3611 breakpoint already hit 1 time
3612 1.1 y 0x080486a2 in void foo<int>() at t.cc:8
3613 1.2 y 0x080486ca in void foo<double>() at t.cc:8
3616 Each location can be individually enabled or disabled by passing
3617 @var{breakpoint-number}.@var{location-number} as argument to the
3618 @code{enable} and @code{disable} commands. Note that you cannot
3619 delete the individual locations from the list, you can only delete the
3620 entire list of locations that belong to their parent breakpoint (with
3621 the @kbd{delete @var{num}} command, where @var{num} is the number of
3622 the parent breakpoint, 1 in the above example). Disabling or enabling
3623 the parent breakpoint (@pxref{Disabling}) affects all of the locations
3624 that belong to that breakpoint.
3626 @cindex pending breakpoints
3627 It's quite common to have a breakpoint inside a shared library.
3628 Shared libraries can be loaded and unloaded explicitly,
3629 and possibly repeatedly, as the program is executed. To support
3630 this use case, @value{GDBN} updates breakpoint locations whenever
3631 any shared library is loaded or unloaded. Typically, you would
3632 set a breakpoint in a shared library at the beginning of your
3633 debugging session, when the library is not loaded, and when the
3634 symbols from the library are not available. When you try to set
3635 breakpoint, @value{GDBN} will ask you if you want to set
3636 a so called @dfn{pending breakpoint}---breakpoint whose address
3637 is not yet resolved.
3639 After the program is run, whenever a new shared library is loaded,
3640 @value{GDBN} reevaluates all the breakpoints. When a newly loaded
3641 shared library contains the symbol or line referred to by some
3642 pending breakpoint, that breakpoint is resolved and becomes an
3643 ordinary breakpoint. When a library is unloaded, all breakpoints
3644 that refer to its symbols or source lines become pending again.
3646 This logic works for breakpoints with multiple locations, too. For
3647 example, if you have a breakpoint in a C@t{++} template function, and
3648 a newly loaded shared library has an instantiation of that template,
3649 a new location is added to the list of locations for the breakpoint.
3651 Except for having unresolved address, pending breakpoints do not
3652 differ from regular breakpoints. You can set conditions or commands,
3653 enable and disable them and perform other breakpoint operations.
3655 @value{GDBN} provides some additional commands for controlling what
3656 happens when the @samp{break} command cannot resolve breakpoint
3657 address specification to an address:
3659 @kindex set breakpoint pending
3660 @kindex show breakpoint pending
3662 @item set breakpoint pending auto
3663 This is the default behavior. When @value{GDBN} cannot find the breakpoint
3664 location, it queries you whether a pending breakpoint should be created.
3666 @item set breakpoint pending on
3667 This indicates that an unrecognized breakpoint location should automatically
3668 result in a pending breakpoint being created.
3670 @item set breakpoint pending off
3671 This indicates that pending breakpoints are not to be created. Any
3672 unrecognized breakpoint location results in an error. This setting does
3673 not affect any pending breakpoints previously created.
3675 @item show breakpoint pending
3676 Show the current behavior setting for creating pending breakpoints.
3679 The settings above only affect the @code{break} command and its
3680 variants. Once breakpoint is set, it will be automatically updated
3681 as shared libraries are loaded and unloaded.
3683 @cindex automatic hardware breakpoints
3684 For some targets, @value{GDBN} can automatically decide if hardware or
3685 software breakpoints should be used, depending on whether the
3686 breakpoint address is read-only or read-write. This applies to
3687 breakpoints set with the @code{break} command as well as to internal
3688 breakpoints set by commands like @code{next} and @code{finish}. For
3689 breakpoints set with @code{hbreak}, @value{GDBN} will always use hardware
3692 You can control this automatic behaviour with the following commands::
3694 @kindex set breakpoint auto-hw
3695 @kindex show breakpoint auto-hw
3697 @item set breakpoint auto-hw on
3698 This is the default behavior. When @value{GDBN} sets a breakpoint, it
3699 will try to use the target memory map to decide if software or hardware
3700 breakpoint must be used.
3702 @item set breakpoint auto-hw off
3703 This indicates @value{GDBN} should not automatically select breakpoint
3704 type. If the target provides a memory map, @value{GDBN} will warn when
3705 trying to set software breakpoint at a read-only address.
3708 @value{GDBN} normally implements breakpoints by replacing the program code
3709 at the breakpoint address with a special instruction, which, when
3710 executed, given control to the debugger. By default, the program
3711 code is so modified only when the program is resumed. As soon as
3712 the program stops, @value{GDBN} restores the original instructions. This
3713 behaviour guards against leaving breakpoints inserted in the
3714 target should gdb abrubptly disconnect. However, with slow remote
3715 targets, inserting and removing breakpoint can reduce the performance.
3716 This behavior can be controlled with the following commands::
3718 @kindex set breakpoint always-inserted
3719 @kindex show breakpoint always-inserted
3721 @item set breakpoint always-inserted off
3722 All breakpoints, including newly added by the user, are inserted in
3723 the target only when the target is resumed. All breakpoints are
3724 removed from the target when it stops.
3726 @item set breakpoint always-inserted on
3727 Causes all breakpoints to be inserted in the target at all times. If
3728 the user adds a new breakpoint, or changes an existing breakpoint, the
3729 breakpoints in the target are updated immediately. A breakpoint is
3730 removed from the target only when breakpoint itself is removed.
3732 @cindex non-stop mode, and @code{breakpoint always-inserted}
3733 @item set breakpoint always-inserted auto
3734 This is the default mode. If @value{GDBN} is controlling the inferior
3735 in non-stop mode (@pxref{Non-Stop Mode}), gdb behaves as if
3736 @code{breakpoint always-inserted} mode is on. If @value{GDBN} is
3737 controlling the inferior in all-stop mode, @value{GDBN} behaves as if
3738 @code{breakpoint always-inserted} mode is off.
3741 @value{GDBN} handles conditional breakpoints by evaluating these conditions
3742 when a breakpoint breaks. If the condition is true, then the process being
3743 debugged stops, otherwise the process is resumed.
3745 If the target supports evaluating conditions on its end, @value{GDBN} may
3746 download the breakpoint, together with its conditions, to it.
3748 This feature can be controlled via the following commands:
3750 @kindex set breakpoint condition-evaluation
3751 @kindex show breakpoint condition-evaluation
3753 @item set breakpoint condition-evaluation host
3754 This option commands @value{GDBN} to evaluate the breakpoint
3755 conditions on the host's side. Unconditional breakpoints are sent to
3756 the target which in turn receives the triggers and reports them back to GDB
3757 for condition evaluation. This is the standard evaluation mode.
3759 @item set breakpoint condition-evaluation target
3760 This option commands @value{GDBN} to download breakpoint conditions
3761 to the target at the moment of their insertion. The target
3762 is responsible for evaluating the conditional expression and reporting
3763 breakpoint stop events back to @value{GDBN} whenever the condition
3764 is true. Due to limitations of target-side evaluation, some conditions
3765 cannot be evaluated there, e.g., conditions that depend on local data
3766 that is only known to the host. Examples include
3767 conditional expressions involving convenience variables, complex types
3768 that cannot be handled by the agent expression parser and expressions
3769 that are too long to be sent over to the target, specially when the
3770 target is a remote system. In these cases, the conditions will be
3771 evaluated by @value{GDBN}.
3773 @item set breakpoint condition-evaluation auto
3774 This is the default mode. If the target supports evaluating breakpoint
3775 conditions on its end, @value{GDBN} will download breakpoint conditions to
3776 the target (limitations mentioned previously apply). If the target does
3777 not support breakpoint condition evaluation, then @value{GDBN} will fallback
3778 to evaluating all these conditions on the host's side.
3782 @cindex negative breakpoint numbers
3783 @cindex internal @value{GDBN} breakpoints
3784 @value{GDBN} itself sometimes sets breakpoints in your program for
3785 special purposes, such as proper handling of @code{longjmp} (in C
3786 programs). These internal breakpoints are assigned negative numbers,
3787 starting with @code{-1}; @samp{info breakpoints} does not display them.
3788 You can see these breakpoints with the @value{GDBN} maintenance command
3789 @samp{maint info breakpoints} (@pxref{maint info breakpoints}).
3792 @node Set Watchpoints
3793 @subsection Setting Watchpoints
3795 @cindex setting watchpoints
3796 You can use a watchpoint to stop execution whenever the value of an
3797 expression changes, without having to predict a particular place where
3798 this may happen. (This is sometimes called a @dfn{data breakpoint}.)
3799 The expression may be as simple as the value of a single variable, or
3800 as complex as many variables combined by operators. Examples include:
3804 A reference to the value of a single variable.
3807 An address cast to an appropriate data type. For example,
3808 @samp{*(int *)0x12345678} will watch a 4-byte region at the specified
3809 address (assuming an @code{int} occupies 4 bytes).
3812 An arbitrarily complex expression, such as @samp{a*b + c/d}. The
3813 expression can use any operators valid in the program's native
3814 language (@pxref{Languages}).
3817 You can set a watchpoint on an expression even if the expression can
3818 not be evaluated yet. For instance, you can set a watchpoint on
3819 @samp{*global_ptr} before @samp{global_ptr} is initialized.
3820 @value{GDBN} will stop when your program sets @samp{global_ptr} and
3821 the expression produces a valid value. If the expression becomes
3822 valid in some other way than changing a variable (e.g.@: if the memory
3823 pointed to by @samp{*global_ptr} becomes readable as the result of a
3824 @code{malloc} call), @value{GDBN} may not stop until the next time
3825 the expression changes.
3827 @cindex software watchpoints
3828 @cindex hardware watchpoints
3829 Depending on your system, watchpoints may be implemented in software or
3830 hardware. @value{GDBN} does software watchpointing by single-stepping your
3831 program and testing the variable's value each time, which is hundreds of
3832 times slower than normal execution. (But this may still be worth it, to
3833 catch errors where you have no clue what part of your program is the
3836 On some systems, such as HP-UX, PowerPC, @sc{gnu}/Linux and most other
3837 x86-based targets, @value{GDBN} includes support for hardware
3838 watchpoints, which do not slow down the running of your program.
3842 @item watch @r{[}-l@r{|}-location@r{]} @var{expr} @r{[}thread @var{threadnum}@r{]} @r{[}mask @var{maskvalue}@r{]}
3843 Set a watchpoint for an expression. @value{GDBN} will break when the
3844 expression @var{expr} is written into by the program and its value
3845 changes. The simplest (and the most popular) use of this command is
3846 to watch the value of a single variable:
3849 (@value{GDBP}) watch foo
3852 If the command includes a @code{@r{[}thread @var{threadnum}@r{]}}
3853 argument, @value{GDBN} breaks only when the thread identified by
3854 @var{threadnum} changes the value of @var{expr}. If any other threads
3855 change the value of @var{expr}, @value{GDBN} will not break. Note
3856 that watchpoints restricted to a single thread in this way only work
3857 with Hardware Watchpoints.
3859 Ordinarily a watchpoint respects the scope of variables in @var{expr}
3860 (see below). The @code{-location} argument tells @value{GDBN} to
3861 instead watch the memory referred to by @var{expr}. In this case,
3862 @value{GDBN} will evaluate @var{expr}, take the address of the result,
3863 and watch the memory at that address. The type of the result is used
3864 to determine the size of the watched memory. If the expression's
3865 result does not have an address, then @value{GDBN} will print an
3868 The @code{@r{[}mask @var{maskvalue}@r{]}} argument allows creation
3869 of masked watchpoints, if the current architecture supports this
3870 feature (e.g., PowerPC Embedded architecture, see @ref{PowerPC
3871 Embedded}.) A @dfn{masked watchpoint} specifies a mask in addition
3872 to an address to watch. The mask specifies that some bits of an address
3873 (the bits which are reset in the mask) should be ignored when matching
3874 the address accessed by the inferior against the watchpoint address.
3875 Thus, a masked watchpoint watches many addresses simultaneously---those
3876 addresses whose unmasked bits are identical to the unmasked bits in the
3877 watchpoint address. The @code{mask} argument implies @code{-location}.
3881 (@value{GDBP}) watch foo mask 0xffff00ff
3882 (@value{GDBP}) watch *0xdeadbeef mask 0xffffff00
3886 @item rwatch @r{[}-l@r{|}-location@r{]} @var{expr} @r{[}thread @var{threadnum}@r{]} @r{[}mask @var{maskvalue}@r{]}
3887 Set a watchpoint that will break when the value of @var{expr} is read
3891 @item awatch @r{[}-l@r{|}-location@r{]} @var{expr} @r{[}thread @var{threadnum}@r{]} @r{[}mask @var{maskvalue}@r{]}
3892 Set a watchpoint that will break when @var{expr} is either read from
3893 or written into by the program.
3895 @kindex info watchpoints @r{[}@var{n}@dots{}@r{]}
3896 @item info watchpoints @r{[}@var{n}@dots{}@r{]}
3897 This command prints a list of watchpoints, using the same format as
3898 @code{info break} (@pxref{Set Breaks}).
3901 If you watch for a change in a numerically entered address you need to
3902 dereference it, as the address itself is just a constant number which will
3903 never change. @value{GDBN} refuses to create a watchpoint that watches
3904 a never-changing value:
3907 (@value{GDBP}) watch 0x600850
3908 Cannot watch constant value 0x600850.
3909 (@value{GDBP}) watch *(int *) 0x600850
3910 Watchpoint 1: *(int *) 6293584
3913 @value{GDBN} sets a @dfn{hardware watchpoint} if possible. Hardware
3914 watchpoints execute very quickly, and the debugger reports a change in
3915 value at the exact instruction where the change occurs. If @value{GDBN}
3916 cannot set a hardware watchpoint, it sets a software watchpoint, which
3917 executes more slowly and reports the change in value at the next
3918 @emph{statement}, not the instruction, after the change occurs.
3920 @cindex use only software watchpoints
3921 You can force @value{GDBN} to use only software watchpoints with the
3922 @kbd{set can-use-hw-watchpoints 0} command. With this variable set to
3923 zero, @value{GDBN} will never try to use hardware watchpoints, even if
3924 the underlying system supports them. (Note that hardware-assisted
3925 watchpoints that were set @emph{before} setting
3926 @code{can-use-hw-watchpoints} to zero will still use the hardware
3927 mechanism of watching expression values.)
3930 @item set can-use-hw-watchpoints
3931 @kindex set can-use-hw-watchpoints
3932 Set whether or not to use hardware watchpoints.
3934 @item show can-use-hw-watchpoints
3935 @kindex show can-use-hw-watchpoints
3936 Show the current mode of using hardware watchpoints.
3939 For remote targets, you can restrict the number of hardware
3940 watchpoints @value{GDBN} will use, see @ref{set remote
3941 hardware-breakpoint-limit}.
3943 When you issue the @code{watch} command, @value{GDBN} reports
3946 Hardware watchpoint @var{num}: @var{expr}
3950 if it was able to set a hardware watchpoint.
3952 Currently, the @code{awatch} and @code{rwatch} commands can only set
3953 hardware watchpoints, because accesses to data that don't change the
3954 value of the watched expression cannot be detected without examining
3955 every instruction as it is being executed, and @value{GDBN} does not do
3956 that currently. If @value{GDBN} finds that it is unable to set a
3957 hardware breakpoint with the @code{awatch} or @code{rwatch} command, it
3958 will print a message like this:
3961 Expression cannot be implemented with read/access watchpoint.
3964 Sometimes, @value{GDBN} cannot set a hardware watchpoint because the
3965 data type of the watched expression is wider than what a hardware
3966 watchpoint on the target machine can handle. For example, some systems
3967 can only watch regions that are up to 4 bytes wide; on such systems you
3968 cannot set hardware watchpoints for an expression that yields a
3969 double-precision floating-point number (which is typically 8 bytes
3970 wide). As a work-around, it might be possible to break the large region
3971 into a series of smaller ones and watch them with separate watchpoints.
3973 If you set too many hardware watchpoints, @value{GDBN} might be unable
3974 to insert all of them when you resume the execution of your program.
3975 Since the precise number of active watchpoints is unknown until such
3976 time as the program is about to be resumed, @value{GDBN} might not be
3977 able to warn you about this when you set the watchpoints, and the
3978 warning will be printed only when the program is resumed:
3981 Hardware watchpoint @var{num}: Could not insert watchpoint
3985 If this happens, delete or disable some of the watchpoints.
3987 Watching complex expressions that reference many variables can also
3988 exhaust the resources available for hardware-assisted watchpoints.
3989 That's because @value{GDBN} needs to watch every variable in the
3990 expression with separately allocated resources.
3992 If you call a function interactively using @code{print} or @code{call},
3993 any watchpoints you have set will be inactive until @value{GDBN} reaches another
3994 kind of breakpoint or the call completes.
3996 @value{GDBN} automatically deletes watchpoints that watch local
3997 (automatic) variables, or expressions that involve such variables, when
3998 they go out of scope, that is, when the execution leaves the block in
3999 which these variables were defined. In particular, when the program
4000 being debugged terminates, @emph{all} local variables go out of scope,
4001 and so only watchpoints that watch global variables remain set. If you
4002 rerun the program, you will need to set all such watchpoints again. One
4003 way of doing that would be to set a code breakpoint at the entry to the
4004 @code{main} function and when it breaks, set all the watchpoints.
4006 @cindex watchpoints and threads
4007 @cindex threads and watchpoints
4008 In multi-threaded programs, watchpoints will detect changes to the
4009 watched expression from every thread.
4012 @emph{Warning:} In multi-threaded programs, software watchpoints
4013 have only limited usefulness. If @value{GDBN} creates a software
4014 watchpoint, it can only watch the value of an expression @emph{in a
4015 single thread}. If you are confident that the expression can only
4016 change due to the current thread's activity (and if you are also
4017 confident that no other thread can become current), then you can use
4018 software watchpoints as usual. However, @value{GDBN} may not notice
4019 when a non-current thread's activity changes the expression. (Hardware
4020 watchpoints, in contrast, watch an expression in all threads.)
4023 @xref{set remote hardware-watchpoint-limit}.
4025 @node Set Catchpoints
4026 @subsection Setting Catchpoints
4027 @cindex catchpoints, setting
4028 @cindex exception handlers
4029 @cindex event handling
4031 You can use @dfn{catchpoints} to cause the debugger to stop for certain
4032 kinds of program events, such as C@t{++} exceptions or the loading of a
4033 shared library. Use the @code{catch} command to set a catchpoint.
4037 @item catch @var{event}
4038 Stop when @var{event} occurs. @var{event} can be any of the following:
4041 @cindex stop on C@t{++} exceptions
4042 The throwing of a C@t{++} exception.
4045 The catching of a C@t{++} exception.
4048 @cindex Ada exception catching
4049 @cindex catch Ada exceptions
4050 An Ada exception being raised. If an exception name is specified
4051 at the end of the command (eg @code{catch exception Program_Error}),
4052 the debugger will stop only when this specific exception is raised.
4053 Otherwise, the debugger stops execution when any Ada exception is raised.
4055 When inserting an exception catchpoint on a user-defined exception whose
4056 name is identical to one of the exceptions defined by the language, the
4057 fully qualified name must be used as the exception name. Otherwise,
4058 @value{GDBN} will assume that it should stop on the pre-defined exception
4059 rather than the user-defined one. For instance, assuming an exception
4060 called @code{Constraint_Error} is defined in package @code{Pck}, then
4061 the command to use to catch such exceptions is @kbd{catch exception
4062 Pck.Constraint_Error}.
4064 @item exception unhandled
4065 An exception that was raised but is not handled by the program.
4068 A failed Ada assertion.
4071 @cindex break on fork/exec
4072 A call to @code{exec}. This is currently only available for HP-UX
4076 @itemx syscall @r{[}@var{name} @r{|} @var{number}@r{]} @dots{}
4077 @cindex break on a system call.
4078 A call to or return from a system call, a.k.a.@: @dfn{syscall}. A
4079 syscall is a mechanism for application programs to request a service
4080 from the operating system (OS) or one of the OS system services.
4081 @value{GDBN} can catch some or all of the syscalls issued by the
4082 debuggee, and show the related information for each syscall. If no
4083 argument is specified, calls to and returns from all system calls
4086 @var{name} can be any system call name that is valid for the
4087 underlying OS. Just what syscalls are valid depends on the OS. On
4088 GNU and Unix systems, you can find the full list of valid syscall
4089 names on @file{/usr/include/asm/unistd.h}.
4091 @c For MS-Windows, the syscall names and the corresponding numbers
4092 @c can be found, e.g., on this URL:
4093 @c http://www.metasploit.com/users/opcode/syscalls.html
4094 @c but we don't support Windows syscalls yet.
4096 Normally, @value{GDBN} knows in advance which syscalls are valid for
4097 each OS, so you can use the @value{GDBN} command-line completion
4098 facilities (@pxref{Completion,, command completion}) to list the
4101 You may also specify the system call numerically. A syscall's
4102 number is the value passed to the OS's syscall dispatcher to
4103 identify the requested service. When you specify the syscall by its
4104 name, @value{GDBN} uses its database of syscalls to convert the name
4105 into the corresponding numeric code, but using the number directly
4106 may be useful if @value{GDBN}'s database does not have the complete
4107 list of syscalls on your system (e.g., because @value{GDBN} lags
4108 behind the OS upgrades).
4110 The example below illustrates how this command works if you don't provide
4114 (@value{GDBP}) catch syscall
4115 Catchpoint 1 (syscall)
4117 Starting program: /tmp/catch-syscall
4119 Catchpoint 1 (call to syscall 'close'), \
4120 0xffffe424 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
4124 Catchpoint 1 (returned from syscall 'close'), \
4125 0xffffe424 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
4129 Here is an example of catching a system call by name:
4132 (@value{GDBP}) catch syscall chroot
4133 Catchpoint 1 (syscall 'chroot' [61])
4135 Starting program: /tmp/catch-syscall
4137 Catchpoint 1 (call to syscall 'chroot'), \
4138 0xffffe424 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
4142 Catchpoint 1 (returned from syscall 'chroot'), \
4143 0xffffe424 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
4147 An example of specifying a system call numerically. In the case
4148 below, the syscall number has a corresponding entry in the XML
4149 file, so @value{GDBN} finds its name and prints it:
4152 (@value{GDBP}) catch syscall 252
4153 Catchpoint 1 (syscall(s) 'exit_group')
4155 Starting program: /tmp/catch-syscall
4157 Catchpoint 1 (call to syscall 'exit_group'), \
4158 0xffffe424 in __kernel_vsyscall ()
4162 Program exited normally.
4166 However, there can be situations when there is no corresponding name
4167 in XML file for that syscall number. In this case, @value{GDBN} prints
4168 a warning message saying that it was not able to find the syscall name,
4169 but the catchpoint will be set anyway. See the example below:
4172 (@value{GDBP}) catch syscall 764
4173 warning: The number '764' does not represent a known syscall.
4174 Catchpoint 2 (syscall 764)
4178 If you configure @value{GDBN} using the @samp{--without-expat} option,
4179 it will not be able to display syscall names. Also, if your
4180 architecture does not have an XML file describing its system calls,
4181 you will not be able to see the syscall names. It is important to
4182 notice that these two features are used for accessing the syscall
4183 name database. In either case, you will see a warning like this:
4186 (@value{GDBP}) catch syscall
4187 warning: Could not open "syscalls/i386-linux.xml"
4188 warning: Could not load the syscall XML file 'syscalls/i386-linux.xml'.
4189 GDB will not be able to display syscall names.
4190 Catchpoint 1 (syscall)
4194 Of course, the file name will change depending on your architecture and system.
4196 Still using the example above, you can also try to catch a syscall by its
4197 number. In this case, you would see something like:
4200 (@value{GDBP}) catch syscall 252
4201 Catchpoint 1 (syscall(s) 252)
4204 Again, in this case @value{GDBN} would not be able to display syscall's names.
4207 A call to @code{fork}. This is currently only available for HP-UX
4211 A call to @code{vfork}. This is currently only available for HP-UX
4214 @item load @r{[}regexp@r{]}
4215 @itemx unload @r{[}regexp@r{]}
4216 The loading or unloading of a shared library. If @var{regexp} is
4217 given, then the catchpoint will stop only if the regular expression
4218 matches one of the affected libraries.
4222 @item tcatch @var{event}
4223 Set a catchpoint that is enabled only for one stop. The catchpoint is
4224 automatically deleted after the first time the event is caught.
4228 Use the @code{info break} command to list the current catchpoints.
4230 There are currently some limitations to C@t{++} exception handling
4231 (@code{catch throw} and @code{catch catch}) in @value{GDBN}:
4235 If you call a function interactively, @value{GDBN} normally returns
4236 control to you when the function has finished executing. If the call
4237 raises an exception, however, the call may bypass the mechanism that
4238 returns control to you and cause your program either to abort or to
4239 simply continue running until it hits a breakpoint, catches a signal
4240 that @value{GDBN} is listening for, or exits. This is the case even if
4241 you set a catchpoint for the exception; catchpoints on exceptions are
4242 disabled within interactive calls.
4245 You cannot raise an exception interactively.
4248 You cannot install an exception handler interactively.
4251 @cindex raise exceptions
4252 Sometimes @code{catch} is not the best way to debug exception handling:
4253 if you need to know exactly where an exception is raised, it is better to
4254 stop @emph{before} the exception handler is called, since that way you
4255 can see the stack before any unwinding takes place. If you set a
4256 breakpoint in an exception handler instead, it may not be easy to find
4257 out where the exception was raised.
4259 To stop just before an exception handler is called, you need some
4260 knowledge of the implementation. In the case of @sc{gnu} C@t{++}, exceptions are
4261 raised by calling a library function named @code{__raise_exception}
4262 which has the following ANSI C interface:
4265 /* @var{addr} is where the exception identifier is stored.
4266 @var{id} is the exception identifier. */
4267 void __raise_exception (void **addr, void *id);
4271 To make the debugger catch all exceptions before any stack
4272 unwinding takes place, set a breakpoint on @code{__raise_exception}
4273 (@pxref{Breakpoints, ,Breakpoints; Watchpoints; and Exceptions}).
4275 With a conditional breakpoint (@pxref{Conditions, ,Break Conditions})
4276 that depends on the value of @var{id}, you can stop your program when
4277 a specific exception is raised. You can use multiple conditional
4278 breakpoints to stop your program when any of a number of exceptions are
4283 @subsection Deleting Breakpoints
4285 @cindex clearing breakpoints, watchpoints, catchpoints
4286 @cindex deleting breakpoints, watchpoints, catchpoints
4287 It is often necessary to eliminate a breakpoint, watchpoint, or
4288 catchpoint once it has done its job and you no longer want your program
4289 to stop there. This is called @dfn{deleting} the breakpoint. A
4290 breakpoint that has been deleted no longer exists; it is forgotten.
4292 With the @code{clear} command you can delete breakpoints according to
4293 where they are in your program. With the @code{delete} command you can
4294 delete individual breakpoints, watchpoints, or catchpoints by specifying
4295 their breakpoint numbers.
4297 It is not necessary to delete a breakpoint to proceed past it. @value{GDBN}
4298 automatically ignores breakpoints on the first instruction to be executed
4299 when you continue execution without changing the execution address.
4304 Delete any breakpoints at the next instruction to be executed in the
4305 selected stack frame (@pxref{Selection, ,Selecting a Frame}). When
4306 the innermost frame is selected, this is a good way to delete a
4307 breakpoint where your program just stopped.
4309 @item clear @var{location}
4310 Delete any breakpoints set at the specified @var{location}.
4311 @xref{Specify Location}, for the various forms of @var{location}; the
4312 most useful ones are listed below:
4315 @item clear @var{function}
4316 @itemx clear @var{filename}:@var{function}
4317 Delete any breakpoints set at entry to the named @var{function}.
4319 @item clear @var{linenum}
4320 @itemx clear @var{filename}:@var{linenum}
4321 Delete any breakpoints set at or within the code of the specified
4322 @var{linenum} of the specified @var{filename}.
4325 @cindex delete breakpoints
4327 @kindex d @r{(@code{delete})}
4328 @item delete @r{[}breakpoints@r{]} @r{[}@var{range}@dots{}@r{]}
4329 Delete the breakpoints, watchpoints, or catchpoints of the breakpoint
4330 ranges specified as arguments. If no argument is specified, delete all
4331 breakpoints (@value{GDBN} asks confirmation, unless you have @code{set
4332 confirm off}). You can abbreviate this command as @code{d}.
4336 @subsection Disabling Breakpoints
4338 @cindex enable/disable a breakpoint
4339 Rather than deleting a breakpoint, watchpoint, or catchpoint, you might
4340 prefer to @dfn{disable} it. This makes the breakpoint inoperative as if
4341 it had been deleted, but remembers the information on the breakpoint so
4342 that you can @dfn{enable} it again later.
4344 You disable and enable breakpoints, watchpoints, and catchpoints with
4345 the @code{enable} and @code{disable} commands, optionally specifying
4346 one or more breakpoint numbers as arguments. Use @code{info break} to
4347 print a list of all breakpoints, watchpoints, and catchpoints if you
4348 do not know which numbers to use.
4350 Disabling and enabling a breakpoint that has multiple locations
4351 affects all of its locations.
4353 A breakpoint, watchpoint, or catchpoint can have any of several
4354 different states of enablement:
4358 Enabled. The breakpoint stops your program. A breakpoint set
4359 with the @code{break} command starts out in this state.
4361 Disabled. The breakpoint has no effect on your program.
4363 Enabled once. The breakpoint stops your program, but then becomes
4366 Enabled for a count. The breakpoint stops your program for the next
4367 N times, then becomes disabled.
4369 Enabled for deletion. The breakpoint stops your program, but
4370 immediately after it does so it is deleted permanently. A breakpoint
4371 set with the @code{tbreak} command starts out in this state.
4374 You can use the following commands to enable or disable breakpoints,
4375 watchpoints, and catchpoints:
4379 @kindex dis @r{(@code{disable})}
4380 @item disable @r{[}breakpoints@r{]} @r{[}@var{range}@dots{}@r{]}
4381 Disable the specified breakpoints---or all breakpoints, if none are
4382 listed. A disabled breakpoint has no effect but is not forgotten. All
4383 options such as ignore-counts, conditions and commands are remembered in
4384 case the breakpoint is enabled again later. You may abbreviate
4385 @code{disable} as @code{dis}.
4388 @item enable @r{[}breakpoints@r{]} @r{[}@var{range}@dots{}@r{]}
4389 Enable the specified breakpoints (or all defined breakpoints). They
4390 become effective once again in stopping your program.
4392 @item enable @r{[}breakpoints@r{]} once @var{range}@dots{}
4393 Enable the specified breakpoints temporarily. @value{GDBN} disables any
4394 of these breakpoints immediately after stopping your program.
4396 @item enable @r{[}breakpoints@r{]} count @var{count} @var{range}@dots{}
4397 Enable the specified breakpoints temporarily. @value{GDBN} records
4398 @var{count} with each of the specified breakpoints, and decrements a
4399 breakpoint's count when it is hit. When any count reaches 0,
4400 @value{GDBN} disables that breakpoint. If a breakpoint has an ignore
4401 count (@pxref{Conditions, ,Break Conditions}), that will be
4402 decremented to 0 before @var{count} is affected.
4404 @item enable @r{[}breakpoints@r{]} delete @var{range}@dots{}
4405 Enable the specified breakpoints to work once, then die. @value{GDBN}
4406 deletes any of these breakpoints as soon as your program stops there.
4407 Breakpoints set by the @code{tbreak} command start out in this state.
4410 @c FIXME: I think the following ``Except for [...] @code{tbreak}'' is
4411 @c confusing: tbreak is also initially enabled.
4412 Except for a breakpoint set with @code{tbreak} (@pxref{Set Breaks,
4413 ,Setting Breakpoints}), breakpoints that you set are initially enabled;
4414 subsequently, they become disabled or enabled only when you use one of
4415 the commands above. (The command @code{until} can set and delete a
4416 breakpoint of its own, but it does not change the state of your other
4417 breakpoints; see @ref{Continuing and Stepping, ,Continuing and
4421 @subsection Break Conditions
4422 @cindex conditional breakpoints
4423 @cindex breakpoint conditions
4425 @c FIXME what is scope of break condition expr? Context where wanted?
4426 @c in particular for a watchpoint?
4427 The simplest sort of breakpoint breaks every time your program reaches a
4428 specified place. You can also specify a @dfn{condition} for a
4429 breakpoint. A condition is just a Boolean expression in your
4430 programming language (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}). A breakpoint with
4431 a condition evaluates the expression each time your program reaches it,
4432 and your program stops only if the condition is @emph{true}.
4434 This is the converse of using assertions for program validation; in that
4435 situation, you want to stop when the assertion is violated---that is,
4436 when the condition is false. In C, if you want to test an assertion expressed
4437 by the condition @var{assert}, you should set the condition
4438 @samp{! @var{assert}} on the appropriate breakpoint.
4440 Conditions are also accepted for watchpoints; you may not need them,
4441 since a watchpoint is inspecting the value of an expression anyhow---but
4442 it might be simpler, say, to just set a watchpoint on a variable name,
4443 and specify a condition that tests whether the new value is an interesting
4446 Break conditions can have side effects, and may even call functions in
4447 your program. This can be useful, for example, to activate functions
4448 that log program progress, or to use your own print functions to
4449 format special data structures. The effects are completely predictable
4450 unless there is another enabled breakpoint at the same address. (In
4451 that case, @value{GDBN} might see the other breakpoint first and stop your
4452 program without checking the condition of this one.) Note that
4453 breakpoint commands are usually more convenient and flexible than break
4455 purpose of performing side effects when a breakpoint is reached
4456 (@pxref{Break Commands, ,Breakpoint Command Lists}).
4458 Breakpoint conditions can also be evaluated on the target's side if
4459 the target supports it. Instead of evaluating the conditions locally,
4460 @value{GDBN} encodes the expression into an agent expression
4461 (@pxref{Agent Expressions}) suitable for execution on the target,
4462 independently of @value{GDBN}. Global variables become raw memory
4463 locations, locals become stack accesses, and so forth.
4465 In this case, @value{GDBN} will only be notified of a breakpoint trigger
4466 when its condition evaluates to true. This mechanism may provide faster
4467 response times depending on the performance characteristics of the target
4468 since it does not need to keep @value{GDBN} informed about
4469 every breakpoint trigger, even those with false conditions.
4471 Break conditions can be specified when a breakpoint is set, by using
4472 @samp{if} in the arguments to the @code{break} command. @xref{Set
4473 Breaks, ,Setting Breakpoints}. They can also be changed at any time
4474 with the @code{condition} command.
4476 You can also use the @code{if} keyword with the @code{watch} command.
4477 The @code{catch} command does not recognize the @code{if} keyword;
4478 @code{condition} is the only way to impose a further condition on a
4483 @item condition @var{bnum} @var{expression}
4484 Specify @var{expression} as the break condition for breakpoint,
4485 watchpoint, or catchpoint number @var{bnum}. After you set a condition,
4486 breakpoint @var{bnum} stops your program only if the value of
4487 @var{expression} is true (nonzero, in C). When you use
4488 @code{condition}, @value{GDBN} checks @var{expression} immediately for
4489 syntactic correctness, and to determine whether symbols in it have
4490 referents in the context of your breakpoint. If @var{expression} uses
4491 symbols not referenced in the context of the breakpoint, @value{GDBN}
4492 prints an error message:
4495 No symbol "foo" in current context.
4500 not actually evaluate @var{expression} at the time the @code{condition}
4501 command (or a command that sets a breakpoint with a condition, like
4502 @code{break if @dots{}}) is given, however. @xref{Expressions, ,Expressions}.
4504 @item condition @var{bnum}
4505 Remove the condition from breakpoint number @var{bnum}. It becomes
4506 an ordinary unconditional breakpoint.
4509 @cindex ignore count (of breakpoint)
4510 A special case of a breakpoint condition is to stop only when the
4511 breakpoint has been reached a certain number of times. This is so
4512 useful that there is a special way to do it, using the @dfn{ignore
4513 count} of the breakpoint. Every breakpoint has an ignore count, which
4514 is an integer. Most of the time, the ignore count is zero, and
4515 therefore has no effect. But if your program reaches a breakpoint whose
4516 ignore count is positive, then instead of stopping, it just decrements
4517 the ignore count by one and continues. As a result, if the ignore count
4518 value is @var{n}, the breakpoint does not stop the next @var{n} times
4519 your program reaches it.
4523 @item ignore @var{bnum} @var{count}
4524 Set the ignore count of breakpoint number @var{bnum} to @var{count}.
4525 The next @var{count} times the breakpoint is reached, your program's
4526 execution does not stop; other than to decrement the ignore count, @value{GDBN}
4529 To make the breakpoint stop the next time it is reached, specify
4532 When you use @code{continue} to resume execution of your program from a
4533 breakpoint, you can specify an ignore count directly as an argument to
4534 @code{continue}, rather than using @code{ignore}. @xref{Continuing and
4535 Stepping,,Continuing and Stepping}.
4537 If a breakpoint has a positive ignore count and a condition, the
4538 condition is not checked. Once the ignore count reaches zero,
4539 @value{GDBN} resumes checking the condition.
4541 You could achieve the effect of the ignore count with a condition such
4542 as @w{@samp{$foo-- <= 0}} using a debugger convenience variable that
4543 is decremented each time. @xref{Convenience Vars, ,Convenience
4547 Ignore counts apply to breakpoints, watchpoints, and catchpoints.
4550 @node Break Commands
4551 @subsection Breakpoint Command Lists
4553 @cindex breakpoint commands
4554 You can give any breakpoint (or watchpoint or catchpoint) a series of
4555 commands to execute when your program stops due to that breakpoint. For
4556 example, you might want to print the values of certain expressions, or
4557 enable other breakpoints.
4561 @kindex end@r{ (breakpoint commands)}
4562 @item commands @r{[}@var{range}@dots{}@r{]}
4563 @itemx @dots{} @var{command-list} @dots{}
4565 Specify a list of commands for the given breakpoints. The commands
4566 themselves appear on the following lines. Type a line containing just
4567 @code{end} to terminate the commands.
4569 To remove all commands from a breakpoint, type @code{commands} and
4570 follow it immediately with @code{end}; that is, give no commands.
4572 With no argument, @code{commands} refers to the last breakpoint,
4573 watchpoint, or catchpoint set (not to the breakpoint most recently
4574 encountered). If the most recent breakpoints were set with a single
4575 command, then the @code{commands} will apply to all the breakpoints
4576 set by that command. This applies to breakpoints set by
4577 @code{rbreak}, and also applies when a single @code{break} command
4578 creates multiple breakpoints (@pxref{Ambiguous Expressions,,Ambiguous
4582 Pressing @key{RET} as a means of repeating the last @value{GDBN} command is
4583 disabled within a @var{command-list}.
4585 You can use breakpoint commands to start your program up again. Simply
4586 use the @code{continue} command, or @code{step}, or any other command
4587 that resumes execution.
4589 Any other commands in the command list, after a command that resumes
4590 execution, are ignored. This is because any time you resume execution
4591 (even with a simple @code{next} or @code{step}), you may encounter
4592 another breakpoint---which could have its own command list, leading to
4593 ambiguities about which list to execute.
4596 If the first command you specify in a command list is @code{silent}, the
4597 usual message about stopping at a breakpoint is not printed. This may
4598 be desirable for breakpoints that are to print a specific message and
4599 then continue. If none of the remaining commands print anything, you
4600 see no sign that the breakpoint was reached. @code{silent} is
4601 meaningful only at the beginning of a breakpoint command list.
4603 The commands @code{echo}, @code{output}, and @code{printf} allow you to
4604 print precisely controlled output, and are often useful in silent
4605 breakpoints. @xref{Output, ,Commands for Controlled Output}.
4607 For example, here is how you could use breakpoint commands to print the
4608 value of @code{x} at entry to @code{foo} whenever @code{x} is positive.
4614 printf "x is %d\n",x
4619 One application for breakpoint commands is to compensate for one bug so
4620 you can test for another. Put a breakpoint just after the erroneous line
4621 of code, give it a condition to detect the case in which something
4622 erroneous has been done, and give it commands to assign correct values
4623 to any variables that need them. End with the @code{continue} command
4624 so that your program does not stop, and start with the @code{silent}
4625 command so that no output is produced. Here is an example:
4636 @node Dynamic Printf
4637 @subsection Dynamic Printf
4639 @cindex dynamic printf
4641 The dynamic printf command @code{dprintf} combines a breakpoint with
4642 formatted printing of your program's data to give you the effect of
4643 inserting @code{printf} calls into your program on-the-fly, without
4644 having to recompile it.
4646 In its most basic form, the output goes to the GDB console. However,
4647 you can set the variable @code{dprintf-style} for alternate handling.
4648 For instance, you can ask to format the output by calling your
4649 program's @code{printf} function. This has the advantage that the
4650 characters go to the program's output device, so they can recorded in
4651 redirects to files and so forth.
4653 If you are doing remote debugging with a stub or agent, you can also
4654 ask to have the printf handled by the remote agent. In addition to
4655 ensuring that the output goes to the remote program's device along
4656 with any other output the program might produce, you can also ask that
4657 the dprintf remain active even after disconnecting from the remote
4658 target. Using the stub/agent is also more efficient, as it can do
4659 everything without needing to communicate with @value{GDBN}.
4663 @item dprintf @var{location},@var{template},@var{expression}[,@var{expression}@dots{}]
4664 Whenever execution reaches @var{location}, print the values of one or
4665 more @var{expressions} under the control of the string @var{template}.
4666 To print several values, separate them with commas.
4668 @item set dprintf-style @var{style}
4669 Set the dprintf output to be handled in one of several different
4670 styles enumerated below. A change of style affects all existing
4671 dynamic printfs immediately. (If you need individual control over the
4672 print commands, simply define normal breakpoints with
4673 explicitly-supplied command lists.)
4676 @kindex dprintf-style gdb
4677 Handle the output using the @value{GDBN} @code{printf} command.
4680 @kindex dprintf-style call
4681 Handle the output by calling a function in your program (normally
4685 @kindex dprintf-style agent
4686 Have the remote debugging agent (such as @code{gdbserver}) handle
4687 the output itself. This style is only available for agents that
4688 support running commands on the target.
4690 @item set dprintf-function @var{function}
4691 Set the function to call if the dprintf style is @code{call}. By
4692 default its value is @code{printf}. You may set it to any expression.
4693 that @value{GDBN} can evaluate to a function, as per the @code{call}
4696 @item set dprintf-channel @var{channel}
4697 Set a ``channel'' for dprintf. If set to a non-empty value,
4698 @value{GDBN} will evaluate it as an expression and pass the result as
4699 a first argument to the @code{dprintf-function}, in the manner of
4700 @code{fprintf} and similar functions. Otherwise, the dprintf format
4701 string will be the first argument, in the manner of @code{printf}.
4703 As an example, if you wanted @code{dprintf} output to go to a logfile
4704 that is a standard I/O stream assigned to the variable @code{mylog},
4705 you could do the following:
4708 (gdb) set dprintf-style call
4709 (gdb) set dprintf-function fprintf
4710 (gdb) set dprintf-channel mylog
4711 (gdb) dprintf 25,"at line 25, glob=%d\n",glob
4712 Dprintf 1 at 0x123456: file main.c, line 25.
4714 1 dprintf keep y 0x00123456 in main at main.c:25
4715 call (void) fprintf (mylog,"at line 25, glob=%d\n",glob)
4720 Note that the @code{info break} displays the dynamic printf commands
4721 as normal breakpoint commands; you can thus easily see the effect of
4722 the variable settings.
4724 @item set disconnected-dprintf on
4725 @itemx set disconnected-dprintf off
4726 @kindex set disconnected-dprintf
4727 Choose whether @code{dprintf} commands should continue to run if
4728 @value{GDBN} has disconnected from the target. This only applies
4729 if the @code{dprintf-style} is @code{agent}.
4731 @item show disconnected-dprintf off
4732 @kindex show disconnected-dprintf
4733 Show the current choice for disconnected @code{dprintf}.
4737 @value{GDBN} does not check the validity of function and channel,
4738 relying on you to supply values that are meaningful for the contexts
4739 in which they are being used. For instance, the function and channel
4740 may be the values of local variables, but if that is the case, then
4741 all enabled dynamic prints must be at locations within the scope of
4742 those locals. If evaluation fails, @value{GDBN} will report an error.
4744 @node Save Breakpoints
4745 @subsection How to save breakpoints to a file
4747 To save breakpoint definitions to a file use the @w{@code{save
4748 breakpoints}} command.
4751 @kindex save breakpoints
4752 @cindex save breakpoints to a file for future sessions
4753 @item save breakpoints [@var{filename}]
4754 This command saves all current breakpoint definitions together with
4755 their commands and ignore counts, into a file @file{@var{filename}}
4756 suitable for use in a later debugging session. This includes all
4757 types of breakpoints (breakpoints, watchpoints, catchpoints,
4758 tracepoints). To read the saved breakpoint definitions, use the
4759 @code{source} command (@pxref{Command Files}). Note that watchpoints
4760 with expressions involving local variables may fail to be recreated
4761 because it may not be possible to access the context where the
4762 watchpoint is valid anymore. Because the saved breakpoint definitions
4763 are simply a sequence of @value{GDBN} commands that recreate the
4764 breakpoints, you can edit the file in your favorite editing program,
4765 and remove the breakpoint definitions you're not interested in, or
4766 that can no longer be recreated.
4769 @node Static Probe Points
4770 @subsection Static Probe Points
4772 @cindex static probe point, SystemTap
4773 @value{GDBN} supports @dfn{SDT} probes in the code. @acronym{SDT} stands
4774 for Statically Defined Tracing, and the probes are designed to have a tiny
4775 runtime code and data footprint, and no dynamic relocations. They are
4776 usable from assembly, C and C@t{++} languages. See
4777 @uref{http://sourceware.org/systemtap/wiki/UserSpaceProbeImplementation}
4778 for a good reference on how the @acronym{SDT} probes are implemented.
4780 Currently, @code{SystemTap} (@uref{http://sourceware.org/systemtap/})
4781 @acronym{SDT} probes are supported on ELF-compatible systems. See
4782 @uref{http://sourceware.org/systemtap/wiki/AddingUserSpaceProbingToApps}
4783 for more information on how to add @code{SystemTap} @acronym{SDT} probes
4784 in your applications.
4786 @cindex semaphores on static probe points
4787 Some probes have an associated semaphore variable; for instance, this
4788 happens automatically if you defined your probe using a DTrace-style
4789 @file{.d} file. If your probe has a semaphore, @value{GDBN} will
4790 automatically enable it when you specify a breakpoint using the
4791 @samp{-probe-stap} notation. But, if you put a breakpoint at a probe's
4792 location by some other method (e.g., @code{break file:line}), then
4793 @value{GDBN} will not automatically set the semaphore.
4795 You can examine the available static static probes using @code{info
4796 probes}, with optional arguments:
4800 @item info probes stap @r{[}@var{provider} @r{[}@var{name} @r{[}@var{objfile}@r{]}@r{]}@r{]}
4801 If given, @var{provider} is a regular expression used to match against provider
4802 names when selecting which probes to list. If omitted, probes by all
4803 probes from all providers are listed.
4805 If given, @var{name} is a regular expression to match against probe names
4806 when selecting which probes to list. If omitted, probe names are not
4807 considered when deciding whether to display them.
4809 If given, @var{objfile} is a regular expression used to select which
4810 object files (executable or shared libraries) to examine. If not
4811 given, all object files are considered.
4813 @item info probes all
4814 List the available static probes, from all types.
4817 @vindex $_probe_arg@r{, convenience variable}
4818 A probe may specify up to twelve arguments. These are available at the
4819 point at which the probe is defined---that is, when the current PC is
4820 at the probe's location. The arguments are available using the
4821 convenience variables (@pxref{Convenience Vars})
4822 @code{$_probe_arg0}@dots{}@code{$_probe_arg11}. Each probe argument is
4823 an integer of the appropriate size; types are not preserved. The
4824 convenience variable @code{$_probe_argc} holds the number of arguments
4825 at the current probe point.
4827 These variables are always available, but attempts to access them at
4828 any location other than a probe point will cause @value{GDBN} to give
4832 @c @ifclear BARETARGET
4833 @node Error in Breakpoints
4834 @subsection ``Cannot insert breakpoints''
4836 If you request too many active hardware-assisted breakpoints and
4837 watchpoints, you will see this error message:
4839 @c FIXME: the precise wording of this message may change; the relevant
4840 @c source change is not committed yet (Sep 3, 1999).
4842 Stopped; cannot insert breakpoints.
4843 You may have requested too many hardware breakpoints and watchpoints.
4847 This message is printed when you attempt to resume the program, since
4848 only then @value{GDBN} knows exactly how many hardware breakpoints and
4849 watchpoints it needs to insert.
4851 When this message is printed, you need to disable or remove some of the
4852 hardware-assisted breakpoints and watchpoints, and then continue.
4854 @node Breakpoint-related Warnings
4855 @subsection ``Breakpoint address adjusted...''
4856 @cindex breakpoint address adjusted
4858 Some processor architectures place constraints on the addresses at
4859 which breakpoints may be placed. For architectures thus constrained,
4860 @value{GDBN} will attempt to adjust the breakpoint's address to comply
4861 with the constraints dictated by the architecture.
4863 One example of such an architecture is the Fujitsu FR-V. The FR-V is
4864 a VLIW architecture in which a number of RISC-like instructions may be
4865 bundled together for parallel execution. The FR-V architecture
4866 constrains the location of a breakpoint instruction within such a
4867 bundle to the instruction with the lowest address. @value{GDBN}
4868 honors this constraint by adjusting a breakpoint's address to the
4869 first in the bundle.
4871 It is not uncommon for optimized code to have bundles which contain
4872 instructions from different source statements, thus it may happen that
4873 a breakpoint's address will be adjusted from one source statement to
4874 another. Since this adjustment may significantly alter @value{GDBN}'s
4875 breakpoint related behavior from what the user expects, a warning is
4876 printed when the breakpoint is first set and also when the breakpoint
4879 A warning like the one below is printed when setting a breakpoint
4880 that's been subject to address adjustment:
4883 warning: Breakpoint address adjusted from 0x00010414 to 0x00010410.
4886 Such warnings are printed both for user settable and @value{GDBN}'s
4887 internal breakpoints. If you see one of these warnings, you should
4888 verify that a breakpoint set at the adjusted address will have the
4889 desired affect. If not, the breakpoint in question may be removed and
4890 other breakpoints may be set which will have the desired behavior.
4891 E.g., it may be sufficient to place the breakpoint at a later
4892 instruction. A conditional breakpoint may also be useful in some
4893 cases to prevent the breakpoint from triggering too often.
4895 @value{GDBN} will also issue a warning when stopping at one of these
4896 adjusted breakpoints:
4899 warning: Breakpoint 1 address previously adjusted from 0x00010414
4903 When this warning is encountered, it may be too late to take remedial
4904 action except in cases where the breakpoint is hit earlier or more
4905 frequently than expected.
4907 @node Continuing and Stepping
4908 @section Continuing and Stepping
4912 @cindex resuming execution
4913 @dfn{Continuing} means resuming program execution until your program
4914 completes normally. In contrast, @dfn{stepping} means executing just
4915 one more ``step'' of your program, where ``step'' may mean either one
4916 line of source code, or one machine instruction (depending on what
4917 particular command you use). Either when continuing or when stepping,
4918 your program may stop even sooner, due to a breakpoint or a signal. (If
4919 it stops due to a signal, you may want to use @code{handle}, or use
4920 @samp{signal 0} to resume execution. @xref{Signals, ,Signals}.)
4924 @kindex c @r{(@code{continue})}
4925 @kindex fg @r{(resume foreground execution)}
4926 @item continue @r{[}@var{ignore-count}@r{]}
4927 @itemx c @r{[}@var{ignore-count}@r{]}
4928 @itemx fg @r{[}@var{ignore-count}@r{]}
4929 Resume program execution, at the address where your program last stopped;
4930 any breakpoints set at that address are bypassed. The optional argument
4931 @var{ignore-count} allows you to specify a further number of times to
4932 ignore a breakpoint at this location; its effect is like that of
4933 @code{ignore} (@pxref{Conditions, ,Break Conditions}).
4935 The argument @var{ignore-count} is meaningful only when your program
4936 stopped due to a breakpoint. At other times, the argument to
4937 @code{continue} is ignored.
4939 The synonyms @code{c} and @code{fg} (for @dfn{foreground}, as the
4940 debugged program is deemed to be the foreground program) are provided
4941 purely for convenience, and have exactly the same behavior as
4945 To resume execution at a different place, you can use @code{return}
4946 (@pxref{Returning, ,Returning from a Function}) to go back to the
4947 calling function; or @code{jump} (@pxref{Jumping, ,Continuing at a
4948 Different Address}) to go to an arbitrary location in your program.
4950 A typical technique for using stepping is to set a breakpoint
4951 (@pxref{Breakpoints, ,Breakpoints; Watchpoints; and Catchpoints}) at the
4952 beginning of the function or the section of your program where a problem
4953 is believed to lie, run your program until it stops at that breakpoint,
4954 and then step through the suspect area, examining the variables that are
4955 interesting, until you see the problem happen.
4959 @kindex s @r{(@code{step})}
4961 Continue running your program until control reaches a different source
4962 line, then stop it and return control to @value{GDBN}. This command is
4963 abbreviated @code{s}.
4966 @c "without debugging information" is imprecise; actually "without line
4967 @c numbers in the debugging information". (gcc -g1 has debugging info but
4968 @c not line numbers). But it seems complex to try to make that
4969 @c distinction here.
4970 @emph{Warning:} If you use the @code{step} command while control is
4971 within a function that was compiled without debugging information,
4972 execution proceeds until control reaches a function that does have
4973 debugging information. Likewise, it will not step into a function which
4974 is compiled without debugging information. To step through functions
4975 without debugging information, use the @code{stepi} command, described
4979 The @code{step} command only stops at the first instruction of a source
4980 line. This prevents the multiple stops that could otherwise occur in
4981 @code{switch} statements, @code{for} loops, etc. @code{step} continues
4982 to stop if a function that has debugging information is called within
4983 the line. In other words, @code{step} @emph{steps inside} any functions
4984 called within the line.
4986 Also, the @code{step} command only enters a function if there is line
4987 number information for the function. Otherwise it acts like the
4988 @code{next} command. This avoids problems when using @code{cc -gl}
4989 on @acronym{MIPS} machines. Previously, @code{step} entered subroutines if there
4990 was any debugging information about the routine.
4992 @item step @var{count}
4993 Continue running as in @code{step}, but do so @var{count} times. If a
4994 breakpoint is reached, or a signal not related to stepping occurs before
4995 @var{count} steps, stepping stops right away.
4998 @kindex n @r{(@code{next})}
4999 @item next @r{[}@var{count}@r{]}
5000 Continue to the next source line in the current (innermost) stack frame.
5001 This is similar to @code{step}, but function calls that appear within
5002 the line of code are executed without stopping. Execution stops when
5003 control reaches a different line of code at the original stack level
5004 that was executing when you gave the @code{next} command. This command
5005 is abbreviated @code{n}.
5007 An argument @var{count} is a repeat count, as for @code{step}.
5010 @c FIX ME!! Do we delete this, or is there a way it fits in with
5011 @c the following paragraph? --- Vctoria
5013 @c @code{next} within a function that lacks debugging information acts like
5014 @c @code{step}, but any function calls appearing within the code of the
5015 @c function are executed without stopping.
5017 The @code{next} command only stops at the first instruction of a
5018 source line. This prevents multiple stops that could otherwise occur in
5019 @code{switch} statements, @code{for} loops, etc.
5021 @kindex set step-mode
5023 @cindex functions without line info, and stepping
5024 @cindex stepping into functions with no line info
5025 @itemx set step-mode on
5026 The @code{set step-mode on} command causes the @code{step} command to
5027 stop at the first instruction of a function which contains no debug line
5028 information rather than stepping over it.
5030 This is useful in cases where you may be interested in inspecting the
5031 machine instructions of a function which has no symbolic info and do not
5032 want @value{GDBN} to automatically skip over this function.
5034 @item set step-mode off
5035 Causes the @code{step} command to step over any functions which contains no
5036 debug information. This is the default.
5038 @item show step-mode
5039 Show whether @value{GDBN} will stop in or step over functions without
5040 source line debug information.
5043 @kindex fin @r{(@code{finish})}
5045 Continue running until just after function in the selected stack frame
5046 returns. Print the returned value (if any). This command can be
5047 abbreviated as @code{fin}.
5049 Contrast this with the @code{return} command (@pxref{Returning,
5050 ,Returning from a Function}).
5053 @kindex u @r{(@code{until})}
5054 @cindex run until specified location
5057 Continue running until a source line past the current line, in the
5058 current stack frame, is reached. This command is used to avoid single
5059 stepping through a loop more than once. It is like the @code{next}
5060 command, except that when @code{until} encounters a jump, it
5061 automatically continues execution until the program counter is greater
5062 than the address of the jump.
5064 This means that when you reach the end of a loop after single stepping
5065 though it, @code{until} makes your program continue execution until it
5066 exits the loop. In contrast, a @code{next} command at the end of a loop
5067 simply steps back to the beginning of the loop, which forces you to step
5068 through the next iteration.
5070 @code{until} always stops your program if it attempts to exit the current
5073 @code{until} may produce somewhat counterintuitive results if the order
5074 of machine code does not match the order of the source lines. For
5075 example, in the following excerpt from a debugging session, the @code{f}
5076 (@code{frame}) command shows that execution is stopped at line
5077 @code{206}; yet when we use @code{until}, we get to line @code{195}:
5081 #0 main (argc=4, argv=0xf7fffae8) at m4.c:206
5083 (@value{GDBP}) until
5084 195 for ( ; argc > 0; NEXTARG) @{
5087 This happened because, for execution efficiency, the compiler had
5088 generated code for the loop closure test at the end, rather than the
5089 start, of the loop---even though the test in a C @code{for}-loop is
5090 written before the body of the loop. The @code{until} command appeared
5091 to step back to the beginning of the loop when it advanced to this
5092 expression; however, it has not really gone to an earlier
5093 statement---not in terms of the actual machine code.
5095 @code{until} with no argument works by means of single
5096 instruction stepping, and hence is slower than @code{until} with an
5099 @item until @var{location}
5100 @itemx u @var{location}
5101 Continue running your program until either the specified location is
5102 reached, or the current stack frame returns. @var{location} is any of
5103 the forms described in @ref{Specify Location}.
5104 This form of the command uses temporary breakpoints, and
5105 hence is quicker than @code{until} without an argument. The specified
5106 location is actually reached only if it is in the current frame. This
5107 implies that @code{until} can be used to skip over recursive function
5108 invocations. For instance in the code below, if the current location is
5109 line @code{96}, issuing @code{until 99} will execute the program up to
5110 line @code{99} in the same invocation of factorial, i.e., after the inner
5111 invocations have returned.
5114 94 int factorial (int value)
5116 96 if (value > 1) @{
5117 97 value *= factorial (value - 1);
5124 @kindex advance @var{location}
5125 @item advance @var{location}
5126 Continue running the program up to the given @var{location}. An argument is
5127 required, which should be of one of the forms described in
5128 @ref{Specify Location}.
5129 Execution will also stop upon exit from the current stack
5130 frame. This command is similar to @code{until}, but @code{advance} will
5131 not skip over recursive function calls, and the target location doesn't
5132 have to be in the same frame as the current one.
5136 @kindex si @r{(@code{stepi})}
5138 @itemx stepi @var{arg}
5140 Execute one machine instruction, then stop and return to the debugger.
5142 It is often useful to do @samp{display/i $pc} when stepping by machine
5143 instructions. This makes @value{GDBN} automatically display the next
5144 instruction to be executed, each time your program stops. @xref{Auto
5145 Display,, Automatic Display}.
5147 An argument is a repeat count, as in @code{step}.
5151 @kindex ni @r{(@code{nexti})}
5153 @itemx nexti @var{arg}
5155 Execute one machine instruction, but if it is a function call,
5156 proceed until the function returns.
5158 An argument is a repeat count, as in @code{next}.
5161 @node Skipping Over Functions and Files
5162 @section Skipping Over Functions and Files
5163 @cindex skipping over functions and files
5165 The program you are debugging may contain some functions which are
5166 uninteresting to debug. The @code{skip} comand lets you tell @value{GDBN} to
5167 skip a function or all functions in a file when stepping.
5169 For example, consider the following C function:
5180 Suppose you wish to step into the functions @code{foo} and @code{bar}, but you
5181 are not interested in stepping through @code{boring}. If you run @code{step}
5182 at line 103, you'll enter @code{boring()}, but if you run @code{next}, you'll
5183 step over both @code{foo} and @code{boring}!
5185 One solution is to @code{step} into @code{boring} and use the @code{finish}
5186 command to immediately exit it. But this can become tedious if @code{boring}
5187 is called from many places.
5189 A more flexible solution is to execute @kbd{skip boring}. This instructs
5190 @value{GDBN} never to step into @code{boring}. Now when you execute
5191 @code{step} at line 103, you'll step over @code{boring} and directly into
5194 You can also instruct @value{GDBN} to skip all functions in a file, with, for
5195 example, @code{skip file boring.c}.
5198 @kindex skip function
5199 @item skip @r{[}@var{linespec}@r{]}
5200 @itemx skip function @r{[}@var{linespec}@r{]}
5201 After running this command, the function named by @var{linespec} or the
5202 function containing the line named by @var{linespec} will be skipped over when
5203 stepping. @xref{Specify Location}.
5205 If you do not specify @var{linespec}, the function you're currently debugging
5208 (If you have a function called @code{file} that you want to skip, use
5209 @kbd{skip function file}.)
5212 @item skip file @r{[}@var{filename}@r{]}
5213 After running this command, any function whose source lives in @var{filename}
5214 will be skipped over when stepping.
5216 If you do not specify @var{filename}, functions whose source lives in the file
5217 you're currently debugging will be skipped.
5220 Skips can be listed, deleted, disabled, and enabled, much like breakpoints.
5221 These are the commands for managing your list of skips:
5225 @item info skip @r{[}@var{range}@r{]}
5226 Print details about the specified skip(s). If @var{range} is not specified,
5227 print a table with details about all functions and files marked for skipping.
5228 @code{info skip} prints the following information about each skip:
5232 A number identifying this skip.
5234 The type of this skip, either @samp{function} or @samp{file}.
5235 @item Enabled or Disabled
5236 Enabled skips are marked with @samp{y}. Disabled skips are marked with @samp{n}.
5238 For function skips, this column indicates the address in memory of the function
5239 being skipped. If you've set a function skip on a function which has not yet
5240 been loaded, this field will contain @samp{<PENDING>}. Once a shared library
5241 which has the function is loaded, @code{info skip} will show the function's
5244 For file skips, this field contains the filename being skipped. For functions
5245 skips, this field contains the function name and its line number in the file
5246 where it is defined.
5250 @item skip delete @r{[}@var{range}@r{]}
5251 Delete the specified skip(s). If @var{range} is not specified, delete all
5255 @item skip enable @r{[}@var{range}@r{]}
5256 Enable the specified skip(s). If @var{range} is not specified, enable all
5259 @kindex skip disable
5260 @item skip disable @r{[}@var{range}@r{]}
5261 Disable the specified skip(s). If @var{range} is not specified, disable all
5270 A signal is an asynchronous event that can happen in a program. The
5271 operating system defines the possible kinds of signals, and gives each
5272 kind a name and a number. For example, in Unix @code{SIGINT} is the
5273 signal a program gets when you type an interrupt character (often @kbd{Ctrl-c});
5274 @code{SIGSEGV} is the signal a program gets from referencing a place in
5275 memory far away from all the areas in use; @code{SIGALRM} occurs when
5276 the alarm clock timer goes off (which happens only if your program has
5277 requested an alarm).
5279 @cindex fatal signals
5280 Some signals, including @code{SIGALRM}, are a normal part of the
5281 functioning of your program. Others, such as @code{SIGSEGV}, indicate
5282 errors; these signals are @dfn{fatal} (they kill your program immediately) if the
5283 program has not specified in advance some other way to handle the signal.
5284 @code{SIGINT} does not indicate an error in your program, but it is normally
5285 fatal so it can carry out the purpose of the interrupt: to kill the program.
5287 @value{GDBN} has the ability to detect any occurrence of a signal in your
5288 program. You can tell @value{GDBN} in advance what to do for each kind of
5291 @cindex handling signals
5292 Normally, @value{GDBN} is set up to let the non-erroneous signals like
5293 @code{SIGALRM} be silently passed to your program
5294 (so as not to interfere with their role in the program's functioning)
5295 but to stop your program immediately whenever an error signal happens.
5296 You can change these settings with the @code{handle} command.
5299 @kindex info signals
5303 Print a table of all the kinds of signals and how @value{GDBN} has been told to
5304 handle each one. You can use this to see the signal numbers of all
5305 the defined types of signals.
5307 @item info signals @var{sig}
5308 Similar, but print information only about the specified signal number.
5310 @code{info handle} is an alias for @code{info signals}.
5313 @item handle @var{signal} @r{[}@var{keywords}@dots{}@r{]}
5314 Change the way @value{GDBN} handles signal @var{signal}. @var{signal}
5315 can be the number of a signal or its name (with or without the
5316 @samp{SIG} at the beginning); a list of signal numbers of the form
5317 @samp{@var{low}-@var{high}}; or the word @samp{all}, meaning all the
5318 known signals. Optional arguments @var{keywords}, described below,
5319 say what change to make.
5323 The keywords allowed by the @code{handle} command can be abbreviated.
5324 Their full names are:
5328 @value{GDBN} should not stop your program when this signal happens. It may
5329 still print a message telling you that the signal has come in.
5332 @value{GDBN} should stop your program when this signal happens. This implies
5333 the @code{print} keyword as well.
5336 @value{GDBN} should print a message when this signal happens.
5339 @value{GDBN} should not mention the occurrence of the signal at all. This
5340 implies the @code{nostop} keyword as well.
5344 @value{GDBN} should allow your program to see this signal; your program
5345 can handle the signal, or else it may terminate if the signal is fatal
5346 and not handled. @code{pass} and @code{noignore} are synonyms.
5350 @value{GDBN} should not allow your program to see this signal.
5351 @code{nopass} and @code{ignore} are synonyms.
5355 When a signal stops your program, the signal is not visible to the
5357 continue. Your program sees the signal then, if @code{pass} is in
5358 effect for the signal in question @emph{at that time}. In other words,
5359 after @value{GDBN} reports a signal, you can use the @code{handle}
5360 command with @code{pass} or @code{nopass} to control whether your
5361 program sees that signal when you continue.
5363 The default is set to @code{nostop}, @code{noprint}, @code{pass} for
5364 non-erroneous signals such as @code{SIGALRM}, @code{SIGWINCH} and
5365 @code{SIGCHLD}, and to @code{stop}, @code{print}, @code{pass} for the
5368 You can also use the @code{signal} command to prevent your program from
5369 seeing a signal, or cause it to see a signal it normally would not see,
5370 or to give it any signal at any time. For example, if your program stopped
5371 due to some sort of memory reference error, you might store correct
5372 values into the erroneous variables and continue, hoping to see more
5373 execution; but your program would probably terminate immediately as
5374 a result of the fatal signal once it saw the signal. To prevent this,
5375 you can continue with @samp{signal 0}. @xref{Signaling, ,Giving your
5378 @cindex extra signal information
5379 @anchor{extra signal information}
5381 On some targets, @value{GDBN} can inspect extra signal information
5382 associated with the intercepted signal, before it is actually
5383 delivered to the program being debugged. This information is exported
5384 by the convenience variable @code{$_siginfo}, and consists of data
5385 that is passed by the kernel to the signal handler at the time of the
5386 receipt of a signal. The data type of the information itself is
5387 target dependent. You can see the data type using the @code{ptype
5388 $_siginfo} command. On Unix systems, it typically corresponds to the
5389 standard @code{siginfo_t} type, as defined in the @file{signal.h}
5392 Here's an example, on a @sc{gnu}/Linux system, printing the stray
5393 referenced address that raised a segmentation fault.
5397 (@value{GDBP}) continue
5398 Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
5399 0x0000000000400766 in main ()
5401 (@value{GDBP}) ptype $_siginfo
5408 struct @{...@} _kill;
5409 struct @{...@} _timer;
5411 struct @{...@} _sigchld;
5412 struct @{...@} _sigfault;
5413 struct @{...@} _sigpoll;
5416 (@value{GDBP}) ptype $_siginfo._sifields._sigfault
5420 (@value{GDBP}) p $_siginfo._sifields._sigfault.si_addr
5421 $1 = (void *) 0x7ffff7ff7000
5425 Depending on target support, @code{$_siginfo} may also be writable.
5428 @section Stopping and Starting Multi-thread Programs
5430 @cindex stopped threads
5431 @cindex threads, stopped
5433 @cindex continuing threads
5434 @cindex threads, continuing
5436 @value{GDBN} supports debugging programs with multiple threads
5437 (@pxref{Threads,, Debugging Programs with Multiple Threads}). There
5438 are two modes of controlling execution of your program within the
5439 debugger. In the default mode, referred to as @dfn{all-stop mode},
5440 when any thread in your program stops (for example, at a breakpoint
5441 or while being stepped), all other threads in the program are also stopped by
5442 @value{GDBN}. On some targets, @value{GDBN} also supports
5443 @dfn{non-stop mode}, in which other threads can continue to run freely while
5444 you examine the stopped thread in the debugger.
5447 * All-Stop Mode:: All threads stop when GDB takes control
5448 * Non-Stop Mode:: Other threads continue to execute
5449 * Background Execution:: Running your program asynchronously
5450 * Thread-Specific Breakpoints:: Controlling breakpoints
5451 * Interrupted System Calls:: GDB may interfere with system calls
5452 * Observer Mode:: GDB does not alter program behavior
5456 @subsection All-Stop Mode
5458 @cindex all-stop mode
5460 In all-stop mode, whenever your program stops under @value{GDBN} for any reason,
5461 @emph{all} threads of execution stop, not just the current thread. This
5462 allows you to examine the overall state of the program, including
5463 switching between threads, without worrying that things may change
5466 Conversely, whenever you restart the program, @emph{all} threads start
5467 executing. @emph{This is true even when single-stepping} with commands
5468 like @code{step} or @code{next}.
5470 In particular, @value{GDBN} cannot single-step all threads in lockstep.
5471 Since thread scheduling is up to your debugging target's operating
5472 system (not controlled by @value{GDBN}), other threads may
5473 execute more than one statement while the current thread completes a
5474 single step. Moreover, in general other threads stop in the middle of a
5475 statement, rather than at a clean statement boundary, when the program
5478 You might even find your program stopped in another thread after
5479 continuing or even single-stepping. This happens whenever some other
5480 thread runs into a breakpoint, a signal, or an exception before the
5481 first thread completes whatever you requested.
5483 @cindex automatic thread selection
5484 @cindex switching threads automatically
5485 @cindex threads, automatic switching
5486 Whenever @value{GDBN} stops your program, due to a breakpoint or a
5487 signal, it automatically selects the thread where that breakpoint or
5488 signal happened. @value{GDBN} alerts you to the context switch with a
5489 message such as @samp{[Switching to Thread @var{n}]} to identify the
5492 On some OSes, you can modify @value{GDBN}'s default behavior by
5493 locking the OS scheduler to allow only a single thread to run.
5496 @item set scheduler-locking @var{mode}
5497 @cindex scheduler locking mode
5498 @cindex lock scheduler
5499 Set the scheduler locking mode. If it is @code{off}, then there is no
5500 locking and any thread may run at any time. If @code{on}, then only the
5501 current thread may run when the inferior is resumed. The @code{step}
5502 mode optimizes for single-stepping; it prevents other threads
5503 from preempting the current thread while you are stepping, so that
5504 the focus of debugging does not change unexpectedly.
5505 Other threads only rarely (or never) get a chance to run
5506 when you step. They are more likely to run when you @samp{next} over a
5507 function call, and they are completely free to run when you use commands
5508 like @samp{continue}, @samp{until}, or @samp{finish}. However, unless another
5509 thread hits a breakpoint during its timeslice, @value{GDBN} does not change
5510 the current thread away from the thread that you are debugging.
5512 @item show scheduler-locking
5513 Display the current scheduler locking mode.
5516 @cindex resume threads of multiple processes simultaneously
5517 By default, when you issue one of the execution commands such as
5518 @code{continue}, @code{next} or @code{step}, @value{GDBN} allows only
5519 threads of the current inferior to run. For example, if @value{GDBN}
5520 is attached to two inferiors, each with two threads, the
5521 @code{continue} command resumes only the two threads of the current
5522 inferior. This is useful, for example, when you debug a program that
5523 forks and you want to hold the parent stopped (so that, for instance,
5524 it doesn't run to exit), while you debug the child. In other
5525 situations, you may not be interested in inspecting the current state
5526 of any of the processes @value{GDBN} is attached to, and you may want
5527 to resume them all until some breakpoint is hit. In the latter case,
5528 you can instruct @value{GDBN} to allow all threads of all the
5529 inferiors to run with the @w{@code{set schedule-multiple}} command.
5532 @kindex set schedule-multiple
5533 @item set schedule-multiple
5534 Set the mode for allowing threads of multiple processes to be resumed
5535 when an execution command is issued. When @code{on}, all threads of
5536 all processes are allowed to run. When @code{off}, only the threads
5537 of the current process are resumed. The default is @code{off}. The
5538 @code{scheduler-locking} mode takes precedence when set to @code{on},
5539 or while you are stepping and set to @code{step}.
5541 @item show schedule-multiple
5542 Display the current mode for resuming the execution of threads of
5547 @subsection Non-Stop Mode
5549 @cindex non-stop mode
5551 @c This section is really only a place-holder, and needs to be expanded
5552 @c with more details.
5554 For some multi-threaded targets, @value{GDBN} supports an optional
5555 mode of operation in which you can examine stopped program threads in
5556 the debugger while other threads continue to execute freely. This
5557 minimizes intrusion when debugging live systems, such as programs
5558 where some threads have real-time constraints or must continue to
5559 respond to external events. This is referred to as @dfn{non-stop} mode.
5561 In non-stop mode, when a thread stops to report a debugging event,
5562 @emph{only} that thread is stopped; @value{GDBN} does not stop other
5563 threads as well, in contrast to the all-stop mode behavior. Additionally,
5564 execution commands such as @code{continue} and @code{step} apply by default
5565 only to the current thread in non-stop mode, rather than all threads as
5566 in all-stop mode. This allows you to control threads explicitly in
5567 ways that are not possible in all-stop mode --- for example, stepping
5568 one thread while allowing others to run freely, stepping
5569 one thread while holding all others stopped, or stepping several threads
5570 independently and simultaneously.
5572 To enter non-stop mode, use this sequence of commands before you run
5573 or attach to your program:
5576 # Enable the async interface.
5579 # If using the CLI, pagination breaks non-stop.
5582 # Finally, turn it on!
5586 You can use these commands to manipulate the non-stop mode setting:
5589 @kindex set non-stop
5590 @item set non-stop on
5591 Enable selection of non-stop mode.
5592 @item set non-stop off
5593 Disable selection of non-stop mode.
5594 @kindex show non-stop
5596 Show the current non-stop enablement setting.
5599 Note these commands only reflect whether non-stop mode is enabled,
5600 not whether the currently-executing program is being run in non-stop mode.
5601 In particular, the @code{set non-stop} preference is only consulted when
5602 @value{GDBN} starts or connects to the target program, and it is generally
5603 not possible to switch modes once debugging has started. Furthermore,
5604 since not all targets support non-stop mode, even when you have enabled
5605 non-stop mode, @value{GDBN} may still fall back to all-stop operation by
5608 In non-stop mode, all execution commands apply only to the current thread
5609 by default. That is, @code{continue} only continues one thread.
5610 To continue all threads, issue @code{continue -a} or @code{c -a}.
5612 You can use @value{GDBN}'s background execution commands
5613 (@pxref{Background Execution}) to run some threads in the background
5614 while you continue to examine or step others from @value{GDBN}.
5615 The MI execution commands (@pxref{GDB/MI Program Execution}) are
5616 always executed asynchronously in non-stop mode.
5618 Suspending execution is done with the @code{interrupt} command when
5619 running in the background, or @kbd{Ctrl-c} during foreground execution.
5620 In all-stop mode, this stops the whole process;
5621 but in non-stop mode the interrupt applies only to the current thread.
5622 To stop the whole program, use @code{interrupt -a}.
5624 Other execution commands do not currently support the @code{-a} option.
5626 In non-stop mode, when a thread stops, @value{GDBN} doesn't automatically make
5627 that thread current, as it does in all-stop mode. This is because the
5628 thread stop notifications are asynchronous with respect to @value{GDBN}'s
5629 command interpreter, and it would be confusing if @value{GDBN} unexpectedly
5630 changed to a different thread just as you entered a command to operate on the
5631 previously current thread.
5633 @node Background Execution
5634 @subsection Background Execution
5636 @cindex foreground execution
5637 @cindex background execution
5638 @cindex asynchronous execution
5639 @cindex execution, foreground, background and asynchronous
5641 @value{GDBN}'s execution commands have two variants: the normal
5642 foreground (synchronous) behavior, and a background
5643 (asynchronous) behavior. In foreground execution, @value{GDBN} waits for
5644 the program to report that some thread has stopped before prompting for
5645 another command. In background execution, @value{GDBN} immediately gives
5646 a command prompt so that you can issue other commands while your program runs.
5648 You need to explicitly enable asynchronous mode before you can use
5649 background execution commands. You can use these commands to
5650 manipulate the asynchronous mode setting:
5653 @kindex set target-async
5654 @item set target-async on
5655 Enable asynchronous mode.
5656 @item set target-async off
5657 Disable asynchronous mode.
5658 @kindex show target-async
5659 @item show target-async
5660 Show the current target-async setting.
5663 If the target doesn't support async mode, @value{GDBN} issues an error
5664 message if you attempt to use the background execution commands.
5666 To specify background execution, add a @code{&} to the command. For example,
5667 the background form of the @code{continue} command is @code{continue&}, or
5668 just @code{c&}. The execution commands that accept background execution
5674 @xref{Starting, , Starting your Program}.
5678 @xref{Attach, , Debugging an Already-running Process}.
5682 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, step}.
5686 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, stepi}.
5690 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, next}.
5694 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, nexti}.
5698 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, continue}.
5702 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, finish}.
5706 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, until}.
5710 Background execution is especially useful in conjunction with non-stop
5711 mode for debugging programs with multiple threads; see @ref{Non-Stop Mode}.
5712 However, you can also use these commands in the normal all-stop mode with
5713 the restriction that you cannot issue another execution command until the
5714 previous one finishes. Examples of commands that are valid in all-stop
5715 mode while the program is running include @code{help} and @code{info break}.
5717 You can interrupt your program while it is running in the background by
5718 using the @code{interrupt} command.
5725 Suspend execution of the running program. In all-stop mode,
5726 @code{interrupt} stops the whole process, but in non-stop mode, it stops
5727 only the current thread. To stop the whole program in non-stop mode,
5728 use @code{interrupt -a}.
5731 @node Thread-Specific Breakpoints
5732 @subsection Thread-Specific Breakpoints
5734 When your program has multiple threads (@pxref{Threads,, Debugging
5735 Programs with Multiple Threads}), you can choose whether to set
5736 breakpoints on all threads, or on a particular thread.
5739 @cindex breakpoints and threads
5740 @cindex thread breakpoints
5741 @kindex break @dots{} thread @var{threadno}
5742 @item break @var{linespec} thread @var{threadno}
5743 @itemx break @var{linespec} thread @var{threadno} if @dots{}
5744 @var{linespec} specifies source lines; there are several ways of
5745 writing them (@pxref{Specify Location}), but the effect is always to
5746 specify some source line.
5748 Use the qualifier @samp{thread @var{threadno}} with a breakpoint command
5749 to specify that you only want @value{GDBN} to stop the program when a
5750 particular thread reaches this breakpoint. @var{threadno} is one of the
5751 numeric thread identifiers assigned by @value{GDBN}, shown in the first
5752 column of the @samp{info threads} display.
5754 If you do not specify @samp{thread @var{threadno}} when you set a
5755 breakpoint, the breakpoint applies to @emph{all} threads of your
5758 You can use the @code{thread} qualifier on conditional breakpoints as
5759 well; in this case, place @samp{thread @var{threadno}} before or
5760 after the breakpoint condition, like this:
5763 (@value{GDBP}) break frik.c:13 thread 28 if bartab > lim
5768 @node Interrupted System Calls
5769 @subsection Interrupted System Calls
5771 @cindex thread breakpoints and system calls
5772 @cindex system calls and thread breakpoints
5773 @cindex premature return from system calls
5774 There is an unfortunate side effect when using @value{GDBN} to debug
5775 multi-threaded programs. If one thread stops for a
5776 breakpoint, or for some other reason, and another thread is blocked in a
5777 system call, then the system call may return prematurely. This is a
5778 consequence of the interaction between multiple threads and the signals
5779 that @value{GDBN} uses to implement breakpoints and other events that
5782 To handle this problem, your program should check the return value of
5783 each system call and react appropriately. This is good programming
5786 For example, do not write code like this:
5792 The call to @code{sleep} will return early if a different thread stops
5793 at a breakpoint or for some other reason.
5795 Instead, write this:
5800 unslept = sleep (unslept);
5803 A system call is allowed to return early, so the system is still
5804 conforming to its specification. But @value{GDBN} does cause your
5805 multi-threaded program to behave differently than it would without
5808 Also, @value{GDBN} uses internal breakpoints in the thread library to
5809 monitor certain events such as thread creation and thread destruction.
5810 When such an event happens, a system call in another thread may return
5811 prematurely, even though your program does not appear to stop.
5814 @subsection Observer Mode
5816 If you want to build on non-stop mode and observe program behavior
5817 without any chance of disruption by @value{GDBN}, you can set
5818 variables to disable all of the debugger's attempts to modify state,
5819 whether by writing memory, inserting breakpoints, etc. These operate
5820 at a low level, intercepting operations from all commands.
5822 When all of these are set to @code{off}, then @value{GDBN} is said to
5823 be @dfn{observer mode}. As a convenience, the variable
5824 @code{observer} can be set to disable these, plus enable non-stop
5827 Note that @value{GDBN} will not prevent you from making nonsensical
5828 combinations of these settings. For instance, if you have enabled
5829 @code{may-insert-breakpoints} but disabled @code{may-write-memory},
5830 then breakpoints that work by writing trap instructions into the code
5831 stream will still not be able to be placed.
5836 @item set observer on
5837 @itemx set observer off
5838 When set to @code{on}, this disables all the permission variables
5839 below (except for @code{insert-fast-tracepoints}), plus enables
5840 non-stop debugging. Setting this to @code{off} switches back to
5841 normal debugging, though remaining in non-stop mode.
5844 Show whether observer mode is on or off.
5846 @kindex may-write-registers
5847 @item set may-write-registers on
5848 @itemx set may-write-registers off
5849 This controls whether @value{GDBN} will attempt to alter the values of
5850 registers, such as with assignment expressions in @code{print}, or the
5851 @code{jump} command. It defaults to @code{on}.
5853 @item show may-write-registers
5854 Show the current permission to write registers.
5856 @kindex may-write-memory
5857 @item set may-write-memory on
5858 @itemx set may-write-memory off
5859 This controls whether @value{GDBN} will attempt to alter the contents
5860 of memory, such as with assignment expressions in @code{print}. It
5861 defaults to @code{on}.
5863 @item show may-write-memory
5864 Show the current permission to write memory.
5866 @kindex may-insert-breakpoints
5867 @item set may-insert-breakpoints on
5868 @itemx set may-insert-breakpoints off
5869 This controls whether @value{GDBN} will attempt to insert breakpoints.
5870 This affects all breakpoints, including internal breakpoints defined
5871 by @value{GDBN}. It defaults to @code{on}.
5873 @item show may-insert-breakpoints
5874 Show the current permission to insert breakpoints.
5876 @kindex may-insert-tracepoints
5877 @item set may-insert-tracepoints on
5878 @itemx set may-insert-tracepoints off
5879 This controls whether @value{GDBN} will attempt to insert (regular)
5880 tracepoints at the beginning of a tracing experiment. It affects only
5881 non-fast tracepoints, fast tracepoints being under the control of
5882 @code{may-insert-fast-tracepoints}. It defaults to @code{on}.
5884 @item show may-insert-tracepoints
5885 Show the current permission to insert tracepoints.
5887 @kindex may-insert-fast-tracepoints
5888 @item set may-insert-fast-tracepoints on
5889 @itemx set may-insert-fast-tracepoints off
5890 This controls whether @value{GDBN} will attempt to insert fast
5891 tracepoints at the beginning of a tracing experiment. It affects only
5892 fast tracepoints, regular (non-fast) tracepoints being under the
5893 control of @code{may-insert-tracepoints}. It defaults to @code{on}.
5895 @item show may-insert-fast-tracepoints
5896 Show the current permission to insert fast tracepoints.
5898 @kindex may-interrupt
5899 @item set may-interrupt on
5900 @itemx set may-interrupt off
5901 This controls whether @value{GDBN} will attempt to interrupt or stop
5902 program execution. When this variable is @code{off}, the
5903 @code{interrupt} command will have no effect, nor will
5904 @kbd{Ctrl-c}. It defaults to @code{on}.
5906 @item show may-interrupt
5907 Show the current permission to interrupt or stop the program.
5911 @node Reverse Execution
5912 @chapter Running programs backward
5913 @cindex reverse execution
5914 @cindex running programs backward
5916 When you are debugging a program, it is not unusual to realize that
5917 you have gone too far, and some event of interest has already happened.
5918 If the target environment supports it, @value{GDBN} can allow you to
5919 ``rewind'' the program by running it backward.
5921 A target environment that supports reverse execution should be able
5922 to ``undo'' the changes in machine state that have taken place as the
5923 program was executing normally. Variables, registers etc.@: should
5924 revert to their previous values. Obviously this requires a great
5925 deal of sophistication on the part of the target environment; not
5926 all target environments can support reverse execution.
5928 When a program is executed in reverse, the instructions that
5929 have most recently been executed are ``un-executed'', in reverse
5930 order. The program counter runs backward, following the previous
5931 thread of execution in reverse. As each instruction is ``un-executed'',
5932 the values of memory and/or registers that were changed by that
5933 instruction are reverted to their previous states. After executing
5934 a piece of source code in reverse, all side effects of that code
5935 should be ``undone'', and all variables should be returned to their
5936 prior values@footnote{
5937 Note that some side effects are easier to undo than others. For instance,
5938 memory and registers are relatively easy, but device I/O is hard. Some
5939 targets may be able undo things like device I/O, and some may not.
5941 The contract between @value{GDBN} and the reverse executing target
5942 requires only that the target do something reasonable when
5943 @value{GDBN} tells it to execute backwards, and then report the
5944 results back to @value{GDBN}. Whatever the target reports back to
5945 @value{GDBN}, @value{GDBN} will report back to the user. @value{GDBN}
5946 assumes that the memory and registers that the target reports are in a
5947 consistant state, but @value{GDBN} accepts whatever it is given.
5950 If you are debugging in a target environment that supports
5951 reverse execution, @value{GDBN} provides the following commands.
5954 @kindex reverse-continue
5955 @kindex rc @r{(@code{reverse-continue})}
5956 @item reverse-continue @r{[}@var{ignore-count}@r{]}
5957 @itemx rc @r{[}@var{ignore-count}@r{]}
5958 Beginning at the point where your program last stopped, start executing
5959 in reverse. Reverse execution will stop for breakpoints and synchronous
5960 exceptions (signals), just like normal execution. Behavior of
5961 asynchronous signals depends on the target environment.
5963 @kindex reverse-step
5964 @kindex rs @r{(@code{step})}
5965 @item reverse-step @r{[}@var{count}@r{]}
5966 Run the program backward until control reaches the start of a
5967 different source line; then stop it, and return control to @value{GDBN}.
5969 Like the @code{step} command, @code{reverse-step} will only stop
5970 at the beginning of a source line. It ``un-executes'' the previously
5971 executed source line. If the previous source line included calls to
5972 debuggable functions, @code{reverse-step} will step (backward) into
5973 the called function, stopping at the beginning of the @emph{last}
5974 statement in the called function (typically a return statement).
5976 Also, as with the @code{step} command, if non-debuggable functions are
5977 called, @code{reverse-step} will run thru them backward without stopping.
5979 @kindex reverse-stepi
5980 @kindex rsi @r{(@code{reverse-stepi})}
5981 @item reverse-stepi @r{[}@var{count}@r{]}
5982 Reverse-execute one machine instruction. Note that the instruction
5983 to be reverse-executed is @emph{not} the one pointed to by the program
5984 counter, but the instruction executed prior to that one. For instance,
5985 if the last instruction was a jump, @code{reverse-stepi} will take you
5986 back from the destination of the jump to the jump instruction itself.
5988 @kindex reverse-next
5989 @kindex rn @r{(@code{reverse-next})}
5990 @item reverse-next @r{[}@var{count}@r{]}
5991 Run backward to the beginning of the previous line executed in
5992 the current (innermost) stack frame. If the line contains function
5993 calls, they will be ``un-executed'' without stopping. Starting from
5994 the first line of a function, @code{reverse-next} will take you back
5995 to the caller of that function, @emph{before} the function was called,
5996 just as the normal @code{next} command would take you from the last
5997 line of a function back to its return to its caller
5998 @footnote{Unless the code is too heavily optimized.}.
6000 @kindex reverse-nexti
6001 @kindex rni @r{(@code{reverse-nexti})}
6002 @item reverse-nexti @r{[}@var{count}@r{]}
6003 Like @code{nexti}, @code{reverse-nexti} executes a single instruction
6004 in reverse, except that called functions are ``un-executed'' atomically.
6005 That is, if the previously executed instruction was a return from
6006 another function, @code{reverse-nexti} will continue to execute
6007 in reverse until the call to that function (from the current stack
6010 @kindex reverse-finish
6011 @item reverse-finish
6012 Just as the @code{finish} command takes you to the point where the
6013 current function returns, @code{reverse-finish} takes you to the point
6014 where it was called. Instead of ending up at the end of the current
6015 function invocation, you end up at the beginning.
6017 @kindex set exec-direction
6018 @item set exec-direction
6019 Set the direction of target execution.
6020 @item set exec-direction reverse
6021 @cindex execute forward or backward in time
6022 @value{GDBN} will perform all execution commands in reverse, until the
6023 exec-direction mode is changed to ``forward''. Affected commands include
6024 @code{step, stepi, next, nexti, continue, and finish}. The @code{return}
6025 command cannot be used in reverse mode.
6026 @item set exec-direction forward
6027 @value{GDBN} will perform all execution commands in the normal fashion.
6028 This is the default.
6032 @node Process Record and Replay
6033 @chapter Recording Inferior's Execution and Replaying It
6034 @cindex process record and replay
6035 @cindex recording inferior's execution and replaying it
6037 On some platforms, @value{GDBN} provides a special @dfn{process record
6038 and replay} target that can record a log of the process execution, and
6039 replay it later with both forward and reverse execution commands.
6042 When this target is in use, if the execution log includes the record
6043 for the next instruction, @value{GDBN} will debug in @dfn{replay
6044 mode}. In the replay mode, the inferior does not really execute code
6045 instructions. Instead, all the events that normally happen during
6046 code execution are taken from the execution log. While code is not
6047 really executed in replay mode, the values of registers (including the
6048 program counter register) and the memory of the inferior are still
6049 changed as they normally would. Their contents are taken from the
6053 If the record for the next instruction is not in the execution log,
6054 @value{GDBN} will debug in @dfn{record mode}. In this mode, the
6055 inferior executes normally, and @value{GDBN} records the execution log
6058 The process record and replay target supports reverse execution
6059 (@pxref{Reverse Execution}), even if the platform on which the
6060 inferior runs does not. However, the reverse execution is limited in
6061 this case by the range of the instructions recorded in the execution
6062 log. In other words, reverse execution on platforms that don't
6063 support it directly can only be done in the replay mode.
6065 When debugging in the reverse direction, @value{GDBN} will work in
6066 replay mode as long as the execution log includes the record for the
6067 previous instruction; otherwise, it will work in record mode, if the
6068 platform supports reverse execution, or stop if not.
6070 For architecture environments that support process record and replay,
6071 @value{GDBN} provides the following commands:
6074 @kindex target record
6078 This command starts the process record and replay target. The process
6079 record and replay target can only debug a process that is already
6080 running. Therefore, you need first to start the process with the
6081 @kbd{run} or @kbd{start} commands, and then start the recording with
6082 the @kbd{target record} command.
6084 Both @code{record} and @code{rec} are aliases of @code{target record}.
6086 @cindex displaced stepping, and process record and replay
6087 Displaced stepping (@pxref{Maintenance Commands,, displaced stepping})
6088 will be automatically disabled when process record and replay target
6089 is started. That's because the process record and replay target
6090 doesn't support displaced stepping.
6092 @cindex non-stop mode, and process record and replay
6093 @cindex asynchronous execution, and process record and replay
6094 If the inferior is in the non-stop mode (@pxref{Non-Stop Mode}) or in
6095 the asynchronous execution mode (@pxref{Background Execution}), the
6096 process record and replay target cannot be started because it doesn't
6097 support these two modes.
6102 Stop the process record and replay target. When process record and
6103 replay target stops, the entire execution log will be deleted and the
6104 inferior will either be terminated, or will remain in its final state.
6106 When you stop the process record and replay target in record mode (at
6107 the end of the execution log), the inferior will be stopped at the
6108 next instruction that would have been recorded. In other words, if
6109 you record for a while and then stop recording, the inferior process
6110 will be left in the same state as if the recording never happened.
6112 On the other hand, if the process record and replay target is stopped
6113 while in replay mode (that is, not at the end of the execution log,
6114 but at some earlier point), the inferior process will become ``live''
6115 at that earlier state, and it will then be possible to continue the
6116 usual ``live'' debugging of the process from that state.
6118 When the inferior process exits, or @value{GDBN} detaches from it,
6119 process record and replay target will automatically stop itself.
6122 @item record save @var{filename}
6123 Save the execution log to a file @file{@var{filename}}.
6124 Default filename is @file{gdb_record.@var{process_id}}, where
6125 @var{process_id} is the process ID of the inferior.
6127 @kindex record restore
6128 @item record restore @var{filename}
6129 Restore the execution log from a file @file{@var{filename}}.
6130 File must have been created with @code{record save}.
6132 @kindex set record insn-number-max
6133 @item set record insn-number-max @var{limit}
6134 Set the limit of instructions to be recorded. Default value is 200000.
6136 If @var{limit} is a positive number, then @value{GDBN} will start
6137 deleting instructions from the log once the number of the record
6138 instructions becomes greater than @var{limit}. For every new recorded
6139 instruction, @value{GDBN} will delete the earliest recorded
6140 instruction to keep the number of recorded instructions at the limit.
6141 (Since deleting recorded instructions loses information, @value{GDBN}
6142 lets you control what happens when the limit is reached, by means of
6143 the @code{stop-at-limit} option, described below.)
6145 If @var{limit} is zero, @value{GDBN} will never delete recorded
6146 instructions from the execution log. The number of recorded
6147 instructions is unlimited in this case.
6149 @kindex show record insn-number-max
6150 @item show record insn-number-max
6151 Show the limit of instructions to be recorded.
6153 @kindex set record stop-at-limit
6154 @item set record stop-at-limit
6155 Control the behavior when the number of recorded instructions reaches
6156 the limit. If ON (the default), @value{GDBN} will stop when the limit
6157 is reached for the first time and ask you whether you want to stop the
6158 inferior or continue running it and recording the execution log. If
6159 you decide to continue recording, each new recorded instruction will
6160 cause the oldest one to be deleted.
6162 If this option is OFF, @value{GDBN} will automatically delete the
6163 oldest record to make room for each new one, without asking.
6165 @kindex show record stop-at-limit
6166 @item show record stop-at-limit
6167 Show the current setting of @code{stop-at-limit}.
6169 @kindex set record memory-query
6170 @item set record memory-query
6171 Control the behavior when @value{GDBN} is unable to record memory
6172 changes caused by an instruction. If ON, @value{GDBN} will query
6173 whether to stop the inferior in that case.
6175 If this option is OFF (the default), @value{GDBN} will automatically
6176 ignore the effect of such instructions on memory. Later, when
6177 @value{GDBN} replays this execution log, it will mark the log of this
6178 instruction as not accessible, and it will not affect the replay
6181 @kindex show record memory-query
6182 @item show record memory-query
6183 Show the current setting of @code{memory-query}.
6187 Show various statistics about the state of process record and its
6188 in-memory execution log buffer, including:
6192 Whether in record mode or replay mode.
6194 Lowest recorded instruction number (counting from when the current execution log started recording instructions).
6196 Highest recorded instruction number.
6198 Current instruction about to be replayed (if in replay mode).
6200 Number of instructions contained in the execution log.
6202 Maximum number of instructions that may be contained in the execution log.
6205 @kindex record delete
6208 When record target runs in replay mode (``in the past''), delete the
6209 subsequent execution log and begin to record a new execution log starting
6210 from the current address. This means you will abandon the previously
6211 recorded ``future'' and begin recording a new ``future''.
6216 @chapter Examining the Stack
6218 When your program has stopped, the first thing you need to know is where it
6219 stopped and how it got there.
6222 Each time your program performs a function call, information about the call
6224 That information includes the location of the call in your program,
6225 the arguments of the call,
6226 and the local variables of the function being called.
6227 The information is saved in a block of data called a @dfn{stack frame}.
6228 The stack frames are allocated in a region of memory called the @dfn{call
6231 When your program stops, the @value{GDBN} commands for examining the
6232 stack allow you to see all of this information.
6234 @cindex selected frame
6235 One of the stack frames is @dfn{selected} by @value{GDBN} and many
6236 @value{GDBN} commands refer implicitly to the selected frame. In
6237 particular, whenever you ask @value{GDBN} for the value of a variable in
6238 your program, the value is found in the selected frame. There are
6239 special @value{GDBN} commands to select whichever frame you are
6240 interested in. @xref{Selection, ,Selecting a Frame}.
6242 When your program stops, @value{GDBN} automatically selects the
6243 currently executing frame and describes it briefly, similar to the
6244 @code{frame} command (@pxref{Frame Info, ,Information about a Frame}).
6247 * Frames:: Stack frames
6248 * Backtrace:: Backtraces
6249 * Selection:: Selecting a frame
6250 * Frame Info:: Information on a frame
6255 @section Stack Frames
6257 @cindex frame, definition
6259 The call stack is divided up into contiguous pieces called @dfn{stack
6260 frames}, or @dfn{frames} for short; each frame is the data associated
6261 with one call to one function. The frame contains the arguments given
6262 to the function, the function's local variables, and the address at
6263 which the function is executing.
6265 @cindex initial frame
6266 @cindex outermost frame
6267 @cindex innermost frame
6268 When your program is started, the stack has only one frame, that of the
6269 function @code{main}. This is called the @dfn{initial} frame or the
6270 @dfn{outermost} frame. Each time a function is called, a new frame is
6271 made. Each time a function returns, the frame for that function invocation
6272 is eliminated. If a function is recursive, there can be many frames for
6273 the same function. The frame for the function in which execution is
6274 actually occurring is called the @dfn{innermost} frame. This is the most
6275 recently created of all the stack frames that still exist.
6277 @cindex frame pointer
6278 Inside your program, stack frames are identified by their addresses. A
6279 stack frame consists of many bytes, each of which has its own address; each
6280 kind of computer has a convention for choosing one byte whose
6281 address serves as the address of the frame. Usually this address is kept
6282 in a register called the @dfn{frame pointer register}
6283 (@pxref{Registers, $fp}) while execution is going on in that frame.
6285 @cindex frame number
6286 @value{GDBN} assigns numbers to all existing stack frames, starting with
6287 zero for the innermost frame, one for the frame that called it,
6288 and so on upward. These numbers do not really exist in your program;
6289 they are assigned by @value{GDBN} to give you a way of designating stack
6290 frames in @value{GDBN} commands.
6292 @c The -fomit-frame-pointer below perennially causes hbox overflow
6293 @c underflow problems.
6294 @cindex frameless execution
6295 Some compilers provide a way to compile functions so that they operate
6296 without stack frames. (For example, the @value{NGCC} option
6298 @samp{-fomit-frame-pointer}
6300 generates functions without a frame.)
6301 This is occasionally done with heavily used library functions to save
6302 the frame setup time. @value{GDBN} has limited facilities for dealing
6303 with these function invocations. If the innermost function invocation
6304 has no stack frame, @value{GDBN} nevertheless regards it as though
6305 it had a separate frame, which is numbered zero as usual, allowing
6306 correct tracing of the function call chain. However, @value{GDBN} has
6307 no provision for frameless functions elsewhere in the stack.
6310 @kindex frame@r{, command}
6311 @cindex current stack frame
6312 @item frame @var{args}
6313 The @code{frame} command allows you to move from one stack frame to another,
6314 and to print the stack frame you select. @var{args} may be either the
6315 address of the frame or the stack frame number. Without an argument,
6316 @code{frame} prints the current stack frame.
6318 @kindex select-frame
6319 @cindex selecting frame silently
6321 The @code{select-frame} command allows you to move from one stack frame
6322 to another without printing the frame. This is the silent version of
6330 @cindex call stack traces
6331 A backtrace is a summary of how your program got where it is. It shows one
6332 line per frame, for many frames, starting with the currently executing
6333 frame (frame zero), followed by its caller (frame one), and on up the
6338 @kindex bt @r{(@code{backtrace})}
6341 Print a backtrace of the entire stack: one line per frame for all
6342 frames in the stack.
6344 You can stop the backtrace at any time by typing the system interrupt
6345 character, normally @kbd{Ctrl-c}.
6347 @item backtrace @var{n}
6349 Similar, but print only the innermost @var{n} frames.
6351 @item backtrace -@var{n}
6353 Similar, but print only the outermost @var{n} frames.
6355 @item backtrace full
6357 @itemx bt full @var{n}
6358 @itemx bt full -@var{n}
6359 Print the values of the local variables also. @var{n} specifies the
6360 number of frames to print, as described above.
6365 The names @code{where} and @code{info stack} (abbreviated @code{info s})
6366 are additional aliases for @code{backtrace}.
6368 @cindex multiple threads, backtrace
6369 In a multi-threaded program, @value{GDBN} by default shows the
6370 backtrace only for the current thread. To display the backtrace for
6371 several or all of the threads, use the command @code{thread apply}
6372 (@pxref{Threads, thread apply}). For example, if you type @kbd{thread
6373 apply all backtrace}, @value{GDBN} will display the backtrace for all
6374 the threads; this is handy when you debug a core dump of a
6375 multi-threaded program.
6377 Each line in the backtrace shows the frame number and the function name.
6378 The program counter value is also shown---unless you use @code{set
6379 print address off}. The backtrace also shows the source file name and
6380 line number, as well as the arguments to the function. The program
6381 counter value is omitted if it is at the beginning of the code for that
6384 Here is an example of a backtrace. It was made with the command
6385 @samp{bt 3}, so it shows the innermost three frames.
6389 #0 m4_traceon (obs=0x24eb0, argc=1, argv=0x2b8c8)
6391 #1 0x6e38 in expand_macro (sym=0x2b600, data=...) at macro.c:242
6392 #2 0x6840 in expand_token (obs=0x0, t=177664, td=0xf7fffb08)
6394 (More stack frames follow...)
6399 The display for frame zero does not begin with a program counter
6400 value, indicating that your program has stopped at the beginning of the
6401 code for line @code{993} of @code{builtin.c}.
6404 The value of parameter @code{data} in frame 1 has been replaced by
6405 @code{@dots{}}. By default, @value{GDBN} prints the value of a parameter
6406 only if it is a scalar (integer, pointer, enumeration, etc). See command
6407 @kbd{set print frame-arguments} in @ref{Print Settings} for more details
6408 on how to configure the way function parameter values are printed.
6410 @cindex optimized out, in backtrace
6411 @cindex function call arguments, optimized out
6412 If your program was compiled with optimizations, some compilers will
6413 optimize away arguments passed to functions if those arguments are
6414 never used after the call. Such optimizations generate code that
6415 passes arguments through registers, but doesn't store those arguments
6416 in the stack frame. @value{GDBN} has no way of displaying such
6417 arguments in stack frames other than the innermost one. Here's what
6418 such a backtrace might look like:
6422 #0 m4_traceon (obs=0x24eb0, argc=1, argv=0x2b8c8)
6424 #1 0x6e38 in expand_macro (sym=<optimized out>) at macro.c:242
6425 #2 0x6840 in expand_token (obs=0x0, t=<optimized out>, td=0xf7fffb08)
6427 (More stack frames follow...)
6432 The values of arguments that were not saved in their stack frames are
6433 shown as @samp{<optimized out>}.
6435 If you need to display the values of such optimized-out arguments,
6436 either deduce that from other variables whose values depend on the one
6437 you are interested in, or recompile without optimizations.
6439 @cindex backtrace beyond @code{main} function
6440 @cindex program entry point
6441 @cindex startup code, and backtrace
6442 Most programs have a standard user entry point---a place where system
6443 libraries and startup code transition into user code. For C this is
6444 @code{main}@footnote{
6445 Note that embedded programs (the so-called ``free-standing''
6446 environment) are not required to have a @code{main} function as the
6447 entry point. They could even have multiple entry points.}.
6448 When @value{GDBN} finds the entry function in a backtrace
6449 it will terminate the backtrace, to avoid tracing into highly
6450 system-specific (and generally uninteresting) code.
6452 If you need to examine the startup code, or limit the number of levels
6453 in a backtrace, you can change this behavior:
6456 @item set backtrace past-main
6457 @itemx set backtrace past-main on
6458 @kindex set backtrace
6459 Backtraces will continue past the user entry point.
6461 @item set backtrace past-main off
6462 Backtraces will stop when they encounter the user entry point. This is the
6465 @item show backtrace past-main
6466 @kindex show backtrace
6467 Display the current user entry point backtrace policy.
6469 @item set backtrace past-entry
6470 @itemx set backtrace past-entry on
6471 Backtraces will continue past the internal entry point of an application.
6472 This entry point is encoded by the linker when the application is built,
6473 and is likely before the user entry point @code{main} (or equivalent) is called.
6475 @item set backtrace past-entry off
6476 Backtraces will stop when they encounter the internal entry point of an
6477 application. This is the default.
6479 @item show backtrace past-entry
6480 Display the current internal entry point backtrace policy.
6482 @item set backtrace limit @var{n}
6483 @itemx set backtrace limit 0
6484 @cindex backtrace limit
6485 Limit the backtrace to @var{n} levels. A value of zero means
6488 @item show backtrace limit
6489 Display the current limit on backtrace levels.
6493 @section Selecting a Frame
6495 Most commands for examining the stack and other data in your program work on
6496 whichever stack frame is selected at the moment. Here are the commands for
6497 selecting a stack frame; all of them finish by printing a brief description
6498 of the stack frame just selected.
6501 @kindex frame@r{, selecting}
6502 @kindex f @r{(@code{frame})}
6505 Select frame number @var{n}. Recall that frame zero is the innermost
6506 (currently executing) frame, frame one is the frame that called the
6507 innermost one, and so on. The highest-numbered frame is the one for
6510 @item frame @var{addr}
6512 Select the frame at address @var{addr}. This is useful mainly if the
6513 chaining of stack frames has been damaged by a bug, making it
6514 impossible for @value{GDBN} to assign numbers properly to all frames. In
6515 addition, this can be useful when your program has multiple stacks and
6516 switches between them.
6518 On the SPARC architecture, @code{frame} needs two addresses to
6519 select an arbitrary frame: a frame pointer and a stack pointer.
6521 On the @acronym{MIPS} and Alpha architecture, it needs two addresses: a stack
6522 pointer and a program counter.
6524 On the 29k architecture, it needs three addresses: a register stack
6525 pointer, a program counter, and a memory stack pointer.
6529 Move @var{n} frames up the stack. For positive numbers @var{n}, this
6530 advances toward the outermost frame, to higher frame numbers, to frames
6531 that have existed longer. @var{n} defaults to one.
6534 @kindex do @r{(@code{down})}
6536 Move @var{n} frames down the stack. For positive numbers @var{n}, this
6537 advances toward the innermost frame, to lower frame numbers, to frames
6538 that were created more recently. @var{n} defaults to one. You may
6539 abbreviate @code{down} as @code{do}.
6542 All of these commands end by printing two lines of output describing the
6543 frame. The first line shows the frame number, the function name, the
6544 arguments, and the source file and line number of execution in that
6545 frame. The second line shows the text of that source line.
6553 #1 0x22f0 in main (argc=1, argv=0xf7fffbf4, env=0xf7fffbfc)
6555 10 read_input_file (argv[i]);
6559 After such a printout, the @code{list} command with no arguments
6560 prints ten lines centered on the point of execution in the frame.
6561 You can also edit the program at the point of execution with your favorite
6562 editing program by typing @code{edit}.
6563 @xref{List, ,Printing Source Lines},
6567 @kindex down-silently
6569 @item up-silently @var{n}
6570 @itemx down-silently @var{n}
6571 These two commands are variants of @code{up} and @code{down},
6572 respectively; they differ in that they do their work silently, without
6573 causing display of the new frame. They are intended primarily for use
6574 in @value{GDBN} command scripts, where the output might be unnecessary and
6579 @section Information About a Frame
6581 There are several other commands to print information about the selected
6587 When used without any argument, this command does not change which
6588 frame is selected, but prints a brief description of the currently
6589 selected stack frame. It can be abbreviated @code{f}. With an
6590 argument, this command is used to select a stack frame.
6591 @xref{Selection, ,Selecting a Frame}.
6594 @kindex info f @r{(@code{info frame})}
6597 This command prints a verbose description of the selected stack frame,
6602 the address of the frame
6604 the address of the next frame down (called by this frame)
6606 the address of the next frame up (caller of this frame)
6608 the language in which the source code corresponding to this frame is written
6610 the address of the frame's arguments
6612 the address of the frame's local variables
6614 the program counter saved in it (the address of execution in the caller frame)
6616 which registers were saved in the frame
6619 @noindent The verbose description is useful when
6620 something has gone wrong that has made the stack format fail to fit
6621 the usual conventions.
6623 @item info frame @var{addr}
6624 @itemx info f @var{addr}
6625 Print a verbose description of the frame at address @var{addr}, without
6626 selecting that frame. The selected frame remains unchanged by this
6627 command. This requires the same kind of address (more than one for some
6628 architectures) that you specify in the @code{frame} command.
6629 @xref{Selection, ,Selecting a Frame}.
6633 Print the arguments of the selected frame, each on a separate line.
6637 Print the local variables of the selected frame, each on a separate
6638 line. These are all variables (declared either static or automatic)
6639 accessible at the point of execution of the selected frame.
6645 @chapter Examining Source Files
6647 @value{GDBN} can print parts of your program's source, since the debugging
6648 information recorded in the program tells @value{GDBN} what source files were
6649 used to build it. When your program stops, @value{GDBN} spontaneously prints
6650 the line where it stopped. Likewise, when you select a stack frame
6651 (@pxref{Selection, ,Selecting a Frame}), @value{GDBN} prints the line where
6652 execution in that frame has stopped. You can print other portions of
6653 source files by explicit command.
6655 If you use @value{GDBN} through its @sc{gnu} Emacs interface, you may
6656 prefer to use Emacs facilities to view source; see @ref{Emacs, ,Using
6657 @value{GDBN} under @sc{gnu} Emacs}.
6660 * List:: Printing source lines
6661 * Specify Location:: How to specify code locations
6662 * Edit:: Editing source files
6663 * Search:: Searching source files
6664 * Source Path:: Specifying source directories
6665 * Machine Code:: Source and machine code
6669 @section Printing Source Lines
6672 @kindex l @r{(@code{list})}
6673 To print lines from a source file, use the @code{list} command
6674 (abbreviated @code{l}). By default, ten lines are printed.
6675 There are several ways to specify what part of the file you want to
6676 print; see @ref{Specify Location}, for the full list.
6678 Here are the forms of the @code{list} command most commonly used:
6681 @item list @var{linenum}
6682 Print lines centered around line number @var{linenum} in the
6683 current source file.
6685 @item list @var{function}
6686 Print lines centered around the beginning of function
6690 Print more lines. If the last lines printed were printed with a
6691 @code{list} command, this prints lines following the last lines
6692 printed; however, if the last line printed was a solitary line printed
6693 as part of displaying a stack frame (@pxref{Stack, ,Examining the
6694 Stack}), this prints lines centered around that line.
6697 Print lines just before the lines last printed.
6700 @cindex @code{list}, how many lines to display
6701 By default, @value{GDBN} prints ten source lines with any of these forms of
6702 the @code{list} command. You can change this using @code{set listsize}:
6705 @kindex set listsize
6706 @item set listsize @var{count}
6707 Make the @code{list} command display @var{count} source lines (unless
6708 the @code{list} argument explicitly specifies some other number).
6710 @kindex show listsize
6712 Display the number of lines that @code{list} prints.
6715 Repeating a @code{list} command with @key{RET} discards the argument,
6716 so it is equivalent to typing just @code{list}. This is more useful
6717 than listing the same lines again. An exception is made for an
6718 argument of @samp{-}; that argument is preserved in repetition so that
6719 each repetition moves up in the source file.
6721 In general, the @code{list} command expects you to supply zero, one or two
6722 @dfn{linespecs}. Linespecs specify source lines; there are several ways
6723 of writing them (@pxref{Specify Location}), but the effect is always
6724 to specify some source line.
6726 Here is a complete description of the possible arguments for @code{list}:
6729 @item list @var{linespec}
6730 Print lines centered around the line specified by @var{linespec}.
6732 @item list @var{first},@var{last}
6733 Print lines from @var{first} to @var{last}. Both arguments are
6734 linespecs. When a @code{list} command has two linespecs, and the
6735 source file of the second linespec is omitted, this refers to
6736 the same source file as the first linespec.
6738 @item list ,@var{last}
6739 Print lines ending with @var{last}.
6741 @item list @var{first},
6742 Print lines starting with @var{first}.
6745 Print lines just after the lines last printed.
6748 Print lines just before the lines last printed.
6751 As described in the preceding table.
6754 @node Specify Location
6755 @section Specifying a Location
6756 @cindex specifying location
6759 Several @value{GDBN} commands accept arguments that specify a location
6760 of your program's code. Since @value{GDBN} is a source-level
6761 debugger, a location usually specifies some line in the source code;
6762 for that reason, locations are also known as @dfn{linespecs}.
6764 Here are all the different ways of specifying a code location that
6765 @value{GDBN} understands:
6769 Specifies the line number @var{linenum} of the current source file.
6772 @itemx +@var{offset}
6773 Specifies the line @var{offset} lines before or after the @dfn{current
6774 line}. For the @code{list} command, the current line is the last one
6775 printed; for the breakpoint commands, this is the line at which
6776 execution stopped in the currently selected @dfn{stack frame}
6777 (@pxref{Frames, ,Frames}, for a description of stack frames.) When
6778 used as the second of the two linespecs in a @code{list} command,
6779 this specifies the line @var{offset} lines up or down from the first
6782 @item @var{filename}:@var{linenum}
6783 Specifies the line @var{linenum} in the source file @var{filename}.
6784 If @var{filename} is a relative file name, then it will match any
6785 source file name with the same trailing components. For example, if
6786 @var{filename} is @samp{gcc/expr.c}, then it will match source file
6787 name of @file{/build/trunk/gcc/expr.c}, but not
6788 @file{/build/trunk/libcpp/expr.c} or @file{/build/trunk/gcc/x-expr.c}.
6790 @item @var{function}
6791 Specifies the line that begins the body of the function @var{function}.
6792 For example, in C, this is the line with the open brace.
6794 @item @var{function}:@var{label}
6795 Specifies the line where @var{label} appears in @var{function}.
6797 @item @var{filename}:@var{function}
6798 Specifies the line that begins the body of the function @var{function}
6799 in the file @var{filename}. You only need the file name with a
6800 function name to avoid ambiguity when there are identically named
6801 functions in different source files.
6804 Specifies the line at which the label named @var{label} appears.
6805 @value{GDBN} searches for the label in the function corresponding to
6806 the currently selected stack frame. If there is no current selected
6807 stack frame (for instance, if the inferior is not running), then
6808 @value{GDBN} will not search for a label.
6810 @item *@var{address}
6811 Specifies the program address @var{address}. For line-oriented
6812 commands, such as @code{list} and @code{edit}, this specifies a source
6813 line that contains @var{address}. For @code{break} and other
6814 breakpoint oriented commands, this can be used to set breakpoints in
6815 parts of your program which do not have debugging information or
6818 Here @var{address} may be any expression valid in the current working
6819 language (@pxref{Languages, working language}) that specifies a code
6820 address. In addition, as a convenience, @value{GDBN} extends the
6821 semantics of expressions used in locations to cover the situations
6822 that frequently happen during debugging. Here are the various forms
6826 @item @var{expression}
6827 Any expression valid in the current working language.
6829 @item @var{funcaddr}
6830 An address of a function or procedure derived from its name. In C,
6831 C@t{++}, Java, Objective-C, Fortran, minimal, and assembly, this is
6832 simply the function's name @var{function} (and actually a special case
6833 of a valid expression). In Pascal and Modula-2, this is
6834 @code{&@var{function}}. In Ada, this is @code{@var{function}'Address}
6835 (although the Pascal form also works).
6837 This form specifies the address of the function's first instruction,
6838 before the stack frame and arguments have been set up.
6840 @item '@var{filename}'::@var{funcaddr}
6841 Like @var{funcaddr} above, but also specifies the name of the source
6842 file explicitly. This is useful if the name of the function does not
6843 specify the function unambiguously, e.g., if there are several
6844 functions with identical names in different source files.
6847 @cindex breakpoint at static probe point
6848 @item -pstap|-probe-stap @r{[}@var{objfile}:@r{[}@var{provider}:@r{]}@r{]}@var{name}
6849 The @sc{gnu}/Linux tool @code{SystemTap} provides a way for
6850 applications to embed static probes. @xref{Static Probe Points}, for more
6851 information on finding and using static probes. This form of linespec
6852 specifies the location of such a static probe.
6854 If @var{objfile} is given, only probes coming from that shared library
6855 or executable matching @var{objfile} as a regular expression are considered.
6856 If @var{provider} is given, then only probes from that provider are considered.
6857 If several probes match the spec, @value{GDBN} will insert a breakpoint at
6858 each one of those probes.
6864 @section Editing Source Files
6865 @cindex editing source files
6868 @kindex e @r{(@code{edit})}
6869 To edit the lines in a source file, use the @code{edit} command.
6870 The editing program of your choice
6871 is invoked with the current line set to
6872 the active line in the program.
6873 Alternatively, there are several ways to specify what part of the file you
6874 want to print if you want to see other parts of the program:
6877 @item edit @var{location}
6878 Edit the source file specified by @code{location}. Editing starts at
6879 that @var{location}, e.g., at the specified source line of the
6880 specified file. @xref{Specify Location}, for all the possible forms
6881 of the @var{location} argument; here are the forms of the @code{edit}
6882 command most commonly used:
6885 @item edit @var{number}
6886 Edit the current source file with @var{number} as the active line number.
6888 @item edit @var{function}
6889 Edit the file containing @var{function} at the beginning of its definition.
6894 @subsection Choosing your Editor
6895 You can customize @value{GDBN} to use any editor you want
6897 The only restriction is that your editor (say @code{ex}), recognizes the
6898 following command-line syntax:
6900 ex +@var{number} file
6902 The optional numeric value +@var{number} specifies the number of the line in
6903 the file where to start editing.}.
6904 By default, it is @file{@value{EDITOR}}, but you can change this
6905 by setting the environment variable @code{EDITOR} before using
6906 @value{GDBN}. For example, to configure @value{GDBN} to use the
6907 @code{vi} editor, you could use these commands with the @code{sh} shell:
6913 or in the @code{csh} shell,
6915 setenv EDITOR /usr/bin/vi
6920 @section Searching Source Files
6921 @cindex searching source files
6923 There are two commands for searching through the current source file for a
6928 @kindex forward-search
6929 @item forward-search @var{regexp}
6930 @itemx search @var{regexp}
6931 The command @samp{forward-search @var{regexp}} checks each line,
6932 starting with the one following the last line listed, for a match for
6933 @var{regexp}. It lists the line that is found. You can use the
6934 synonym @samp{search @var{regexp}} or abbreviate the command name as
6937 @kindex reverse-search
6938 @item reverse-search @var{regexp}
6939 The command @samp{reverse-search @var{regexp}} checks each line, starting
6940 with the one before the last line listed and going backward, for a match
6941 for @var{regexp}. It lists the line that is found. You can abbreviate
6942 this command as @code{rev}.
6946 @section Specifying Source Directories
6949 @cindex directories for source files
6950 Executable programs sometimes do not record the directories of the source
6951 files from which they were compiled, just the names. Even when they do,
6952 the directories could be moved between the compilation and your debugging
6953 session. @value{GDBN} has a list of directories to search for source files;
6954 this is called the @dfn{source path}. Each time @value{GDBN} wants a source file,
6955 it tries all the directories in the list, in the order they are present
6956 in the list, until it finds a file with the desired name.
6958 For example, suppose an executable references the file
6959 @file{/usr/src/foo-1.0/lib/foo.c}, and our source path is
6960 @file{/mnt/cross}. The file is first looked up literally; if this
6961 fails, @file{/mnt/cross/usr/src/foo-1.0/lib/foo.c} is tried; if this
6962 fails, @file{/mnt/cross/foo.c} is opened; if this fails, an error
6963 message is printed. @value{GDBN} does not look up the parts of the
6964 source file name, such as @file{/mnt/cross/src/foo-1.0/lib/foo.c}.
6965 Likewise, the subdirectories of the source path are not searched: if
6966 the source path is @file{/mnt/cross}, and the binary refers to
6967 @file{foo.c}, @value{GDBN} would not find it under
6968 @file{/mnt/cross/usr/src/foo-1.0/lib}.
6970 Plain file names, relative file names with leading directories, file
6971 names containing dots, etc.@: are all treated as described above; for
6972 instance, if the source path is @file{/mnt/cross}, and the source file
6973 is recorded as @file{../lib/foo.c}, @value{GDBN} would first try
6974 @file{../lib/foo.c}, then @file{/mnt/cross/../lib/foo.c}, and after
6975 that---@file{/mnt/cross/foo.c}.
6977 Note that the executable search path is @emph{not} used to locate the
6980 Whenever you reset or rearrange the source path, @value{GDBN} clears out
6981 any information it has cached about where source files are found and where
6982 each line is in the file.
6986 When you start @value{GDBN}, its source path includes only @samp{cdir}
6987 and @samp{cwd}, in that order.
6988 To add other directories, use the @code{directory} command.
6990 The search path is used to find both program source files and @value{GDBN}
6991 script files (read using the @samp{-command} option and @samp{source} command).
6993 In addition to the source path, @value{GDBN} provides a set of commands
6994 that manage a list of source path substitution rules. A @dfn{substitution
6995 rule} specifies how to rewrite source directories stored in the program's
6996 debug information in case the sources were moved to a different
6997 directory between compilation and debugging. A rule is made of
6998 two strings, the first specifying what needs to be rewritten in
6999 the path, and the second specifying how it should be rewritten.
7000 In @ref{set substitute-path}, we name these two parts @var{from} and
7001 @var{to} respectively. @value{GDBN} does a simple string replacement
7002 of @var{from} with @var{to} at the start of the directory part of the
7003 source file name, and uses that result instead of the original file
7004 name to look up the sources.
7006 Using the previous example, suppose the @file{foo-1.0} tree has been
7007 moved from @file{/usr/src} to @file{/mnt/cross}, then you can tell
7008 @value{GDBN} to replace @file{/usr/src} in all source path names with
7009 @file{/mnt/cross}. The first lookup will then be
7010 @file{/mnt/cross/foo-1.0/lib/foo.c} in place of the original location
7011 of @file{/usr/src/foo-1.0/lib/foo.c}. To define a source path
7012 substitution rule, use the @code{set substitute-path} command
7013 (@pxref{set substitute-path}).
7015 To avoid unexpected substitution results, a rule is applied only if the
7016 @var{from} part of the directory name ends at a directory separator.
7017 For instance, a rule substituting @file{/usr/source} into
7018 @file{/mnt/cross} will be applied to @file{/usr/source/foo-1.0} but
7019 not to @file{/usr/sourceware/foo-2.0}. And because the substitution
7020 is applied only at the beginning of the directory name, this rule will
7021 not be applied to @file{/root/usr/source/baz.c} either.
7023 In many cases, you can achieve the same result using the @code{directory}
7024 command. However, @code{set substitute-path} can be more efficient in
7025 the case where the sources are organized in a complex tree with multiple
7026 subdirectories. With the @code{directory} command, you need to add each
7027 subdirectory of your project. If you moved the entire tree while
7028 preserving its internal organization, then @code{set substitute-path}
7029 allows you to direct the debugger to all the sources with one single
7032 @code{set substitute-path} is also more than just a shortcut command.
7033 The source path is only used if the file at the original location no
7034 longer exists. On the other hand, @code{set substitute-path} modifies
7035 the debugger behavior to look at the rewritten location instead. So, if
7036 for any reason a source file that is not relevant to your executable is
7037 located at the original location, a substitution rule is the only
7038 method available to point @value{GDBN} at the new location.
7040 @cindex @samp{--with-relocated-sources}
7041 @cindex default source path substitution
7042 You can configure a default source path substitution rule by
7043 configuring @value{GDBN} with the
7044 @samp{--with-relocated-sources=@var{dir}} option. The @var{dir}
7045 should be the name of a directory under @value{GDBN}'s configured
7046 prefix (set with @samp{--prefix} or @samp{--exec-prefix}), and
7047 directory names in debug information under @var{dir} will be adjusted
7048 automatically if the installed @value{GDBN} is moved to a new
7049 location. This is useful if @value{GDBN}, libraries or executables
7050 with debug information and corresponding source code are being moved
7054 @item directory @var{dirname} @dots{}
7055 @item dir @var{dirname} @dots{}
7056 Add directory @var{dirname} to the front of the source path. Several
7057 directory names may be given to this command, separated by @samp{:}
7058 (@samp{;} on MS-DOS and MS-Windows, where @samp{:} usually appears as
7059 part of absolute file names) or
7060 whitespace. You may specify a directory that is already in the source
7061 path; this moves it forward, so @value{GDBN} searches it sooner.
7065 @vindex $cdir@r{, convenience variable}
7066 @vindex $cwd@r{, convenience variable}
7067 @cindex compilation directory
7068 @cindex current directory
7069 @cindex working directory
7070 @cindex directory, current
7071 @cindex directory, compilation
7072 You can use the string @samp{$cdir} to refer to the compilation
7073 directory (if one is recorded), and @samp{$cwd} to refer to the current
7074 working directory. @samp{$cwd} is not the same as @samp{.}---the former
7075 tracks the current working directory as it changes during your @value{GDBN}
7076 session, while the latter is immediately expanded to the current
7077 directory at the time you add an entry to the source path.
7080 Reset the source path to its default value (@samp{$cdir:$cwd} on Unix systems). This requires confirmation.
7082 @c RET-repeat for @code{directory} is explicitly disabled, but since
7083 @c repeating it would be a no-op we do not say that. (thanks to RMS)
7085 @item set directories @var{path-list}
7086 @kindex set directories
7087 Set the source path to @var{path-list}.
7088 @samp{$cdir:$cwd} are added if missing.
7090 @item show directories
7091 @kindex show directories
7092 Print the source path: show which directories it contains.
7094 @anchor{set substitute-path}
7095 @item set substitute-path @var{from} @var{to}
7096 @kindex set substitute-path
7097 Define a source path substitution rule, and add it at the end of the
7098 current list of existing substitution rules. If a rule with the same
7099 @var{from} was already defined, then the old rule is also deleted.
7101 For example, if the file @file{/foo/bar/baz.c} was moved to
7102 @file{/mnt/cross/baz.c}, then the command
7105 (@value{GDBP}) set substitute-path /usr/src /mnt/cross
7109 will tell @value{GDBN} to replace @samp{/usr/src} with
7110 @samp{/mnt/cross}, which will allow @value{GDBN} to find the file
7111 @file{baz.c} even though it was moved.
7113 In the case when more than one substitution rule have been defined,
7114 the rules are evaluated one by one in the order where they have been
7115 defined. The first one matching, if any, is selected to perform
7118 For instance, if we had entered the following commands:
7121 (@value{GDBP}) set substitute-path /usr/src/include /mnt/include
7122 (@value{GDBP}) set substitute-path /usr/src /mnt/src
7126 @value{GDBN} would then rewrite @file{/usr/src/include/defs.h} into
7127 @file{/mnt/include/defs.h} by using the first rule. However, it would
7128 use the second rule to rewrite @file{/usr/src/lib/foo.c} into
7129 @file{/mnt/src/lib/foo.c}.
7132 @item unset substitute-path [path]
7133 @kindex unset substitute-path
7134 If a path is specified, search the current list of substitution rules
7135 for a rule that would rewrite that path. Delete that rule if found.
7136 A warning is emitted by the debugger if no rule could be found.
7138 If no path is specified, then all substitution rules are deleted.
7140 @item show substitute-path [path]
7141 @kindex show substitute-path
7142 If a path is specified, then print the source path substitution rule
7143 which would rewrite that path, if any.
7145 If no path is specified, then print all existing source path substitution
7150 If your source path is cluttered with directories that are no longer of
7151 interest, @value{GDBN} may sometimes cause confusion by finding the wrong
7152 versions of source. You can correct the situation as follows:
7156 Use @code{directory} with no argument to reset the source path to its default value.
7159 Use @code{directory} with suitable arguments to reinstall the
7160 directories you want in the source path. You can add all the
7161 directories in one command.
7165 @section Source and Machine Code
7166 @cindex source line and its code address
7168 You can use the command @code{info line} to map source lines to program
7169 addresses (and vice versa), and the command @code{disassemble} to display
7170 a range of addresses as machine instructions. You can use the command
7171 @code{set disassemble-next-line} to set whether to disassemble next
7172 source line when execution stops. When run under @sc{gnu} Emacs
7173 mode, the @code{info line} command causes the arrow to point to the
7174 line specified. Also, @code{info line} prints addresses in symbolic form as
7179 @item info line @var{linespec}
7180 Print the starting and ending addresses of the compiled code for
7181 source line @var{linespec}. You can specify source lines in any of
7182 the ways documented in @ref{Specify Location}.
7185 For example, we can use @code{info line} to discover the location of
7186 the object code for the first line of function
7187 @code{m4_changequote}:
7189 @c FIXME: I think this example should also show the addresses in
7190 @c symbolic form, as they usually would be displayed.
7192 (@value{GDBP}) info line m4_changequote
7193 Line 895 of "builtin.c" starts at pc 0x634c and ends at 0x6350.
7197 @cindex code address and its source line
7198 We can also inquire (using @code{*@var{addr}} as the form for
7199 @var{linespec}) what source line covers a particular address:
7201 (@value{GDBP}) info line *0x63ff
7202 Line 926 of "builtin.c" starts at pc 0x63e4 and ends at 0x6404.
7205 @cindex @code{$_} and @code{info line}
7206 @cindex @code{x} command, default address
7207 @kindex x@r{(examine), and} info line
7208 After @code{info line}, the default address for the @code{x} command
7209 is changed to the starting address of the line, so that @samp{x/i} is
7210 sufficient to begin examining the machine code (@pxref{Memory,
7211 ,Examining Memory}). Also, this address is saved as the value of the
7212 convenience variable @code{$_} (@pxref{Convenience Vars, ,Convenience
7217 @cindex assembly instructions
7218 @cindex instructions, assembly
7219 @cindex machine instructions
7220 @cindex listing machine instructions
7222 @itemx disassemble /m
7223 @itemx disassemble /r
7224 This specialized command dumps a range of memory as machine
7225 instructions. It can also print mixed source+disassembly by specifying
7226 the @code{/m} modifier and print the raw instructions in hex as well as
7227 in symbolic form by specifying the @code{/r}.
7228 The default memory range is the function surrounding the
7229 program counter of the selected frame. A single argument to this
7230 command is a program counter value; @value{GDBN} dumps the function
7231 surrounding this value. When two arguments are given, they should
7232 be separated by a comma, possibly surrounded by whitespace. The
7233 arguments specify a range of addresses to dump, in one of two forms:
7236 @item @var{start},@var{end}
7237 the addresses from @var{start} (inclusive) to @var{end} (exclusive)
7238 @item @var{start},+@var{length}
7239 the addresses from @var{start} (inclusive) to
7240 @code{@var{start}+@var{length}} (exclusive).
7244 When 2 arguments are specified, the name of the function is also
7245 printed (since there could be several functions in the given range).
7247 The argument(s) can be any expression yielding a numeric value, such as
7248 @samp{0x32c4}, @samp{&main+10} or @samp{$pc - 8}.
7250 If the range of memory being disassembled contains current program counter,
7251 the instruction at that location is shown with a @code{=>} marker.
7254 The following example shows the disassembly of a range of addresses of
7255 HP PA-RISC 2.0 code:
7258 (@value{GDBP}) disas 0x32c4, 0x32e4
7259 Dump of assembler code from 0x32c4 to 0x32e4:
7260 0x32c4 <main+204>: addil 0,dp
7261 0x32c8 <main+208>: ldw 0x22c(sr0,r1),r26
7262 0x32cc <main+212>: ldil 0x3000,r31
7263 0x32d0 <main+216>: ble 0x3f8(sr4,r31)
7264 0x32d4 <main+220>: ldo 0(r31),rp
7265 0x32d8 <main+224>: addil -0x800,dp
7266 0x32dc <main+228>: ldo 0x588(r1),r26
7267 0x32e0 <main+232>: ldil 0x3000,r31
7268 End of assembler dump.
7271 Here is an example showing mixed source+assembly for Intel x86, when the
7272 program is stopped just after function prologue:
7275 (@value{GDBP}) disas /m main
7276 Dump of assembler code for function main:
7278 0x08048330 <+0>: push %ebp
7279 0x08048331 <+1>: mov %esp,%ebp
7280 0x08048333 <+3>: sub $0x8,%esp
7281 0x08048336 <+6>: and $0xfffffff0,%esp
7282 0x08048339 <+9>: sub $0x10,%esp
7284 6 printf ("Hello.\n");
7285 => 0x0804833c <+12>: movl $0x8048440,(%esp)
7286 0x08048343 <+19>: call 0x8048284 <puts@@plt>
7290 0x08048348 <+24>: mov $0x0,%eax
7291 0x0804834d <+29>: leave
7292 0x0804834e <+30>: ret
7294 End of assembler dump.
7297 Here is another example showing raw instructions in hex for AMD x86-64,
7300 (gdb) disas /r 0x400281,+10
7301 Dump of assembler code from 0x400281 to 0x40028b:
7302 0x0000000000400281: 38 36 cmp %dh,(%rsi)
7303 0x0000000000400283: 2d 36 34 2e 73 sub $0x732e3436,%eax
7304 0x0000000000400288: 6f outsl %ds:(%rsi),(%dx)
7305 0x0000000000400289: 2e 32 00 xor %cs:(%rax),%al
7306 End of assembler dump.
7309 Some architectures have more than one commonly-used set of instruction
7310 mnemonics or other syntax.
7312 For programs that were dynamically linked and use shared libraries,
7313 instructions that call functions or branch to locations in the shared
7314 libraries might show a seemingly bogus location---it's actually a
7315 location of the relocation table. On some architectures, @value{GDBN}
7316 might be able to resolve these to actual function names.
7319 @kindex set disassembly-flavor
7320 @cindex Intel disassembly flavor
7321 @cindex AT&T disassembly flavor
7322 @item set disassembly-flavor @var{instruction-set}
7323 Select the instruction set to use when disassembling the
7324 program via the @code{disassemble} or @code{x/i} commands.
7326 Currently this command is only defined for the Intel x86 family. You
7327 can set @var{instruction-set} to either @code{intel} or @code{att}.
7328 The default is @code{att}, the AT&T flavor used by default by Unix
7329 assemblers for x86-based targets.
7331 @kindex show disassembly-flavor
7332 @item show disassembly-flavor
7333 Show the current setting of the disassembly flavor.
7337 @kindex set disassemble-next-line
7338 @kindex show disassemble-next-line
7339 @item set disassemble-next-line
7340 @itemx show disassemble-next-line
7341 Control whether or not @value{GDBN} will disassemble the next source
7342 line or instruction when execution stops. If ON, @value{GDBN} will
7343 display disassembly of the next source line when execution of the
7344 program being debugged stops. This is @emph{in addition} to
7345 displaying the source line itself, which @value{GDBN} always does if
7346 possible. If the next source line cannot be displayed for some reason
7347 (e.g., if @value{GDBN} cannot find the source file, or there's no line
7348 info in the debug info), @value{GDBN} will display disassembly of the
7349 next @emph{instruction} instead of showing the next source line. If
7350 AUTO, @value{GDBN} will display disassembly of next instruction only
7351 if the source line cannot be displayed. This setting causes
7352 @value{GDBN} to display some feedback when you step through a function
7353 with no line info or whose source file is unavailable. The default is
7354 OFF, which means never display the disassembly of the next line or
7360 @chapter Examining Data
7362 @cindex printing data
7363 @cindex examining data
7366 @c "inspect" is not quite a synonym if you are using Epoch, which we do not
7367 @c document because it is nonstandard... Under Epoch it displays in a
7368 @c different window or something like that.
7369 The usual way to examine data in your program is with the @code{print}
7370 command (abbreviated @code{p}), or its synonym @code{inspect}. It
7371 evaluates and prints the value of an expression of the language your
7372 program is written in (@pxref{Languages, ,Using @value{GDBN} with
7373 Different Languages}). It may also print the expression using a
7374 Python-based pretty-printer (@pxref{Pretty Printing}).
7377 @item print @var{expr}
7378 @itemx print /@var{f} @var{expr}
7379 @var{expr} is an expression (in the source language). By default the
7380 value of @var{expr} is printed in a format appropriate to its data type;
7381 you can choose a different format by specifying @samp{/@var{f}}, where
7382 @var{f} is a letter specifying the format; see @ref{Output Formats,,Output
7386 @itemx print /@var{f}
7387 @cindex reprint the last value
7388 If you omit @var{expr}, @value{GDBN} displays the last value again (from the
7389 @dfn{value history}; @pxref{Value History, ,Value History}). This allows you to
7390 conveniently inspect the same value in an alternative format.
7393 A more low-level way of examining data is with the @code{x} command.
7394 It examines data in memory at a specified address and prints it in a
7395 specified format. @xref{Memory, ,Examining Memory}.
7397 If you are interested in information about types, or about how the
7398 fields of a struct or a class are declared, use the @code{ptype @var{exp}}
7399 command rather than @code{print}. @xref{Symbols, ,Examining the Symbol
7402 @cindex exploring hierarchical data structures
7404 Another way of examining values of expressions and type information is
7405 through the Python extension command @code{explore} (available only if
7406 the @value{GDBN} build is configured with @code{--with-python}). It
7407 offers an interactive way to start at the highest level (or, the most
7408 abstract level) of the data type of an expression (or, the data type
7409 itself) and explore all the way down to leaf scalar values/fields
7410 embedded in the higher level data types.
7413 @item explore @var{arg}
7414 @var{arg} is either an expression (in the source language), or a type
7415 visible in the current context of the program being debugged.
7418 The working of the @code{explore} command can be illustrated with an
7419 example. If a data type @code{struct ComplexStruct} is defined in your
7429 struct ComplexStruct
7431 struct SimpleStruct *ss_p;
7437 followed by variable declarations as
7440 struct SimpleStruct ss = @{ 10, 1.11 @};
7441 struct ComplexStruct cs = @{ &ss, @{ 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 @} @};
7445 then, the value of the variable @code{cs} can be explored using the
7446 @code{explore} command as follows.
7450 The value of `cs' is a struct/class of type `struct ComplexStruct' with
7451 the following fields:
7453 ss_p = <Enter 0 to explore this field of type `struct SimpleStruct *'>
7454 arr = <Enter 1 to explore this field of type `int [10]'>
7456 Enter the field number of choice:
7460 Since the fields of @code{cs} are not scalar values, you are being
7461 prompted to chose the field you want to explore. Let's say you choose
7462 the field @code{ss_p} by entering @code{0}. Then, since this field is a
7463 pointer, you will be asked if it is pointing to a single value. From
7464 the declaration of @code{cs} above, it is indeed pointing to a single
7465 value, hence you enter @code{y}. If you enter @code{n}, then you will
7466 be asked if it were pointing to an array of values, in which case this
7467 field will be explored as if it were an array.
7470 `cs.ss_p' is a pointer to a value of type `struct SimpleStruct'
7471 Continue exploring it as a pointer to a single value [y/n]: y
7472 The value of `*(cs.ss_p)' is a struct/class of type `struct
7473 SimpleStruct' with the following fields:
7475 i = 10 .. (Value of type `int')
7476 d = 1.1100000000000001 .. (Value of type `double')
7478 Press enter to return to parent value:
7482 If the field @code{arr} of @code{cs} was chosen for exploration by
7483 entering @code{1} earlier, then since it is as array, you will be
7484 prompted to enter the index of the element in the array that you want
7488 `cs.arr' is an array of `int'.
7489 Enter the index of the element you want to explore in `cs.arr': 5
7491 `(cs.arr)[5]' is a scalar value of type `int'.
7495 Press enter to return to parent value:
7498 In general, at any stage of exploration, you can go deeper towards the
7499 leaf values by responding to the prompts appropriately, or hit the
7500 return key to return to the enclosing data structure (the @i{higher}
7501 level data structure).
7503 Similar to exploring values, you can use the @code{explore} command to
7504 explore types. Instead of specifying a value (which is typically a
7505 variable name or an expression valid in the current context of the
7506 program being debugged), you specify a type name. If you consider the
7507 same example as above, your can explore the type
7508 @code{struct ComplexStruct} by passing the argument
7509 @code{struct ComplexStruct} to the @code{explore} command.
7512 (gdb) explore struct ComplexStruct
7516 By responding to the prompts appropriately in the subsequent interactive
7517 session, you can explore the type @code{struct ComplexStruct} in a
7518 manner similar to how the value @code{cs} was explored in the above
7521 The @code{explore} command also has two sub-commands,
7522 @code{explore value} and @code{explore type}. The former sub-command is
7523 a way to explicitly specify that value exploration of the argument is
7524 being invoked, while the latter is a way to explicitly specify that type
7525 exploration of the argument is being invoked.
7528 @item explore value @var{expr}
7529 @cindex explore value
7530 This sub-command of @code{explore} explores the value of the
7531 expression @var{expr} (if @var{expr} is an expression valid in the
7532 current context of the program being debugged). The behavior of this
7533 command is identical to that of the behavior of the @code{explore}
7534 command being passed the argument @var{expr}.
7536 @item explore type @var{arg}
7537 @cindex explore type
7538 This sub-command of @code{explore} explores the type of @var{arg} (if
7539 @var{arg} is a type visible in the current context of program being
7540 debugged), or the type of the value/expression @var{arg} (if @var{arg}
7541 is an expression valid in the current context of the program being
7542 debugged). If @var{arg} is a type, then the behavior of this command is
7543 identical to that of the @code{explore} command being passed the
7544 argument @var{arg}. If @var{arg} is an expression, then the behavior of
7545 this command will be identical to that of the @code{explore} command
7546 being passed the type of @var{arg} as the argument.
7550 * Expressions:: Expressions
7551 * Ambiguous Expressions:: Ambiguous Expressions
7552 * Variables:: Program variables
7553 * Arrays:: Artificial arrays
7554 * Output Formats:: Output formats
7555 * Memory:: Examining memory
7556 * Auto Display:: Automatic display
7557 * Print Settings:: Print settings
7558 * Pretty Printing:: Python pretty printing
7559 * Value History:: Value history
7560 * Convenience Vars:: Convenience variables
7561 * Registers:: Registers
7562 * Floating Point Hardware:: Floating point hardware
7563 * Vector Unit:: Vector Unit
7564 * OS Information:: Auxiliary data provided by operating system
7565 * Memory Region Attributes:: Memory region attributes
7566 * Dump/Restore Files:: Copy between memory and a file
7567 * Core File Generation:: Cause a program dump its core
7568 * Character Sets:: Debugging programs that use a different
7569 character set than GDB does
7570 * Caching Remote Data:: Data caching for remote targets
7571 * Searching Memory:: Searching memory for a sequence of bytes
7575 @section Expressions
7578 @code{print} and many other @value{GDBN} commands accept an expression and
7579 compute its value. Any kind of constant, variable or operator defined
7580 by the programming language you are using is valid in an expression in
7581 @value{GDBN}. This includes conditional expressions, function calls,
7582 casts, and string constants. It also includes preprocessor macros, if
7583 you compiled your program to include this information; see
7586 @cindex arrays in expressions
7587 @value{GDBN} supports array constants in expressions input by
7588 the user. The syntax is @{@var{element}, @var{element}@dots{}@}. For example,
7589 you can use the command @code{print @{1, 2, 3@}} to create an array
7590 of three integers. If you pass an array to a function or assign it
7591 to a program variable, @value{GDBN} copies the array to memory that
7592 is @code{malloc}ed in the target program.
7594 Because C is so widespread, most of the expressions shown in examples in
7595 this manual are in C. @xref{Languages, , Using @value{GDBN} with Different
7596 Languages}, for information on how to use expressions in other
7599 In this section, we discuss operators that you can use in @value{GDBN}
7600 expressions regardless of your programming language.
7602 @cindex casts, in expressions
7603 Casts are supported in all languages, not just in C, because it is so
7604 useful to cast a number into a pointer in order to examine a structure
7605 at that address in memory.
7606 @c FIXME: casts supported---Mod2 true?
7608 @value{GDBN} supports these operators, in addition to those common
7609 to programming languages:
7613 @samp{@@} is a binary operator for treating parts of memory as arrays.
7614 @xref{Arrays, ,Artificial Arrays}, for more information.
7617 @samp{::} allows you to specify a variable in terms of the file or
7618 function where it is defined. @xref{Variables, ,Program Variables}.
7620 @cindex @{@var{type}@}
7621 @cindex type casting memory
7622 @cindex memory, viewing as typed object
7623 @cindex casts, to view memory
7624 @item @{@var{type}@} @var{addr}
7625 Refers to an object of type @var{type} stored at address @var{addr} in
7626 memory. @var{addr} may be any expression whose value is an integer or
7627 pointer (but parentheses are required around binary operators, just as in
7628 a cast). This construct is allowed regardless of what kind of data is
7629 normally supposed to reside at @var{addr}.
7632 @node Ambiguous Expressions
7633 @section Ambiguous Expressions
7634 @cindex ambiguous expressions
7636 Expressions can sometimes contain some ambiguous elements. For instance,
7637 some programming languages (notably Ada, C@t{++} and Objective-C) permit
7638 a single function name to be defined several times, for application in
7639 different contexts. This is called @dfn{overloading}. Another example
7640 involving Ada is generics. A @dfn{generic package} is similar to C@t{++}
7641 templates and is typically instantiated several times, resulting in
7642 the same function name being defined in different contexts.
7644 In some cases and depending on the language, it is possible to adjust
7645 the expression to remove the ambiguity. For instance in C@t{++}, you
7646 can specify the signature of the function you want to break on, as in
7647 @kbd{break @var{function}(@var{types})}. In Ada, using the fully
7648 qualified name of your function often makes the expression unambiguous
7651 When an ambiguity that needs to be resolved is detected, the debugger
7652 has the capability to display a menu of numbered choices for each
7653 possibility, and then waits for the selection with the prompt @samp{>}.
7654 The first option is always @samp{[0] cancel}, and typing @kbd{0 @key{RET}}
7655 aborts the current command. If the command in which the expression was
7656 used allows more than one choice to be selected, the next option in the
7657 menu is @samp{[1] all}, and typing @kbd{1 @key{RET}} selects all possible
7660 For example, the following session excerpt shows an attempt to set a
7661 breakpoint at the overloaded symbol @code{String::after}.
7662 We choose three particular definitions of that function name:
7664 @c FIXME! This is likely to change to show arg type lists, at least
7667 (@value{GDBP}) b String::after
7670 [2] file:String.cc; line number:867
7671 [3] file:String.cc; line number:860
7672 [4] file:String.cc; line number:875
7673 [5] file:String.cc; line number:853
7674 [6] file:String.cc; line number:846
7675 [7] file:String.cc; line number:735
7677 Breakpoint 1 at 0xb26c: file String.cc, line 867.
7678 Breakpoint 2 at 0xb344: file String.cc, line 875.
7679 Breakpoint 3 at 0xafcc: file String.cc, line 846.
7680 Multiple breakpoints were set.
7681 Use the "delete" command to delete unwanted
7688 @kindex set multiple-symbols
7689 @item set multiple-symbols @var{mode}
7690 @cindex multiple-symbols menu
7692 This option allows you to adjust the debugger behavior when an expression
7695 By default, @var{mode} is set to @code{all}. If the command with which
7696 the expression is used allows more than one choice, then @value{GDBN}
7697 automatically selects all possible choices. For instance, inserting
7698 a breakpoint on a function using an ambiguous name results in a breakpoint
7699 inserted on each possible match. However, if a unique choice must be made,
7700 then @value{GDBN} uses the menu to help you disambiguate the expression.
7701 For instance, printing the address of an overloaded function will result
7702 in the use of the menu.
7704 When @var{mode} is set to @code{ask}, the debugger always uses the menu
7705 when an ambiguity is detected.
7707 Finally, when @var{mode} is set to @code{cancel}, the debugger reports
7708 an error due to the ambiguity and the command is aborted.
7710 @kindex show multiple-symbols
7711 @item show multiple-symbols
7712 Show the current value of the @code{multiple-symbols} setting.
7716 @section Program Variables
7718 The most common kind of expression to use is the name of a variable
7721 Variables in expressions are understood in the selected stack frame
7722 (@pxref{Selection, ,Selecting a Frame}); they must be either:
7726 global (or file-static)
7733 visible according to the scope rules of the
7734 programming language from the point of execution in that frame
7737 @noindent This means that in the function
7752 you can examine and use the variable @code{a} whenever your program is
7753 executing within the function @code{foo}, but you can only use or
7754 examine the variable @code{b} while your program is executing inside
7755 the block where @code{b} is declared.
7757 @cindex variable name conflict
7758 There is an exception: you can refer to a variable or function whose
7759 scope is a single source file even if the current execution point is not
7760 in this file. But it is possible to have more than one such variable or
7761 function with the same name (in different source files). If that
7762 happens, referring to that name has unpredictable effects. If you wish,
7763 you can specify a static variable in a particular function or file by
7764 using the colon-colon (@code{::}) notation:
7766 @cindex colon-colon, context for variables/functions
7768 @c info cannot cope with a :: index entry, but why deprive hard copy readers?
7769 @cindex @code{::}, context for variables/functions
7772 @var{file}::@var{variable}
7773 @var{function}::@var{variable}
7777 Here @var{file} or @var{function} is the name of the context for the
7778 static @var{variable}. In the case of file names, you can use quotes to
7779 make sure @value{GDBN} parses the file name as a single word---for example,
7780 to print a global value of @code{x} defined in @file{f2.c}:
7783 (@value{GDBP}) p 'f2.c'::x
7786 The @code{::} notation is normally used for referring to
7787 static variables, since you typically disambiguate uses of local variables
7788 in functions by selecting the appropriate frame and using the
7789 simple name of the variable. However, you may also use this notation
7790 to refer to local variables in frames enclosing the selected frame:
7799 process (a); /* Stop here */
7810 For example, if there is a breakpoint at the commented line,
7811 here is what you might see
7812 when the program stops after executing the call @code{bar(0)}:
7817 (@value{GDBP}) p bar::a
7820 #2 0x080483d0 in foo (a=5) at foobar.c:12
7823 (@value{GDBP}) p bar::a
7827 @cindex C@t{++} scope resolution
7828 These uses of @samp{::} are very rarely in conflict with the very similar
7829 use of the same notation in C@t{++}. @value{GDBN} also supports use of the C@t{++}
7830 scope resolution operator in @value{GDBN} expressions.
7831 @c FIXME: Um, so what happens in one of those rare cases where it's in
7834 @cindex wrong values
7835 @cindex variable values, wrong
7836 @cindex function entry/exit, wrong values of variables
7837 @cindex optimized code, wrong values of variables
7839 @emph{Warning:} Occasionally, a local variable may appear to have the
7840 wrong value at certain points in a function---just after entry to a new
7841 scope, and just before exit.
7843 You may see this problem when you are stepping by machine instructions.
7844 This is because, on most machines, it takes more than one instruction to
7845 set up a stack frame (including local variable definitions); if you are
7846 stepping by machine instructions, variables may appear to have the wrong
7847 values until the stack frame is completely built. On exit, it usually
7848 also takes more than one machine instruction to destroy a stack frame;
7849 after you begin stepping through that group of instructions, local
7850 variable definitions may be gone.
7852 This may also happen when the compiler does significant optimizations.
7853 To be sure of always seeing accurate values, turn off all optimization
7856 @cindex ``No symbol "foo" in current context''
7857 Another possible effect of compiler optimizations is to optimize
7858 unused variables out of existence, or assign variables to registers (as
7859 opposed to memory addresses). Depending on the support for such cases
7860 offered by the debug info format used by the compiler, @value{GDBN}
7861 might not be able to display values for such local variables. If that
7862 happens, @value{GDBN} will print a message like this:
7865 No symbol "foo" in current context.
7868 To solve such problems, either recompile without optimizations, or use a
7869 different debug info format, if the compiler supports several such
7870 formats. @xref{Compilation}, for more information on choosing compiler
7871 options. @xref{C, ,C and C@t{++}}, for more information about debug
7872 info formats that are best suited to C@t{++} programs.
7874 If you ask to print an object whose contents are unknown to
7875 @value{GDBN}, e.g., because its data type is not completely specified
7876 by the debug information, @value{GDBN} will say @samp{<incomplete
7877 type>}. @xref{Symbols, incomplete type}, for more about this.
7879 If you append @kbd{@@entry} string to a function parameter name you get its
7880 value at the time the function got called. If the value is not available an
7881 error message is printed. Entry values are available only with some compilers.
7882 Entry values are normally also printed at the function parameter list according
7883 to @ref{set print entry-values}.
7886 Breakpoint 1, d (i=30) at gdb.base/entry-value.c:29
7892 (gdb) print i@@entry
7896 Strings are identified as arrays of @code{char} values without specified
7897 signedness. Arrays of either @code{signed char} or @code{unsigned char} get
7898 printed as arrays of 1 byte sized integers. @code{-fsigned-char} or
7899 @code{-funsigned-char} @value{NGCC} options have no effect as @value{GDBN}
7900 defines literal string type @code{"char"} as @code{char} without a sign.
7905 signed char var1[] = "A";
7908 You get during debugging
7913 $2 = @{65 'A', 0 '\0'@}
7917 @section Artificial Arrays
7919 @cindex artificial array
7921 @kindex @@@r{, referencing memory as an array}
7922 It is often useful to print out several successive objects of the
7923 same type in memory; a section of an array, or an array of
7924 dynamically determined size for which only a pointer exists in the
7927 You can do this by referring to a contiguous span of memory as an
7928 @dfn{artificial array}, using the binary operator @samp{@@}. The left
7929 operand of @samp{@@} should be the first element of the desired array
7930 and be an individual object. The right operand should be the desired length
7931 of the array. The result is an array value whose elements are all of
7932 the type of the left argument. The first element is actually the left
7933 argument; the second element comes from bytes of memory immediately
7934 following those that hold the first element, and so on. Here is an
7935 example. If a program says
7938 int *array = (int *) malloc (len * sizeof (int));
7942 you can print the contents of @code{array} with
7948 The left operand of @samp{@@} must reside in memory. Array values made
7949 with @samp{@@} in this way behave just like other arrays in terms of
7950 subscripting, and are coerced to pointers when used in expressions.
7951 Artificial arrays most often appear in expressions via the value history
7952 (@pxref{Value History, ,Value History}), after printing one out.
7954 Another way to create an artificial array is to use a cast.
7955 This re-interprets a value as if it were an array.
7956 The value need not be in memory:
7958 (@value{GDBP}) p/x (short[2])0x12345678
7959 $1 = @{0x1234, 0x5678@}
7962 As a convenience, if you leave the array length out (as in
7963 @samp{(@var{type}[])@var{value}}) @value{GDBN} calculates the size to fill
7964 the value (as @samp{sizeof(@var{value})/sizeof(@var{type})}:
7966 (@value{GDBP}) p/x (short[])0x12345678
7967 $2 = @{0x1234, 0x5678@}
7970 Sometimes the artificial array mechanism is not quite enough; in
7971 moderately complex data structures, the elements of interest may not
7972 actually be adjacent---for example, if you are interested in the values
7973 of pointers in an array. One useful work-around in this situation is
7974 to use a convenience variable (@pxref{Convenience Vars, ,Convenience
7975 Variables}) as a counter in an expression that prints the first
7976 interesting value, and then repeat that expression via @key{RET}. For
7977 instance, suppose you have an array @code{dtab} of pointers to
7978 structures, and you are interested in the values of a field @code{fv}
7979 in each structure. Here is an example of what you might type:
7989 @node Output Formats
7990 @section Output Formats
7992 @cindex formatted output
7993 @cindex output formats
7994 By default, @value{GDBN} prints a value according to its data type. Sometimes
7995 this is not what you want. For example, you might want to print a number
7996 in hex, or a pointer in decimal. Or you might want to view data in memory
7997 at a certain address as a character string or as an instruction. To do
7998 these things, specify an @dfn{output format} when you print a value.
8000 The simplest use of output formats is to say how to print a value
8001 already computed. This is done by starting the arguments of the
8002 @code{print} command with a slash and a format letter. The format
8003 letters supported are:
8007 Regard the bits of the value as an integer, and print the integer in
8011 Print as integer in signed decimal.
8014 Print as integer in unsigned decimal.
8017 Print as integer in octal.
8020 Print as integer in binary. The letter @samp{t} stands for ``two''.
8021 @footnote{@samp{b} cannot be used because these format letters are also
8022 used with the @code{x} command, where @samp{b} stands for ``byte'';
8023 see @ref{Memory,,Examining Memory}.}
8026 @cindex unknown address, locating
8027 @cindex locate address
8028 Print as an address, both absolute in hexadecimal and as an offset from
8029 the nearest preceding symbol. You can use this format used to discover
8030 where (in what function) an unknown address is located:
8033 (@value{GDBP}) p/a 0x54320
8034 $3 = 0x54320 <_initialize_vx+396>
8038 The command @code{info symbol 0x54320} yields similar results.
8039 @xref{Symbols, info symbol}.
8042 Regard as an integer and print it as a character constant. This
8043 prints both the numerical value and its character representation. The
8044 character representation is replaced with the octal escape @samp{\nnn}
8045 for characters outside the 7-bit @sc{ascii} range.
8047 Without this format, @value{GDBN} displays @code{char},
8048 @w{@code{unsigned char}}, and @w{@code{signed char}} data as character
8049 constants. Single-byte members of vectors are displayed as integer
8053 Regard the bits of the value as a floating point number and print
8054 using typical floating point syntax.
8057 @cindex printing strings
8058 @cindex printing byte arrays
8059 Regard as a string, if possible. With this format, pointers to single-byte
8060 data are displayed as null-terminated strings and arrays of single-byte data
8061 are displayed as fixed-length strings. Other values are displayed in their
8064 Without this format, @value{GDBN} displays pointers to and arrays of
8065 @code{char}, @w{@code{unsigned char}}, and @w{@code{signed char}} as
8066 strings. Single-byte members of a vector are displayed as an integer
8070 @cindex raw printing
8071 Print using the @samp{raw} formatting. By default, @value{GDBN} will
8072 use a Python-based pretty-printer, if one is available (@pxref{Pretty
8073 Printing}). This typically results in a higher-level display of the
8074 value's contents. The @samp{r} format bypasses any Python
8075 pretty-printer which might exist.
8078 For example, to print the program counter in hex (@pxref{Registers}), type
8085 Note that no space is required before the slash; this is because command
8086 names in @value{GDBN} cannot contain a slash.
8088 To reprint the last value in the value history with a different format,
8089 you can use the @code{print} command with just a format and no
8090 expression. For example, @samp{p/x} reprints the last value in hex.
8093 @section Examining Memory
8095 You can use the command @code{x} (for ``examine'') to examine memory in
8096 any of several formats, independently of your program's data types.
8098 @cindex examining memory
8100 @kindex x @r{(examine memory)}
8101 @item x/@var{nfu} @var{addr}
8104 Use the @code{x} command to examine memory.
8107 @var{n}, @var{f}, and @var{u} are all optional parameters that specify how
8108 much memory to display and how to format it; @var{addr} is an
8109 expression giving the address where you want to start displaying memory.
8110 If you use defaults for @var{nfu}, you need not type the slash @samp{/}.
8111 Several commands set convenient defaults for @var{addr}.
8114 @item @var{n}, the repeat count
8115 The repeat count is a decimal integer; the default is 1. It specifies
8116 how much memory (counting by units @var{u}) to display.
8117 @c This really is **decimal**; unaffected by 'set radix' as of GDB
8120 @item @var{f}, the display format
8121 The display format is one of the formats used by @code{print}
8122 (@samp{x}, @samp{d}, @samp{u}, @samp{o}, @samp{t}, @samp{a}, @samp{c},
8123 @samp{f}, @samp{s}), and in addition @samp{i} (for machine instructions).
8124 The default is @samp{x} (hexadecimal) initially. The default changes
8125 each time you use either @code{x} or @code{print}.
8127 @item @var{u}, the unit size
8128 The unit size is any of
8134 Halfwords (two bytes).
8136 Words (four bytes). This is the initial default.
8138 Giant words (eight bytes).
8141 Each time you specify a unit size with @code{x}, that size becomes the
8142 default unit the next time you use @code{x}. For the @samp{i} format,
8143 the unit size is ignored and is normally not written. For the @samp{s} format,
8144 the unit size defaults to @samp{b}, unless it is explicitly given.
8145 Use @kbd{x /hs} to display 16-bit char strings and @kbd{x /ws} to display
8146 32-bit strings. The next use of @kbd{x /s} will again display 8-bit strings.
8147 Note that the results depend on the programming language of the
8148 current compilation unit. If the language is C, the @samp{s}
8149 modifier will use the UTF-16 encoding while @samp{w} will use
8150 UTF-32. The encoding is set by the programming language and cannot
8153 @item @var{addr}, starting display address
8154 @var{addr} is the address where you want @value{GDBN} to begin displaying
8155 memory. The expression need not have a pointer value (though it may);
8156 it is always interpreted as an integer address of a byte of memory.
8157 @xref{Expressions, ,Expressions}, for more information on expressions. The default for
8158 @var{addr} is usually just after the last address examined---but several
8159 other commands also set the default address: @code{info breakpoints} (to
8160 the address of the last breakpoint listed), @code{info line} (to the
8161 starting address of a line), and @code{print} (if you use it to display
8162 a value from memory).
8165 For example, @samp{x/3uh 0x54320} is a request to display three halfwords
8166 (@code{h}) of memory, formatted as unsigned decimal integers (@samp{u}),
8167 starting at address @code{0x54320}. @samp{x/4xw $sp} prints the four
8168 words (@samp{w}) of memory above the stack pointer (here, @samp{$sp};
8169 @pxref{Registers, ,Registers}) in hexadecimal (@samp{x}).
8171 Since the letters indicating unit sizes are all distinct from the
8172 letters specifying output formats, you do not have to remember whether
8173 unit size or format comes first; either order works. The output
8174 specifications @samp{4xw} and @samp{4wx} mean exactly the same thing.
8175 (However, the count @var{n} must come first; @samp{wx4} does not work.)
8177 Even though the unit size @var{u} is ignored for the formats @samp{s}
8178 and @samp{i}, you might still want to use a count @var{n}; for example,
8179 @samp{3i} specifies that you want to see three machine instructions,
8180 including any operands. For convenience, especially when used with
8181 the @code{display} command, the @samp{i} format also prints branch delay
8182 slot instructions, if any, beyond the count specified, which immediately
8183 follow the last instruction that is within the count. The command
8184 @code{disassemble} gives an alternative way of inspecting machine
8185 instructions; see @ref{Machine Code,,Source and Machine Code}.
8187 All the defaults for the arguments to @code{x} are designed to make it
8188 easy to continue scanning memory with minimal specifications each time
8189 you use @code{x}. For example, after you have inspected three machine
8190 instructions with @samp{x/3i @var{addr}}, you can inspect the next seven
8191 with just @samp{x/7}. If you use @key{RET} to repeat the @code{x} command,
8192 the repeat count @var{n} is used again; the other arguments default as
8193 for successive uses of @code{x}.
8195 When examining machine instructions, the instruction at current program
8196 counter is shown with a @code{=>} marker. For example:
8199 (@value{GDBP}) x/5i $pc-6
8200 0x804837f <main+11>: mov %esp,%ebp
8201 0x8048381 <main+13>: push %ecx
8202 0x8048382 <main+14>: sub $0x4,%esp
8203 => 0x8048385 <main+17>: movl $0x8048460,(%esp)
8204 0x804838c <main+24>: call 0x80482d4 <puts@@plt>
8207 @cindex @code{$_}, @code{$__}, and value history
8208 The addresses and contents printed by the @code{x} command are not saved
8209 in the value history because there is often too much of them and they
8210 would get in the way. Instead, @value{GDBN} makes these values available for
8211 subsequent use in expressions as values of the convenience variables
8212 @code{$_} and @code{$__}. After an @code{x} command, the last address
8213 examined is available for use in expressions in the convenience variable
8214 @code{$_}. The contents of that address, as examined, are available in
8215 the convenience variable @code{$__}.
8217 If the @code{x} command has a repeat count, the address and contents saved
8218 are from the last memory unit printed; this is not the same as the last
8219 address printed if several units were printed on the last line of output.
8221 @cindex remote memory comparison
8222 @cindex verify remote memory image
8223 When you are debugging a program running on a remote target machine
8224 (@pxref{Remote Debugging}), you may wish to verify the program's image in the
8225 remote machine's memory against the executable file you downloaded to
8226 the target. The @code{compare-sections} command is provided for such
8230 @kindex compare-sections
8231 @item compare-sections @r{[}@var{section-name}@r{]}
8232 Compare the data of a loadable section @var{section-name} in the
8233 executable file of the program being debugged with the same section in
8234 the remote machine's memory, and report any mismatches. With no
8235 arguments, compares all loadable sections. This command's
8236 availability depends on the target's support for the @code{"qCRC"}
8241 @section Automatic Display
8242 @cindex automatic display
8243 @cindex display of expressions
8245 If you find that you want to print the value of an expression frequently
8246 (to see how it changes), you might want to add it to the @dfn{automatic
8247 display list} so that @value{GDBN} prints its value each time your program stops.
8248 Each expression added to the list is given a number to identify it;
8249 to remove an expression from the list, you specify that number.
8250 The automatic display looks like this:
8254 3: bar[5] = (struct hack *) 0x3804
8258 This display shows item numbers, expressions and their current values. As with
8259 displays you request manually using @code{x} or @code{print}, you can
8260 specify the output format you prefer; in fact, @code{display} decides
8261 whether to use @code{print} or @code{x} depending your format
8262 specification---it uses @code{x} if you specify either the @samp{i}
8263 or @samp{s} format, or a unit size; otherwise it uses @code{print}.
8267 @item display @var{expr}
8268 Add the expression @var{expr} to the list of expressions to display
8269 each time your program stops. @xref{Expressions, ,Expressions}.
8271 @code{display} does not repeat if you press @key{RET} again after using it.
8273 @item display/@var{fmt} @var{expr}
8274 For @var{fmt} specifying only a display format and not a size or
8275 count, add the expression @var{expr} to the auto-display list but
8276 arrange to display it each time in the specified format @var{fmt}.
8277 @xref{Output Formats,,Output Formats}.
8279 @item display/@var{fmt} @var{addr}
8280 For @var{fmt} @samp{i} or @samp{s}, or including a unit-size or a
8281 number of units, add the expression @var{addr} as a memory address to
8282 be examined each time your program stops. Examining means in effect
8283 doing @samp{x/@var{fmt} @var{addr}}. @xref{Memory, ,Examining Memory}.
8286 For example, @samp{display/i $pc} can be helpful, to see the machine
8287 instruction about to be executed each time execution stops (@samp{$pc}
8288 is a common name for the program counter; @pxref{Registers, ,Registers}).
8291 @kindex delete display
8293 @item undisplay @var{dnums}@dots{}
8294 @itemx delete display @var{dnums}@dots{}
8295 Remove items from the list of expressions to display. Specify the
8296 numbers of the displays that you want affected with the command
8297 argument @var{dnums}. It can be a single display number, one of the
8298 numbers shown in the first field of the @samp{info display} display;
8299 or it could be a range of display numbers, as in @code{2-4}.
8301 @code{undisplay} does not repeat if you press @key{RET} after using it.
8302 (Otherwise you would just get the error @samp{No display number @dots{}}.)
8304 @kindex disable display
8305 @item disable display @var{dnums}@dots{}
8306 Disable the display of item numbers @var{dnums}. A disabled display
8307 item is not printed automatically, but is not forgotten. It may be
8308 enabled again later. Specify the numbers of the displays that you
8309 want affected with the command argument @var{dnums}. It can be a
8310 single display number, one of the numbers shown in the first field of
8311 the @samp{info display} display; or it could be a range of display
8312 numbers, as in @code{2-4}.
8314 @kindex enable display
8315 @item enable display @var{dnums}@dots{}
8316 Enable display of item numbers @var{dnums}. It becomes effective once
8317 again in auto display of its expression, until you specify otherwise.
8318 Specify the numbers of the displays that you want affected with the
8319 command argument @var{dnums}. It can be a single display number, one
8320 of the numbers shown in the first field of the @samp{info display}
8321 display; or it could be a range of display numbers, as in @code{2-4}.
8324 Display the current values of the expressions on the list, just as is
8325 done when your program stops.
8327 @kindex info display
8329 Print the list of expressions previously set up to display
8330 automatically, each one with its item number, but without showing the
8331 values. This includes disabled expressions, which are marked as such.
8332 It also includes expressions which would not be displayed right now
8333 because they refer to automatic variables not currently available.
8336 @cindex display disabled out of scope
8337 If a display expression refers to local variables, then it does not make
8338 sense outside the lexical context for which it was set up. Such an
8339 expression is disabled when execution enters a context where one of its
8340 variables is not defined. For example, if you give the command
8341 @code{display last_char} while inside a function with an argument
8342 @code{last_char}, @value{GDBN} displays this argument while your program
8343 continues to stop inside that function. When it stops elsewhere---where
8344 there is no variable @code{last_char}---the display is disabled
8345 automatically. The next time your program stops where @code{last_char}
8346 is meaningful, you can enable the display expression once again.
8348 @node Print Settings
8349 @section Print Settings
8351 @cindex format options
8352 @cindex print settings
8353 @value{GDBN} provides the following ways to control how arrays, structures,
8354 and symbols are printed.
8357 These settings are useful for debugging programs in any language:
8361 @item set print address
8362 @itemx set print address on
8363 @cindex print/don't print memory addresses
8364 @value{GDBN} prints memory addresses showing the location of stack
8365 traces, structure values, pointer values, breakpoints, and so forth,
8366 even when it also displays the contents of those addresses. The default
8367 is @code{on}. For example, this is what a stack frame display looks like with
8368 @code{set print address on}:
8373 #0 set_quotes (lq=0x34c78 "<<", rq=0x34c88 ">>")
8375 530 if (lquote != def_lquote)
8379 @item set print address off
8380 Do not print addresses when displaying their contents. For example,
8381 this is the same stack frame displayed with @code{set print address off}:
8385 (@value{GDBP}) set print addr off
8387 #0 set_quotes (lq="<<", rq=">>") at input.c:530
8388 530 if (lquote != def_lquote)
8392 You can use @samp{set print address off} to eliminate all machine
8393 dependent displays from the @value{GDBN} interface. For example, with
8394 @code{print address off}, you should get the same text for backtraces on
8395 all machines---whether or not they involve pointer arguments.
8398 @item show print address
8399 Show whether or not addresses are to be printed.
8402 When @value{GDBN} prints a symbolic address, it normally prints the
8403 closest earlier symbol plus an offset. If that symbol does not uniquely
8404 identify the address (for example, it is a name whose scope is a single
8405 source file), you may need to clarify. One way to do this is with
8406 @code{info line}, for example @samp{info line *0x4537}. Alternately,
8407 you can set @value{GDBN} to print the source file and line number when
8408 it prints a symbolic address:
8411 @item set print symbol-filename on
8412 @cindex source file and line of a symbol
8413 @cindex symbol, source file and line
8414 Tell @value{GDBN} to print the source file name and line number of a
8415 symbol in the symbolic form of an address.
8417 @item set print symbol-filename off
8418 Do not print source file name and line number of a symbol. This is the
8421 @item show print symbol-filename
8422 Show whether or not @value{GDBN} will print the source file name and
8423 line number of a symbol in the symbolic form of an address.
8426 Another situation where it is helpful to show symbol filenames and line
8427 numbers is when disassembling code; @value{GDBN} shows you the line
8428 number and source file that corresponds to each instruction.
8430 Also, you may wish to see the symbolic form only if the address being
8431 printed is reasonably close to the closest earlier symbol:
8434 @item set print max-symbolic-offset @var{max-offset}
8435 @cindex maximum value for offset of closest symbol
8436 Tell @value{GDBN} to only display the symbolic form of an address if the
8437 offset between the closest earlier symbol and the address is less than
8438 @var{max-offset}. The default is 0, which tells @value{GDBN}
8439 to always print the symbolic form of an address if any symbol precedes it.
8441 @item show print max-symbolic-offset
8442 Ask how large the maximum offset is that @value{GDBN} prints in a
8446 @cindex wild pointer, interpreting
8447 @cindex pointer, finding referent
8448 If you have a pointer and you are not sure where it points, try
8449 @samp{set print symbol-filename on}. Then you can determine the name
8450 and source file location of the variable where it points, using
8451 @samp{p/a @var{pointer}}. This interprets the address in symbolic form.
8452 For example, here @value{GDBN} shows that a variable @code{ptt} points
8453 at another variable @code{t}, defined in @file{hi2.c}:
8456 (@value{GDBP}) set print symbol-filename on
8457 (@value{GDBP}) p/a ptt
8458 $4 = 0xe008 <t in hi2.c>
8462 @emph{Warning:} For pointers that point to a local variable, @samp{p/a}
8463 does not show the symbol name and filename of the referent, even with
8464 the appropriate @code{set print} options turned on.
8467 You can also enable @samp{/a}-like formatting all the time using
8468 @samp{set print symbol on}:
8471 @item set print symbol on
8472 Tell @value{GDBN} to print the symbol corresponding to an address, if
8475 @item set print symbol off
8476 Tell @value{GDBN} not to print the symbol corresponding to an
8477 address. In this mode, @value{GDBN} will still print the symbol
8478 corresponding to pointers to functions. This is the default.
8480 @item show print symbol
8481 Show whether @value{GDBN} will display the symbol corresponding to an
8485 Other settings control how different kinds of objects are printed:
8488 @item set print array
8489 @itemx set print array on
8490 @cindex pretty print arrays
8491 Pretty print arrays. This format is more convenient to read,
8492 but uses more space. The default is off.
8494 @item set print array off
8495 Return to compressed format for arrays.
8497 @item show print array
8498 Show whether compressed or pretty format is selected for displaying
8501 @cindex print array indexes
8502 @item set print array-indexes
8503 @itemx set print array-indexes on
8504 Print the index of each element when displaying arrays. May be more
8505 convenient to locate a given element in the array or quickly find the
8506 index of a given element in that printed array. The default is off.
8508 @item set print array-indexes off
8509 Stop printing element indexes when displaying arrays.
8511 @item show print array-indexes
8512 Show whether the index of each element is printed when displaying
8515 @item set print elements @var{number-of-elements}
8516 @cindex number of array elements to print
8517 @cindex limit on number of printed array elements
8518 Set a limit on how many elements of an array @value{GDBN} will print.
8519 If @value{GDBN} is printing a large array, it stops printing after it has
8520 printed the number of elements set by the @code{set print elements} command.
8521 This limit also applies to the display of strings.
8522 When @value{GDBN} starts, this limit is set to 200.
8523 Setting @var{number-of-elements} to zero means that the printing is unlimited.
8525 @item show print elements
8526 Display the number of elements of a large array that @value{GDBN} will print.
8527 If the number is 0, then the printing is unlimited.
8529 @item set print frame-arguments @var{value}
8530 @kindex set print frame-arguments
8531 @cindex printing frame argument values
8532 @cindex print all frame argument values
8533 @cindex print frame argument values for scalars only
8534 @cindex do not print frame argument values
8535 This command allows to control how the values of arguments are printed
8536 when the debugger prints a frame (@pxref{Frames}). The possible
8541 The values of all arguments are printed.
8544 Print the value of an argument only if it is a scalar. The value of more
8545 complex arguments such as arrays, structures, unions, etc, is replaced
8546 by @code{@dots{}}. This is the default. Here is an example where
8547 only scalar arguments are shown:
8550 #1 0x08048361 in call_me (i=3, s=@dots{}, ss=0xbf8d508c, u=@dots{}, e=green)
8555 None of the argument values are printed. Instead, the value of each argument
8556 is replaced by @code{@dots{}}. In this case, the example above now becomes:
8559 #1 0x08048361 in call_me (i=@dots{}, s=@dots{}, ss=@dots{}, u=@dots{}, e=@dots{})
8564 By default, only scalar arguments are printed. This command can be used
8565 to configure the debugger to print the value of all arguments, regardless
8566 of their type. However, it is often advantageous to not print the value
8567 of more complex parameters. For instance, it reduces the amount of
8568 information printed in each frame, making the backtrace more readable.
8569 Also, it improves performance when displaying Ada frames, because
8570 the computation of large arguments can sometimes be CPU-intensive,
8571 especially in large applications. Setting @code{print frame-arguments}
8572 to @code{scalars} (the default) or @code{none} avoids this computation,
8573 thus speeding up the display of each Ada frame.
8575 @item show print frame-arguments
8576 Show how the value of arguments should be displayed when printing a frame.
8578 @anchor{set print entry-values}
8579 @item set print entry-values @var{value}
8580 @kindex set print entry-values
8581 Set printing of frame argument values at function entry. In some cases
8582 @value{GDBN} can determine the value of function argument which was passed by
8583 the function caller, even if the value was modified inside the called function
8584 and therefore is different. With optimized code, the current value could be
8585 unavailable, but the entry value may still be known.
8587 The default value is @code{default} (see below for its description). Older
8588 @value{GDBN} behaved as with the setting @code{no}. Compilers not supporting
8589 this feature will behave in the @code{default} setting the same way as with the
8592 This functionality is currently supported only by DWARF 2 debugging format and
8593 the compiler has to produce @samp{DW_TAG_GNU_call_site} tags. With
8594 @value{NGCC}, you need to specify @option{-O -g} during compilation, to get
8597 The @var{value} parameter can be one of the following:
8601 Print only actual parameter values, never print values from function entry
8605 #0 different (val=6)
8606 #0 lost (val=<optimized out>)
8608 #0 invalid (val=<optimized out>)
8612 Print only parameter values from function entry point. The actual parameter
8613 values are never printed.
8615 #0 equal (val@@entry=5)
8616 #0 different (val@@entry=5)
8617 #0 lost (val@@entry=5)
8618 #0 born (val@@entry=<optimized out>)
8619 #0 invalid (val@@entry=<optimized out>)
8623 Print only parameter values from function entry point. If value from function
8624 entry point is not known while the actual value is known, print the actual
8625 value for such parameter.
8627 #0 equal (val@@entry=5)
8628 #0 different (val@@entry=5)
8629 #0 lost (val@@entry=5)
8631 #0 invalid (val@@entry=<optimized out>)
8635 Print actual parameter values. If actual parameter value is not known while
8636 value from function entry point is known, print the entry point value for such
8640 #0 different (val=6)
8641 #0 lost (val@@entry=5)
8643 #0 invalid (val=<optimized out>)
8647 Always print both the actual parameter value and its value from function entry
8648 point, even if values of one or both are not available due to compiler
8651 #0 equal (val=5, val@@entry=5)
8652 #0 different (val=6, val@@entry=5)
8653 #0 lost (val=<optimized out>, val@@entry=5)
8654 #0 born (val=10, val@@entry=<optimized out>)
8655 #0 invalid (val=<optimized out>, val@@entry=<optimized out>)
8659 Print the actual parameter value if it is known and also its value from
8660 function entry point if it is known. If neither is known, print for the actual
8661 value @code{<optimized out>}. If not in MI mode (@pxref{GDB/MI}) and if both
8662 values are known and identical, print the shortened
8663 @code{param=param@@entry=VALUE} notation.
8665 #0 equal (val=val@@entry=5)
8666 #0 different (val=6, val@@entry=5)
8667 #0 lost (val@@entry=5)
8669 #0 invalid (val=<optimized out>)
8673 Always print the actual parameter value. Print also its value from function
8674 entry point, but only if it is known. If not in MI mode (@pxref{GDB/MI}) and
8675 if both values are known and identical, print the shortened
8676 @code{param=param@@entry=VALUE} notation.
8678 #0 equal (val=val@@entry=5)
8679 #0 different (val=6, val@@entry=5)
8680 #0 lost (val=<optimized out>, val@@entry=5)
8682 #0 invalid (val=<optimized out>)
8686 For analysis messages on possible failures of frame argument values at function
8687 entry resolution see @ref{set debug entry-values}.
8689 @item show print entry-values
8690 Show the method being used for printing of frame argument values at function
8693 @item set print repeats
8694 @cindex repeated array elements
8695 Set the threshold for suppressing display of repeated array
8696 elements. When the number of consecutive identical elements of an
8697 array exceeds the threshold, @value{GDBN} prints the string
8698 @code{"<repeats @var{n} times>"}, where @var{n} is the number of
8699 identical repetitions, instead of displaying the identical elements
8700 themselves. Setting the threshold to zero will cause all elements to
8701 be individually printed. The default threshold is 10.
8703 @item show print repeats
8704 Display the current threshold for printing repeated identical
8707 @item set print null-stop
8708 @cindex @sc{null} elements in arrays
8709 Cause @value{GDBN} to stop printing the characters of an array when the first
8710 @sc{null} is encountered. This is useful when large arrays actually
8711 contain only short strings.
8714 @item show print null-stop
8715 Show whether @value{GDBN} stops printing an array on the first
8716 @sc{null} character.
8718 @item set print pretty on
8719 @cindex print structures in indented form
8720 @cindex indentation in structure display
8721 Cause @value{GDBN} to print structures in an indented format with one member
8722 per line, like this:
8737 @item set print pretty off
8738 Cause @value{GDBN} to print structures in a compact format, like this:
8742 $1 = @{next = 0x0, flags = @{sweet = 1, sour = 1@}, \
8743 meat = 0x54 "Pork"@}
8748 This is the default format.
8750 @item show print pretty
8751 Show which format @value{GDBN} is using to print structures.
8753 @item set print sevenbit-strings on
8754 @cindex eight-bit characters in strings
8755 @cindex octal escapes in strings
8756 Print using only seven-bit characters; if this option is set,
8757 @value{GDBN} displays any eight-bit characters (in strings or
8758 character values) using the notation @code{\}@var{nnn}. This setting is
8759 best if you are working in English (@sc{ascii}) and you use the
8760 high-order bit of characters as a marker or ``meta'' bit.
8762 @item set print sevenbit-strings off
8763 Print full eight-bit characters. This allows the use of more
8764 international character sets, and is the default.
8766 @item show print sevenbit-strings
8767 Show whether or not @value{GDBN} is printing only seven-bit characters.
8769 @item set print union on
8770 @cindex unions in structures, printing
8771 Tell @value{GDBN} to print unions which are contained in structures
8772 and other unions. This is the default setting.
8774 @item set print union off
8775 Tell @value{GDBN} not to print unions which are contained in
8776 structures and other unions. @value{GDBN} will print @code{"@{...@}"}
8779 @item show print union
8780 Ask @value{GDBN} whether or not it will print unions which are contained in
8781 structures and other unions.
8783 For example, given the declarations
8786 typedef enum @{Tree, Bug@} Species;
8787 typedef enum @{Big_tree, Acorn, Seedling@} Tree_forms;
8788 typedef enum @{Caterpillar, Cocoon, Butterfly@}
8799 struct thing foo = @{Tree, @{Acorn@}@};
8803 with @code{set print union on} in effect @samp{p foo} would print
8806 $1 = @{it = Tree, form = @{tree = Acorn, bug = Cocoon@}@}
8810 and with @code{set print union off} in effect it would print
8813 $1 = @{it = Tree, form = @{...@}@}
8817 @code{set print union} affects programs written in C-like languages
8823 These settings are of interest when debugging C@t{++} programs:
8826 @cindex demangling C@t{++} names
8827 @item set print demangle
8828 @itemx set print demangle on
8829 Print C@t{++} names in their source form rather than in the encoded
8830 (``mangled'') form passed to the assembler and linker for type-safe
8831 linkage. The default is on.
8833 @item show print demangle
8834 Show whether C@t{++} names are printed in mangled or demangled form.
8836 @item set print asm-demangle
8837 @itemx set print asm-demangle on
8838 Print C@t{++} names in their source form rather than their mangled form, even
8839 in assembler code printouts such as instruction disassemblies.
8842 @item show print asm-demangle
8843 Show whether C@t{++} names in assembly listings are printed in mangled
8846 @cindex C@t{++} symbol decoding style
8847 @cindex symbol decoding style, C@t{++}
8848 @kindex set demangle-style
8849 @item set demangle-style @var{style}
8850 Choose among several encoding schemes used by different compilers to
8851 represent C@t{++} names. The choices for @var{style} are currently:
8855 Allow @value{GDBN} to choose a decoding style by inspecting your program.
8858 Decode based on the @sc{gnu} C@t{++} compiler (@code{g++}) encoding algorithm.
8859 This is the default.
8862 Decode based on the HP ANSI C@t{++} (@code{aCC}) encoding algorithm.
8865 Decode based on the Lucid C@t{++} compiler (@code{lcc}) encoding algorithm.
8868 Decode using the algorithm in the @cite{C@t{++} Annotated Reference Manual}.
8869 @strong{Warning:} this setting alone is not sufficient to allow
8870 debugging @code{cfront}-generated executables. @value{GDBN} would
8871 require further enhancement to permit that.
8874 If you omit @var{style}, you will see a list of possible formats.
8876 @item show demangle-style
8877 Display the encoding style currently in use for decoding C@t{++} symbols.
8879 @item set print object
8880 @itemx set print object on
8881 @cindex derived type of an object, printing
8882 @cindex display derived types
8883 When displaying a pointer to an object, identify the @emph{actual}
8884 (derived) type of the object rather than the @emph{declared} type, using
8885 the virtual function table. Note that the virtual function table is
8886 required---this feature can only work for objects that have run-time
8887 type identification; a single virtual method in the object's declared
8888 type is sufficient. Note that this setting is also taken into account when
8889 working with variable objects via MI (@pxref{GDB/MI}).
8891 @item set print object off
8892 Display only the declared type of objects, without reference to the
8893 virtual function table. This is the default setting.
8895 @item show print object
8896 Show whether actual, or declared, object types are displayed.
8898 @item set print static-members
8899 @itemx set print static-members on
8900 @cindex static members of C@t{++} objects
8901 Print static members when displaying a C@t{++} object. The default is on.
8903 @item set print static-members off
8904 Do not print static members when displaying a C@t{++} object.
8906 @item show print static-members
8907 Show whether C@t{++} static members are printed or not.
8909 @item set print pascal_static-members
8910 @itemx set print pascal_static-members on
8911 @cindex static members of Pascal objects
8912 @cindex Pascal objects, static members display
8913 Print static members when displaying a Pascal object. The default is on.
8915 @item set print pascal_static-members off
8916 Do not print static members when displaying a Pascal object.
8918 @item show print pascal_static-members
8919 Show whether Pascal static members are printed or not.
8921 @c These don't work with HP ANSI C++ yet.
8922 @item set print vtbl
8923 @itemx set print vtbl on
8924 @cindex pretty print C@t{++} virtual function tables
8925 @cindex virtual functions (C@t{++}) display
8926 @cindex VTBL display
8927 Pretty print C@t{++} virtual function tables. The default is off.
8928 (The @code{vtbl} commands do not work on programs compiled with the HP
8929 ANSI C@t{++} compiler (@code{aCC}).)
8931 @item set print vtbl off
8932 Do not pretty print C@t{++} virtual function tables.
8934 @item show print vtbl
8935 Show whether C@t{++} virtual function tables are pretty printed, or not.
8938 @node Pretty Printing
8939 @section Pretty Printing
8941 @value{GDBN} provides a mechanism to allow pretty-printing of values using
8942 Python code. It greatly simplifies the display of complex objects. This
8943 mechanism works for both MI and the CLI.
8946 * Pretty-Printer Introduction:: Introduction to pretty-printers
8947 * Pretty-Printer Example:: An example pretty-printer
8948 * Pretty-Printer Commands:: Pretty-printer commands
8951 @node Pretty-Printer Introduction
8952 @subsection Pretty-Printer Introduction
8954 When @value{GDBN} prints a value, it first sees if there is a pretty-printer
8955 registered for the value. If there is then @value{GDBN} invokes the
8956 pretty-printer to print the value. Otherwise the value is printed normally.
8958 Pretty-printers are normally named. This makes them easy to manage.
8959 The @samp{info pretty-printer} command will list all the installed
8960 pretty-printers with their names.
8961 If a pretty-printer can handle multiple data types, then its
8962 @dfn{subprinters} are the printers for the individual data types.
8963 Each such subprinter has its own name.
8964 The format of the name is @var{printer-name};@var{subprinter-name}.
8966 Pretty-printers are installed by @dfn{registering} them with @value{GDBN}.
8967 Typically they are automatically loaded and registered when the corresponding
8968 debug information is loaded, thus making them available without having to
8969 do anything special.
8971 There are three places where a pretty-printer can be registered.
8975 Pretty-printers registered globally are available when debugging
8979 Pretty-printers registered with a program space are available only
8980 when debugging that program.
8981 @xref{Progspaces In Python}, for more details on program spaces in Python.
8984 Pretty-printers registered with an objfile are loaded and unloaded
8985 with the corresponding objfile (e.g., shared library).
8986 @xref{Objfiles In Python}, for more details on objfiles in Python.
8989 @xref{Selecting Pretty-Printers}, for further information on how
8990 pretty-printers are selected,
8992 @xref{Writing a Pretty-Printer}, for implementing pretty printers
8995 @node Pretty-Printer Example
8996 @subsection Pretty-Printer Example
8998 Here is how a C@t{++} @code{std::string} looks without a pretty-printer:
9001 (@value{GDBP}) print s
9003 static npos = 4294967295,
9005 <std::allocator<char>> = @{
9006 <__gnu_cxx::new_allocator<char>> = @{
9007 <No data fields>@}, <No data fields>
9009 members of std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>,
9010 std::allocator<char> >::_Alloc_hider:
9011 _M_p = 0x804a014 "abcd"
9016 With a pretty-printer for @code{std::string} only the contents are printed:
9019 (@value{GDBP}) print s
9023 @node Pretty-Printer Commands
9024 @subsection Pretty-Printer Commands
9025 @cindex pretty-printer commands
9028 @kindex info pretty-printer
9029 @item info pretty-printer [@var{object-regexp} [@var{name-regexp}]]
9030 Print the list of installed pretty-printers.
9031 This includes disabled pretty-printers, which are marked as such.
9033 @var{object-regexp} is a regular expression matching the objects
9034 whose pretty-printers to list.
9035 Objects can be @code{global}, the program space's file
9036 (@pxref{Progspaces In Python}),
9037 and the object files within that program space (@pxref{Objfiles In Python}).
9038 @xref{Selecting Pretty-Printers}, for details on how @value{GDBN}
9039 looks up a printer from these three objects.
9041 @var{name-regexp} is a regular expression matching the name of the printers
9044 @kindex disable pretty-printer
9045 @item disable pretty-printer [@var{object-regexp} [@var{name-regexp}]]
9046 Disable pretty-printers matching @var{object-regexp} and @var{name-regexp}.
9047 A disabled pretty-printer is not forgotten, it may be enabled again later.
9049 @kindex enable pretty-printer
9050 @item enable pretty-printer [@var{object-regexp} [@var{name-regexp}]]
9051 Enable pretty-printers matching @var{object-regexp} and @var{name-regexp}.
9056 Suppose we have three pretty-printers installed: one from library1.so
9057 named @code{foo} that prints objects of type @code{foo}, and
9058 another from library2.so named @code{bar} that prints two types of objects,
9059 @code{bar1} and @code{bar2}.
9062 (gdb) info pretty-printer
9069 (gdb) info pretty-printer library2
9074 (gdb) disable pretty-printer library1
9076 2 of 3 printers enabled
9077 (gdb) info pretty-printer
9084 (gdb) disable pretty-printer library2 bar:bar1
9086 1 of 3 printers enabled
9087 (gdb) info pretty-printer library2
9094 (gdb) disable pretty-printer library2 bar
9096 0 of 3 printers enabled
9097 (gdb) info pretty-printer library2
9106 Note that for @code{bar} the entire printer can be disabled,
9107 as can each individual subprinter.
9110 @section Value History
9112 @cindex value history
9113 @cindex history of values printed by @value{GDBN}
9114 Values printed by the @code{print} command are saved in the @value{GDBN}
9115 @dfn{value history}. This allows you to refer to them in other expressions.
9116 Values are kept until the symbol table is re-read or discarded
9117 (for example with the @code{file} or @code{symbol-file} commands).
9118 When the symbol table changes, the value history is discarded,
9119 since the values may contain pointers back to the types defined in the
9124 @cindex history number
9125 The values printed are given @dfn{history numbers} by which you can
9126 refer to them. These are successive integers starting with one.
9127 @code{print} shows you the history number assigned to a value by
9128 printing @samp{$@var{num} = } before the value; here @var{num} is the
9131 To refer to any previous value, use @samp{$} followed by the value's
9132 history number. The way @code{print} labels its output is designed to
9133 remind you of this. Just @code{$} refers to the most recent value in
9134 the history, and @code{$$} refers to the value before that.
9135 @code{$$@var{n}} refers to the @var{n}th value from the end; @code{$$2}
9136 is the value just prior to @code{$$}, @code{$$1} is equivalent to
9137 @code{$$}, and @code{$$0} is equivalent to @code{$}.
9139 For example, suppose you have just printed a pointer to a structure and
9140 want to see the contents of the structure. It suffices to type
9146 If you have a chain of structures where the component @code{next} points
9147 to the next one, you can print the contents of the next one with this:
9154 You can print successive links in the chain by repeating this
9155 command---which you can do by just typing @key{RET}.
9157 Note that the history records values, not expressions. If the value of
9158 @code{x} is 4 and you type these commands:
9166 then the value recorded in the value history by the @code{print} command
9167 remains 4 even though the value of @code{x} has changed.
9172 Print the last ten values in the value history, with their item numbers.
9173 This is like @samp{p@ $$9} repeated ten times, except that @code{show
9174 values} does not change the history.
9176 @item show values @var{n}
9177 Print ten history values centered on history item number @var{n}.
9180 Print ten history values just after the values last printed. If no more
9181 values are available, @code{show values +} produces no display.
9184 Pressing @key{RET} to repeat @code{show values @var{n}} has exactly the
9185 same effect as @samp{show values +}.
9187 @node Convenience Vars
9188 @section Convenience Variables
9190 @cindex convenience variables
9191 @cindex user-defined variables
9192 @value{GDBN} provides @dfn{convenience variables} that you can use within
9193 @value{GDBN} to hold on to a value and refer to it later. These variables
9194 exist entirely within @value{GDBN}; they are not part of your program, and
9195 setting a convenience variable has no direct effect on further execution
9196 of your program. That is why you can use them freely.
9198 Convenience variables are prefixed with @samp{$}. Any name preceded by
9199 @samp{$} can be used for a convenience variable, unless it is one of
9200 the predefined machine-specific register names (@pxref{Registers, ,Registers}).
9201 (Value history references, in contrast, are @emph{numbers} preceded
9202 by @samp{$}. @xref{Value History, ,Value History}.)
9204 You can save a value in a convenience variable with an assignment
9205 expression, just as you would set a variable in your program.
9209 set $foo = *object_ptr
9213 would save in @code{$foo} the value contained in the object pointed to by
9216 Using a convenience variable for the first time creates it, but its
9217 value is @code{void} until you assign a new value. You can alter the
9218 value with another assignment at any time.
9220 Convenience variables have no fixed types. You can assign a convenience
9221 variable any type of value, including structures and arrays, even if
9222 that variable already has a value of a different type. The convenience
9223 variable, when used as an expression, has the type of its current value.
9226 @kindex show convenience
9227 @cindex show all user variables
9228 @item show convenience
9229 Print a list of convenience variables used so far, and their values.
9230 Abbreviated @code{show conv}.
9232 @kindex init-if-undefined
9233 @cindex convenience variables, initializing
9234 @item init-if-undefined $@var{variable} = @var{expression}
9235 Set a convenience variable if it has not already been set. This is useful
9236 for user-defined commands that keep some state. It is similar, in concept,
9237 to using local static variables with initializers in C (except that
9238 convenience variables are global). It can also be used to allow users to
9239 override default values used in a command script.
9241 If the variable is already defined then the expression is not evaluated so
9242 any side-effects do not occur.
9245 One of the ways to use a convenience variable is as a counter to be
9246 incremented or a pointer to be advanced. For example, to print
9247 a field from successive elements of an array of structures:
9251 print bar[$i++]->contents
9255 Repeat that command by typing @key{RET}.
9257 Some convenience variables are created automatically by @value{GDBN} and given
9258 values likely to be useful.
9261 @vindex $_@r{, convenience variable}
9263 The variable @code{$_} is automatically set by the @code{x} command to
9264 the last address examined (@pxref{Memory, ,Examining Memory}). Other
9265 commands which provide a default address for @code{x} to examine also
9266 set @code{$_} to that address; these commands include @code{info line}
9267 and @code{info breakpoint}. The type of @code{$_} is @code{void *}
9268 except when set by the @code{x} command, in which case it is a pointer
9269 to the type of @code{$__}.
9271 @vindex $__@r{, convenience variable}
9273 The variable @code{$__} is automatically set by the @code{x} command
9274 to the value found in the last address examined. Its type is chosen
9275 to match the format in which the data was printed.
9278 @vindex $_exitcode@r{, convenience variable}
9279 The variable @code{$_exitcode} is automatically set to the exit code when
9280 the program being debugged terminates.
9283 @itemx $_probe_arg0@dots{}$_probe_arg11
9284 Arguments to a static probe. @xref{Static Probe Points}.
9287 @vindex $_sdata@r{, inspect, convenience variable}
9288 The variable @code{$_sdata} contains extra collected static tracepoint
9289 data. @xref{Tracepoint Actions,,Tracepoint Action Lists}. Note that
9290 @code{$_sdata} could be empty, if not inspecting a trace buffer, or
9291 if extra static tracepoint data has not been collected.
9294 @vindex $_siginfo@r{, convenience variable}
9295 The variable @code{$_siginfo} contains extra signal information
9296 (@pxref{extra signal information}). Note that @code{$_siginfo}
9297 could be empty, if the application has not yet received any signals.
9298 For example, it will be empty before you execute the @code{run} command.
9301 @vindex $_tlb@r{, convenience variable}
9302 The variable @code{$_tlb} is automatically set when debugging
9303 applications running on MS-Windows in native mode or connected to
9304 gdbserver that supports the @code{qGetTIBAddr} request.
9305 @xref{General Query Packets}.
9306 This variable contains the address of the thread information block.
9310 On HP-UX systems, if you refer to a function or variable name that
9311 begins with a dollar sign, @value{GDBN} searches for a user or system
9312 name first, before it searches for a convenience variable.
9314 @cindex convenience functions
9315 @value{GDBN} also supplies some @dfn{convenience functions}. These
9316 have a syntax similar to convenience variables. A convenience
9317 function can be used in an expression just like an ordinary function;
9318 however, a convenience function is implemented internally to
9323 @kindex help function
9324 @cindex show all convenience functions
9325 Print a list of all convenience functions.
9332 You can refer to machine register contents, in expressions, as variables
9333 with names starting with @samp{$}. The names of registers are different
9334 for each machine; use @code{info registers} to see the names used on
9338 @kindex info registers
9339 @item info registers
9340 Print the names and values of all registers except floating-point
9341 and vector registers (in the selected stack frame).
9343 @kindex info all-registers
9344 @cindex floating point registers
9345 @item info all-registers
9346 Print the names and values of all registers, including floating-point
9347 and vector registers (in the selected stack frame).
9349 @item info registers @var{regname} @dots{}
9350 Print the @dfn{relativized} value of each specified register @var{regname}.
9351 As discussed in detail below, register values are normally relative to
9352 the selected stack frame. @var{regname} may be any register name valid on
9353 the machine you are using, with or without the initial @samp{$}.
9356 @cindex stack pointer register
9357 @cindex program counter register
9358 @cindex process status register
9359 @cindex frame pointer register
9360 @cindex standard registers
9361 @value{GDBN} has four ``standard'' register names that are available (in
9362 expressions) on most machines---whenever they do not conflict with an
9363 architecture's canonical mnemonics for registers. The register names
9364 @code{$pc} and @code{$sp} are used for the program counter register and
9365 the stack pointer. @code{$fp} is used for a register that contains a
9366 pointer to the current stack frame, and @code{$ps} is used for a
9367 register that contains the processor status. For example,
9368 you could print the program counter in hex with
9375 or print the instruction to be executed next with
9382 or add four to the stack pointer@footnote{This is a way of removing
9383 one word from the stack, on machines where stacks grow downward in
9384 memory (most machines, nowadays). This assumes that the innermost
9385 stack frame is selected; setting @code{$sp} is not allowed when other
9386 stack frames are selected. To pop entire frames off the stack,
9387 regardless of machine architecture, use @code{return};
9388 see @ref{Returning, ,Returning from a Function}.} with
9394 Whenever possible, these four standard register names are available on
9395 your machine even though the machine has different canonical mnemonics,
9396 so long as there is no conflict. The @code{info registers} command
9397 shows the canonical names. For example, on the SPARC, @code{info
9398 registers} displays the processor status register as @code{$psr} but you
9399 can also refer to it as @code{$ps}; and on x86-based machines @code{$ps}
9400 is an alias for the @sc{eflags} register.
9402 @value{GDBN} always considers the contents of an ordinary register as an
9403 integer when the register is examined in this way. Some machines have
9404 special registers which can hold nothing but floating point; these
9405 registers are considered to have floating point values. There is no way
9406 to refer to the contents of an ordinary register as floating point value
9407 (although you can @emph{print} it as a floating point value with
9408 @samp{print/f $@var{regname}}).
9410 Some registers have distinct ``raw'' and ``virtual'' data formats. This
9411 means that the data format in which the register contents are saved by
9412 the operating system is not the same one that your program normally
9413 sees. For example, the registers of the 68881 floating point
9414 coprocessor are always saved in ``extended'' (raw) format, but all C
9415 programs expect to work with ``double'' (virtual) format. In such
9416 cases, @value{GDBN} normally works with the virtual format only (the format
9417 that makes sense for your program), but the @code{info registers} command
9418 prints the data in both formats.
9420 @cindex SSE registers (x86)
9421 @cindex MMX registers (x86)
9422 Some machines have special registers whose contents can be interpreted
9423 in several different ways. For example, modern x86-based machines
9424 have SSE and MMX registers that can hold several values packed
9425 together in several different formats. @value{GDBN} refers to such
9426 registers in @code{struct} notation:
9429 (@value{GDBP}) print $xmm1
9431 v4_float = @{0, 3.43859137e-038, 1.54142831e-044, 1.821688e-044@},
9432 v2_double = @{9.92129282474342e-303, 2.7585945287983262e-313@},
9433 v16_int8 = "\000\000\000\000\3706;\001\v\000\000\000\r\000\000",
9434 v8_int16 = @{0, 0, 14072, 315, 11, 0, 13, 0@},
9435 v4_int32 = @{0, 20657912, 11, 13@},
9436 v2_int64 = @{88725056443645952, 55834574859@},
9437 uint128 = 0x0000000d0000000b013b36f800000000
9442 To set values of such registers, you need to tell @value{GDBN} which
9443 view of the register you wish to change, as if you were assigning
9444 value to a @code{struct} member:
9447 (@value{GDBP}) set $xmm1.uint128 = 0x000000000000000000000000FFFFFFFF
9450 Normally, register values are relative to the selected stack frame
9451 (@pxref{Selection, ,Selecting a Frame}). This means that you get the
9452 value that the register would contain if all stack frames farther in
9453 were exited and their saved registers restored. In order to see the
9454 true contents of hardware registers, you must select the innermost
9455 frame (with @samp{frame 0}).
9457 However, @value{GDBN} must deduce where registers are saved, from the machine
9458 code generated by your compiler. If some registers are not saved, or if
9459 @value{GDBN} is unable to locate the saved registers, the selected stack
9460 frame makes no difference.
9462 @node Floating Point Hardware
9463 @section Floating Point Hardware
9464 @cindex floating point
9466 Depending on the configuration, @value{GDBN} may be able to give
9467 you more information about the status of the floating point hardware.
9472 Display hardware-dependent information about the floating
9473 point unit. The exact contents and layout vary depending on the
9474 floating point chip. Currently, @samp{info float} is supported on
9475 the ARM and x86 machines.
9479 @section Vector Unit
9482 Depending on the configuration, @value{GDBN} may be able to give you
9483 more information about the status of the vector unit.
9488 Display information about the vector unit. The exact contents and
9489 layout vary depending on the hardware.
9492 @node OS Information
9493 @section Operating System Auxiliary Information
9494 @cindex OS information
9496 @value{GDBN} provides interfaces to useful OS facilities that can help
9497 you debug your program.
9499 @cindex @code{ptrace} system call
9500 @cindex @code{struct user} contents
9501 When @value{GDBN} runs on a @dfn{Posix system} (such as GNU or Unix
9502 machines), it interfaces with the inferior via the @code{ptrace}
9503 system call. The operating system creates a special sata structure,
9504 called @code{struct user}, for this interface. You can use the
9505 command @code{info udot} to display the contents of this data
9511 Display the contents of the @code{struct user} maintained by the OS
9512 kernel for the program being debugged. @value{GDBN} displays the
9513 contents of @code{struct user} as a list of hex numbers, similar to
9514 the @code{examine} command.
9517 @cindex auxiliary vector
9518 @cindex vector, auxiliary
9519 Some operating systems supply an @dfn{auxiliary vector} to programs at
9520 startup. This is akin to the arguments and environment that you
9521 specify for a program, but contains a system-dependent variety of
9522 binary values that tell system libraries important details about the
9523 hardware, operating system, and process. Each value's purpose is
9524 identified by an integer tag; the meanings are well-known but system-specific.
9525 Depending on the configuration and operating system facilities,
9526 @value{GDBN} may be able to show you this information. For remote
9527 targets, this functionality may further depend on the remote stub's
9528 support of the @samp{qXfer:auxv:read} packet, see
9529 @ref{qXfer auxiliary vector read}.
9534 Display the auxiliary vector of the inferior, which can be either a
9535 live process or a core dump file. @value{GDBN} prints each tag value
9536 numerically, and also shows names and text descriptions for recognized
9537 tags. Some values in the vector are numbers, some bit masks, and some
9538 pointers to strings or other data. @value{GDBN} displays each value in the
9539 most appropriate form for a recognized tag, and in hexadecimal for
9540 an unrecognized tag.
9543 On some targets, @value{GDBN} can access operating system-specific
9544 information and show it to you. The types of information available
9545 will differ depending on the type of operating system running on the
9546 target. The mechanism used to fetch the data is described in
9547 @ref{Operating System Information}. For remote targets, this
9548 functionality depends on the remote stub's support of the
9549 @samp{qXfer:osdata:read} packet, see @ref{qXfer osdata read}.
9553 @item info os @var{infotype}
9555 Display OS information of the requested type.
9557 On @sc{gnu}/Linux, the following values of @var{infotype} are valid:
9559 @anchor{linux info os infotypes}
9561 @kindex info os processes
9563 Display the list of processes on the target. For each process,
9564 @value{GDBN} prints the process identifier, the name of the user, the
9565 command corresponding to the process, and the list of processor cores
9566 that the process is currently running on. (To understand what these
9567 properties mean, for this and the following info types, please consult
9568 the general @sc{gnu}/Linux documentation.)
9570 @kindex info os procgroups
9572 Display the list of process groups on the target. For each process,
9573 @value{GDBN} prints the identifier of the process group that it belongs
9574 to, the command corresponding to the process group leader, the process
9575 identifier, and the command line of the process. The list is sorted
9576 first by the process group identifier, then by the process identifier,
9577 so that processes belonging to the same process group are grouped together
9578 and the process group leader is listed first.
9580 @kindex info os threads
9582 Display the list of threads running on the target. For each thread,
9583 @value{GDBN} prints the identifier of the process that the thread
9584 belongs to, the command of the process, the thread identifier, and the
9585 processor core that it is currently running on. The main thread of a
9586 process is not listed.
9588 @kindex info os files
9590 Display the list of open file descriptors on the target. For each
9591 file descriptor, @value{GDBN} prints the identifier of the process
9592 owning the descriptor, the command of the owning process, the value
9593 of the descriptor, and the target of the descriptor.
9595 @kindex info os sockets
9597 Display the list of Internet-domain sockets on the target. For each
9598 socket, @value{GDBN} prints the address and port of the local and
9599 remote endpoints, the current state of the connection, the creator of
9600 the socket, the IP address family of the socket, and the type of the
9605 Display the list of all System V shared-memory regions on the target.
9606 For each shared-memory region, @value{GDBN} prints the region key,
9607 the shared-memory identifier, the access permissions, the size of the
9608 region, the process that created the region, the process that last
9609 attached to or detached from the region, the current number of live
9610 attaches to the region, and the times at which the region was last
9611 attached to, detach from, and changed.
9613 @kindex info os semaphores
9615 Display the list of all System V semaphore sets on the target. For each
9616 semaphore set, @value{GDBN} prints the semaphore set key, the semaphore
9617 set identifier, the access permissions, the number of semaphores in the
9618 set, the user and group of the owner and creator of the semaphore set,
9619 and the times at which the semaphore set was operated upon and changed.
9623 Display the list of all System V message queues on the target. For each
9624 message queue, @value{GDBN} prints the message queue key, the message
9625 queue identifier, the access permissions, the current number of bytes
9626 on the queue, the current number of messages on the queue, the processes
9627 that last sent and received a message on the queue, the user and group
9628 of the owner and creator of the message queue, the times at which a
9629 message was last sent and received on the queue, and the time at which
9630 the message queue was last changed.
9632 @kindex info os modules
9634 Display the list of all loaded kernel modules on the target. For each
9635 module, @value{GDBN} prints the module name, the size of the module in
9636 bytes, the number of times the module is used, the dependencies of the
9637 module, the status of the module, and the address of the loaded module
9642 If @var{infotype} is omitted, then list the possible values for
9643 @var{infotype} and the kind of OS information available for each
9644 @var{infotype}. If the target does not return a list of possible
9645 types, this command will report an error.
9648 @node Memory Region Attributes
9649 @section Memory Region Attributes
9650 @cindex memory region attributes
9652 @dfn{Memory region attributes} allow you to describe special handling
9653 required by regions of your target's memory. @value{GDBN} uses
9654 attributes to determine whether to allow certain types of memory
9655 accesses; whether to use specific width accesses; and whether to cache
9656 target memory. By default the description of memory regions is
9657 fetched from the target (if the current target supports this), but the
9658 user can override the fetched regions.
9660 Defined memory regions can be individually enabled and disabled. When a
9661 memory region is disabled, @value{GDBN} uses the default attributes when
9662 accessing memory in that region. Similarly, if no memory regions have
9663 been defined, @value{GDBN} uses the default attributes when accessing
9666 When a memory region is defined, it is given a number to identify it;
9667 to enable, disable, or remove a memory region, you specify that number.
9671 @item mem @var{lower} @var{upper} @var{attributes}@dots{}
9672 Define a memory region bounded by @var{lower} and @var{upper} with
9673 attributes @var{attributes}@dots{}, and add it to the list of regions
9674 monitored by @value{GDBN}. Note that @var{upper} == 0 is a special
9675 case: it is treated as the target's maximum memory address.
9676 (0xffff on 16 bit targets, 0xffffffff on 32 bit targets, etc.)
9679 Discard any user changes to the memory regions and use target-supplied
9680 regions, if available, or no regions if the target does not support.
9683 @item delete mem @var{nums}@dots{}
9684 Remove memory regions @var{nums}@dots{} from the list of regions
9685 monitored by @value{GDBN}.
9688 @item disable mem @var{nums}@dots{}
9689 Disable monitoring of memory regions @var{nums}@dots{}.
9690 A disabled memory region is not forgotten.
9691 It may be enabled again later.
9694 @item enable mem @var{nums}@dots{}
9695 Enable monitoring of memory regions @var{nums}@dots{}.
9699 Print a table of all defined memory regions, with the following columns
9703 @item Memory Region Number
9704 @item Enabled or Disabled.
9705 Enabled memory regions are marked with @samp{y}.
9706 Disabled memory regions are marked with @samp{n}.
9709 The address defining the inclusive lower bound of the memory region.
9712 The address defining the exclusive upper bound of the memory region.
9715 The list of attributes set for this memory region.
9720 @subsection Attributes
9722 @subsubsection Memory Access Mode
9723 The access mode attributes set whether @value{GDBN} may make read or
9724 write accesses to a memory region.
9726 While these attributes prevent @value{GDBN} from performing invalid
9727 memory accesses, they do nothing to prevent the target system, I/O DMA,
9728 etc.@: from accessing memory.
9732 Memory is read only.
9734 Memory is write only.
9736 Memory is read/write. This is the default.
9739 @subsubsection Memory Access Size
9740 The access size attribute tells @value{GDBN} to use specific sized
9741 accesses in the memory region. Often memory mapped device registers
9742 require specific sized accesses. If no access size attribute is
9743 specified, @value{GDBN} may use accesses of any size.
9747 Use 8 bit memory accesses.
9749 Use 16 bit memory accesses.
9751 Use 32 bit memory accesses.
9753 Use 64 bit memory accesses.
9756 @c @subsubsection Hardware/Software Breakpoints
9757 @c The hardware/software breakpoint attributes set whether @value{GDBN}
9758 @c will use hardware or software breakpoints for the internal breakpoints
9759 @c used by the step, next, finish, until, etc. commands.
9763 @c Always use hardware breakpoints
9764 @c @item swbreak (default)
9767 @subsubsection Data Cache
9768 The data cache attributes set whether @value{GDBN} will cache target
9769 memory. While this generally improves performance by reducing debug
9770 protocol overhead, it can lead to incorrect results because @value{GDBN}
9771 does not know about volatile variables or memory mapped device
9776 Enable @value{GDBN} to cache target memory.
9778 Disable @value{GDBN} from caching target memory. This is the default.
9781 @subsection Memory Access Checking
9782 @value{GDBN} can be instructed to refuse accesses to memory that is
9783 not explicitly described. This can be useful if accessing such
9784 regions has undesired effects for a specific target, or to provide
9785 better error checking. The following commands control this behaviour.
9788 @kindex set mem inaccessible-by-default
9789 @item set mem inaccessible-by-default [on|off]
9790 If @code{on} is specified, make @value{GDBN} treat memory not
9791 explicitly described by the memory ranges as non-existent and refuse accesses
9792 to such memory. The checks are only performed if there's at least one
9793 memory range defined. If @code{off} is specified, make @value{GDBN}
9794 treat the memory not explicitly described by the memory ranges as RAM.
9795 The default value is @code{on}.
9796 @kindex show mem inaccessible-by-default
9797 @item show mem inaccessible-by-default
9798 Show the current handling of accesses to unknown memory.
9802 @c @subsubsection Memory Write Verification
9803 @c The memory write verification attributes set whether @value{GDBN}
9804 @c will re-reads data after each write to verify the write was successful.
9808 @c @item noverify (default)
9811 @node Dump/Restore Files
9812 @section Copy Between Memory and a File
9813 @cindex dump/restore files
9814 @cindex append data to a file
9815 @cindex dump data to a file
9816 @cindex restore data from a file
9818 You can use the commands @code{dump}, @code{append}, and
9819 @code{restore} to copy data between target memory and a file. The
9820 @code{dump} and @code{append} commands write data to a file, and the
9821 @code{restore} command reads data from a file back into the inferior's
9822 memory. Files may be in binary, Motorola S-record, Intel hex, or
9823 Tektronix Hex format; however, @value{GDBN} can only append to binary
9829 @item dump @r{[}@var{format}@r{]} memory @var{filename} @var{start_addr} @var{end_addr}
9830 @itemx dump @r{[}@var{format}@r{]} value @var{filename} @var{expr}
9831 Dump the contents of memory from @var{start_addr} to @var{end_addr},
9832 or the value of @var{expr}, to @var{filename} in the given format.
9834 The @var{format} parameter may be any one of:
9841 Motorola S-record format.
9843 Tektronix Hex format.
9846 @value{GDBN} uses the same definitions of these formats as the
9847 @sc{gnu} binary utilities, like @samp{objdump} and @samp{objcopy}. If
9848 @var{format} is omitted, @value{GDBN} dumps the data in raw binary
9852 @item append @r{[}binary@r{]} memory @var{filename} @var{start_addr} @var{end_addr}
9853 @itemx append @r{[}binary@r{]} value @var{filename} @var{expr}
9854 Append the contents of memory from @var{start_addr} to @var{end_addr},
9855 or the value of @var{expr}, to the file @var{filename}, in raw binary form.
9856 (@value{GDBN} can only append data to files in raw binary form.)
9859 @item restore @var{filename} @r{[}binary@r{]} @var{bias} @var{start} @var{end}
9860 Restore the contents of file @var{filename} into memory. The
9861 @code{restore} command can automatically recognize any known @sc{bfd}
9862 file format, except for raw binary. To restore a raw binary file you
9863 must specify the optional keyword @code{binary} after the filename.
9865 If @var{bias} is non-zero, its value will be added to the addresses
9866 contained in the file. Binary files always start at address zero, so
9867 they will be restored at address @var{bias}. Other bfd files have
9868 a built-in location; they will be restored at offset @var{bias}
9871 If @var{start} and/or @var{end} are non-zero, then only data between
9872 file offset @var{start} and file offset @var{end} will be restored.
9873 These offsets are relative to the addresses in the file, before
9874 the @var{bias} argument is applied.
9878 @node Core File Generation
9879 @section How to Produce a Core File from Your Program
9880 @cindex dump core from inferior
9882 A @dfn{core file} or @dfn{core dump} is a file that records the memory
9883 image of a running process and its process status (register values
9884 etc.). Its primary use is post-mortem debugging of a program that
9885 crashed while it ran outside a debugger. A program that crashes
9886 automatically produces a core file, unless this feature is disabled by
9887 the user. @xref{Files}, for information on invoking @value{GDBN} in
9888 the post-mortem debugging mode.
9890 Occasionally, you may wish to produce a core file of the program you
9891 are debugging in order to preserve a snapshot of its state.
9892 @value{GDBN} has a special command for that.
9896 @kindex generate-core-file
9897 @item generate-core-file [@var{file}]
9898 @itemx gcore [@var{file}]
9899 Produce a core dump of the inferior process. The optional argument
9900 @var{file} specifies the file name where to put the core dump. If not
9901 specified, the file name defaults to @file{core.@var{pid}}, where
9902 @var{pid} is the inferior process ID.
9904 Note that this command is implemented only for some systems (as of
9905 this writing, @sc{gnu}/Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, Unixware, and S390).
9908 @node Character Sets
9909 @section Character Sets
9910 @cindex character sets
9912 @cindex translating between character sets
9913 @cindex host character set
9914 @cindex target character set
9916 If the program you are debugging uses a different character set to
9917 represent characters and strings than the one @value{GDBN} uses itself,
9918 @value{GDBN} can automatically translate between the character sets for
9919 you. The character set @value{GDBN} uses we call the @dfn{host
9920 character set}; the one the inferior program uses we call the
9921 @dfn{target character set}.
9923 For example, if you are running @value{GDBN} on a @sc{gnu}/Linux system, which
9924 uses the ISO Latin 1 character set, but you are using @value{GDBN}'s
9925 remote protocol (@pxref{Remote Debugging}) to debug a program
9926 running on an IBM mainframe, which uses the @sc{ebcdic} character set,
9927 then the host character set is Latin-1, and the target character set is
9928 @sc{ebcdic}. If you give @value{GDBN} the command @code{set
9929 target-charset EBCDIC-US}, then @value{GDBN} translates between
9930 @sc{ebcdic} and Latin 1 as you print character or string values, or use
9931 character and string literals in expressions.
9933 @value{GDBN} has no way to automatically recognize which character set
9934 the inferior program uses; you must tell it, using the @code{set
9935 target-charset} command, described below.
9937 Here are the commands for controlling @value{GDBN}'s character set
9941 @item set target-charset @var{charset}
9942 @kindex set target-charset
9943 Set the current target character set to @var{charset}. To display the
9944 list of supported target character sets, type
9945 @kbd{@w{set target-charset @key{TAB}@key{TAB}}}.
9947 @item set host-charset @var{charset}
9948 @kindex set host-charset
9949 Set the current host character set to @var{charset}.
9951 By default, @value{GDBN} uses a host character set appropriate to the
9952 system it is running on; you can override that default using the
9953 @code{set host-charset} command. On some systems, @value{GDBN} cannot
9954 automatically determine the appropriate host character set. In this
9955 case, @value{GDBN} uses @samp{UTF-8}.
9957 @value{GDBN} can only use certain character sets as its host character
9958 set. If you type @kbd{@w{set host-charset @key{TAB}@key{TAB}}},
9959 @value{GDBN} will list the host character sets it supports.
9961 @item set charset @var{charset}
9963 Set the current host and target character sets to @var{charset}. As
9964 above, if you type @kbd{@w{set charset @key{TAB}@key{TAB}}},
9965 @value{GDBN} will list the names of the character sets that can be used
9966 for both host and target.
9969 @kindex show charset
9970 Show the names of the current host and target character sets.
9972 @item show host-charset
9973 @kindex show host-charset
9974 Show the name of the current host character set.
9976 @item show target-charset
9977 @kindex show target-charset
9978 Show the name of the current target character set.
9980 @item set target-wide-charset @var{charset}
9981 @kindex set target-wide-charset
9982 Set the current target's wide character set to @var{charset}. This is
9983 the character set used by the target's @code{wchar_t} type. To
9984 display the list of supported wide character sets, type
9985 @kbd{@w{set target-wide-charset @key{TAB}@key{TAB}}}.
9987 @item show target-wide-charset
9988 @kindex show target-wide-charset
9989 Show the name of the current target's wide character set.
9992 Here is an example of @value{GDBN}'s character set support in action.
9993 Assume that the following source code has been placed in the file
9994 @file{charset-test.c}:
10000 = @{72, 101, 108, 108, 111, 44, 32, 119,
10001 111, 114, 108, 100, 33, 10, 0@};
10002 char ibm1047_hello[]
10003 = @{200, 133, 147, 147, 150, 107, 64, 166,
10004 150, 153, 147, 132, 90, 37, 0@};
10008 printf ("Hello, world!\n");
10012 In this program, @code{ascii_hello} and @code{ibm1047_hello} are arrays
10013 containing the string @samp{Hello, world!} followed by a newline,
10014 encoded in the @sc{ascii} and @sc{ibm1047} character sets.
10016 We compile the program, and invoke the debugger on it:
10019 $ gcc -g charset-test.c -o charset-test
10020 $ gdb -nw charset-test
10021 GNU gdb 2001-12-19-cvs
10022 Copyright 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
10027 We can use the @code{show charset} command to see what character sets
10028 @value{GDBN} is currently using to interpret and display characters and
10032 (@value{GDBP}) show charset
10033 The current host and target character set is `ISO-8859-1'.
10037 For the sake of printing this manual, let's use @sc{ascii} as our
10038 initial character set:
10040 (@value{GDBP}) set charset ASCII
10041 (@value{GDBP}) show charset
10042 The current host and target character set is `ASCII'.
10046 Let's assume that @sc{ascii} is indeed the correct character set for our
10047 host system --- in other words, let's assume that if @value{GDBN} prints
10048 characters using the @sc{ascii} character set, our terminal will display
10049 them properly. Since our current target character set is also
10050 @sc{ascii}, the contents of @code{ascii_hello} print legibly:
10053 (@value{GDBP}) print ascii_hello
10054 $1 = 0x401698 "Hello, world!\n"
10055 (@value{GDBP}) print ascii_hello[0]
10060 @value{GDBN} uses the target character set for character and string
10061 literals you use in expressions:
10064 (@value{GDBP}) print '+'
10069 The @sc{ascii} character set uses the number 43 to encode the @samp{+}
10072 @value{GDBN} relies on the user to tell it which character set the
10073 target program uses. If we print @code{ibm1047_hello} while our target
10074 character set is still @sc{ascii}, we get jibberish:
10077 (@value{GDBP}) print ibm1047_hello
10078 $4 = 0x4016a8 "\310\205\223\223\226k@@\246\226\231\223\204Z%"
10079 (@value{GDBP}) print ibm1047_hello[0]
10084 If we invoke the @code{set target-charset} followed by @key{TAB}@key{TAB},
10085 @value{GDBN} tells us the character sets it supports:
10088 (@value{GDBP}) set target-charset
10089 ASCII EBCDIC-US IBM1047 ISO-8859-1
10090 (@value{GDBP}) set target-charset
10093 We can select @sc{ibm1047} as our target character set, and examine the
10094 program's strings again. Now the @sc{ascii} string is wrong, but
10095 @value{GDBN} translates the contents of @code{ibm1047_hello} from the
10096 target character set, @sc{ibm1047}, to the host character set,
10097 @sc{ascii}, and they display correctly:
10100 (@value{GDBP}) set target-charset IBM1047
10101 (@value{GDBP}) show charset
10102 The current host character set is `ASCII'.
10103 The current target character set is `IBM1047'.
10104 (@value{GDBP}) print ascii_hello
10105 $6 = 0x401698 "\110\145%%?\054\040\167?\162%\144\041\012"
10106 (@value{GDBP}) print ascii_hello[0]
10108 (@value{GDBP}) print ibm1047_hello
10109 $8 = 0x4016a8 "Hello, world!\n"
10110 (@value{GDBP}) print ibm1047_hello[0]
10115 As above, @value{GDBN} uses the target character set for character and
10116 string literals you use in expressions:
10119 (@value{GDBP}) print '+'
10124 The @sc{ibm1047} character set uses the number 78 to encode the @samp{+}
10127 @node Caching Remote Data
10128 @section Caching Data of Remote Targets
10129 @cindex caching data of remote targets
10131 @value{GDBN} caches data exchanged between the debugger and a
10132 remote target (@pxref{Remote Debugging}). Such caching generally improves
10133 performance, because it reduces the overhead of the remote protocol by
10134 bundling memory reads and writes into large chunks. Unfortunately, simply
10135 caching everything would lead to incorrect results, since @value{GDBN}
10136 does not necessarily know anything about volatile values, memory-mapped I/O
10137 addresses, etc. Furthermore, in non-stop mode (@pxref{Non-Stop Mode})
10138 memory can be changed @emph{while} a gdb command is executing.
10139 Therefore, by default, @value{GDBN} only caches data
10140 known to be on the stack@footnote{In non-stop mode, it is moderately
10141 rare for a running thread to modify the stack of a stopped thread
10142 in a way that would interfere with a backtrace, and caching of
10143 stack reads provides a significant speed up of remote backtraces.}.
10144 Other regions of memory can be explicitly marked as
10145 cacheable; see @pxref{Memory Region Attributes}.
10148 @kindex set remotecache
10149 @item set remotecache on
10150 @itemx set remotecache off
10151 This option no longer does anything; it exists for compatibility
10154 @kindex show remotecache
10155 @item show remotecache
10156 Show the current state of the obsolete remotecache flag.
10158 @kindex set stack-cache
10159 @item set stack-cache on
10160 @itemx set stack-cache off
10161 Enable or disable caching of stack accesses. When @code{ON}, use
10162 caching. By default, this option is @code{ON}.
10164 @kindex show stack-cache
10165 @item show stack-cache
10166 Show the current state of data caching for memory accesses.
10168 @kindex info dcache
10169 @item info dcache @r{[}line@r{]}
10170 Print the information about the data cache performance. The
10171 information displayed includes the dcache width and depth, and for
10172 each cache line, its number, address, and how many times it was
10173 referenced. This command is useful for debugging the data cache
10176 If a line number is specified, the contents of that line will be
10179 @item set dcache size @var{size}
10180 @cindex dcache size
10181 @kindex set dcache size
10182 Set maximum number of entries in dcache (dcache depth above).
10184 @item set dcache line-size @var{line-size}
10185 @cindex dcache line-size
10186 @kindex set dcache line-size
10187 Set number of bytes each dcache entry caches (dcache width above).
10188 Must be a power of 2.
10190 @item show dcache size
10191 @kindex show dcache size
10192 Show maximum number of dcache entries. See also @ref{Caching Remote Data, info dcache}.
10194 @item show dcache line-size
10195 @kindex show dcache line-size
10196 Show default size of dcache lines. See also @ref{Caching Remote Data, info dcache}.
10200 @node Searching Memory
10201 @section Search Memory
10202 @cindex searching memory
10204 Memory can be searched for a particular sequence of bytes with the
10205 @code{find} command.
10209 @item find @r{[}/@var{sn}@r{]} @var{start_addr}, +@var{len}, @var{val1} @r{[}, @var{val2}, @dots{}@r{]}
10210 @itemx find @r{[}/@var{sn}@r{]} @var{start_addr}, @var{end_addr}, @var{val1} @r{[}, @var{val2}, @dots{}@r{]}
10211 Search memory for the sequence of bytes specified by @var{val1}, @var{val2},
10212 etc. The search begins at address @var{start_addr} and continues for either
10213 @var{len} bytes or through to @var{end_addr} inclusive.
10216 @var{s} and @var{n} are optional parameters.
10217 They may be specified in either order, apart or together.
10220 @item @var{s}, search query size
10221 The size of each search query value.
10227 halfwords (two bytes)
10231 giant words (eight bytes)
10234 All values are interpreted in the current language.
10235 This means, for example, that if the current source language is C/C@t{++}
10236 then searching for the string ``hello'' includes the trailing '\0'.
10238 If the value size is not specified, it is taken from the
10239 value's type in the current language.
10240 This is useful when one wants to specify the search
10241 pattern as a mixture of types.
10242 Note that this means, for example, that in the case of C-like languages
10243 a search for an untyped 0x42 will search for @samp{(int) 0x42}
10244 which is typically four bytes.
10246 @item @var{n}, maximum number of finds
10247 The maximum number of matches to print. The default is to print all finds.
10250 You can use strings as search values. Quote them with double-quotes
10252 The string value is copied into the search pattern byte by byte,
10253 regardless of the endianness of the target and the size specification.
10255 The address of each match found is printed as well as a count of the
10256 number of matches found.
10258 The address of the last value found is stored in convenience variable
10260 A count of the number of matches is stored in @samp{$numfound}.
10262 For example, if stopped at the @code{printf} in this function:
10268 static char hello[] = "hello-hello";
10269 static struct @{ char c; short s; int i; @}
10270 __attribute__ ((packed)) mixed
10271 = @{ 'c', 0x1234, 0x87654321 @};
10272 printf ("%s\n", hello);
10277 you get during debugging:
10280 (gdb) find &hello[0], +sizeof(hello), "hello"
10281 0x804956d <hello.1620+6>
10283 (gdb) find &hello[0], +sizeof(hello), 'h', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o'
10284 0x8049567 <hello.1620>
10285 0x804956d <hello.1620+6>
10287 (gdb) find /b1 &hello[0], +sizeof(hello), 'h', 0x65, 'l'
10288 0x8049567 <hello.1620>
10290 (gdb) find &mixed, +sizeof(mixed), (char) 'c', (short) 0x1234, (int) 0x87654321
10291 0x8049560 <mixed.1625>
10293 (gdb) print $numfound
10296 $2 = (void *) 0x8049560
10299 @node Optimized Code
10300 @chapter Debugging Optimized Code
10301 @cindex optimized code, debugging
10302 @cindex debugging optimized code
10304 Almost all compilers support optimization. With optimization
10305 disabled, the compiler generates assembly code that corresponds
10306 directly to your source code, in a simplistic way. As the compiler
10307 applies more powerful optimizations, the generated assembly code
10308 diverges from your original source code. With help from debugging
10309 information generated by the compiler, @value{GDBN} can map from
10310 the running program back to constructs from your original source.
10312 @value{GDBN} is more accurate with optimization disabled. If you
10313 can recompile without optimization, it is easier to follow the
10314 progress of your program during debugging. But, there are many cases
10315 where you may need to debug an optimized version.
10317 When you debug a program compiled with @samp{-g -O}, remember that the
10318 optimizer has rearranged your code; the debugger shows you what is
10319 really there. Do not be too surprised when the execution path does not
10320 exactly match your source file! An extreme example: if you define a
10321 variable, but never use it, @value{GDBN} never sees that
10322 variable---because the compiler optimizes it out of existence.
10324 Some things do not work as well with @samp{-g -O} as with just
10325 @samp{-g}, particularly on machines with instruction scheduling. If in
10326 doubt, recompile with @samp{-g} alone, and if this fixes the problem,
10327 please report it to us as a bug (including a test case!).
10328 @xref{Variables}, for more information about debugging optimized code.
10331 * Inline Functions:: How @value{GDBN} presents inlining
10332 * Tail Call Frames:: @value{GDBN} analysis of jumps to functions
10335 @node Inline Functions
10336 @section Inline Functions
10337 @cindex inline functions, debugging
10339 @dfn{Inlining} is an optimization that inserts a copy of the function
10340 body directly at each call site, instead of jumping to a shared
10341 routine. @value{GDBN} displays inlined functions just like
10342 non-inlined functions. They appear in backtraces. You can view their
10343 arguments and local variables, step into them with @code{step}, skip
10344 them with @code{next}, and escape from them with @code{finish}.
10345 You can check whether a function was inlined by using the
10346 @code{info frame} command.
10348 For @value{GDBN} to support inlined functions, the compiler must
10349 record information about inlining in the debug information ---
10350 @value{NGCC} using the @sc{dwarf 2} format does this, and several
10351 other compilers do also. @value{GDBN} only supports inlined functions
10352 when using @sc{dwarf 2}. Versions of @value{NGCC} before 4.1
10353 do not emit two required attributes (@samp{DW_AT_call_file} and
10354 @samp{DW_AT_call_line}); @value{GDBN} does not display inlined
10355 function calls with earlier versions of @value{NGCC}. It instead
10356 displays the arguments and local variables of inlined functions as
10357 local variables in the caller.
10359 The body of an inlined function is directly included at its call site;
10360 unlike a non-inlined function, there are no instructions devoted to
10361 the call. @value{GDBN} still pretends that the call site and the
10362 start of the inlined function are different instructions. Stepping to
10363 the call site shows the call site, and then stepping again shows
10364 the first line of the inlined function, even though no additional
10365 instructions are executed.
10367 This makes source-level debugging much clearer; you can see both the
10368 context of the call and then the effect of the call. Only stepping by
10369 a single instruction using @code{stepi} or @code{nexti} does not do
10370 this; single instruction steps always show the inlined body.
10372 There are some ways that @value{GDBN} does not pretend that inlined
10373 function calls are the same as normal calls:
10377 Setting breakpoints at the call site of an inlined function may not
10378 work, because the call site does not contain any code. @value{GDBN}
10379 may incorrectly move the breakpoint to the next line of the enclosing
10380 function, after the call. This limitation will be removed in a future
10381 version of @value{GDBN}; until then, set a breakpoint on an earlier line
10382 or inside the inlined function instead.
10385 @value{GDBN} cannot locate the return value of inlined calls after
10386 using the @code{finish} command. This is a limitation of compiler-generated
10387 debugging information; after @code{finish}, you can step to the next line
10388 and print a variable where your program stored the return value.
10392 @node Tail Call Frames
10393 @section Tail Call Frames
10394 @cindex tail call frames, debugging
10396 Function @code{B} can call function @code{C} in its very last statement. In
10397 unoptimized compilation the call of @code{C} is immediately followed by return
10398 instruction at the end of @code{B} code. Optimizing compiler may replace the
10399 call and return in function @code{B} into one jump to function @code{C}
10400 instead. Such use of a jump instruction is called @dfn{tail call}.
10402 During execution of function @code{C}, there will be no indication in the
10403 function call stack frames that it was tail-called from @code{B}. If function
10404 @code{A} regularly calls function @code{B} which tail-calls function @code{C},
10405 then @value{GDBN} will see @code{A} as the caller of @code{C}. However, in
10406 some cases @value{GDBN} can determine that @code{C} was tail-called from
10407 @code{B}, and it will then create fictitious call frame for that, with the
10408 return address set up as if @code{B} called @code{C} normally.
10410 This functionality is currently supported only by DWARF 2 debugging format and
10411 the compiler has to produce @samp{DW_TAG_GNU_call_site} tags. With
10412 @value{NGCC}, you need to specify @option{-O -g} during compilation, to get
10415 @kbd{info frame} command (@pxref{Frame Info}) will indicate the tail call frame
10416 kind by text @code{tail call frame} such as in this sample @value{GDBN} output:
10420 0x40066b <b(int, double)+11>: jmp 0x400640 <c(int, double)>
10422 Stack level 1, frame at 0x7fffffffda30:
10423 rip = 0x40066d in b (amd64-entry-value.cc:59); saved rip 0x4004c5
10424 tail call frame, caller of frame at 0x7fffffffda30
10425 source language c++.
10426 Arglist at unknown address.
10427 Locals at unknown address, Previous frame's sp is 0x7fffffffda30
10430 The detection of all the possible code path executions can find them ambiguous.
10431 There is no execution history stored (possible @ref{Reverse Execution} is never
10432 used for this purpose) and the last known caller could have reached the known
10433 callee by multiple different jump sequences. In such case @value{GDBN} still
10434 tries to show at least all the unambiguous top tail callers and all the
10435 unambiguous bottom tail calees, if any.
10438 @anchor{set debug entry-values}
10439 @item set debug entry-values
10440 @kindex set debug entry-values
10441 When set to on, enables printing of analysis messages for both frame argument
10442 values at function entry and tail calls. It will show all the possible valid
10443 tail calls code paths it has considered. It will also print the intersection
10444 of them with the final unambiguous (possibly partial or even empty) code path
10447 @item show debug entry-values
10448 @kindex show debug entry-values
10449 Show the current state of analysis messages printing for both frame argument
10450 values at function entry and tail calls.
10453 The analysis messages for tail calls can for example show why the virtual tail
10454 call frame for function @code{c} has not been recognized (due to the indirect
10455 reference by variable @code{x}):
10458 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) c (void);
10459 void (*x) (void) = c;
10460 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) a (void) @{ x++; @}
10461 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) c (void) @{ a (); @}
10462 int main (void) @{ x (); return 0; @}
10464 Breakpoint 1, DW_OP_GNU_entry_value resolving cannot find
10465 DW_TAG_GNU_call_site 0x40039a in main
10467 3 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) a (void) @{ x++; @}
10470 #1 0x000000000040039a in main () at t.c:5
10473 Another possibility is an ambiguous virtual tail call frames resolution:
10477 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) f (void) @{ i++; @}
10478 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) e (void) @{ f (); @}
10479 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) d (void) @{ f (); @}
10480 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) c (void) @{ d (); @}
10481 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) b (void)
10482 @{ if (i) c (); else e (); @}
10483 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) a (void) @{ b (); @}
10484 int main (void) @{ a (); return 0; @}
10486 tailcall: initial: 0x4004d2(a) 0x4004ce(b) 0x4004b2(c) 0x4004a2(d)
10487 tailcall: compare: 0x4004d2(a) 0x4004cc(b) 0x400492(e)
10488 tailcall: reduced: 0x4004d2(a) |
10491 #1 0x00000000004004d2 in a () at t.c:8
10492 #2 0x0000000000400395 in main () at t.c:9
10495 @set CALLSEQ1A @code{main@value{ARROW}a@value{ARROW}b@value{ARROW}c@value{ARROW}d@value{ARROW}f}
10496 @set CALLSEQ2A @code{main@value{ARROW}a@value{ARROW}b@value{ARROW}e@value{ARROW}f}
10498 @c Convert CALLSEQ#A to CALLSEQ#B depending on HAVE_MAKEINFO_CLICK.
10499 @ifset HAVE_MAKEINFO_CLICK
10500 @set ARROW @click{}
10501 @set CALLSEQ1B @clicksequence{@value{CALLSEQ1A}}
10502 @set CALLSEQ2B @clicksequence{@value{CALLSEQ2A}}
10504 @ifclear HAVE_MAKEINFO_CLICK
10506 @set CALLSEQ1B @value{CALLSEQ1A}
10507 @set CALLSEQ2B @value{CALLSEQ2A}
10510 Frames #0 and #2 are real, #1 is a virtual tail call frame.
10511 The code can have possible execution paths @value{CALLSEQ1B} or
10512 @value{CALLSEQ2B}, @value{GDBN} cannot find which one from the inferior state.
10514 @code{initial:} state shows some random possible calling sequence @value{GDBN}
10515 has found. It then finds another possible calling sequcen - that one is
10516 prefixed by @code{compare:}. The non-ambiguous intersection of these two is
10517 printed as the @code{reduced:} calling sequence. That one could have many
10518 futher @code{compare:} and @code{reduced:} statements as long as there remain
10519 any non-ambiguous sequence entries.
10521 For the frame of function @code{b} in both cases there are different possible
10522 @code{$pc} values (@code{0x4004cc} or @code{0x4004ce}), therefore this frame is
10523 also ambigous. The only non-ambiguous frame is the one for function @code{a},
10524 therefore this one is displayed to the user while the ambiguous frames are
10527 There can be also reasons why printing of frame argument values at function
10532 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) c (int i) @{ v++; @}
10533 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) a (int i);
10534 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) b (int i) @{ a (i); @}
10535 static void __attribute__((noinline, noclone)) a (int i)
10536 @{ if (i) b (i - 1); else c (0); @}
10537 int main (void) @{ a (5); return 0; @}
10540 #0 c (i=i@@entry=0) at t.c:2
10541 #1 0x0000000000400428 in a (DW_OP_GNU_entry_value resolving has found
10542 function "a" at 0x400420 can call itself via tail calls
10543 i=<optimized out>) at t.c:6
10544 #2 0x000000000040036e in main () at t.c:7
10547 @value{GDBN} cannot find out from the inferior state if and how many times did
10548 function @code{a} call itself (via function @code{b}) as these calls would be
10549 tail calls. Such tail calls would modify thue @code{i} variable, therefore
10550 @value{GDBN} cannot be sure the value it knows would be right - @value{GDBN}
10551 prints @code{<optimized out>} instead.
10554 @chapter C Preprocessor Macros
10556 Some languages, such as C and C@t{++}, provide a way to define and invoke
10557 ``preprocessor macros'' which expand into strings of tokens.
10558 @value{GDBN} can evaluate expressions containing macro invocations, show
10559 the result of macro expansion, and show a macro's definition, including
10560 where it was defined.
10562 You may need to compile your program specially to provide @value{GDBN}
10563 with information about preprocessor macros. Most compilers do not
10564 include macros in their debugging information, even when you compile
10565 with the @option{-g} flag. @xref{Compilation}.
10567 A program may define a macro at one point, remove that definition later,
10568 and then provide a different definition after that. Thus, at different
10569 points in the program, a macro may have different definitions, or have
10570 no definition at all. If there is a current stack frame, @value{GDBN}
10571 uses the macros in scope at that frame's source code line. Otherwise,
10572 @value{GDBN} uses the macros in scope at the current listing location;
10575 Whenever @value{GDBN} evaluates an expression, it always expands any
10576 macro invocations present in the expression. @value{GDBN} also provides
10577 the following commands for working with macros explicitly.
10581 @kindex macro expand
10582 @cindex macro expansion, showing the results of preprocessor
10583 @cindex preprocessor macro expansion, showing the results of
10584 @cindex expanding preprocessor macros
10585 @item macro expand @var{expression}
10586 @itemx macro exp @var{expression}
10587 Show the results of expanding all preprocessor macro invocations in
10588 @var{expression}. Since @value{GDBN} simply expands macros, but does
10589 not parse the result, @var{expression} need not be a valid expression;
10590 it can be any string of tokens.
10593 @item macro expand-once @var{expression}
10594 @itemx macro exp1 @var{expression}
10595 @cindex expand macro once
10596 @i{(This command is not yet implemented.)} Show the results of
10597 expanding those preprocessor macro invocations that appear explicitly in
10598 @var{expression}. Macro invocations appearing in that expansion are
10599 left unchanged. This command allows you to see the effect of a
10600 particular macro more clearly, without being confused by further
10601 expansions. Since @value{GDBN} simply expands macros, but does not
10602 parse the result, @var{expression} need not be a valid expression; it
10603 can be any string of tokens.
10606 @cindex macro definition, showing
10607 @cindex definition of a macro, showing
10608 @cindex macros, from debug info
10609 @item info macro [-a|-all] [--] @var{macro}
10610 Show the current definition or all definitions of the named @var{macro},
10611 and describe the source location or compiler command-line where that
10612 definition was established. The optional double dash is to signify the end of
10613 argument processing and the beginning of @var{macro} for non C-like macros where
10614 the macro may begin with a hyphen.
10616 @kindex info macros
10617 @item info macros @var{linespec}
10618 Show all macro definitions that are in effect at the location specified
10619 by @var{linespec}, and describe the source location or compiler
10620 command-line where those definitions were established.
10622 @kindex macro define
10623 @cindex user-defined macros
10624 @cindex defining macros interactively
10625 @cindex macros, user-defined
10626 @item macro define @var{macro} @var{replacement-list}
10627 @itemx macro define @var{macro}(@var{arglist}) @var{replacement-list}
10628 Introduce a definition for a preprocessor macro named @var{macro},
10629 invocations of which are replaced by the tokens given in
10630 @var{replacement-list}. The first form of this command defines an
10631 ``object-like'' macro, which takes no arguments; the second form
10632 defines a ``function-like'' macro, which takes the arguments given in
10635 A definition introduced by this command is in scope in every
10636 expression evaluated in @value{GDBN}, until it is removed with the
10637 @code{macro undef} command, described below. The definition overrides
10638 all definitions for @var{macro} present in the program being debugged,
10639 as well as any previous user-supplied definition.
10641 @kindex macro undef
10642 @item macro undef @var{macro}
10643 Remove any user-supplied definition for the macro named @var{macro}.
10644 This command only affects definitions provided with the @code{macro
10645 define} command, described above; it cannot remove definitions present
10646 in the program being debugged.
10650 List all the macros defined using the @code{macro define} command.
10653 @cindex macros, example of debugging with
10654 Here is a transcript showing the above commands in action. First, we
10655 show our source files:
10660 #include "sample.h"
10663 #define ADD(x) (M + x)
10668 printf ("Hello, world!\n");
10670 printf ("We're so creative.\n");
10672 printf ("Goodbye, world!\n");
10679 Now, we compile the program using the @sc{gnu} C compiler,
10680 @value{NGCC}. We pass the @option{-gdwarf-2}@footnote{This is the
10681 minimum. Recent versions of @value{NGCC} support @option{-gdwarf-3}
10682 and @option{-gdwarf-4}; we recommend always choosing the most recent
10683 version of DWARF.} @emph{and} @option{-g3} flags to ensure the compiler
10684 includes information about preprocessor macros in the debugging
10688 $ gcc -gdwarf-2 -g3 sample.c -o sample
10692 Now, we start @value{GDBN} on our sample program:
10696 GNU gdb 2002-05-06-cvs
10697 Copyright 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
10698 GDB is free software, @dots{}
10702 We can expand macros and examine their definitions, even when the
10703 program is not running. @value{GDBN} uses the current listing position
10704 to decide which macro definitions are in scope:
10707 (@value{GDBP}) list main
10710 5 #define ADD(x) (M + x)
10715 10 printf ("Hello, world!\n");
10717 12 printf ("We're so creative.\n");
10718 (@value{GDBP}) info macro ADD
10719 Defined at /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample.c:5
10720 #define ADD(x) (M + x)
10721 (@value{GDBP}) info macro Q
10722 Defined at /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample.h:1
10723 included at /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample.c:2
10725 (@value{GDBP}) macro expand ADD(1)
10726 expands to: (42 + 1)
10727 (@value{GDBP}) macro expand-once ADD(1)
10728 expands to: once (M + 1)
10732 In the example above, note that @code{macro expand-once} expands only
10733 the macro invocation explicit in the original text --- the invocation of
10734 @code{ADD} --- but does not expand the invocation of the macro @code{M},
10735 which was introduced by @code{ADD}.
10737 Once the program is running, @value{GDBN} uses the macro definitions in
10738 force at the source line of the current stack frame:
10741 (@value{GDBP}) break main
10742 Breakpoint 1 at 0x8048370: file sample.c, line 10.
10744 Starting program: /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample
10746 Breakpoint 1, main () at sample.c:10
10747 10 printf ("Hello, world!\n");
10751 At line 10, the definition of the macro @code{N} at line 9 is in force:
10754 (@value{GDBP}) info macro N
10755 Defined at /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample.c:9
10757 (@value{GDBP}) macro expand N Q M
10758 expands to: 28 < 42
10759 (@value{GDBP}) print N Q M
10764 As we step over directives that remove @code{N}'s definition, and then
10765 give it a new definition, @value{GDBN} finds the definition (or lack
10766 thereof) in force at each point:
10769 (@value{GDBP}) next
10771 12 printf ("We're so creative.\n");
10772 (@value{GDBP}) info macro N
10773 The symbol `N' has no definition as a C/C++ preprocessor macro
10774 at /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample.c:12
10775 (@value{GDBP}) next
10777 14 printf ("Goodbye, world!\n");
10778 (@value{GDBP}) info macro N
10779 Defined at /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample.c:13
10781 (@value{GDBP}) macro expand N Q M
10782 expands to: 1729 < 42
10783 (@value{GDBP}) print N Q M
10788 In addition to source files, macros can be defined on the compilation command
10789 line using the @option{-D@var{name}=@var{value}} syntax. For macros defined in
10790 such a way, @value{GDBN} displays the location of their definition as line zero
10791 of the source file submitted to the compiler.
10794 (@value{GDBP}) info macro __STDC__
10795 Defined at /home/jimb/gdb/macros/play/sample.c:0
10802 @chapter Tracepoints
10803 @c This chapter is based on the documentation written by Michael
10804 @c Snyder, David Taylor, Jim Blandy, and Elena Zannoni.
10806 @cindex tracepoints
10807 In some applications, it is not feasible for the debugger to interrupt
10808 the program's execution long enough for the developer to learn
10809 anything helpful about its behavior. If the program's correctness
10810 depends on its real-time behavior, delays introduced by a debugger
10811 might cause the program to change its behavior drastically, or perhaps
10812 fail, even when the code itself is correct. It is useful to be able
10813 to observe the program's behavior without interrupting it.
10815 Using @value{GDBN}'s @code{trace} and @code{collect} commands, you can
10816 specify locations in the program, called @dfn{tracepoints}, and
10817 arbitrary expressions to evaluate when those tracepoints are reached.
10818 Later, using the @code{tfind} command, you can examine the values
10819 those expressions had when the program hit the tracepoints. The
10820 expressions may also denote objects in memory---structures or arrays,
10821 for example---whose values @value{GDBN} should record; while visiting
10822 a particular tracepoint, you may inspect those objects as if they were
10823 in memory at that moment. However, because @value{GDBN} records these
10824 values without interacting with you, it can do so quickly and
10825 unobtrusively, hopefully not disturbing the program's behavior.
10827 The tracepoint facility is currently available only for remote
10828 targets. @xref{Targets}. In addition, your remote target must know
10829 how to collect trace data. This functionality is implemented in the
10830 remote stub; however, none of the stubs distributed with @value{GDBN}
10831 support tracepoints as of this writing. The format of the remote
10832 packets used to implement tracepoints are described in @ref{Tracepoint
10835 It is also possible to get trace data from a file, in a manner reminiscent
10836 of corefiles; you specify the filename, and use @code{tfind} to search
10837 through the file. @xref{Trace Files}, for more details.
10839 This chapter describes the tracepoint commands and features.
10842 * Set Tracepoints::
10843 * Analyze Collected Data::
10844 * Tracepoint Variables::
10848 @node Set Tracepoints
10849 @section Commands to Set Tracepoints
10851 Before running such a @dfn{trace experiment}, an arbitrary number of
10852 tracepoints can be set. A tracepoint is actually a special type of
10853 breakpoint (@pxref{Set Breaks}), so you can manipulate it using
10854 standard breakpoint commands. For instance, as with breakpoints,
10855 tracepoint numbers are successive integers starting from one, and many
10856 of the commands associated with tracepoints take the tracepoint number
10857 as their argument, to identify which tracepoint to work on.
10859 For each tracepoint, you can specify, in advance, some arbitrary set
10860 of data that you want the target to collect in the trace buffer when
10861 it hits that tracepoint. The collected data can include registers,
10862 local variables, or global data. Later, you can use @value{GDBN}
10863 commands to examine the values these data had at the time the
10864 tracepoint was hit.
10866 Tracepoints do not support every breakpoint feature. Ignore counts on
10867 tracepoints have no effect, and tracepoints cannot run @value{GDBN}
10868 commands when they are hit. Tracepoints may not be thread-specific
10871 @cindex fast tracepoints
10872 Some targets may support @dfn{fast tracepoints}, which are inserted in
10873 a different way (such as with a jump instead of a trap), that is
10874 faster but possibly restricted in where they may be installed.
10876 @cindex static tracepoints
10877 @cindex markers, static tracepoints
10878 @cindex probing markers, static tracepoints
10879 Regular and fast tracepoints are dynamic tracing facilities, meaning
10880 that they can be used to insert tracepoints at (almost) any location
10881 in the target. Some targets may also support controlling @dfn{static
10882 tracepoints} from @value{GDBN}. With static tracing, a set of
10883 instrumentation points, also known as @dfn{markers}, are embedded in
10884 the target program, and can be activated or deactivated by name or
10885 address. These are usually placed at locations which facilitate
10886 investigating what the target is actually doing. @value{GDBN}'s
10887 support for static tracing includes being able to list instrumentation
10888 points, and attach them with @value{GDBN} defined high level
10889 tracepoints that expose the whole range of convenience of
10890 @value{GDBN}'s tracepoints support. Namely, support for collecting
10891 registers values and values of global or local (to the instrumentation
10892 point) variables; tracepoint conditions and trace state variables.
10893 The act of installing a @value{GDBN} static tracepoint on an
10894 instrumentation point, or marker, is referred to as @dfn{probing} a
10895 static tracepoint marker.
10897 @code{gdbserver} supports tracepoints on some target systems.
10898 @xref{Server,,Tracepoints support in @code{gdbserver}}.
10900 This section describes commands to set tracepoints and associated
10901 conditions and actions.
10904 * Create and Delete Tracepoints::
10905 * Enable and Disable Tracepoints::
10906 * Tracepoint Passcounts::
10907 * Tracepoint Conditions::
10908 * Trace State Variables::
10909 * Tracepoint Actions::
10910 * Listing Tracepoints::
10911 * Listing Static Tracepoint Markers::
10912 * Starting and Stopping Trace Experiments::
10913 * Tracepoint Restrictions::
10916 @node Create and Delete Tracepoints
10917 @subsection Create and Delete Tracepoints
10920 @cindex set tracepoint
10922 @item trace @var{location}
10923 The @code{trace} command is very similar to the @code{break} command.
10924 Its argument @var{location} can be a source line, a function name, or
10925 an address in the target program. @xref{Specify Location}. The
10926 @code{trace} command defines a tracepoint, which is a point in the
10927 target program where the debugger will briefly stop, collect some
10928 data, and then allow the program to continue. Setting a tracepoint or
10929 changing its actions takes effect immediately if the remote stub
10930 supports the @samp{InstallInTrace} feature (@pxref{install tracepoint
10932 If remote stub doesn't support the @samp{InstallInTrace} feature, all
10933 these changes don't take effect until the next @code{tstart}
10934 command, and once a trace experiment is running, further changes will
10935 not have any effect until the next trace experiment starts. In addition,
10936 @value{GDBN} supports @dfn{pending tracepoints}---tracepoints whose
10937 address is not yet resolved. (This is similar to pending breakpoints.)
10938 Pending tracepoints are not downloaded to the target and not installed
10939 until they are resolved. The resolution of pending tracepoints requires
10940 @value{GDBN} support---when debugging with the remote target, and
10941 @value{GDBN} disconnects from the remote stub (@pxref{disconnected
10942 tracing}), pending tracepoints can not be resolved (and downloaded to
10943 the remote stub) while @value{GDBN} is disconnected.
10945 Here are some examples of using the @code{trace} command:
10948 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace foo.c:121} // a source file and line number
10950 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace +2} // 2 lines forward
10952 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace my_function} // first source line of function
10954 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace *my_function} // EXACT start address of function
10956 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace *0x2117c4} // an address
10960 You can abbreviate @code{trace} as @code{tr}.
10962 @item trace @var{location} if @var{cond}
10963 Set a tracepoint with condition @var{cond}; evaluate the expression
10964 @var{cond} each time the tracepoint is reached, and collect data only
10965 if the value is nonzero---that is, if @var{cond} evaluates as true.
10966 @xref{Tracepoint Conditions, ,Tracepoint Conditions}, for more
10967 information on tracepoint conditions.
10969 @item ftrace @var{location} [ if @var{cond} ]
10970 @cindex set fast tracepoint
10971 @cindex fast tracepoints, setting
10973 The @code{ftrace} command sets a fast tracepoint. For targets that
10974 support them, fast tracepoints will use a more efficient but possibly
10975 less general technique to trigger data collection, such as a jump
10976 instruction instead of a trap, or some sort of hardware support. It
10977 may not be possible to create a fast tracepoint at the desired
10978 location, in which case the command will exit with an explanatory
10981 @value{GDBN} handles arguments to @code{ftrace} exactly as for
10984 On 32-bit x86-architecture systems, fast tracepoints normally need to
10985 be placed at an instruction that is 5 bytes or longer, but can be
10986 placed at 4-byte instructions if the low 64K of memory of the target
10987 program is available to install trampolines. Some Unix-type systems,
10988 such as @sc{gnu}/Linux, exclude low addresses from the program's
10989 address space; but for instance with the Linux kernel it is possible
10990 to let @value{GDBN} use this area by doing a @command{sysctl} command
10991 to set the @code{mmap_min_addr} kernel parameter, as in
10994 sudo sysctl -w vm.mmap_min_addr=32768
10998 which sets the low address to 32K, which leaves plenty of room for
10999 trampolines. The minimum address should be set to a page boundary.
11001 @item strace @var{location} [ if @var{cond} ]
11002 @cindex set static tracepoint
11003 @cindex static tracepoints, setting
11004 @cindex probe static tracepoint marker
11006 The @code{strace} command sets a static tracepoint. For targets that
11007 support it, setting a static tracepoint probes a static
11008 instrumentation point, or marker, found at @var{location}. It may not
11009 be possible to set a static tracepoint at the desired location, in
11010 which case the command will exit with an explanatory message.
11012 @value{GDBN} handles arguments to @code{strace} exactly as for
11013 @code{trace}, with the addition that the user can also specify
11014 @code{-m @var{marker}} as @var{location}. This probes the marker
11015 identified by the @var{marker} string identifier. This identifier
11016 depends on the static tracepoint backend library your program is
11017 using. You can find all the marker identifiers in the @samp{ID} field
11018 of the @code{info static-tracepoint-markers} command output.
11019 @xref{Listing Static Tracepoint Markers,,Listing Static Tracepoint
11020 Markers}. For example, in the following small program using the UST
11026 trace_mark(ust, bar33, "str %s", "FOOBAZ");
11031 the marker id is composed of joining the first two arguments to the
11032 @code{trace_mark} call with a slash, which translates to:
11035 (@value{GDBP}) info static-tracepoint-markers
11036 Cnt Enb ID Address What
11037 1 n ust/bar33 0x0000000000400ddc in main at stexample.c:22
11043 so you may probe the marker above with:
11046 (@value{GDBP}) strace -m ust/bar33
11049 Static tracepoints accept an extra collect action --- @code{collect
11050 $_sdata}. This collects arbitrary user data passed in the probe point
11051 call to the tracing library. In the UST example above, you'll see
11052 that the third argument to @code{trace_mark} is a printf-like format
11053 string. The user data is then the result of running that formating
11054 string against the following arguments. Note that @code{info
11055 static-tracepoint-markers} command output lists that format string in
11056 the @samp{Data:} field.
11058 You can inspect this data when analyzing the trace buffer, by printing
11059 the $_sdata variable like any other variable available to
11060 @value{GDBN}. @xref{Tracepoint Actions,,Tracepoint Action Lists}.
11063 @cindex last tracepoint number
11064 @cindex recent tracepoint number
11065 @cindex tracepoint number
11066 The convenience variable @code{$tpnum} records the tracepoint number
11067 of the most recently set tracepoint.
11069 @kindex delete tracepoint
11070 @cindex tracepoint deletion
11071 @item delete tracepoint @r{[}@var{num}@r{]}
11072 Permanently delete one or more tracepoints. With no argument, the
11073 default is to delete all tracepoints. Note that the regular
11074 @code{delete} command can remove tracepoints also.
11079 (@value{GDBP}) @b{delete trace 1 2 3} // remove three tracepoints
11081 (@value{GDBP}) @b{delete trace} // remove all tracepoints
11085 You can abbreviate this command as @code{del tr}.
11088 @node Enable and Disable Tracepoints
11089 @subsection Enable and Disable Tracepoints
11091 These commands are deprecated; they are equivalent to plain @code{disable} and @code{enable}.
11094 @kindex disable tracepoint
11095 @item disable tracepoint @r{[}@var{num}@r{]}
11096 Disable tracepoint @var{num}, or all tracepoints if no argument
11097 @var{num} is given. A disabled tracepoint will have no effect during
11098 a trace experiment, but it is not forgotten. You can re-enable
11099 a disabled tracepoint using the @code{enable tracepoint} command.
11100 If the command is issued during a trace experiment and the debug target
11101 has support for disabling tracepoints during a trace experiment, then the
11102 change will be effective immediately. Otherwise, it will be applied to the
11103 next trace experiment.
11105 @kindex enable tracepoint
11106 @item enable tracepoint @r{[}@var{num}@r{]}
11107 Enable tracepoint @var{num}, or all tracepoints. If this command is
11108 issued during a trace experiment and the debug target supports enabling
11109 tracepoints during a trace experiment, then the enabled tracepoints will
11110 become effective immediately. Otherwise, they will become effective the
11111 next time a trace experiment is run.
11114 @node Tracepoint Passcounts
11115 @subsection Tracepoint Passcounts
11119 @cindex tracepoint pass count
11120 @item passcount @r{[}@var{n} @r{[}@var{num}@r{]]}
11121 Set the @dfn{passcount} of a tracepoint. The passcount is a way to
11122 automatically stop a trace experiment. If a tracepoint's passcount is
11123 @var{n}, then the trace experiment will be automatically stopped on
11124 the @var{n}'th time that tracepoint is hit. If the tracepoint number
11125 @var{num} is not specified, the @code{passcount} command sets the
11126 passcount of the most recently defined tracepoint. If no passcount is
11127 given, the trace experiment will run until stopped explicitly by the
11133 (@value{GDBP}) @b{passcount 5 2} // Stop on the 5th execution of
11134 @exdent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @code{// tracepoint 2}
11136 (@value{GDBP}) @b{passcount 12} // Stop on the 12th execution of the
11137 @exdent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @code{// most recently defined tracepoint.}
11138 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace foo}
11139 (@value{GDBP}) @b{pass 3}
11140 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace bar}
11141 (@value{GDBP}) @b{pass 2}
11142 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace baz}
11143 (@value{GDBP}) @b{pass 1} // Stop tracing when foo has been
11144 @exdent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @code{// executed 3 times OR when bar has}
11145 @exdent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @code{// been executed 2 times}
11146 @exdent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @code{// OR when baz has been executed 1 time.}
11150 @node Tracepoint Conditions
11151 @subsection Tracepoint Conditions
11152 @cindex conditional tracepoints
11153 @cindex tracepoint conditions
11155 The simplest sort of tracepoint collects data every time your program
11156 reaches a specified place. You can also specify a @dfn{condition} for
11157 a tracepoint. A condition is just a Boolean expression in your
11158 programming language (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}). A
11159 tracepoint with a condition evaluates the expression each time your
11160 program reaches it, and data collection happens only if the condition
11163 Tracepoint conditions can be specified when a tracepoint is set, by
11164 using @samp{if} in the arguments to the @code{trace} command.
11165 @xref{Create and Delete Tracepoints, ,Setting Tracepoints}. They can
11166 also be set or changed at any time with the @code{condition} command,
11167 just as with breakpoints.
11169 Unlike breakpoint conditions, @value{GDBN} does not actually evaluate
11170 the conditional expression itself. Instead, @value{GDBN} encodes the
11171 expression into an agent expression (@pxref{Agent Expressions})
11172 suitable for execution on the target, independently of @value{GDBN}.
11173 Global variables become raw memory locations, locals become stack
11174 accesses, and so forth.
11176 For instance, suppose you have a function that is usually called
11177 frequently, but should not be called after an error has occurred. You
11178 could use the following tracepoint command to collect data about calls
11179 of that function that happen while the error code is propagating
11180 through the program; an unconditional tracepoint could end up
11181 collecting thousands of useless trace frames that you would have to
11185 (@value{GDBP}) @kbd{trace normal_operation if errcode > 0}
11188 @node Trace State Variables
11189 @subsection Trace State Variables
11190 @cindex trace state variables
11192 A @dfn{trace state variable} is a special type of variable that is
11193 created and managed by target-side code. The syntax is the same as
11194 that for GDB's convenience variables (a string prefixed with ``$''),
11195 but they are stored on the target. They must be created explicitly,
11196 using a @code{tvariable} command. They are always 64-bit signed
11199 Trace state variables are remembered by @value{GDBN}, and downloaded
11200 to the target along with tracepoint information when the trace
11201 experiment starts. There are no intrinsic limits on the number of
11202 trace state variables, beyond memory limitations of the target.
11204 @cindex convenience variables, and trace state variables
11205 Although trace state variables are managed by the target, you can use
11206 them in print commands and expressions as if they were convenience
11207 variables; @value{GDBN} will get the current value from the target
11208 while the trace experiment is running. Trace state variables share
11209 the same namespace as other ``$'' variables, which means that you
11210 cannot have trace state variables with names like @code{$23} or
11211 @code{$pc}, nor can you have a trace state variable and a convenience
11212 variable with the same name.
11216 @item tvariable $@var{name} [ = @var{expression} ]
11218 The @code{tvariable} command creates a new trace state variable named
11219 @code{$@var{name}}, and optionally gives it an initial value of
11220 @var{expression}. @var{expression} is evaluated when this command is
11221 entered; the result will be converted to an integer if possible,
11222 otherwise @value{GDBN} will report an error. A subsequent
11223 @code{tvariable} command specifying the same name does not create a
11224 variable, but instead assigns the supplied initial value to the
11225 existing variable of that name, overwriting any previous initial
11226 value. The default initial value is 0.
11228 @item info tvariables
11229 @kindex info tvariables
11230 List all the trace state variables along with their initial values.
11231 Their current values may also be displayed, if the trace experiment is
11234 @item delete tvariable @r{[} $@var{name} @dots{} @r{]}
11235 @kindex delete tvariable
11236 Delete the given trace state variables, or all of them if no arguments
11241 @node Tracepoint Actions
11242 @subsection Tracepoint Action Lists
11246 @cindex tracepoint actions
11247 @item actions @r{[}@var{num}@r{]}
11248 This command will prompt for a list of actions to be taken when the
11249 tracepoint is hit. If the tracepoint number @var{num} is not
11250 specified, this command sets the actions for the one that was most
11251 recently defined (so that you can define a tracepoint and then say
11252 @code{actions} without bothering about its number). You specify the
11253 actions themselves on the following lines, one action at a time, and
11254 terminate the actions list with a line containing just @code{end}. So
11255 far, the only defined actions are @code{collect}, @code{teval}, and
11256 @code{while-stepping}.
11258 @code{actions} is actually equivalent to @code{commands} (@pxref{Break
11259 Commands, ,Breakpoint Command Lists}), except that only the defined
11260 actions are allowed; any other @value{GDBN} command is rejected.
11262 @cindex remove actions from a tracepoint
11263 To remove all actions from a tracepoint, type @samp{actions @var{num}}
11264 and follow it immediately with @samp{end}.
11267 (@value{GDBP}) @b{collect @var{data}} // collect some data
11269 (@value{GDBP}) @b{while-stepping 5} // single-step 5 times, collect data
11271 (@value{GDBP}) @b{end} // signals the end of actions.
11274 In the following example, the action list begins with @code{collect}
11275 commands indicating the things to be collected when the tracepoint is
11276 hit. Then, in order to single-step and collect additional data
11277 following the tracepoint, a @code{while-stepping} command is used,
11278 followed by the list of things to be collected after each step in a
11279 sequence of single steps. The @code{while-stepping} command is
11280 terminated by its own separate @code{end} command. Lastly, the action
11281 list is terminated by an @code{end} command.
11284 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace foo}
11285 (@value{GDBP}) @b{actions}
11286 Enter actions for tracepoint 1, one per line:
11289 > while-stepping 12
11290 > collect $pc, arr[i]
11295 @kindex collect @r{(tracepoints)}
11296 @item collect@r{[}/@var{mods}@r{]} @var{expr1}, @var{expr2}, @dots{}
11297 Collect values of the given expressions when the tracepoint is hit.
11298 This command accepts a comma-separated list of any valid expressions.
11299 In addition to global, static, or local variables, the following
11300 special arguments are supported:
11304 Collect all registers.
11307 Collect all function arguments.
11310 Collect all local variables.
11313 Collect the return address. This is helpful if you want to see more
11317 Collects the number of arguments from the static probe at which the
11318 tracepoint is located.
11319 @xref{Static Probe Points}.
11321 @item $_probe_arg@var{n}
11322 @var{n} is an integer between 0 and 11. Collects the @var{n}th argument
11323 from the static probe at which the tracepoint is located.
11324 @xref{Static Probe Points}.
11327 @vindex $_sdata@r{, collect}
11328 Collect static tracepoint marker specific data. Only available for
11329 static tracepoints. @xref{Tracepoint Actions,,Tracepoint Action
11330 Lists}. On the UST static tracepoints library backend, an
11331 instrumentation point resembles a @code{printf} function call. The
11332 tracing library is able to collect user specified data formatted to a
11333 character string using the format provided by the programmer that
11334 instrumented the program. Other backends have similar mechanisms.
11335 Here's an example of a UST marker call:
11338 const char master_name[] = "$your_name";
11339 trace_mark(channel1, marker1, "hello %s", master_name)
11342 In this case, collecting @code{$_sdata} collects the string
11343 @samp{hello $yourname}. When analyzing the trace buffer, you can
11344 inspect @samp{$_sdata} like any other variable available to
11348 You can give several consecutive @code{collect} commands, each one
11349 with a single argument, or one @code{collect} command with several
11350 arguments separated by commas; the effect is the same.
11352 The optional @var{mods} changes the usual handling of the arguments.
11353 @code{s} requests that pointers to chars be handled as strings, in
11354 particular collecting the contents of the memory being pointed at, up
11355 to the first zero. The upper bound is by default the value of the
11356 @code{print elements} variable; if @code{s} is followed by a decimal
11357 number, that is the upper bound instead. So for instance
11358 @samp{collect/s25 mystr} collects as many as 25 characters at
11361 The command @code{info scope} (@pxref{Symbols, info scope}) is
11362 particularly useful for figuring out what data to collect.
11364 @kindex teval @r{(tracepoints)}
11365 @item teval @var{expr1}, @var{expr2}, @dots{}
11366 Evaluate the given expressions when the tracepoint is hit. This
11367 command accepts a comma-separated list of expressions. The results
11368 are discarded, so this is mainly useful for assigning values to trace
11369 state variables (@pxref{Trace State Variables}) without adding those
11370 values to the trace buffer, as would be the case if the @code{collect}
11373 @kindex while-stepping @r{(tracepoints)}
11374 @item while-stepping @var{n}
11375 Perform @var{n} single-step instruction traces after the tracepoint,
11376 collecting new data after each step. The @code{while-stepping}
11377 command is followed by the list of what to collect while stepping
11378 (followed by its own @code{end} command):
11381 > while-stepping 12
11382 > collect $regs, myglobal
11388 Note that @code{$pc} is not automatically collected by
11389 @code{while-stepping}; you need to explicitly collect that register if
11390 you need it. You may abbreviate @code{while-stepping} as @code{ws} or
11393 @item set default-collect @var{expr1}, @var{expr2}, @dots{}
11394 @kindex set default-collect
11395 @cindex default collection action
11396 This variable is a list of expressions to collect at each tracepoint
11397 hit. It is effectively an additional @code{collect} action prepended
11398 to every tracepoint action list. The expressions are parsed
11399 individually for each tracepoint, so for instance a variable named
11400 @code{xyz} may be interpreted as a global for one tracepoint, and a
11401 local for another, as appropriate to the tracepoint's location.
11403 @item show default-collect
11404 @kindex show default-collect
11405 Show the list of expressions that are collected by default at each
11410 @node Listing Tracepoints
11411 @subsection Listing Tracepoints
11414 @kindex info tracepoints @r{[}@var{n}@dots{}@r{]}
11415 @kindex info tp @r{[}@var{n}@dots{}@r{]}
11416 @cindex information about tracepoints
11417 @item info tracepoints @r{[}@var{num}@dots{}@r{]}
11418 Display information about the tracepoint @var{num}. If you don't
11419 specify a tracepoint number, displays information about all the
11420 tracepoints defined so far. The format is similar to that used for
11421 @code{info breakpoints}; in fact, @code{info tracepoints} is the same
11422 command, simply restricting itself to tracepoints.
11424 A tracepoint's listing may include additional information specific to
11429 its passcount as given by the @code{passcount @var{n}} command
11433 (@value{GDBP}) @b{info trace}
11434 Num Type Disp Enb Address What
11435 1 tracepoint keep y 0x0804ab57 in foo() at main.cxx:7
11437 collect globfoo, $regs
11446 This command can be abbreviated @code{info tp}.
11449 @node Listing Static Tracepoint Markers
11450 @subsection Listing Static Tracepoint Markers
11453 @kindex info static-tracepoint-markers
11454 @cindex information about static tracepoint markers
11455 @item info static-tracepoint-markers
11456 Display information about all static tracepoint markers defined in the
11459 For each marker, the following columns are printed:
11463 An incrementing counter, output to help readability. This is not a
11466 The marker ID, as reported by the target.
11467 @item Enabled or Disabled
11468 Probed markers are tagged with @samp{y}. @samp{n} identifies marks
11469 that are not enabled.
11471 Where the marker is in your program, as a memory address.
11473 Where the marker is in the source for your program, as a file and line
11474 number. If the debug information included in the program does not
11475 allow @value{GDBN} to locate the source of the marker, this column
11476 will be left blank.
11480 In addition, the following information may be printed for each marker:
11484 User data passed to the tracing library by the marker call. In the
11485 UST backend, this is the format string passed as argument to the
11487 @item Static tracepoints probing the marker
11488 The list of static tracepoints attached to the marker.
11492 (@value{GDBP}) info static-tracepoint-markers
11493 Cnt ID Enb Address What
11494 1 ust/bar2 y 0x0000000000400e1a in main at stexample.c:25
11495 Data: number1 %d number2 %d
11496 Probed by static tracepoints: #2
11497 2 ust/bar33 n 0x0000000000400c87 in main at stexample.c:24
11503 @node Starting and Stopping Trace Experiments
11504 @subsection Starting and Stopping Trace Experiments
11507 @kindex tstart [ @var{notes} ]
11508 @cindex start a new trace experiment
11509 @cindex collected data discarded
11511 This command starts the trace experiment, and begins collecting data.
11512 It has the side effect of discarding all the data collected in the
11513 trace buffer during the previous trace experiment. If any arguments
11514 are supplied, they are taken as a note and stored with the trace
11515 experiment's state. The notes may be arbitrary text, and are
11516 especially useful with disconnected tracing in a multi-user context;
11517 the notes can explain what the trace is doing, supply user contact
11518 information, and so forth.
11520 @kindex tstop [ @var{notes} ]
11521 @cindex stop a running trace experiment
11523 This command stops the trace experiment. If any arguments are
11524 supplied, they are recorded with the experiment as a note. This is
11525 useful if you are stopping a trace started by someone else, for
11526 instance if the trace is interfering with the system's behavior and
11527 needs to be stopped quickly.
11529 @strong{Note}: a trace experiment and data collection may stop
11530 automatically if any tracepoint's passcount is reached
11531 (@pxref{Tracepoint Passcounts}), or if the trace buffer becomes full.
11534 @cindex status of trace data collection
11535 @cindex trace experiment, status of
11537 This command displays the status of the current trace data
11541 Here is an example of the commands we described so far:
11544 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace gdb_c_test}
11545 (@value{GDBP}) @b{actions}
11546 Enter actions for tracepoint #1, one per line.
11547 > collect $regs,$locals,$args
11548 > while-stepping 11
11552 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tstart}
11553 [time passes @dots{}]
11554 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tstop}
11557 @anchor{disconnected tracing}
11558 @cindex disconnected tracing
11559 You can choose to continue running the trace experiment even if
11560 @value{GDBN} disconnects from the target, voluntarily or
11561 involuntarily. For commands such as @code{detach}, the debugger will
11562 ask what you want to do with the trace. But for unexpected
11563 terminations (@value{GDBN} crash, network outage), it would be
11564 unfortunate to lose hard-won trace data, so the variable
11565 @code{disconnected-tracing} lets you decide whether the trace should
11566 continue running without @value{GDBN}.
11569 @item set disconnected-tracing on
11570 @itemx set disconnected-tracing off
11571 @kindex set disconnected-tracing
11572 Choose whether a tracing run should continue to run if @value{GDBN}
11573 has disconnected from the target. Note that @code{detach} or
11574 @code{quit} will ask you directly what to do about a running trace no
11575 matter what this variable's setting, so the variable is mainly useful
11576 for handling unexpected situations, such as loss of the network.
11578 @item show disconnected-tracing
11579 @kindex show disconnected-tracing
11580 Show the current choice for disconnected tracing.
11584 When you reconnect to the target, the trace experiment may or may not
11585 still be running; it might have filled the trace buffer in the
11586 meantime, or stopped for one of the other reasons. If it is running,
11587 it will continue after reconnection.
11589 Upon reconnection, the target will upload information about the
11590 tracepoints in effect. @value{GDBN} will then compare that
11591 information to the set of tracepoints currently defined, and attempt
11592 to match them up, allowing for the possibility that the numbers may
11593 have changed due to creation and deletion in the meantime. If one of
11594 the target's tracepoints does not match any in @value{GDBN}, the
11595 debugger will create a new tracepoint, so that you have a number with
11596 which to specify that tracepoint. This matching-up process is
11597 necessarily heuristic, and it may result in useless tracepoints being
11598 created; you may simply delete them if they are of no use.
11600 @cindex circular trace buffer
11601 If your target agent supports a @dfn{circular trace buffer}, then you
11602 can run a trace experiment indefinitely without filling the trace
11603 buffer; when space runs out, the agent deletes already-collected trace
11604 frames, oldest first, until there is enough room to continue
11605 collecting. This is especially useful if your tracepoints are being
11606 hit too often, and your trace gets terminated prematurely because the
11607 buffer is full. To ask for a circular trace buffer, simply set
11608 @samp{circular-trace-buffer} to on. You can set this at any time,
11609 including during tracing; if the agent can do it, it will change
11610 buffer handling on the fly, otherwise it will not take effect until
11614 @item set circular-trace-buffer on
11615 @itemx set circular-trace-buffer off
11616 @kindex set circular-trace-buffer
11617 Choose whether a tracing run should use a linear or circular buffer
11618 for trace data. A linear buffer will not lose any trace data, but may
11619 fill up prematurely, while a circular buffer will discard old trace
11620 data, but it will have always room for the latest tracepoint hits.
11622 @item show circular-trace-buffer
11623 @kindex show circular-trace-buffer
11624 Show the current choice for the trace buffer. Note that this may not
11625 match the agent's current buffer handling, nor is it guaranteed to
11626 match the setting that might have been in effect during a past run,
11627 for instance if you are looking at frames from a trace file.
11632 @item set trace-user @var{text}
11633 @kindex set trace-user
11635 @item show trace-user
11636 @kindex show trace-user
11638 @item set trace-notes @var{text}
11639 @kindex set trace-notes
11640 Set the trace run's notes.
11642 @item show trace-notes
11643 @kindex show trace-notes
11644 Show the trace run's notes.
11646 @item set trace-stop-notes @var{text}
11647 @kindex set trace-stop-notes
11648 Set the trace run's stop notes. The handling of the note is as for
11649 @code{tstop} arguments; the set command is convenient way to fix a
11650 stop note that is mistaken or incomplete.
11652 @item show trace-stop-notes
11653 @kindex show trace-stop-notes
11654 Show the trace run's stop notes.
11658 @node Tracepoint Restrictions
11659 @subsection Tracepoint Restrictions
11661 @cindex tracepoint restrictions
11662 There are a number of restrictions on the use of tracepoints. As
11663 described above, tracepoint data gathering occurs on the target
11664 without interaction from @value{GDBN}. Thus the full capabilities of
11665 the debugger are not available during data gathering, and then at data
11666 examination time, you will be limited by only having what was
11667 collected. The following items describe some common problems, but it
11668 is not exhaustive, and you may run into additional difficulties not
11674 Tracepoint expressions are intended to gather objects (lvalues). Thus
11675 the full flexibility of GDB's expression evaluator is not available.
11676 You cannot call functions, cast objects to aggregate types, access
11677 convenience variables or modify values (except by assignment to trace
11678 state variables). Some language features may implicitly call
11679 functions (for instance Objective-C fields with accessors), and therefore
11680 cannot be collected either.
11683 Collection of local variables, either individually or in bulk with
11684 @code{$locals} or @code{$args}, during @code{while-stepping} may
11685 behave erratically. The stepping action may enter a new scope (for
11686 instance by stepping into a function), or the location of the variable
11687 may change (for instance it is loaded into a register). The
11688 tracepoint data recorded uses the location information for the
11689 variables that is correct for the tracepoint location. When the
11690 tracepoint is created, it is not possible, in general, to determine
11691 where the steps of a @code{while-stepping} sequence will advance the
11692 program---particularly if a conditional branch is stepped.
11695 Collection of an incompletely-initialized or partially-destroyed object
11696 may result in something that @value{GDBN} cannot display, or displays
11697 in a misleading way.
11700 When @value{GDBN} displays a pointer to character it automatically
11701 dereferences the pointer to also display characters of the string
11702 being pointed to. However, collecting the pointer during tracing does
11703 not automatically collect the string. You need to explicitly
11704 dereference the pointer and provide size information if you want to
11705 collect not only the pointer, but the memory pointed to. For example,
11706 @code{*ptr@@50} can be used to collect the 50 element array pointed to
11710 It is not possible to collect a complete stack backtrace at a
11711 tracepoint. Instead, you may collect the registers and a few hundred
11712 bytes from the stack pointer with something like @code{*(unsigned char *)$esp@@300}
11713 (adjust to use the name of the actual stack pointer register on your
11714 target architecture, and the amount of stack you wish to capture).
11715 Then the @code{backtrace} command will show a partial backtrace when
11716 using a trace frame. The number of stack frames that can be examined
11717 depends on the sizes of the frames in the collected stack. Note that
11718 if you ask for a block so large that it goes past the bottom of the
11719 stack, the target agent may report an error trying to read from an
11723 If you do not collect registers at a tracepoint, @value{GDBN} can
11724 infer that the value of @code{$pc} must be the same as the address of
11725 the tracepoint and use that when you are looking at a trace frame
11726 for that tracepoint. However, this cannot work if the tracepoint has
11727 multiple locations (for instance if it was set in a function that was
11728 inlined), or if it has a @code{while-stepping} loop. In those cases
11729 @value{GDBN} will warn you that it can't infer @code{$pc}, and default
11734 @node Analyze Collected Data
11735 @section Using the Collected Data
11737 After the tracepoint experiment ends, you use @value{GDBN} commands
11738 for examining the trace data. The basic idea is that each tracepoint
11739 collects a trace @dfn{snapshot} every time it is hit and another
11740 snapshot every time it single-steps. All these snapshots are
11741 consecutively numbered from zero and go into a buffer, and you can
11742 examine them later. The way you examine them is to @dfn{focus} on a
11743 specific trace snapshot. When the remote stub is focused on a trace
11744 snapshot, it will respond to all @value{GDBN} requests for memory and
11745 registers by reading from the buffer which belongs to that snapshot,
11746 rather than from @emph{real} memory or registers of the program being
11747 debugged. This means that @strong{all} @value{GDBN} commands
11748 (@code{print}, @code{info registers}, @code{backtrace}, etc.) will
11749 behave as if we were currently debugging the program state as it was
11750 when the tracepoint occurred. Any requests for data that are not in
11751 the buffer will fail.
11754 * tfind:: How to select a trace snapshot
11755 * tdump:: How to display all data for a snapshot
11756 * save tracepoints:: How to save tracepoints for a future run
11760 @subsection @code{tfind @var{n}}
11763 @cindex select trace snapshot
11764 @cindex find trace snapshot
11765 The basic command for selecting a trace snapshot from the buffer is
11766 @code{tfind @var{n}}, which finds trace snapshot number @var{n},
11767 counting from zero. If no argument @var{n} is given, the next
11768 snapshot is selected.
11770 Here are the various forms of using the @code{tfind} command.
11774 Find the first snapshot in the buffer. This is a synonym for
11775 @code{tfind 0} (since 0 is the number of the first snapshot).
11778 Stop debugging trace snapshots, resume @emph{live} debugging.
11781 Same as @samp{tfind none}.
11784 No argument means find the next trace snapshot.
11787 Find the previous trace snapshot before the current one. This permits
11788 retracing earlier steps.
11790 @item tfind tracepoint @var{num}
11791 Find the next snapshot associated with tracepoint @var{num}. Search
11792 proceeds forward from the last examined trace snapshot. If no
11793 argument @var{num} is given, it means find the next snapshot collected
11794 for the same tracepoint as the current snapshot.
11796 @item tfind pc @var{addr}
11797 Find the next snapshot associated with the value @var{addr} of the
11798 program counter. Search proceeds forward from the last examined trace
11799 snapshot. If no argument @var{addr} is given, it means find the next
11800 snapshot with the same value of PC as the current snapshot.
11802 @item tfind outside @var{addr1}, @var{addr2}
11803 Find the next snapshot whose PC is outside the given range of
11804 addresses (exclusive).
11806 @item tfind range @var{addr1}, @var{addr2}
11807 Find the next snapshot whose PC is between @var{addr1} and
11808 @var{addr2} (inclusive).
11810 @item tfind line @r{[}@var{file}:@r{]}@var{n}
11811 Find the next snapshot associated with the source line @var{n}. If
11812 the optional argument @var{file} is given, refer to line @var{n} in
11813 that source file. Search proceeds forward from the last examined
11814 trace snapshot. If no argument @var{n} is given, it means find the
11815 next line other than the one currently being examined; thus saying
11816 @code{tfind line} repeatedly can appear to have the same effect as
11817 stepping from line to line in a @emph{live} debugging session.
11820 The default arguments for the @code{tfind} commands are specifically
11821 designed to make it easy to scan through the trace buffer. For
11822 instance, @code{tfind} with no argument selects the next trace
11823 snapshot, and @code{tfind -} with no argument selects the previous
11824 trace snapshot. So, by giving one @code{tfind} command, and then
11825 simply hitting @key{RET} repeatedly you can examine all the trace
11826 snapshots in order. Or, by saying @code{tfind -} and then hitting
11827 @key{RET} repeatedly you can examine the snapshots in reverse order.
11828 The @code{tfind line} command with no argument selects the snapshot
11829 for the next source line executed. The @code{tfind pc} command with
11830 no argument selects the next snapshot with the same program counter
11831 (PC) as the current frame. The @code{tfind tracepoint} command with
11832 no argument selects the next trace snapshot collected by the same
11833 tracepoint as the current one.
11835 In addition to letting you scan through the trace buffer manually,
11836 these commands make it easy to construct @value{GDBN} scripts that
11837 scan through the trace buffer and print out whatever collected data
11838 you are interested in. Thus, if we want to examine the PC, FP, and SP
11839 registers from each trace frame in the buffer, we can say this:
11842 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tfind start}
11843 (@value{GDBP}) @b{while ($trace_frame != -1)}
11844 > printf "Frame %d, PC = %08X, SP = %08X, FP = %08X\n", \
11845 $trace_frame, $pc, $sp, $fp
11849 Frame 0, PC = 0020DC64, SP = 0030BF3C, FP = 0030BF44
11850 Frame 1, PC = 0020DC6C, SP = 0030BF38, FP = 0030BF44
11851 Frame 2, PC = 0020DC70, SP = 0030BF34, FP = 0030BF44
11852 Frame 3, PC = 0020DC74, SP = 0030BF30, FP = 0030BF44
11853 Frame 4, PC = 0020DC78, SP = 0030BF2C, FP = 0030BF44
11854 Frame 5, PC = 0020DC7C, SP = 0030BF28, FP = 0030BF44
11855 Frame 6, PC = 0020DC80, SP = 0030BF24, FP = 0030BF44
11856 Frame 7, PC = 0020DC84, SP = 0030BF20, FP = 0030BF44
11857 Frame 8, PC = 0020DC88, SP = 0030BF1C, FP = 0030BF44
11858 Frame 9, PC = 0020DC8E, SP = 0030BF18, FP = 0030BF44
11859 Frame 10, PC = 00203F6C, SP = 0030BE3C, FP = 0030BF14
11862 Or, if we want to examine the variable @code{X} at each source line in
11866 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tfind start}
11867 (@value{GDBP}) @b{while ($trace_frame != -1)}
11868 > printf "Frame %d, X == %d\n", $trace_frame, X
11878 @subsection @code{tdump}
11880 @cindex dump all data collected at tracepoint
11881 @cindex tracepoint data, display
11883 This command takes no arguments. It prints all the data collected at
11884 the current trace snapshot.
11887 (@value{GDBP}) @b{trace 444}
11888 (@value{GDBP}) @b{actions}
11889 Enter actions for tracepoint #2, one per line:
11890 > collect $regs, $locals, $args, gdb_long_test
11893 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tstart}
11895 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tfind line 444}
11896 #0 gdb_test (p1=0x11, p2=0x22, p3=0x33, p4=0x44, p5=0x55, p6=0x66)
11898 444 printp( "%s: arguments = 0x%X 0x%X 0x%X 0x%X 0x%X 0x%X\n", )
11900 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tdump}
11901 Data collected at tracepoint 2, trace frame 1:
11902 d0 0xc4aa0085 -995491707
11906 d4 0x71aea3d 119204413
11909 d7 0x380035 3670069
11910 a0 0x19e24a 1696330
11911 a1 0x3000668 50333288
11913 a3 0x322000 3284992
11914 a4 0x3000698 50333336
11915 a5 0x1ad3cc 1758156
11916 fp 0x30bf3c 0x30bf3c
11917 sp 0x30bf34 0x30bf34
11919 pc 0x20b2c8 0x20b2c8
11923 p = 0x20e5b4 "gdb-test"
11930 gdb_long_test = 17 '\021'
11935 @code{tdump} works by scanning the tracepoint's current collection
11936 actions and printing the value of each expression listed. So
11937 @code{tdump} can fail, if after a run, you change the tracepoint's
11938 actions to mention variables that were not collected during the run.
11940 Also, for tracepoints with @code{while-stepping} loops, @code{tdump}
11941 uses the collected value of @code{$pc} to distinguish between trace
11942 frames that were collected at the tracepoint hit, and frames that were
11943 collected while stepping. This allows it to correctly choose whether
11944 to display the basic list of collections, or the collections from the
11945 body of the while-stepping loop. However, if @code{$pc} was not collected,
11946 then @code{tdump} will always attempt to dump using the basic collection
11947 list, and may fail if a while-stepping frame does not include all the
11948 same data that is collected at the tracepoint hit.
11949 @c This is getting pretty arcane, example would be good.
11951 @node save tracepoints
11952 @subsection @code{save tracepoints @var{filename}}
11953 @kindex save tracepoints
11954 @kindex save-tracepoints
11955 @cindex save tracepoints for future sessions
11957 This command saves all current tracepoint definitions together with
11958 their actions and passcounts, into a file @file{@var{filename}}
11959 suitable for use in a later debugging session. To read the saved
11960 tracepoint definitions, use the @code{source} command (@pxref{Command
11961 Files}). The @w{@code{save-tracepoints}} command is a deprecated
11962 alias for @w{@code{save tracepoints}}
11964 @node Tracepoint Variables
11965 @section Convenience Variables for Tracepoints
11966 @cindex tracepoint variables
11967 @cindex convenience variables for tracepoints
11970 @vindex $trace_frame
11971 @item (int) $trace_frame
11972 The current trace snapshot (a.k.a.@: @dfn{frame}) number, or -1 if no
11973 snapshot is selected.
11975 @vindex $tracepoint
11976 @item (int) $tracepoint
11977 The tracepoint for the current trace snapshot.
11979 @vindex $trace_line
11980 @item (int) $trace_line
11981 The line number for the current trace snapshot.
11983 @vindex $trace_file
11984 @item (char []) $trace_file
11985 The source file for the current trace snapshot.
11987 @vindex $trace_func
11988 @item (char []) $trace_func
11989 The name of the function containing @code{$tracepoint}.
11992 Note: @code{$trace_file} is not suitable for use in @code{printf},
11993 use @code{output} instead.
11995 Here's a simple example of using these convenience variables for
11996 stepping through all the trace snapshots and printing some of their
11997 data. Note that these are not the same as trace state variables,
11998 which are managed by the target.
12001 (@value{GDBP}) @b{tfind start}
12003 (@value{GDBP}) @b{while $trace_frame != -1}
12004 > output $trace_file
12005 > printf ", line %d (tracepoint #%d)\n", $trace_line, $tracepoint
12011 @section Using Trace Files
12012 @cindex trace files
12014 In some situations, the target running a trace experiment may no
12015 longer be available; perhaps it crashed, or the hardware was needed
12016 for a different activity. To handle these cases, you can arrange to
12017 dump the trace data into a file, and later use that file as a source
12018 of trace data, via the @code{target tfile} command.
12023 @item tsave [ -r ] @var{filename}
12024 Save the trace data to @var{filename}. By default, this command
12025 assumes that @var{filename} refers to the host filesystem, so if
12026 necessary @value{GDBN} will copy raw trace data up from the target and
12027 then save it. If the target supports it, you can also supply the
12028 optional argument @code{-r} (``remote'') to direct the target to save
12029 the data directly into @var{filename} in its own filesystem, which may be
12030 more efficient if the trace buffer is very large. (Note, however, that
12031 @code{target tfile} can only read from files accessible to the host.)
12033 @kindex target tfile
12035 @item target tfile @var{filename}
12036 Use the file named @var{filename} as a source of trace data. Commands
12037 that examine data work as they do with a live target, but it is not
12038 possible to run any new trace experiments. @code{tstatus} will report
12039 the state of the trace run at the moment the data was saved, as well
12040 as the current trace frame you are examining. @var{filename} must be
12041 on a filesystem accessible to the host.
12046 @chapter Debugging Programs That Use Overlays
12049 If your program is too large to fit completely in your target system's
12050 memory, you can sometimes use @dfn{overlays} to work around this
12051 problem. @value{GDBN} provides some support for debugging programs that
12055 * How Overlays Work:: A general explanation of overlays.
12056 * Overlay Commands:: Managing overlays in @value{GDBN}.
12057 * Automatic Overlay Debugging:: @value{GDBN} can find out which overlays are
12058 mapped by asking the inferior.
12059 * Overlay Sample Program:: A sample program using overlays.
12062 @node How Overlays Work
12063 @section How Overlays Work
12064 @cindex mapped overlays
12065 @cindex unmapped overlays
12066 @cindex load address, overlay's
12067 @cindex mapped address
12068 @cindex overlay area
12070 Suppose you have a computer whose instruction address space is only 64
12071 kilobytes long, but which has much more memory which can be accessed by
12072 other means: special instructions, segment registers, or memory
12073 management hardware, for example. Suppose further that you want to
12074 adapt a program which is larger than 64 kilobytes to run on this system.
12076 One solution is to identify modules of your program which are relatively
12077 independent, and need not call each other directly; call these modules
12078 @dfn{overlays}. Separate the overlays from the main program, and place
12079 their machine code in the larger memory. Place your main program in
12080 instruction memory, but leave at least enough space there to hold the
12081 largest overlay as well.
12083 Now, to call a function located in an overlay, you must first copy that
12084 overlay's machine code from the large memory into the space set aside
12085 for it in the instruction memory, and then jump to its entry point
12088 @c NB: In the below the mapped area's size is greater or equal to the
12089 @c size of all overlays. This is intentional to remind the developer
12090 @c that overlays don't necessarily need to be the same size.
12094 Data Instruction Larger
12095 Address Space Address Space Address Space
12096 +-----------+ +-----------+ +-----------+
12098 +-----------+ +-----------+ +-----------+<-- overlay 1
12099 | program | | main | .----| overlay 1 | load address
12100 | variables | | program | | +-----------+
12101 | and heap | | | | | |
12102 +-----------+ | | | +-----------+<-- overlay 2
12103 | | +-----------+ | | | load address
12104 +-----------+ | | | .-| overlay 2 |
12106 mapped --->+-----------+ | | +-----------+
12107 address | | | | | |
12108 | overlay | <-' | | |
12109 | area | <---' +-----------+<-- overlay 3
12110 | | <---. | | load address
12111 +-----------+ `--| overlay 3 |
12118 @anchor{A code overlay}A code overlay
12122 The diagram (@pxref{A code overlay}) shows a system with separate data
12123 and instruction address spaces. To map an overlay, the program copies
12124 its code from the larger address space to the instruction address space.
12125 Since the overlays shown here all use the same mapped address, only one
12126 may be mapped at a time. For a system with a single address space for
12127 data and instructions, the diagram would be similar, except that the
12128 program variables and heap would share an address space with the main
12129 program and the overlay area.
12131 An overlay loaded into instruction memory and ready for use is called a
12132 @dfn{mapped} overlay; its @dfn{mapped address} is its address in the
12133 instruction memory. An overlay not present (or only partially present)
12134 in instruction memory is called @dfn{unmapped}; its @dfn{load address}
12135 is its address in the larger memory. The mapped address is also called
12136 the @dfn{virtual memory address}, or @dfn{VMA}; the load address is also
12137 called the @dfn{load memory address}, or @dfn{LMA}.
12139 Unfortunately, overlays are not a completely transparent way to adapt a
12140 program to limited instruction memory. They introduce a new set of
12141 global constraints you must keep in mind as you design your program:
12146 Before calling or returning to a function in an overlay, your program
12147 must make sure that overlay is actually mapped. Otherwise, the call or
12148 return will transfer control to the right address, but in the wrong
12149 overlay, and your program will probably crash.
12152 If the process of mapping an overlay is expensive on your system, you
12153 will need to choose your overlays carefully to minimize their effect on
12154 your program's performance.
12157 The executable file you load onto your system must contain each
12158 overlay's instructions, appearing at the overlay's load address, not its
12159 mapped address. However, each overlay's instructions must be relocated
12160 and its symbols defined as if the overlay were at its mapped address.
12161 You can use GNU linker scripts to specify different load and relocation
12162 addresses for pieces of your program; see @ref{Overlay Description,,,
12163 ld.info, Using ld: the GNU linker}.
12166 The procedure for loading executable files onto your system must be able
12167 to load their contents into the larger address space as well as the
12168 instruction and data spaces.
12172 The overlay system described above is rather simple, and could be
12173 improved in many ways:
12178 If your system has suitable bank switch registers or memory management
12179 hardware, you could use those facilities to make an overlay's load area
12180 contents simply appear at their mapped address in instruction space.
12181 This would probably be faster than copying the overlay to its mapped
12182 area in the usual way.
12185 If your overlays are small enough, you could set aside more than one
12186 overlay area, and have more than one overlay mapped at a time.
12189 You can use overlays to manage data, as well as instructions. In
12190 general, data overlays are even less transparent to your design than
12191 code overlays: whereas code overlays only require care when you call or
12192 return to functions, data overlays require care every time you access
12193 the data. Also, if you change the contents of a data overlay, you
12194 must copy its contents back out to its load address before you can copy a
12195 different data overlay into the same mapped area.
12200 @node Overlay Commands
12201 @section Overlay Commands
12203 To use @value{GDBN}'s overlay support, each overlay in your program must
12204 correspond to a separate section of the executable file. The section's
12205 virtual memory address and load memory address must be the overlay's
12206 mapped and load addresses. Identifying overlays with sections allows
12207 @value{GDBN} to determine the appropriate address of a function or
12208 variable, depending on whether the overlay is mapped or not.
12210 @value{GDBN}'s overlay commands all start with the word @code{overlay};
12211 you can abbreviate this as @code{ov} or @code{ovly}. The commands are:
12216 Disable @value{GDBN}'s overlay support. When overlay support is
12217 disabled, @value{GDBN} assumes that all functions and variables are
12218 always present at their mapped addresses. By default, @value{GDBN}'s
12219 overlay support is disabled.
12221 @item overlay manual
12222 @cindex manual overlay debugging
12223 Enable @dfn{manual} overlay debugging. In this mode, @value{GDBN}
12224 relies on you to tell it which overlays are mapped, and which are not,
12225 using the @code{overlay map-overlay} and @code{overlay unmap-overlay}
12226 commands described below.
12228 @item overlay map-overlay @var{overlay}
12229 @itemx overlay map @var{overlay}
12230 @cindex map an overlay
12231 Tell @value{GDBN} that @var{overlay} is now mapped; @var{overlay} must
12232 be the name of the object file section containing the overlay. When an
12233 overlay is mapped, @value{GDBN} assumes it can find the overlay's
12234 functions and variables at their mapped addresses. @value{GDBN} assumes
12235 that any other overlays whose mapped ranges overlap that of
12236 @var{overlay} are now unmapped.
12238 @item overlay unmap-overlay @var{overlay}
12239 @itemx overlay unmap @var{overlay}
12240 @cindex unmap an overlay
12241 Tell @value{GDBN} that @var{overlay} is no longer mapped; @var{overlay}
12242 must be the name of the object file section containing the overlay.
12243 When an overlay is unmapped, @value{GDBN} assumes it can find the
12244 overlay's functions and variables at their load addresses.
12247 Enable @dfn{automatic} overlay debugging. In this mode, @value{GDBN}
12248 consults a data structure the overlay manager maintains in the inferior
12249 to see which overlays are mapped. For details, see @ref{Automatic
12250 Overlay Debugging}.
12252 @item overlay load-target
12253 @itemx overlay load
12254 @cindex reloading the overlay table
12255 Re-read the overlay table from the inferior. Normally, @value{GDBN}
12256 re-reads the table @value{GDBN} automatically each time the inferior
12257 stops, so this command should only be necessary if you have changed the
12258 overlay mapping yourself using @value{GDBN}. This command is only
12259 useful when using automatic overlay debugging.
12261 @item overlay list-overlays
12262 @itemx overlay list
12263 @cindex listing mapped overlays
12264 Display a list of the overlays currently mapped, along with their mapped
12265 addresses, load addresses, and sizes.
12269 Normally, when @value{GDBN} prints a code address, it includes the name
12270 of the function the address falls in:
12273 (@value{GDBP}) print main
12274 $3 = @{int ()@} 0x11a0 <main>
12277 When overlay debugging is enabled, @value{GDBN} recognizes code in
12278 unmapped overlays, and prints the names of unmapped functions with
12279 asterisks around them. For example, if @code{foo} is a function in an
12280 unmapped overlay, @value{GDBN} prints it this way:
12283 (@value{GDBP}) overlay list
12284 No sections are mapped.
12285 (@value{GDBP}) print foo
12286 $5 = @{int (int)@} 0x100000 <*foo*>
12289 When @code{foo}'s overlay is mapped, @value{GDBN} prints the function's
12293 (@value{GDBP}) overlay list
12294 Section .ov.foo.text, loaded at 0x100000 - 0x100034,
12295 mapped at 0x1016 - 0x104a
12296 (@value{GDBP}) print foo
12297 $6 = @{int (int)@} 0x1016 <foo>
12300 When overlay debugging is enabled, @value{GDBN} can find the correct
12301 address for functions and variables in an overlay, whether or not the
12302 overlay is mapped. This allows most @value{GDBN} commands, like
12303 @code{break} and @code{disassemble}, to work normally, even on unmapped
12304 code. However, @value{GDBN}'s breakpoint support has some limitations:
12308 @cindex breakpoints in overlays
12309 @cindex overlays, setting breakpoints in
12310 You can set breakpoints in functions in unmapped overlays, as long as
12311 @value{GDBN} can write to the overlay at its load address.
12313 @value{GDBN} can not set hardware or simulator-based breakpoints in
12314 unmapped overlays. However, if you set a breakpoint at the end of your
12315 overlay manager (and tell @value{GDBN} which overlays are now mapped, if
12316 you are using manual overlay management), @value{GDBN} will re-set its
12317 breakpoints properly.
12321 @node Automatic Overlay Debugging
12322 @section Automatic Overlay Debugging
12323 @cindex automatic overlay debugging
12325 @value{GDBN} can automatically track which overlays are mapped and which
12326 are not, given some simple co-operation from the overlay manager in the
12327 inferior. If you enable automatic overlay debugging with the
12328 @code{overlay auto} command (@pxref{Overlay Commands}), @value{GDBN}
12329 looks in the inferior's memory for certain variables describing the
12330 current state of the overlays.
12332 Here are the variables your overlay manager must define to support
12333 @value{GDBN}'s automatic overlay debugging:
12337 @item @code{_ovly_table}:
12338 This variable must be an array of the following structures:
12343 /* The overlay's mapped address. */
12346 /* The size of the overlay, in bytes. */
12347 unsigned long size;
12349 /* The overlay's load address. */
12352 /* Non-zero if the overlay is currently mapped;
12354 unsigned long mapped;
12358 @item @code{_novlys}:
12359 This variable must be a four-byte signed integer, holding the total
12360 number of elements in @code{_ovly_table}.
12364 To decide whether a particular overlay is mapped or not, @value{GDBN}
12365 looks for an entry in @w{@code{_ovly_table}} whose @code{vma} and
12366 @code{lma} members equal the VMA and LMA of the overlay's section in the
12367 executable file. When @value{GDBN} finds a matching entry, it consults
12368 the entry's @code{mapped} member to determine whether the overlay is
12371 In addition, your overlay manager may define a function called
12372 @code{_ovly_debug_event}. If this function is defined, @value{GDBN}
12373 will silently set a breakpoint there. If the overlay manager then
12374 calls this function whenever it has changed the overlay table, this
12375 will enable @value{GDBN} to accurately keep track of which overlays
12376 are in program memory, and update any breakpoints that may be set
12377 in overlays. This will allow breakpoints to work even if the
12378 overlays are kept in ROM or other non-writable memory while they
12379 are not being executed.
12381 @node Overlay Sample Program
12382 @section Overlay Sample Program
12383 @cindex overlay example program
12385 When linking a program which uses overlays, you must place the overlays
12386 at their load addresses, while relocating them to run at their mapped
12387 addresses. To do this, you must write a linker script (@pxref{Overlay
12388 Description,,, ld.info, Using ld: the GNU linker}). Unfortunately,
12389 since linker scripts are specific to a particular host system, target
12390 architecture, and target memory layout, this manual cannot provide
12391 portable sample code demonstrating @value{GDBN}'s overlay support.
12393 However, the @value{GDBN} source distribution does contain an overlaid
12394 program, with linker scripts for a few systems, as part of its test
12395 suite. The program consists of the following files from
12396 @file{gdb/testsuite/gdb.base}:
12400 The main program file.
12402 A simple overlay manager, used by @file{overlays.c}.
12407 Overlay modules, loaded and used by @file{overlays.c}.
12410 Linker scripts for linking the test program on the @code{d10v-elf}
12411 and @code{m32r-elf} targets.
12414 You can build the test program using the @code{d10v-elf} GCC
12415 cross-compiler like this:
12418 $ d10v-elf-gcc -g -c overlays.c
12419 $ d10v-elf-gcc -g -c ovlymgr.c
12420 $ d10v-elf-gcc -g -c foo.c
12421 $ d10v-elf-gcc -g -c bar.c
12422 $ d10v-elf-gcc -g -c baz.c
12423 $ d10v-elf-gcc -g -c grbx.c
12424 $ d10v-elf-gcc -g overlays.o ovlymgr.o foo.o bar.o \
12425 baz.o grbx.o -Wl,-Td10v.ld -o overlays
12428 The build process is identical for any other architecture, except that
12429 you must substitute the appropriate compiler and linker script for the
12430 target system for @code{d10v-elf-gcc} and @code{d10v.ld}.
12434 @chapter Using @value{GDBN} with Different Languages
12437 Although programming languages generally have common aspects, they are
12438 rarely expressed in the same manner. For instance, in ANSI C,
12439 dereferencing a pointer @code{p} is accomplished by @code{*p}, but in
12440 Modula-2, it is accomplished by @code{p^}. Values can also be
12441 represented (and displayed) differently. Hex numbers in C appear as
12442 @samp{0x1ae}, while in Modula-2 they appear as @samp{1AEH}.
12444 @cindex working language
12445 Language-specific information is built into @value{GDBN} for some languages,
12446 allowing you to express operations like the above in your program's
12447 native language, and allowing @value{GDBN} to output values in a manner
12448 consistent with the syntax of your program's native language. The
12449 language you use to build expressions is called the @dfn{working
12453 * Setting:: Switching between source languages
12454 * Show:: Displaying the language
12455 * Checks:: Type and range checks
12456 * Supported Languages:: Supported languages
12457 * Unsupported Languages:: Unsupported languages
12461 @section Switching Between Source Languages
12463 There are two ways to control the working language---either have @value{GDBN}
12464 set it automatically, or select it manually yourself. You can use the
12465 @code{set language} command for either purpose. On startup, @value{GDBN}
12466 defaults to setting the language automatically. The working language is
12467 used to determine how expressions you type are interpreted, how values
12470 In addition to the working language, every source file that
12471 @value{GDBN} knows about has its own working language. For some object
12472 file formats, the compiler might indicate which language a particular
12473 source file is in. However, most of the time @value{GDBN} infers the
12474 language from the name of the file. The language of a source file
12475 controls whether C@t{++} names are demangled---this way @code{backtrace} can
12476 show each frame appropriately for its own language. There is no way to
12477 set the language of a source file from within @value{GDBN}, but you can
12478 set the language associated with a filename extension. @xref{Show, ,
12479 Displaying the Language}.
12481 This is most commonly a problem when you use a program, such
12482 as @code{cfront} or @code{f2c}, that generates C but is written in
12483 another language. In that case, make the
12484 program use @code{#line} directives in its C output; that way
12485 @value{GDBN} will know the correct language of the source code of the original
12486 program, and will display that source code, not the generated C code.
12489 * Filenames:: Filename extensions and languages.
12490 * Manually:: Setting the working language manually
12491 * Automatically:: Having @value{GDBN} infer the source language
12495 @subsection List of Filename Extensions and Languages
12497 If a source file name ends in one of the following extensions, then
12498 @value{GDBN} infers that its language is the one indicated.
12516 C@t{++} source file
12522 Objective-C source file
12526 Fortran source file
12529 Modula-2 source file
12533 Assembler source file. This actually behaves almost like C, but
12534 @value{GDBN} does not skip over function prologues when stepping.
12537 In addition, you may set the language associated with a filename
12538 extension. @xref{Show, , Displaying the Language}.
12541 @subsection Setting the Working Language
12543 If you allow @value{GDBN} to set the language automatically,
12544 expressions are interpreted the same way in your debugging session and
12547 @kindex set language
12548 If you wish, you may set the language manually. To do this, issue the
12549 command @samp{set language @var{lang}}, where @var{lang} is the name of
12550 a language, such as
12551 @code{c} or @code{modula-2}.
12552 For a list of the supported languages, type @samp{set language}.
12554 Setting the language manually prevents @value{GDBN} from updating the working
12555 language automatically. This can lead to confusion if you try
12556 to debug a program when the working language is not the same as the
12557 source language, when an expression is acceptable to both
12558 languages---but means different things. For instance, if the current
12559 source file were written in C, and @value{GDBN} was parsing Modula-2, a
12567 might not have the effect you intended. In C, this means to add
12568 @code{b} and @code{c} and place the result in @code{a}. The result
12569 printed would be the value of @code{a}. In Modula-2, this means to compare
12570 @code{a} to the result of @code{b+c}, yielding a @code{BOOLEAN} value.
12572 @node Automatically
12573 @subsection Having @value{GDBN} Infer the Source Language
12575 To have @value{GDBN} set the working language automatically, use
12576 @samp{set language local} or @samp{set language auto}. @value{GDBN}
12577 then infers the working language. That is, when your program stops in a
12578 frame (usually by encountering a breakpoint), @value{GDBN} sets the
12579 working language to the language recorded for the function in that
12580 frame. If the language for a frame is unknown (that is, if the function
12581 or block corresponding to the frame was defined in a source file that
12582 does not have a recognized extension), the current working language is
12583 not changed, and @value{GDBN} issues a warning.
12585 This may not seem necessary for most programs, which are written
12586 entirely in one source language. However, program modules and libraries
12587 written in one source language can be used by a main program written in
12588 a different source language. Using @samp{set language auto} in this
12589 case frees you from having to set the working language manually.
12592 @section Displaying the Language
12594 The following commands help you find out which language is the
12595 working language, and also what language source files were written in.
12598 @item show language
12599 @kindex show language
12600 Display the current working language. This is the
12601 language you can use with commands such as @code{print} to
12602 build and compute expressions that may involve variables in your program.
12605 @kindex info frame@r{, show the source language}
12606 Display the source language for this frame. This language becomes the
12607 working language if you use an identifier from this frame.
12608 @xref{Frame Info, ,Information about a Frame}, to identify the other
12609 information listed here.
12612 @kindex info source@r{, show the source language}
12613 Display the source language of this source file.
12614 @xref{Symbols, ,Examining the Symbol Table}, to identify the other
12615 information listed here.
12618 In unusual circumstances, you may have source files with extensions
12619 not in the standard list. You can then set the extension associated
12620 with a language explicitly:
12623 @item set extension-language @var{ext} @var{language}
12624 @kindex set extension-language
12625 Tell @value{GDBN} that source files with extension @var{ext} are to be
12626 assumed as written in the source language @var{language}.
12628 @item info extensions
12629 @kindex info extensions
12630 List all the filename extensions and the associated languages.
12634 @section Type and Range Checking
12637 @emph{Warning:} In this release, the @value{GDBN} commands for type and range
12638 checking are included, but they do not yet have any effect. This
12639 section documents the intended facilities.
12641 @c FIXME remove warning when type/range code added
12643 Some languages are designed to guard you against making seemingly common
12644 errors through a series of compile- and run-time checks. These include
12645 checking the type of arguments to functions and operators, and making
12646 sure mathematical overflows are caught at run time. Checks such as
12647 these help to ensure a program's correctness once it has been compiled
12648 by eliminating type mismatches, and providing active checks for range
12649 errors when your program is running.
12651 @value{GDBN} can check for conditions like the above if you wish.
12652 Although @value{GDBN} does not check the statements in your program,
12653 it can check expressions entered directly into @value{GDBN} for
12654 evaluation via the @code{print} command, for example. As with the
12655 working language, @value{GDBN} can also decide whether or not to check
12656 automatically based on your program's source language.
12657 @xref{Supported Languages, ,Supported Languages}, for the default
12658 settings of supported languages.
12661 * Type Checking:: An overview of type checking
12662 * Range Checking:: An overview of range checking
12665 @cindex type checking
12666 @cindex checks, type
12667 @node Type Checking
12668 @subsection An Overview of Type Checking
12670 Some languages, such as Modula-2, are strongly typed, meaning that the
12671 arguments to operators and functions have to be of the correct type,
12672 otherwise an error occurs. These checks prevent type mismatch
12673 errors from ever causing any run-time problems. For example,
12681 The second example fails because the @code{CARDINAL} 1 is not
12682 type-compatible with the @code{REAL} 2.3.
12684 For the expressions you use in @value{GDBN} commands, you can tell the
12685 @value{GDBN} type checker to skip checking;
12686 to treat any mismatches as errors and abandon the expression;
12687 or to only issue warnings when type mismatches occur,
12688 but evaluate the expression anyway. When you choose the last of
12689 these, @value{GDBN} evaluates expressions like the second example above, but
12690 also issues a warning.
12692 Even if you turn type checking off, there may be other reasons
12693 related to type that prevent @value{GDBN} from evaluating an expression.
12694 For instance, @value{GDBN} does not know how to add an @code{int} and
12695 a @code{struct foo}. These particular type errors have nothing to do
12696 with the language in use, and usually arise from expressions, such as
12697 the one described above, which make little sense to evaluate anyway.
12699 Each language defines to what degree it is strict about type. For
12700 instance, both Modula-2 and C require the arguments to arithmetical
12701 operators to be numbers. In C, enumerated types and pointers can be
12702 represented as numbers, so that they are valid arguments to mathematical
12703 operators. @xref{Supported Languages, ,Supported Languages}, for further
12704 details on specific languages.
12706 @value{GDBN} provides some additional commands for controlling the type checker:
12708 @kindex set check type
12709 @kindex show check type
12711 @item set check type auto
12712 Set type checking on or off based on the current working language.
12713 @xref{Supported Languages, ,Supported Languages}, for the default settings for
12716 @item set check type on
12717 @itemx set check type off
12718 Set type checking on or off, overriding the default setting for the
12719 current working language. Issue a warning if the setting does not
12720 match the language default. If any type mismatches occur in
12721 evaluating an expression while type checking is on, @value{GDBN} prints a
12722 message and aborts evaluation of the expression.
12724 @item set check type warn
12725 Cause the type checker to issue warnings, but to always attempt to
12726 evaluate the expression. Evaluating the expression may still
12727 be impossible for other reasons. For example, @value{GDBN} cannot add
12728 numbers and structures.
12731 Show the current setting of the type checker, and whether or not @value{GDBN}
12732 is setting it automatically.
12735 @cindex range checking
12736 @cindex checks, range
12737 @node Range Checking
12738 @subsection An Overview of Range Checking
12740 In some languages (such as Modula-2), it is an error to exceed the
12741 bounds of a type; this is enforced with run-time checks. Such range
12742 checking is meant to ensure program correctness by making sure
12743 computations do not overflow, or indices on an array element access do
12744 not exceed the bounds of the array.
12746 For expressions you use in @value{GDBN} commands, you can tell
12747 @value{GDBN} to treat range errors in one of three ways: ignore them,
12748 always treat them as errors and abandon the expression, or issue
12749 warnings but evaluate the expression anyway.
12751 A range error can result from numerical overflow, from exceeding an
12752 array index bound, or when you type a constant that is not a member
12753 of any type. Some languages, however, do not treat overflows as an
12754 error. In many implementations of C, mathematical overflow causes the
12755 result to ``wrap around'' to lower values---for example, if @var{m} is
12756 the largest integer value, and @var{s} is the smallest, then
12759 @var{m} + 1 @result{} @var{s}
12762 This, too, is specific to individual languages, and in some cases
12763 specific to individual compilers or machines. @xref{Supported Languages, ,
12764 Supported Languages}, for further details on specific languages.
12766 @value{GDBN} provides some additional commands for controlling the range checker:
12768 @kindex set check range
12769 @kindex show check range
12771 @item set check range auto
12772 Set range checking on or off based on the current working language.
12773 @xref{Supported Languages, ,Supported Languages}, for the default settings for
12776 @item set check range on
12777 @itemx set check range off
12778 Set range checking on or off, overriding the default setting for the
12779 current working language. A warning is issued if the setting does not
12780 match the language default. If a range error occurs and range checking is on,
12781 then a message is printed and evaluation of the expression is aborted.
12783 @item set check range warn
12784 Output messages when the @value{GDBN} range checker detects a range error,
12785 but attempt to evaluate the expression anyway. Evaluating the
12786 expression may still be impossible for other reasons, such as accessing
12787 memory that the process does not own (a typical example from many Unix
12791 Show the current setting of the range checker, and whether or not it is
12792 being set automatically by @value{GDBN}.
12795 @node Supported Languages
12796 @section Supported Languages
12798 @value{GDBN} supports C, C@t{++}, D, Go, Objective-C, Fortran, Java,
12799 OpenCL C, Pascal, assembly, Modula-2, and Ada.
12800 @c This is false ...
12801 Some @value{GDBN} features may be used in expressions regardless of the
12802 language you use: the @value{GDBN} @code{@@} and @code{::} operators,
12803 and the @samp{@{type@}addr} construct (@pxref{Expressions,
12804 ,Expressions}) can be used with the constructs of any supported
12807 The following sections detail to what degree each source language is
12808 supported by @value{GDBN}. These sections are not meant to be language
12809 tutorials or references, but serve only as a reference guide to what the
12810 @value{GDBN} expression parser accepts, and what input and output
12811 formats should look like for different languages. There are many good
12812 books written on each of these languages; please look to these for a
12813 language reference or tutorial.
12816 * C:: C and C@t{++}
12819 * Objective-C:: Objective-C
12820 * OpenCL C:: OpenCL C
12821 * Fortran:: Fortran
12823 * Modula-2:: Modula-2
12828 @subsection C and C@t{++}
12830 @cindex C and C@t{++}
12831 @cindex expressions in C or C@t{++}
12833 Since C and C@t{++} are so closely related, many features of @value{GDBN} apply
12834 to both languages. Whenever this is the case, we discuss those languages
12838 @cindex @code{g++}, @sc{gnu} C@t{++} compiler
12839 @cindex @sc{gnu} C@t{++}
12840 The C@t{++} debugging facilities are jointly implemented by the C@t{++}
12841 compiler and @value{GDBN}. Therefore, to debug your C@t{++} code
12842 effectively, you must compile your C@t{++} programs with a supported
12843 C@t{++} compiler, such as @sc{gnu} @code{g++}, or the HP ANSI C@t{++}
12844 compiler (@code{aCC}).
12847 * C Operators:: C and C@t{++} operators
12848 * C Constants:: C and C@t{++} constants
12849 * C Plus Plus Expressions:: C@t{++} expressions
12850 * C Defaults:: Default settings for C and C@t{++}
12851 * C Checks:: C and C@t{++} type and range checks
12852 * Debugging C:: @value{GDBN} and C
12853 * Debugging C Plus Plus:: @value{GDBN} features for C@t{++}
12854 * Decimal Floating Point:: Numbers in Decimal Floating Point format
12858 @subsubsection C and C@t{++} Operators
12860 @cindex C and C@t{++} operators
12862 Operators must be defined on values of specific types. For instance,
12863 @code{+} is defined on numbers, but not on structures. Operators are
12864 often defined on groups of types.
12866 For the purposes of C and C@t{++}, the following definitions hold:
12871 @emph{Integral types} include @code{int} with any of its storage-class
12872 specifiers; @code{char}; @code{enum}; and, for C@t{++}, @code{bool}.
12875 @emph{Floating-point types} include @code{float}, @code{double}, and
12876 @code{long double} (if supported by the target platform).
12879 @emph{Pointer types} include all types defined as @code{(@var{type} *)}.
12882 @emph{Scalar types} include all of the above.
12887 The following operators are supported. They are listed here
12888 in order of increasing precedence:
12892 The comma or sequencing operator. Expressions in a comma-separated list
12893 are evaluated from left to right, with the result of the entire
12894 expression being the last expression evaluated.
12897 Assignment. The value of an assignment expression is the value
12898 assigned. Defined on scalar types.
12901 Used in an expression of the form @w{@code{@var{a} @var{op}= @var{b}}},
12902 and translated to @w{@code{@var{a} = @var{a op b}}}.
12903 @w{@code{@var{op}=}} and @code{=} have the same precedence.
12904 @var{op} is any one of the operators @code{|}, @code{^}, @code{&},
12905 @code{<<}, @code{>>}, @code{+}, @code{-}, @code{*}, @code{/}, @code{%}.
12908 The ternary operator. @code{@var{a} ? @var{b} : @var{c}} can be thought
12909 of as: if @var{a} then @var{b} else @var{c}. @var{a} should be of an
12913 Logical @sc{or}. Defined on integral types.
12916 Logical @sc{and}. Defined on integral types.
12919 Bitwise @sc{or}. Defined on integral types.
12922 Bitwise exclusive-@sc{or}. Defined on integral types.
12925 Bitwise @sc{and}. Defined on integral types.
12928 Equality and inequality. Defined on scalar types. The value of these
12929 expressions is 0 for false and non-zero for true.
12931 @item <@r{, }>@r{, }<=@r{, }>=
12932 Less than, greater than, less than or equal, greater than or equal.
12933 Defined on scalar types. The value of these expressions is 0 for false
12934 and non-zero for true.
12937 left shift, and right shift. Defined on integral types.
12940 The @value{GDBN} ``artificial array'' operator (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}).
12943 Addition and subtraction. Defined on integral types, floating-point types and
12946 @item *@r{, }/@r{, }%
12947 Multiplication, division, and modulus. Multiplication and division are
12948 defined on integral and floating-point types. Modulus is defined on
12952 Increment and decrement. When appearing before a variable, the
12953 operation is performed before the variable is used in an expression;
12954 when appearing after it, the variable's value is used before the
12955 operation takes place.
12958 Pointer dereferencing. Defined on pointer types. Same precedence as
12962 Address operator. Defined on variables. Same precedence as @code{++}.
12964 For debugging C@t{++}, @value{GDBN} implements a use of @samp{&} beyond what is
12965 allowed in the C@t{++} language itself: you can use @samp{&(&@var{ref})}
12966 to examine the address
12967 where a C@t{++} reference variable (declared with @samp{&@var{ref}}) is
12971 Negative. Defined on integral and floating-point types. Same
12972 precedence as @code{++}.
12975 Logical negation. Defined on integral types. Same precedence as
12979 Bitwise complement operator. Defined on integral types. Same precedence as
12984 Structure member, and pointer-to-structure member. For convenience,
12985 @value{GDBN} regards the two as equivalent, choosing whether to dereference a
12986 pointer based on the stored type information.
12987 Defined on @code{struct} and @code{union} data.
12990 Dereferences of pointers to members.
12993 Array indexing. @code{@var{a}[@var{i}]} is defined as
12994 @code{*(@var{a}+@var{i})}. Same precedence as @code{->}.
12997 Function parameter list. Same precedence as @code{->}.
13000 C@t{++} scope resolution operator. Defined on @code{struct}, @code{union},
13001 and @code{class} types.
13004 Doubled colons also represent the @value{GDBN} scope operator
13005 (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}). Same precedence as @code{::},
13009 If an operator is redefined in the user code, @value{GDBN} usually
13010 attempts to invoke the redefined version instead of using the operator's
13011 predefined meaning.
13014 @subsubsection C and C@t{++} Constants
13016 @cindex C and C@t{++} constants
13018 @value{GDBN} allows you to express the constants of C and C@t{++} in the
13023 Integer constants are a sequence of digits. Octal constants are
13024 specified by a leading @samp{0} (i.e.@: zero), and hexadecimal constants
13025 by a leading @samp{0x} or @samp{0X}. Constants may also end with a letter
13026 @samp{l}, specifying that the constant should be treated as a
13030 Floating point constants are a sequence of digits, followed by a decimal
13031 point, followed by a sequence of digits, and optionally followed by an
13032 exponent. An exponent is of the form:
13033 @samp{@w{e@r{[[}+@r{]|}-@r{]}@var{nnn}}}, where @var{nnn} is another
13034 sequence of digits. The @samp{+} is optional for positive exponents.
13035 A floating-point constant may also end with a letter @samp{f} or
13036 @samp{F}, specifying that the constant should be treated as being of
13037 the @code{float} (as opposed to the default @code{double}) type; or with
13038 a letter @samp{l} or @samp{L}, which specifies a @code{long double}
13042 Enumerated constants consist of enumerated identifiers, or their
13043 integral equivalents.
13046 Character constants are a single character surrounded by single quotes
13047 (@code{'}), or a number---the ordinal value of the corresponding character
13048 (usually its @sc{ascii} value). Within quotes, the single character may
13049 be represented by a letter or by @dfn{escape sequences}, which are of
13050 the form @samp{\@var{nnn}}, where @var{nnn} is the octal representation
13051 of the character's ordinal value; or of the form @samp{\@var{x}}, where
13052 @samp{@var{x}} is a predefined special character---for example,
13053 @samp{\n} for newline.
13055 Wide character constants can be written by prefixing a character
13056 constant with @samp{L}, as in C. For example, @samp{L'x'} is the wide
13057 form of @samp{x}. The target wide character set is used when
13058 computing the value of this constant (@pxref{Character Sets}).
13061 String constants are a sequence of character constants surrounded by
13062 double quotes (@code{"}). Any valid character constant (as described
13063 above) may appear. Double quotes within the string must be preceded by
13064 a backslash, so for instance @samp{"a\"b'c"} is a string of five
13067 Wide string constants can be written by prefixing a string constant
13068 with @samp{L}, as in C. The target wide character set is used when
13069 computing the value of this constant (@pxref{Character Sets}).
13072 Pointer constants are an integral value. You can also write pointers
13073 to constants using the C operator @samp{&}.
13076 Array constants are comma-separated lists surrounded by braces @samp{@{}
13077 and @samp{@}}; for example, @samp{@{1,2,3@}} is a three-element array of
13078 integers, @samp{@{@{1,2@}, @{3,4@}, @{5,6@}@}} is a three-by-two array,
13079 and @samp{@{&"hi", &"there", &"fred"@}} is a three-element array of pointers.
13082 @node C Plus Plus Expressions
13083 @subsubsection C@t{++} Expressions
13085 @cindex expressions in C@t{++}
13086 @value{GDBN} expression handling can interpret most C@t{++} expressions.
13088 @cindex debugging C@t{++} programs
13089 @cindex C@t{++} compilers
13090 @cindex debug formats and C@t{++}
13091 @cindex @value{NGCC} and C@t{++}
13093 @emph{Warning:} @value{GDBN} can only debug C@t{++} code if you use
13094 the proper compiler and the proper debug format. Currently,
13095 @value{GDBN} works best when debugging C@t{++} code that is compiled
13096 with the most recent version of @value{NGCC} possible. The DWARF
13097 debugging format is preferred; @value{NGCC} defaults to this on most
13098 popular platforms. Other compilers and/or debug formats are likely to
13099 work badly or not at all when using @value{GDBN} to debug C@t{++}
13100 code. @xref{Compilation}.
13105 @cindex member functions
13107 Member function calls are allowed; you can use expressions like
13110 count = aml->GetOriginal(x, y)
13113 @vindex this@r{, inside C@t{++} member functions}
13114 @cindex namespace in C@t{++}
13116 While a member function is active (in the selected stack frame), your
13117 expressions have the same namespace available as the member function;
13118 that is, @value{GDBN} allows implicit references to the class instance
13119 pointer @code{this} following the same rules as C@t{++}. @code{using}
13120 declarations in the current scope are also respected by @value{GDBN}.
13122 @cindex call overloaded functions
13123 @cindex overloaded functions, calling
13124 @cindex type conversions in C@t{++}
13126 You can call overloaded functions; @value{GDBN} resolves the function
13127 call to the right definition, with some restrictions. @value{GDBN} does not
13128 perform overload resolution involving user-defined type conversions,
13129 calls to constructors, or instantiations of templates that do not exist
13130 in the program. It also cannot handle ellipsis argument lists or
13133 It does perform integral conversions and promotions, floating-point
13134 promotions, arithmetic conversions, pointer conversions, conversions of
13135 class objects to base classes, and standard conversions such as those of
13136 functions or arrays to pointers; it requires an exact match on the
13137 number of function arguments.
13139 Overload resolution is always performed, unless you have specified
13140 @code{set overload-resolution off}. @xref{Debugging C Plus Plus,
13141 ,@value{GDBN} Features for C@t{++}}.
13143 You must specify @code{set overload-resolution off} in order to use an
13144 explicit function signature to call an overloaded function, as in
13146 p 'foo(char,int)'('x', 13)
13149 The @value{GDBN} command-completion facility can simplify this;
13150 see @ref{Completion, ,Command Completion}.
13152 @cindex reference declarations
13154 @value{GDBN} understands variables declared as C@t{++} references; you can use
13155 them in expressions just as you do in C@t{++} source---they are automatically
13158 In the parameter list shown when @value{GDBN} displays a frame, the values of
13159 reference variables are not displayed (unlike other variables); this
13160 avoids clutter, since references are often used for large structures.
13161 The @emph{address} of a reference variable is always shown, unless
13162 you have specified @samp{set print address off}.
13165 @value{GDBN} supports the C@t{++} name resolution operator @code{::}---your
13166 expressions can use it just as expressions in your program do. Since
13167 one scope may be defined in another, you can use @code{::} repeatedly if
13168 necessary, for example in an expression like
13169 @samp{@var{scope1}::@var{scope2}::@var{name}}. @value{GDBN} also allows
13170 resolving name scope by reference to source files, in both C and C@t{++}
13171 debugging (@pxref{Variables, ,Program Variables}).
13174 @value{GDBN} performs argument-dependent lookup, following the C@t{++}
13179 @subsubsection C and C@t{++} Defaults
13181 @cindex C and C@t{++} defaults
13183 If you allow @value{GDBN} to set type and range checking automatically, they
13184 both default to @code{off} whenever the working language changes to
13185 C or C@t{++}. This happens regardless of whether you or @value{GDBN}
13186 selects the working language.
13188 If you allow @value{GDBN} to set the language automatically, it
13189 recognizes source files whose names end with @file{.c}, @file{.C}, or
13190 @file{.cc}, etc, and when @value{GDBN} enters code compiled from one of
13191 these files, it sets the working language to C or C@t{++}.
13192 @xref{Automatically, ,Having @value{GDBN} Infer the Source Language},
13193 for further details.
13195 @c Type checking is (a) primarily motivated by Modula-2, and (b)
13196 @c unimplemented. If (b) changes, it might make sense to let this node
13197 @c appear even if Mod-2 does not, but meanwhile ignore it. roland 16jul93.
13200 @subsubsection C and C@t{++} Type and Range Checks
13202 @cindex C and C@t{++} checks
13204 By default, when @value{GDBN} parses C or C@t{++} expressions, type checking
13205 is not used. However, if you turn type checking on, @value{GDBN}
13206 considers two variables type equivalent if:
13210 The two variables are structured and have the same structure, union, or
13214 The two variables have the same type name, or types that have been
13215 declared equivalent through @code{typedef}.
13218 @c leaving this out because neither J Gilmore nor R Pesch understand it.
13221 The two @code{struct}, @code{union}, or @code{enum} variables are
13222 declared in the same declaration. (Note: this may not be true for all C
13227 Range checking, if turned on, is done on mathematical operations. Array
13228 indices are not checked, since they are often used to index a pointer
13229 that is not itself an array.
13232 @subsubsection @value{GDBN} and C
13234 The @code{set print union} and @code{show print union} commands apply to
13235 the @code{union} type. When set to @samp{on}, any @code{union} that is
13236 inside a @code{struct} or @code{class} is also printed. Otherwise, it
13237 appears as @samp{@{...@}}.
13239 The @code{@@} operator aids in the debugging of dynamic arrays, formed
13240 with pointers and a memory allocation function. @xref{Expressions,
13243 @node Debugging C Plus Plus
13244 @subsubsection @value{GDBN} Features for C@t{++}
13246 @cindex commands for C@t{++}
13248 Some @value{GDBN} commands are particularly useful with C@t{++}, and some are
13249 designed specifically for use with C@t{++}. Here is a summary:
13252 @cindex break in overloaded functions
13253 @item @r{breakpoint menus}
13254 When you want a breakpoint in a function whose name is overloaded,
13255 @value{GDBN} has the capability to display a menu of possible breakpoint
13256 locations to help you specify which function definition you want.
13257 @xref{Ambiguous Expressions,,Ambiguous Expressions}.
13259 @cindex overloading in C@t{++}
13260 @item rbreak @var{regex}
13261 Setting breakpoints using regular expressions is helpful for setting
13262 breakpoints on overloaded functions that are not members of any special
13264 @xref{Set Breaks, ,Setting Breakpoints}.
13266 @cindex C@t{++} exception handling
13269 Debug C@t{++} exception handling using these commands. @xref{Set
13270 Catchpoints, , Setting Catchpoints}.
13272 @cindex inheritance
13273 @item ptype @var{typename}
13274 Print inheritance relationships as well as other information for type
13276 @xref{Symbols, ,Examining the Symbol Table}.
13278 @item info vtbl @var{expression}.
13279 The @code{info vtbl} command can be used to display the virtual
13280 method tables of the object computed by @var{expression}. This shows
13281 one entry per virtual table; there may be multiple virtual tables when
13282 multiple inheritance is in use.
13284 @cindex C@t{++} symbol display
13285 @item set print demangle
13286 @itemx show print demangle
13287 @itemx set print asm-demangle
13288 @itemx show print asm-demangle
13289 Control whether C@t{++} symbols display in their source form, both when
13290 displaying code as C@t{++} source and when displaying disassemblies.
13291 @xref{Print Settings, ,Print Settings}.
13293 @item set print object
13294 @itemx show print object
13295 Choose whether to print derived (actual) or declared types of objects.
13296 @xref{Print Settings, ,Print Settings}.
13298 @item set print vtbl
13299 @itemx show print vtbl
13300 Control the format for printing virtual function tables.
13301 @xref{Print Settings, ,Print Settings}.
13302 (The @code{vtbl} commands do not work on programs compiled with the HP
13303 ANSI C@t{++} compiler (@code{aCC}).)
13305 @kindex set overload-resolution
13306 @cindex overloaded functions, overload resolution
13307 @item set overload-resolution on
13308 Enable overload resolution for C@t{++} expression evaluation. The default
13309 is on. For overloaded functions, @value{GDBN} evaluates the arguments
13310 and searches for a function whose signature matches the argument types,
13311 using the standard C@t{++} conversion rules (see @ref{C Plus Plus
13312 Expressions, ,C@t{++} Expressions}, for details).
13313 If it cannot find a match, it emits a message.
13315 @item set overload-resolution off
13316 Disable overload resolution for C@t{++} expression evaluation. For
13317 overloaded functions that are not class member functions, @value{GDBN}
13318 chooses the first function of the specified name that it finds in the
13319 symbol table, whether or not its arguments are of the correct type. For
13320 overloaded functions that are class member functions, @value{GDBN}
13321 searches for a function whose signature @emph{exactly} matches the
13324 @kindex show overload-resolution
13325 @item show overload-resolution
13326 Show the current setting of overload resolution.
13328 @item @r{Overloaded symbol names}
13329 You can specify a particular definition of an overloaded symbol, using
13330 the same notation that is used to declare such symbols in C@t{++}: type
13331 @code{@var{symbol}(@var{types})} rather than just @var{symbol}. You can
13332 also use the @value{GDBN} command-line word completion facilities to list the
13333 available choices, or to finish the type list for you.
13334 @xref{Completion,, Command Completion}, for details on how to do this.
13337 @node Decimal Floating Point
13338 @subsubsection Decimal Floating Point format
13339 @cindex decimal floating point format
13341 @value{GDBN} can examine, set and perform computations with numbers in
13342 decimal floating point format, which in the C language correspond to the
13343 @code{_Decimal32}, @code{_Decimal64} and @code{_Decimal128} types as
13344 specified by the extension to support decimal floating-point arithmetic.
13346 There are two encodings in use, depending on the architecture: BID (Binary
13347 Integer Decimal) for x86 and x86-64, and DPD (Densely Packed Decimal) for
13348 PowerPC. @value{GDBN} will use the appropriate encoding for the configured
13351 Because of a limitation in @file{libdecnumber}, the library used by @value{GDBN}
13352 to manipulate decimal floating point numbers, it is not possible to convert
13353 (using a cast, for example) integers wider than 32-bit to decimal float.
13355 In addition, in order to imitate @value{GDBN}'s behaviour with binary floating
13356 point computations, error checking in decimal float operations ignores
13357 underflow, overflow and divide by zero exceptions.
13359 In the PowerPC architecture, @value{GDBN} provides a set of pseudo-registers
13360 to inspect @code{_Decimal128} values stored in floating point registers.
13361 See @ref{PowerPC,,PowerPC} for more details.
13367 @value{GDBN} can be used to debug programs written in D and compiled with
13368 GDC, LDC or DMD compilers. Currently @value{GDBN} supports only one D
13369 specific feature --- dynamic arrays.
13374 @cindex Go (programming language)
13375 @value{GDBN} can be used to debug programs written in Go and compiled with
13376 @file{gccgo} or @file{6g} compilers.
13378 Here is a summary of the Go-specific features and restrictions:
13381 @cindex current Go package
13382 @item The current Go package
13383 The name of the current package does not need to be specified when
13384 specifying global variables and functions.
13386 For example, given the program:
13390 var myglob = "Shall we?"
13396 When stopped inside @code{main} either of these work:
13400 (gdb) p main.myglob
13403 @cindex builtin Go types
13404 @item Builtin Go types
13405 The @code{string} type is recognized by @value{GDBN} and is printed
13408 @cindex builtin Go functions
13409 @item Builtin Go functions
13410 The @value{GDBN} expression parser recognizes the @code{unsafe.Sizeof}
13411 function and handles it internally.
13413 @cindex restrictions on Go expressions
13414 @item Restrictions on Go expressions
13415 All Go operators are supported except @code{&^}.
13416 The Go @code{_} ``blank identifier'' is not supported.
13417 Automatic dereferencing of pointers is not supported.
13421 @subsection Objective-C
13423 @cindex Objective-C
13424 This section provides information about some commands and command
13425 options that are useful for debugging Objective-C code. See also
13426 @ref{Symbols, info classes}, and @ref{Symbols, info selectors}, for a
13427 few more commands specific to Objective-C support.
13430 * Method Names in Commands::
13431 * The Print Command with Objective-C::
13434 @node Method Names in Commands
13435 @subsubsection Method Names in Commands
13437 The following commands have been extended to accept Objective-C method
13438 names as line specifications:
13440 @kindex clear@r{, and Objective-C}
13441 @kindex break@r{, and Objective-C}
13442 @kindex info line@r{, and Objective-C}
13443 @kindex jump@r{, and Objective-C}
13444 @kindex list@r{, and Objective-C}
13448 @item @code{info line}
13453 A fully qualified Objective-C method name is specified as
13456 -[@var{Class} @var{methodName}]
13459 where the minus sign is used to indicate an instance method and a
13460 plus sign (not shown) is used to indicate a class method. The class
13461 name @var{Class} and method name @var{methodName} are enclosed in
13462 brackets, similar to the way messages are specified in Objective-C
13463 source code. For example, to set a breakpoint at the @code{create}
13464 instance method of class @code{Fruit} in the program currently being
13468 break -[Fruit create]
13471 To list ten program lines around the @code{initialize} class method,
13475 list +[NSText initialize]
13478 In the current version of @value{GDBN}, the plus or minus sign is
13479 required. In future versions of @value{GDBN}, the plus or minus
13480 sign will be optional, but you can use it to narrow the search. It
13481 is also possible to specify just a method name:
13487 You must specify the complete method name, including any colons. If
13488 your program's source files contain more than one @code{create} method,
13489 you'll be presented with a numbered list of classes that implement that
13490 method. Indicate your choice by number, or type @samp{0} to exit if
13493 As another example, to clear a breakpoint established at the
13494 @code{makeKeyAndOrderFront:} method of the @code{NSWindow} class, enter:
13497 clear -[NSWindow makeKeyAndOrderFront:]
13500 @node The Print Command with Objective-C
13501 @subsubsection The Print Command With Objective-C
13502 @cindex Objective-C, print objects
13503 @kindex print-object
13504 @kindex po @r{(@code{print-object})}
13506 The print command has also been extended to accept methods. For example:
13509 print -[@var{object} hash]
13512 @cindex print an Objective-C object description
13513 @cindex @code{_NSPrintForDebugger}, and printing Objective-C objects
13515 will tell @value{GDBN} to send the @code{hash} message to @var{object}
13516 and print the result. Also, an additional command has been added,
13517 @code{print-object} or @code{po} for short, which is meant to print
13518 the description of an object. However, this command may only work
13519 with certain Objective-C libraries that have a particular hook
13520 function, @code{_NSPrintForDebugger}, defined.
13523 @subsection OpenCL C
13526 This section provides information about @value{GDBN}s OpenCL C support.
13529 * OpenCL C Datatypes::
13530 * OpenCL C Expressions::
13531 * OpenCL C Operators::
13534 @node OpenCL C Datatypes
13535 @subsubsection OpenCL C Datatypes
13537 @cindex OpenCL C Datatypes
13538 @value{GDBN} supports the builtin scalar and vector datatypes specified
13539 by OpenCL 1.1. In addition the half- and double-precision floating point
13540 data types of the @code{cl_khr_fp16} and @code{cl_khr_fp64} OpenCL
13541 extensions are also known to @value{GDBN}.
13543 @node OpenCL C Expressions
13544 @subsubsection OpenCL C Expressions
13546 @cindex OpenCL C Expressions
13547 @value{GDBN} supports accesses to vector components including the access as
13548 lvalue where possible. Since OpenCL C is based on C99 most C expressions
13549 supported by @value{GDBN} can be used as well.
13551 @node OpenCL C Operators
13552 @subsubsection OpenCL C Operators
13554 @cindex OpenCL C Operators
13555 @value{GDBN} supports the operators specified by OpenCL 1.1 for scalar and
13559 @subsection Fortran
13560 @cindex Fortran-specific support in @value{GDBN}
13562 @value{GDBN} can be used to debug programs written in Fortran, but it
13563 currently supports only the features of Fortran 77 language.
13565 @cindex trailing underscore, in Fortran symbols
13566 Some Fortran compilers (@sc{gnu} Fortran 77 and Fortran 95 compilers
13567 among them) append an underscore to the names of variables and
13568 functions. When you debug programs compiled by those compilers, you
13569 will need to refer to variables and functions with a trailing
13573 * Fortran Operators:: Fortran operators and expressions
13574 * Fortran Defaults:: Default settings for Fortran
13575 * Special Fortran Commands:: Special @value{GDBN} commands for Fortran
13578 @node Fortran Operators
13579 @subsubsection Fortran Operators and Expressions
13581 @cindex Fortran operators and expressions
13583 Operators must be defined on values of specific types. For instance,
13584 @code{+} is defined on numbers, but not on characters or other non-
13585 arithmetic types. Operators are often defined on groups of types.
13589 The exponentiation operator. It raises the first operand to the power
13593 The range operator. Normally used in the form of array(low:high) to
13594 represent a section of array.
13597 The access component operator. Normally used to access elements in derived
13598 types. Also suitable for unions. As unions aren't part of regular Fortran,
13599 this can only happen when accessing a register that uses a gdbarch-defined
13603 @node Fortran Defaults
13604 @subsubsection Fortran Defaults
13606 @cindex Fortran Defaults
13608 Fortran symbols are usually case-insensitive, so @value{GDBN} by
13609 default uses case-insensitive matches for Fortran symbols. You can
13610 change that with the @samp{set case-insensitive} command, see
13611 @ref{Symbols}, for the details.
13613 @node Special Fortran Commands
13614 @subsubsection Special Fortran Commands
13616 @cindex Special Fortran commands
13618 @value{GDBN} has some commands to support Fortran-specific features,
13619 such as displaying common blocks.
13622 @cindex @code{COMMON} blocks, Fortran
13623 @kindex info common
13624 @item info common @r{[}@var{common-name}@r{]}
13625 This command prints the values contained in the Fortran @code{COMMON}
13626 block whose name is @var{common-name}. With no argument, the names of
13627 all @code{COMMON} blocks visible at the current program location are
13634 @cindex Pascal support in @value{GDBN}, limitations
13635 Debugging Pascal programs which use sets, subranges, file variables, or
13636 nested functions does not currently work. @value{GDBN} does not support
13637 entering expressions, printing values, or similar features using Pascal
13640 The Pascal-specific command @code{set print pascal_static-members}
13641 controls whether static members of Pascal objects are displayed.
13642 @xref{Print Settings, pascal_static-members}.
13645 @subsection Modula-2
13647 @cindex Modula-2, @value{GDBN} support
13649 The extensions made to @value{GDBN} to support Modula-2 only support
13650 output from the @sc{gnu} Modula-2 compiler (which is currently being
13651 developed). Other Modula-2 compilers are not currently supported, and
13652 attempting to debug executables produced by them is most likely
13653 to give an error as @value{GDBN} reads in the executable's symbol
13656 @cindex expressions in Modula-2
13658 * M2 Operators:: Built-in operators
13659 * Built-In Func/Proc:: Built-in functions and procedures
13660 * M2 Constants:: Modula-2 constants
13661 * M2 Types:: Modula-2 types
13662 * M2 Defaults:: Default settings for Modula-2
13663 * Deviations:: Deviations from standard Modula-2
13664 * M2 Checks:: Modula-2 type and range checks
13665 * M2 Scope:: The scope operators @code{::} and @code{.}
13666 * GDB/M2:: @value{GDBN} and Modula-2
13670 @subsubsection Operators
13671 @cindex Modula-2 operators
13673 Operators must be defined on values of specific types. For instance,
13674 @code{+} is defined on numbers, but not on structures. Operators are
13675 often defined on groups of types. For the purposes of Modula-2, the
13676 following definitions hold:
13681 @emph{Integral types} consist of @code{INTEGER}, @code{CARDINAL}, and
13685 @emph{Character types} consist of @code{CHAR} and its subranges.
13688 @emph{Floating-point types} consist of @code{REAL}.
13691 @emph{Pointer types} consist of anything declared as @code{POINTER TO
13695 @emph{Scalar types} consist of all of the above.
13698 @emph{Set types} consist of @code{SET} and @code{BITSET} types.
13701 @emph{Boolean types} consist of @code{BOOLEAN}.
13705 The following operators are supported, and appear in order of
13706 increasing precedence:
13710 Function argument or array index separator.
13713 Assignment. The value of @var{var} @code{:=} @var{value} is
13717 Less than, greater than on integral, floating-point, or enumerated
13721 Less than or equal to, greater than or equal to
13722 on integral, floating-point and enumerated types, or set inclusion on
13723 set types. Same precedence as @code{<}.
13725 @item =@r{, }<>@r{, }#
13726 Equality and two ways of expressing inequality, valid on scalar types.
13727 Same precedence as @code{<}. In @value{GDBN} scripts, only @code{<>} is
13728 available for inequality, since @code{#} conflicts with the script
13732 Set membership. Defined on set types and the types of their members.
13733 Same precedence as @code{<}.
13736 Boolean disjunction. Defined on boolean types.
13739 Boolean conjunction. Defined on boolean types.
13742 The @value{GDBN} ``artificial array'' operator (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}).
13745 Addition and subtraction on integral and floating-point types, or union
13746 and difference on set types.
13749 Multiplication on integral and floating-point types, or set intersection
13753 Division on floating-point types, or symmetric set difference on set
13754 types. Same precedence as @code{*}.
13757 Integer division and remainder. Defined on integral types. Same
13758 precedence as @code{*}.
13761 Negative. Defined on @code{INTEGER} and @code{REAL} data.
13764 Pointer dereferencing. Defined on pointer types.
13767 Boolean negation. Defined on boolean types. Same precedence as
13771 @code{RECORD} field selector. Defined on @code{RECORD} data. Same
13772 precedence as @code{^}.
13775 Array indexing. Defined on @code{ARRAY} data. Same precedence as @code{^}.
13778 Procedure argument list. Defined on @code{PROCEDURE} objects. Same precedence
13782 @value{GDBN} and Modula-2 scope operators.
13786 @emph{Warning:} Set expressions and their operations are not yet supported, so @value{GDBN}
13787 treats the use of the operator @code{IN}, or the use of operators
13788 @code{+}, @code{-}, @code{*}, @code{/}, @code{=}, , @code{<>}, @code{#},
13789 @code{<=}, and @code{>=} on sets as an error.
13793 @node Built-In Func/Proc
13794 @subsubsection Built-in Functions and Procedures
13795 @cindex Modula-2 built-ins
13797 Modula-2 also makes available several built-in procedures and functions.
13798 In describing these, the following metavariables are used:
13803 represents an @code{ARRAY} variable.
13806 represents a @code{CHAR} constant or variable.
13809 represents a variable or constant of integral type.
13812 represents an identifier that belongs to a set. Generally used in the
13813 same function with the metavariable @var{s}. The type of @var{s} should
13814 be @code{SET OF @var{mtype}} (where @var{mtype} is the type of @var{m}).
13817 represents a variable or constant of integral or floating-point type.
13820 represents a variable or constant of floating-point type.
13826 represents a variable.
13829 represents a variable or constant of one of many types. See the
13830 explanation of the function for details.
13833 All Modula-2 built-in procedures also return a result, described below.
13837 Returns the absolute value of @var{n}.
13840 If @var{c} is a lower case letter, it returns its upper case
13841 equivalent, otherwise it returns its argument.
13844 Returns the character whose ordinal value is @var{i}.
13847 Decrements the value in the variable @var{v} by one. Returns the new value.
13849 @item DEC(@var{v},@var{i})
13850 Decrements the value in the variable @var{v} by @var{i}. Returns the
13853 @item EXCL(@var{m},@var{s})
13854 Removes the element @var{m} from the set @var{s}. Returns the new
13857 @item FLOAT(@var{i})
13858 Returns the floating point equivalent of the integer @var{i}.
13860 @item HIGH(@var{a})
13861 Returns the index of the last member of @var{a}.
13864 Increments the value in the variable @var{v} by one. Returns the new value.
13866 @item INC(@var{v},@var{i})
13867 Increments the value in the variable @var{v} by @var{i}. Returns the
13870 @item INCL(@var{m},@var{s})
13871 Adds the element @var{m} to the set @var{s} if it is not already
13872 there. Returns the new set.
13875 Returns the maximum value of the type @var{t}.
13878 Returns the minimum value of the type @var{t}.
13881 Returns boolean TRUE if @var{i} is an odd number.
13884 Returns the ordinal value of its argument. For example, the ordinal
13885 value of a character is its @sc{ascii} value (on machines supporting the
13886 @sc{ascii} character set). @var{x} must be of an ordered type, which include
13887 integral, character and enumerated types.
13889 @item SIZE(@var{x})
13890 Returns the size of its argument. @var{x} can be a variable or a type.
13892 @item TRUNC(@var{r})
13893 Returns the integral part of @var{r}.
13895 @item TSIZE(@var{x})
13896 Returns the size of its argument. @var{x} can be a variable or a type.
13898 @item VAL(@var{t},@var{i})
13899 Returns the member of the type @var{t} whose ordinal value is @var{i}.
13903 @emph{Warning:} Sets and their operations are not yet supported, so
13904 @value{GDBN} treats the use of procedures @code{INCL} and @code{EXCL} as
13908 @cindex Modula-2 constants
13910 @subsubsection Constants
13912 @value{GDBN} allows you to express the constants of Modula-2 in the following
13918 Integer constants are simply a sequence of digits. When used in an
13919 expression, a constant is interpreted to be type-compatible with the
13920 rest of the expression. Hexadecimal integers are specified by a
13921 trailing @samp{H}, and octal integers by a trailing @samp{B}.
13924 Floating point constants appear as a sequence of digits, followed by a
13925 decimal point and another sequence of digits. An optional exponent can
13926 then be specified, in the form @samp{E@r{[}+@r{|}-@r{]}@var{nnn}}, where
13927 @samp{@r{[}+@r{|}-@r{]}@var{nnn}} is the desired exponent. All of the
13928 digits of the floating point constant must be valid decimal (base 10)
13932 Character constants consist of a single character enclosed by a pair of
13933 like quotes, either single (@code{'}) or double (@code{"}). They may
13934 also be expressed by their ordinal value (their @sc{ascii} value, usually)
13935 followed by a @samp{C}.
13938 String constants consist of a sequence of characters enclosed by a
13939 pair of like quotes, either single (@code{'}) or double (@code{"}).
13940 Escape sequences in the style of C are also allowed. @xref{C
13941 Constants, ,C and C@t{++} Constants}, for a brief explanation of escape
13945 Enumerated constants consist of an enumerated identifier.
13948 Boolean constants consist of the identifiers @code{TRUE} and
13952 Pointer constants consist of integral values only.
13955 Set constants are not yet supported.
13959 @subsubsection Modula-2 Types
13960 @cindex Modula-2 types
13962 Currently @value{GDBN} can print the following data types in Modula-2
13963 syntax: array types, record types, set types, pointer types, procedure
13964 types, enumerated types, subrange types and base types. You can also
13965 print the contents of variables declared using these type.
13966 This section gives a number of simple source code examples together with
13967 sample @value{GDBN} sessions.
13969 The first example contains the following section of code:
13978 and you can request @value{GDBN} to interrogate the type and value of
13979 @code{r} and @code{s}.
13982 (@value{GDBP}) print s
13984 (@value{GDBP}) ptype s
13986 (@value{GDBP}) print r
13988 (@value{GDBP}) ptype r
13993 Likewise if your source code declares @code{s} as:
13997 s: SET ['A'..'Z'] ;
14001 then you may query the type of @code{s} by:
14004 (@value{GDBP}) ptype s
14005 type = SET ['A'..'Z']
14009 Note that at present you cannot interactively manipulate set
14010 expressions using the debugger.
14012 The following example shows how you might declare an array in Modula-2
14013 and how you can interact with @value{GDBN} to print its type and contents:
14017 s: ARRAY [-10..10] OF CHAR ;
14021 (@value{GDBP}) ptype s
14022 ARRAY [-10..10] OF CHAR
14025 Note that the array handling is not yet complete and although the type
14026 is printed correctly, expression handling still assumes that all
14027 arrays have a lower bound of zero and not @code{-10} as in the example
14030 Here are some more type related Modula-2 examples:
14034 colour = (blue, red, yellow, green) ;
14035 t = [blue..yellow] ;
14043 The @value{GDBN} interaction shows how you can query the data type
14044 and value of a variable.
14047 (@value{GDBP}) print s
14049 (@value{GDBP}) ptype t
14050 type = [blue..yellow]
14054 In this example a Modula-2 array is declared and its contents
14055 displayed. Observe that the contents are written in the same way as
14056 their @code{C} counterparts.
14060 s: ARRAY [1..5] OF CARDINAL ;
14066 (@value{GDBP}) print s
14067 $1 = @{1, 0, 0, 0, 0@}
14068 (@value{GDBP}) ptype s
14069 type = ARRAY [1..5] OF CARDINAL
14072 The Modula-2 language interface to @value{GDBN} also understands
14073 pointer types as shown in this example:
14077 s: POINTER TO ARRAY [1..5] OF CARDINAL ;
14084 and you can request that @value{GDBN} describes the type of @code{s}.
14087 (@value{GDBP}) ptype s
14088 type = POINTER TO ARRAY [1..5] OF CARDINAL
14091 @value{GDBN} handles compound types as we can see in this example.
14092 Here we combine array types, record types, pointer types and subrange
14103 myarray = ARRAY myrange OF CARDINAL ;
14104 myrange = [-2..2] ;
14106 s: POINTER TO ARRAY myrange OF foo ;
14110 and you can ask @value{GDBN} to describe the type of @code{s} as shown
14114 (@value{GDBP}) ptype s
14115 type = POINTER TO ARRAY [-2..2] OF foo = RECORD
14118 f3 : ARRAY [-2..2] OF CARDINAL;
14123 @subsubsection Modula-2 Defaults
14124 @cindex Modula-2 defaults
14126 If type and range checking are set automatically by @value{GDBN}, they
14127 both default to @code{on} whenever the working language changes to
14128 Modula-2. This happens regardless of whether you or @value{GDBN}
14129 selected the working language.
14131 If you allow @value{GDBN} to set the language automatically, then entering
14132 code compiled from a file whose name ends with @file{.mod} sets the
14133 working language to Modula-2. @xref{Automatically, ,Having @value{GDBN}
14134 Infer the Source Language}, for further details.
14137 @subsubsection Deviations from Standard Modula-2
14138 @cindex Modula-2, deviations from
14140 A few changes have been made to make Modula-2 programs easier to debug.
14141 This is done primarily via loosening its type strictness:
14145 Unlike in standard Modula-2, pointer constants can be formed by
14146 integers. This allows you to modify pointer variables during
14147 debugging. (In standard Modula-2, the actual address contained in a
14148 pointer variable is hidden from you; it can only be modified
14149 through direct assignment to another pointer variable or expression that
14150 returned a pointer.)
14153 C escape sequences can be used in strings and characters to represent
14154 non-printable characters. @value{GDBN} prints out strings with these
14155 escape sequences embedded. Single non-printable characters are
14156 printed using the @samp{CHR(@var{nnn})} format.
14159 The assignment operator (@code{:=}) returns the value of its right-hand
14163 All built-in procedures both modify @emph{and} return their argument.
14167 @subsubsection Modula-2 Type and Range Checks
14168 @cindex Modula-2 checks
14171 @emph{Warning:} in this release, @value{GDBN} does not yet perform type or
14174 @c FIXME remove warning when type/range checks added
14176 @value{GDBN} considers two Modula-2 variables type equivalent if:
14180 They are of types that have been declared equivalent via a @code{TYPE
14181 @var{t1} = @var{t2}} statement
14184 They have been declared on the same line. (Note: This is true of the
14185 @sc{gnu} Modula-2 compiler, but it may not be true of other compilers.)
14188 As long as type checking is enabled, any attempt to combine variables
14189 whose types are not equivalent is an error.
14191 Range checking is done on all mathematical operations, assignment, array
14192 index bounds, and all built-in functions and procedures.
14195 @subsubsection The Scope Operators @code{::} and @code{.}
14197 @cindex @code{.}, Modula-2 scope operator
14198 @cindex colon, doubled as scope operator
14200 @vindex colon-colon@r{, in Modula-2}
14201 @c Info cannot handle :: but TeX can.
14204 @vindex ::@r{, in Modula-2}
14207 There are a few subtle differences between the Modula-2 scope operator
14208 (@code{.}) and the @value{GDBN} scope operator (@code{::}). The two have
14213 @var{module} . @var{id}
14214 @var{scope} :: @var{id}
14218 where @var{scope} is the name of a module or a procedure,
14219 @var{module} the name of a module, and @var{id} is any declared
14220 identifier within your program, except another module.
14222 Using the @code{::} operator makes @value{GDBN} search the scope
14223 specified by @var{scope} for the identifier @var{id}. If it is not
14224 found in the specified scope, then @value{GDBN} searches all scopes
14225 enclosing the one specified by @var{scope}.
14227 Using the @code{.} operator makes @value{GDBN} search the current scope for
14228 the identifier specified by @var{id} that was imported from the
14229 definition module specified by @var{module}. With this operator, it is
14230 an error if the identifier @var{id} was not imported from definition
14231 module @var{module}, or if @var{id} is not an identifier in
14235 @subsubsection @value{GDBN} and Modula-2
14237 Some @value{GDBN} commands have little use when debugging Modula-2 programs.
14238 Five subcommands of @code{set print} and @code{show print} apply
14239 specifically to C and C@t{++}: @samp{vtbl}, @samp{demangle},
14240 @samp{asm-demangle}, @samp{object}, and @samp{union}. The first four
14241 apply to C@t{++}, and the last to the C @code{union} type, which has no direct
14242 analogue in Modula-2.
14244 The @code{@@} operator (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}), while available
14245 with any language, is not useful with Modula-2. Its
14246 intent is to aid the debugging of @dfn{dynamic arrays}, which cannot be
14247 created in Modula-2 as they can in C or C@t{++}. However, because an
14248 address can be specified by an integral constant, the construct
14249 @samp{@{@var{type}@}@var{adrexp}} is still useful.
14251 @cindex @code{#} in Modula-2
14252 In @value{GDBN} scripts, the Modula-2 inequality operator @code{#} is
14253 interpreted as the beginning of a comment. Use @code{<>} instead.
14259 The extensions made to @value{GDBN} for Ada only support
14260 output from the @sc{gnu} Ada (GNAT) compiler.
14261 Other Ada compilers are not currently supported, and
14262 attempting to debug executables produced by them is most likely
14266 @cindex expressions in Ada
14268 * Ada Mode Intro:: General remarks on the Ada syntax
14269 and semantics supported by Ada mode
14271 * Omissions from Ada:: Restrictions on the Ada expression syntax.
14272 * Additions to Ada:: Extensions of the Ada expression syntax.
14273 * Stopping Before Main Program:: Debugging the program during elaboration.
14274 * Ada Tasks:: Listing and setting breakpoints in tasks.
14275 * Ada Tasks and Core Files:: Tasking Support when Debugging Core Files
14276 * Ravenscar Profile:: Tasking Support when using the Ravenscar
14278 * Ada Glitches:: Known peculiarities of Ada mode.
14281 @node Ada Mode Intro
14282 @subsubsection Introduction
14283 @cindex Ada mode, general
14285 The Ada mode of @value{GDBN} supports a fairly large subset of Ada expression
14286 syntax, with some extensions.
14287 The philosophy behind the design of this subset is
14291 That @value{GDBN} should provide basic literals and access to operations for
14292 arithmetic, dereferencing, field selection, indexing, and subprogram calls,
14293 leaving more sophisticated computations to subprograms written into the
14294 program (which therefore may be called from @value{GDBN}).
14297 That type safety and strict adherence to Ada language restrictions
14298 are not particularly important to the @value{GDBN} user.
14301 That brevity is important to the @value{GDBN} user.
14304 Thus, for brevity, the debugger acts as if all names declared in
14305 user-written packages are directly visible, even if they are not visible
14306 according to Ada rules, thus making it unnecessary to fully qualify most
14307 names with their packages, regardless of context. Where this causes
14308 ambiguity, @value{GDBN} asks the user's intent.
14310 The debugger will start in Ada mode if it detects an Ada main program.
14311 As for other languages, it will enter Ada mode when stopped in a program that
14312 was translated from an Ada source file.
14314 While in Ada mode, you may use `@t{--}' for comments. This is useful
14315 mostly for documenting command files. The standard @value{GDBN} comment
14316 (@samp{#}) still works at the beginning of a line in Ada mode, but not in the
14317 middle (to allow based literals).
14319 The debugger supports limited overloading. Given a subprogram call in which
14320 the function symbol has multiple definitions, it will use the number of
14321 actual parameters and some information about their types to attempt to narrow
14322 the set of definitions. It also makes very limited use of context, preferring
14323 procedures to functions in the context of the @code{call} command, and
14324 functions to procedures elsewhere.
14326 @node Omissions from Ada
14327 @subsubsection Omissions from Ada
14328 @cindex Ada, omissions from
14330 Here are the notable omissions from the subset:
14334 Only a subset of the attributes are supported:
14338 @t{'First}, @t{'Last}, and @t{'Length}
14339 on array objects (not on types and subtypes).
14342 @t{'Min} and @t{'Max}.
14345 @t{'Pos} and @t{'Val}.
14351 @t{'Range} on array objects (not subtypes), but only as the right
14352 operand of the membership (@code{in}) operator.
14355 @t{'Access}, @t{'Unchecked_Access}, and
14356 @t{'Unrestricted_Access} (a GNAT extension).
14364 @code{Characters.Latin_1} are not available and
14365 concatenation is not implemented. Thus, escape characters in strings are
14366 not currently available.
14369 Equality tests (@samp{=} and @samp{/=}) on arrays test for bitwise
14370 equality of representations. They will generally work correctly
14371 for strings and arrays whose elements have integer or enumeration types.
14372 They may not work correctly for arrays whose element
14373 types have user-defined equality, for arrays of real values
14374 (in particular, IEEE-conformant floating point, because of negative
14375 zeroes and NaNs), and for arrays whose elements contain unused bits with
14376 indeterminate values.
14379 The other component-by-component array operations (@code{and}, @code{or},
14380 @code{xor}, @code{not}, and relational tests other than equality)
14381 are not implemented.
14384 @cindex array aggregates (Ada)
14385 @cindex record aggregates (Ada)
14386 @cindex aggregates (Ada)
14387 There is limited support for array and record aggregates. They are
14388 permitted only on the right sides of assignments, as in these examples:
14391 (@value{GDBP}) set An_Array := (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
14392 (@value{GDBP}) set An_Array := (1, others => 0)
14393 (@value{GDBP}) set An_Array := (0|4 => 1, 1..3 => 2, 5 => 6)
14394 (@value{GDBP}) set A_2D_Array := ((1, 2, 3), (4, 5, 6), (7, 8, 9))
14395 (@value{GDBP}) set A_Record := (1, "Peter", True);
14396 (@value{GDBP}) set A_Record := (Name => "Peter", Id => 1, Alive => True)
14400 discriminant's value by assigning an aggregate has an
14401 undefined effect if that discriminant is used within the record.
14402 However, you can first modify discriminants by directly assigning to
14403 them (which normally would not be allowed in Ada), and then performing an
14404 aggregate assignment. For example, given a variable @code{A_Rec}
14405 declared to have a type such as:
14408 type Rec (Len : Small_Integer := 0) is record
14410 Vals : IntArray (1 .. Len);
14414 you can assign a value with a different size of @code{Vals} with two
14418 (@value{GDBP}) set A_Rec.Len := 4
14419 (@value{GDBP}) set A_Rec := (Id => 42, Vals => (1, 2, 3, 4))
14422 As this example also illustrates, @value{GDBN} is very loose about the usual
14423 rules concerning aggregates. You may leave out some of the
14424 components of an array or record aggregate (such as the @code{Len}
14425 component in the assignment to @code{A_Rec} above); they will retain their
14426 original values upon assignment. You may freely use dynamic values as
14427 indices in component associations. You may even use overlapping or
14428 redundant component associations, although which component values are
14429 assigned in such cases is not defined.
14432 Calls to dispatching subprograms are not implemented.
14435 The overloading algorithm is much more limited (i.e., less selective)
14436 than that of real Ada. It makes only limited use of the context in
14437 which a subexpression appears to resolve its meaning, and it is much
14438 looser in its rules for allowing type matches. As a result, some
14439 function calls will be ambiguous, and the user will be asked to choose
14440 the proper resolution.
14443 The @code{new} operator is not implemented.
14446 Entry calls are not implemented.
14449 Aside from printing, arithmetic operations on the native VAX floating-point
14450 formats are not supported.
14453 It is not possible to slice a packed array.
14456 The names @code{True} and @code{False}, when not part of a qualified name,
14457 are interpreted as if implicitly prefixed by @code{Standard}, regardless of
14459 Should your program
14460 redefine these names in a package or procedure (at best a dubious practice),
14461 you will have to use fully qualified names to access their new definitions.
14464 @node Additions to Ada
14465 @subsubsection Additions to Ada
14466 @cindex Ada, deviations from
14468 As it does for other languages, @value{GDBN} makes certain generic
14469 extensions to Ada (@pxref{Expressions}):
14473 If the expression @var{E} is a variable residing in memory (typically
14474 a local variable or array element) and @var{N} is a positive integer,
14475 then @code{@var{E}@@@var{N}} displays the values of @var{E} and the
14476 @var{N}-1 adjacent variables following it in memory as an array. In
14477 Ada, this operator is generally not necessary, since its prime use is
14478 in displaying parts of an array, and slicing will usually do this in
14479 Ada. However, there are occasional uses when debugging programs in
14480 which certain debugging information has been optimized away.
14483 @code{@var{B}::@var{var}} means ``the variable named @var{var} that
14484 appears in function or file @var{B}.'' When @var{B} is a file name,
14485 you must typically surround it in single quotes.
14488 The expression @code{@{@var{type}@} @var{addr}} means ``the variable of type
14489 @var{type} that appears at address @var{addr}.''
14492 A name starting with @samp{$} is a convenience variable
14493 (@pxref{Convenience Vars}) or a machine register (@pxref{Registers}).
14496 In addition, @value{GDBN} provides a few other shortcuts and outright
14497 additions specific to Ada:
14501 The assignment statement is allowed as an expression, returning
14502 its right-hand operand as its value. Thus, you may enter
14505 (@value{GDBP}) set x := y + 3
14506 (@value{GDBP}) print A(tmp := y + 1)
14510 The semicolon is allowed as an ``operator,'' returning as its value
14511 the value of its right-hand operand.
14512 This allows, for example,
14513 complex conditional breaks:
14516 (@value{GDBP}) break f
14517 (@value{GDBP}) condition 1 (report(i); k += 1; A(k) > 100)
14521 Rather than use catenation and symbolic character names to introduce special
14522 characters into strings, one may instead use a special bracket notation,
14523 which is also used to print strings. A sequence of characters of the form
14524 @samp{["@var{XX}"]} within a string or character literal denotes the
14525 (single) character whose numeric encoding is @var{XX} in hexadecimal. The
14526 sequence of characters @samp{["""]} also denotes a single quotation mark
14527 in strings. For example,
14529 "One line.["0a"]Next line.["0a"]"
14532 contains an ASCII newline character (@code{Ada.Characters.Latin_1.LF})
14536 The subtype used as a prefix for the attributes @t{'Pos}, @t{'Min}, and
14537 @t{'Max} is optional (and is ignored in any case). For example, it is valid
14541 (@value{GDBP}) print 'max(x, y)
14545 When printing arrays, @value{GDBN} uses positional notation when the
14546 array has a lower bound of 1, and uses a modified named notation otherwise.
14547 For example, a one-dimensional array of three integers with a lower bound
14548 of 3 might print as
14555 That is, in contrast to valid Ada, only the first component has a @code{=>}
14559 You may abbreviate attributes in expressions with any unique,
14560 multi-character subsequence of
14561 their names (an exact match gets preference).
14562 For example, you may use @t{a'len}, @t{a'gth}, or @t{a'lh}
14563 in place of @t{a'length}.
14566 @cindex quoting Ada internal identifiers
14567 Since Ada is case-insensitive, the debugger normally maps identifiers you type
14568 to lower case. The GNAT compiler uses upper-case characters for
14569 some of its internal identifiers, which are normally of no interest to users.
14570 For the rare occasions when you actually have to look at them,
14571 enclose them in angle brackets to avoid the lower-case mapping.
14574 (@value{GDBP}) print <JMPBUF_SAVE>[0]
14578 Printing an object of class-wide type or dereferencing an
14579 access-to-class-wide value will display all the components of the object's
14580 specific type (as indicated by its run-time tag). Likewise, component
14581 selection on such a value will operate on the specific type of the
14586 @node Stopping Before Main Program
14587 @subsubsection Stopping at the Very Beginning
14589 @cindex breakpointing Ada elaboration code
14590 It is sometimes necessary to debug the program during elaboration, and
14591 before reaching the main procedure.
14592 As defined in the Ada Reference
14593 Manual, the elaboration code is invoked from a procedure called
14594 @code{adainit}. To run your program up to the beginning of
14595 elaboration, simply use the following two commands:
14596 @code{tbreak adainit} and @code{run}.
14599 @subsubsection Extensions for Ada Tasks
14600 @cindex Ada, tasking
14602 Support for Ada tasks is analogous to that for threads (@pxref{Threads}).
14603 @value{GDBN} provides the following task-related commands:
14608 This command shows a list of current Ada tasks, as in the following example:
14615 (@value{GDBP}) info tasks
14616 ID TID P-ID Pri State Name
14617 1 8088000 0 15 Child Activation Wait main_task
14618 2 80a4000 1 15 Accept Statement b
14619 3 809a800 1 15 Child Activation Wait a
14620 * 4 80ae800 3 15 Runnable c
14625 In this listing, the asterisk before the last task indicates it to be the
14626 task currently being inspected.
14630 Represents @value{GDBN}'s internal task number.
14636 The parent's task ID (@value{GDBN}'s internal task number).
14639 The base priority of the task.
14642 Current state of the task.
14646 The task has been created but has not been activated. It cannot be
14650 The task is not blocked for any reason known to Ada. (It may be waiting
14651 for a mutex, though.) It is conceptually "executing" in normal mode.
14654 The task is terminated, in the sense of ARM 9.3 (5). Any dependents
14655 that were waiting on terminate alternatives have been awakened and have
14656 terminated themselves.
14658 @item Child Activation Wait
14659 The task is waiting for created tasks to complete activation.
14661 @item Accept Statement
14662 The task is waiting on an accept or selective wait statement.
14664 @item Waiting on entry call
14665 The task is waiting on an entry call.
14667 @item Async Select Wait
14668 The task is waiting to start the abortable part of an asynchronous
14672 The task is waiting on a select statement with only a delay
14675 @item Child Termination Wait
14676 The task is sleeping having completed a master within itself, and is
14677 waiting for the tasks dependent on that master to become terminated or
14678 waiting on a terminate Phase.
14680 @item Wait Child in Term Alt
14681 The task is sleeping waiting for tasks on terminate alternatives to
14682 finish terminating.
14684 @item Accepting RV with @var{taskno}
14685 The task is accepting a rendez-vous with the task @var{taskno}.
14689 Name of the task in the program.
14693 @kindex info task @var{taskno}
14694 @item info task @var{taskno}
14695 This command shows detailled informations on the specified task, as in
14696 the following example:
14701 (@value{GDBP}) info tasks
14702 ID TID P-ID Pri State Name
14703 1 8077880 0 15 Child Activation Wait main_task
14704 * 2 807c468 1 15 Runnable task_1
14705 (@value{GDBP}) info task 2
14706 Ada Task: 0x807c468
14709 Parent: 1 (main_task)
14715 @kindex task@r{ (Ada)}
14716 @cindex current Ada task ID
14717 This command prints the ID of the current task.
14723 (@value{GDBP}) info tasks
14724 ID TID P-ID Pri State Name
14725 1 8077870 0 15 Child Activation Wait main_task
14726 * 2 807c458 1 15 Runnable t
14727 (@value{GDBP}) task
14728 [Current task is 2]
14731 @item task @var{taskno}
14732 @cindex Ada task switching
14733 This command is like the @code{thread @var{threadno}}
14734 command (@pxref{Threads}). It switches the context of debugging
14735 from the current task to the given task.
14741 (@value{GDBP}) info tasks
14742 ID TID P-ID Pri State Name
14743 1 8077870 0 15 Child Activation Wait main_task
14744 * 2 807c458 1 15 Runnable t
14745 (@value{GDBP}) task 1
14746 [Switching to task 1]
14747 #0 0x8067726 in pthread_cond_wait ()
14749 #0 0x8067726 in pthread_cond_wait ()
14750 #1 0x8056714 in system.os_interface.pthread_cond_wait ()
14751 #2 0x805cb63 in system.task_primitives.operations.sleep ()
14752 #3 0x806153e in system.tasking.stages.activate_tasks ()
14753 #4 0x804aacc in un () at un.adb:5
14756 @item break @var{linespec} task @var{taskno}
14757 @itemx break @var{linespec} task @var{taskno} if @dots{}
14758 @cindex breakpoints and tasks, in Ada
14759 @cindex task breakpoints, in Ada
14760 @kindex break @dots{} task @var{taskno}@r{ (Ada)}
14761 These commands are like the @code{break @dots{} thread @dots{}}
14762 command (@pxref{Thread Stops}).
14763 @var{linespec} specifies source lines, as described
14764 in @ref{Specify Location}.
14766 Use the qualifier @samp{task @var{taskno}} with a breakpoint command
14767 to specify that you only want @value{GDBN} to stop the program when a
14768 particular Ada task reaches this breakpoint. @var{taskno} is one of the
14769 numeric task identifiers assigned by @value{GDBN}, shown in the first
14770 column of the @samp{info tasks} display.
14772 If you do not specify @samp{task @var{taskno}} when you set a
14773 breakpoint, the breakpoint applies to @emph{all} tasks of your
14776 You can use the @code{task} qualifier on conditional breakpoints as
14777 well; in this case, place @samp{task @var{taskno}} before the
14778 breakpoint condition (before the @code{if}).
14786 (@value{GDBP}) info tasks
14787 ID TID P-ID Pri State Name
14788 1 140022020 0 15 Child Activation Wait main_task
14789 2 140045060 1 15 Accept/Select Wait t2
14790 3 140044840 1 15 Runnable t1
14791 * 4 140056040 1 15 Runnable t3
14792 (@value{GDBP}) b 15 task 2
14793 Breakpoint 5 at 0x120044cb0: file test_task_debug.adb, line 15.
14794 (@value{GDBP}) cont
14799 Breakpoint 5, test_task_debug () at test_task_debug.adb:15
14801 (@value{GDBP}) info tasks
14802 ID TID P-ID Pri State Name
14803 1 140022020 0 15 Child Activation Wait main_task
14804 * 2 140045060 1 15 Runnable t2
14805 3 140044840 1 15 Runnable t1
14806 4 140056040 1 15 Delay Sleep t3
14810 @node Ada Tasks and Core Files
14811 @subsubsection Tasking Support when Debugging Core Files
14812 @cindex Ada tasking and core file debugging
14814 When inspecting a core file, as opposed to debugging a live program,
14815 tasking support may be limited or even unavailable, depending on
14816 the platform being used.
14817 For instance, on x86-linux, the list of tasks is available, but task
14818 switching is not supported. On Tru64, however, task switching will work
14821 On certain platforms, including Tru64, the debugger needs to perform some
14822 memory writes in order to provide Ada tasking support. When inspecting
14823 a core file, this means that the core file must be opened with read-write
14824 privileges, using the command @samp{"set write on"} (@pxref{Patching}).
14825 Under these circumstances, you should make a backup copy of the core
14826 file before inspecting it with @value{GDBN}.
14828 @node Ravenscar Profile
14829 @subsubsection Tasking Support when using the Ravenscar Profile
14830 @cindex Ravenscar Profile
14832 The @dfn{Ravenscar Profile} is a subset of the Ada tasking features,
14833 specifically designed for systems with safety-critical real-time
14837 @kindex set ravenscar task-switching on
14838 @cindex task switching with program using Ravenscar Profile
14839 @item set ravenscar task-switching on
14840 Allows task switching when debugging a program that uses the Ravenscar
14841 Profile. This is the default.
14843 @kindex set ravenscar task-switching off
14844 @item set ravenscar task-switching off
14845 Turn off task switching when debugging a program that uses the Ravenscar
14846 Profile. This is mostly intended to disable the code that adds support
14847 for the Ravenscar Profile, in case a bug in either @value{GDBN} or in
14848 the Ravenscar runtime is preventing @value{GDBN} from working properly.
14849 To be effective, this command should be run before the program is started.
14851 @kindex show ravenscar task-switching
14852 @item show ravenscar task-switching
14853 Show whether it is possible to switch from task to task in a program
14854 using the Ravenscar Profile.
14859 @subsubsection Known Peculiarities of Ada Mode
14860 @cindex Ada, problems
14862 Besides the omissions listed previously (@pxref{Omissions from Ada}),
14863 we know of several problems with and limitations of Ada mode in
14865 some of which will be fixed with planned future releases of the debugger
14866 and the GNU Ada compiler.
14870 Static constants that the compiler chooses not to materialize as objects in
14871 storage are invisible to the debugger.
14874 Named parameter associations in function argument lists are ignored (the
14875 argument lists are treated as positional).
14878 Many useful library packages are currently invisible to the debugger.
14881 Fixed-point arithmetic, conversions, input, and output is carried out using
14882 floating-point arithmetic, and may give results that only approximate those on
14886 The GNAT compiler never generates the prefix @code{Standard} for any of
14887 the standard symbols defined by the Ada language. @value{GDBN} knows about
14888 this: it will strip the prefix from names when you use it, and will never
14889 look for a name you have so qualified among local symbols, nor match against
14890 symbols in other packages or subprograms. If you have
14891 defined entities anywhere in your program other than parameters and
14892 local variables whose simple names match names in @code{Standard},
14893 GNAT's lack of qualification here can cause confusion. When this happens,
14894 you can usually resolve the confusion
14895 by qualifying the problematic names with package
14896 @code{Standard} explicitly.
14899 Older versions of the compiler sometimes generate erroneous debugging
14900 information, resulting in the debugger incorrectly printing the value
14901 of affected entities. In some cases, the debugger is able to work
14902 around an issue automatically. In other cases, the debugger is able
14903 to work around the issue, but the work-around has to be specifically
14906 @kindex set ada trust-PAD-over-XVS
14907 @kindex show ada trust-PAD-over-XVS
14910 @item set ada trust-PAD-over-XVS on
14911 Configure GDB to strictly follow the GNAT encoding when computing the
14912 value of Ada entities, particularly when @code{PAD} and @code{PAD___XVS}
14913 types are involved (see @code{ada/exp_dbug.ads} in the GCC sources for
14914 a complete description of the encoding used by the GNAT compiler).
14915 This is the default.
14917 @item set ada trust-PAD-over-XVS off
14918 This is related to the encoding using by the GNAT compiler. If @value{GDBN}
14919 sometimes prints the wrong value for certain entities, changing @code{ada
14920 trust-PAD-over-XVS} to @code{off} activates a work-around which may fix
14921 the issue. It is always safe to set @code{ada trust-PAD-over-XVS} to
14922 @code{off}, but this incurs a slight performance penalty, so it is
14923 recommended to leave this setting to @code{on} unless necessary.
14927 @node Unsupported Languages
14928 @section Unsupported Languages
14930 @cindex unsupported languages
14931 @cindex minimal language
14932 In addition to the other fully-supported programming languages,
14933 @value{GDBN} also provides a pseudo-language, called @code{minimal}.
14934 It does not represent a real programming language, but provides a set
14935 of capabilities close to what the C or assembly languages provide.
14936 This should allow most simple operations to be performed while debugging
14937 an application that uses a language currently not supported by @value{GDBN}.
14939 If the language is set to @code{auto}, @value{GDBN} will automatically
14940 select this language if the current frame corresponds to an unsupported
14944 @chapter Examining the Symbol Table
14946 The commands described in this chapter allow you to inquire about the
14947 symbols (names of variables, functions and types) defined in your
14948 program. This information is inherent in the text of your program and
14949 does not change as your program executes. @value{GDBN} finds it in your
14950 program's symbol table, in the file indicated when you started @value{GDBN}
14951 (@pxref{File Options, ,Choosing Files}), or by one of the
14952 file-management commands (@pxref{Files, ,Commands to Specify Files}).
14954 @cindex symbol names
14955 @cindex names of symbols
14956 @cindex quoting names
14957 Occasionally, you may need to refer to symbols that contain unusual
14958 characters, which @value{GDBN} ordinarily treats as word delimiters. The
14959 most frequent case is in referring to static variables in other
14960 source files (@pxref{Variables,,Program Variables}). File names
14961 are recorded in object files as debugging symbols, but @value{GDBN} would
14962 ordinarily parse a typical file name, like @file{foo.c}, as the three words
14963 @samp{foo} @samp{.} @samp{c}. To allow @value{GDBN} to recognize
14964 @samp{foo.c} as a single symbol, enclose it in single quotes; for example,
14971 looks up the value of @code{x} in the scope of the file @file{foo.c}.
14974 @cindex case-insensitive symbol names
14975 @cindex case sensitivity in symbol names
14976 @kindex set case-sensitive
14977 @item set case-sensitive on
14978 @itemx set case-sensitive off
14979 @itemx set case-sensitive auto
14980 Normally, when @value{GDBN} looks up symbols, it matches their names
14981 with case sensitivity determined by the current source language.
14982 Occasionally, you may wish to control that. The command @code{set
14983 case-sensitive} lets you do that by specifying @code{on} for
14984 case-sensitive matches or @code{off} for case-insensitive ones. If
14985 you specify @code{auto}, case sensitivity is reset to the default
14986 suitable for the source language. The default is case-sensitive
14987 matches for all languages except for Fortran, for which the default is
14988 case-insensitive matches.
14990 @kindex show case-sensitive
14991 @item show case-sensitive
14992 This command shows the current setting of case sensitivity for symbols
14995 @kindex info address
14996 @cindex address of a symbol
14997 @item info address @var{symbol}
14998 Describe where the data for @var{symbol} is stored. For a register
14999 variable, this says which register it is kept in. For a non-register
15000 local variable, this prints the stack-frame offset at which the variable
15003 Note the contrast with @samp{print &@var{symbol}}, which does not work
15004 at all for a register variable, and for a stack local variable prints
15005 the exact address of the current instantiation of the variable.
15007 @kindex info symbol
15008 @cindex symbol from address
15009 @cindex closest symbol and offset for an address
15010 @item info symbol @var{addr}
15011 Print the name of a symbol which is stored at the address @var{addr}.
15012 If no symbol is stored exactly at @var{addr}, @value{GDBN} prints the
15013 nearest symbol and an offset from it:
15016 (@value{GDBP}) info symbol 0x54320
15017 _initialize_vx + 396 in section .text
15021 This is the opposite of the @code{info address} command. You can use
15022 it to find out the name of a variable or a function given its address.
15024 For dynamically linked executables, the name of executable or shared
15025 library containing the symbol is also printed:
15028 (@value{GDBP}) info symbol 0x400225
15029 _start + 5 in section .text of /tmp/a.out
15030 (@value{GDBP}) info symbol 0x2aaaac2811cf
15031 __read_nocancel + 6 in section .text of /usr/lib64/libc.so.6
15035 @item whatis [@var{arg}]
15036 Print the data type of @var{arg}, which can be either an expression
15037 or a name of a data type. With no argument, print the data type of
15038 @code{$}, the last value in the value history.
15040 If @var{arg} is an expression (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}), it
15041 is not actually evaluated, and any side-effecting operations (such as
15042 assignments or function calls) inside it do not take place.
15044 If @var{arg} is a variable or an expression, @code{whatis} prints its
15045 literal type as it is used in the source code. If the type was
15046 defined using a @code{typedef}, @code{whatis} will @emph{not} print
15047 the data type underlying the @code{typedef}. If the type of the
15048 variable or the expression is a compound data type, such as
15049 @code{struct} or @code{class}, @code{whatis} never prints their
15050 fields or methods. It just prints the @code{struct}/@code{class}
15051 name (a.k.a.@: its @dfn{tag}). If you want to see the members of
15052 such a compound data type, use @code{ptype}.
15054 If @var{arg} is a type name that was defined using @code{typedef},
15055 @code{whatis} @dfn{unrolls} only one level of that @code{typedef}.
15056 Unrolling means that @code{whatis} will show the underlying type used
15057 in the @code{typedef} declaration of @var{arg}. However, if that
15058 underlying type is also a @code{typedef}, @code{whatis} will not
15061 For C code, the type names may also have the form @samp{class
15062 @var{class-name}}, @samp{struct @var{struct-tag}}, @samp{union
15063 @var{union-tag}} or @samp{enum @var{enum-tag}}.
15066 @item ptype [@var{arg}]
15067 @code{ptype} accepts the same arguments as @code{whatis}, but prints a
15068 detailed description of the type, instead of just the name of the type.
15069 @xref{Expressions, ,Expressions}.
15071 Contrary to @code{whatis}, @code{ptype} always unrolls any
15072 @code{typedef}s in its argument declaration, whether the argument is
15073 a variable, expression, or a data type. This means that @code{ptype}
15074 of a variable or an expression will not print literally its type as
15075 present in the source code---use @code{whatis} for that. @code{typedef}s at
15076 the pointer or reference targets are also unrolled. Only @code{typedef}s of
15077 fields, methods and inner @code{class typedef}s of @code{struct}s,
15078 @code{class}es and @code{union}s are not unrolled even with @code{ptype}.
15080 For example, for this variable declaration:
15083 typedef double real_t;
15084 struct complex @{ real_t real; double imag; @};
15085 typedef struct complex complex_t;
15087 real_t *real_pointer_var;
15091 the two commands give this output:
15095 (@value{GDBP}) whatis var
15097 (@value{GDBP}) ptype var
15098 type = struct complex @{
15102 (@value{GDBP}) whatis complex_t
15103 type = struct complex
15104 (@value{GDBP}) whatis struct complex
15105 type = struct complex
15106 (@value{GDBP}) ptype struct complex
15107 type = struct complex @{
15111 (@value{GDBP}) whatis real_pointer_var
15113 (@value{GDBP}) ptype real_pointer_var
15119 As with @code{whatis}, using @code{ptype} without an argument refers to
15120 the type of @code{$}, the last value in the value history.
15122 @cindex incomplete type
15123 Sometimes, programs use opaque data types or incomplete specifications
15124 of complex data structure. If the debug information included in the
15125 program does not allow @value{GDBN} to display a full declaration of
15126 the data type, it will say @samp{<incomplete type>}. For example,
15127 given these declarations:
15131 struct foo *fooptr;
15135 but no definition for @code{struct foo} itself, @value{GDBN} will say:
15138 (@value{GDBP}) ptype foo
15139 $1 = <incomplete type>
15143 ``Incomplete type'' is C terminology for data types that are not
15144 completely specified.
15147 @item info types @var{regexp}
15149 Print a brief description of all types whose names match the regular
15150 expression @var{regexp} (or all types in your program, if you supply
15151 no argument). Each complete typename is matched as though it were a
15152 complete line; thus, @samp{i type value} gives information on all
15153 types in your program whose names include the string @code{value}, but
15154 @samp{i type ^value$} gives information only on types whose complete
15155 name is @code{value}.
15157 This command differs from @code{ptype} in two ways: first, like
15158 @code{whatis}, it does not print a detailed description; second, it
15159 lists all source files where a type is defined.
15162 @cindex local variables
15163 @item info scope @var{location}
15164 List all the variables local to a particular scope. This command
15165 accepts a @var{location} argument---a function name, a source line, or
15166 an address preceded by a @samp{*}, and prints all the variables local
15167 to the scope defined by that location. (@xref{Specify Location}, for
15168 details about supported forms of @var{location}.) For example:
15171 (@value{GDBP}) @b{info scope command_line_handler}
15172 Scope for command_line_handler:
15173 Symbol rl is an argument at stack/frame offset 8, length 4.
15174 Symbol linebuffer is in static storage at address 0x150a18, length 4.
15175 Symbol linelength is in static storage at address 0x150a1c, length 4.
15176 Symbol p is a local variable in register $esi, length 4.
15177 Symbol p1 is a local variable in register $ebx, length 4.
15178 Symbol nline is a local variable in register $edx, length 4.
15179 Symbol repeat is a local variable at frame offset -8, length 4.
15183 This command is especially useful for determining what data to collect
15184 during a @dfn{trace experiment}, see @ref{Tracepoint Actions,
15187 @kindex info source
15189 Show information about the current source file---that is, the source file for
15190 the function containing the current point of execution:
15193 the name of the source file, and the directory containing it,
15195 the directory it was compiled in,
15197 its length, in lines,
15199 which programming language it is written in,
15201 whether the executable includes debugging information for that file, and
15202 if so, what format the information is in (e.g., STABS, Dwarf 2, etc.), and
15204 whether the debugging information includes information about
15205 preprocessor macros.
15209 @kindex info sources
15211 Print the names of all source files in your program for which there is
15212 debugging information, organized into two lists: files whose symbols
15213 have already been read, and files whose symbols will be read when needed.
15215 @kindex info functions
15216 @item info functions
15217 Print the names and data types of all defined functions.
15219 @item info functions @var{regexp}
15220 Print the names and data types of all defined functions
15221 whose names contain a match for regular expression @var{regexp}.
15222 Thus, @samp{info fun step} finds all functions whose names
15223 include @code{step}; @samp{info fun ^step} finds those whose names
15224 start with @code{step}. If a function name contains characters
15225 that conflict with the regular expression language (e.g.@:
15226 @samp{operator*()}), they may be quoted with a backslash.
15228 @kindex info variables
15229 @item info variables
15230 Print the names and data types of all variables that are defined
15231 outside of functions (i.e.@: excluding local variables).
15233 @item info variables @var{regexp}
15234 Print the names and data types of all variables (except for local
15235 variables) whose names contain a match for regular expression
15238 @kindex info classes
15239 @cindex Objective-C, classes and selectors
15241 @itemx info classes @var{regexp}
15242 Display all Objective-C classes in your program, or
15243 (with the @var{regexp} argument) all those matching a particular regular
15246 @kindex info selectors
15247 @item info selectors
15248 @itemx info selectors @var{regexp}
15249 Display all Objective-C selectors in your program, or
15250 (with the @var{regexp} argument) all those matching a particular regular
15254 This was never implemented.
15255 @kindex info methods
15257 @itemx info methods @var{regexp}
15258 The @code{info methods} command permits the user to examine all defined
15259 methods within C@t{++} program, or (with the @var{regexp} argument) a
15260 specific set of methods found in the various C@t{++} classes. Many
15261 C@t{++} classes provide a large number of methods. Thus, the output
15262 from the @code{ptype} command can be overwhelming and hard to use. The
15263 @code{info-methods} command filters the methods, printing only those
15264 which match the regular-expression @var{regexp}.
15267 @cindex opaque data types
15268 @kindex set opaque-type-resolution
15269 @item set opaque-type-resolution on
15270 Tell @value{GDBN} to resolve opaque types. An opaque type is a type
15271 declared as a pointer to a @code{struct}, @code{class}, or
15272 @code{union}---for example, @code{struct MyType *}---that is used in one
15273 source file although the full declaration of @code{struct MyType} is in
15274 another source file. The default is on.
15276 A change in the setting of this subcommand will not take effect until
15277 the next time symbols for a file are loaded.
15279 @item set opaque-type-resolution off
15280 Tell @value{GDBN} not to resolve opaque types. In this case, the type
15281 is printed as follows:
15283 @{<no data fields>@}
15286 @kindex show opaque-type-resolution
15287 @item show opaque-type-resolution
15288 Show whether opaque types are resolved or not.
15290 @kindex maint print symbols
15291 @cindex symbol dump
15292 @kindex maint print psymbols
15293 @cindex partial symbol dump
15294 @item maint print symbols @var{filename}
15295 @itemx maint print psymbols @var{filename}
15296 @itemx maint print msymbols @var{filename}
15297 Write a dump of debugging symbol data into the file @var{filename}.
15298 These commands are used to debug the @value{GDBN} symbol-reading code. Only
15299 symbols with debugging data are included. If you use @samp{maint print
15300 symbols}, @value{GDBN} includes all the symbols for which it has already
15301 collected full details: that is, @var{filename} reflects symbols for
15302 only those files whose symbols @value{GDBN} has read. You can use the
15303 command @code{info sources} to find out which files these are. If you
15304 use @samp{maint print psymbols} instead, the dump shows information about
15305 symbols that @value{GDBN} only knows partially---that is, symbols defined in
15306 files that @value{GDBN} has skimmed, but not yet read completely. Finally,
15307 @samp{maint print msymbols} dumps just the minimal symbol information
15308 required for each object file from which @value{GDBN} has read some symbols.
15309 @xref{Files, ,Commands to Specify Files}, for a discussion of how
15310 @value{GDBN} reads symbols (in the description of @code{symbol-file}).
15312 @kindex maint info symtabs
15313 @kindex maint info psymtabs
15314 @cindex listing @value{GDBN}'s internal symbol tables
15315 @cindex symbol tables, listing @value{GDBN}'s internal
15316 @cindex full symbol tables, listing @value{GDBN}'s internal
15317 @cindex partial symbol tables, listing @value{GDBN}'s internal
15318 @item maint info symtabs @r{[} @var{regexp} @r{]}
15319 @itemx maint info psymtabs @r{[} @var{regexp} @r{]}
15321 List the @code{struct symtab} or @code{struct partial_symtab}
15322 structures whose names match @var{regexp}. If @var{regexp} is not
15323 given, list them all. The output includes expressions which you can
15324 copy into a @value{GDBN} debugging this one to examine a particular
15325 structure in more detail. For example:
15328 (@value{GDBP}) maint info psymtabs dwarf2read
15329 @{ objfile /home/gnu/build/gdb/gdb
15330 ((struct objfile *) 0x82e69d0)
15331 @{ psymtab /home/gnu/src/gdb/dwarf2read.c
15332 ((struct partial_symtab *) 0x8474b10)
15335 text addresses 0x814d3c8 -- 0x8158074
15336 globals (* (struct partial_symbol **) 0x8507a08 @@ 9)
15337 statics (* (struct partial_symbol **) 0x40e95b78 @@ 2882)
15338 dependencies (none)
15341 (@value{GDBP}) maint info symtabs
15345 We see that there is one partial symbol table whose filename contains
15346 the string @samp{dwarf2read}, belonging to the @samp{gdb} executable;
15347 and we see that @value{GDBN} has not read in any symtabs yet at all.
15348 If we set a breakpoint on a function, that will cause @value{GDBN} to
15349 read the symtab for the compilation unit containing that function:
15352 (@value{GDBP}) break dwarf2_psymtab_to_symtab
15353 Breakpoint 1 at 0x814e5da: file /home/gnu/src/gdb/dwarf2read.c,
15355 (@value{GDBP}) maint info symtabs
15356 @{ objfile /home/gnu/build/gdb/gdb
15357 ((struct objfile *) 0x82e69d0)
15358 @{ symtab /home/gnu/src/gdb/dwarf2read.c
15359 ((struct symtab *) 0x86c1f38)
15362 blockvector ((struct blockvector *) 0x86c1bd0) (primary)
15363 linetable ((struct linetable *) 0x8370fa0)
15364 debugformat DWARF 2
15373 @chapter Altering Execution
15375 Once you think you have found an error in your program, you might want to
15376 find out for certain whether correcting the apparent error would lead to
15377 correct results in the rest of the run. You can find the answer by
15378 experiment, using the @value{GDBN} features for altering execution of the
15381 For example, you can store new values into variables or memory
15382 locations, give your program a signal, restart it at a different
15383 address, or even return prematurely from a function.
15386 * Assignment:: Assignment to variables
15387 * Jumping:: Continuing at a different address
15388 * Signaling:: Giving your program a signal
15389 * Returning:: Returning from a function
15390 * Calling:: Calling your program's functions
15391 * Patching:: Patching your program
15395 @section Assignment to Variables
15398 @cindex setting variables
15399 To alter the value of a variable, evaluate an assignment expression.
15400 @xref{Expressions, ,Expressions}. For example,
15407 stores the value 4 into the variable @code{x}, and then prints the
15408 value of the assignment expression (which is 4).
15409 @xref{Languages, ,Using @value{GDBN} with Different Languages}, for more
15410 information on operators in supported languages.
15412 @kindex set variable
15413 @cindex variables, setting
15414 If you are not interested in seeing the value of the assignment, use the
15415 @code{set} command instead of the @code{print} command. @code{set} is
15416 really the same as @code{print} except that the expression's value is
15417 not printed and is not put in the value history (@pxref{Value History,
15418 ,Value History}). The expression is evaluated only for its effects.
15420 If the beginning of the argument string of the @code{set} command
15421 appears identical to a @code{set} subcommand, use the @code{set
15422 variable} command instead of just @code{set}. This command is identical
15423 to @code{set} except for its lack of subcommands. For example, if your
15424 program has a variable @code{width}, you get an error if you try to set
15425 a new value with just @samp{set width=13}, because @value{GDBN} has the
15426 command @code{set width}:
15429 (@value{GDBP}) whatis width
15431 (@value{GDBP}) p width
15433 (@value{GDBP}) set width=47
15434 Invalid syntax in expression.
15438 The invalid expression, of course, is @samp{=47}. In
15439 order to actually set the program's variable @code{width}, use
15442 (@value{GDBP}) set var width=47
15445 Because the @code{set} command has many subcommands that can conflict
15446 with the names of program variables, it is a good idea to use the
15447 @code{set variable} command instead of just @code{set}. For example, if
15448 your program has a variable @code{g}, you run into problems if you try
15449 to set a new value with just @samp{set g=4}, because @value{GDBN} has
15450 the command @code{set gnutarget}, abbreviated @code{set g}:
15454 (@value{GDBP}) whatis g
15458 (@value{GDBP}) set g=4
15462 The program being debugged has been started already.
15463 Start it from the beginning? (y or n) y
15464 Starting program: /home/smith/cc_progs/a.out
15465 "/home/smith/cc_progs/a.out": can't open to read symbols:
15466 Invalid bfd target.
15467 (@value{GDBP}) show g
15468 The current BFD target is "=4".
15473 The program variable @code{g} did not change, and you silently set the
15474 @code{gnutarget} to an invalid value. In order to set the variable
15478 (@value{GDBP}) set var g=4
15481 @value{GDBN} allows more implicit conversions in assignments than C; you can
15482 freely store an integer value into a pointer variable or vice versa,
15483 and you can convert any structure to any other structure that is the
15484 same length or shorter.
15485 @comment FIXME: how do structs align/pad in these conversions?
15488 To store values into arbitrary places in memory, use the @samp{@{@dots{}@}}
15489 construct to generate a value of specified type at a specified address
15490 (@pxref{Expressions, ,Expressions}). For example, @code{@{int@}0x83040} refers
15491 to memory location @code{0x83040} as an integer (which implies a certain size
15492 and representation in memory), and
15495 set @{int@}0x83040 = 4
15499 stores the value 4 into that memory location.
15502 @section Continuing at a Different Address
15504 Ordinarily, when you continue your program, you do so at the place where
15505 it stopped, with the @code{continue} command. You can instead continue at
15506 an address of your own choosing, with the following commands:
15510 @item jump @var{linespec}
15511 @itemx jump @var{location}
15512 Resume execution at line @var{linespec} or at address given by
15513 @var{location}. Execution stops again immediately if there is a
15514 breakpoint there. @xref{Specify Location}, for a description of the
15515 different forms of @var{linespec} and @var{location}. It is common
15516 practice to use the @code{tbreak} command in conjunction with
15517 @code{jump}. @xref{Set Breaks, ,Setting Breakpoints}.
15519 The @code{jump} command does not change the current stack frame, or
15520 the stack pointer, or the contents of any memory location or any
15521 register other than the program counter. If line @var{linespec} is in
15522 a different function from the one currently executing, the results may
15523 be bizarre if the two functions expect different patterns of arguments or
15524 of local variables. For this reason, the @code{jump} command requests
15525 confirmation if the specified line is not in the function currently
15526 executing. However, even bizarre results are predictable if you are
15527 well acquainted with the machine-language code of your program.
15530 @c Doesn't work on HP-UX; have to set $pcoqh and $pcoqt.
15531 On many systems, you can get much the same effect as the @code{jump}
15532 command by storing a new value into the register @code{$pc}. The
15533 difference is that this does not start your program running; it only
15534 changes the address of where it @emph{will} run when you continue. For
15542 makes the next @code{continue} command or stepping command execute at
15543 address @code{0x485}, rather than at the address where your program stopped.
15544 @xref{Continuing and Stepping, ,Continuing and Stepping}.
15546 The most common occasion to use the @code{jump} command is to back
15547 up---perhaps with more breakpoints set---over a portion of a program
15548 that has already executed, in order to examine its execution in more
15553 @section Giving your Program a Signal
15554 @cindex deliver a signal to a program
15558 @item signal @var{signal}
15559 Resume execution where your program stopped, but immediately give it the
15560 signal @var{signal}. @var{signal} can be the name or the number of a
15561 signal. For example, on many systems @code{signal 2} and @code{signal
15562 SIGINT} are both ways of sending an interrupt signal.
15564 Alternatively, if @var{signal} is zero, continue execution without
15565 giving a signal. This is useful when your program stopped on account of
15566 a signal and would ordinary see the signal when resumed with the
15567 @code{continue} command; @samp{signal 0} causes it to resume without a
15570 @code{signal} does not repeat when you press @key{RET} a second time
15571 after executing the command.
15575 Invoking the @code{signal} command is not the same as invoking the
15576 @code{kill} utility from the shell. Sending a signal with @code{kill}
15577 causes @value{GDBN} to decide what to do with the signal depending on
15578 the signal handling tables (@pxref{Signals}). The @code{signal} command
15579 passes the signal directly to your program.
15583 @section Returning from a Function
15586 @cindex returning from a function
15589 @itemx return @var{expression}
15590 You can cancel execution of a function call with the @code{return}
15591 command. If you give an
15592 @var{expression} argument, its value is used as the function's return
15596 When you use @code{return}, @value{GDBN} discards the selected stack frame
15597 (and all frames within it). You can think of this as making the
15598 discarded frame return prematurely. If you wish to specify a value to
15599 be returned, give that value as the argument to @code{return}.
15601 This pops the selected stack frame (@pxref{Selection, ,Selecting a
15602 Frame}), and any other frames inside of it, leaving its caller as the
15603 innermost remaining frame. That frame becomes selected. The
15604 specified value is stored in the registers used for returning values
15607 The @code{return} command does not resume execution; it leaves the
15608 program stopped in the state that would exist if the function had just
15609 returned. In contrast, the @code{finish} command (@pxref{Continuing
15610 and Stepping, ,Continuing and Stepping}) resumes execution until the
15611 selected stack frame returns naturally.
15613 @value{GDBN} needs to know how the @var{expression} argument should be set for
15614 the inferior. The concrete registers assignment depends on the OS ABI and the
15615 type being returned by the selected stack frame. For example it is common for
15616 OS ABI to return floating point values in FPU registers while integer values in
15617 CPU registers. Still some ABIs return even floating point values in CPU
15618 registers. Larger integer widths (such as @code{long long int}) also have
15619 specific placement rules. @value{GDBN} already knows the OS ABI from its
15620 current target so it needs to find out also the type being returned to make the
15621 assignment into the right register(s).
15623 Normally, the selected stack frame has debug info. @value{GDBN} will always
15624 use the debug info instead of the implicit type of @var{expression} when the
15625 debug info is available. For example, if you type @kbd{return -1}, and the
15626 function in the current stack frame is declared to return a @code{long long
15627 int}, @value{GDBN} transparently converts the implicit @code{int} value of -1
15628 into a @code{long long int}:
15631 Breakpoint 1, func () at gdb.base/return-nodebug.c:29
15633 (@value{GDBP}) return -1
15634 Make func return now? (y or n) y
15635 #0 0x004004f6 in main () at gdb.base/return-nodebug.c:43
15636 43 printf ("result=%lld\n", func ());
15640 However, if the selected stack frame does not have a debug info, e.g., if the
15641 function was compiled without debug info, @value{GDBN} has to find out the type
15642 to return from user. Specifying a different type by mistake may set the value
15643 in different inferior registers than the caller code expects. For example,
15644 typing @kbd{return -1} with its implicit type @code{int} would set only a part
15645 of a @code{long long int} result for a debug info less function (on 32-bit
15646 architectures). Therefore the user is required to specify the return type by
15647 an appropriate cast explicitly:
15650 Breakpoint 2, 0x0040050b in func ()
15651 (@value{GDBP}) return -1
15652 Return value type not available for selected stack frame.
15653 Please use an explicit cast of the value to return.
15654 (@value{GDBP}) return (long long int) -1
15655 Make selected stack frame return now? (y or n) y
15656 #0 0x00400526 in main ()
15661 @section Calling Program Functions
15664 @cindex calling functions
15665 @cindex inferior functions, calling
15666 @item print @var{expr}
15667 Evaluate the expression @var{expr} and display the resulting value.
15668 @var{expr} may include calls to functions in the program being
15672 @item call @var{expr}
15673 Evaluate the expression @var{expr} without displaying @code{void}
15676 You can use this variant of the @code{print} command if you want to
15677 execute a function from your program that does not return anything
15678 (a.k.a.@: @dfn{a void function}), but without cluttering the output
15679 with @code{void} returned values that @value{GDBN} will otherwise
15680 print. If the result is not void, it is printed and saved in the
15684 It is possible for the function you call via the @code{print} or
15685 @code{call} command to generate a signal (e.g., if there's a bug in
15686 the function, or if you passed it incorrect arguments). What happens
15687 in that case is controlled by the @code{set unwindonsignal} command.
15689 Similarly, with a C@t{++} program it is possible for the function you
15690 call via the @code{print} or @code{call} command to generate an
15691 exception that is not handled due to the constraints of the dummy
15692 frame. In this case, any exception that is raised in the frame, but has
15693 an out-of-frame exception handler will not be found. GDB builds a
15694 dummy-frame for the inferior function call, and the unwinder cannot
15695 seek for exception handlers outside of this dummy-frame. What happens
15696 in that case is controlled by the
15697 @code{set unwind-on-terminating-exception} command.
15700 @item set unwindonsignal
15701 @kindex set unwindonsignal
15702 @cindex unwind stack in called functions
15703 @cindex call dummy stack unwinding
15704 Set unwinding of the stack if a signal is received while in a function
15705 that @value{GDBN} called in the program being debugged. If set to on,
15706 @value{GDBN} unwinds the stack it created for the call and restores
15707 the context to what it was before the call. If set to off (the
15708 default), @value{GDBN} stops in the frame where the signal was
15711 @item show unwindonsignal
15712 @kindex show unwindonsignal
15713 Show the current setting of stack unwinding in the functions called by
15716 @item set unwind-on-terminating-exception
15717 @kindex set unwind-on-terminating-exception
15718 @cindex unwind stack in called functions with unhandled exceptions
15719 @cindex call dummy stack unwinding on unhandled exception.
15720 Set unwinding of the stack if a C@t{++} exception is raised, but left
15721 unhandled while in a function that @value{GDBN} called in the program being
15722 debugged. If set to on (the default), @value{GDBN} unwinds the stack
15723 it created for the call and restores the context to what it was before
15724 the call. If set to off, @value{GDBN} the exception is delivered to
15725 the default C@t{++} exception handler and the inferior terminated.
15727 @item show unwind-on-terminating-exception
15728 @kindex show unwind-on-terminating-exception
15729 Show the current setting of stack unwinding in the functions called by
15734 @cindex weak alias functions
15735 Sometimes, a function you wish to call is actually a @dfn{weak alias}
15736 for another function. In such case, @value{GDBN} might not pick up
15737 the type information, including the types of the function arguments,
15738 which causes @value{GDBN} to call the inferior function incorrectly.
15739 As a result, the called function will function erroneously and may
15740 even crash. A solution to that is to use the name of the aliased
15744 @section Patching Programs
15746 @cindex patching binaries
15747 @cindex writing into executables
15748 @cindex writing into corefiles
15750 By default, @value{GDBN} opens the file containing your program's
15751 executable code (or the corefile) read-only. This prevents accidental
15752 alterations to machine code; but it also prevents you from intentionally
15753 patching your program's binary.
15755 If you'd like to be able to patch the binary, you can specify that
15756 explicitly with the @code{set write} command. For example, you might
15757 want to turn on internal debugging flags, or even to make emergency
15763 @itemx set write off
15764 If you specify @samp{set write on}, @value{GDBN} opens executable and
15765 core files for both reading and writing; if you specify @kbd{set write
15766 off} (the default), @value{GDBN} opens them read-only.
15768 If you have already loaded a file, you must load it again (using the
15769 @code{exec-file} or @code{core-file} command) after changing @code{set
15770 write}, for your new setting to take effect.
15774 Display whether executable files and core files are opened for writing
15775 as well as reading.
15779 @chapter @value{GDBN} Files
15781 @value{GDBN} needs to know the file name of the program to be debugged,
15782 both in order to read its symbol table and in order to start your
15783 program. To debug a core dump of a previous run, you must also tell
15784 @value{GDBN} the name of the core dump file.
15787 * Files:: Commands to specify files
15788 * Separate Debug Files:: Debugging information in separate files
15789 * Index Files:: Index files speed up GDB
15790 * Symbol Errors:: Errors reading symbol files
15791 * Data Files:: GDB data files
15795 @section Commands to Specify Files
15797 @cindex symbol table
15798 @cindex core dump file
15800 You may want to specify executable and core dump file names. The usual
15801 way to do this is at start-up time, using the arguments to
15802 @value{GDBN}'s start-up commands (@pxref{Invocation, , Getting In and
15803 Out of @value{GDBN}}).
15805 Occasionally it is necessary to change to a different file during a
15806 @value{GDBN} session. Or you may run @value{GDBN} and forget to
15807 specify a file you want to use. Or you are debugging a remote target
15808 via @code{gdbserver} (@pxref{Server, file, Using the @code{gdbserver}
15809 Program}). In these situations the @value{GDBN} commands to specify
15810 new files are useful.
15813 @cindex executable file
15815 @item file @var{filename}
15816 Use @var{filename} as the program to be debugged. It is read for its
15817 symbols and for the contents of pure memory. It is also the program
15818 executed when you use the @code{run} command. If you do not specify a
15819 directory and the file is not found in the @value{GDBN} working directory,
15820 @value{GDBN} uses the environment variable @code{PATH} as a list of
15821 directories to search, just as the shell does when looking for a program
15822 to run. You can change the value of this variable, for both @value{GDBN}
15823 and your program, using the @code{path} command.
15825 @cindex unlinked object files
15826 @cindex patching object files
15827 You can load unlinked object @file{.o} files into @value{GDBN} using
15828 the @code{file} command. You will not be able to ``run'' an object
15829 file, but you can disassemble functions and inspect variables. Also,
15830 if the underlying BFD functionality supports it, you could use
15831 @kbd{gdb -write} to patch object files using this technique. Note
15832 that @value{GDBN} can neither interpret nor modify relocations in this
15833 case, so branches and some initialized variables will appear to go to
15834 the wrong place. But this feature is still handy from time to time.
15837 @code{file} with no argument makes @value{GDBN} discard any information it
15838 has on both executable file and the symbol table.
15841 @item exec-file @r{[} @var{filename} @r{]}
15842 Specify that the program to be run (but not the symbol table) is found
15843 in @var{filename}. @value{GDBN} searches the environment variable @code{PATH}
15844 if necessary to locate your program. Omitting @var{filename} means to
15845 discard information on the executable file.
15847 @kindex symbol-file
15848 @item symbol-file @r{[} @var{filename} @r{]}
15849 Read symbol table information from file @var{filename}. @code{PATH} is
15850 searched when necessary. Use the @code{file} command to get both symbol
15851 table and program to run from the same file.
15853 @code{symbol-file} with no argument clears out @value{GDBN} information on your
15854 program's symbol table.
15856 The @code{symbol-file} command causes @value{GDBN} to forget the contents of
15857 some breakpoints and auto-display expressions. This is because they may
15858 contain pointers to the internal data recording symbols and data types,
15859 which are part of the old symbol table data being discarded inside
15862 @code{symbol-file} does not repeat if you press @key{RET} again after
15865 When @value{GDBN} is configured for a particular environment, it
15866 understands debugging information in whatever format is the standard
15867 generated for that environment; you may use either a @sc{gnu} compiler, or
15868 other compilers that adhere to the local conventions.
15869 Best results are usually obtained from @sc{gnu} compilers; for example,
15870 using @code{@value{NGCC}} you can generate debugging information for
15873 For most kinds of object files, with the exception of old SVR3 systems
15874 using COFF, the @code{symbol-file} command does not normally read the
15875 symbol table in full right away. Instead, it scans the symbol table
15876 quickly to find which source files and which symbols are present. The
15877 details are read later, one source file at a time, as they are needed.
15879 The purpose of this two-stage reading strategy is to make @value{GDBN}
15880 start up faster. For the most part, it is invisible except for
15881 occasional pauses while the symbol table details for a particular source
15882 file are being read. (The @code{set verbose} command can turn these
15883 pauses into messages if desired. @xref{Messages/Warnings, ,Optional
15884 Warnings and Messages}.)
15886 We have not implemented the two-stage strategy for COFF yet. When the
15887 symbol table is stored in COFF format, @code{symbol-file} reads the
15888 symbol table data in full right away. Note that ``stabs-in-COFF''
15889 still does the two-stage strategy, since the debug info is actually
15893 @cindex reading symbols immediately
15894 @cindex symbols, reading immediately
15895 @item symbol-file @r{[} -readnow @r{]} @var{filename}
15896 @itemx file @r{[} -readnow @r{]} @var{filename}
15897 You can override the @value{GDBN} two-stage strategy for reading symbol
15898 tables by using the @samp{-readnow} option with any of the commands that
15899 load symbol table information, if you want to be sure @value{GDBN} has the
15900 entire symbol table available.
15902 @c FIXME: for now no mention of directories, since this seems to be in
15903 @c flux. 13mar1992 status is that in theory GDB would look either in
15904 @c current dir or in same dir as myprog; but issues like competing
15905 @c GDB's, or clutter in system dirs, mean that in practice right now
15906 @c only current dir is used. FFish says maybe a special GDB hierarchy
15907 @c (eg rooted in val of env var GDBSYMS) could exist for mappable symbol
15911 @item core-file @r{[}@var{filename}@r{]}
15913 Specify the whereabouts of a core dump file to be used as the ``contents
15914 of memory''. Traditionally, core files contain only some parts of the
15915 address space of the process that generated them; @value{GDBN} can access the
15916 executable file itself for other parts.
15918 @code{core-file} with no argument specifies that no core file is
15921 Note that the core file is ignored when your program is actually running
15922 under @value{GDBN}. So, if you have been running your program and you
15923 wish to debug a core file instead, you must kill the subprocess in which
15924 the program is running. To do this, use the @code{kill} command
15925 (@pxref{Kill Process, ,Killing the Child Process}).
15927 @kindex add-symbol-file
15928 @cindex dynamic linking
15929 @item add-symbol-file @var{filename} @var{address}
15930 @itemx add-symbol-file @var{filename} @var{address} @r{[} -readnow @r{]}
15931 @itemx add-symbol-file @var{filename} @var{address} -s @var{section} @var{address} @dots{}
15932 The @code{add-symbol-file} command reads additional symbol table
15933 information from the file @var{filename}. You would use this command
15934 when @var{filename} has been dynamically loaded (by some other means)
15935 into the program that is running. @var{address} should be the memory
15936 address at which the file has been loaded; @value{GDBN} cannot figure
15937 this out for itself. You can additionally specify an arbitrary number
15938 of @samp{-s @var{section} @var{address}} pairs, to give an explicit
15939 section name and base address for that section. You can specify any
15940 @var{address} as an expression.
15942 The symbol table of the file @var{filename} is added to the symbol table
15943 originally read with the @code{symbol-file} command. You can use the
15944 @code{add-symbol-file} command any number of times; the new symbol data
15945 thus read keeps adding to the old. To discard all old symbol data
15946 instead, use the @code{symbol-file} command without any arguments.
15948 @cindex relocatable object files, reading symbols from
15949 @cindex object files, relocatable, reading symbols from
15950 @cindex reading symbols from relocatable object files
15951 @cindex symbols, reading from relocatable object files
15952 @cindex @file{.o} files, reading symbols from
15953 Although @var{filename} is typically a shared library file, an
15954 executable file, or some other object file which has been fully
15955 relocated for loading into a process, you can also load symbolic
15956 information from relocatable @file{.o} files, as long as:
15960 the file's symbolic information refers only to linker symbols defined in
15961 that file, not to symbols defined by other object files,
15963 every section the file's symbolic information refers to has actually
15964 been loaded into the inferior, as it appears in the file, and
15966 you can determine the address at which every section was loaded, and
15967 provide these to the @code{add-symbol-file} command.
15971 Some embedded operating systems, like Sun Chorus and VxWorks, can load
15972 relocatable files into an already running program; such systems
15973 typically make the requirements above easy to meet. However, it's
15974 important to recognize that many native systems use complex link
15975 procedures (@code{.linkonce} section factoring and C@t{++} constructor table
15976 assembly, for example) that make the requirements difficult to meet. In
15977 general, one cannot assume that using @code{add-symbol-file} to read a
15978 relocatable object file's symbolic information will have the same effect
15979 as linking the relocatable object file into the program in the normal
15982 @code{add-symbol-file} does not repeat if you press @key{RET} after using it.
15984 @kindex add-symbol-file-from-memory
15985 @cindex @code{syscall DSO}
15986 @cindex load symbols from memory
15987 @item add-symbol-file-from-memory @var{address}
15988 Load symbols from the given @var{address} in a dynamically loaded
15989 object file whose image is mapped directly into the inferior's memory.
15990 For example, the Linux kernel maps a @code{syscall DSO} into each
15991 process's address space; this DSO provides kernel-specific code for
15992 some system calls. The argument can be any expression whose
15993 evaluation yields the address of the file's shared object file header.
15994 For this command to work, you must have used @code{symbol-file} or
15995 @code{exec-file} commands in advance.
15997 @kindex add-shared-symbol-files
15999 @item add-shared-symbol-files @var{library-file}
16000 @itemx assf @var{library-file}
16001 The @code{add-shared-symbol-files} command can currently be used only
16002 in the Cygwin build of @value{GDBN} on MS-Windows OS, where it is an
16003 alias for the @code{dll-symbols} command (@pxref{Cygwin Native}).
16004 @value{GDBN} automatically looks for shared libraries, however if
16005 @value{GDBN} does not find yours, you can invoke
16006 @code{add-shared-symbol-files}. It takes one argument: the shared
16007 library's file name. @code{assf} is a shorthand alias for
16008 @code{add-shared-symbol-files}.
16011 @item section @var{section} @var{addr}
16012 The @code{section} command changes the base address of the named
16013 @var{section} of the exec file to @var{addr}. This can be used if the
16014 exec file does not contain section addresses, (such as in the
16015 @code{a.out} format), or when the addresses specified in the file
16016 itself are wrong. Each section must be changed separately. The
16017 @code{info files} command, described below, lists all the sections and
16021 @kindex info target
16024 @code{info files} and @code{info target} are synonymous; both print the
16025 current target (@pxref{Targets, ,Specifying a Debugging Target}),
16026 including the names of the executable and core dump files currently in
16027 use by @value{GDBN}, and the files from which symbols were loaded. The
16028 command @code{help target} lists all possible targets rather than
16031 @kindex maint info sections
16032 @item maint info sections
16033 Another command that can give you extra information about program sections
16034 is @code{maint info sections}. In addition to the section information
16035 displayed by @code{info files}, this command displays the flags and file
16036 offset of each section in the executable and core dump files. In addition,
16037 @code{maint info sections} provides the following command options (which
16038 may be arbitrarily combined):
16042 Display sections for all loaded object files, including shared libraries.
16043 @item @var{sections}
16044 Display info only for named @var{sections}.
16045 @item @var{section-flags}
16046 Display info only for sections for which @var{section-flags} are true.
16047 The section flags that @value{GDBN} currently knows about are:
16050 Section will have space allocated in the process when loaded.
16051 Set for all sections except those containing debug information.
16053 Section will be loaded from the file into the child process memory.
16054 Set for pre-initialized code and data, clear for @code{.bss} sections.
16056 Section needs to be relocated before loading.
16058 Section cannot be modified by the child process.
16060 Section contains executable code only.
16062 Section contains data only (no executable code).
16064 Section will reside in ROM.
16066 Section contains data for constructor/destructor lists.
16068 Section is not empty.
16070 An instruction to the linker to not output the section.
16071 @item COFF_SHARED_LIBRARY
16072 A notification to the linker that the section contains
16073 COFF shared library information.
16075 Section contains common symbols.
16078 @kindex set trust-readonly-sections
16079 @cindex read-only sections
16080 @item set trust-readonly-sections on
16081 Tell @value{GDBN} that readonly sections in your object file
16082 really are read-only (i.e.@: that their contents will not change).
16083 In that case, @value{GDBN} can fetch values from these sections
16084 out of the object file, rather than from the target program.
16085 For some targets (notably embedded ones), this can be a significant
16086 enhancement to debugging performance.
16088 The default is off.
16090 @item set trust-readonly-sections off
16091 Tell @value{GDBN} not to trust readonly sections. This means that
16092 the contents of the section might change while the program is running,
16093 and must therefore be fetched from the target when needed.
16095 @item show trust-readonly-sections
16096 Show the current setting of trusting readonly sections.
16099 All file-specifying commands allow both absolute and relative file names
16100 as arguments. @value{GDBN} always converts the file name to an absolute file
16101 name and remembers it that way.
16103 @cindex shared libraries
16104 @anchor{Shared Libraries}
16105 @value{GDBN} supports @sc{gnu}/Linux, MS-Windows, HP-UX, SunOS, SVr4, Irix,
16106 and IBM RS/6000 AIX shared libraries.
16108 On MS-Windows @value{GDBN} must be linked with the Expat library to support
16109 shared libraries. @xref{Expat}.
16111 @value{GDBN} automatically loads symbol definitions from shared libraries
16112 when you use the @code{run} command, or when you examine a core file.
16113 (Before you issue the @code{run} command, @value{GDBN} does not understand
16114 references to a function in a shared library, however---unless you are
16115 debugging a core file).
16117 On HP-UX, if the program loads a library explicitly, @value{GDBN}
16118 automatically loads the symbols at the time of the @code{shl_load} call.
16120 @c FIXME: some @value{GDBN} release may permit some refs to undef
16121 @c FIXME...symbols---eg in a break cmd---assuming they are from a shared
16122 @c FIXME...lib; check this from time to time when updating manual
16124 There are times, however, when you may wish to not automatically load
16125 symbol definitions from shared libraries, such as when they are
16126 particularly large or there are many of them.
16128 To control the automatic loading of shared library symbols, use the
16132 @kindex set auto-solib-add
16133 @item set auto-solib-add @var{mode}
16134 If @var{mode} is @code{on}, symbols from all shared object libraries
16135 will be loaded automatically when the inferior begins execution, you
16136 attach to an independently started inferior, or when the dynamic linker
16137 informs @value{GDBN} that a new library has been loaded. If @var{mode}
16138 is @code{off}, symbols must be loaded manually, using the
16139 @code{sharedlibrary} command. The default value is @code{on}.
16141 @cindex memory used for symbol tables
16142 If your program uses lots of shared libraries with debug info that
16143 takes large amounts of memory, you can decrease the @value{GDBN}
16144 memory footprint by preventing it from automatically loading the
16145 symbols from shared libraries. To that end, type @kbd{set
16146 auto-solib-add off} before running the inferior, then load each
16147 library whose debug symbols you do need with @kbd{sharedlibrary
16148 @var{regexp}}, where @var{regexp} is a regular expression that matches
16149 the libraries whose symbols you want to be loaded.
16151 @kindex show auto-solib-add
16152 @item show auto-solib-add
16153 Display the current autoloading mode.
16156 @cindex load shared library
16157 To explicitly load shared library symbols, use the @code{sharedlibrary}
16161 @kindex info sharedlibrary
16163 @item info share @var{regex}
16164 @itemx info sharedlibrary @var{regex}
16165 Print the names of the shared libraries which are currently loaded
16166 that match @var{regex}. If @var{regex} is omitted then print
16167 all shared libraries that are loaded.
16169 @kindex sharedlibrary
16171 @item sharedlibrary @var{regex}
16172 @itemx share @var{regex}
16173 Load shared object library symbols for files matching a
16174 Unix regular expression.
16175 As with files loaded automatically, it only loads shared libraries
16176 required by your program for a core file or after typing @code{run}. If
16177 @var{regex} is omitted all shared libraries required by your program are
16180 @item nosharedlibrary
16181 @kindex nosharedlibrary
16182 @cindex unload symbols from shared libraries
16183 Unload all shared object library symbols. This discards all symbols
16184 that have been loaded from all shared libraries. Symbols from shared
16185 libraries that were loaded by explicit user requests are not
16189 Sometimes you may wish that @value{GDBN} stops and gives you control
16190 when any of shared library events happen. The best way to do this is
16191 to use @code{catch load} and @code{catch unload} (@pxref{Set
16194 @value{GDBN} also supports the the @code{set stop-on-solib-events}
16195 command for this. This command exists for historical reasons. It is
16196 less useful than setting a catchpoint, because it does not allow for
16197 conditions or commands as a catchpoint does.
16200 @item set stop-on-solib-events
16201 @kindex set stop-on-solib-events
16202 This command controls whether @value{GDBN} should give you control
16203 when the dynamic linker notifies it about some shared library event.
16204 The most common event of interest is loading or unloading of a new
16207 @item show stop-on-solib-events
16208 @kindex show stop-on-solib-events
16209 Show whether @value{GDBN} stops and gives you control when shared
16210 library events happen.
16213 Shared libraries are also supported in many cross or remote debugging
16214 configurations. @value{GDBN} needs to have access to the target's libraries;
16215 this can be accomplished either by providing copies of the libraries
16216 on the host system, or by asking @value{GDBN} to automatically retrieve the
16217 libraries from the target. If copies of the target libraries are
16218 provided, they need to be the same as the target libraries, although the
16219 copies on the target can be stripped as long as the copies on the host are
16222 @cindex where to look for shared libraries
16223 For remote debugging, you need to tell @value{GDBN} where the target
16224 libraries are, so that it can load the correct copies---otherwise, it
16225 may try to load the host's libraries. @value{GDBN} has two variables
16226 to specify the search directories for target libraries.
16229 @cindex prefix for shared library file names
16230 @cindex system root, alternate
16231 @kindex set solib-absolute-prefix
16232 @kindex set sysroot
16233 @item set sysroot @var{path}
16234 Use @var{path} as the system root for the program being debugged. Any
16235 absolute shared library paths will be prefixed with @var{path}; many
16236 runtime loaders store the absolute paths to the shared library in the
16237 target program's memory. If you use @code{set sysroot} to find shared
16238 libraries, they need to be laid out in the same way that they are on
16239 the target, with e.g.@: a @file{/lib} and @file{/usr/lib} hierarchy
16242 If @var{path} starts with the sequence @file{remote:}, @value{GDBN} will
16243 retrieve the target libraries from the remote system. This is only
16244 supported when using a remote target that supports the @code{remote get}
16245 command (@pxref{File Transfer,,Sending files to a remote system}).
16246 The part of @var{path} following the initial @file{remote:}
16247 (if present) is used as system root prefix on the remote file system.
16248 @footnote{If you want to specify a local system root using a directory
16249 that happens to be named @file{remote:}, you need to use some equivalent
16250 variant of the name like @file{./remote:}.}
16252 For targets with an MS-DOS based filesystem, such as MS-Windows and
16253 SymbianOS, @value{GDBN} tries prefixing a few variants of the target
16254 absolute file name with @var{path}. But first, on Unix hosts,
16255 @value{GDBN} converts all backslash directory separators into forward
16256 slashes, because the backslash is not a directory separator on Unix:
16259 c:\foo\bar.dll @result{} c:/foo/bar.dll
16262 Then, @value{GDBN} attempts prefixing the target file name with
16263 @var{path}, and looks for the resulting file name in the host file
16267 c:/foo/bar.dll @result{} /path/to/sysroot/c:/foo/bar.dll
16270 If that does not find the shared library, @value{GDBN} tries removing
16271 the @samp{:} character from the drive spec, both for convenience, and,
16272 for the case of the host file system not supporting file names with
16276 c:/foo/bar.dll @result{} /path/to/sysroot/c/foo/bar.dll
16279 This makes it possible to have a system root that mirrors a target
16280 with more than one drive. E.g., you may want to setup your local
16281 copies of the target system shared libraries like so (note @samp{c} vs
16285 @file{/path/to/sysroot/c/sys/bin/foo.dll}
16286 @file{/path/to/sysroot/c/sys/bin/bar.dll}
16287 @file{/path/to/sysroot/z/sys/bin/bar.dll}
16291 and point the system root at @file{/path/to/sysroot}, so that
16292 @value{GDBN} can find the correct copies of both
16293 @file{c:\sys\bin\foo.dll}, and @file{z:\sys\bin\bar.dll}.
16295 If that still does not find the shared library, @value{GDBN} tries
16296 removing the whole drive spec from the target file name:
16299 c:/foo/bar.dll @result{} /path/to/sysroot/foo/bar.dll
16302 This last lookup makes it possible to not care about the drive name,
16303 if you don't want or need to.
16305 The @code{set solib-absolute-prefix} command is an alias for @code{set
16308 @cindex default system root
16309 @cindex @samp{--with-sysroot}
16310 You can set the default system root by using the configure-time
16311 @samp{--with-sysroot} option. If the system root is inside
16312 @value{GDBN}'s configured binary prefix (set with @samp{--prefix} or
16313 @samp{--exec-prefix}), then the default system root will be updated
16314 automatically if the installed @value{GDBN} is moved to a new
16317 @kindex show sysroot
16319 Display the current shared library prefix.
16321 @kindex set solib-search-path
16322 @item set solib-search-path @var{path}
16323 If this variable is set, @var{path} is a colon-separated list of
16324 directories to search for shared libraries. @samp{solib-search-path}
16325 is used after @samp{sysroot} fails to locate the library, or if the
16326 path to the library is relative instead of absolute. If you want to
16327 use @samp{solib-search-path} instead of @samp{sysroot}, be sure to set
16328 @samp{sysroot} to a nonexistent directory to prevent @value{GDBN} from
16329 finding your host's libraries. @samp{sysroot} is preferred; setting
16330 it to a nonexistent directory may interfere with automatic loading
16331 of shared library symbols.
16333 @kindex show solib-search-path
16334 @item show solib-search-path
16335 Display the current shared library search path.
16337 @cindex DOS file-name semantics of file names.
16338 @kindex set target-file-system-kind (unix|dos-based|auto)
16339 @kindex show target-file-system-kind
16340 @item set target-file-system-kind @var{kind}
16341 Set assumed file system kind for target reported file names.
16343 Shared library file names as reported by the target system may not
16344 make sense as is on the system @value{GDBN} is running on. For
16345 example, when remote debugging a target that has MS-DOS based file
16346 system semantics, from a Unix host, the target may be reporting to
16347 @value{GDBN} a list of loaded shared libraries with file names such as
16348 @file{c:\Windows\kernel32.dll}. On Unix hosts, there's no concept of
16349 drive letters, so the @samp{c:\} prefix is not normally understood as
16350 indicating an absolute file name, and neither is the backslash
16351 normally considered a directory separator character. In that case,
16352 the native file system would interpret this whole absolute file name
16353 as a relative file name with no directory components. This would make
16354 it impossible to point @value{GDBN} at a copy of the remote target's
16355 shared libraries on the host using @code{set sysroot}, and impractical
16356 with @code{set solib-search-path}. Setting
16357 @code{target-file-system-kind} to @code{dos-based} tells @value{GDBN}
16358 to interpret such file names similarly to how the target would, and to
16359 map them to file names valid on @value{GDBN}'s native file system
16360 semantics. The value of @var{kind} can be @code{"auto"}, in addition
16361 to one of the supported file system kinds. In that case, @value{GDBN}
16362 tries to determine the appropriate file system variant based on the
16363 current target's operating system (@pxref{ABI, ,Configuring the
16364 Current ABI}). The supported file system settings are:
16368 Instruct @value{GDBN} to assume the target file system is of Unix
16369 kind. Only file names starting the forward slash (@samp{/}) character
16370 are considered absolute, and the directory separator character is also
16374 Instruct @value{GDBN} to assume the target file system is DOS based.
16375 File names starting with either a forward slash, or a drive letter
16376 followed by a colon (e.g., @samp{c:}), are considered absolute, and
16377 both the slash (@samp{/}) and the backslash (@samp{\\}) characters are
16378 considered directory separators.
16381 Instruct @value{GDBN} to use the file system kind associated with the
16382 target operating system (@pxref{ABI, ,Configuring the Current ABI}).
16383 This is the default.
16387 @cindex file name canonicalization
16388 @cindex base name differences
16389 When processing file names provided by the user, @value{GDBN}
16390 frequently needs to compare them to the file names recorded in the
16391 program's debug info. Normally, @value{GDBN} compares just the
16392 @dfn{base names} of the files as strings, which is reasonably fast
16393 even for very large programs. (The base name of a file is the last
16394 portion of its name, after stripping all the leading directories.)
16395 This shortcut in comparison is based upon the assumption that files
16396 cannot have more than one base name. This is usually true, but
16397 references to files that use symlinks or similar filesystem
16398 facilities violate that assumption. If your program records files
16399 using such facilities, or if you provide file names to @value{GDBN}
16400 using symlinks etc., you can set @code{basenames-may-differ} to
16401 @code{true} to instruct @value{GDBN} to completely canonicalize each
16402 pair of file names it needs to compare. This will make file-name
16403 comparisons accurate, but at a price of a significant slowdown.
16406 @item set basenames-may-differ
16407 @kindex set basenames-may-differ
16408 Set whether a source file may have multiple base names.
16410 @item show basenames-may-differ
16411 @kindex show basenames-may-differ
16412 Show whether a source file may have multiple base names.
16415 @node Separate Debug Files
16416 @section Debugging Information in Separate Files
16417 @cindex separate debugging information files
16418 @cindex debugging information in separate files
16419 @cindex @file{.debug} subdirectories
16420 @cindex debugging information directory, global
16421 @cindex global debugging information directories
16422 @cindex build ID, and separate debugging files
16423 @cindex @file{.build-id} directory
16425 @value{GDBN} allows you to put a program's debugging information in a
16426 file separate from the executable itself, in a way that allows
16427 @value{GDBN} to find and load the debugging information automatically.
16428 Since debugging information can be very large---sometimes larger
16429 than the executable code itself---some systems distribute debugging
16430 information for their executables in separate files, which users can
16431 install only when they need to debug a problem.
16433 @value{GDBN} supports two ways of specifying the separate debug info
16438 The executable contains a @dfn{debug link} that specifies the name of
16439 the separate debug info file. The separate debug file's name is
16440 usually @file{@var{executable}.debug}, where @var{executable} is the
16441 name of the corresponding executable file without leading directories
16442 (e.g., @file{ls.debug} for @file{/usr/bin/ls}). In addition, the
16443 debug link specifies a 32-bit @dfn{Cyclic Redundancy Check} (CRC)
16444 checksum for the debug file, which @value{GDBN} uses to validate that
16445 the executable and the debug file came from the same build.
16448 The executable contains a @dfn{build ID}, a unique bit string that is
16449 also present in the corresponding debug info file. (This is supported
16450 only on some operating systems, notably those which use the ELF format
16451 for binary files and the @sc{gnu} Binutils.) For more details about
16452 this feature, see the description of the @option{--build-id}
16453 command-line option in @ref{Options, , Command Line Options, ld.info,
16454 The GNU Linker}. The debug info file's name is not specified
16455 explicitly by the build ID, but can be computed from the build ID, see
16459 Depending on the way the debug info file is specified, @value{GDBN}
16460 uses two different methods of looking for the debug file:
16464 For the ``debug link'' method, @value{GDBN} looks up the named file in
16465 the directory of the executable file, then in a subdirectory of that
16466 directory named @file{.debug}, and finally under each one of the global debug
16467 directories, in a subdirectory whose name is identical to the leading
16468 directories of the executable's absolute file name.
16471 For the ``build ID'' method, @value{GDBN} looks in the
16472 @file{.build-id} subdirectory of each one of the global debug directories for
16473 a file named @file{@var{nn}/@var{nnnnnnnn}.debug}, where @var{nn} are the
16474 first 2 hex characters of the build ID bit string, and @var{nnnnnnnn}
16475 are the rest of the bit string. (Real build ID strings are 32 or more
16476 hex characters, not 10.)
16479 So, for example, suppose you ask @value{GDBN} to debug
16480 @file{/usr/bin/ls}, which has a debug link that specifies the
16481 file @file{ls.debug}, and a build ID whose value in hex is
16482 @code{abcdef1234}. If the list of the global debug directories includes
16483 @file{/usr/lib/debug}, then @value{GDBN} will look for the following
16484 debug information files, in the indicated order:
16488 @file{/usr/lib/debug/.build-id/ab/cdef1234.debug}
16490 @file{/usr/bin/ls.debug}
16492 @file{/usr/bin/.debug/ls.debug}
16494 @file{/usr/lib/debug/usr/bin/ls.debug}.
16497 @anchor{debug-file-directory}
16498 Global debugging info directories default to what is set by @value{GDBN}
16499 configure option @option{--with-separate-debug-dir}. During @value{GDBN} run
16500 you can also set the global debugging info directories, and view the list
16501 @value{GDBN} is currently using.
16505 @kindex set debug-file-directory
16506 @item set debug-file-directory @var{directories}
16507 Set the directories which @value{GDBN} searches for separate debugging
16508 information files to @var{directory}. Multiple path components can be set
16509 concatenating them by a path separator.
16511 @kindex show debug-file-directory
16512 @item show debug-file-directory
16513 Show the directories @value{GDBN} searches for separate debugging
16518 @cindex @code{.gnu_debuglink} sections
16519 @cindex debug link sections
16520 A debug link is a special section of the executable file named
16521 @code{.gnu_debuglink}. The section must contain:
16525 A filename, with any leading directory components removed, followed by
16528 zero to three bytes of padding, as needed to reach the next four-byte
16529 boundary within the section, and
16531 a four-byte CRC checksum, stored in the same endianness used for the
16532 executable file itself. The checksum is computed on the debugging
16533 information file's full contents by the function given below, passing
16534 zero as the @var{crc} argument.
16537 Any executable file format can carry a debug link, as long as it can
16538 contain a section named @code{.gnu_debuglink} with the contents
16541 @cindex @code{.note.gnu.build-id} sections
16542 @cindex build ID sections
16543 The build ID is a special section in the executable file (and in other
16544 ELF binary files that @value{GDBN} may consider). This section is
16545 often named @code{.note.gnu.build-id}, but that name is not mandatory.
16546 It contains unique identification for the built files---the ID remains
16547 the same across multiple builds of the same build tree. The default
16548 algorithm SHA1 produces 160 bits (40 hexadecimal characters) of the
16549 content for the build ID string. The same section with an identical
16550 value is present in the original built binary with symbols, in its
16551 stripped variant, and in the separate debugging information file.
16553 The debugging information file itself should be an ordinary
16554 executable, containing a full set of linker symbols, sections, and
16555 debugging information. The sections of the debugging information file
16556 should have the same names, addresses, and sizes as the original file,
16557 but they need not contain any data---much like a @code{.bss} section
16558 in an ordinary executable.
16560 The @sc{gnu} binary utilities (Binutils) package includes the
16561 @samp{objcopy} utility that can produce
16562 the separated executable / debugging information file pairs using the
16563 following commands:
16566 @kbd{objcopy --only-keep-debug foo foo.debug}
16571 These commands remove the debugging
16572 information from the executable file @file{foo} and place it in the file
16573 @file{foo.debug}. You can use the first, second or both methods to link the
16578 The debug link method needs the following additional command to also leave
16579 behind a debug link in @file{foo}:
16582 @kbd{objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.debug foo}
16585 Ulrich Drepper's @file{elfutils} package, starting with version 0.53, contains
16586 a version of the @code{strip} command such that the command @kbd{strip foo -f
16587 foo.debug} has the same functionality as the two @code{objcopy} commands and
16588 the @code{ln -s} command above, together.
16591 Build ID gets embedded into the main executable using @code{ld --build-id} or
16592 the @value{NGCC} counterpart @code{gcc -Wl,--build-id}. Build ID support plus
16593 compatibility fixes for debug files separation are present in @sc{gnu} binary
16594 utilities (Binutils) package since version 2.18.
16599 @cindex CRC algorithm definition
16600 The CRC used in @code{.gnu_debuglink} is the CRC-32 defined in
16601 IEEE 802.3 using the polynomial:
16603 @c TexInfo requires naked braces for multi-digit exponents for Tex
16604 @c output, but this causes HTML output to barf. HTML has to be set using
16605 @c raw commands. So we end up having to specify this equation in 2
16610 <em>x</em><sup>32</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>26</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>23</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>22</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>16</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>12</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>11</sup>
16611 + <em>x</em><sup>10</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>8</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>7</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>5</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>4</sup> + <em>x</em><sup>2</sup> + <em>x</em> + 1
16617 @math{x^{32} + x^{26} + x^{23} + x^{22} + x^{16} + x^{12} + x^{11}}
16618 @math{+ x^{10} + x^8 + x^7 + x^5 + x^4 + x^2 + x + 1}
16622 The function is computed byte at a time, taking the least
16623 significant bit of each byte first. The initial pattern
16624 @code{0xffffffff} is used, to ensure leading zeros affect the CRC and
16625 the final result is inverted to ensure trailing zeros also affect the
16628 @emph{Note:} This is the same CRC polynomial as used in handling the
16629 @dfn{Remote Serial Protocol} @code{qCRC} packet (@pxref{Remote Protocol,
16630 , @value{GDBN} Remote Serial Protocol}). However in the
16631 case of the Remote Serial Protocol, the CRC is computed @emph{most}
16632 significant bit first, and the result is not inverted, so trailing
16633 zeros have no effect on the CRC value.
16635 To complete the description, we show below the code of the function
16636 which produces the CRC used in @code{.gnu_debuglink}. Inverting the
16637 initially supplied @code{crc} argument means that an initial call to
16638 this function passing in zero will start computing the CRC using
16641 @kindex gnu_debuglink_crc32
16644 gnu_debuglink_crc32 (unsigned long crc,
16645 unsigned char *buf, size_t len)
16647 static const unsigned long crc32_table[256] =
16649 0x00000000, 0x77073096, 0xee0e612c, 0x990951ba, 0x076dc419,
16650 0x706af48f, 0xe963a535, 0x9e6495a3, 0x0edb8832, 0x79dcb8a4,
16651 0xe0d5e91e, 0x97d2d988, 0x09b64c2b, 0x7eb17cbd, 0xe7b82d07,
16652 0x90bf1d91, 0x1db71064, 0x6ab020f2, 0xf3b97148, 0x84be41de,
16653 0x1adad47d, 0x6ddde4eb, 0xf4d4b551, 0x83d385c7, 0x136c9856,
16654 0x646ba8c0, 0xfd62f97a, 0x8a65c9ec, 0x14015c4f, 0x63066cd9,
16655 0xfa0f3d63, 0x8d080df5, 0x3b6e20c8, 0x4c69105e, 0xd56041e4,
16656 0xa2677172, 0x3c03e4d1, 0x4b04d447, 0xd20d85fd, 0xa50ab56b,
16657 0x35b5a8fa, 0x42b2986c, 0xdbbbc9d6, 0xacbcf940, 0x32d86ce3,
16658 0x45df5c75, 0xdcd60dcf, 0xabd13d59, 0x26d930ac, 0x51de003a,
16659 0xc8d75180, 0xbfd06116, 0x21b4f4b5, 0x56b3c423, 0xcfba9599,
16660 0xb8bda50f, 0x2802b89e, 0x5f058808, 0xc60cd9b2, 0xb10be924,
16661 0x2f6f7c87, 0x58684c11, 0xc1611dab, 0xb6662d3d, 0x76dc4190,
16662 0x01db7106, 0x98d220bc, 0xefd5102a, 0x71b18589, 0x06b6b51f,
16663 0x9fbfe4a5, 0xe8b8d433, 0x7807c9a2, 0x0f00f934, 0x9609a88e,
16664 0xe10e9818, 0x7f6a0dbb, 0x086d3d2d, 0x91646c97, 0xe6635c01,
16665 0x6b6b51f4, 0x1c6c6162, 0x856530d8, 0xf262004e, 0x6c0695ed,
16666 0x1b01a57b, 0x8208f4c1, 0xf50fc457, 0x65b0d9c6, 0x12b7e950,
16667 0x8bbeb8ea, 0xfcb9887c, 0x62dd1ddf, 0x15da2d49, 0x8cd37cf3,
16668 0xfbd44c65, 0x4db26158, 0x3ab551ce, 0xa3bc0074, 0xd4bb30e2,
16669 0x4adfa541, 0x3dd895d7, 0xa4d1c46d, 0xd3d6f4fb, 0x4369e96a,
16670 0x346ed9fc, 0xad678846, 0xda60b8d0, 0x44042d73, 0x33031de5,
16671 0xaa0a4c5f, 0xdd0d7cc9, 0x5005713c, 0x270241aa, 0xbe0b1010,
16672 0xc90c2086, 0x5768b525, 0x206f85b3, 0xb966d409, 0xce61e49f,
16673 0x5edef90e, 0x29d9c998, 0xb0d09822, 0xc7d7a8b4, 0x59b33d17,
16674 0x2eb40d81, 0xb7bd5c3b, 0xc0ba6cad, 0xedb88320, 0x9abfb3b6,
16675 0x03b6e20c, 0x74b1d29a, 0xead54739, 0x9dd277af, 0x04db2615,
16676 0x73dc1683, 0xe3630b12, 0x94643b84, 0x0d6d6a3e, 0x7a6a5aa8,
16677 0xe40ecf0b, 0x9309ff9d, 0x0a00ae27, 0x7d079eb1, 0xf00f9344,
16678 0x8708a3d2, 0x1e01f268, 0x6906c2fe, 0xf762575d, 0x806567cb,
16679 0x196c3671, 0x6e6b06e7, 0xfed41b76, 0x89d32be0, 0x10da7a5a,
16680 0x67dd4acc, 0xf9b9df6f, 0x8ebeeff9, 0x17b7be43, 0x60b08ed5,
16681 0xd6d6a3e8, 0xa1d1937e, 0x38d8c2c4, 0x4fdff252, 0xd1bb67f1,
16682 0xa6bc5767, 0x3fb506dd, 0x48b2364b, 0xd80d2bda, 0xaf0a1b4c,
16683 0x36034af6, 0x41047a60, 0xdf60efc3, 0xa867df55, 0x316e8eef,
16684 0x4669be79, 0xcb61b38c, 0xbc66831a, 0x256fd2a0, 0x5268e236,
16685 0xcc0c7795, 0xbb0b4703, 0x220216b9, 0x5505262f, 0xc5ba3bbe,
16686 0xb2bd0b28, 0x2bb45a92, 0x5cb36a04, 0xc2d7ffa7, 0xb5d0cf31,
16687 0x2cd99e8b, 0x5bdeae1d, 0x9b64c2b0, 0xec63f226, 0x756aa39c,
16688 0x026d930a, 0x9c0906a9, 0xeb0e363f, 0x72076785, 0x05005713,
16689 0x95bf4a82, 0xe2b87a14, 0x7bb12bae, 0x0cb61b38, 0x92d28e9b,
16690 0xe5d5be0d, 0x7cdcefb7, 0x0bdbdf21, 0x86d3d2d4, 0xf1d4e242,
16691 0x68ddb3f8, 0x1fda836e, 0x81be16cd, 0xf6b9265b, 0x6fb077e1,
16692 0x18b74777, 0x88085ae6, 0xff0f6a70, 0x66063bca, 0x11010b5c,
16693 0x8f659eff, 0xf862ae69, 0x616bffd3, 0x166ccf45, 0xa00ae278,
16694 0xd70dd2ee, 0x4e048354, 0x3903b3c2, 0xa7672661, 0xd06016f7,
16695 0x4969474d, 0x3e6e77db, 0xaed16a4a, 0xd9d65adc, 0x40df0b66,
16696 0x37d83bf0, 0xa9bcae53, 0xdebb9ec5, 0x47b2cf7f, 0x30b5ffe9,
16697 0xbdbdf21c, 0xcabac28a, 0x53b39330, 0x24b4a3a6, 0xbad03605,
16698 0xcdd70693, 0x54de5729, 0x23d967bf, 0xb3667a2e, 0xc4614ab8,
16699 0x5d681b02, 0x2a6f2b94, 0xb40bbe37, 0xc30c8ea1, 0x5a05df1b,
16702 unsigned char *end;
16704 crc = ~crc & 0xffffffff;
16705 for (end = buf + len; buf < end; ++buf)
16706 crc = crc32_table[(crc ^ *buf) & 0xff] ^ (crc >> 8);
16707 return ~crc & 0xffffffff;
16712 This computation does not apply to the ``build ID'' method.
16716 @section Index Files Speed Up @value{GDBN}
16717 @cindex index files
16718 @cindex @samp{.gdb_index} section
16720 When @value{GDBN} finds a symbol file, it scans the symbols in the
16721 file in order to construct an internal symbol table. This lets most
16722 @value{GDBN} operations work quickly---at the cost of a delay early
16723 on. For large programs, this delay can be quite lengthy, so
16724 @value{GDBN} provides a way to build an index, which speeds up
16727 The index is stored as a section in the symbol file. @value{GDBN} can
16728 write the index to a file, then you can put it into the symbol file
16729 using @command{objcopy}.
16731 To create an index file, use the @code{save gdb-index} command:
16734 @item save gdb-index @var{directory}
16735 @kindex save gdb-index
16736 Create an index file for each symbol file currently known by
16737 @value{GDBN}. Each file is named after its corresponding symbol file,
16738 with @samp{.gdb-index} appended, and is written into the given
16742 Once you have created an index file you can merge it into your symbol
16743 file, here named @file{symfile}, using @command{objcopy}:
16746 $ objcopy --add-section .gdb_index=symfile.gdb-index \
16747 --set-section-flags .gdb_index=readonly symfile symfile
16750 @value{GDBN} will normally ignore older versions of @file{.gdb_index}
16751 sections that have been deprecated. Usually they are deprecated because
16752 they are missing a new feature or have performance issues.
16753 To tell @value{GDBN} to use a deprecated index section anyway
16754 specify @code{set use-deprecated-index-sections on}.
16755 The default is @code{off}.
16756 This can speed up startup, but may result in some functionality being lost.
16757 @xref{Index Section Format}.
16759 @emph{Warning:} Setting @code{use-deprecated-index-sections} to @code{on}
16760 must be done before gdb reads the file. The following will not work:
16763 $ gdb -ex "set use-deprecated-index-sections on" <program>
16766 Instead you must do, for example,
16769 $ gdb -iex "set use-deprecated-index-sections on" <program>
16772 There are currently some limitation on indices. They only work when
16773 for DWARF debugging information, not stabs. And, they do not
16774 currently work for programs using Ada.
16776 @node Symbol Errors
16777 @section Errors Reading Symbol Files
16779 While reading a symbol file, @value{GDBN} occasionally encounters problems,
16780 such as symbol types it does not recognize, or known bugs in compiler
16781 output. By default, @value{GDBN} does not notify you of such problems, since
16782 they are relatively common and primarily of interest to people
16783 debugging compilers. If you are interested in seeing information
16784 about ill-constructed symbol tables, you can either ask @value{GDBN} to print
16785 only one message about each such type of problem, no matter how many
16786 times the problem occurs; or you can ask @value{GDBN} to print more messages,
16787 to see how many times the problems occur, with the @code{set
16788 complaints} command (@pxref{Messages/Warnings, ,Optional Warnings and
16791 The messages currently printed, and their meanings, include:
16794 @item inner block not inside outer block in @var{symbol}
16796 The symbol information shows where symbol scopes begin and end
16797 (such as at the start of a function or a block of statements). This
16798 error indicates that an inner scope block is not fully contained
16799 in its outer scope blocks.
16801 @value{GDBN} circumvents the problem by treating the inner block as if it had
16802 the same scope as the outer block. In the error message, @var{symbol}
16803 may be shown as ``@code{(don't know)}'' if the outer block is not a
16806 @item block at @var{address} out of order
16808 The symbol information for symbol scope blocks should occur in
16809 order of increasing addresses. This error indicates that it does not
16812 @value{GDBN} does not circumvent this problem, and has trouble
16813 locating symbols in the source file whose symbols it is reading. (You
16814 can often determine what source file is affected by specifying
16815 @code{set verbose on}. @xref{Messages/Warnings, ,Optional Warnings and
16818 @item bad block start address patched
16820 The symbol information for a symbol scope block has a start address
16821 smaller than the address of the preceding source line. This is known
16822 to occur in the SunOS 4.1.1 (and earlier) C compiler.
16824 @value{GDBN} circumvents the problem by treating the symbol scope block as
16825 starting on the previous source line.
16827 @item bad string table offset in symbol @var{n}
16830 Symbol number @var{n} contains a pointer into the string table which is
16831 larger than the size of the string table.
16833 @value{GDBN} circumvents the problem by considering the symbol to have the
16834 name @code{foo}, which may cause other problems if many symbols end up
16837 @item unknown symbol type @code{0x@var{nn}}
16839 The symbol information contains new data types that @value{GDBN} does
16840 not yet know how to read. @code{0x@var{nn}} is the symbol type of the
16841 uncomprehended information, in hexadecimal.
16843 @value{GDBN} circumvents the error by ignoring this symbol information.
16844 This usually allows you to debug your program, though certain symbols
16845 are not accessible. If you encounter such a problem and feel like
16846 debugging it, you can debug @code{@value{GDBP}} with itself, breakpoint
16847 on @code{complain}, then go up to the function @code{read_dbx_symtab}
16848 and examine @code{*bufp} to see the symbol.
16850 @item stub type has NULL name
16852 @value{GDBN} could not find the full definition for a struct or class.
16854 @item const/volatile indicator missing (ok if using g++ v1.x), got@dots{}
16855 The symbol information for a C@t{++} member function is missing some
16856 information that recent versions of the compiler should have output for
16859 @item info mismatch between compiler and debugger
16861 @value{GDBN} could not parse a type specification output by the compiler.
16866 @section GDB Data Files
16868 @cindex prefix for data files
16869 @value{GDBN} will sometimes read an auxiliary data file. These files
16870 are kept in a directory known as the @dfn{data directory}.
16872 You can set the data directory's name, and view the name @value{GDBN}
16873 is currently using.
16876 @kindex set data-directory
16877 @item set data-directory @var{directory}
16878 Set the directory which @value{GDBN} searches for auxiliary data files
16879 to @var{directory}.
16881 @kindex show data-directory
16882 @item show data-directory
16883 Show the directory @value{GDBN} searches for auxiliary data files.
16886 @cindex default data directory
16887 @cindex @samp{--with-gdb-datadir}
16888 You can set the default data directory by using the configure-time
16889 @samp{--with-gdb-datadir} option. If the data directory is inside
16890 @value{GDBN}'s configured binary prefix (set with @samp{--prefix} or
16891 @samp{--exec-prefix}), then the default data directory will be updated
16892 automatically if the installed @value{GDBN} is moved to a new
16895 The data directory may also be specified with the
16896 @code{--data-directory} command line option.
16897 @xref{Mode Options}.
16900 @chapter Specifying a Debugging Target
16902 @cindex debugging target
16903 A @dfn{target} is the execution environment occupied by your program.
16905 Often, @value{GDBN} runs in the same host environment as your program;
16906 in that case, the debugging target is specified as a side effect when
16907 you use the @code{file} or @code{core} commands. When you need more
16908 flexibility---for example, running @value{GDBN} on a physically separate
16909 host, or controlling a standalone system over a serial port or a
16910 realtime system over a TCP/IP connection---you can use the @code{target}
16911 command to specify one of the target types configured for @value{GDBN}
16912 (@pxref{Target Commands, ,Commands for Managing Targets}).
16914 @cindex target architecture
16915 It is possible to build @value{GDBN} for several different @dfn{target
16916 architectures}. When @value{GDBN} is built like that, you can choose
16917 one of the available architectures with the @kbd{set architecture}
16921 @kindex set architecture
16922 @kindex show architecture
16923 @item set architecture @var{arch}
16924 This command sets the current target architecture to @var{arch}. The
16925 value of @var{arch} can be @code{"auto"}, in addition to one of the
16926 supported architectures.
16928 @item show architecture
16929 Show the current target architecture.
16931 @item set processor
16933 @kindex set processor
16934 @kindex show processor
16935 These are alias commands for, respectively, @code{set architecture}
16936 and @code{show architecture}.
16940 * Active Targets:: Active targets
16941 * Target Commands:: Commands for managing targets
16942 * Byte Order:: Choosing target byte order
16945 @node Active Targets
16946 @section Active Targets
16948 @cindex stacking targets
16949 @cindex active targets
16950 @cindex multiple targets
16952 There are multiple classes of targets such as: processes, executable files or
16953 recording sessions. Core files belong to the process class, making core file
16954 and process mutually exclusive. Otherwise, @value{GDBN} can work concurrently
16955 on multiple active targets, one in each class. This allows you to (for
16956 example) start a process and inspect its activity, while still having access to
16957 the executable file after the process finishes. Or if you start process
16958 recording (@pxref{Reverse Execution}) and @code{reverse-step} there, you are
16959 presented a virtual layer of the recording target, while the process target
16960 remains stopped at the chronologically last point of the process execution.
16962 Use the @code{core-file} and @code{exec-file} commands to select a new core
16963 file or executable target (@pxref{Files, ,Commands to Specify Files}). To
16964 specify as a target a process that is already running, use the @code{attach}
16965 command (@pxref{Attach, ,Debugging an Already-running Process}).
16967 @node Target Commands
16968 @section Commands for Managing Targets
16971 @item target @var{type} @var{parameters}
16972 Connects the @value{GDBN} host environment to a target machine or
16973 process. A target is typically a protocol for talking to debugging
16974 facilities. You use the argument @var{type} to specify the type or
16975 protocol of the target machine.
16977 Further @var{parameters} are interpreted by the target protocol, but
16978 typically include things like device names or host names to connect
16979 with, process numbers, and baud rates.
16981 The @code{target} command does not repeat if you press @key{RET} again
16982 after executing the command.
16984 @kindex help target
16986 Displays the names of all targets available. To display targets
16987 currently selected, use either @code{info target} or @code{info files}
16988 (@pxref{Files, ,Commands to Specify Files}).
16990 @item help target @var{name}
16991 Describe a particular target, including any parameters necessary to
16994 @kindex set gnutarget
16995 @item set gnutarget @var{args}
16996 @value{GDBN} uses its own library BFD to read your files. @value{GDBN}
16997 knows whether it is reading an @dfn{executable},
16998 a @dfn{core}, or a @dfn{.o} file; however, you can specify the file format
16999 with the @code{set gnutarget} command. Unlike most @code{target} commands,
17000 with @code{gnutarget} the @code{target} refers to a program, not a machine.
17003 @emph{Warning:} To specify a file format with @code{set gnutarget},
17004 you must know the actual BFD name.
17008 @xref{Files, , Commands to Specify Files}.
17010 @kindex show gnutarget
17011 @item show gnutarget
17012 Use the @code{show gnutarget} command to display what file format
17013 @code{gnutarget} is set to read. If you have not set @code{gnutarget},
17014 @value{GDBN} will determine the file format for each file automatically,
17015 and @code{show gnutarget} displays @samp{The current BDF target is "auto"}.
17018 @cindex common targets
17019 Here are some common targets (available, or not, depending on the GDB
17024 @item target exec @var{program}
17025 @cindex executable file target
17026 An executable file. @samp{target exec @var{program}} is the same as
17027 @samp{exec-file @var{program}}.
17029 @item target core @var{filename}
17030 @cindex core dump file target
17031 A core dump file. @samp{target core @var{filename}} is the same as
17032 @samp{core-file @var{filename}}.
17034 @item target remote @var{medium}
17035 @cindex remote target
17036 A remote system connected to @value{GDBN} via a serial line or network
17037 connection. This command tells @value{GDBN} to use its own remote
17038 protocol over @var{medium} for debugging. @xref{Remote Debugging}.
17040 For example, if you have a board connected to @file{/dev/ttya} on the
17041 machine running @value{GDBN}, you could say:
17044 target remote /dev/ttya
17047 @code{target remote} supports the @code{load} command. This is only
17048 useful if you have some other way of getting the stub to the target
17049 system, and you can put it somewhere in memory where it won't get
17050 clobbered by the download.
17052 @item target sim @r{[}@var{simargs}@r{]} @dots{}
17053 @cindex built-in simulator target
17054 Builtin CPU simulator. @value{GDBN} includes simulators for most architectures.
17062 works; however, you cannot assume that a specific memory map, device
17063 drivers, or even basic I/O is available, although some simulators do
17064 provide these. For info about any processor-specific simulator details,
17065 see the appropriate section in @ref{Embedded Processors, ,Embedded
17070 Some configurations may include these targets as well:
17074 @item target nrom @var{dev}
17075 @cindex NetROM ROM emulator target
17076 NetROM ROM emulator. This target only supports downloading.
17080 Different targets are available on different configurations of @value{GDBN};
17081 your configuration may have more or fewer targets.
17083 Many remote targets require you to download the executable's code once
17084 you've successfully established a connection. You may wish to control
17085 various aspects of this process.
17090 @kindex set hash@r{, for remote monitors}
17091 @cindex hash mark while downloading
17092 This command controls whether a hash mark @samp{#} is displayed while
17093 downloading a file to the remote monitor. If on, a hash mark is
17094 displayed after each S-record is successfully downloaded to the
17098 @kindex show hash@r{, for remote monitors}
17099 Show the current status of displaying the hash mark.
17101 @item set debug monitor
17102 @kindex set debug monitor
17103 @cindex display remote monitor communications
17104 Enable or disable display of communications messages between
17105 @value{GDBN} and the remote monitor.
17107 @item show debug monitor
17108 @kindex show debug monitor
17109 Show the current status of displaying communications between
17110 @value{GDBN} and the remote monitor.
17115 @kindex load @var{filename}
17116 @item load @var{filename}
17118 Depending on what remote debugging facilities are configured into
17119 @value{GDBN}, the @code{load} command may be available. Where it exists, it
17120 is meant to make @var{filename} (an executable) available for debugging
17121 on the remote system---by downloading, or dynamic linking, for example.
17122 @code{load} also records the @var{filename} symbol table in @value{GDBN}, like
17123 the @code{add-symbol-file} command.
17125 If your @value{GDBN} does not have a @code{load} command, attempting to
17126 execute it gets the error message ``@code{You can't do that when your
17127 target is @dots{}}''
17129 The file is loaded at whatever address is specified in the executable.
17130 For some object file formats, you can specify the load address when you
17131 link the program; for other formats, like a.out, the object file format
17132 specifies a fixed address.
17133 @c FIXME! This would be a good place for an xref to the GNU linker doc.
17135 Depending on the remote side capabilities, @value{GDBN} may be able to
17136 load programs into flash memory.
17138 @code{load} does not repeat if you press @key{RET} again after using it.
17142 @section Choosing Target Byte Order
17144 @cindex choosing target byte order
17145 @cindex target byte order
17147 Some types of processors, such as the @acronym{MIPS}, PowerPC, and Renesas SH,
17148 offer the ability to run either big-endian or little-endian byte
17149 orders. Usually the executable or symbol will include a bit to
17150 designate the endian-ness, and you will not need to worry about
17151 which to use. However, you may still find it useful to adjust
17152 @value{GDBN}'s idea of processor endian-ness manually.
17156 @item set endian big
17157 Instruct @value{GDBN} to assume the target is big-endian.
17159 @item set endian little
17160 Instruct @value{GDBN} to assume the target is little-endian.
17162 @item set endian auto
17163 Instruct @value{GDBN} to use the byte order associated with the
17167 Display @value{GDBN}'s current idea of the target byte order.
17171 Note that these commands merely adjust interpretation of symbolic
17172 data on the host, and that they have absolutely no effect on the
17176 @node Remote Debugging
17177 @chapter Debugging Remote Programs
17178 @cindex remote debugging
17180 If you are trying to debug a program running on a machine that cannot run
17181 @value{GDBN} in the usual way, it is often useful to use remote debugging.
17182 For example, you might use remote debugging on an operating system kernel,
17183 or on a small system which does not have a general purpose operating system
17184 powerful enough to run a full-featured debugger.
17186 Some configurations of @value{GDBN} have special serial or TCP/IP interfaces
17187 to make this work with particular debugging targets. In addition,
17188 @value{GDBN} comes with a generic serial protocol (specific to @value{GDBN},
17189 but not specific to any particular target system) which you can use if you
17190 write the remote stubs---the code that runs on the remote system to
17191 communicate with @value{GDBN}.
17193 Other remote targets may be available in your
17194 configuration of @value{GDBN}; use @code{help target} to list them.
17197 * Connecting:: Connecting to a remote target
17198 * File Transfer:: Sending files to a remote system
17199 * Server:: Using the gdbserver program
17200 * Remote Configuration:: Remote configuration
17201 * Remote Stub:: Implementing a remote stub
17205 @section Connecting to a Remote Target
17207 On the @value{GDBN} host machine, you will need an unstripped copy of
17208 your program, since @value{GDBN} needs symbol and debugging information.
17209 Start up @value{GDBN} as usual, using the name of the local copy of your
17210 program as the first argument.
17212 @cindex @code{target remote}
17213 @value{GDBN} can communicate with the target over a serial line, or
17214 over an @acronym{IP} network using @acronym{TCP} or @acronym{UDP}. In
17215 each case, @value{GDBN} uses the same protocol for debugging your
17216 program; only the medium carrying the debugging packets varies. The
17217 @code{target remote} command establishes a connection to the target.
17218 Its arguments indicate which medium to use:
17222 @item target remote @var{serial-device}
17223 @cindex serial line, @code{target remote}
17224 Use @var{serial-device} to communicate with the target. For example,
17225 to use a serial line connected to the device named @file{/dev/ttyb}:
17228 target remote /dev/ttyb
17231 If you're using a serial line, you may want to give @value{GDBN} the
17232 @w{@samp{--baud}} option, or use the @code{set remotebaud} command
17233 (@pxref{Remote Configuration, set remotebaud}) before the
17234 @code{target} command.
17236 @item target remote @code{@var{host}:@var{port}}
17237 @itemx target remote @code{tcp:@var{host}:@var{port}}
17238 @cindex @acronym{TCP} port, @code{target remote}
17239 Debug using a @acronym{TCP} connection to @var{port} on @var{host}.
17240 The @var{host} may be either a host name or a numeric @acronym{IP}
17241 address; @var{port} must be a decimal number. The @var{host} could be
17242 the target machine itself, if it is directly connected to the net, or
17243 it might be a terminal server which in turn has a serial line to the
17246 For example, to connect to port 2828 on a terminal server named
17250 target remote manyfarms:2828
17253 If your remote target is actually running on the same machine as your
17254 debugger session (e.g.@: a simulator for your target running on the
17255 same host), you can omit the hostname. For example, to connect to
17256 port 1234 on your local machine:
17259 target remote :1234
17263 Note that the colon is still required here.
17265 @item target remote @code{udp:@var{host}:@var{port}}
17266 @cindex @acronym{UDP} port, @code{target remote}
17267 Debug using @acronym{UDP} packets to @var{port} on @var{host}. For example, to
17268 connect to @acronym{UDP} port 2828 on a terminal server named @code{manyfarms}:
17271 target remote udp:manyfarms:2828
17274 When using a @acronym{UDP} connection for remote debugging, you should
17275 keep in mind that the `U' stands for ``Unreliable''. @acronym{UDP}
17276 can silently drop packets on busy or unreliable networks, which will
17277 cause havoc with your debugging session.
17279 @item target remote | @var{command}
17280 @cindex pipe, @code{target remote} to
17281 Run @var{command} in the background and communicate with it using a
17282 pipe. The @var{command} is a shell command, to be parsed and expanded
17283 by the system's command shell, @code{/bin/sh}; it should expect remote
17284 protocol packets on its standard input, and send replies on its
17285 standard output. You could use this to run a stand-alone simulator
17286 that speaks the remote debugging protocol, to make net connections
17287 using programs like @code{ssh}, or for other similar tricks.
17289 If @var{command} closes its standard output (perhaps by exiting),
17290 @value{GDBN} will try to send it a @code{SIGTERM} signal. (If the
17291 program has already exited, this will have no effect.)
17295 Once the connection has been established, you can use all the usual
17296 commands to examine and change data. The remote program is already
17297 running; you can use @kbd{step} and @kbd{continue}, and you do not
17298 need to use @kbd{run}.
17300 @cindex interrupting remote programs
17301 @cindex remote programs, interrupting
17302 Whenever @value{GDBN} is waiting for the remote program, if you type the
17303 interrupt character (often @kbd{Ctrl-c}), @value{GDBN} attempts to stop the
17304 program. This may or may not succeed, depending in part on the hardware
17305 and the serial drivers the remote system uses. If you type the
17306 interrupt character once again, @value{GDBN} displays this prompt:
17309 Interrupted while waiting for the program.
17310 Give up (and stop debugging it)? (y or n)
17313 If you type @kbd{y}, @value{GDBN} abandons the remote debugging session.
17314 (If you decide you want to try again later, you can use @samp{target
17315 remote} again to connect once more.) If you type @kbd{n}, @value{GDBN}
17316 goes back to waiting.
17319 @kindex detach (remote)
17321 When you have finished debugging the remote program, you can use the
17322 @code{detach} command to release it from @value{GDBN} control.
17323 Detaching from the target normally resumes its execution, but the results
17324 will depend on your particular remote stub. After the @code{detach}
17325 command, @value{GDBN} is free to connect to another target.
17329 The @code{disconnect} command behaves like @code{detach}, except that
17330 the target is generally not resumed. It will wait for @value{GDBN}
17331 (this instance or another one) to connect and continue debugging. After
17332 the @code{disconnect} command, @value{GDBN} is again free to connect to
17335 @cindex send command to remote monitor
17336 @cindex extend @value{GDBN} for remote targets
17337 @cindex add new commands for external monitor
17339 @item monitor @var{cmd}
17340 This command allows you to send arbitrary commands directly to the
17341 remote monitor. Since @value{GDBN} doesn't care about the commands it
17342 sends like this, this command is the way to extend @value{GDBN}---you
17343 can add new commands that only the external monitor will understand
17347 @node File Transfer
17348 @section Sending files to a remote system
17349 @cindex remote target, file transfer
17350 @cindex file transfer
17351 @cindex sending files to remote systems
17353 Some remote targets offer the ability to transfer files over the same
17354 connection used to communicate with @value{GDBN}. This is convenient
17355 for targets accessible through other means, e.g.@: @sc{gnu}/Linux systems
17356 running @code{gdbserver} over a network interface. For other targets,
17357 e.g.@: embedded devices with only a single serial port, this may be
17358 the only way to upload or download files.
17360 Not all remote targets support these commands.
17364 @item remote put @var{hostfile} @var{targetfile}
17365 Copy file @var{hostfile} from the host system (the machine running
17366 @value{GDBN}) to @var{targetfile} on the target system.
17369 @item remote get @var{targetfile} @var{hostfile}
17370 Copy file @var{targetfile} from the target system to @var{hostfile}
17371 on the host system.
17373 @kindex remote delete
17374 @item remote delete @var{targetfile}
17375 Delete @var{targetfile} from the target system.
17380 @section Using the @code{gdbserver} Program
17383 @cindex remote connection without stubs
17384 @code{gdbserver} is a control program for Unix-like systems, which
17385 allows you to connect your program with a remote @value{GDBN} via
17386 @code{target remote}---but without linking in the usual debugging stub.
17388 @code{gdbserver} is not a complete replacement for the debugging stubs,
17389 because it requires essentially the same operating-system facilities
17390 that @value{GDBN} itself does. In fact, a system that can run
17391 @code{gdbserver} to connect to a remote @value{GDBN} could also run
17392 @value{GDBN} locally! @code{gdbserver} is sometimes useful nevertheless,
17393 because it is a much smaller program than @value{GDBN} itself. It is
17394 also easier to port than all of @value{GDBN}, so you may be able to get
17395 started more quickly on a new system by using @code{gdbserver}.
17396 Finally, if you develop code for real-time systems, you may find that
17397 the tradeoffs involved in real-time operation make it more convenient to
17398 do as much development work as possible on another system, for example
17399 by cross-compiling. You can use @code{gdbserver} to make a similar
17400 choice for debugging.
17402 @value{GDBN} and @code{gdbserver} communicate via either a serial line
17403 or a TCP connection, using the standard @value{GDBN} remote serial
17407 @emph{Warning:} @code{gdbserver} does not have any built-in security.
17408 Do not run @code{gdbserver} connected to any public network; a
17409 @value{GDBN} connection to @code{gdbserver} provides access to the
17410 target system with the same privileges as the user running
17414 @subsection Running @code{gdbserver}
17415 @cindex arguments, to @code{gdbserver}
17416 @cindex @code{gdbserver}, command-line arguments
17418 Run @code{gdbserver} on the target system. You need a copy of the
17419 program you want to debug, including any libraries it requires.
17420 @code{gdbserver} does not need your program's symbol table, so you can
17421 strip the program if necessary to save space. @value{GDBN} on the host
17422 system does all the symbol handling.
17424 To use the server, you must tell it how to communicate with @value{GDBN};
17425 the name of your program; and the arguments for your program. The usual
17429 target> gdbserver @var{comm} @var{program} [ @var{args} @dots{} ]
17432 @var{comm} is either a device name (to use a serial line), or a TCP
17433 hostname and portnumber, or @code{-} or @code{stdio} to use
17434 stdin/stdout of @code{gdbserver}.
17435 For example, to debug Emacs with the argument
17436 @samp{foo.txt} and communicate with @value{GDBN} over the serial port
17440 target> gdbserver /dev/com1 emacs foo.txt
17443 @code{gdbserver} waits passively for the host @value{GDBN} to communicate
17446 To use a TCP connection instead of a serial line:
17449 target> gdbserver host:2345 emacs foo.txt
17452 The only difference from the previous example is the first argument,
17453 specifying that you are communicating with the host @value{GDBN} via
17454 TCP. The @samp{host:2345} argument means that @code{gdbserver} is to
17455 expect a TCP connection from machine @samp{host} to local TCP port 2345.
17456 (Currently, the @samp{host} part is ignored.) You can choose any number
17457 you want for the port number as long as it does not conflict with any
17458 TCP ports already in use on the target system (for example, @code{23} is
17459 reserved for @code{telnet}).@footnote{If you choose a port number that
17460 conflicts with another service, @code{gdbserver} prints an error message
17461 and exits.} You must use the same port number with the host @value{GDBN}
17462 @code{target remote} command.
17464 The @code{stdio} connection is useful when starting @code{gdbserver}
17468 (gdb) target remote | ssh -T hostname gdbserver - hello
17471 The @samp{-T} option to ssh is provided because we don't need a remote pty,
17472 and we don't want escape-character handling. Ssh does this by default when
17473 a command is provided, the flag is provided to make it explicit.
17474 You could elide it if you want to.
17476 Programs started with stdio-connected gdbserver have @file{/dev/null} for
17477 @code{stdin}, and @code{stdout},@code{stderr} are sent back to gdb for
17478 display through a pipe connected to gdbserver.
17479 Both @code{stdout} and @code{stderr} use the same pipe.
17481 @subsubsection Attaching to a Running Program
17482 @cindex attach to a program, @code{gdbserver}
17483 @cindex @option{--attach}, @code{gdbserver} option
17485 On some targets, @code{gdbserver} can also attach to running programs.
17486 This is accomplished via the @code{--attach} argument. The syntax is:
17489 target> gdbserver --attach @var{comm} @var{pid}
17492 @var{pid} is the process ID of a currently running process. It isn't necessary
17493 to point @code{gdbserver} at a binary for the running process.
17496 You can debug processes by name instead of process ID if your target has the
17497 @code{pidof} utility:
17500 target> gdbserver --attach @var{comm} `pidof @var{program}`
17503 In case more than one copy of @var{program} is running, or @var{program}
17504 has multiple threads, most versions of @code{pidof} support the
17505 @code{-s} option to only return the first process ID.
17507 @subsubsection Multi-Process Mode for @code{gdbserver}
17508 @cindex @code{gdbserver}, multiple processes
17509 @cindex multiple processes with @code{gdbserver}
17511 When you connect to @code{gdbserver} using @code{target remote},
17512 @code{gdbserver} debugs the specified program only once. When the
17513 program exits, or you detach from it, @value{GDBN} closes the connection
17514 and @code{gdbserver} exits.
17516 If you connect using @kbd{target extended-remote}, @code{gdbserver}
17517 enters multi-process mode. When the debugged program exits, or you
17518 detach from it, @value{GDBN} stays connected to @code{gdbserver} even
17519 though no program is running. The @code{run} and @code{attach}
17520 commands instruct @code{gdbserver} to run or attach to a new program.
17521 The @code{run} command uses @code{set remote exec-file} (@pxref{set
17522 remote exec-file}) to select the program to run. Command line
17523 arguments are supported, except for wildcard expansion and I/O
17524 redirection (@pxref{Arguments}).
17526 @cindex @option{--multi}, @code{gdbserver} option
17527 To start @code{gdbserver} without supplying an initial command to run
17528 or process ID to attach, use the @option{--multi} command line option.
17529 Then you can connect using @kbd{target extended-remote} and start
17530 the program you want to debug.
17532 In multi-process mode @code{gdbserver} does not automatically exit unless you
17533 use the option @option{--once}. You can terminate it by using
17534 @code{monitor exit} (@pxref{Monitor Commands for gdbserver}). Note that the
17535 conditions under which @code{gdbserver} terminates depend on how @value{GDBN}
17536 connects to it (@kbd{target remote} or @kbd{target extended-remote}). The
17537 @option{--multi} option to @code{gdbserver} has no influence on that.
17539 @subsubsection TCP port allocation lifecycle of @code{gdbserver}
17541 This section applies only when @code{gdbserver} is run to listen on a TCP port.
17543 @code{gdbserver} normally terminates after all of its debugged processes have
17544 terminated in @kbd{target remote} mode. On the other hand, for @kbd{target
17545 extended-remote}, @code{gdbserver} stays running even with no processes left.
17546 @value{GDBN} normally terminates the spawned debugged process on its exit,
17547 which normally also terminates @code{gdbserver} in the @kbd{target remote}
17548 mode. Therefore, when the connection drops unexpectedly, and @value{GDBN}
17549 cannot ask @code{gdbserver} to kill its debugged processes, @code{gdbserver}
17550 stays running even in the @kbd{target remote} mode.
17552 When @code{gdbserver} stays running, @value{GDBN} can connect to it again later.
17553 Such reconnecting is useful for features like @ref{disconnected tracing}. For
17554 completeness, at most one @value{GDBN} can be connected at a time.
17556 @cindex @option{--once}, @code{gdbserver} option
17557 By default, @code{gdbserver} keeps the listening TCP port open, so that
17558 additional connections are possible. However, if you start @code{gdbserver}
17559 with the @option{--once} option, it will stop listening for any further
17560 connection attempts after connecting to the first @value{GDBN} session. This
17561 means no further connections to @code{gdbserver} will be possible after the
17562 first one. It also means @code{gdbserver} will terminate after the first
17563 connection with remote @value{GDBN} has closed, even for unexpectedly closed
17564 connections and even in the @kbd{target extended-remote} mode. The
17565 @option{--once} option allows reusing the same port number for connecting to
17566 multiple instances of @code{gdbserver} running on the same host, since each
17567 instance closes its port after the first connection.
17569 @subsubsection Other Command-Line Arguments for @code{gdbserver}
17571 @cindex @option{--debug}, @code{gdbserver} option
17572 The @option{--debug} option tells @code{gdbserver} to display extra
17573 status information about the debugging process.
17574 @cindex @option{--remote-debug}, @code{gdbserver} option
17575 The @option{--remote-debug} option tells @code{gdbserver} to display
17576 remote protocol debug output. These options are intended for
17577 @code{gdbserver} development and for bug reports to the developers.
17579 @cindex @option{--wrapper}, @code{gdbserver} option
17580 The @option{--wrapper} option specifies a wrapper to launch programs
17581 for debugging. The option should be followed by the name of the
17582 wrapper, then any command-line arguments to pass to the wrapper, then
17583 @kbd{--} indicating the end of the wrapper arguments.
17585 @code{gdbserver} runs the specified wrapper program with a combined
17586 command line including the wrapper arguments, then the name of the
17587 program to debug, then any arguments to the program. The wrapper
17588 runs until it executes your program, and then @value{GDBN} gains control.
17590 You can use any program that eventually calls @code{execve} with
17591 its arguments as a wrapper. Several standard Unix utilities do
17592 this, e.g.@: @code{env} and @code{nohup}. Any Unix shell script ending
17593 with @code{exec "$@@"} will also work.
17595 For example, you can use @code{env} to pass an environment variable to
17596 the debugged program, without setting the variable in @code{gdbserver}'s
17600 $ gdbserver --wrapper env LD_PRELOAD=libtest.so -- :2222 ./testprog
17603 @subsection Connecting to @code{gdbserver}
17605 Run @value{GDBN} on the host system.
17607 First make sure you have the necessary symbol files. Load symbols for
17608 your application using the @code{file} command before you connect. Use
17609 @code{set sysroot} to locate target libraries (unless your @value{GDBN}
17610 was compiled with the correct sysroot using @code{--with-sysroot}).
17612 The symbol file and target libraries must exactly match the executable
17613 and libraries on the target, with one exception: the files on the host
17614 system should not be stripped, even if the files on the target system
17615 are. Mismatched or missing files will lead to confusing results
17616 during debugging. On @sc{gnu}/Linux targets, mismatched or missing
17617 files may also prevent @code{gdbserver} from debugging multi-threaded
17620 Connect to your target (@pxref{Connecting,,Connecting to a Remote Target}).
17621 For TCP connections, you must start up @code{gdbserver} prior to using
17622 the @code{target remote} command. Otherwise you may get an error whose
17623 text depends on the host system, but which usually looks something like
17624 @samp{Connection refused}. Don't use the @code{load}
17625 command in @value{GDBN} when using @code{gdbserver}, since the program is
17626 already on the target.
17628 @subsection Monitor Commands for @code{gdbserver}
17629 @cindex monitor commands, for @code{gdbserver}
17630 @anchor{Monitor Commands for gdbserver}
17632 During a @value{GDBN} session using @code{gdbserver}, you can use the
17633 @code{monitor} command to send special requests to @code{gdbserver}.
17634 Here are the available commands.
17638 List the available monitor commands.
17640 @item monitor set debug 0
17641 @itemx monitor set debug 1
17642 Disable or enable general debugging messages.
17644 @item monitor set remote-debug 0
17645 @itemx monitor set remote-debug 1
17646 Disable or enable specific debugging messages associated with the remote
17647 protocol (@pxref{Remote Protocol}).
17649 @item monitor set libthread-db-search-path [PATH]
17650 @cindex gdbserver, search path for @code{libthread_db}
17651 When this command is issued, @var{path} is a colon-separated list of
17652 directories to search for @code{libthread_db} (@pxref{Threads,,set
17653 libthread-db-search-path}). If you omit @var{path},
17654 @samp{libthread-db-search-path} will be reset to its default value.
17656 The special entry @samp{$pdir} for @samp{libthread-db-search-path} is
17657 not supported in @code{gdbserver}.
17660 Tell gdbserver to exit immediately. This command should be followed by
17661 @code{disconnect} to close the debugging session. @code{gdbserver} will
17662 detach from any attached processes and kill any processes it created.
17663 Use @code{monitor exit} to terminate @code{gdbserver} at the end
17664 of a multi-process mode debug session.
17668 @subsection Tracepoints support in @code{gdbserver}
17669 @cindex tracepoints support in @code{gdbserver}
17671 On some targets, @code{gdbserver} supports tracepoints, fast
17672 tracepoints and static tracepoints.
17674 For fast or static tracepoints to work, a special library called the
17675 @dfn{in-process agent} (IPA), must be loaded in the inferior process.
17676 This library is built and distributed as an integral part of
17677 @code{gdbserver}. In addition, support for static tracepoints
17678 requires building the in-process agent library with static tracepoints
17679 support. At present, the UST (LTTng Userspace Tracer,
17680 @url{http://lttng.org/ust}) tracing engine is supported. This support
17681 is automatically available if UST development headers are found in the
17682 standard include path when @code{gdbserver} is built, or if
17683 @code{gdbserver} was explicitly configured using @option{--with-ust}
17684 to point at such headers. You can explicitly disable the support
17685 using @option{--with-ust=no}.
17687 There are several ways to load the in-process agent in your program:
17690 @item Specifying it as dependency at link time
17692 You can link your program dynamically with the in-process agent
17693 library. On most systems, this is accomplished by adding
17694 @code{-linproctrace} to the link command.
17696 @item Using the system's preloading mechanisms
17698 You can force loading the in-process agent at startup time by using
17699 your system's support for preloading shared libraries. Many Unixes
17700 support the concept of preloading user defined libraries. In most
17701 cases, you do that by specifying @code{LD_PRELOAD=libinproctrace.so}
17702 in the environment. See also the description of @code{gdbserver}'s
17703 @option{--wrapper} command line option.
17705 @item Using @value{GDBN} to force loading the agent at run time
17707 On some systems, you can force the inferior to load a shared library,
17708 by calling a dynamic loader function in the inferior that takes care
17709 of dynamically looking up and loading a shared library. On most Unix
17710 systems, the function is @code{dlopen}. You'll use the @code{call}
17711 command for that. For example:
17714 (@value{GDBP}) call dlopen ("libinproctrace.so", ...)
17717 Note that on most Unix systems, for the @code{dlopen} function to be
17718 available, the program needs to be linked with @code{-ldl}.
17721 On systems that have a userspace dynamic loader, like most Unix
17722 systems, when you connect to @code{gdbserver} using @code{target
17723 remote}, you'll find that the program is stopped at the dynamic
17724 loader's entry point, and no shared library has been loaded in the
17725 program's address space yet, including the in-process agent. In that
17726 case, before being able to use any of the fast or static tracepoints
17727 features, you need to let the loader run and load the shared
17728 libraries. The simplest way to do that is to run the program to the
17729 main procedure. E.g., if debugging a C or C@t{++} program, start
17730 @code{gdbserver} like so:
17733 $ gdbserver :9999 myprogram
17736 Start GDB and connect to @code{gdbserver} like so, and run to main:
17740 (@value{GDBP}) target remote myhost:9999
17741 0x00007f215893ba60 in ?? () from /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2
17742 (@value{GDBP}) b main
17743 (@value{GDBP}) continue
17746 The in-process tracing agent library should now be loaded into the
17747 process; you can confirm it with the @code{info sharedlibrary}
17748 command, which will list @file{libinproctrace.so} as loaded in the
17749 process. You are now ready to install fast tracepoints, list static
17750 tracepoint markers, probe static tracepoints markers, and start
17753 @node Remote Configuration
17754 @section Remote Configuration
17757 @kindex show remote
17758 This section documents the configuration options available when
17759 debugging remote programs. For the options related to the File I/O
17760 extensions of the remote protocol, see @ref{system,
17761 system-call-allowed}.
17764 @item set remoteaddresssize @var{bits}
17765 @cindex address size for remote targets
17766 @cindex bits in remote address
17767 Set the maximum size of address in a memory packet to the specified
17768 number of bits. @value{GDBN} will mask off the address bits above
17769 that number, when it passes addresses to the remote target. The
17770 default value is the number of bits in the target's address.
17772 @item show remoteaddresssize
17773 Show the current value of remote address size in bits.
17775 @item set remotebaud @var{n}
17776 @cindex baud rate for remote targets
17777 Set the baud rate for the remote serial I/O to @var{n} baud. The
17778 value is used to set the speed of the serial port used for debugging
17781 @item show remotebaud
17782 Show the current speed of the remote connection.
17784 @item set remotebreak
17785 @cindex interrupt remote programs
17786 @cindex BREAK signal instead of Ctrl-C
17787 @anchor{set remotebreak}
17788 If set to on, @value{GDBN} sends a @code{BREAK} signal to the remote
17789 when you type @kbd{Ctrl-c} to interrupt the program running
17790 on the remote. If set to off, @value{GDBN} sends the @samp{Ctrl-C}
17791 character instead. The default is off, since most remote systems
17792 expect to see @samp{Ctrl-C} as the interrupt signal.
17794 @item show remotebreak
17795 Show whether @value{GDBN} sends @code{BREAK} or @samp{Ctrl-C} to
17796 interrupt the remote program.
17798 @item set remoteflow on
17799 @itemx set remoteflow off
17800 @kindex set remoteflow
17801 Enable or disable hardware flow control (@code{RTS}/@code{CTS})
17802 on the serial port used to communicate to the remote target.
17804 @item show remoteflow
17805 @kindex show remoteflow
17806 Show the current setting of hardware flow control.
17808 @item set remotelogbase @var{base}
17809 Set the base (a.k.a.@: radix) of logging serial protocol
17810 communications to @var{base}. Supported values of @var{base} are:
17811 @code{ascii}, @code{octal}, and @code{hex}. The default is
17814 @item show remotelogbase
17815 Show the current setting of the radix for logging remote serial
17818 @item set remotelogfile @var{file}
17819 @cindex record serial communications on file
17820 Record remote serial communications on the named @var{file}. The
17821 default is not to record at all.
17823 @item show remotelogfile.
17824 Show the current setting of the file name on which to record the
17825 serial communications.
17827 @item set remotetimeout @var{num}
17828 @cindex timeout for serial communications
17829 @cindex remote timeout
17830 Set the timeout limit to wait for the remote target to respond to
17831 @var{num} seconds. The default is 2 seconds.
17833 @item show remotetimeout
17834 Show the current number of seconds to wait for the remote target
17837 @cindex limit hardware breakpoints and watchpoints
17838 @cindex remote target, limit break- and watchpoints
17839 @anchor{set remote hardware-watchpoint-limit}
17840 @anchor{set remote hardware-breakpoint-limit}
17841 @item set remote hardware-watchpoint-limit @var{limit}
17842 @kindex set remote hardware-watchpoint-limit
17843 @itemx set remote hardware-breakpoint-limit @var{limit}
17844 @kindex set remote hardware-breakpoint-limit
17845 Restrict @value{GDBN} to using @var{limit} remote hardware breakpoint or
17846 watchpoints. A limit of -1, the default, is treated as unlimited.
17848 @cindex limit hardware watchpoints length
17849 @cindex remote target, limit watchpoints length
17850 @anchor{set remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit}
17851 @item set remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit @var{limit}
17852 Restrict @value{GDBN} to using @var{limit} bytes for the maximum length of
17853 a remote hardware watchpoint. A limit of -1, the default, is treated
17856 @item show remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit
17857 Show the current limit (in bytes) of the maximum length of
17858 a remote hardware watchpoint.
17860 @item set remote exec-file @var{filename}
17861 @itemx show remote exec-file
17862 @anchor{set remote exec-file}
17863 @cindex executable file, for remote target
17864 Select the file used for @code{run} with @code{target
17865 extended-remote}. This should be set to a filename valid on the
17866 target system. If it is not set, the target will use a default
17867 filename (e.g.@: the last program run).
17869 @item set remote interrupt-sequence
17870 @cindex interrupt remote programs
17871 @cindex select Ctrl-C, BREAK or BREAK-g
17872 Allow the user to select one of @samp{Ctrl-C}, a @code{BREAK} or
17873 @samp{BREAK-g} as the
17874 sequence to the remote target in order to interrupt the execution.
17875 @samp{Ctrl-C} is a default. Some system prefers @code{BREAK} which
17876 is high level of serial line for some certain time.
17877 Linux kernel prefers @samp{BREAK-g}, a.k.a Magic SysRq g.
17878 It is @code{BREAK} signal followed by character @code{g}.
17880 @item show interrupt-sequence
17881 Show which of @samp{Ctrl-C}, @code{BREAK} or @code{BREAK-g}
17882 is sent by @value{GDBN} to interrupt the remote program.
17883 @code{BREAK-g} is BREAK signal followed by @code{g} and
17884 also known as Magic SysRq g.
17886 @item set remote interrupt-on-connect
17887 @cindex send interrupt-sequence on start
17888 Specify whether interrupt-sequence is sent to remote target when
17889 @value{GDBN} connects to it. This is mostly needed when you debug
17890 Linux kernel. Linux kernel expects @code{BREAK} followed by @code{g}
17891 which is known as Magic SysRq g in order to connect @value{GDBN}.
17893 @item show interrupt-on-connect
17894 Show whether interrupt-sequence is sent
17895 to remote target when @value{GDBN} connects to it.
17899 @item set tcp auto-retry on
17900 @cindex auto-retry, for remote TCP target
17901 Enable auto-retry for remote TCP connections. This is useful if the remote
17902 debugging agent is launched in parallel with @value{GDBN}; there is a race
17903 condition because the agent may not become ready to accept the connection
17904 before @value{GDBN} attempts to connect. When auto-retry is
17905 enabled, if the initial attempt to connect fails, @value{GDBN} reattempts
17906 to establish the connection using the timeout specified by
17907 @code{set tcp connect-timeout}.
17909 @item set tcp auto-retry off
17910 Do not auto-retry failed TCP connections.
17912 @item show tcp auto-retry
17913 Show the current auto-retry setting.
17915 @item set tcp connect-timeout @var{seconds}
17916 @cindex connection timeout, for remote TCP target
17917 @cindex timeout, for remote target connection
17918 Set the timeout for establishing a TCP connection to the remote target to
17919 @var{seconds}. The timeout affects both polling to retry failed connections
17920 (enabled by @code{set tcp auto-retry on}) and waiting for connections
17921 that are merely slow to complete, and represents an approximate cumulative
17924 @item show tcp connect-timeout
17925 Show the current connection timeout setting.
17928 @cindex remote packets, enabling and disabling
17929 The @value{GDBN} remote protocol autodetects the packets supported by
17930 your debugging stub. If you need to override the autodetection, you
17931 can use these commands to enable or disable individual packets. Each
17932 packet can be set to @samp{on} (the remote target supports this
17933 packet), @samp{off} (the remote target does not support this packet),
17934 or @samp{auto} (detect remote target support for this packet). They
17935 all default to @samp{auto}. For more information about each packet,
17936 see @ref{Remote Protocol}.
17938 During normal use, you should not have to use any of these commands.
17939 If you do, that may be a bug in your remote debugging stub, or a bug
17940 in @value{GDBN}. You may want to report the problem to the
17941 @value{GDBN} developers.
17943 For each packet @var{name}, the command to enable or disable the
17944 packet is @code{set remote @var{name}-packet}. The available settings
17947 @multitable @columnfractions 0.28 0.32 0.25
17950 @tab Related Features
17952 @item @code{fetch-register}
17954 @tab @code{info registers}
17956 @item @code{set-register}
17960 @item @code{binary-download}
17962 @tab @code{load}, @code{set}
17964 @item @code{read-aux-vector}
17965 @tab @code{qXfer:auxv:read}
17966 @tab @code{info auxv}
17968 @item @code{symbol-lookup}
17969 @tab @code{qSymbol}
17970 @tab Detecting multiple threads
17972 @item @code{attach}
17973 @tab @code{vAttach}
17976 @item @code{verbose-resume}
17978 @tab Stepping or resuming multiple threads
17984 @item @code{software-breakpoint}
17988 @item @code{hardware-breakpoint}
17992 @item @code{write-watchpoint}
17996 @item @code{read-watchpoint}
18000 @item @code{access-watchpoint}
18004 @item @code{target-features}
18005 @tab @code{qXfer:features:read}
18006 @tab @code{set architecture}
18008 @item @code{library-info}
18009 @tab @code{qXfer:libraries:read}
18010 @tab @code{info sharedlibrary}
18012 @item @code{memory-map}
18013 @tab @code{qXfer:memory-map:read}
18014 @tab @code{info mem}
18016 @item @code{read-sdata-object}
18017 @tab @code{qXfer:sdata:read}
18018 @tab @code{print $_sdata}
18020 @item @code{read-spu-object}
18021 @tab @code{qXfer:spu:read}
18022 @tab @code{info spu}
18024 @item @code{write-spu-object}
18025 @tab @code{qXfer:spu:write}
18026 @tab @code{info spu}
18028 @item @code{read-siginfo-object}
18029 @tab @code{qXfer:siginfo:read}
18030 @tab @code{print $_siginfo}
18032 @item @code{write-siginfo-object}
18033 @tab @code{qXfer:siginfo:write}
18034 @tab @code{set $_siginfo}
18036 @item @code{threads}
18037 @tab @code{qXfer:threads:read}
18038 @tab @code{info threads}
18040 @item @code{get-thread-local-@*storage-address}
18041 @tab @code{qGetTLSAddr}
18042 @tab Displaying @code{__thread} variables
18044 @item @code{get-thread-information-block-address}
18045 @tab @code{qGetTIBAddr}
18046 @tab Display MS-Windows Thread Information Block.
18048 @item @code{search-memory}
18049 @tab @code{qSearch:memory}
18052 @item @code{supported-packets}
18053 @tab @code{qSupported}
18054 @tab Remote communications parameters
18056 @item @code{pass-signals}
18057 @tab @code{QPassSignals}
18058 @tab @code{handle @var{signal}}
18060 @item @code{program-signals}
18061 @tab @code{QProgramSignals}
18062 @tab @code{handle @var{signal}}
18064 @item @code{hostio-close-packet}
18065 @tab @code{vFile:close}
18066 @tab @code{remote get}, @code{remote put}
18068 @item @code{hostio-open-packet}
18069 @tab @code{vFile:open}
18070 @tab @code{remote get}, @code{remote put}
18072 @item @code{hostio-pread-packet}
18073 @tab @code{vFile:pread}
18074 @tab @code{remote get}, @code{remote put}
18076 @item @code{hostio-pwrite-packet}
18077 @tab @code{vFile:pwrite}
18078 @tab @code{remote get}, @code{remote put}
18080 @item @code{hostio-unlink-packet}
18081 @tab @code{vFile:unlink}
18082 @tab @code{remote delete}
18084 @item @code{hostio-readlink-packet}
18085 @tab @code{vFile:readlink}
18088 @item @code{noack-packet}
18089 @tab @code{QStartNoAckMode}
18090 @tab Packet acknowledgment
18092 @item @code{osdata}
18093 @tab @code{qXfer:osdata:read}
18094 @tab @code{info os}
18096 @item @code{query-attached}
18097 @tab @code{qAttached}
18098 @tab Querying remote process attach state.
18100 @item @code{traceframe-info}
18101 @tab @code{qXfer:traceframe-info:read}
18102 @tab Traceframe info
18104 @item @code{install-in-trace}
18105 @tab @code{InstallInTrace}
18106 @tab Install tracepoint in tracing
18108 @item @code{disable-randomization}
18109 @tab @code{QDisableRandomization}
18110 @tab @code{set disable-randomization}
18112 @item @code{conditional-breakpoints-packet}
18113 @tab @code{Z0 and Z1}
18114 @tab @code{Support for target-side breakpoint condition evaluation}
18118 @section Implementing a Remote Stub
18120 @cindex debugging stub, example
18121 @cindex remote stub, example
18122 @cindex stub example, remote debugging
18123 The stub files provided with @value{GDBN} implement the target side of the
18124 communication protocol, and the @value{GDBN} side is implemented in the
18125 @value{GDBN} source file @file{remote.c}. Normally, you can simply allow
18126 these subroutines to communicate, and ignore the details. (If you're
18127 implementing your own stub file, you can still ignore the details: start
18128 with one of the existing stub files. @file{sparc-stub.c} is the best
18129 organized, and therefore the easiest to read.)
18131 @cindex remote serial debugging, overview
18132 To debug a program running on another machine (the debugging
18133 @dfn{target} machine), you must first arrange for all the usual
18134 prerequisites for the program to run by itself. For example, for a C
18139 A startup routine to set up the C runtime environment; these usually
18140 have a name like @file{crt0}. The startup routine may be supplied by
18141 your hardware supplier, or you may have to write your own.
18144 A C subroutine library to support your program's
18145 subroutine calls, notably managing input and output.
18148 A way of getting your program to the other machine---for example, a
18149 download program. These are often supplied by the hardware
18150 manufacturer, but you may have to write your own from hardware
18154 The next step is to arrange for your program to use a serial port to
18155 communicate with the machine where @value{GDBN} is running (the @dfn{host}
18156 machine). In general terms, the scheme looks like this:
18160 @value{GDBN} already understands how to use this protocol; when everything
18161 else is set up, you can simply use the @samp{target remote} command
18162 (@pxref{Targets,,Specifying a Debugging Target}).
18164 @item On the target,
18165 you must link with your program a few special-purpose subroutines that
18166 implement the @value{GDBN} remote serial protocol. The file containing these
18167 subroutines is called a @dfn{debugging stub}.
18169 On certain remote targets, you can use an auxiliary program
18170 @code{gdbserver} instead of linking a stub into your program.
18171 @xref{Server,,Using the @code{gdbserver} Program}, for details.
18174 The debugging stub is specific to the architecture of the remote
18175 machine; for example, use @file{sparc-stub.c} to debug programs on
18178 @cindex remote serial stub list
18179 These working remote stubs are distributed with @value{GDBN}:
18184 @cindex @file{i386-stub.c}
18187 For Intel 386 and compatible architectures.
18190 @cindex @file{m68k-stub.c}
18191 @cindex Motorola 680x0
18193 For Motorola 680x0 architectures.
18196 @cindex @file{sh-stub.c}
18199 For Renesas SH architectures.
18202 @cindex @file{sparc-stub.c}
18204 For @sc{sparc} architectures.
18206 @item sparcl-stub.c
18207 @cindex @file{sparcl-stub.c}
18210 For Fujitsu @sc{sparclite} architectures.
18214 The @file{README} file in the @value{GDBN} distribution may list other
18215 recently added stubs.
18218 * Stub Contents:: What the stub can do for you
18219 * Bootstrapping:: What you must do for the stub
18220 * Debug Session:: Putting it all together
18223 @node Stub Contents
18224 @subsection What the Stub Can Do for You
18226 @cindex remote serial stub
18227 The debugging stub for your architecture supplies these three
18231 @item set_debug_traps
18232 @findex set_debug_traps
18233 @cindex remote serial stub, initialization
18234 This routine arranges for @code{handle_exception} to run when your
18235 program stops. You must call this subroutine explicitly in your
18236 program's startup code.
18238 @item handle_exception
18239 @findex handle_exception
18240 @cindex remote serial stub, main routine
18241 This is the central workhorse, but your program never calls it
18242 explicitly---the setup code arranges for @code{handle_exception} to
18243 run when a trap is triggered.
18245 @code{handle_exception} takes control when your program stops during
18246 execution (for example, on a breakpoint), and mediates communications
18247 with @value{GDBN} on the host machine. This is where the communications
18248 protocol is implemented; @code{handle_exception} acts as the @value{GDBN}
18249 representative on the target machine. It begins by sending summary
18250 information on the state of your program, then continues to execute,
18251 retrieving and transmitting any information @value{GDBN} needs, until you
18252 execute a @value{GDBN} command that makes your program resume; at that point,
18253 @code{handle_exception} returns control to your own code on the target
18257 @cindex @code{breakpoint} subroutine, remote
18258 Use this auxiliary subroutine to make your program contain a
18259 breakpoint. Depending on the particular situation, this may be the only
18260 way for @value{GDBN} to get control. For instance, if your target
18261 machine has some sort of interrupt button, you won't need to call this;
18262 pressing the interrupt button transfers control to
18263 @code{handle_exception}---in effect, to @value{GDBN}. On some machines,
18264 simply receiving characters on the serial port may also trigger a trap;
18265 again, in that situation, you don't need to call @code{breakpoint} from
18266 your own program---simply running @samp{target remote} from the host
18267 @value{GDBN} session gets control.
18269 Call @code{breakpoint} if none of these is true, or if you simply want
18270 to make certain your program stops at a predetermined point for the
18271 start of your debugging session.
18274 @node Bootstrapping
18275 @subsection What You Must Do for the Stub
18277 @cindex remote stub, support routines
18278 The debugging stubs that come with @value{GDBN} are set up for a particular
18279 chip architecture, but they have no information about the rest of your
18280 debugging target machine.
18282 First of all you need to tell the stub how to communicate with the
18286 @item int getDebugChar()
18287 @findex getDebugChar
18288 Write this subroutine to read a single character from the serial port.
18289 It may be identical to @code{getchar} for your target system; a
18290 different name is used to allow you to distinguish the two if you wish.
18292 @item void putDebugChar(int)
18293 @findex putDebugChar
18294 Write this subroutine to write a single character to the serial port.
18295 It may be identical to @code{putchar} for your target system; a
18296 different name is used to allow you to distinguish the two if you wish.
18299 @cindex control C, and remote debugging
18300 @cindex interrupting remote targets
18301 If you want @value{GDBN} to be able to stop your program while it is
18302 running, you need to use an interrupt-driven serial driver, and arrange
18303 for it to stop when it receives a @code{^C} (@samp{\003}, the control-C
18304 character). That is the character which @value{GDBN} uses to tell the
18305 remote system to stop.
18307 Getting the debugging target to return the proper status to @value{GDBN}
18308 probably requires changes to the standard stub; one quick and dirty way
18309 is to just execute a breakpoint instruction (the ``dirty'' part is that
18310 @value{GDBN} reports a @code{SIGTRAP} instead of a @code{SIGINT}).
18312 Other routines you need to supply are:
18315 @item void exceptionHandler (int @var{exception_number}, void *@var{exception_address})
18316 @findex exceptionHandler
18317 Write this function to install @var{exception_address} in the exception
18318 handling tables. You need to do this because the stub does not have any
18319 way of knowing what the exception handling tables on your target system
18320 are like (for example, the processor's table might be in @sc{rom},
18321 containing entries which point to a table in @sc{ram}).
18322 @var{exception_number} is the exception number which should be changed;
18323 its meaning is architecture-dependent (for example, different numbers
18324 might represent divide by zero, misaligned access, etc). When this
18325 exception occurs, control should be transferred directly to
18326 @var{exception_address}, and the processor state (stack, registers,
18327 and so on) should be just as it is when a processor exception occurs. So if
18328 you want to use a jump instruction to reach @var{exception_address}, it
18329 should be a simple jump, not a jump to subroutine.
18331 For the 386, @var{exception_address} should be installed as an interrupt
18332 gate so that interrupts are masked while the handler runs. The gate
18333 should be at privilege level 0 (the most privileged level). The
18334 @sc{sparc} and 68k stubs are able to mask interrupts themselves without
18335 help from @code{exceptionHandler}.
18337 @item void flush_i_cache()
18338 @findex flush_i_cache
18339 On @sc{sparc} and @sc{sparclite} only, write this subroutine to flush the
18340 instruction cache, if any, on your target machine. If there is no
18341 instruction cache, this subroutine may be a no-op.
18343 On target machines that have instruction caches, @value{GDBN} requires this
18344 function to make certain that the state of your program is stable.
18348 You must also make sure this library routine is available:
18351 @item void *memset(void *, int, int)
18353 This is the standard library function @code{memset} that sets an area of
18354 memory to a known value. If you have one of the free versions of
18355 @code{libc.a}, @code{memset} can be found there; otherwise, you must
18356 either obtain it from your hardware manufacturer, or write your own.
18359 If you do not use the GNU C compiler, you may need other standard
18360 library subroutines as well; this varies from one stub to another,
18361 but in general the stubs are likely to use any of the common library
18362 subroutines which @code{@value{NGCC}} generates as inline code.
18365 @node Debug Session
18366 @subsection Putting it All Together
18368 @cindex remote serial debugging summary
18369 In summary, when your program is ready to debug, you must follow these
18374 Make sure you have defined the supporting low-level routines
18375 (@pxref{Bootstrapping,,What You Must Do for the Stub}):
18377 @code{getDebugChar}, @code{putDebugChar},
18378 @code{flush_i_cache}, @code{memset}, @code{exceptionHandler}.
18382 Insert these lines in your program's startup code, before the main
18383 procedure is called:
18390 On some machines, when a breakpoint trap is raised, the hardware
18391 automatically makes the PC point to the instruction after the
18392 breakpoint. If your machine doesn't do that, you may need to adjust
18393 @code{handle_exception} to arrange for it to return to the instruction
18394 after the breakpoint on this first invocation, so that your program
18395 doesn't keep hitting the initial breakpoint instead of making
18399 For the 680x0 stub only, you need to provide a variable called
18400 @code{exceptionHook}. Normally you just use:
18403 void (*exceptionHook)() = 0;
18407 but if before calling @code{set_debug_traps}, you set it to point to a
18408 function in your program, that function is called when
18409 @code{@value{GDBN}} continues after stopping on a trap (for example, bus
18410 error). The function indicated by @code{exceptionHook} is called with
18411 one parameter: an @code{int} which is the exception number.
18414 Compile and link together: your program, the @value{GDBN} debugging stub for
18415 your target architecture, and the supporting subroutines.
18418 Make sure you have a serial connection between your target machine and
18419 the @value{GDBN} host, and identify the serial port on the host.
18422 @c The "remote" target now provides a `load' command, so we should
18423 @c document that. FIXME.
18424 Download your program to your target machine (or get it there by
18425 whatever means the manufacturer provides), and start it.
18428 Start @value{GDBN} on the host, and connect to the target
18429 (@pxref{Connecting,,Connecting to a Remote Target}).
18433 @node Configurations
18434 @chapter Configuration-Specific Information
18436 While nearly all @value{GDBN} commands are available for all native and
18437 cross versions of the debugger, there are some exceptions. This chapter
18438 describes things that are only available in certain configurations.
18440 There are three major categories of configurations: native
18441 configurations, where the host and target are the same, embedded
18442 operating system configurations, which are usually the same for several
18443 different processor architectures, and bare embedded processors, which
18444 are quite different from each other.
18449 * Embedded Processors::
18456 This section describes details specific to particular native
18461 * BSD libkvm Interface:: Debugging BSD kernel memory images
18462 * SVR4 Process Information:: SVR4 process information
18463 * DJGPP Native:: Features specific to the DJGPP port
18464 * Cygwin Native:: Features specific to the Cygwin port
18465 * Hurd Native:: Features specific to @sc{gnu} Hurd
18466 * Darwin:: Features specific to Darwin
18472 On HP-UX systems, if you refer to a function or variable name that
18473 begins with a dollar sign, @value{GDBN} searches for a user or system
18474 name first, before it searches for a convenience variable.
18477 @node BSD libkvm Interface
18478 @subsection BSD libkvm Interface
18481 @cindex kernel memory image
18482 @cindex kernel crash dump
18484 BSD-derived systems (FreeBSD/NetBSD/OpenBSD) have a kernel memory
18485 interface that provides a uniform interface for accessing kernel virtual
18486 memory images, including live systems and crash dumps. @value{GDBN}
18487 uses this interface to allow you to debug live kernels and kernel crash
18488 dumps on many native BSD configurations. This is implemented as a
18489 special @code{kvm} debugging target. For debugging a live system, load
18490 the currently running kernel into @value{GDBN} and connect to the
18494 (@value{GDBP}) @b{target kvm}
18497 For debugging crash dumps, provide the file name of the crash dump as an
18501 (@value{GDBP}) @b{target kvm /var/crash/bsd.0}
18504 Once connected to the @code{kvm} target, the following commands are
18510 Set current context from the @dfn{Process Control Block} (PCB) address.
18513 Set current context from proc address. This command isn't available on
18514 modern FreeBSD systems.
18517 @node SVR4 Process Information
18518 @subsection SVR4 Process Information
18520 @cindex examine process image
18521 @cindex process info via @file{/proc}
18523 Many versions of SVR4 and compatible systems provide a facility called
18524 @samp{/proc} that can be used to examine the image of a running
18525 process using file-system subroutines. If @value{GDBN} is configured
18526 for an operating system with this facility, the command @code{info
18527 proc} is available to report information about the process running
18528 your program, or about any process running on your system. @code{info
18529 proc} works only on SVR4 systems that include the @code{procfs} code.
18530 This includes, as of this writing, @sc{gnu}/Linux, OSF/1 (Digital
18531 Unix), Solaris, Irix, and Unixware, but not HP-UX, for example.
18537 @itemx info proc @var{process-id}
18538 Summarize available information about any running process. If a
18539 process ID is specified by @var{process-id}, display information about
18540 that process; otherwise display information about the program being
18541 debugged. The summary includes the debugged process ID, the command
18542 line used to invoke it, its current working directory, and its
18543 executable file's absolute file name.
18545 On some systems, @var{process-id} can be of the form
18546 @samp{[@var{pid}]/@var{tid}} which specifies a certain thread ID
18547 within a process. If the optional @var{pid} part is missing, it means
18548 a thread from the process being debugged (the leading @samp{/} still
18549 needs to be present, or else @value{GDBN} will interpret the number as
18550 a process ID rather than a thread ID).
18552 @item info proc mappings
18553 @cindex memory address space mappings
18554 Report the memory address space ranges accessible in the program, with
18555 information on whether the process has read, write, or execute access
18556 rights to each range. On @sc{gnu}/Linux systems, each memory range
18557 includes the object file which is mapped to that range, instead of the
18558 memory access rights to that range.
18560 @item info proc stat
18561 @itemx info proc status
18562 @cindex process detailed status information
18563 These subcommands are specific to @sc{gnu}/Linux systems. They show
18564 the process-related information, including the user ID and group ID;
18565 how many threads are there in the process; its virtual memory usage;
18566 the signals that are pending, blocked, and ignored; its TTY; its
18567 consumption of system and user time; its stack size; its @samp{nice}
18568 value; etc. For more information, see the @samp{proc} man page
18569 (type @kbd{man 5 proc} from your shell prompt).
18571 @item info proc all
18572 Show all the information about the process described under all of the
18573 above @code{info proc} subcommands.
18576 @comment These sub-options of 'info proc' were not included when
18577 @comment procfs.c was re-written. Keep their descriptions around
18578 @comment against the day when someone finds the time to put them back in.
18579 @kindex info proc times
18580 @item info proc times
18581 Starting time, user CPU time, and system CPU time for your program and
18584 @kindex info proc id
18586 Report on the process IDs related to your program: its own process ID,
18587 the ID of its parent, the process group ID, and the session ID.
18590 @item set procfs-trace
18591 @kindex set procfs-trace
18592 @cindex @code{procfs} API calls
18593 This command enables and disables tracing of @code{procfs} API calls.
18595 @item show procfs-trace
18596 @kindex show procfs-trace
18597 Show the current state of @code{procfs} API call tracing.
18599 @item set procfs-file @var{file}
18600 @kindex set procfs-file
18601 Tell @value{GDBN} to write @code{procfs} API trace to the named
18602 @var{file}. @value{GDBN} appends the trace info to the previous
18603 contents of the file. The default is to display the trace on the
18606 @item show procfs-file
18607 @kindex show procfs-file
18608 Show the file to which @code{procfs} API trace is written.
18610 @item proc-trace-entry
18611 @itemx proc-trace-exit
18612 @itemx proc-untrace-entry
18613 @itemx proc-untrace-exit
18614 @kindex proc-trace-entry
18615 @kindex proc-trace-exit
18616 @kindex proc-untrace-entry
18617 @kindex proc-untrace-exit
18618 These commands enable and disable tracing of entries into and exits
18619 from the @code{syscall} interface.
18622 @kindex info pidlist
18623 @cindex process list, QNX Neutrino
18624 For QNX Neutrino only, this command displays the list of all the
18625 processes and all the threads within each process.
18628 @kindex info meminfo
18629 @cindex mapinfo list, QNX Neutrino
18630 For QNX Neutrino only, this command displays the list of all mapinfos.
18634 @subsection Features for Debugging @sc{djgpp} Programs
18635 @cindex @sc{djgpp} debugging
18636 @cindex native @sc{djgpp} debugging
18637 @cindex MS-DOS-specific commands
18640 @sc{djgpp} is a port of the @sc{gnu} development tools to MS-DOS and
18641 MS-Windows. @sc{djgpp} programs are 32-bit protected-mode programs
18642 that use the @dfn{DPMI} (DOS Protected-Mode Interface) API to run on
18643 top of real-mode DOS systems and their emulations.
18645 @value{GDBN} supports native debugging of @sc{djgpp} programs, and
18646 defines a few commands specific to the @sc{djgpp} port. This
18647 subsection describes those commands.
18652 This is a prefix of @sc{djgpp}-specific commands which print
18653 information about the target system and important OS structures.
18656 @cindex MS-DOS system info
18657 @cindex free memory information (MS-DOS)
18658 @item info dos sysinfo
18659 This command displays assorted information about the underlying
18660 platform: the CPU type and features, the OS version and flavor, the
18661 DPMI version, and the available conventional and DPMI memory.
18666 @cindex segment descriptor tables
18667 @cindex descriptor tables display
18669 @itemx info dos ldt
18670 @itemx info dos idt
18671 These 3 commands display entries from, respectively, Global, Local,
18672 and Interrupt Descriptor Tables (GDT, LDT, and IDT). The descriptor
18673 tables are data structures which store a descriptor for each segment
18674 that is currently in use. The segment's selector is an index into a
18675 descriptor table; the table entry for that index holds the
18676 descriptor's base address and limit, and its attributes and access
18679 A typical @sc{djgpp} program uses 3 segments: a code segment, a data
18680 segment (used for both data and the stack), and a DOS segment (which
18681 allows access to DOS/BIOS data structures and absolute addresses in
18682 conventional memory). However, the DPMI host will usually define
18683 additional segments in order to support the DPMI environment.
18685 @cindex garbled pointers
18686 These commands allow to display entries from the descriptor tables.
18687 Without an argument, all entries from the specified table are
18688 displayed. An argument, which should be an integer expression, means
18689 display a single entry whose index is given by the argument. For
18690 example, here's a convenient way to display information about the
18691 debugged program's data segment:
18694 @exdent @code{(@value{GDBP}) info dos ldt $ds}
18695 @exdent @code{0x13f: base=0x11970000 limit=0x0009ffff 32-Bit Data (Read/Write, Exp-up)}
18699 This comes in handy when you want to see whether a pointer is outside
18700 the data segment's limit (i.e.@: @dfn{garbled}).
18702 @cindex page tables display (MS-DOS)
18704 @itemx info dos pte
18705 These two commands display entries from, respectively, the Page
18706 Directory and the Page Tables. Page Directories and Page Tables are
18707 data structures which control how virtual memory addresses are mapped
18708 into physical addresses. A Page Table includes an entry for every
18709 page of memory that is mapped into the program's address space; there
18710 may be several Page Tables, each one holding up to 4096 entries. A
18711 Page Directory has up to 4096 entries, one each for every Page Table
18712 that is currently in use.
18714 Without an argument, @kbd{info dos pde} displays the entire Page
18715 Directory, and @kbd{info dos pte} displays all the entries in all of
18716 the Page Tables. An argument, an integer expression, given to the
18717 @kbd{info dos pde} command means display only that entry from the Page
18718 Directory table. An argument given to the @kbd{info dos pte} command
18719 means display entries from a single Page Table, the one pointed to by
18720 the specified entry in the Page Directory.
18722 @cindex direct memory access (DMA) on MS-DOS
18723 These commands are useful when your program uses @dfn{DMA} (Direct
18724 Memory Access), which needs physical addresses to program the DMA
18727 These commands are supported only with some DPMI servers.
18729 @cindex physical address from linear address
18730 @item info dos address-pte @var{addr}
18731 This command displays the Page Table entry for a specified linear
18732 address. The argument @var{addr} is a linear address which should
18733 already have the appropriate segment's base address added to it,
18734 because this command accepts addresses which may belong to @emph{any}
18735 segment. For example, here's how to display the Page Table entry for
18736 the page where a variable @code{i} is stored:
18739 @exdent @code{(@value{GDBP}) info dos address-pte __djgpp_base_address + (char *)&i}
18740 @exdent @code{Page Table entry for address 0x11a00d30:}
18741 @exdent @code{Base=0x02698000 Dirty Acc. Not-Cached Write-Back Usr Read-Write +0xd30}
18745 This says that @code{i} is stored at offset @code{0xd30} from the page
18746 whose physical base address is @code{0x02698000}, and shows all the
18747 attributes of that page.
18749 Note that you must cast the addresses of variables to a @code{char *},
18750 since otherwise the value of @code{__djgpp_base_address}, the base
18751 address of all variables and functions in a @sc{djgpp} program, will
18752 be added using the rules of C pointer arithmetics: if @code{i} is
18753 declared an @code{int}, @value{GDBN} will add 4 times the value of
18754 @code{__djgpp_base_address} to the address of @code{i}.
18756 Here's another example, it displays the Page Table entry for the
18760 @exdent @code{(@value{GDBP}) info dos address-pte *((unsigned *)&_go32_info_block + 3)}
18761 @exdent @code{Page Table entry for address 0x29110:}
18762 @exdent @code{Base=0x00029000 Dirty Acc. Not-Cached Write-Back Usr Read-Write +0x110}
18766 (The @code{+ 3} offset is because the transfer buffer's address is the
18767 3rd member of the @code{_go32_info_block} structure.) The output
18768 clearly shows that this DPMI server maps the addresses in conventional
18769 memory 1:1, i.e.@: the physical (@code{0x00029000} + @code{0x110}) and
18770 linear (@code{0x29110}) addresses are identical.
18772 This command is supported only with some DPMI servers.
18775 @cindex DOS serial data link, remote debugging
18776 In addition to native debugging, the DJGPP port supports remote
18777 debugging via a serial data link. The following commands are specific
18778 to remote serial debugging in the DJGPP port of @value{GDBN}.
18781 @kindex set com1base
18782 @kindex set com1irq
18783 @kindex set com2base
18784 @kindex set com2irq
18785 @kindex set com3base
18786 @kindex set com3irq
18787 @kindex set com4base
18788 @kindex set com4irq
18789 @item set com1base @var{addr}
18790 This command sets the base I/O port address of the @file{COM1} serial
18793 @item set com1irq @var{irq}
18794 This command sets the @dfn{Interrupt Request} (@code{IRQ}) line to use
18795 for the @file{COM1} serial port.
18797 There are similar commands @samp{set com2base}, @samp{set com3irq},
18798 etc.@: for setting the port address and the @code{IRQ} lines for the
18801 @kindex show com1base
18802 @kindex show com1irq
18803 @kindex show com2base
18804 @kindex show com2irq
18805 @kindex show com3base
18806 @kindex show com3irq
18807 @kindex show com4base
18808 @kindex show com4irq
18809 The related commands @samp{show com1base}, @samp{show com1irq} etc.@:
18810 display the current settings of the base address and the @code{IRQ}
18811 lines used by the COM ports.
18814 @kindex info serial
18815 @cindex DOS serial port status
18816 This command prints the status of the 4 DOS serial ports. For each
18817 port, it prints whether it's active or not, its I/O base address and
18818 IRQ number, whether it uses a 16550-style FIFO, its baudrate, and the
18819 counts of various errors encountered so far.
18823 @node Cygwin Native
18824 @subsection Features for Debugging MS Windows PE Executables
18825 @cindex MS Windows debugging
18826 @cindex native Cygwin debugging
18827 @cindex Cygwin-specific commands
18829 @value{GDBN} supports native debugging of MS Windows programs, including
18830 DLLs with and without symbolic debugging information.
18832 @cindex Ctrl-BREAK, MS-Windows
18833 @cindex interrupt debuggee on MS-Windows
18834 MS-Windows programs that call @code{SetConsoleMode} to switch off the
18835 special meaning of the @samp{Ctrl-C} keystroke cannot be interrupted
18836 by typing @kbd{C-c}. For this reason, @value{GDBN} on MS-Windows
18837 supports @kbd{C-@key{BREAK}} as an alternative interrupt key
18838 sequence, which can be used to interrupt the debuggee even if it
18841 There are various additional Cygwin-specific commands, described in
18842 this section. Working with DLLs that have no debugging symbols is
18843 described in @ref{Non-debug DLL Symbols}.
18848 This is a prefix of MS Windows-specific commands which print
18849 information about the target system and important OS structures.
18851 @item info w32 selector
18852 This command displays information returned by
18853 the Win32 API @code{GetThreadSelectorEntry} function.
18854 It takes an optional argument that is evaluated to
18855 a long value to give the information about this given selector.
18856 Without argument, this command displays information
18857 about the six segment registers.
18859 @item info w32 thread-information-block
18860 This command displays thread specific information stored in the
18861 Thread Information Block (readable on the X86 CPU family using @code{$fs}
18862 selector for 32-bit programs and @code{$gs} for 64-bit programs).
18866 This is a Cygwin-specific alias of @code{info shared}.
18868 @kindex dll-symbols
18870 This command loads symbols from a dll similarly to
18871 add-sym command but without the need to specify a base address.
18873 @kindex set cygwin-exceptions
18874 @cindex debugging the Cygwin DLL
18875 @cindex Cygwin DLL, debugging
18876 @item set cygwin-exceptions @var{mode}
18877 If @var{mode} is @code{on}, @value{GDBN} will break on exceptions that
18878 happen inside the Cygwin DLL. If @var{mode} is @code{off},
18879 @value{GDBN} will delay recognition of exceptions, and may ignore some
18880 exceptions which seem to be caused by internal Cygwin DLL
18881 ``bookkeeping''. This option is meant primarily for debugging the
18882 Cygwin DLL itself; the default value is @code{off} to avoid annoying
18883 @value{GDBN} users with false @code{SIGSEGV} signals.
18885 @kindex show cygwin-exceptions
18886 @item show cygwin-exceptions
18887 Displays whether @value{GDBN} will break on exceptions that happen
18888 inside the Cygwin DLL itself.
18890 @kindex set new-console
18891 @item set new-console @var{mode}
18892 If @var{mode} is @code{on} the debuggee will
18893 be started in a new console on next start.
18894 If @var{mode} is @code{off}, the debuggee will
18895 be started in the same console as the debugger.
18897 @kindex show new-console
18898 @item show new-console
18899 Displays whether a new console is used
18900 when the debuggee is started.
18902 @kindex set new-group
18903 @item set new-group @var{mode}
18904 This boolean value controls whether the debuggee should
18905 start a new group or stay in the same group as the debugger.
18906 This affects the way the Windows OS handles
18909 @kindex show new-group
18910 @item show new-group
18911 Displays current value of new-group boolean.
18913 @kindex set debugevents
18914 @item set debugevents
18915 This boolean value adds debug output concerning kernel events related
18916 to the debuggee seen by the debugger. This includes events that
18917 signal thread and process creation and exit, DLL loading and
18918 unloading, console interrupts, and debugging messages produced by the
18919 Windows @code{OutputDebugString} API call.
18921 @kindex set debugexec
18922 @item set debugexec
18923 This boolean value adds debug output concerning execute events
18924 (such as resume thread) seen by the debugger.
18926 @kindex set debugexceptions
18927 @item set debugexceptions
18928 This boolean value adds debug output concerning exceptions in the
18929 debuggee seen by the debugger.
18931 @kindex set debugmemory
18932 @item set debugmemory
18933 This boolean value adds debug output concerning debuggee memory reads
18934 and writes by the debugger.
18938 This boolean values specifies whether the debuggee is called
18939 via a shell or directly (default value is on).
18943 Displays if the debuggee will be started with a shell.
18948 * Non-debug DLL Symbols:: Support for DLLs without debugging symbols
18951 @node Non-debug DLL Symbols
18952 @subsubsection Support for DLLs without Debugging Symbols
18953 @cindex DLLs with no debugging symbols
18954 @cindex Minimal symbols and DLLs
18956 Very often on windows, some of the DLLs that your program relies on do
18957 not include symbolic debugging information (for example,
18958 @file{kernel32.dll}). When @value{GDBN} doesn't recognize any debugging
18959 symbols in a DLL, it relies on the minimal amount of symbolic
18960 information contained in the DLL's export table. This section
18961 describes working with such symbols, known internally to @value{GDBN} as
18962 ``minimal symbols''.
18964 Note that before the debugged program has started execution, no DLLs
18965 will have been loaded. The easiest way around this problem is simply to
18966 start the program --- either by setting a breakpoint or letting the
18967 program run once to completion. It is also possible to force
18968 @value{GDBN} to load a particular DLL before starting the executable ---
18969 see the shared library information in @ref{Files}, or the
18970 @code{dll-symbols} command in @ref{Cygwin Native}. Currently,
18971 explicitly loading symbols from a DLL with no debugging information will
18972 cause the symbol names to be duplicated in @value{GDBN}'s lookup table,
18973 which may adversely affect symbol lookup performance.
18975 @subsubsection DLL Name Prefixes
18977 In keeping with the naming conventions used by the Microsoft debugging
18978 tools, DLL export symbols are made available with a prefix based on the
18979 DLL name, for instance @code{KERNEL32!CreateFileA}. The plain name is
18980 also entered into the symbol table, so @code{CreateFileA} is often
18981 sufficient. In some cases there will be name clashes within a program
18982 (particularly if the executable itself includes full debugging symbols)
18983 necessitating the use of the fully qualified name when referring to the
18984 contents of the DLL. Use single-quotes around the name to avoid the
18985 exclamation mark (``!'') being interpreted as a language operator.
18987 Note that the internal name of the DLL may be all upper-case, even
18988 though the file name of the DLL is lower-case, or vice-versa. Since
18989 symbols within @value{GDBN} are @emph{case-sensitive} this may cause
18990 some confusion. If in doubt, try the @code{info functions} and
18991 @code{info variables} commands or even @code{maint print msymbols}
18992 (@pxref{Symbols}). Here's an example:
18995 (@value{GDBP}) info function CreateFileA
18996 All functions matching regular expression "CreateFileA":
18998 Non-debugging symbols:
18999 0x77e885f4 CreateFileA
19000 0x77e885f4 KERNEL32!CreateFileA
19004 (@value{GDBP}) info function !
19005 All functions matching regular expression "!":
19007 Non-debugging symbols:
19008 0x6100114c cygwin1!__assert
19009 0x61004034 cygwin1!_dll_crt0@@0
19010 0x61004240 cygwin1!dll_crt0(per_process *)
19014 @subsubsection Working with Minimal Symbols
19016 Symbols extracted from a DLL's export table do not contain very much
19017 type information. All that @value{GDBN} can do is guess whether a symbol
19018 refers to a function or variable depending on the linker section that
19019 contains the symbol. Also note that the actual contents of the memory
19020 contained in a DLL are not available unless the program is running. This
19021 means that you cannot examine the contents of a variable or disassemble
19022 a function within a DLL without a running program.
19024 Variables are generally treated as pointers and dereferenced
19025 automatically. For this reason, it is often necessary to prefix a
19026 variable name with the address-of operator (``&'') and provide explicit
19027 type information in the command. Here's an example of the type of
19031 (@value{GDBP}) print 'cygwin1!__argv'
19036 (@value{GDBP}) x 'cygwin1!__argv'
19037 0x10021610: "\230y\""
19040 And two possible solutions:
19043 (@value{GDBP}) print ((char **)'cygwin1!__argv')[0]
19044 $2 = 0x22fd98 "/cygdrive/c/mydirectory/myprogram"
19048 (@value{GDBP}) x/2x &'cygwin1!__argv'
19049 0x610c0aa8 <cygwin1!__argv>: 0x10021608 0x00000000
19050 (@value{GDBP}) x/x 0x10021608
19051 0x10021608: 0x0022fd98
19052 (@value{GDBP}) x/s 0x0022fd98
19053 0x22fd98: "/cygdrive/c/mydirectory/myprogram"
19056 Setting a break point within a DLL is possible even before the program
19057 starts execution. However, under these circumstances, @value{GDBN} can't
19058 examine the initial instructions of the function in order to skip the
19059 function's frame set-up code. You can work around this by using ``*&''
19060 to set the breakpoint at a raw memory address:
19063 (@value{GDBP}) break *&'python22!PyOS_Readline'
19064 Breakpoint 1 at 0x1e04eff0
19067 The author of these extensions is not entirely convinced that setting a
19068 break point within a shared DLL like @file{kernel32.dll} is completely
19072 @subsection Commands Specific to @sc{gnu} Hurd Systems
19073 @cindex @sc{gnu} Hurd debugging
19075 This subsection describes @value{GDBN} commands specific to the
19076 @sc{gnu} Hurd native debugging.
19081 @kindex set signals@r{, Hurd command}
19082 @kindex set sigs@r{, Hurd command}
19083 This command toggles the state of inferior signal interception by
19084 @value{GDBN}. Mach exceptions, such as breakpoint traps, are not
19085 affected by this command. @code{sigs} is a shorthand alias for
19090 @kindex show signals@r{, Hurd command}
19091 @kindex show sigs@r{, Hurd command}
19092 Show the current state of intercepting inferior's signals.
19094 @item set signal-thread
19095 @itemx set sigthread
19096 @kindex set signal-thread
19097 @kindex set sigthread
19098 This command tells @value{GDBN} which thread is the @code{libc} signal
19099 thread. That thread is run when a signal is delivered to a running
19100 process. @code{set sigthread} is the shorthand alias of @code{set
19103 @item show signal-thread
19104 @itemx show sigthread
19105 @kindex show signal-thread
19106 @kindex show sigthread
19107 These two commands show which thread will run when the inferior is
19108 delivered a signal.
19111 @kindex set stopped@r{, Hurd command}
19112 This commands tells @value{GDBN} that the inferior process is stopped,
19113 as with the @code{SIGSTOP} signal. The stopped process can be
19114 continued by delivering a signal to it.
19117 @kindex show stopped@r{, Hurd command}
19118 This command shows whether @value{GDBN} thinks the debuggee is
19121 @item set exceptions
19122 @kindex set exceptions@r{, Hurd command}
19123 Use this command to turn off trapping of exceptions in the inferior.
19124 When exception trapping is off, neither breakpoints nor
19125 single-stepping will work. To restore the default, set exception
19128 @item show exceptions
19129 @kindex show exceptions@r{, Hurd command}
19130 Show the current state of trapping exceptions in the inferior.
19132 @item set task pause
19133 @kindex set task@r{, Hurd commands}
19134 @cindex task attributes (@sc{gnu} Hurd)
19135 @cindex pause current task (@sc{gnu} Hurd)
19136 This command toggles task suspension when @value{GDBN} has control.
19137 Setting it to on takes effect immediately, and the task is suspended
19138 whenever @value{GDBN} gets control. Setting it to off will take
19139 effect the next time the inferior is continued. If this option is set
19140 to off, you can use @code{set thread default pause on} or @code{set
19141 thread pause on} (see below) to pause individual threads.
19143 @item show task pause
19144 @kindex show task@r{, Hurd commands}
19145 Show the current state of task suspension.
19147 @item set task detach-suspend-count
19148 @cindex task suspend count
19149 @cindex detach from task, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19150 This command sets the suspend count the task will be left with when
19151 @value{GDBN} detaches from it.
19153 @item show task detach-suspend-count
19154 Show the suspend count the task will be left with when detaching.
19156 @item set task exception-port
19157 @itemx set task excp
19158 @cindex task exception port, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19159 This command sets the task exception port to which @value{GDBN} will
19160 forward exceptions. The argument should be the value of the @dfn{send
19161 rights} of the task. @code{set task excp} is a shorthand alias.
19163 @item set noninvasive
19164 @cindex noninvasive task options
19165 This command switches @value{GDBN} to a mode that is the least
19166 invasive as far as interfering with the inferior is concerned. This
19167 is the same as using @code{set task pause}, @code{set exceptions}, and
19168 @code{set signals} to values opposite to the defaults.
19170 @item info send-rights
19171 @itemx info receive-rights
19172 @itemx info port-rights
19173 @itemx info port-sets
19174 @itemx info dead-names
19177 @cindex send rights, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19178 @cindex receive rights, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19179 @cindex port rights, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19180 @cindex port sets, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19181 @cindex dead names, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19182 These commands display information about, respectively, send rights,
19183 receive rights, port rights, port sets, and dead names of a task.
19184 There are also shorthand aliases: @code{info ports} for @code{info
19185 port-rights} and @code{info psets} for @code{info port-sets}.
19187 @item set thread pause
19188 @kindex set thread@r{, Hurd command}
19189 @cindex thread properties, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19190 @cindex pause current thread (@sc{gnu} Hurd)
19191 This command toggles current thread suspension when @value{GDBN} has
19192 control. Setting it to on takes effect immediately, and the current
19193 thread is suspended whenever @value{GDBN} gets control. Setting it to
19194 off will take effect the next time the inferior is continued.
19195 Normally, this command has no effect, since when @value{GDBN} has
19196 control, the whole task is suspended. However, if you used @code{set
19197 task pause off} (see above), this command comes in handy to suspend
19198 only the current thread.
19200 @item show thread pause
19201 @kindex show thread@r{, Hurd command}
19202 This command shows the state of current thread suspension.
19204 @item set thread run
19205 This command sets whether the current thread is allowed to run.
19207 @item show thread run
19208 Show whether the current thread is allowed to run.
19210 @item set thread detach-suspend-count
19211 @cindex thread suspend count, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19212 @cindex detach from thread, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19213 This command sets the suspend count @value{GDBN} will leave on a
19214 thread when detaching. This number is relative to the suspend count
19215 found by @value{GDBN} when it notices the thread; use @code{set thread
19216 takeover-suspend-count} to force it to an absolute value.
19218 @item show thread detach-suspend-count
19219 Show the suspend count @value{GDBN} will leave on the thread when
19222 @item set thread exception-port
19223 @itemx set thread excp
19224 Set the thread exception port to which to forward exceptions. This
19225 overrides the port set by @code{set task exception-port} (see above).
19226 @code{set thread excp} is the shorthand alias.
19228 @item set thread takeover-suspend-count
19229 Normally, @value{GDBN}'s thread suspend counts are relative to the
19230 value @value{GDBN} finds when it notices each thread. This command
19231 changes the suspend counts to be absolute instead.
19233 @item set thread default
19234 @itemx show thread default
19235 @cindex thread default settings, @sc{gnu} Hurd
19236 Each of the above @code{set thread} commands has a @code{set thread
19237 default} counterpart (e.g., @code{set thread default pause}, @code{set
19238 thread default exception-port}, etc.). The @code{thread default}
19239 variety of commands sets the default thread properties for all
19240 threads; you can then change the properties of individual threads with
19241 the non-default commands.
19248 @value{GDBN} provides the following commands specific to the Darwin target:
19251 @item set debug darwin @var{num}
19252 @kindex set debug darwin
19253 When set to a non zero value, enables debugging messages specific to
19254 the Darwin support. Higher values produce more verbose output.
19256 @item show debug darwin
19257 @kindex show debug darwin
19258 Show the current state of Darwin messages.
19260 @item set debug mach-o @var{num}
19261 @kindex set debug mach-o
19262 When set to a non zero value, enables debugging messages while
19263 @value{GDBN} is reading Darwin object files. (@dfn{Mach-O} is the
19264 file format used on Darwin for object and executable files.) Higher
19265 values produce more verbose output. This is a command to diagnose
19266 problems internal to @value{GDBN} and should not be needed in normal
19269 @item show debug mach-o
19270 @kindex show debug mach-o
19271 Show the current state of Mach-O file messages.
19273 @item set mach-exceptions on
19274 @itemx set mach-exceptions off
19275 @kindex set mach-exceptions
19276 On Darwin, faults are first reported as a Mach exception and are then
19277 mapped to a Posix signal. Use this command to turn on trapping of
19278 Mach exceptions in the inferior. This might be sometimes useful to
19279 better understand the cause of a fault. The default is off.
19281 @item show mach-exceptions
19282 @kindex show mach-exceptions
19283 Show the current state of exceptions trapping.
19288 @section Embedded Operating Systems
19290 This section describes configurations involving the debugging of
19291 embedded operating systems that are available for several different
19295 * VxWorks:: Using @value{GDBN} with VxWorks
19298 @value{GDBN} includes the ability to debug programs running on
19299 various real-time operating systems.
19302 @subsection Using @value{GDBN} with VxWorks
19308 @kindex target vxworks
19309 @item target vxworks @var{machinename}
19310 A VxWorks system, attached via TCP/IP. The argument @var{machinename}
19311 is the target system's machine name or IP address.
19315 On VxWorks, @code{load} links @var{filename} dynamically on the
19316 current target system as well as adding its symbols in @value{GDBN}.
19318 @value{GDBN} enables developers to spawn and debug tasks running on networked
19319 VxWorks targets from a Unix host. Already-running tasks spawned from
19320 the VxWorks shell can also be debugged. @value{GDBN} uses code that runs on
19321 both the Unix host and on the VxWorks target. The program
19322 @code{@value{GDBP}} is installed and executed on the Unix host. (It may be
19323 installed with the name @code{vxgdb}, to distinguish it from a
19324 @value{GDBN} for debugging programs on the host itself.)
19327 @item VxWorks-timeout @var{args}
19328 @kindex vxworks-timeout
19329 All VxWorks-based targets now support the option @code{vxworks-timeout}.
19330 This option is set by the user, and @var{args} represents the number of
19331 seconds @value{GDBN} waits for responses to rpc's. You might use this if
19332 your VxWorks target is a slow software simulator or is on the far side
19333 of a thin network line.
19336 The following information on connecting to VxWorks was current when
19337 this manual was produced; newer releases of VxWorks may use revised
19340 @findex INCLUDE_RDB
19341 To use @value{GDBN} with VxWorks, you must rebuild your VxWorks kernel
19342 to include the remote debugging interface routines in the VxWorks
19343 library @file{rdb.a}. To do this, define @code{INCLUDE_RDB} in the
19344 VxWorks configuration file @file{configAll.h} and rebuild your VxWorks
19345 kernel. The resulting kernel contains @file{rdb.a}, and spawns the
19346 source debugging task @code{tRdbTask} when VxWorks is booted. For more
19347 information on configuring and remaking VxWorks, see the manufacturer's
19349 @c VxWorks, see the @cite{VxWorks Programmer's Guide}.
19351 Once you have included @file{rdb.a} in your VxWorks system image and set
19352 your Unix execution search path to find @value{GDBN}, you are ready to
19353 run @value{GDBN}. From your Unix host, run @code{@value{GDBP}} (or
19354 @code{vxgdb}, depending on your installation).
19356 @value{GDBN} comes up showing the prompt:
19363 * VxWorks Connection:: Connecting to VxWorks
19364 * VxWorks Download:: VxWorks download
19365 * VxWorks Attach:: Running tasks
19368 @node VxWorks Connection
19369 @subsubsection Connecting to VxWorks
19371 The @value{GDBN} command @code{target} lets you connect to a VxWorks target on the
19372 network. To connect to a target whose host name is ``@code{tt}'', type:
19375 (vxgdb) target vxworks tt
19379 @value{GDBN} displays messages like these:
19382 Attaching remote machine across net...
19387 @value{GDBN} then attempts to read the symbol tables of any object modules
19388 loaded into the VxWorks target since it was last booted. @value{GDBN} locates
19389 these files by searching the directories listed in the command search
19390 path (@pxref{Environment, ,Your Program's Environment}); if it fails
19391 to find an object file, it displays a message such as:
19394 prog.o: No such file or directory.
19397 When this happens, add the appropriate directory to the search path with
19398 the @value{GDBN} command @code{path}, and execute the @code{target}
19401 @node VxWorks Download
19402 @subsubsection VxWorks Download
19404 @cindex download to VxWorks
19405 If you have connected to the VxWorks target and you want to debug an
19406 object that has not yet been loaded, you can use the @value{GDBN}
19407 @code{load} command to download a file from Unix to VxWorks
19408 incrementally. The object file given as an argument to the @code{load}
19409 command is actually opened twice: first by the VxWorks target in order
19410 to download the code, then by @value{GDBN} in order to read the symbol
19411 table. This can lead to problems if the current working directories on
19412 the two systems differ. If both systems have NFS mounted the same
19413 filesystems, you can avoid these problems by using absolute paths.
19414 Otherwise, it is simplest to set the working directory on both systems
19415 to the directory in which the object file resides, and then to reference
19416 the file by its name, without any path. For instance, a program
19417 @file{prog.o} may reside in @file{@var{vxpath}/vw/demo/rdb} in VxWorks
19418 and in @file{@var{hostpath}/vw/demo/rdb} on the host. To load this
19419 program, type this on VxWorks:
19422 -> cd "@var{vxpath}/vw/demo/rdb"
19426 Then, in @value{GDBN}, type:
19429 (vxgdb) cd @var{hostpath}/vw/demo/rdb
19430 (vxgdb) load prog.o
19433 @value{GDBN} displays a response similar to this:
19436 Reading symbol data from wherever/vw/demo/rdb/prog.o... done.
19439 You can also use the @code{load} command to reload an object module
19440 after editing and recompiling the corresponding source file. Note that
19441 this makes @value{GDBN} delete all currently-defined breakpoints,
19442 auto-displays, and convenience variables, and to clear the value
19443 history. (This is necessary in order to preserve the integrity of
19444 debugger's data structures that reference the target system's symbol
19447 @node VxWorks Attach
19448 @subsubsection Running Tasks
19450 @cindex running VxWorks tasks
19451 You can also attach to an existing task using the @code{attach} command as
19455 (vxgdb) attach @var{task}
19459 where @var{task} is the VxWorks hexadecimal task ID. The task can be running
19460 or suspended when you attach to it. Running tasks are suspended at
19461 the time of attachment.
19463 @node Embedded Processors
19464 @section Embedded Processors
19466 This section goes into details specific to particular embedded
19469 @cindex send command to simulator
19470 Whenever a specific embedded processor has a simulator, @value{GDBN}
19471 allows to send an arbitrary command to the simulator.
19474 @item sim @var{command}
19475 @kindex sim@r{, a command}
19476 Send an arbitrary @var{command} string to the simulator. Consult the
19477 documentation for the specific simulator in use for information about
19478 acceptable commands.
19484 * M32R/D:: Renesas M32R/D
19485 * M68K:: Motorola M68K
19486 * MicroBlaze:: Xilinx MicroBlaze
19487 * MIPS Embedded:: MIPS Embedded
19488 * OpenRISC 1000:: OpenRisc 1000
19489 * PowerPC Embedded:: PowerPC Embedded
19490 * PA:: HP PA Embedded
19491 * Sparclet:: Tsqware Sparclet
19492 * Sparclite:: Fujitsu Sparclite
19493 * Z8000:: Zilog Z8000
19496 * Super-H:: Renesas Super-H
19505 @item target rdi @var{dev}
19506 ARM Angel monitor, via RDI library interface to ADP protocol. You may
19507 use this target to communicate with both boards running the Angel
19508 monitor, or with the EmbeddedICE JTAG debug device.
19511 @item target rdp @var{dev}
19516 @value{GDBN} provides the following ARM-specific commands:
19519 @item set arm disassembler
19521 This commands selects from a list of disassembly styles. The
19522 @code{"std"} style is the standard style.
19524 @item show arm disassembler
19526 Show the current disassembly style.
19528 @item set arm apcs32
19529 @cindex ARM 32-bit mode
19530 This command toggles ARM operation mode between 32-bit and 26-bit.
19532 @item show arm apcs32
19533 Display the current usage of the ARM 32-bit mode.
19535 @item set arm fpu @var{fputype}
19536 This command sets the ARM floating-point unit (FPU) type. The
19537 argument @var{fputype} can be one of these:
19541 Determine the FPU type by querying the OS ABI.
19543 Software FPU, with mixed-endian doubles on little-endian ARM
19546 GCC-compiled FPA co-processor.
19548 Software FPU with pure-endian doubles.
19554 Show the current type of the FPU.
19557 This command forces @value{GDBN} to use the specified ABI.
19560 Show the currently used ABI.
19562 @item set arm fallback-mode (arm|thumb|auto)
19563 @value{GDBN} uses the symbol table, when available, to determine
19564 whether instructions are ARM or Thumb. This command controls
19565 @value{GDBN}'s default behavior when the symbol table is not
19566 available. The default is @samp{auto}, which causes @value{GDBN} to
19567 use the current execution mode (from the @code{T} bit in the @code{CPSR}
19570 @item show arm fallback-mode
19571 Show the current fallback instruction mode.
19573 @item set arm force-mode (arm|thumb|auto)
19574 This command overrides use of the symbol table to determine whether
19575 instructions are ARM or Thumb. The default is @samp{auto}, which
19576 causes @value{GDBN} to use the symbol table and then the setting
19577 of @samp{set arm fallback-mode}.
19579 @item show arm force-mode
19580 Show the current forced instruction mode.
19582 @item set debug arm
19583 Toggle whether to display ARM-specific debugging messages from the ARM
19584 target support subsystem.
19586 @item show debug arm
19587 Show whether ARM-specific debugging messages are enabled.
19590 The following commands are available when an ARM target is debugged
19591 using the RDI interface:
19594 @item rdilogfile @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
19596 @cindex ADP (Angel Debugger Protocol) logging
19597 Set the filename for the ADP (Angel Debugger Protocol) packet log.
19598 With an argument, sets the log file to the specified @var{file}. With
19599 no argument, show the current log file name. The default log file is
19602 @item rdilogenable @r{[}@var{arg}@r{]}
19603 @kindex rdilogenable
19604 Control logging of ADP packets. With an argument of 1 or @code{"yes"}
19605 enables logging, with an argument 0 or @code{"no"} disables it. With
19606 no arguments displays the current setting. When logging is enabled,
19607 ADP packets exchanged between @value{GDBN} and the RDI target device
19608 are logged to a file.
19610 @item set rdiromatzero
19611 @kindex set rdiromatzero
19612 @cindex ROM at zero address, RDI
19613 Tell @value{GDBN} whether the target has ROM at address 0. If on,
19614 vector catching is disabled, so that zero address can be used. If off
19615 (the default), vector catching is enabled. For this command to take
19616 effect, it needs to be invoked prior to the @code{target rdi} command.
19618 @item show rdiromatzero
19619 @kindex show rdiromatzero
19620 Show the current setting of ROM at zero address.
19622 @item set rdiheartbeat
19623 @kindex set rdiheartbeat
19624 @cindex RDI heartbeat
19625 Enable or disable RDI heartbeat packets. It is not recommended to
19626 turn on this option, since it confuses ARM and EPI JTAG interface, as
19627 well as the Angel monitor.
19629 @item show rdiheartbeat
19630 @kindex show rdiheartbeat
19631 Show the setting of RDI heartbeat packets.
19635 @item target sim @r{[}@var{simargs}@r{]} @dots{}
19636 The @value{GDBN} ARM simulator accepts the following optional arguments.
19639 @item --swi-support=@var{type}
19640 Tell the simulator which SWI interfaces to support.
19641 @var{type} may be a comma separated list of the following values.
19642 The default value is @code{all}.
19655 @subsection Renesas M32R/D and M32R/SDI
19658 @kindex target m32r
19659 @item target m32r @var{dev}
19660 Renesas M32R/D ROM monitor.
19662 @kindex target m32rsdi
19663 @item target m32rsdi @var{dev}
19664 Renesas M32R SDI server, connected via parallel port to the board.
19667 The following @value{GDBN} commands are specific to the M32R monitor:
19670 @item set download-path @var{path}
19671 @kindex set download-path
19672 @cindex find downloadable @sc{srec} files (M32R)
19673 Set the default path for finding downloadable @sc{srec} files.
19675 @item show download-path
19676 @kindex show download-path
19677 Show the default path for downloadable @sc{srec} files.
19679 @item set board-address @var{addr}
19680 @kindex set board-address
19681 @cindex M32-EVA target board address
19682 Set the IP address for the M32R-EVA target board.
19684 @item show board-address
19685 @kindex show board-address
19686 Show the current IP address of the target board.
19688 @item set server-address @var{addr}
19689 @kindex set server-address
19690 @cindex download server address (M32R)
19691 Set the IP address for the download server, which is the @value{GDBN}'s
19694 @item show server-address
19695 @kindex show server-address
19696 Display the IP address of the download server.
19698 @item upload @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
19699 @kindex upload@r{, M32R}
19700 Upload the specified @sc{srec} @var{file} via the monitor's Ethernet
19701 upload capability. If no @var{file} argument is given, the current
19702 executable file is uploaded.
19704 @item tload @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
19705 @kindex tload@r{, M32R}
19706 Test the @code{upload} command.
19709 The following commands are available for M32R/SDI:
19714 @cindex reset SDI connection, M32R
19715 This command resets the SDI connection.
19719 This command shows the SDI connection status.
19722 @kindex debug_chaos
19723 @cindex M32R/Chaos debugging
19724 Instructs the remote that M32R/Chaos debugging is to be used.
19726 @item use_debug_dma
19727 @kindex use_debug_dma
19728 Instructs the remote to use the DEBUG_DMA method of accessing memory.
19731 @kindex use_mon_code
19732 Instructs the remote to use the MON_CODE method of accessing memory.
19735 @kindex use_ib_break
19736 Instructs the remote to set breakpoints by IB break.
19738 @item use_dbt_break
19739 @kindex use_dbt_break
19740 Instructs the remote to set breakpoints by DBT.
19746 The Motorola m68k configuration includes ColdFire support, and a
19747 target command for the following ROM monitor.
19751 @kindex target dbug
19752 @item target dbug @var{dev}
19753 dBUG ROM monitor for Motorola ColdFire.
19758 @subsection MicroBlaze
19759 @cindex Xilinx MicroBlaze
19760 @cindex XMD, Xilinx Microprocessor Debugger
19762 The MicroBlaze is a soft-core processor supported on various Xilinx
19763 FPGAs, such as Spartan or Virtex series. Boards with these processors
19764 usually have JTAG ports which connect to a host system running the Xilinx
19765 Embedded Development Kit (EDK) or Software Development Kit (SDK).
19766 This host system is used to download the configuration bitstream to
19767 the target FPGA. The Xilinx Microprocessor Debugger (XMD) program
19768 communicates with the target board using the JTAG interface and
19769 presents a @code{gdbserver} interface to the board. By default
19770 @code{xmd} uses port @code{1234}. (While it is possible to change
19771 this default port, it requires the use of undocumented @code{xmd}
19772 commands. Contact Xilinx support if you need to do this.)
19774 Use these GDB commands to connect to the MicroBlaze target processor.
19777 @item target remote :1234
19778 Use this command to connect to the target if you are running @value{GDBN}
19779 on the same system as @code{xmd}.
19781 @item target remote @var{xmd-host}:1234
19782 Use this command to connect to the target if it is connected to @code{xmd}
19783 running on a different system named @var{xmd-host}.
19786 Use this command to download a program to the MicroBlaze target.
19788 @item set debug microblaze @var{n}
19789 Enable MicroBlaze-specific debugging messages if non-zero.
19791 @item show debug microblaze @var{n}
19792 Show MicroBlaze-specific debugging level.
19795 @node MIPS Embedded
19796 @subsection @acronym{MIPS} Embedded
19798 @cindex @acronym{MIPS} boards
19799 @value{GDBN} can use the @acronym{MIPS} remote debugging protocol to talk to a
19800 @acronym{MIPS} board attached to a serial line. This is available when
19801 you configure @value{GDBN} with @samp{--target=mips-elf}.
19804 Use these @value{GDBN} commands to specify the connection to your target board:
19807 @item target mips @var{port}
19808 @kindex target mips @var{port}
19809 To run a program on the board, start up @code{@value{GDBP}} with the
19810 name of your program as the argument. To connect to the board, use the
19811 command @samp{target mips @var{port}}, where @var{port} is the name of
19812 the serial port connected to the board. If the program has not already
19813 been downloaded to the board, you may use the @code{load} command to
19814 download it. You can then use all the usual @value{GDBN} commands.
19816 For example, this sequence connects to the target board through a serial
19817 port, and loads and runs a program called @var{prog} through the
19821 host$ @value{GDBP} @var{prog}
19822 @value{GDBN} is free software and @dots{}
19823 (@value{GDBP}) target mips /dev/ttyb
19824 (@value{GDBP}) load @var{prog}
19828 @item target mips @var{hostname}:@var{portnumber}
19829 On some @value{GDBN} host configurations, you can specify a TCP
19830 connection (for instance, to a serial line managed by a terminal
19831 concentrator) instead of a serial port, using the syntax
19832 @samp{@var{hostname}:@var{portnumber}}.
19834 @item target pmon @var{port}
19835 @kindex target pmon @var{port}
19838 @item target ddb @var{port}
19839 @kindex target ddb @var{port}
19840 NEC's DDB variant of PMON for Vr4300.
19842 @item target lsi @var{port}
19843 @kindex target lsi @var{port}
19844 LSI variant of PMON.
19846 @kindex target r3900
19847 @item target r3900 @var{dev}
19848 Densan DVE-R3900 ROM monitor for Toshiba R3900 Mips.
19850 @kindex target array
19851 @item target array @var{dev}
19852 Array Tech LSI33K RAID controller board.
19858 @value{GDBN} also supports these special commands for @acronym{MIPS} targets:
19861 @item set mipsfpu double
19862 @itemx set mipsfpu single
19863 @itemx set mipsfpu none
19864 @itemx set mipsfpu auto
19865 @itemx show mipsfpu
19866 @kindex set mipsfpu
19867 @kindex show mipsfpu
19868 @cindex @acronym{MIPS} remote floating point
19869 @cindex floating point, @acronym{MIPS} remote
19870 If your target board does not support the @acronym{MIPS} floating point
19871 coprocessor, you should use the command @samp{set mipsfpu none} (if you
19872 need this, you may wish to put the command in your @value{GDBN} init
19873 file). This tells @value{GDBN} how to find the return value of
19874 functions which return floating point values. It also allows
19875 @value{GDBN} to avoid saving the floating point registers when calling
19876 functions on the board. If you are using a floating point coprocessor
19877 with only single precision floating point support, as on the @sc{r4650}
19878 processor, use the command @samp{set mipsfpu single}. The default
19879 double precision floating point coprocessor may be selected using
19880 @samp{set mipsfpu double}.
19882 In previous versions the only choices were double precision or no
19883 floating point, so @samp{set mipsfpu on} will select double precision
19884 and @samp{set mipsfpu off} will select no floating point.
19886 As usual, you can inquire about the @code{mipsfpu} variable with
19887 @samp{show mipsfpu}.
19889 @item set timeout @var{seconds}
19890 @itemx set retransmit-timeout @var{seconds}
19891 @itemx show timeout
19892 @itemx show retransmit-timeout
19893 @cindex @code{timeout}, @acronym{MIPS} protocol
19894 @cindex @code{retransmit-timeout}, @acronym{MIPS} protocol
19895 @kindex set timeout
19896 @kindex show timeout
19897 @kindex set retransmit-timeout
19898 @kindex show retransmit-timeout
19899 You can control the timeout used while waiting for a packet, in the @acronym{MIPS}
19900 remote protocol, with the @code{set timeout @var{seconds}} command. The
19901 default is 5 seconds. Similarly, you can control the timeout used while
19902 waiting for an acknowledgment of a packet with the @code{set
19903 retransmit-timeout @var{seconds}} command. The default is 3 seconds.
19904 You can inspect both values with @code{show timeout} and @code{show
19905 retransmit-timeout}. (These commands are @emph{only} available when
19906 @value{GDBN} is configured for @samp{--target=mips-elf}.)
19908 The timeout set by @code{set timeout} does not apply when @value{GDBN}
19909 is waiting for your program to stop. In that case, @value{GDBN} waits
19910 forever because it has no way of knowing how long the program is going
19911 to run before stopping.
19913 @item set syn-garbage-limit @var{num}
19914 @kindex set syn-garbage-limit@r{, @acronym{MIPS} remote}
19915 @cindex synchronize with remote @acronym{MIPS} target
19916 Limit the maximum number of characters @value{GDBN} should ignore when
19917 it tries to synchronize with the remote target. The default is 10
19918 characters. Setting the limit to -1 means there's no limit.
19920 @item show syn-garbage-limit
19921 @kindex show syn-garbage-limit@r{, @acronym{MIPS} remote}
19922 Show the current limit on the number of characters to ignore when
19923 trying to synchronize with the remote system.
19925 @item set monitor-prompt @var{prompt}
19926 @kindex set monitor-prompt@r{, @acronym{MIPS} remote}
19927 @cindex remote monitor prompt
19928 Tell @value{GDBN} to expect the specified @var{prompt} string from the
19929 remote monitor. The default depends on the target:
19939 @item show monitor-prompt
19940 @kindex show monitor-prompt@r{, @acronym{MIPS} remote}
19941 Show the current strings @value{GDBN} expects as the prompt from the
19944 @item set monitor-warnings
19945 @kindex set monitor-warnings@r{, @acronym{MIPS} remote}
19946 Enable or disable monitor warnings about hardware breakpoints. This
19947 has effect only for the @code{lsi} target. When on, @value{GDBN} will
19948 display warning messages whose codes are returned by the @code{lsi}
19949 PMON monitor for breakpoint commands.
19951 @item show monitor-warnings
19952 @kindex show monitor-warnings@r{, @acronym{MIPS} remote}
19953 Show the current setting of printing monitor warnings.
19955 @item pmon @var{command}
19956 @kindex pmon@r{, @acronym{MIPS} remote}
19957 @cindex send PMON command
19958 This command allows sending an arbitrary @var{command} string to the
19959 monitor. The monitor must be in debug mode for this to work.
19962 @node OpenRISC 1000
19963 @subsection OpenRISC 1000
19964 @cindex OpenRISC 1000
19966 @cindex or1k boards
19967 See OR1k Architecture document (@uref{www.opencores.org}) for more information
19968 about platform and commands.
19972 @kindex target jtag
19973 @item target jtag jtag://@var{host}:@var{port}
19975 Connects to remote JTAG server.
19976 JTAG remote server can be either an or1ksim or JTAG server,
19977 connected via parallel port to the board.
19979 Example: @code{target jtag jtag://localhost:9999}
19982 @item or1ksim @var{command}
19983 If connected to @code{or1ksim} OpenRISC 1000 Architectural
19984 Simulator, proprietary commands can be executed.
19986 @kindex info or1k spr
19987 @item info or1k spr
19988 Displays spr groups.
19990 @item info or1k spr @var{group}
19991 @itemx info or1k spr @var{groupno}
19992 Displays register names in selected group.
19994 @item info or1k spr @var{group} @var{register}
19995 @itemx info or1k spr @var{register}
19996 @itemx info or1k spr @var{groupno} @var{registerno}
19997 @itemx info or1k spr @var{registerno}
19998 Shows information about specified spr register.
20001 @item spr @var{group} @var{register} @var{value}
20002 @itemx spr @var{register @var{value}}
20003 @itemx spr @var{groupno} @var{registerno @var{value}}
20004 @itemx spr @var{registerno @var{value}}
20005 Writes @var{value} to specified spr register.
20008 Some implementations of OpenRISC 1000 Architecture also have hardware trace.
20009 It is very similar to @value{GDBN} trace, except it does not interfere with normal
20010 program execution and is thus much faster. Hardware breakpoints/watchpoint
20011 triggers can be set using:
20014 Load effective address/data
20016 Store effective address/data
20018 Access effective address ($SEA or $LEA) or data ($SDATA/$LDATA)
20023 When triggered, it can capture low level data, like: @code{PC}, @code{LSEA},
20024 @code{LDATA}, @code{SDATA}, @code{READSPR}, @code{WRITESPR}, @code{INSTR}.
20026 @code{htrace} commands:
20027 @cindex OpenRISC 1000 htrace
20030 @item hwatch @var{conditional}
20031 Set hardware watchpoint on combination of Load/Store Effective Address(es)
20032 or Data. For example:
20034 @code{hwatch ($LEA == my_var) && ($LDATA < 50) || ($SEA == my_var) && ($SDATA >= 50)}
20036 @code{hwatch ($LEA == my_var) && ($LDATA < 50) || ($SEA == my_var) && ($SDATA >= 50)}
20040 Display information about current HW trace configuration.
20042 @item htrace trigger @var{conditional}
20043 Set starting criteria for HW trace.
20045 @item htrace qualifier @var{conditional}
20046 Set acquisition qualifier for HW trace.
20048 @item htrace stop @var{conditional}
20049 Set HW trace stopping criteria.
20051 @item htrace record [@var{data}]*
20052 Selects the data to be recorded, when qualifier is met and HW trace was
20055 @item htrace enable
20056 @itemx htrace disable
20057 Enables/disables the HW trace.
20059 @item htrace rewind [@var{filename}]
20060 Clears currently recorded trace data.
20062 If filename is specified, new trace file is made and any newly collected data
20063 will be written there.
20065 @item htrace print [@var{start} [@var{len}]]
20066 Prints trace buffer, using current record configuration.
20068 @item htrace mode continuous
20069 Set continuous trace mode.
20071 @item htrace mode suspend
20072 Set suspend trace mode.
20076 @node PowerPC Embedded
20077 @subsection PowerPC Embedded
20079 @cindex DVC register
20080 @value{GDBN} supports using the DVC (Data Value Compare) register to
20081 implement in hardware simple hardware watchpoint conditions of the form:
20084 (@value{GDBP}) watch @var{ADDRESS|VARIABLE} \
20085 if @var{ADDRESS|VARIABLE} == @var{CONSTANT EXPRESSION}
20088 The DVC register will be automatically used when @value{GDBN} detects
20089 such pattern in a condition expression, and the created watchpoint uses one
20090 debug register (either the @code{exact-watchpoints} option is on and the
20091 variable is scalar, or the variable has a length of one byte). This feature
20092 is available in native @value{GDBN} running on a Linux kernel version 2.6.34
20095 When running on PowerPC embedded processors, @value{GDBN} automatically uses
20096 ranged hardware watchpoints, unless the @code{exact-watchpoints} option is on,
20097 in which case watchpoints using only one debug register are created when
20098 watching variables of scalar types.
20100 You can create an artificial array to watch an arbitrary memory
20101 region using one of the following commands (@pxref{Expressions}):
20104 (@value{GDBP}) watch *((char *) @var{address})@@@var{length}
20105 (@value{GDBP}) watch @{char[@var{length}]@} @var{address}
20108 PowerPC embedded processors support masked watchpoints. See the discussion
20109 about the @code{mask} argument in @ref{Set Watchpoints}.
20111 @cindex ranged breakpoint
20112 PowerPC embedded processors support hardware accelerated
20113 @dfn{ranged breakpoints}. A ranged breakpoint stops execution of
20114 the inferior whenever it executes an instruction at any address within
20115 the range it specifies. To set a ranged breakpoint in @value{GDBN},
20116 use the @code{break-range} command.
20118 @value{GDBN} provides the following PowerPC-specific commands:
20121 @kindex break-range
20122 @item break-range @var{start-location}, @var{end-location}
20123 Set a breakpoint for an address range.
20124 @var{start-location} and @var{end-location} can specify a function name,
20125 a line number, an offset of lines from the current line or from the start
20126 location, or an address of an instruction (see @ref{Specify Location},
20127 for a list of all the possible ways to specify a @var{location}.)
20128 The breakpoint will stop execution of the inferior whenever it
20129 executes an instruction at any address within the specified range,
20130 (including @var{start-location} and @var{end-location}.)
20132 @kindex set powerpc
20133 @item set powerpc soft-float
20134 @itemx show powerpc soft-float
20135 Force @value{GDBN} to use (or not use) a software floating point calling
20136 convention. By default, @value{GDBN} selects the calling convention based
20137 on the selected architecture and the provided executable file.
20139 @item set powerpc vector-abi
20140 @itemx show powerpc vector-abi
20141 Force @value{GDBN} to use the specified calling convention for vector
20142 arguments and return values. The valid options are @samp{auto};
20143 @samp{generic}, to avoid vector registers even if they are present;
20144 @samp{altivec}, to use AltiVec registers; and @samp{spe} to use SPE
20145 registers. By default, @value{GDBN} selects the calling convention
20146 based on the selected architecture and the provided executable file.
20148 @item set powerpc exact-watchpoints
20149 @itemx show powerpc exact-watchpoints
20150 Allow @value{GDBN} to use only one debug register when watching a variable
20151 of scalar type, thus assuming that the variable is accessed through the
20152 address of its first byte.
20154 @kindex target dink32
20155 @item target dink32 @var{dev}
20156 DINK32 ROM monitor.
20158 @kindex target ppcbug
20159 @item target ppcbug @var{dev}
20160 @kindex target ppcbug1
20161 @item target ppcbug1 @var{dev}
20162 PPCBUG ROM monitor for PowerPC.
20165 @item target sds @var{dev}
20166 SDS monitor, running on a PowerPC board (such as Motorola's ADS).
20169 @cindex SDS protocol
20170 The following commands specific to the SDS protocol are supported
20174 @item set sdstimeout @var{nsec}
20175 @kindex set sdstimeout
20176 Set the timeout for SDS protocol reads to be @var{nsec} seconds. The
20177 default is 2 seconds.
20179 @item show sdstimeout
20180 @kindex show sdstimeout
20181 Show the current value of the SDS timeout.
20183 @item sds @var{command}
20184 @kindex sds@r{, a command}
20185 Send the specified @var{command} string to the SDS monitor.
20190 @subsection HP PA Embedded
20194 @kindex target op50n
20195 @item target op50n @var{dev}
20196 OP50N monitor, running on an OKI HPPA board.
20198 @kindex target w89k
20199 @item target w89k @var{dev}
20200 W89K monitor, running on a Winbond HPPA board.
20205 @subsection Tsqware Sparclet
20209 @value{GDBN} enables developers to debug tasks running on
20210 Sparclet targets from a Unix host.
20211 @value{GDBN} uses code that runs on
20212 both the Unix host and on the Sparclet target. The program
20213 @code{@value{GDBP}} is installed and executed on the Unix host.
20216 @item remotetimeout @var{args}
20217 @kindex remotetimeout
20218 @value{GDBN} supports the option @code{remotetimeout}.
20219 This option is set by the user, and @var{args} represents the number of
20220 seconds @value{GDBN} waits for responses.
20223 @cindex compiling, on Sparclet
20224 When compiling for debugging, include the options @samp{-g} to get debug
20225 information and @samp{-Ttext} to relocate the program to where you wish to
20226 load it on the target. You may also want to add the options @samp{-n} or
20227 @samp{-N} in order to reduce the size of the sections. Example:
20230 sparclet-aout-gcc prog.c -Ttext 0x12010000 -g -o prog -N
20233 You can use @code{objdump} to verify that the addresses are what you intended:
20236 sparclet-aout-objdump --headers --syms prog
20239 @cindex running, on Sparclet
20241 your Unix execution search path to find @value{GDBN}, you are ready to
20242 run @value{GDBN}. From your Unix host, run @code{@value{GDBP}}
20243 (or @code{sparclet-aout-gdb}, depending on your installation).
20245 @value{GDBN} comes up showing the prompt:
20252 * Sparclet File:: Setting the file to debug
20253 * Sparclet Connection:: Connecting to Sparclet
20254 * Sparclet Download:: Sparclet download
20255 * Sparclet Execution:: Running and debugging
20258 @node Sparclet File
20259 @subsubsection Setting File to Debug
20261 The @value{GDBN} command @code{file} lets you choose with program to debug.
20264 (gdbslet) file prog
20268 @value{GDBN} then attempts to read the symbol table of @file{prog}.
20269 @value{GDBN} locates
20270 the file by searching the directories listed in the command search
20272 If the file was compiled with debug information (option @samp{-g}), source
20273 files will be searched as well.
20274 @value{GDBN} locates
20275 the source files by searching the directories listed in the directory search
20276 path (@pxref{Environment, ,Your Program's Environment}).
20278 to find a file, it displays a message such as:
20281 prog: No such file or directory.
20284 When this happens, add the appropriate directories to the search paths with
20285 the @value{GDBN} commands @code{path} and @code{dir}, and execute the
20286 @code{target} command again.
20288 @node Sparclet Connection
20289 @subsubsection Connecting to Sparclet
20291 The @value{GDBN} command @code{target} lets you connect to a Sparclet target.
20292 To connect to a target on serial port ``@code{ttya}'', type:
20295 (gdbslet) target sparclet /dev/ttya
20296 Remote target sparclet connected to /dev/ttya
20297 main () at ../prog.c:3
20301 @value{GDBN} displays messages like these:
20307 @node Sparclet Download
20308 @subsubsection Sparclet Download
20310 @cindex download to Sparclet
20311 Once connected to the Sparclet target,
20312 you can use the @value{GDBN}
20313 @code{load} command to download the file from the host to the target.
20314 The file name and load offset should be given as arguments to the @code{load}
20316 Since the file format is aout, the program must be loaded to the starting
20317 address. You can use @code{objdump} to find out what this value is. The load
20318 offset is an offset which is added to the VMA (virtual memory address)
20319 of each of the file's sections.
20320 For instance, if the program
20321 @file{prog} was linked to text address 0x1201000, with data at 0x12010160
20322 and bss at 0x12010170, in @value{GDBN}, type:
20325 (gdbslet) load prog 0x12010000
20326 Loading section .text, size 0xdb0 vma 0x12010000
20329 If the code is loaded at a different address then what the program was linked
20330 to, you may need to use the @code{section} and @code{add-symbol-file} commands
20331 to tell @value{GDBN} where to map the symbol table.
20333 @node Sparclet Execution
20334 @subsubsection Running and Debugging
20336 @cindex running and debugging Sparclet programs
20337 You can now begin debugging the task using @value{GDBN}'s execution control
20338 commands, @code{b}, @code{step}, @code{run}, etc. See the @value{GDBN}
20339 manual for the list of commands.
20343 Breakpoint 1 at 0x12010000: file prog.c, line 3.
20345 Starting program: prog
20346 Breakpoint 1, main (argc=1, argv=0xeffff21c) at prog.c:3
20347 3 char *symarg = 0;
20349 4 char *execarg = "hello!";
20354 @subsection Fujitsu Sparclite
20358 @kindex target sparclite
20359 @item target sparclite @var{dev}
20360 Fujitsu sparclite boards, used only for the purpose of loading.
20361 You must use an additional command to debug the program.
20362 For example: target remote @var{dev} using @value{GDBN} standard
20368 @subsection Zilog Z8000
20371 @cindex simulator, Z8000
20372 @cindex Zilog Z8000 simulator
20374 When configured for debugging Zilog Z8000 targets, @value{GDBN} includes
20377 For the Z8000 family, @samp{target sim} simulates either the Z8002 (the
20378 unsegmented variant of the Z8000 architecture) or the Z8001 (the
20379 segmented variant). The simulator recognizes which architecture is
20380 appropriate by inspecting the object code.
20383 @item target sim @var{args}
20385 @kindex target sim@r{, with Z8000}
20386 Debug programs on a simulated CPU. If the simulator supports setup
20387 options, specify them via @var{args}.
20391 After specifying this target, you can debug programs for the simulated
20392 CPU in the same style as programs for your host computer; use the
20393 @code{file} command to load a new program image, the @code{run} command
20394 to run your program, and so on.
20396 As well as making available all the usual machine registers
20397 (@pxref{Registers, ,Registers}), the Z8000 simulator provides three
20398 additional items of information as specially named registers:
20403 Counts clock-ticks in the simulator.
20406 Counts instructions run in the simulator.
20409 Execution time in 60ths of a second.
20413 You can refer to these values in @value{GDBN} expressions with the usual
20414 conventions; for example, @w{@samp{b fputc if $cycles>5000}} sets a
20415 conditional breakpoint that suspends only after at least 5000
20416 simulated clock ticks.
20419 @subsection Atmel AVR
20422 When configured for debugging the Atmel AVR, @value{GDBN} supports the
20423 following AVR-specific commands:
20426 @item info io_registers
20427 @kindex info io_registers@r{, AVR}
20428 @cindex I/O registers (Atmel AVR)
20429 This command displays information about the AVR I/O registers. For
20430 each register, @value{GDBN} prints its number and value.
20437 When configured for debugging CRIS, @value{GDBN} provides the
20438 following CRIS-specific commands:
20441 @item set cris-version @var{ver}
20442 @cindex CRIS version
20443 Set the current CRIS version to @var{ver}, either @samp{10} or @samp{32}.
20444 The CRIS version affects register names and sizes. This command is useful in
20445 case autodetection of the CRIS version fails.
20447 @item show cris-version
20448 Show the current CRIS version.
20450 @item set cris-dwarf2-cfi
20451 @cindex DWARF-2 CFI and CRIS
20452 Set the usage of DWARF-2 CFI for CRIS debugging. The default is @samp{on}.
20453 Change to @samp{off} when using @code{gcc-cris} whose version is below
20456 @item show cris-dwarf2-cfi
20457 Show the current state of using DWARF-2 CFI.
20459 @item set cris-mode @var{mode}
20461 Set the current CRIS mode to @var{mode}. It should only be changed when
20462 debugging in guru mode, in which case it should be set to
20463 @samp{guru} (the default is @samp{normal}).
20465 @item show cris-mode
20466 Show the current CRIS mode.
20470 @subsection Renesas Super-H
20473 For the Renesas Super-H processor, @value{GDBN} provides these
20478 @kindex regs@r{, Super-H}
20479 This command is deprecated, and @code{info all-registers} should be
20482 Show the values of all Super-H registers.
20484 @item set sh calling-convention @var{convention}
20485 @kindex set sh calling-convention
20486 Set the calling-convention used when calling functions from @value{GDBN}.
20487 Allowed values are @samp{gcc}, which is the default setting, and @samp{renesas}.
20488 With the @samp{gcc} setting, functions are called using the @value{NGCC} calling
20489 convention. If the DWARF-2 information of the called function specifies
20490 that the function follows the Renesas calling convention, the function
20491 is called using the Renesas calling convention. If the calling convention
20492 is set to @samp{renesas}, the Renesas calling convention is always used,
20493 regardless of the DWARF-2 information. This can be used to override the
20494 default of @samp{gcc} if debug information is missing, or the compiler
20495 does not emit the DWARF-2 calling convention entry for a function.
20497 @item show sh calling-convention
20498 @kindex show sh calling-convention
20499 Show the current calling convention setting.
20504 @node Architectures
20505 @section Architectures
20507 This section describes characteristics of architectures that affect
20508 all uses of @value{GDBN} with the architecture, both native and cross.
20514 * HPPA:: HP PA architecture
20515 * SPU:: Cell Broadband Engine SPU architecture
20520 @subsection x86 Architecture-specific Issues
20523 @item set struct-convention @var{mode}
20524 @kindex set struct-convention
20525 @cindex struct return convention
20526 @cindex struct/union returned in registers
20527 Set the convention used by the inferior to return @code{struct}s and
20528 @code{union}s from functions to @var{mode}. Possible values of
20529 @var{mode} are @code{"pcc"}, @code{"reg"}, and @code{"default"} (the
20530 default). @code{"default"} or @code{"pcc"} means that @code{struct}s
20531 are returned on the stack, while @code{"reg"} means that a
20532 @code{struct} or a @code{union} whose size is 1, 2, 4, or 8 bytes will
20533 be returned in a register.
20535 @item show struct-convention
20536 @kindex show struct-convention
20537 Show the current setting of the convention to return @code{struct}s
20544 See the following section.
20547 @subsection @acronym{MIPS}
20549 @cindex stack on Alpha
20550 @cindex stack on @acronym{MIPS}
20551 @cindex Alpha stack
20552 @cindex @acronym{MIPS} stack
20553 Alpha- and @acronym{MIPS}-based computers use an unusual stack frame, which
20554 sometimes requires @value{GDBN} to search backward in the object code to
20555 find the beginning of a function.
20557 @cindex response time, @acronym{MIPS} debugging
20558 To improve response time (especially for embedded applications, where
20559 @value{GDBN} may be restricted to a slow serial line for this search)
20560 you may want to limit the size of this search, using one of these
20564 @cindex @code{heuristic-fence-post} (Alpha, @acronym{MIPS})
20565 @item set heuristic-fence-post @var{limit}
20566 Restrict @value{GDBN} to examining at most @var{limit} bytes in its
20567 search for the beginning of a function. A value of @var{0} (the
20568 default) means there is no limit. However, except for @var{0}, the
20569 larger the limit the more bytes @code{heuristic-fence-post} must search
20570 and therefore the longer it takes to run. You should only need to use
20571 this command when debugging a stripped executable.
20573 @item show heuristic-fence-post
20574 Display the current limit.
20578 These commands are available @emph{only} when @value{GDBN} is configured
20579 for debugging programs on Alpha or @acronym{MIPS} processors.
20581 Several @acronym{MIPS}-specific commands are available when debugging @acronym{MIPS}
20585 @item set mips abi @var{arg}
20586 @kindex set mips abi
20587 @cindex set ABI for @acronym{MIPS}
20588 Tell @value{GDBN} which @acronym{MIPS} ABI is used by the inferior. Possible
20589 values of @var{arg} are:
20593 The default ABI associated with the current binary (this is the
20603 @item show mips abi
20604 @kindex show mips abi
20605 Show the @acronym{MIPS} ABI used by @value{GDBN} to debug the inferior.
20607 @item set mips compression @var{arg}
20608 @kindex set mips compression
20609 @cindex code compression, @acronym{MIPS}
20610 Tell @value{GDBN} which @acronym{MIPS} compressed
20611 @acronym{ISA, Instruction Set Architecture} encoding is used by the
20612 inferior. @value{GDBN} uses this for code disassembly and other
20613 internal interpretation purposes. This setting is only referred to
20614 when no executable has been associated with the debugging session or
20615 the executable does not provide information about the encoding it uses.
20616 Otherwise this setting is automatically updated from information
20617 provided by the executable.
20619 Possible values of @var{arg} are @samp{mips16} and @samp{micromips}.
20620 The default compressed @acronym{ISA} encoding is @samp{mips16}, as
20621 executables containing @acronym{MIPS16} code frequently are not
20622 identified as such.
20624 This setting is ``sticky''; that is, it retains its value across
20625 debugging sessions until reset either explicitly with this command or
20626 implicitly from an executable.
20628 The compiler and/or assembler typically add symbol table annotations to
20629 identify functions compiled for the @acronym{MIPS16} or
20630 @acronym{microMIPS} @acronym{ISA}s. If these function-scope annotations
20631 are present, @value{GDBN} uses them in preference to the global
20632 compressed @acronym{ISA} encoding setting.
20634 @item show mips compression
20635 @kindex show mips compression
20636 Show the @acronym{MIPS} compressed @acronym{ISA} encoding used by
20637 @value{GDBN} to debug the inferior.
20640 @itemx show mipsfpu
20641 @xref{MIPS Embedded, set mipsfpu}.
20643 @item set mips mask-address @var{arg}
20644 @kindex set mips mask-address
20645 @cindex @acronym{MIPS} addresses, masking
20646 This command determines whether the most-significant 32 bits of 64-bit
20647 @acronym{MIPS} addresses are masked off. The argument @var{arg} can be
20648 @samp{on}, @samp{off}, or @samp{auto}. The latter is the default
20649 setting, which lets @value{GDBN} determine the correct value.
20651 @item show mips mask-address
20652 @kindex show mips mask-address
20653 Show whether the upper 32 bits of @acronym{MIPS} addresses are masked off or
20656 @item set remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs
20657 @kindex set remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs
20658 This command controls compatibility with 64-bit @acronym{MIPS} targets that
20659 transfer data in 32-bit quantities. If you have an old @acronym{MIPS} 64 target
20660 that transfers 32 bits for some registers, like @sc{sr} and @sc{fsr},
20661 and 64 bits for other registers, set this option to @samp{on}.
20663 @item show remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs
20664 @kindex show remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs
20665 Show the current setting of compatibility with older @acronym{MIPS} 64 targets.
20667 @item set debug mips
20668 @kindex set debug mips
20669 This command turns on and off debugging messages for the @acronym{MIPS}-specific
20670 target code in @value{GDBN}.
20672 @item show debug mips
20673 @kindex show debug mips
20674 Show the current setting of @acronym{MIPS} debugging messages.
20680 @cindex HPPA support
20682 When @value{GDBN} is debugging the HP PA architecture, it provides the
20683 following special commands:
20686 @item set debug hppa
20687 @kindex set debug hppa
20688 This command determines whether HPPA architecture-specific debugging
20689 messages are to be displayed.
20691 @item show debug hppa
20692 Show whether HPPA debugging messages are displayed.
20694 @item maint print unwind @var{address}
20695 @kindex maint print unwind@r{, HPPA}
20696 This command displays the contents of the unwind table entry at the
20697 given @var{address}.
20703 @subsection Cell Broadband Engine SPU architecture
20704 @cindex Cell Broadband Engine
20707 When @value{GDBN} is debugging the Cell Broadband Engine SPU architecture,
20708 it provides the following special commands:
20711 @item info spu event
20713 Display SPU event facility status. Shows current event mask
20714 and pending event status.
20716 @item info spu signal
20717 Display SPU signal notification facility status. Shows pending
20718 signal-control word and signal notification mode of both signal
20719 notification channels.
20721 @item info spu mailbox
20722 Display SPU mailbox facility status. Shows all pending entries,
20723 in order of processing, in each of the SPU Write Outbound,
20724 SPU Write Outbound Interrupt, and SPU Read Inbound mailboxes.
20727 Display MFC DMA status. Shows all pending commands in the MFC
20728 DMA queue. For each entry, opcode, tag, class IDs, effective
20729 and local store addresses and transfer size are shown.
20731 @item info spu proxydma
20732 Display MFC Proxy-DMA status. Shows all pending commands in the MFC
20733 Proxy-DMA queue. For each entry, opcode, tag, class IDs, effective
20734 and local store addresses and transfer size are shown.
20738 When @value{GDBN} is debugging a combined PowerPC/SPU application
20739 on the Cell Broadband Engine, it provides in addition the following
20743 @item set spu stop-on-load @var{arg}
20745 Set whether to stop for new SPE threads. When set to @code{on}, @value{GDBN}
20746 will give control to the user when a new SPE thread enters its @code{main}
20747 function. The default is @code{off}.
20749 @item show spu stop-on-load
20751 Show whether to stop for new SPE threads.
20753 @item set spu auto-flush-cache @var{arg}
20754 Set whether to automatically flush the software-managed cache. When set to
20755 @code{on}, @value{GDBN} will automatically cause the SPE software-managed
20756 cache to be flushed whenever SPE execution stops. This provides a consistent
20757 view of PowerPC memory that is accessed via the cache. If an application
20758 does not use the software-managed cache, this option has no effect.
20760 @item show spu auto-flush-cache
20761 Show whether to automatically flush the software-managed cache.
20766 @subsection PowerPC
20767 @cindex PowerPC architecture
20769 When @value{GDBN} is debugging the PowerPC architecture, it provides a set of
20770 pseudo-registers to enable inspection of 128-bit wide Decimal Floating Point
20771 numbers stored in the floating point registers. These values must be stored
20772 in two consecutive registers, always starting at an even register like
20773 @code{f0} or @code{f2}.
20775 The pseudo-registers go from @code{$dl0} through @code{$dl15}, and are formed
20776 by joining the even/odd register pairs @code{f0} and @code{f1} for @code{$dl0},
20777 @code{f2} and @code{f3} for @code{$dl1} and so on.
20779 For POWER7 processors, @value{GDBN} provides a set of pseudo-registers, the 64-bit
20780 wide Extended Floating Point Registers (@samp{f32} through @samp{f63}).
20783 @node Controlling GDB
20784 @chapter Controlling @value{GDBN}
20786 You can alter the way @value{GDBN} interacts with you by using the
20787 @code{set} command. For commands controlling how @value{GDBN} displays
20788 data, see @ref{Print Settings, ,Print Settings}. Other settings are
20793 * Editing:: Command editing
20794 * Command History:: Command history
20795 * Screen Size:: Screen size
20796 * Numbers:: Numbers
20797 * ABI:: Configuring the current ABI
20798 * Auto-loading:: Automatically loading associated files
20799 * Messages/Warnings:: Optional warnings and messages
20800 * Debugging Output:: Optional messages about internal happenings
20801 * Other Misc Settings:: Other Miscellaneous Settings
20809 @value{GDBN} indicates its readiness to read a command by printing a string
20810 called the @dfn{prompt}. This string is normally @samp{(@value{GDBP})}. You
20811 can change the prompt string with the @code{set prompt} command. For
20812 instance, when debugging @value{GDBN} with @value{GDBN}, it is useful to change
20813 the prompt in one of the @value{GDBN} sessions so that you can always tell
20814 which one you are talking to.
20816 @emph{Note:} @code{set prompt} does not add a space for you after the
20817 prompt you set. This allows you to set a prompt which ends in a space
20818 or a prompt that does not.
20822 @item set prompt @var{newprompt}
20823 Directs @value{GDBN} to use @var{newprompt} as its prompt string henceforth.
20825 @kindex show prompt
20827 Prints a line of the form: @samp{Gdb's prompt is: @var{your-prompt}}
20830 Versions of @value{GDBN} that ship with Python scripting enabled have
20831 prompt extensions. The commands for interacting with these extensions
20835 @kindex set extended-prompt
20836 @item set extended-prompt @var{prompt}
20837 Set an extended prompt that allows for substitutions.
20838 @xref{gdb.prompt}, for a list of escape sequences that can be used for
20839 substitution. Any escape sequences specified as part of the prompt
20840 string are replaced with the corresponding strings each time the prompt
20846 set extended-prompt Current working directory: \w (gdb)
20849 Note that when an extended-prompt is set, it takes control of the
20850 @var{prompt_hook} hook. @xref{prompt_hook}, for further information.
20852 @kindex show extended-prompt
20853 @item show extended-prompt
20854 Prints the extended prompt. Any escape sequences specified as part of
20855 the prompt string with @code{set extended-prompt}, are replaced with the
20856 corresponding strings each time the prompt is displayed.
20860 @section Command Editing
20862 @cindex command line editing
20864 @value{GDBN} reads its input commands via the @dfn{Readline} interface. This
20865 @sc{gnu} library provides consistent behavior for programs which provide a
20866 command line interface to the user. Advantages are @sc{gnu} Emacs-style
20867 or @dfn{vi}-style inline editing of commands, @code{csh}-like history
20868 substitution, and a storage and recall of command history across
20869 debugging sessions.
20871 You may control the behavior of command line editing in @value{GDBN} with the
20872 command @code{set}.
20875 @kindex set editing
20878 @itemx set editing on
20879 Enable command line editing (enabled by default).
20881 @item set editing off
20882 Disable command line editing.
20884 @kindex show editing
20886 Show whether command line editing is enabled.
20889 @ifset SYSTEM_READLINE
20890 @xref{Command Line Editing, , , rluserman, GNU Readline Library},
20892 @ifclear SYSTEM_READLINE
20893 @xref{Command Line Editing},
20895 for more details about the Readline
20896 interface. Users unfamiliar with @sc{gnu} Emacs or @code{vi} are
20897 encouraged to read that chapter.
20899 @node Command History
20900 @section Command History
20901 @cindex command history
20903 @value{GDBN} can keep track of the commands you type during your
20904 debugging sessions, so that you can be certain of precisely what
20905 happened. Use these commands to manage the @value{GDBN} command
20908 @value{GDBN} uses the @sc{gnu} History library, a part of the Readline
20909 package, to provide the history facility.
20910 @ifset SYSTEM_READLINE
20911 @xref{Using History Interactively, , , history, GNU History Library},
20913 @ifclear SYSTEM_READLINE
20914 @xref{Using History Interactively},
20916 for the detailed description of the History library.
20918 To issue a command to @value{GDBN} without affecting certain aspects of
20919 the state which is seen by users, prefix it with @samp{server }
20920 (@pxref{Server Prefix}). This
20921 means that this command will not affect the command history, nor will it
20922 affect @value{GDBN}'s notion of which command to repeat if @key{RET} is
20923 pressed on a line by itself.
20925 @cindex @code{server}, command prefix
20926 The server prefix does not affect the recording of values into the value
20927 history; to print a value without recording it into the value history,
20928 use the @code{output} command instead of the @code{print} command.
20930 Here is the description of @value{GDBN} commands related to command
20934 @cindex history substitution
20935 @cindex history file
20936 @kindex set history filename
20937 @cindex @env{GDBHISTFILE}, environment variable
20938 @item set history filename @var{fname}
20939 Set the name of the @value{GDBN} command history file to @var{fname}.
20940 This is the file where @value{GDBN} reads an initial command history
20941 list, and where it writes the command history from this session when it
20942 exits. You can access this list through history expansion or through
20943 the history command editing characters listed below. This file defaults
20944 to the value of the environment variable @code{GDBHISTFILE}, or to
20945 @file{./.gdb_history} (@file{./_gdb_history} on MS-DOS) if this variable
20948 @cindex save command history
20949 @kindex set history save
20950 @item set history save
20951 @itemx set history save on
20952 Record command history in a file, whose name may be specified with the
20953 @code{set history filename} command. By default, this option is disabled.
20955 @item set history save off
20956 Stop recording command history in a file.
20958 @cindex history size
20959 @kindex set history size
20960 @cindex @env{HISTSIZE}, environment variable
20961 @item set history size @var{size}
20962 Set the number of commands which @value{GDBN} keeps in its history list.
20963 This defaults to the value of the environment variable
20964 @code{HISTSIZE}, or to 256 if this variable is not set.
20967 History expansion assigns special meaning to the character @kbd{!}.
20968 @ifset SYSTEM_READLINE
20969 @xref{Event Designators, , , history, GNU History Library},
20971 @ifclear SYSTEM_READLINE
20972 @xref{Event Designators},
20976 @cindex history expansion, turn on/off
20977 Since @kbd{!} is also the logical not operator in C, history expansion
20978 is off by default. If you decide to enable history expansion with the
20979 @code{set history expansion on} command, you may sometimes need to
20980 follow @kbd{!} (when it is used as logical not, in an expression) with
20981 a space or a tab to prevent it from being expanded. The readline
20982 history facilities do not attempt substitution on the strings
20983 @kbd{!=} and @kbd{!(}, even when history expansion is enabled.
20985 The commands to control history expansion are:
20988 @item set history expansion on
20989 @itemx set history expansion
20990 @kindex set history expansion
20991 Enable history expansion. History expansion is off by default.
20993 @item set history expansion off
20994 Disable history expansion.
20997 @kindex show history
20999 @itemx show history filename
21000 @itemx show history save
21001 @itemx show history size
21002 @itemx show history expansion
21003 These commands display the state of the @value{GDBN} history parameters.
21004 @code{show history} by itself displays all four states.
21009 @kindex show commands
21010 @cindex show last commands
21011 @cindex display command history
21012 @item show commands
21013 Display the last ten commands in the command history.
21015 @item show commands @var{n}
21016 Print ten commands centered on command number @var{n}.
21018 @item show commands +
21019 Print ten commands just after the commands last printed.
21023 @section Screen Size
21024 @cindex size of screen
21025 @cindex pauses in output
21027 Certain commands to @value{GDBN} may produce large amounts of
21028 information output to the screen. To help you read all of it,
21029 @value{GDBN} pauses and asks you for input at the end of each page of
21030 output. Type @key{RET} when you want to continue the output, or @kbd{q}
21031 to discard the remaining output. Also, the screen width setting
21032 determines when to wrap lines of output. Depending on what is being
21033 printed, @value{GDBN} tries to break the line at a readable place,
21034 rather than simply letting it overflow onto the following line.
21036 Normally @value{GDBN} knows the size of the screen from the terminal
21037 driver software. For example, on Unix @value{GDBN} uses the termcap data base
21038 together with the value of the @code{TERM} environment variable and the
21039 @code{stty rows} and @code{stty cols} settings. If this is not correct,
21040 you can override it with the @code{set height} and @code{set
21047 @kindex show height
21048 @item set height @var{lpp}
21050 @itemx set width @var{cpl}
21052 These @code{set} commands specify a screen height of @var{lpp} lines and
21053 a screen width of @var{cpl} characters. The associated @code{show}
21054 commands display the current settings.
21056 If you specify a height of zero lines, @value{GDBN} does not pause during
21057 output no matter how long the output is. This is useful if output is to a
21058 file or to an editor buffer.
21060 Likewise, you can specify @samp{set width 0} to prevent @value{GDBN}
21061 from wrapping its output.
21063 @item set pagination on
21064 @itemx set pagination off
21065 @kindex set pagination
21066 Turn the output pagination on or off; the default is on. Turning
21067 pagination off is the alternative to @code{set height 0}. Note that
21068 running @value{GDBN} with the @option{--batch} option (@pxref{Mode
21069 Options, -batch}) also automatically disables pagination.
21071 @item show pagination
21072 @kindex show pagination
21073 Show the current pagination mode.
21078 @cindex number representation
21079 @cindex entering numbers
21081 You can always enter numbers in octal, decimal, or hexadecimal in
21082 @value{GDBN} by the usual conventions: octal numbers begin with
21083 @samp{0}, decimal numbers end with @samp{.}, and hexadecimal numbers
21084 begin with @samp{0x}. Numbers that neither begin with @samp{0} or
21085 @samp{0x}, nor end with a @samp{.} are, by default, entered in base
21086 10; likewise, the default display for numbers---when no particular
21087 format is specified---is base 10. You can change the default base for
21088 both input and output with the commands described below.
21091 @kindex set input-radix
21092 @item set input-radix @var{base}
21093 Set the default base for numeric input. Supported choices
21094 for @var{base} are decimal 8, 10, or 16. @var{base} must itself be
21095 specified either unambiguously or using the current input radix; for
21099 set input-radix 012
21100 set input-radix 10.
21101 set input-radix 0xa
21105 sets the input base to decimal. On the other hand, @samp{set input-radix 10}
21106 leaves the input radix unchanged, no matter what it was, since
21107 @samp{10}, being without any leading or trailing signs of its base, is
21108 interpreted in the current radix. Thus, if the current radix is 16,
21109 @samp{10} is interpreted in hex, i.e.@: as 16 decimal, which doesn't
21112 @kindex set output-radix
21113 @item set output-radix @var{base}
21114 Set the default base for numeric display. Supported choices
21115 for @var{base} are decimal 8, 10, or 16. @var{base} must itself be
21116 specified either unambiguously or using the current input radix.
21118 @kindex show input-radix
21119 @item show input-radix
21120 Display the current default base for numeric input.
21122 @kindex show output-radix
21123 @item show output-radix
21124 Display the current default base for numeric display.
21126 @item set radix @r{[}@var{base}@r{]}
21130 These commands set and show the default base for both input and output
21131 of numbers. @code{set radix} sets the radix of input and output to
21132 the same base; without an argument, it resets the radix back to its
21133 default value of 10.
21138 @section Configuring the Current ABI
21140 @value{GDBN} can determine the @dfn{ABI} (Application Binary Interface) of your
21141 application automatically. However, sometimes you need to override its
21142 conclusions. Use these commands to manage @value{GDBN}'s view of the
21149 One @value{GDBN} configuration can debug binaries for multiple operating
21150 system targets, either via remote debugging or native emulation.
21151 @value{GDBN} will autodetect the @dfn{OS ABI} (Operating System ABI) in use,
21152 but you can override its conclusion using the @code{set osabi} command.
21153 One example where this is useful is in debugging of binaries which use
21154 an alternate C library (e.g.@: @sc{uClibc} for @sc{gnu}/Linux) which does
21155 not have the same identifying marks that the standard C library for your
21160 Show the OS ABI currently in use.
21163 With no argument, show the list of registered available OS ABI's.
21165 @item set osabi @var{abi}
21166 Set the current OS ABI to @var{abi}.
21169 @cindex float promotion
21171 Generally, the way that an argument of type @code{float} is passed to a
21172 function depends on whether the function is prototyped. For a prototyped
21173 (i.e.@: ANSI/ISO style) function, @code{float} arguments are passed unchanged,
21174 according to the architecture's convention for @code{float}. For unprototyped
21175 (i.e.@: K&R style) functions, @code{float} arguments are first promoted to type
21176 @code{double} and then passed.
21178 Unfortunately, some forms of debug information do not reliably indicate whether
21179 a function is prototyped. If @value{GDBN} calls a function that is not marked
21180 as prototyped, it consults @kbd{set coerce-float-to-double}.
21183 @kindex set coerce-float-to-double
21184 @item set coerce-float-to-double
21185 @itemx set coerce-float-to-double on
21186 Arguments of type @code{float} will be promoted to @code{double} when passed
21187 to an unprototyped function. This is the default setting.
21189 @item set coerce-float-to-double off
21190 Arguments of type @code{float} will be passed directly to unprototyped
21193 @kindex show coerce-float-to-double
21194 @item show coerce-float-to-double
21195 Show the current setting of promoting @code{float} to @code{double}.
21199 @kindex show cp-abi
21200 @value{GDBN} needs to know the ABI used for your program's C@t{++}
21201 objects. The correct C@t{++} ABI depends on which C@t{++} compiler was
21202 used to build your application. @value{GDBN} only fully supports
21203 programs with a single C@t{++} ABI; if your program contains code using
21204 multiple C@t{++} ABI's or if @value{GDBN} can not identify your
21205 program's ABI correctly, you can tell @value{GDBN} which ABI to use.
21206 Currently supported ABI's include ``gnu-v2'', for @code{g++} versions
21207 before 3.0, ``gnu-v3'', for @code{g++} versions 3.0 and later, and
21208 ``hpaCC'' for the HP ANSI C@t{++} compiler. Other C@t{++} compilers may
21209 use the ``gnu-v2'' or ``gnu-v3'' ABI's as well. The default setting is
21214 Show the C@t{++} ABI currently in use.
21217 With no argument, show the list of supported C@t{++} ABI's.
21219 @item set cp-abi @var{abi}
21220 @itemx set cp-abi auto
21221 Set the current C@t{++} ABI to @var{abi}, or return to automatic detection.
21225 @section Automatically loading associated files
21226 @cindex auto-loading
21228 @value{GDBN} sometimes reads files with commands and settings automatically,
21229 without being explicitly told so by the user. We call this feature
21230 @dfn{auto-loading}. While auto-loading is useful for automatically adapting
21231 @value{GDBN} to the needs of your project, it can sometimes produce unexpected
21232 results or introduce security risks (e.g., if the file comes from untrusted
21235 Note that loading of these associated files (including the local @file{.gdbinit}
21236 file) requires accordingly configured @code{auto-load safe-path}
21237 (@pxref{Auto-loading safe path}).
21239 For these reasons, @value{GDBN} includes commands and options to let you
21240 control when to auto-load files and which files should be auto-loaded.
21243 @anchor{set auto-load off}
21244 @kindex set auto-load off
21245 @item set auto-load off
21246 Globally disable loading of all auto-loaded files.
21247 You may want to use this command with the @samp{-iex} option
21248 (@pxref{Option -init-eval-command}) such as:
21250 $ @kbd{gdb -iex "set auto-load off" untrusted-executable corefile}
21253 Be aware that system init file (@pxref{System-wide configuration})
21254 and init files from your home directory (@pxref{Home Directory Init File})
21255 still get read (as they come from generally trusted directories).
21256 To prevent @value{GDBN} from auto-loading even those init files, use the
21257 @option{-nx} option (@pxref{Mode Options}), in addition to
21258 @code{set auto-load no}.
21260 @anchor{show auto-load}
21261 @kindex show auto-load
21262 @item show auto-load
21263 Show whether auto-loading of each specific @samp{auto-load} file(s) is enabled
21267 (gdb) show auto-load
21268 gdb-scripts: Auto-loading of canned sequences of commands scripts is on.
21269 libthread-db: Auto-loading of inferior specific libthread_db is on.
21270 local-gdbinit: Auto-loading of .gdbinit script from current directory
21272 python-scripts: Auto-loading of Python scripts is on.
21273 safe-path: List of directories from which it is safe to auto-load files
21274 is $debugdir:$datadir/auto-load.
21275 scripts-directory: List of directories from which to load auto-loaded scripts
21276 is $debugdir:$datadir/auto-load.
21279 @anchor{info auto-load}
21280 @kindex info auto-load
21281 @item info auto-load
21282 Print whether each specific @samp{auto-load} file(s) have been auto-loaded or
21286 (gdb) info auto-load
21289 Yes /home/user/gdb/gdb-gdb.gdb
21290 libthread-db: No auto-loaded libthread-db.
21291 local-gdbinit: Local .gdbinit file "/home/user/gdb/.gdbinit" has been
21295 Yes /home/user/gdb/gdb-gdb.py
21299 These are various kinds of files @value{GDBN} can automatically load:
21303 @xref{objfile-gdb.py file}, controlled by @ref{set auto-load python-scripts}.
21305 @xref{objfile-gdb.gdb file}, controlled by @ref{set auto-load gdb-scripts}.
21307 @xref{dotdebug_gdb_scripts section},
21308 controlled by @ref{set auto-load python-scripts}.
21310 @xref{Init File in the Current Directory},
21311 controlled by @ref{set auto-load local-gdbinit}.
21313 @xref{libthread_db.so.1 file}, controlled by @ref{set auto-load libthread-db}.
21316 These are @value{GDBN} control commands for the auto-loading:
21318 @multitable @columnfractions .5 .5
21319 @item @xref{set auto-load off}.
21320 @tab Disable auto-loading globally.
21321 @item @xref{show auto-load}.
21322 @tab Show setting of all kinds of files.
21323 @item @xref{info auto-load}.
21324 @tab Show state of all kinds of files.
21325 @item @xref{set auto-load gdb-scripts}.
21326 @tab Control for @value{GDBN} command scripts.
21327 @item @xref{show auto-load gdb-scripts}.
21328 @tab Show setting of @value{GDBN} command scripts.
21329 @item @xref{info auto-load gdb-scripts}.
21330 @tab Show state of @value{GDBN} command scripts.
21331 @item @xref{set auto-load python-scripts}.
21332 @tab Control for @value{GDBN} Python scripts.
21333 @item @xref{show auto-load python-scripts}.
21334 @tab Show setting of @value{GDBN} Python scripts.
21335 @item @xref{info auto-load python-scripts}.
21336 @tab Show state of @value{GDBN} Python scripts.
21337 @item @xref{set auto-load scripts-directory}.
21338 @tab Control for @value{GDBN} auto-loaded scripts location.
21339 @item @xref{show auto-load scripts-directory}.
21340 @tab Show @value{GDBN} auto-loaded scripts location.
21341 @item @xref{set auto-load local-gdbinit}.
21342 @tab Control for init file in the current directory.
21343 @item @xref{show auto-load local-gdbinit}.
21344 @tab Show setting of init file in the current directory.
21345 @item @xref{info auto-load local-gdbinit}.
21346 @tab Show state of init file in the current directory.
21347 @item @xref{set auto-load libthread-db}.
21348 @tab Control for thread debugging library.
21349 @item @xref{show auto-load libthread-db}.
21350 @tab Show setting of thread debugging library.
21351 @item @xref{info auto-load libthread-db}.
21352 @tab Show state of thread debugging library.
21353 @item @xref{set auto-load safe-path}.
21354 @tab Control directories trusted for automatic loading.
21355 @item @xref{show auto-load safe-path}.
21356 @tab Show directories trusted for automatic loading.
21357 @item @xref{add-auto-load-safe-path}.
21358 @tab Add directory trusted for automatic loading.
21362 * Init File in the Current Directory:: @samp{set/show/info auto-load local-gdbinit}
21363 * libthread_db.so.1 file:: @samp{set/show/info auto-load libthread-db}
21364 * objfile-gdb.gdb file:: @samp{set/show/info auto-load gdb-script}
21365 * Auto-loading safe path:: @samp{set/show/info auto-load safe-path}
21366 * Auto-loading verbose mode:: @samp{set/show debug auto-load}
21367 @xref{Python Auto-loading}.
21370 @node Init File in the Current Directory
21371 @subsection Automatically loading init file in the current directory
21372 @cindex auto-loading init file in the current directory
21374 By default, @value{GDBN} reads and executes the canned sequences of commands
21375 from init file (if any) in the current working directory,
21376 see @ref{Init File in the Current Directory during Startup}.
21378 Note that loading of this local @file{.gdbinit} file also requires accordingly
21379 configured @code{auto-load safe-path} (@pxref{Auto-loading safe path}).
21382 @anchor{set auto-load local-gdbinit}
21383 @kindex set auto-load local-gdbinit
21384 @item set auto-load local-gdbinit [on|off]
21385 Enable or disable the auto-loading of canned sequences of commands
21386 (@pxref{Sequences}) found in init file in the current directory.
21388 @anchor{show auto-load local-gdbinit}
21389 @kindex show auto-load local-gdbinit
21390 @item show auto-load local-gdbinit
21391 Show whether auto-loading of canned sequences of commands from init file in the
21392 current directory is enabled or disabled.
21394 @anchor{info auto-load local-gdbinit}
21395 @kindex info auto-load local-gdbinit
21396 @item info auto-load local-gdbinit
21397 Print whether canned sequences of commands from init file in the
21398 current directory have been auto-loaded.
21401 @node libthread_db.so.1 file
21402 @subsection Automatically loading thread debugging library
21403 @cindex auto-loading libthread_db.so.1
21405 This feature is currently present only on @sc{gnu}/Linux native hosts.
21407 @value{GDBN} reads in some cases thread debugging library from places specific
21408 to the inferior (@pxref{set libthread-db-search-path}).
21410 The special @samp{libthread-db-search-path} entry @samp{$sdir} is processed
21411 without checking this @samp{set auto-load libthread-db} switch as system
21412 libraries have to be trusted in general. In all other cases of
21413 @samp{libthread-db-search-path} entries @value{GDBN} checks first if @samp{set
21414 auto-load libthread-db} is enabled before trying to open such thread debugging
21417 Note that loading of this debugging library also requires accordingly configured
21418 @code{auto-load safe-path} (@pxref{Auto-loading safe path}).
21421 @anchor{set auto-load libthread-db}
21422 @kindex set auto-load libthread-db
21423 @item set auto-load libthread-db [on|off]
21424 Enable or disable the auto-loading of inferior specific thread debugging library.
21426 @anchor{show auto-load libthread-db}
21427 @kindex show auto-load libthread-db
21428 @item show auto-load libthread-db
21429 Show whether auto-loading of inferior specific thread debugging library is
21430 enabled or disabled.
21432 @anchor{info auto-load libthread-db}
21433 @kindex info auto-load libthread-db
21434 @item info auto-load libthread-db
21435 Print the list of all loaded inferior specific thread debugging libraries and
21436 for each such library print list of inferior @var{pid}s using it.
21439 @node objfile-gdb.gdb file
21440 @subsection The @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.gdb} file
21441 @cindex auto-loading @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.gdb}
21443 @value{GDBN} tries to load an @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.gdb} file containing
21444 canned sequences of commands (@pxref{Sequences}), as long as @samp{set
21445 auto-load gdb-scripts} is set to @samp{on}.
21447 Note that loading of this script file also requires accordingly configured
21448 @code{auto-load safe-path} (@pxref{Auto-loading safe path}).
21450 For more background refer to the similar Python scripts auto-loading
21451 description (@pxref{objfile-gdb.py file}).
21454 @anchor{set auto-load gdb-scripts}
21455 @kindex set auto-load gdb-scripts
21456 @item set auto-load gdb-scripts [on|off]
21457 Enable or disable the auto-loading of canned sequences of commands scripts.
21459 @anchor{show auto-load gdb-scripts}
21460 @kindex show auto-load gdb-scripts
21461 @item show auto-load gdb-scripts
21462 Show whether auto-loading of canned sequences of commands scripts is enabled or
21465 @anchor{info auto-load gdb-scripts}
21466 @kindex info auto-load gdb-scripts
21467 @cindex print list of auto-loaded canned sequences of commands scripts
21468 @item info auto-load gdb-scripts [@var{regexp}]
21469 Print the list of all canned sequences of commands scripts that @value{GDBN}
21473 If @var{regexp} is supplied only canned sequences of commands scripts with
21474 matching names are printed.
21476 @node Auto-loading safe path
21477 @subsection Security restriction for auto-loading
21478 @cindex auto-loading safe-path
21480 As the files of inferior can come from untrusted source (such as submitted by
21481 an application user) @value{GDBN} does not always load any files automatically.
21482 @value{GDBN} provides the @samp{set auto-load safe-path} setting to list
21483 directories trusted for loading files not explicitly requested by user.
21484 Each directory can also be a shell wildcard pattern.
21486 If the path is not set properly you will see a warning and the file will not
21491 Reading symbols from /home/user/gdb/gdb...done.
21492 warning: File "/home/user/gdb/gdb-gdb.gdb" auto-loading has been
21493 declined by your `auto-load safe-path' set
21494 to "$debugdir:$datadir/auto-load".
21495 warning: File "/home/user/gdb/gdb-gdb.py" auto-loading has been
21496 declined by your `auto-load safe-path' set
21497 to "$debugdir:$datadir/auto-load".
21500 The list of trusted directories is controlled by the following commands:
21503 @anchor{set auto-load safe-path}
21504 @kindex set auto-load safe-path
21505 @item set auto-load safe-path @r{[}@var{directories}@r{]}
21506 Set the list of directories (and their subdirectories) trusted for automatic
21507 loading and execution of scripts. You can also enter a specific trusted file.
21508 Each directory can also be a shell wildcard pattern; wildcards do not match
21509 directory separator - see @code{FNM_PATHNAME} for system function @code{fnmatch}
21510 (@pxref{Wildcard Matching, fnmatch, , libc, GNU C Library Reference Manual}).
21511 If you omit @var{directories}, @samp{auto-load safe-path} will be reset to
21512 its default value as specified during @value{GDBN} compilation.
21514 The list of directories uses path separator (@samp{:} on GNU and Unix
21515 systems, @samp{;} on MS-Windows and MS-DOS) to separate directories, similarly
21516 to the @env{PATH} environment variable.
21518 @anchor{show auto-load safe-path}
21519 @kindex show auto-load safe-path
21520 @item show auto-load safe-path
21521 Show the list of directories trusted for automatic loading and execution of
21524 @anchor{add-auto-load-safe-path}
21525 @kindex add-auto-load-safe-path
21526 @item add-auto-load-safe-path
21527 Add an entry (or list of entries) the list of directories trusted for automatic
21528 loading and execution of scripts. Multiple entries may be delimited by the
21529 host platform path separator in use.
21532 This variable defaults to what @code{--with-auto-load-dir} has been configured
21533 to (@pxref{with-auto-load-dir}). @file{$debugdir} and @file{$datadir}
21534 substitution applies the same as for @ref{set auto-load scripts-directory}.
21535 The default @code{set auto-load safe-path} value can be also overriden by
21536 @value{GDBN} configuration option @option{--with-auto-load-safe-path}.
21538 Setting this variable to @file{/} disables this security protection,
21539 corresponding @value{GDBN} configuration option is
21540 @option{--without-auto-load-safe-path}.
21541 This variable is supposed to be set to the system directories writable by the
21542 system superuser only. Users can add their source directories in init files in
21543 their home directories (@pxref{Home Directory Init File}). See also deprecated
21544 init file in the current directory
21545 (@pxref{Init File in the Current Directory during Startup}).
21547 To force @value{GDBN} to load the files it declined to load in the previous
21548 example, you could use one of the following ways:
21551 @item @file{~/.gdbinit}: @samp{add-auto-load-safe-path ~/src/gdb}
21552 Specify this trusted directory (or a file) as additional component of the list.
21553 You have to specify also any existing directories displayed by
21554 by @samp{show auto-load safe-path} (such as @samp{/usr:/bin} in this example).
21556 @item @kbd{gdb -iex "set auto-load safe-path /usr:/bin:~/src/gdb" @dots{}}
21557 Specify this directory as in the previous case but just for a single
21558 @value{GDBN} session.
21560 @item @kbd{gdb -iex "set auto-load safe-path /" @dots{}}
21561 Disable auto-loading safety for a single @value{GDBN} session.
21562 This assumes all the files you debug during this @value{GDBN} session will come
21563 from trusted sources.
21565 @item @kbd{./configure --without-auto-load-safe-path}
21566 During compilation of @value{GDBN} you may disable any auto-loading safety.
21567 This assumes all the files you will ever debug with this @value{GDBN} come from
21571 On the other hand you can also explicitly forbid automatic files loading which
21572 also suppresses any such warning messages:
21575 @item @kbd{gdb -iex "set auto-load no" @dots{}}
21576 You can use @value{GDBN} command-line option for a single @value{GDBN} session.
21578 @item @file{~/.gdbinit}: @samp{set auto-load no}
21579 Disable auto-loading globally for the user
21580 (@pxref{Home Directory Init File}). While it is improbable, you could also
21581 use system init file instead (@pxref{System-wide configuration}).
21584 This setting applies to the file names as entered by user. If no entry matches
21585 @value{GDBN} tries as a last resort to also resolve all the file names into
21586 their canonical form (typically resolving symbolic links) and compare the
21587 entries again. @value{GDBN} already canonicalizes most of the filenames on its
21588 own before starting the comparison so a canonical form of directories is
21589 recommended to be entered.
21591 @node Auto-loading verbose mode
21592 @subsection Displaying files tried for auto-load
21593 @cindex auto-loading verbose mode
21595 For better visibility of all the file locations where you can place scripts to
21596 be auto-loaded with inferior --- or to protect yourself against accidental
21597 execution of untrusted scripts --- @value{GDBN} provides a feature for printing
21598 all the files attempted to be loaded. Both existing and non-existing files may
21601 For example the list of directories from which it is safe to auto-load files
21602 (@pxref{Auto-loading safe path}) applies also to canonicalized filenames which
21603 may not be too obvious while setting it up.
21606 (gdb) set debug auto-load on
21607 (gdb) file ~/src/t/true
21608 auto-load: Loading canned sequences of commands script "/tmp/true-gdb.gdb"
21609 for objfile "/tmp/true".
21610 auto-load: Updating directories of "/usr:/opt".
21611 auto-load: Using directory "/usr".
21612 auto-load: Using directory "/opt".
21613 warning: File "/tmp/true-gdb.gdb" auto-loading has been declined
21614 by your `auto-load safe-path' set to "/usr:/opt".
21618 @anchor{set debug auto-load}
21619 @kindex set debug auto-load
21620 @item set debug auto-load [on|off]
21621 Set whether to print the filenames attempted to be auto-loaded.
21623 @anchor{show debug auto-load}
21624 @kindex show debug auto-load
21625 @item show debug auto-load
21626 Show whether printing of the filenames attempted to be auto-loaded is turned
21630 @node Messages/Warnings
21631 @section Optional Warnings and Messages
21633 @cindex verbose operation
21634 @cindex optional warnings
21635 By default, @value{GDBN} is silent about its inner workings. If you are
21636 running on a slow machine, you may want to use the @code{set verbose}
21637 command. This makes @value{GDBN} tell you when it does a lengthy
21638 internal operation, so you will not think it has crashed.
21640 Currently, the messages controlled by @code{set verbose} are those
21641 which announce that the symbol table for a source file is being read;
21642 see @code{symbol-file} in @ref{Files, ,Commands to Specify Files}.
21645 @kindex set verbose
21646 @item set verbose on
21647 Enables @value{GDBN} output of certain informational messages.
21649 @item set verbose off
21650 Disables @value{GDBN} output of certain informational messages.
21652 @kindex show verbose
21654 Displays whether @code{set verbose} is on or off.
21657 By default, if @value{GDBN} encounters bugs in the symbol table of an
21658 object file, it is silent; but if you are debugging a compiler, you may
21659 find this information useful (@pxref{Symbol Errors, ,Errors Reading
21664 @kindex set complaints
21665 @item set complaints @var{limit}
21666 Permits @value{GDBN} to output @var{limit} complaints about each type of
21667 unusual symbols before becoming silent about the problem. Set
21668 @var{limit} to zero to suppress all complaints; set it to a large number
21669 to prevent complaints from being suppressed.
21671 @kindex show complaints
21672 @item show complaints
21673 Displays how many symbol complaints @value{GDBN} is permitted to produce.
21677 @anchor{confirmation requests}
21678 By default, @value{GDBN} is cautious, and asks what sometimes seems to be a
21679 lot of stupid questions to confirm certain commands. For example, if
21680 you try to run a program which is already running:
21684 The program being debugged has been started already.
21685 Start it from the beginning? (y or n)
21688 If you are willing to unflinchingly face the consequences of your own
21689 commands, you can disable this ``feature'':
21693 @kindex set confirm
21695 @cindex confirmation
21696 @cindex stupid questions
21697 @item set confirm off
21698 Disables confirmation requests. Note that running @value{GDBN} with
21699 the @option{--batch} option (@pxref{Mode Options, -batch}) also
21700 automatically disables confirmation requests.
21702 @item set confirm on
21703 Enables confirmation requests (the default).
21705 @kindex show confirm
21707 Displays state of confirmation requests.
21711 @cindex command tracing
21712 If you need to debug user-defined commands or sourced files you may find it
21713 useful to enable @dfn{command tracing}. In this mode each command will be
21714 printed as it is executed, prefixed with one or more @samp{+} symbols, the
21715 quantity denoting the call depth of each command.
21718 @kindex set trace-commands
21719 @cindex command scripts, debugging
21720 @item set trace-commands on
21721 Enable command tracing.
21722 @item set trace-commands off
21723 Disable command tracing.
21724 @item show trace-commands
21725 Display the current state of command tracing.
21728 @node Debugging Output
21729 @section Optional Messages about Internal Happenings
21730 @cindex optional debugging messages
21732 @value{GDBN} has commands that enable optional debugging messages from
21733 various @value{GDBN} subsystems; normally these commands are of
21734 interest to @value{GDBN} maintainers, or when reporting a bug. This
21735 section documents those commands.
21738 @kindex set exec-done-display
21739 @item set exec-done-display
21740 Turns on or off the notification of asynchronous commands'
21741 completion. When on, @value{GDBN} will print a message when an
21742 asynchronous command finishes its execution. The default is off.
21743 @kindex show exec-done-display
21744 @item show exec-done-display
21745 Displays the current setting of asynchronous command completion
21748 @cindex gdbarch debugging info
21749 @cindex architecture debugging info
21750 @item set debug arch
21751 Turns on or off display of gdbarch debugging info. The default is off
21753 @item show debug arch
21754 Displays the current state of displaying gdbarch debugging info.
21755 @item set debug aix-thread
21756 @cindex AIX threads
21757 Display debugging messages about inner workings of the AIX thread
21759 @item show debug aix-thread
21760 Show the current state of AIX thread debugging info display.
21761 @item set debug check-physname
21763 Check the results of the ``physname'' computation. When reading DWARF
21764 debugging information for C@t{++}, @value{GDBN} attempts to compute
21765 each entity's name. @value{GDBN} can do this computation in two
21766 different ways, depending on exactly what information is present.
21767 When enabled, this setting causes @value{GDBN} to compute the names
21768 both ways and display any discrepancies.
21769 @item show debug check-physname
21770 Show the current state of ``physname'' checking.
21771 @item set debug dwarf2-die
21772 @cindex DWARF2 DIEs
21773 Dump DWARF2 DIEs after they are read in.
21774 The value is the number of nesting levels to print.
21775 A value of zero turns off the display.
21776 @item show debug dwarf2-die
21777 Show the current state of DWARF2 DIE debugging.
21778 @item set debug dwarf2-read
21779 @cindex DWARF2 Reading
21780 Turns on or off display of debugging messages related to reading
21781 DWARF debug info. The default is off.
21782 @item show debug dwarf2-read
21783 Show the current state of DWARF2 reader debugging.
21784 @item set debug displaced
21785 @cindex displaced stepping debugging info
21786 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} debugging info for the
21787 displaced stepping support. The default is off.
21788 @item show debug displaced
21789 Displays the current state of displaying @value{GDBN} debugging info
21790 related to displaced stepping.
21791 @item set debug event
21792 @cindex event debugging info
21793 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} event debugging info. The
21795 @item show debug event
21796 Displays the current state of displaying @value{GDBN} event debugging
21798 @item set debug expression
21799 @cindex expression debugging info
21800 Turns on or off display of debugging info about @value{GDBN}
21801 expression parsing. The default is off.
21802 @item show debug expression
21803 Displays the current state of displaying debugging info about
21804 @value{GDBN} expression parsing.
21805 @item set debug frame
21806 @cindex frame debugging info
21807 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} frame debugging info. The
21809 @item show debug frame
21810 Displays the current state of displaying @value{GDBN} frame debugging
21812 @item set debug gnu-nat
21813 @cindex @sc{gnu}/Hurd debug messages
21814 Turns on or off debugging messages from the @sc{gnu}/Hurd debug support.
21815 @item show debug gnu-nat
21816 Show the current state of @sc{gnu}/Hurd debugging messages.
21817 @item set debug infrun
21818 @cindex inferior debugging info
21819 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} debugging info for running the inferior.
21820 The default is off. @file{infrun.c} contains GDB's runtime state machine used
21821 for implementing operations such as single-stepping the inferior.
21822 @item show debug infrun
21823 Displays the current state of @value{GDBN} inferior debugging.
21824 @item set debug jit
21825 @cindex just-in-time compilation, debugging messages
21826 Turns on or off debugging messages from JIT debug support.
21827 @item show debug jit
21828 Displays the current state of @value{GDBN} JIT debugging.
21829 @item set debug lin-lwp
21830 @cindex @sc{gnu}/Linux LWP debug messages
21831 @cindex Linux lightweight processes
21832 Turns on or off debugging messages from the Linux LWP debug support.
21833 @item show debug lin-lwp
21834 Show the current state of Linux LWP debugging messages.
21835 @item set debug observer
21836 @cindex observer debugging info
21837 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} observer debugging. This
21838 includes info such as the notification of observable events.
21839 @item show debug observer
21840 Displays the current state of observer debugging.
21841 @item set debug overload
21842 @cindex C@t{++} overload debugging info
21843 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} C@t{++} overload debugging
21844 info. This includes info such as ranking of functions, etc. The default
21846 @item show debug overload
21847 Displays the current state of displaying @value{GDBN} C@t{++} overload
21849 @cindex expression parser, debugging info
21850 @cindex debug expression parser
21851 @item set debug parser
21852 Turns on or off the display of expression parser debugging output.
21853 Internally, this sets the @code{yydebug} variable in the expression
21854 parser. @xref{Tracing, , Tracing Your Parser, bison, Bison}, for
21855 details. The default is off.
21856 @item show debug parser
21857 Show the current state of expression parser debugging.
21858 @cindex packets, reporting on stdout
21859 @cindex serial connections, debugging
21860 @cindex debug remote protocol
21861 @cindex remote protocol debugging
21862 @cindex display remote packets
21863 @item set debug remote
21864 Turns on or off display of reports on all packets sent back and forth across
21865 the serial line to the remote machine. The info is printed on the
21866 @value{GDBN} standard output stream. The default is off.
21867 @item show debug remote
21868 Displays the state of display of remote packets.
21869 @item set debug serial
21870 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} serial debugging info. The
21872 @item show debug serial
21873 Displays the current state of displaying @value{GDBN} serial debugging
21875 @item set debug solib-frv
21876 @cindex FR-V shared-library debugging
21877 Turns on or off debugging messages for FR-V shared-library code.
21878 @item show debug solib-frv
21879 Display the current state of FR-V shared-library code debugging
21881 @item set debug symtab-create
21882 @cindex symbol table creation
21883 Turns on or off display of debugging messages related to symbol table creation.
21884 The default is off.
21885 @item show debug symtab-create
21886 Show the current state of symbol table creation debugging.
21887 @item set debug target
21888 @cindex target debugging info
21889 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} target debugging info. This info
21890 includes what is going on at the target level of GDB, as it happens. The
21891 default is 0. Set it to 1 to track events, and to 2 to also track the
21892 value of large memory transfers. Changes to this flag do not take effect
21893 until the next time you connect to a target or use the @code{run} command.
21894 @item show debug target
21895 Displays the current state of displaying @value{GDBN} target debugging
21897 @item set debug timestamp
21898 @cindex timestampping debugging info
21899 Turns on or off display of timestamps with @value{GDBN} debugging info.
21900 When enabled, seconds and microseconds are displayed before each debugging
21902 @item show debug timestamp
21903 Displays the current state of displaying timestamps with @value{GDBN}
21905 @item set debugvarobj
21906 @cindex variable object debugging info
21907 Turns on or off display of @value{GDBN} variable object debugging
21908 info. The default is off.
21909 @item show debugvarobj
21910 Displays the current state of displaying @value{GDBN} variable object
21912 @item set debug xml
21913 @cindex XML parser debugging
21914 Turns on or off debugging messages for built-in XML parsers.
21915 @item show debug xml
21916 Displays the current state of XML debugging messages.
21919 @node Other Misc Settings
21920 @section Other Miscellaneous Settings
21921 @cindex miscellaneous settings
21924 @kindex set interactive-mode
21925 @item set interactive-mode
21926 If @code{on}, forces @value{GDBN} to assume that GDB was started
21927 in a terminal. In practice, this means that @value{GDBN} should wait
21928 for the user to answer queries generated by commands entered at
21929 the command prompt. If @code{off}, forces @value{GDBN} to operate
21930 in the opposite mode, and it uses the default answers to all queries.
21931 If @code{auto} (the default), @value{GDBN} tries to determine whether
21932 its standard input is a terminal, and works in interactive-mode if it
21933 is, non-interactively otherwise.
21935 In the vast majority of cases, the debugger should be able to guess
21936 correctly which mode should be used. But this setting can be useful
21937 in certain specific cases, such as running a MinGW @value{GDBN}
21938 inside a cygwin window.
21940 @kindex show interactive-mode
21941 @item show interactive-mode
21942 Displays whether the debugger is operating in interactive mode or not.
21945 @node Extending GDB
21946 @chapter Extending @value{GDBN}
21947 @cindex extending GDB
21949 @value{GDBN} provides three mechanisms for extension. The first is based
21950 on composition of @value{GDBN} commands, the second is based on the
21951 Python scripting language, and the third is for defining new aliases of
21954 To facilitate the use of the first two extensions, @value{GDBN} is capable
21955 of evaluating the contents of a file. When doing so, @value{GDBN}
21956 can recognize which scripting language is being used by looking at
21957 the filename extension. Files with an unrecognized filename extension
21958 are always treated as a @value{GDBN} Command Files.
21959 @xref{Command Files,, Command files}.
21961 You can control how @value{GDBN} evaluates these files with the following
21965 @kindex set script-extension
21966 @kindex show script-extension
21967 @item set script-extension off
21968 All scripts are always evaluated as @value{GDBN} Command Files.
21970 @item set script-extension soft
21971 The debugger determines the scripting language based on filename
21972 extension. If this scripting language is supported, @value{GDBN}
21973 evaluates the script using that language. Otherwise, it evaluates
21974 the file as a @value{GDBN} Command File.
21976 @item set script-extension strict
21977 The debugger determines the scripting language based on filename
21978 extension, and evaluates the script using that language. If the
21979 language is not supported, then the evaluation fails.
21981 @item show script-extension
21982 Display the current value of the @code{script-extension} option.
21987 * Sequences:: Canned Sequences of Commands
21988 * Python:: Scripting @value{GDBN} using Python
21989 * Aliases:: Creating new spellings of existing commands
21993 @section Canned Sequences of Commands
21995 Aside from breakpoint commands (@pxref{Break Commands, ,Breakpoint
21996 Command Lists}), @value{GDBN} provides two ways to store sequences of
21997 commands for execution as a unit: user-defined commands and command
22001 * Define:: How to define your own commands
22002 * Hooks:: Hooks for user-defined commands
22003 * Command Files:: How to write scripts of commands to be stored in a file
22004 * Output:: Commands for controlled output
22008 @subsection User-defined Commands
22010 @cindex user-defined command
22011 @cindex arguments, to user-defined commands
22012 A @dfn{user-defined command} is a sequence of @value{GDBN} commands to
22013 which you assign a new name as a command. This is done with the
22014 @code{define} command. User commands may accept up to 10 arguments
22015 separated by whitespace. Arguments are accessed within the user command
22016 via @code{$arg0@dots{}$arg9}. A trivial example:
22020 print $arg0 + $arg1 + $arg2
22025 To execute the command use:
22032 This defines the command @code{adder}, which prints the sum of
22033 its three arguments. Note the arguments are text substitutions, so they may
22034 reference variables, use complex expressions, or even perform inferior
22037 @cindex argument count in user-defined commands
22038 @cindex how many arguments (user-defined commands)
22039 In addition, @code{$argc} may be used to find out how many arguments have
22040 been passed. This expands to a number in the range 0@dots{}10.
22045 print $arg0 + $arg1
22048 print $arg0 + $arg1 + $arg2
22056 @item define @var{commandname}
22057 Define a command named @var{commandname}. If there is already a command
22058 by that name, you are asked to confirm that you want to redefine it.
22059 @var{commandname} may be a bare command name consisting of letters,
22060 numbers, dashes, and underscores. It may also start with any predefined
22061 prefix command. For example, @samp{define target my-target} creates
22062 a user-defined @samp{target my-target} command.
22064 The definition of the command is made up of other @value{GDBN} command lines,
22065 which are given following the @code{define} command. The end of these
22066 commands is marked by a line containing @code{end}.
22069 @kindex end@r{ (user-defined commands)}
22070 @item document @var{commandname}
22071 Document the user-defined command @var{commandname}, so that it can be
22072 accessed by @code{help}. The command @var{commandname} must already be
22073 defined. This command reads lines of documentation just as @code{define}
22074 reads the lines of the command definition, ending with @code{end}.
22075 After the @code{document} command is finished, @code{help} on command
22076 @var{commandname} displays the documentation you have written.
22078 You may use the @code{document} command again to change the
22079 documentation of a command. Redefining the command with @code{define}
22080 does not change the documentation.
22082 @kindex dont-repeat
22083 @cindex don't repeat command
22085 Used inside a user-defined command, this tells @value{GDBN} that this
22086 command should not be repeated when the user hits @key{RET}
22087 (@pxref{Command Syntax, repeat last command}).
22089 @kindex help user-defined
22090 @item help user-defined
22091 List all user-defined commands and all python commands defined in class
22092 COMAND_USER. The first line of the documentation or docstring is
22097 @itemx show user @var{commandname}
22098 Display the @value{GDBN} commands used to define @var{commandname} (but
22099 not its documentation). If no @var{commandname} is given, display the
22100 definitions for all user-defined commands.
22101 This does not work for user-defined python commands.
22103 @cindex infinite recursion in user-defined commands
22104 @kindex show max-user-call-depth
22105 @kindex set max-user-call-depth
22106 @item show max-user-call-depth
22107 @itemx set max-user-call-depth
22108 The value of @code{max-user-call-depth} controls how many recursion
22109 levels are allowed in user-defined commands before @value{GDBN} suspects an
22110 infinite recursion and aborts the command.
22111 This does not apply to user-defined python commands.
22114 In addition to the above commands, user-defined commands frequently
22115 use control flow commands, described in @ref{Command Files}.
22117 When user-defined commands are executed, the
22118 commands of the definition are not printed. An error in any command
22119 stops execution of the user-defined command.
22121 If used interactively, commands that would ask for confirmation proceed
22122 without asking when used inside a user-defined command. Many @value{GDBN}
22123 commands that normally print messages to say what they are doing omit the
22124 messages when used in a user-defined command.
22127 @subsection User-defined Command Hooks
22128 @cindex command hooks
22129 @cindex hooks, for commands
22130 @cindex hooks, pre-command
22133 You may define @dfn{hooks}, which are a special kind of user-defined
22134 command. Whenever you run the command @samp{foo}, if the user-defined
22135 command @samp{hook-foo} exists, it is executed (with no arguments)
22136 before that command.
22138 @cindex hooks, post-command
22140 A hook may also be defined which is run after the command you executed.
22141 Whenever you run the command @samp{foo}, if the user-defined command
22142 @samp{hookpost-foo} exists, it is executed (with no arguments) after
22143 that command. Post-execution hooks may exist simultaneously with
22144 pre-execution hooks, for the same command.
22146 It is valid for a hook to call the command which it hooks. If this
22147 occurs, the hook is not re-executed, thereby avoiding infinite recursion.
22149 @c It would be nice if hookpost could be passed a parameter indicating
22150 @c if the command it hooks executed properly or not. FIXME!
22152 @kindex stop@r{, a pseudo-command}
22153 In addition, a pseudo-command, @samp{stop} exists. Defining
22154 (@samp{hook-stop}) makes the associated commands execute every time
22155 execution stops in your program: before breakpoint commands are run,
22156 displays are printed, or the stack frame is printed.
22158 For example, to ignore @code{SIGALRM} signals while
22159 single-stepping, but treat them normally during normal execution,
22164 handle SIGALRM nopass
22168 handle SIGALRM pass
22171 define hook-continue
22172 handle SIGALRM pass
22176 As a further example, to hook at the beginning and end of the @code{echo}
22177 command, and to add extra text to the beginning and end of the message,
22185 define hookpost-echo
22189 (@value{GDBP}) echo Hello World
22190 <<<---Hello World--->>>
22195 You can define a hook for any single-word command in @value{GDBN}, but
22196 not for command aliases; you should define a hook for the basic command
22197 name, e.g.@: @code{backtrace} rather than @code{bt}.
22198 @c FIXME! So how does Joe User discover whether a command is an alias
22200 You can hook a multi-word command by adding @code{hook-} or
22201 @code{hookpost-} to the last word of the command, e.g.@:
22202 @samp{define target hook-remote} to add a hook to @samp{target remote}.
22204 If an error occurs during the execution of your hook, execution of
22205 @value{GDBN} commands stops and @value{GDBN} issues a prompt
22206 (before the command that you actually typed had a chance to run).
22208 If you try to define a hook which does not match any known command, you
22209 get a warning from the @code{define} command.
22211 @node Command Files
22212 @subsection Command Files
22214 @cindex command files
22215 @cindex scripting commands
22216 A command file for @value{GDBN} is a text file made of lines that are
22217 @value{GDBN} commands. Comments (lines starting with @kbd{#}) may
22218 also be included. An empty line in a command file does nothing; it
22219 does not mean to repeat the last command, as it would from the
22222 You can request the execution of a command file with the @code{source}
22223 command. Note that the @code{source} command is also used to evaluate
22224 scripts that are not Command Files. The exact behavior can be configured
22225 using the @code{script-extension} setting.
22226 @xref{Extending GDB,, Extending GDB}.
22230 @cindex execute commands from a file
22231 @item source [-s] [-v] @var{filename}
22232 Execute the command file @var{filename}.
22235 The lines in a command file are generally executed sequentially,
22236 unless the order of execution is changed by one of the
22237 @emph{flow-control commands} described below. The commands are not
22238 printed as they are executed. An error in any command terminates
22239 execution of the command file and control is returned to the console.
22241 @value{GDBN} first searches for @var{filename} in the current directory.
22242 If the file is not found there, and @var{filename} does not specify a
22243 directory, then @value{GDBN} also looks for the file on the source search path
22244 (specified with the @samp{directory} command);
22245 except that @file{$cdir} is not searched because the compilation directory
22246 is not relevant to scripts.
22248 If @code{-s} is specified, then @value{GDBN} searches for @var{filename}
22249 on the search path even if @var{filename} specifies a directory.
22250 The search is done by appending @var{filename} to each element of the
22251 search path. So, for example, if @var{filename} is @file{mylib/myscript}
22252 and the search path contains @file{/home/user} then @value{GDBN} will
22253 look for the script @file{/home/user/mylib/myscript}.
22254 The search is also done if @var{filename} is an absolute path.
22255 For example, if @var{filename} is @file{/tmp/myscript} and
22256 the search path contains @file{/home/user} then @value{GDBN} will
22257 look for the script @file{/home/user/tmp/myscript}.
22258 For DOS-like systems, if @var{filename} contains a drive specification,
22259 it is stripped before concatenation. For example, if @var{filename} is
22260 @file{d:myscript} and the search path contains @file{c:/tmp} then @value{GDBN}
22261 will look for the script @file{c:/tmp/myscript}.
22263 If @code{-v}, for verbose mode, is given then @value{GDBN} displays
22264 each command as it is executed. The option must be given before
22265 @var{filename}, and is interpreted as part of the filename anywhere else.
22267 Commands that would ask for confirmation if used interactively proceed
22268 without asking when used in a command file. Many @value{GDBN} commands that
22269 normally print messages to say what they are doing omit the messages
22270 when called from command files.
22272 @value{GDBN} also accepts command input from standard input. In this
22273 mode, normal output goes to standard output and error output goes to
22274 standard error. Errors in a command file supplied on standard input do
22275 not terminate execution of the command file---execution continues with
22279 gdb < cmds > log 2>&1
22282 (The syntax above will vary depending on the shell used.) This example
22283 will execute commands from the file @file{cmds}. All output and errors
22284 would be directed to @file{log}.
22286 Since commands stored on command files tend to be more general than
22287 commands typed interactively, they frequently need to deal with
22288 complicated situations, such as different or unexpected values of
22289 variables and symbols, changes in how the program being debugged is
22290 built, etc. @value{GDBN} provides a set of flow-control commands to
22291 deal with these complexities. Using these commands, you can write
22292 complex scripts that loop over data structures, execute commands
22293 conditionally, etc.
22300 This command allows to include in your script conditionally executed
22301 commands. The @code{if} command takes a single argument, which is an
22302 expression to evaluate. It is followed by a series of commands that
22303 are executed only if the expression is true (its value is nonzero).
22304 There can then optionally be an @code{else} line, followed by a series
22305 of commands that are only executed if the expression was false. The
22306 end of the list is marked by a line containing @code{end}.
22310 This command allows to write loops. Its syntax is similar to
22311 @code{if}: the command takes a single argument, which is an expression
22312 to evaluate, and must be followed by the commands to execute, one per
22313 line, terminated by an @code{end}. These commands are called the
22314 @dfn{body} of the loop. The commands in the body of @code{while} are
22315 executed repeatedly as long as the expression evaluates to true.
22319 This command exits the @code{while} loop in whose body it is included.
22320 Execution of the script continues after that @code{while}s @code{end}
22323 @kindex loop_continue
22324 @item loop_continue
22325 This command skips the execution of the rest of the body of commands
22326 in the @code{while} loop in whose body it is included. Execution
22327 branches to the beginning of the @code{while} loop, where it evaluates
22328 the controlling expression.
22330 @kindex end@r{ (if/else/while commands)}
22332 Terminate the block of commands that are the body of @code{if},
22333 @code{else}, or @code{while} flow-control commands.
22338 @subsection Commands for Controlled Output
22340 During the execution of a command file or a user-defined command, normal
22341 @value{GDBN} output is suppressed; the only output that appears is what is
22342 explicitly printed by the commands in the definition. This section
22343 describes three commands useful for generating exactly the output you
22348 @item echo @var{text}
22349 @c I do not consider backslash-space a standard C escape sequence
22350 @c because it is not in ANSI.
22351 Print @var{text}. Nonprinting characters can be included in
22352 @var{text} using C escape sequences, such as @samp{\n} to print a
22353 newline. @strong{No newline is printed unless you specify one.}
22354 In addition to the standard C escape sequences, a backslash followed
22355 by a space stands for a space. This is useful for displaying a
22356 string with spaces at the beginning or the end, since leading and
22357 trailing spaces are otherwise trimmed from all arguments.
22358 To print @samp{@w{ }and foo =@w{ }}, use the command
22359 @samp{echo \@w{ }and foo = \@w{ }}.
22361 A backslash at the end of @var{text} can be used, as in C, to continue
22362 the command onto subsequent lines. For example,
22365 echo This is some text\n\
22366 which is continued\n\
22367 onto several lines.\n
22370 produces the same output as
22373 echo This is some text\n
22374 echo which is continued\n
22375 echo onto several lines.\n
22379 @item output @var{expression}
22380 Print the value of @var{expression} and nothing but that value: no
22381 newlines, no @samp{$@var{nn} = }. The value is not entered in the
22382 value history either. @xref{Expressions, ,Expressions}, for more information
22385 @item output/@var{fmt} @var{expression}
22386 Print the value of @var{expression} in format @var{fmt}. You can use
22387 the same formats as for @code{print}. @xref{Output Formats,,Output
22388 Formats}, for more information.
22391 @item printf @var{template}, @var{expressions}@dots{}
22392 Print the values of one or more @var{expressions} under the control of
22393 the string @var{template}. To print several values, make
22394 @var{expressions} be a comma-separated list of individual expressions,
22395 which may be either numbers or pointers. Their values are printed as
22396 specified by @var{template}, exactly as a C program would do by
22397 executing the code below:
22400 printf (@var{template}, @var{expressions}@dots{});
22403 As in @code{C} @code{printf}, ordinary characters in @var{template}
22404 are printed verbatim, while @dfn{conversion specification} introduced
22405 by the @samp{%} character cause subsequent @var{expressions} to be
22406 evaluated, their values converted and formatted according to type and
22407 style information encoded in the conversion specifications, and then
22410 For example, you can print two values in hex like this:
22413 printf "foo, bar-foo = 0x%x, 0x%x\n", foo, bar-foo
22416 @code{printf} supports all the standard @code{C} conversion
22417 specifications, including the flags and modifiers between the @samp{%}
22418 character and the conversion letter, with the following exceptions:
22422 The argument-ordering modifiers, such as @samp{2$}, are not supported.
22425 The modifier @samp{*} is not supported for specifying precision or
22429 The @samp{'} flag (for separation of digits into groups according to
22430 @code{LC_NUMERIC'}) is not supported.
22433 The type modifiers @samp{hh}, @samp{j}, @samp{t}, and @samp{z} are not
22437 The conversion letter @samp{n} (as in @samp{%n}) is not supported.
22440 The conversion letters @samp{a} and @samp{A} are not supported.
22444 Note that the @samp{ll} type modifier is supported only if the
22445 underlying @code{C} implementation used to build @value{GDBN} supports
22446 the @code{long long int} type, and the @samp{L} type modifier is
22447 supported only if @code{long double} type is available.
22449 As in @code{C}, @code{printf} supports simple backslash-escape
22450 sequences, such as @code{\n}, @samp{\t}, @samp{\\}, @samp{\"},
22451 @samp{\a}, and @samp{\f}, that consist of backslash followed by a
22452 single character. Octal and hexadecimal escape sequences are not
22455 Additionally, @code{printf} supports conversion specifications for DFP
22456 (@dfn{Decimal Floating Point}) types using the following length modifiers
22457 together with a floating point specifier.
22462 @samp{H} for printing @code{Decimal32} types.
22465 @samp{D} for printing @code{Decimal64} types.
22468 @samp{DD} for printing @code{Decimal128} types.
22471 If the underlying @code{C} implementation used to build @value{GDBN} has
22472 support for the three length modifiers for DFP types, other modifiers
22473 such as width and precision will also be available for @value{GDBN} to use.
22475 In case there is no such @code{C} support, no additional modifiers will be
22476 available and the value will be printed in the standard way.
22478 Here's an example of printing DFP types using the above conversion letters:
22480 printf "D32: %Hf - D64: %Df - D128: %DDf\n",1.2345df,1.2E10dd,1.2E1dl
22484 @item eval @var{template}, @var{expressions}@dots{}
22485 Convert the values of one or more @var{expressions} under the control of
22486 the string @var{template} to a command line, and call it.
22491 @section Scripting @value{GDBN} using Python
22492 @cindex python scripting
22493 @cindex scripting with python
22495 You can script @value{GDBN} using the @uref{http://www.python.org/,
22496 Python programming language}. This feature is available only if
22497 @value{GDBN} was configured using @option{--with-python}.
22499 @cindex python directory
22500 Python scripts used by @value{GDBN} should be installed in
22501 @file{@var{data-directory}/python}, where @var{data-directory} is
22502 the data directory as determined at @value{GDBN} startup (@pxref{Data Files}).
22503 This directory, known as the @dfn{python directory},
22504 is automatically added to the Python Search Path in order to allow
22505 the Python interpreter to locate all scripts installed at this location.
22507 Additionally, @value{GDBN} commands and convenience functions which
22508 are written in Python and are located in the
22509 @file{@var{data-directory}/python/gdb/command} or
22510 @file{@var{data-directory}/python/gdb/function} directories are
22511 automatically imported when @value{GDBN} starts.
22514 * Python Commands:: Accessing Python from @value{GDBN}.
22515 * Python API:: Accessing @value{GDBN} from Python.
22516 * Python Auto-loading:: Automatically loading Python code.
22517 * Python modules:: Python modules provided by @value{GDBN}.
22520 @node Python Commands
22521 @subsection Python Commands
22522 @cindex python commands
22523 @cindex commands to access python
22525 @value{GDBN} provides one command for accessing the Python interpreter,
22526 and one related setting:
22530 @item python @r{[}@var{code}@r{]}
22531 The @code{python} command can be used to evaluate Python code.
22533 If given an argument, the @code{python} command will evaluate the
22534 argument as a Python command. For example:
22537 (@value{GDBP}) python print 23
22541 If you do not provide an argument to @code{python}, it will act as a
22542 multi-line command, like @code{define}. In this case, the Python
22543 script is made up of subsequent command lines, given after the
22544 @code{python} command. This command list is terminated using a line
22545 containing @code{end}. For example:
22548 (@value{GDBP}) python
22550 End with a line saying just "end".
22556 @kindex set python print-stack
22557 @item set python print-stack
22558 By default, @value{GDBN} will print only the message component of a
22559 Python exception when an error occurs in a Python script. This can be
22560 controlled using @code{set python print-stack}: if @code{full}, then
22561 full Python stack printing is enabled; if @code{none}, then Python stack
22562 and message printing is disabled; if @code{message}, the default, only
22563 the message component of the error is printed.
22566 It is also possible to execute a Python script from the @value{GDBN}
22570 @item source @file{script-name}
22571 The script name must end with @samp{.py} and @value{GDBN} must be configured
22572 to recognize the script language based on filename extension using
22573 the @code{script-extension} setting. @xref{Extending GDB, ,Extending GDB}.
22575 @item python execfile ("script-name")
22576 This method is based on the @code{execfile} Python built-in function,
22577 and thus is always available.
22581 @subsection Python API
22583 @cindex programming in python
22585 @cindex python stdout
22586 @cindex python pagination
22587 At startup, @value{GDBN} overrides Python's @code{sys.stdout} and
22588 @code{sys.stderr} to print using @value{GDBN}'s output-paging streams.
22589 A Python program which outputs to one of these streams may have its
22590 output interrupted by the user (@pxref{Screen Size}). In this
22591 situation, a Python @code{KeyboardInterrupt} exception is thrown.
22594 * Basic Python:: Basic Python Functions.
22595 * Exception Handling:: How Python exceptions are translated.
22596 * Values From Inferior:: Python representation of values.
22597 * Types In Python:: Python representation of types.
22598 * Pretty Printing API:: Pretty-printing values.
22599 * Selecting Pretty-Printers:: How GDB chooses a pretty-printer.
22600 * Writing a Pretty-Printer:: Writing a Pretty-Printer.
22601 * Inferiors In Python:: Python representation of inferiors (processes)
22602 * Events In Python:: Listening for events from @value{GDBN}.
22603 * Threads In Python:: Accessing inferior threads from Python.
22604 * Commands In Python:: Implementing new commands in Python.
22605 * Parameters In Python:: Adding new @value{GDBN} parameters.
22606 * Functions In Python:: Writing new convenience functions.
22607 * Progspaces In Python:: Program spaces.
22608 * Objfiles In Python:: Object files.
22609 * Frames In Python:: Accessing inferior stack frames from Python.
22610 * Blocks In Python:: Accessing frame blocks from Python.
22611 * Symbols In Python:: Python representation of symbols.
22612 * Symbol Tables In Python:: Python representation of symbol tables.
22613 * Breakpoints In Python:: Manipulating breakpoints using Python.
22614 * Finish Breakpoints in Python:: Setting Breakpoints on function return
22616 * Lazy Strings In Python:: Python representation of lazy strings.
22620 @subsubsection Basic Python
22622 @cindex python functions
22623 @cindex python module
22625 @value{GDBN} introduces a new Python module, named @code{gdb}. All
22626 methods and classes added by @value{GDBN} are placed in this module.
22627 @value{GDBN} automatically @code{import}s the @code{gdb} module for
22628 use in all scripts evaluated by the @code{python} command.
22630 @findex gdb.PYTHONDIR
22631 @defvar gdb.PYTHONDIR
22632 A string containing the python directory (@pxref{Python}).
22635 @findex gdb.execute
22636 @defun gdb.execute (command @r{[}, from_tty @r{[}, to_string@r{]]})
22637 Evaluate @var{command}, a string, as a @value{GDBN} CLI command.
22638 If a GDB exception happens while @var{command} runs, it is
22639 translated as described in @ref{Exception Handling,,Exception Handling}.
22641 @var{from_tty} specifies whether @value{GDBN} ought to consider this
22642 command as having originated from the user invoking it interactively.
22643 It must be a boolean value. If omitted, it defaults to @code{False}.
22645 By default, any output produced by @var{command} is sent to
22646 @value{GDBN}'s standard output. If the @var{to_string} parameter is
22647 @code{True}, then output will be collected by @code{gdb.execute} and
22648 returned as a string. The default is @code{False}, in which case the
22649 return value is @code{None}. If @var{to_string} is @code{True}, the
22650 @value{GDBN} virtual terminal will be temporarily set to unlimited width
22651 and height, and its pagination will be disabled; @pxref{Screen Size}.
22654 @findex gdb.breakpoints
22655 @defun gdb.breakpoints ()
22656 Return a sequence holding all of @value{GDBN}'s breakpoints.
22657 @xref{Breakpoints In Python}, for more information.
22660 @findex gdb.parameter
22661 @defun gdb.parameter (parameter)
22662 Return the value of a @value{GDBN} parameter. @var{parameter} is a
22663 string naming the parameter to look up; @var{parameter} may contain
22664 spaces if the parameter has a multi-part name. For example,
22665 @samp{print object} is a valid parameter name.
22667 If the named parameter does not exist, this function throws a
22668 @code{gdb.error} (@pxref{Exception Handling}). Otherwise, the
22669 parameter's value is converted to a Python value of the appropriate
22670 type, and returned.
22673 @findex gdb.history
22674 @defun gdb.history (number)
22675 Return a value from @value{GDBN}'s value history (@pxref{Value
22676 History}). @var{number} indicates which history element to return.
22677 If @var{number} is negative, then @value{GDBN} will take its absolute value
22678 and count backward from the last element (i.e., the most recent element) to
22679 find the value to return. If @var{number} is zero, then @value{GDBN} will
22680 return the most recent element. If the element specified by @var{number}
22681 doesn't exist in the value history, a @code{gdb.error} exception will be
22684 If no exception is raised, the return value is always an instance of
22685 @code{gdb.Value} (@pxref{Values From Inferior}).
22688 @findex gdb.parse_and_eval
22689 @defun gdb.parse_and_eval (expression)
22690 Parse @var{expression} as an expression in the current language,
22691 evaluate it, and return the result as a @code{gdb.Value}.
22692 @var{expression} must be a string.
22694 This function can be useful when implementing a new command
22695 (@pxref{Commands In Python}), as it provides a way to parse the
22696 command's argument as an expression. It is also useful simply to
22697 compute values, for example, it is the only way to get the value of a
22698 convenience variable (@pxref{Convenience Vars}) as a @code{gdb.Value}.
22701 @findex gdb.find_pc_line
22702 @defun gdb.find_pc_line (pc)
22703 Return the @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} object corresponding to the
22704 @var{pc} value. @xref{Symbol Tables In Python}. If an invalid
22705 value of @var{pc} is passed as an argument, then the @code{symtab} and
22706 @code{line} attributes of the returned @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} object
22707 will be @code{None} and 0 respectively.
22710 @findex gdb.post_event
22711 @defun gdb.post_event (event)
22712 Put @var{event}, a callable object taking no arguments, into
22713 @value{GDBN}'s internal event queue. This callable will be invoked at
22714 some later point, during @value{GDBN}'s event processing. Events
22715 posted using @code{post_event} will be run in the order in which they
22716 were posted; however, there is no way to know when they will be
22717 processed relative to other events inside @value{GDBN}.
22719 @value{GDBN} is not thread-safe. If your Python program uses multiple
22720 threads, you must be careful to only call @value{GDBN}-specific
22721 functions in the main @value{GDBN} thread. @code{post_event} ensures
22725 (@value{GDBP}) python
22729 > def __init__(self, message):
22730 > self.message = message;
22731 > def __call__(self):
22732 > gdb.write(self.message)
22734 >class MyThread1 (threading.Thread):
22736 > gdb.post_event(Writer("Hello "))
22738 >class MyThread2 (threading.Thread):
22740 > gdb.post_event(Writer("World\n"))
22742 >MyThread1().start()
22743 >MyThread2().start()
22745 (@value{GDBP}) Hello World
22750 @defun gdb.write (string @r{[}, stream{]})
22751 Print a string to @value{GDBN}'s paginated output stream. The
22752 optional @var{stream} determines the stream to print to. The default
22753 stream is @value{GDBN}'s standard output stream. Possible stream
22760 @value{GDBN}'s standard output stream.
22765 @value{GDBN}'s standard error stream.
22770 @value{GDBN}'s log stream (@pxref{Logging Output}).
22773 Writing to @code{sys.stdout} or @code{sys.stderr} will automatically
22774 call this function and will automatically direct the output to the
22779 @defun gdb.flush ()
22780 Flush the buffer of a @value{GDBN} paginated stream so that the
22781 contents are displayed immediately. @value{GDBN} will flush the
22782 contents of a stream automatically when it encounters a newline in the
22783 buffer. The optional @var{stream} determines the stream to flush. The
22784 default stream is @value{GDBN}'s standard output stream. Possible
22791 @value{GDBN}'s standard output stream.
22796 @value{GDBN}'s standard error stream.
22801 @value{GDBN}'s log stream (@pxref{Logging Output}).
22805 Flushing @code{sys.stdout} or @code{sys.stderr} will automatically
22806 call this function for the relevant stream.
22809 @findex gdb.target_charset
22810 @defun gdb.target_charset ()
22811 Return the name of the current target character set (@pxref{Character
22812 Sets}). This differs from @code{gdb.parameter('target-charset')} in
22813 that @samp{auto} is never returned.
22816 @findex gdb.target_wide_charset
22817 @defun gdb.target_wide_charset ()
22818 Return the name of the current target wide character set
22819 (@pxref{Character Sets}). This differs from
22820 @code{gdb.parameter('target-wide-charset')} in that @samp{auto} is
22824 @findex gdb.solib_name
22825 @defun gdb.solib_name (address)
22826 Return the name of the shared library holding the given @var{address}
22827 as a string, or @code{None}.
22830 @findex gdb.decode_line
22831 @defun gdb.decode_line @r{[}expression@r{]}
22832 Return locations of the line specified by @var{expression}, or of the
22833 current line if no argument was given. This function returns a Python
22834 tuple containing two elements. The first element contains a string
22835 holding any unparsed section of @var{expression} (or @code{None} if
22836 the expression has been fully parsed). The second element contains
22837 either @code{None} or another tuple that contains all the locations
22838 that match the expression represented as @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line}
22839 objects (@pxref{Symbol Tables In Python}). If @var{expression} is
22840 provided, it is decoded the way that @value{GDBN}'s inbuilt
22841 @code{break} or @code{edit} commands do (@pxref{Specify Location}).
22844 @defun gdb.prompt_hook (current_prompt)
22845 @anchor{prompt_hook}
22847 If @var{prompt_hook} is callable, @value{GDBN} will call the method
22848 assigned to this operation before a prompt is displayed by
22851 The parameter @code{current_prompt} contains the current @value{GDBN}
22852 prompt. This method must return a Python string, or @code{None}. If
22853 a string is returned, the @value{GDBN} prompt will be set to that
22854 string. If @code{None} is returned, @value{GDBN} will continue to use
22855 the current prompt.
22857 Some prompts cannot be substituted in @value{GDBN}. Secondary prompts
22858 such as those used by readline for command input, and annotation
22859 related prompts are prohibited from being changed.
22862 @node Exception Handling
22863 @subsubsection Exception Handling
22864 @cindex python exceptions
22865 @cindex exceptions, python
22867 When executing the @code{python} command, Python exceptions
22868 uncaught within the Python code are translated to calls to
22869 @value{GDBN} error-reporting mechanism. If the command that called
22870 @code{python} does not handle the error, @value{GDBN} will
22871 terminate it and print an error message containing the Python
22872 exception name, the associated value, and the Python call stack
22873 backtrace at the point where the exception was raised. Example:
22876 (@value{GDBP}) python print foo
22877 Traceback (most recent call last):
22878 File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
22879 NameError: name 'foo' is not defined
22882 @value{GDBN} errors that happen in @value{GDBN} commands invoked by
22883 Python code are converted to Python exceptions. The type of the
22884 Python exception depends on the error.
22888 This is the base class for most exceptions generated by @value{GDBN}.
22889 It is derived from @code{RuntimeError}, for compatibility with earlier
22890 versions of @value{GDBN}.
22892 If an error occurring in @value{GDBN} does not fit into some more
22893 specific category, then the generated exception will have this type.
22895 @item gdb.MemoryError
22896 This is a subclass of @code{gdb.error} which is thrown when an
22897 operation tried to access invalid memory in the inferior.
22899 @item KeyboardInterrupt
22900 User interrupt (via @kbd{C-c} or by typing @kbd{q} at a pagination
22901 prompt) is translated to a Python @code{KeyboardInterrupt} exception.
22904 In all cases, your exception handler will see the @value{GDBN} error
22905 message as its value and the Python call stack backtrace at the Python
22906 statement closest to where the @value{GDBN} error occured as the
22909 @findex gdb.GdbError
22910 When implementing @value{GDBN} commands in Python via @code{gdb.Command},
22911 it is useful to be able to throw an exception that doesn't cause a
22912 traceback to be printed. For example, the user may have invoked the
22913 command incorrectly. Use the @code{gdb.GdbError} exception
22914 to handle this case. Example:
22918 >class HelloWorld (gdb.Command):
22919 > """Greet the whole world."""
22920 > def __init__ (self):
22921 > super (HelloWorld, self).__init__ ("hello-world", gdb.COMMAND_USER)
22922 > def invoke (self, args, from_tty):
22923 > argv = gdb.string_to_argv (args)
22924 > if len (argv) != 0:
22925 > raise gdb.GdbError ("hello-world takes no arguments")
22926 > print "Hello, World!"
22929 (gdb) hello-world 42
22930 hello-world takes no arguments
22933 @node Values From Inferior
22934 @subsubsection Values From Inferior
22935 @cindex values from inferior, with Python
22936 @cindex python, working with values from inferior
22938 @cindex @code{gdb.Value}
22939 @value{GDBN} provides values it obtains from the inferior program in
22940 an object of type @code{gdb.Value}. @value{GDBN} uses this object
22941 for its internal bookkeeping of the inferior's values, and for
22942 fetching values when necessary.
22944 Inferior values that are simple scalars can be used directly in
22945 Python expressions that are valid for the value's data type. Here's
22946 an example for an integer or floating-point value @code{some_val}:
22953 As result of this, @code{bar} will also be a @code{gdb.Value} object
22954 whose values are of the same type as those of @code{some_val}.
22956 Inferior values that are structures or instances of some class can
22957 be accessed using the Python @dfn{dictionary syntax}. For example, if
22958 @code{some_val} is a @code{gdb.Value} instance holding a structure, you
22959 can access its @code{foo} element with:
22962 bar = some_val['foo']
22965 Again, @code{bar} will also be a @code{gdb.Value} object.
22967 A @code{gdb.Value} that represents a function can be executed via
22968 inferior function call. Any arguments provided to the call must match
22969 the function's prototype, and must be provided in the order specified
22972 For example, @code{some_val} is a @code{gdb.Value} instance
22973 representing a function that takes two integers as arguments. To
22974 execute this function, call it like so:
22977 result = some_val (10,20)
22980 Any values returned from a function call will be stored as a
22983 The following attributes are provided:
22986 @defvar Value.address
22987 If this object is addressable, this read-only attribute holds a
22988 @code{gdb.Value} object representing the address. Otherwise,
22989 this attribute holds @code{None}.
22992 @cindex optimized out value in Python
22993 @defvar Value.is_optimized_out
22994 This read-only boolean attribute is true if the compiler optimized out
22995 this value, thus it is not available for fetching from the inferior.
22999 The type of this @code{gdb.Value}. The value of this attribute is a
23000 @code{gdb.Type} object (@pxref{Types In Python}).
23003 @defvar Value.dynamic_type
23004 The dynamic type of this @code{gdb.Value}. This uses C@t{++} run-time
23005 type information (@acronym{RTTI}) to determine the dynamic type of the
23006 value. If this value is of class type, it will return the class in
23007 which the value is embedded, if any. If this value is of pointer or
23008 reference to a class type, it will compute the dynamic type of the
23009 referenced object, and return a pointer or reference to that type,
23010 respectively. In all other cases, it will return the value's static
23013 Note that this feature will only work when debugging a C@t{++} program
23014 that includes @acronym{RTTI} for the object in question. Otherwise,
23015 it will just return the static type of the value as in @kbd{ptype foo}
23016 (@pxref{Symbols, ptype}).
23019 @defvar Value.is_lazy
23020 The value of this read-only boolean attribute is @code{True} if this
23021 @code{gdb.Value} has not yet been fetched from the inferior.
23022 @value{GDBN} does not fetch values until necessary, for efficiency.
23026 myval = gdb.parse_and_eval ('somevar')
23029 The value of @code{somevar} is not fetched at this time. It will be
23030 fetched when the value is needed, or when the @code{fetch_lazy}
23035 The following methods are provided:
23038 @defun Value.__init__ (@var{val})
23039 Many Python values can be converted directly to a @code{gdb.Value} via
23040 this object initializer. Specifically:
23043 @item Python boolean
23044 A Python boolean is converted to the boolean type from the current
23047 @item Python integer
23048 A Python integer is converted to the C @code{long} type for the
23049 current architecture.
23052 A Python long is converted to the C @code{long long} type for the
23053 current architecture.
23056 A Python float is converted to the C @code{double} type for the
23057 current architecture.
23059 @item Python string
23060 A Python string is converted to a target string, using the current
23063 @item @code{gdb.Value}
23064 If @code{val} is a @code{gdb.Value}, then a copy of the value is made.
23066 @item @code{gdb.LazyString}
23067 If @code{val} is a @code{gdb.LazyString} (@pxref{Lazy Strings In
23068 Python}), then the lazy string's @code{value} method is called, and
23069 its result is used.
23073 @defun Value.cast (type)
23074 Return a new instance of @code{gdb.Value} that is the result of
23075 casting this instance to the type described by @var{type}, which must
23076 be a @code{gdb.Type} object. If the cast cannot be performed for some
23077 reason, this method throws an exception.
23080 @defun Value.dereference ()
23081 For pointer data types, this method returns a new @code{gdb.Value} object
23082 whose contents is the object pointed to by the pointer. For example, if
23083 @code{foo} is a C pointer to an @code{int}, declared in your C program as
23090 then you can use the corresponding @code{gdb.Value} to access what
23091 @code{foo} points to like this:
23094 bar = foo.dereference ()
23097 The result @code{bar} will be a @code{gdb.Value} object holding the
23098 value pointed to by @code{foo}.
23100 A similar function @code{Value.referenced_value} exists which also
23101 returns @code{gdb.Value} objects corresonding to the values pointed to
23102 by pointer values (and additionally, values referenced by reference
23103 values). However, the behavior of @code{Value.dereference}
23104 differs from @code{Value.referenced_value} by the fact that the
23105 behavior of @code{Value.dereference} is identical to applying the C
23106 unary operator @code{*} on a given value. For example, consider a
23107 reference to a pointer @code{ptrref}, declared in your C@t{++} program
23111 typedef int *intptr;
23115 intptr &ptrref = ptr;
23118 Though @code{ptrref} is a reference value, one can apply the method
23119 @code{Value.dereference} to the @code{gdb.Value} object corresponding
23120 to it and obtain a @code{gdb.Value} which is identical to that
23121 corresponding to @code{val}. However, if you apply the method
23122 @code{Value.referenced_value}, the result would be a @code{gdb.Value}
23123 object identical to that corresponding to @code{ptr}.
23126 py_ptrref = gdb.parse_and_eval ("ptrref")
23127 py_val = py_ptrref.dereference ()
23128 py_ptr = py_ptrref.referenced_value ()
23131 The @code{gdb.Value} object @code{py_val} is identical to that
23132 corresponding to @code{val}, and @code{py_ptr} is identical to that
23133 corresponding to @code{ptr}. In general, @code{Value.dereference} can
23134 be applied whenever the C unary operator @code{*} can be applied
23135 to the corresponding C value. For those cases where applying both
23136 @code{Value.dereference} and @code{Value.referenced_value} is allowed,
23137 the results obtained need not be identical (as we have seen in the above
23138 example). The results are however identical when applied on
23139 @code{gdb.Value} objects corresponding to pointers (@code{gdb.Value}
23140 objects with type code @code{TYPE_CODE_PTR}) in a C/C@t{++} program.
23143 @defun Value.referenced_value ()
23144 For pointer or reference data types, this method returns a new
23145 @code{gdb.Value} object corresponding to the value referenced by the
23146 pointer/reference value. For pointer data types,
23147 @code{Value.dereference} and @code{Value.referenced_value} produce
23148 identical results. The difference between these methods is that
23149 @code{Value.dereference} cannot get the values referenced by reference
23150 values. For example, consider a reference to an @code{int}, declared
23151 in your C@t{++} program as
23159 then applying @code{Value.dereference} to the @code{gdb.Value} object
23160 corresponding to @code{ref} will result in an error, while applying
23161 @code{Value.referenced_value} will result in a @code{gdb.Value} object
23162 identical to that corresponding to @code{val}.
23165 py_ref = gdb.parse_and_eval ("ref")
23166 er_ref = py_ref.dereference () # Results in error
23167 py_val = py_ref.referenced_value () # Returns the referenced value
23170 The @code{gdb.Value} object @code{py_val} is identical to that
23171 corresponding to @code{val}.
23174 @defun Value.dynamic_cast (type)
23175 Like @code{Value.cast}, but works as if the C@t{++} @code{dynamic_cast}
23176 operator were used. Consult a C@t{++} reference for details.
23179 @defun Value.reinterpret_cast (type)
23180 Like @code{Value.cast}, but works as if the C@t{++} @code{reinterpret_cast}
23181 operator were used. Consult a C@t{++} reference for details.
23184 @defun Value.string (@r{[}encoding@r{[}, errors@r{[}, length@r{]]]})
23185 If this @code{gdb.Value} represents a string, then this method
23186 converts the contents to a Python string. Otherwise, this method will
23187 throw an exception.
23189 Strings are recognized in a language-specific way; whether a given
23190 @code{gdb.Value} represents a string is determined by the current
23193 For C-like languages, a value is a string if it is a pointer to or an
23194 array of characters or ints. The string is assumed to be terminated
23195 by a zero of the appropriate width. However if the optional length
23196 argument is given, the string will be converted to that given length,
23197 ignoring any embedded zeros that the string may contain.
23199 If the optional @var{encoding} argument is given, it must be a string
23200 naming the encoding of the string in the @code{gdb.Value}, such as
23201 @code{"ascii"}, @code{"iso-8859-6"} or @code{"utf-8"}. It accepts
23202 the same encodings as the corresponding argument to Python's
23203 @code{string.decode} method, and the Python codec machinery will be used
23204 to convert the string. If @var{encoding} is not given, or if
23205 @var{encoding} is the empty string, then either the @code{target-charset}
23206 (@pxref{Character Sets}) will be used, or a language-specific encoding
23207 will be used, if the current language is able to supply one.
23209 The optional @var{errors} argument is the same as the corresponding
23210 argument to Python's @code{string.decode} method.
23212 If the optional @var{length} argument is given, the string will be
23213 fetched and converted to the given length.
23216 @defun Value.lazy_string (@r{[}encoding @r{[}, length@r{]]})
23217 If this @code{gdb.Value} represents a string, then this method
23218 converts the contents to a @code{gdb.LazyString} (@pxref{Lazy Strings
23219 In Python}). Otherwise, this method will throw an exception.
23221 If the optional @var{encoding} argument is given, it must be a string
23222 naming the encoding of the @code{gdb.LazyString}. Some examples are:
23223 @samp{ascii}, @samp{iso-8859-6} or @samp{utf-8}. If the
23224 @var{encoding} argument is an encoding that @value{GDBN} does
23225 recognize, @value{GDBN} will raise an error.
23227 When a lazy string is printed, the @value{GDBN} encoding machinery is
23228 used to convert the string during printing. If the optional
23229 @var{encoding} argument is not provided, or is an empty string,
23230 @value{GDBN} will automatically select the encoding most suitable for
23231 the string type. For further information on encoding in @value{GDBN}
23232 please see @ref{Character Sets}.
23234 If the optional @var{length} argument is given, the string will be
23235 fetched and encoded to the length of characters specified. If
23236 the @var{length} argument is not provided, the string will be fetched
23237 and encoded until a null of appropriate width is found.
23240 @defun Value.fetch_lazy ()
23241 If the @code{gdb.Value} object is currently a lazy value
23242 (@code{gdb.Value.is_lazy} is @code{True}), then the value is
23243 fetched from the inferior. Any errors that occur in the process
23244 will produce a Python exception.
23246 If the @code{gdb.Value} object is not a lazy value, this method
23249 This method does not return a value.
23254 @node Types In Python
23255 @subsubsection Types In Python
23256 @cindex types in Python
23257 @cindex Python, working with types
23260 @value{GDBN} represents types from the inferior using the class
23263 The following type-related functions are available in the @code{gdb}
23266 @findex gdb.lookup_type
23267 @defun gdb.lookup_type (name @r{[}, block@r{]})
23268 This function looks up a type by name. @var{name} is the name of the
23269 type to look up. It must be a string.
23271 If @var{block} is given, then @var{name} is looked up in that scope.
23272 Otherwise, it is searched for globally.
23274 Ordinarily, this function will return an instance of @code{gdb.Type}.
23275 If the named type cannot be found, it will throw an exception.
23278 If the type is a structure or class type, or an enum type, the fields
23279 of that type can be accessed using the Python @dfn{dictionary syntax}.
23280 For example, if @code{some_type} is a @code{gdb.Type} instance holding
23281 a structure type, you can access its @code{foo} field with:
23284 bar = some_type['foo']
23287 @code{bar} will be a @code{gdb.Field} object; see below under the
23288 description of the @code{Type.fields} method for a description of the
23289 @code{gdb.Field} class.
23291 An instance of @code{Type} has the following attributes:
23295 The type code for this type. The type code will be one of the
23296 @code{TYPE_CODE_} constants defined below.
23299 @defvar Type.sizeof
23300 The size of this type, in target @code{char} units. Usually, a
23301 target's @code{char} type will be an 8-bit byte. However, on some
23302 unusual platforms, this type may have a different size.
23306 The tag name for this type. The tag name is the name after
23307 @code{struct}, @code{union}, or @code{enum} in C and C@t{++}; not all
23308 languages have this concept. If this type has no tag name, then
23309 @code{None} is returned.
23313 The following methods are provided:
23316 @defun Type.fields ()
23317 For structure and union types, this method returns the fields. Range
23318 types have two fields, the minimum and maximum values. Enum types
23319 have one field per enum constant. Function and method types have one
23320 field per parameter. The base types of C@t{++} classes are also
23321 represented as fields. If the type has no fields, or does not fit
23322 into one of these categories, an empty sequence will be returned.
23324 Each field is a @code{gdb.Field} object, with some pre-defined attributes:
23327 This attribute is not available for @code{static} fields (as in
23328 C@t{++} or Java). For non-@code{static} fields, the value is the bit
23329 position of the field. For @code{enum} fields, the value is the
23330 enumeration member's integer representation.
23333 The name of the field, or @code{None} for anonymous fields.
23336 This is @code{True} if the field is artificial, usually meaning that
23337 it was provided by the compiler and not the user. This attribute is
23338 always provided, and is @code{False} if the field is not artificial.
23340 @item is_base_class
23341 This is @code{True} if the field represents a base class of a C@t{++}
23342 structure. This attribute is always provided, and is @code{False}
23343 if the field is not a base class of the type that is the argument of
23344 @code{fields}, or if that type was not a C@t{++} class.
23347 If the field is packed, or is a bitfield, then this will have a
23348 non-zero value, which is the size of the field in bits. Otherwise,
23349 this will be zero; in this case the field's size is given by its type.
23352 The type of the field. This is usually an instance of @code{Type},
23353 but it can be @code{None} in some situations.
23357 @defun Type.array (@var{n1} @r{[}, @var{n2}@r{]})
23358 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} object which represents an array of this
23359 type. If one argument is given, it is the inclusive upper bound of
23360 the array; in this case the lower bound is zero. If two arguments are
23361 given, the first argument is the lower bound of the array, and the
23362 second argument is the upper bound of the array. An array's length
23363 must not be negative, but the bounds can be.
23366 @defun Type.const ()
23367 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} object which represents a
23368 @code{const}-qualified variant of this type.
23371 @defun Type.volatile ()
23372 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} object which represents a
23373 @code{volatile}-qualified variant of this type.
23376 @defun Type.unqualified ()
23377 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} object which represents an unqualified
23378 variant of this type. That is, the result is neither @code{const} nor
23382 @defun Type.range ()
23383 Return a Python @code{Tuple} object that contains two elements: the
23384 low bound of the argument type and the high bound of that type. If
23385 the type does not have a range, @value{GDBN} will raise a
23386 @code{gdb.error} exception (@pxref{Exception Handling}).
23389 @defun Type.reference ()
23390 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} object which represents a reference to this
23394 @defun Type.pointer ()
23395 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} object which represents a pointer to this
23399 @defun Type.strip_typedefs ()
23400 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} that represents the real type,
23401 after removing all layers of typedefs.
23404 @defun Type.target ()
23405 Return a new @code{gdb.Type} object which represents the target type
23408 For a pointer type, the target type is the type of the pointed-to
23409 object. For an array type (meaning C-like arrays), the target type is
23410 the type of the elements of the array. For a function or method type,
23411 the target type is the type of the return value. For a complex type,
23412 the target type is the type of the elements. For a typedef, the
23413 target type is the aliased type.
23415 If the type does not have a target, this method will throw an
23419 @defun Type.template_argument (n @r{[}, block@r{]})
23420 If this @code{gdb.Type} is an instantiation of a template, this will
23421 return a new @code{gdb.Type} which represents the type of the
23422 @var{n}th template argument.
23424 If this @code{gdb.Type} is not a template type, this will throw an
23425 exception. Ordinarily, only C@t{++} code will have template types.
23427 If @var{block} is given, then @var{name} is looked up in that scope.
23428 Otherwise, it is searched for globally.
23433 Each type has a code, which indicates what category this type falls
23434 into. The available type categories are represented by constants
23435 defined in the @code{gdb} module:
23438 @findex TYPE_CODE_PTR
23439 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_PTR
23440 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_PTR
23441 The type is a pointer.
23443 @findex TYPE_CODE_ARRAY
23444 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_ARRAY
23445 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_ARRAY
23446 The type is an array.
23448 @findex TYPE_CODE_STRUCT
23449 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_STRUCT
23450 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_STRUCT
23451 The type is a structure.
23453 @findex TYPE_CODE_UNION
23454 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_UNION
23455 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_UNION
23456 The type is a union.
23458 @findex TYPE_CODE_ENUM
23459 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_ENUM
23460 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_ENUM
23461 The type is an enum.
23463 @findex TYPE_CODE_FLAGS
23464 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_FLAGS
23465 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_FLAGS
23466 A bit flags type, used for things such as status registers.
23468 @findex TYPE_CODE_FUNC
23469 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_FUNC
23470 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_FUNC
23471 The type is a function.
23473 @findex TYPE_CODE_INT
23474 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_INT
23475 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_INT
23476 The type is an integer type.
23478 @findex TYPE_CODE_FLT
23479 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_FLT
23480 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_FLT
23481 A floating point type.
23483 @findex TYPE_CODE_VOID
23484 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_VOID
23485 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_VOID
23486 The special type @code{void}.
23488 @findex TYPE_CODE_SET
23489 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_SET
23490 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_SET
23493 @findex TYPE_CODE_RANGE
23494 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_RANGE
23495 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_RANGE
23496 A range type, that is, an integer type with bounds.
23498 @findex TYPE_CODE_STRING
23499 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_STRING
23500 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_STRING
23501 A string type. Note that this is only used for certain languages with
23502 language-defined string types; C strings are not represented this way.
23504 @findex TYPE_CODE_BITSTRING
23505 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_BITSTRING
23506 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_BITSTRING
23509 @findex TYPE_CODE_ERROR
23510 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_ERROR
23511 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_ERROR
23512 An unknown or erroneous type.
23514 @findex TYPE_CODE_METHOD
23515 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_METHOD
23516 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_METHOD
23517 A method type, as found in C@t{++} or Java.
23519 @findex TYPE_CODE_METHODPTR
23520 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_METHODPTR
23521 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_METHODPTR
23522 A pointer-to-member-function.
23524 @findex TYPE_CODE_MEMBERPTR
23525 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_MEMBERPTR
23526 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_MEMBERPTR
23527 A pointer-to-member.
23529 @findex TYPE_CODE_REF
23530 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_REF
23531 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_REF
23534 @findex TYPE_CODE_CHAR
23535 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_CHAR
23536 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_CHAR
23539 @findex TYPE_CODE_BOOL
23540 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_BOOL
23541 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_BOOL
23544 @findex TYPE_CODE_COMPLEX
23545 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_COMPLEX
23546 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_COMPLEX
23547 A complex float type.
23549 @findex TYPE_CODE_TYPEDEF
23550 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_TYPEDEF
23551 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_TYPEDEF
23552 A typedef to some other type.
23554 @findex TYPE_CODE_NAMESPACE
23555 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_NAMESPACE
23556 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_NAMESPACE
23557 A C@t{++} namespace.
23559 @findex TYPE_CODE_DECFLOAT
23560 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_DECFLOAT
23561 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_DECFLOAT
23562 A decimal floating point type.
23564 @findex TYPE_CODE_INTERNAL_FUNCTION
23565 @findex gdb.TYPE_CODE_INTERNAL_FUNCTION
23566 @item gdb.TYPE_CODE_INTERNAL_FUNCTION
23567 A function internal to @value{GDBN}. This is the type used to represent
23568 convenience functions.
23571 Further support for types is provided in the @code{gdb.types}
23572 Python module (@pxref{gdb.types}).
23574 @node Pretty Printing API
23575 @subsubsection Pretty Printing API
23577 An example output is provided (@pxref{Pretty Printing}).
23579 A pretty-printer is just an object that holds a value and implements a
23580 specific interface, defined here.
23582 @defun pretty_printer.children (self)
23583 @value{GDBN} will call this method on a pretty-printer to compute the
23584 children of the pretty-printer's value.
23586 This method must return an object conforming to the Python iterator
23587 protocol. Each item returned by the iterator must be a tuple holding
23588 two elements. The first element is the ``name'' of the child; the
23589 second element is the child's value. The value can be any Python
23590 object which is convertible to a @value{GDBN} value.
23592 This method is optional. If it does not exist, @value{GDBN} will act
23593 as though the value has no children.
23596 @defun pretty_printer.display_hint (self)
23597 The CLI may call this method and use its result to change the
23598 formatting of a value. The result will also be supplied to an MI
23599 consumer as a @samp{displayhint} attribute of the variable being
23602 This method is optional. If it does exist, this method must return a
23605 Some display hints are predefined by @value{GDBN}:
23609 Indicate that the object being printed is ``array-like''. The CLI
23610 uses this to respect parameters such as @code{set print elements} and
23611 @code{set print array}.
23614 Indicate that the object being printed is ``map-like'', and that the
23615 children of this value can be assumed to alternate between keys and
23619 Indicate that the object being printed is ``string-like''. If the
23620 printer's @code{to_string} method returns a Python string of some
23621 kind, then @value{GDBN} will call its internal language-specific
23622 string-printing function to format the string. For the CLI this means
23623 adding quotation marks, possibly escaping some characters, respecting
23624 @code{set print elements}, and the like.
23628 @defun pretty_printer.to_string (self)
23629 @value{GDBN} will call this method to display the string
23630 representation of the value passed to the object's constructor.
23632 When printing from the CLI, if the @code{to_string} method exists,
23633 then @value{GDBN} will prepend its result to the values returned by
23634 @code{children}. Exactly how this formatting is done is dependent on
23635 the display hint, and may change as more hints are added. Also,
23636 depending on the print settings (@pxref{Print Settings}), the CLI may
23637 print just the result of @code{to_string} in a stack trace, omitting
23638 the result of @code{children}.
23640 If this method returns a string, it is printed verbatim.
23642 Otherwise, if this method returns an instance of @code{gdb.Value},
23643 then @value{GDBN} prints this value. This may result in a call to
23644 another pretty-printer.
23646 If instead the method returns a Python value which is convertible to a
23647 @code{gdb.Value}, then @value{GDBN} performs the conversion and prints
23648 the resulting value. Again, this may result in a call to another
23649 pretty-printer. Python scalars (integers, floats, and booleans) and
23650 strings are convertible to @code{gdb.Value}; other types are not.
23652 Finally, if this method returns @code{None} then no further operations
23653 are peformed in this method and nothing is printed.
23655 If the result is not one of these types, an exception is raised.
23658 @value{GDBN} provides a function which can be used to look up the
23659 default pretty-printer for a @code{gdb.Value}:
23661 @findex gdb.default_visualizer
23662 @defun gdb.default_visualizer (value)
23663 This function takes a @code{gdb.Value} object as an argument. If a
23664 pretty-printer for this value exists, then it is returned. If no such
23665 printer exists, then this returns @code{None}.
23668 @node Selecting Pretty-Printers
23669 @subsubsection Selecting Pretty-Printers
23671 The Python list @code{gdb.pretty_printers} contains an array of
23672 functions or callable objects that have been registered via addition
23673 as a pretty-printer. Printers in this list are called @code{global}
23674 printers, they're available when debugging all inferiors.
23675 Each @code{gdb.Progspace} contains a @code{pretty_printers} attribute.
23676 Each @code{gdb.Objfile} also contains a @code{pretty_printers}
23679 Each function on these lists is passed a single @code{gdb.Value}
23680 argument and should return a pretty-printer object conforming to the
23681 interface definition above (@pxref{Pretty Printing API}). If a function
23682 cannot create a pretty-printer for the value, it should return
23685 @value{GDBN} first checks the @code{pretty_printers} attribute of each
23686 @code{gdb.Objfile} in the current program space and iteratively calls
23687 each enabled lookup routine in the list for that @code{gdb.Objfile}
23688 until it receives a pretty-printer object.
23689 If no pretty-printer is found in the objfile lists, @value{GDBN} then
23690 searches the pretty-printer list of the current program space,
23691 calling each enabled function until an object is returned.
23692 After these lists have been exhausted, it tries the global
23693 @code{gdb.pretty_printers} list, again calling each enabled function until an
23694 object is returned.
23696 The order in which the objfiles are searched is not specified. For a
23697 given list, functions are always invoked from the head of the list,
23698 and iterated over sequentially until the end of the list, or a printer
23699 object is returned.
23701 For various reasons a pretty-printer may not work.
23702 For example, the underlying data structure may have changed and
23703 the pretty-printer is out of date.
23705 The consequences of a broken pretty-printer are severe enough that
23706 @value{GDBN} provides support for enabling and disabling individual
23707 printers. For example, if @code{print frame-arguments} is on,
23708 a backtrace can become highly illegible if any argument is printed
23709 with a broken printer.
23711 Pretty-printers are enabled and disabled by attaching an @code{enabled}
23712 attribute to the registered function or callable object. If this attribute
23713 is present and its value is @code{False}, the printer is disabled, otherwise
23714 the printer is enabled.
23716 @node Writing a Pretty-Printer
23717 @subsubsection Writing a Pretty-Printer
23718 @cindex writing a pretty-printer
23720 A pretty-printer consists of two parts: a lookup function to detect
23721 if the type is supported, and the printer itself.
23723 Here is an example showing how a @code{std::string} printer might be
23724 written. @xref{Pretty Printing API}, for details on the API this class
23728 class StdStringPrinter(object):
23729 "Print a std::string"
23731 def __init__(self, val):
23734 def to_string(self):
23735 return self.val['_M_dataplus']['_M_p']
23737 def display_hint(self):
23741 And here is an example showing how a lookup function for the printer
23742 example above might be written.
23745 def str_lookup_function(val):
23746 lookup_tag = val.type.tag
23747 if lookup_tag == None:
23749 regex = re.compile("^std::basic_string<char,.*>$")
23750 if regex.match(lookup_tag):
23751 return StdStringPrinter(val)
23755 The example lookup function extracts the value's type, and attempts to
23756 match it to a type that it can pretty-print. If it is a type the
23757 printer can pretty-print, it will return a printer object. If not, it
23758 returns @code{None}.
23760 We recommend that you put your core pretty-printers into a Python
23761 package. If your pretty-printers are for use with a library, we
23762 further recommend embedding a version number into the package name.
23763 This practice will enable @value{GDBN} to load multiple versions of
23764 your pretty-printers at the same time, because they will have
23767 You should write auto-loaded code (@pxref{Python Auto-loading}) such that it
23768 can be evaluated multiple times without changing its meaning. An
23769 ideal auto-load file will consist solely of @code{import}s of your
23770 printer modules, followed by a call to a register pretty-printers with
23771 the current objfile.
23773 Taken as a whole, this approach will scale nicely to multiple
23774 inferiors, each potentially using a different library version.
23775 Embedding a version number in the Python package name will ensure that
23776 @value{GDBN} is able to load both sets of printers simultaneously.
23777 Then, because the search for pretty-printers is done by objfile, and
23778 because your auto-loaded code took care to register your library's
23779 printers with a specific objfile, @value{GDBN} will find the correct
23780 printers for the specific version of the library used by each
23783 To continue the @code{std::string} example (@pxref{Pretty Printing API}),
23784 this code might appear in @code{gdb.libstdcxx.v6}:
23787 def register_printers(objfile):
23788 objfile.pretty_printers.append(str_lookup_function)
23792 And then the corresponding contents of the auto-load file would be:
23795 import gdb.libstdcxx.v6
23796 gdb.libstdcxx.v6.register_printers(gdb.current_objfile())
23799 The previous example illustrates a basic pretty-printer.
23800 There are a few things that can be improved on.
23801 The printer doesn't have a name, making it hard to identify in a
23802 list of installed printers. The lookup function has a name, but
23803 lookup functions can have arbitrary, even identical, names.
23805 Second, the printer only handles one type, whereas a library typically has
23806 several types. One could install a lookup function for each desired type
23807 in the library, but one could also have a single lookup function recognize
23808 several types. The latter is the conventional way this is handled.
23809 If a pretty-printer can handle multiple data types, then its
23810 @dfn{subprinters} are the printers for the individual data types.
23812 The @code{gdb.printing} module provides a formal way of solving these
23813 problems (@pxref{gdb.printing}).
23814 Here is another example that handles multiple types.
23816 These are the types we are going to pretty-print:
23819 struct foo @{ int a, b; @};
23820 struct bar @{ struct foo x, y; @};
23823 Here are the printers:
23827 """Print a foo object."""
23829 def __init__(self, val):
23832 def to_string(self):
23833 return ("a=<" + str(self.val["a"]) +
23834 "> b=<" + str(self.val["b"]) + ">")
23837 """Print a bar object."""
23839 def __init__(self, val):
23842 def to_string(self):
23843 return ("x=<" + str(self.val["x"]) +
23844 "> y=<" + str(self.val["y"]) + ">")
23847 This example doesn't need a lookup function, that is handled by the
23848 @code{gdb.printing} module. Instead a function is provided to build up
23849 the object that handles the lookup.
23852 import gdb.printing
23854 def build_pretty_printer():
23855 pp = gdb.printing.RegexpCollectionPrettyPrinter(
23857 pp.add_printer('foo', '^foo$', fooPrinter)
23858 pp.add_printer('bar', '^bar$', barPrinter)
23862 And here is the autoload support:
23865 import gdb.printing
23867 gdb.printing.register_pretty_printer(
23868 gdb.current_objfile(),
23869 my_library.build_pretty_printer())
23872 Finally, when this printer is loaded into @value{GDBN}, here is the
23873 corresponding output of @samp{info pretty-printer}:
23876 (gdb) info pretty-printer
23883 @node Inferiors In Python
23884 @subsubsection Inferiors In Python
23885 @cindex inferiors in Python
23887 @findex gdb.Inferior
23888 Programs which are being run under @value{GDBN} are called inferiors
23889 (@pxref{Inferiors and Programs}). Python scripts can access
23890 information about and manipulate inferiors controlled by @value{GDBN}
23891 via objects of the @code{gdb.Inferior} class.
23893 The following inferior-related functions are available in the @code{gdb}
23896 @defun gdb.inferiors ()
23897 Return a tuple containing all inferior objects.
23900 @defun gdb.selected_inferior ()
23901 Return an object representing the current inferior.
23904 A @code{gdb.Inferior} object has the following attributes:
23907 @defvar Inferior.num
23908 ID of inferior, as assigned by GDB.
23911 @defvar Inferior.pid
23912 Process ID of the inferior, as assigned by the underlying operating
23916 @defvar Inferior.was_attached
23917 Boolean signaling whether the inferior was created using `attach', or
23918 started by @value{GDBN} itself.
23922 A @code{gdb.Inferior} object has the following methods:
23925 @defun Inferior.is_valid ()
23926 Returns @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Inferior} object is valid,
23927 @code{False} if not. A @code{gdb.Inferior} object will become invalid
23928 if the inferior no longer exists within @value{GDBN}. All other
23929 @code{gdb.Inferior} methods will throw an exception if it is invalid
23930 at the time the method is called.
23933 @defun Inferior.threads ()
23934 This method returns a tuple holding all the threads which are valid
23935 when it is called. If there are no valid threads, the method will
23936 return an empty tuple.
23939 @findex Inferior.read_memory
23940 @defun Inferior.read_memory (address, length)
23941 Read @var{length} bytes of memory from the inferior, starting at
23942 @var{address}. Returns a buffer object, which behaves much like an array
23943 or a string. It can be modified and given to the
23944 @code{Inferior.write_memory} function.
23947 @findex Inferior.write_memory
23948 @defun Inferior.write_memory (address, buffer @r{[}, length@r{]})
23949 Write the contents of @var{buffer} to the inferior, starting at
23950 @var{address}. The @var{buffer} parameter must be a Python object
23951 which supports the buffer protocol, i.e., a string, an array or the
23952 object returned from @code{Inferior.read_memory}. If given, @var{length}
23953 determines the number of bytes from @var{buffer} to be written.
23956 @findex gdb.search_memory
23957 @defun Inferior.search_memory (address, length, pattern)
23958 Search a region of the inferior memory starting at @var{address} with
23959 the given @var{length} using the search pattern supplied in
23960 @var{pattern}. The @var{pattern} parameter must be a Python object
23961 which supports the buffer protocol, i.e., a string, an array or the
23962 object returned from @code{gdb.read_memory}. Returns a Python @code{Long}
23963 containing the address where the pattern was found, or @code{None} if
23964 the pattern could not be found.
23968 @node Events In Python
23969 @subsubsection Events In Python
23970 @cindex inferior events in Python
23972 @value{GDBN} provides a general event facility so that Python code can be
23973 notified of various state changes, particularly changes that occur in
23976 An @dfn{event} is just an object that describes some state change. The
23977 type of the object and its attributes will vary depending on the details
23978 of the change. All the existing events are described below.
23980 In order to be notified of an event, you must register an event handler
23981 with an @dfn{event registry}. An event registry is an object in the
23982 @code{gdb.events} module which dispatches particular events. A registry
23983 provides methods to register and unregister event handlers:
23986 @defun EventRegistry.connect (object)
23987 Add the given callable @var{object} to the registry. This object will be
23988 called when an event corresponding to this registry occurs.
23991 @defun EventRegistry.disconnect (object)
23992 Remove the given @var{object} from the registry. Once removed, the object
23993 will no longer receive notifications of events.
23997 Here is an example:
24000 def exit_handler (event):
24001 print "event type: exit"
24002 print "exit code: %d" % (event.exit_code)
24004 gdb.events.exited.connect (exit_handler)
24007 In the above example we connect our handler @code{exit_handler} to the
24008 registry @code{events.exited}. Once connected, @code{exit_handler} gets
24009 called when the inferior exits. The argument @dfn{event} in this example is
24010 of type @code{gdb.ExitedEvent}. As you can see in the example the
24011 @code{ExitedEvent} object has an attribute which indicates the exit code of
24014 The following is a listing of the event registries that are available and
24015 details of the events they emit:
24020 Emits @code{gdb.ThreadEvent}.
24022 Some events can be thread specific when @value{GDBN} is running in non-stop
24023 mode. When represented in Python, these events all extend
24024 @code{gdb.ThreadEvent}. Note, this event is not emitted directly; instead,
24025 events which are emitted by this or other modules might extend this event.
24026 Examples of these events are @code{gdb.BreakpointEvent} and
24027 @code{gdb.ContinueEvent}.
24030 @defvar ThreadEvent.inferior_thread
24031 In non-stop mode this attribute will be set to the specific thread which was
24032 involved in the emitted event. Otherwise, it will be set to @code{None}.
24036 Emits @code{gdb.ContinueEvent} which extends @code{gdb.ThreadEvent}.
24038 This event indicates that the inferior has been continued after a stop. For
24039 inherited attribute refer to @code{gdb.ThreadEvent} above.
24041 @item events.exited
24042 Emits @code{events.ExitedEvent} which indicates that the inferior has exited.
24043 @code{events.ExitedEvent} has two attributes:
24045 @defvar ExitedEvent.exit_code
24046 An integer representing the exit code, if available, which the inferior
24047 has returned. (The exit code could be unavailable if, for example,
24048 @value{GDBN} detaches from the inferior.) If the exit code is unavailable,
24049 the attribute does not exist.
24051 @defvar ExitedEvent inferior
24052 A reference to the inferior which triggered the @code{exited} event.
24057 Emits @code{gdb.StopEvent} which extends @code{gdb.ThreadEvent}.
24059 Indicates that the inferior has stopped. All events emitted by this registry
24060 extend StopEvent. As a child of @code{gdb.ThreadEvent}, @code{gdb.StopEvent}
24061 will indicate the stopped thread when @value{GDBN} is running in non-stop
24062 mode. Refer to @code{gdb.ThreadEvent} above for more details.
24064 Emits @code{gdb.SignalEvent} which extends @code{gdb.StopEvent}.
24066 This event indicates that the inferior or one of its threads has received as
24067 signal. @code{gdb.SignalEvent} has the following attributes:
24070 @defvar SignalEvent.stop_signal
24071 A string representing the signal received by the inferior. A list of possible
24072 signal values can be obtained by running the command @code{info signals} in
24073 the @value{GDBN} command prompt.
24077 Also emits @code{gdb.BreakpointEvent} which extends @code{gdb.StopEvent}.
24079 @code{gdb.BreakpointEvent} event indicates that one or more breakpoints have
24080 been hit, and has the following attributes:
24083 @defvar BreakpointEvent.breakpoints
24084 A sequence containing references to all the breakpoints (type
24085 @code{gdb.Breakpoint}) that were hit.
24086 @xref{Breakpoints In Python}, for details of the @code{gdb.Breakpoint} object.
24088 @defvar BreakpointEvent.breakpoint
24089 A reference to the first breakpoint that was hit.
24090 This function is maintained for backward compatibility and is now deprecated
24091 in favor of the @code{gdb.BreakpointEvent.breakpoints} attribute.
24095 @item events.new_objfile
24096 Emits @code{gdb.NewObjFileEvent} which indicates that a new object file has
24097 been loaded by @value{GDBN}. @code{gdb.NewObjFileEvent} has one attribute:
24100 @defvar NewObjFileEvent.new_objfile
24101 A reference to the object file (@code{gdb.Objfile}) which has been loaded.
24102 @xref{Objfiles In Python}, for details of the @code{gdb.Objfile} object.
24108 @node Threads In Python
24109 @subsubsection Threads In Python
24110 @cindex threads in python
24112 @findex gdb.InferiorThread
24113 Python scripts can access information about, and manipulate inferior threads
24114 controlled by @value{GDBN}, via objects of the @code{gdb.InferiorThread} class.
24116 The following thread-related functions are available in the @code{gdb}
24119 @findex gdb.selected_thread
24120 @defun gdb.selected_thread ()
24121 This function returns the thread object for the selected thread. If there
24122 is no selected thread, this will return @code{None}.
24125 A @code{gdb.InferiorThread} object has the following attributes:
24128 @defvar InferiorThread.name
24129 The name of the thread. If the user specified a name using
24130 @code{thread name}, then this returns that name. Otherwise, if an
24131 OS-supplied name is available, then it is returned. Otherwise, this
24132 returns @code{None}.
24134 This attribute can be assigned to. The new value must be a string
24135 object, which sets the new name, or @code{None}, which removes any
24136 user-specified thread name.
24139 @defvar InferiorThread.num
24140 ID of the thread, as assigned by GDB.
24143 @defvar InferiorThread.ptid
24144 ID of the thread, as assigned by the operating system. This attribute is a
24145 tuple containing three integers. The first is the Process ID (PID); the second
24146 is the Lightweight Process ID (LWPID), and the third is the Thread ID (TID).
24147 Either the LWPID or TID may be 0, which indicates that the operating system
24148 does not use that identifier.
24152 A @code{gdb.InferiorThread} object has the following methods:
24155 @defun InferiorThread.is_valid ()
24156 Returns @code{True} if the @code{gdb.InferiorThread} object is valid,
24157 @code{False} if not. A @code{gdb.InferiorThread} object will become
24158 invalid if the thread exits, or the inferior that the thread belongs
24159 is deleted. All other @code{gdb.InferiorThread} methods will throw an
24160 exception if it is invalid at the time the method is called.
24163 @defun InferiorThread.switch ()
24164 This changes @value{GDBN}'s currently selected thread to the one represented
24168 @defun InferiorThread.is_stopped ()
24169 Return a Boolean indicating whether the thread is stopped.
24172 @defun InferiorThread.is_running ()
24173 Return a Boolean indicating whether the thread is running.
24176 @defun InferiorThread.is_exited ()
24177 Return a Boolean indicating whether the thread is exited.
24181 @node Commands In Python
24182 @subsubsection Commands In Python
24184 @cindex commands in python
24185 @cindex python commands
24186 You can implement new @value{GDBN} CLI commands in Python. A CLI
24187 command is implemented using an instance of the @code{gdb.Command}
24188 class, most commonly using a subclass.
24190 @defun Command.__init__ (name, @var{command_class} @r{[}, @var{completer_class} @r{[}, @var{prefix}@r{]]})
24191 The object initializer for @code{Command} registers the new command
24192 with @value{GDBN}. This initializer is normally invoked from the
24193 subclass' own @code{__init__} method.
24195 @var{name} is the name of the command. If @var{name} consists of
24196 multiple words, then the initial words are looked for as prefix
24197 commands. In this case, if one of the prefix commands does not exist,
24198 an exception is raised.
24200 There is no support for multi-line commands.
24202 @var{command_class} should be one of the @samp{COMMAND_} constants
24203 defined below. This argument tells @value{GDBN} how to categorize the
24204 new command in the help system.
24206 @var{completer_class} is an optional argument. If given, it should be
24207 one of the @samp{COMPLETE_} constants defined below. This argument
24208 tells @value{GDBN} how to perform completion for this command. If not
24209 given, @value{GDBN} will attempt to complete using the object's
24210 @code{complete} method (see below); if no such method is found, an
24211 error will occur when completion is attempted.
24213 @var{prefix} is an optional argument. If @code{True}, then the new
24214 command is a prefix command; sub-commands of this command may be
24217 The help text for the new command is taken from the Python
24218 documentation string for the command's class, if there is one. If no
24219 documentation string is provided, the default value ``This command is
24220 not documented.'' is used.
24223 @cindex don't repeat Python command
24224 @defun Command.dont_repeat ()
24225 By default, a @value{GDBN} command is repeated when the user enters a
24226 blank line at the command prompt. A command can suppress this
24227 behavior by invoking the @code{dont_repeat} method. This is similar
24228 to the user command @code{dont-repeat}, see @ref{Define, dont-repeat}.
24231 @defun Command.invoke (argument, from_tty)
24232 This method is called by @value{GDBN} when this command is invoked.
24234 @var{argument} is a string. It is the argument to the command, after
24235 leading and trailing whitespace has been stripped.
24237 @var{from_tty} is a boolean argument. When true, this means that the
24238 command was entered by the user at the terminal; when false it means
24239 that the command came from elsewhere.
24241 If this method throws an exception, it is turned into a @value{GDBN}
24242 @code{error} call. Otherwise, the return value is ignored.
24244 @findex gdb.string_to_argv
24245 To break @var{argument} up into an argv-like string use
24246 @code{gdb.string_to_argv}. This function behaves identically to
24247 @value{GDBN}'s internal argument lexer @code{buildargv}.
24248 It is recommended to use this for consistency.
24249 Arguments are separated by spaces and may be quoted.
24253 print gdb.string_to_argv ("1 2\ \\\"3 '4 \"5' \"6 '7\"")
24254 ['1', '2 "3', '4 "5', "6 '7"]
24259 @cindex completion of Python commands
24260 @defun Command.complete (text, word)
24261 This method is called by @value{GDBN} when the user attempts
24262 completion on this command. All forms of completion are handled by
24263 this method, that is, the @key{TAB} and @key{M-?} key bindings
24264 (@pxref{Completion}), and the @code{complete} command (@pxref{Help,
24267 The arguments @var{text} and @var{word} are both strings. @var{text}
24268 holds the complete command line up to the cursor's location.
24269 @var{word} holds the last word of the command line; this is computed
24270 using a word-breaking heuristic.
24272 The @code{complete} method can return several values:
24275 If the return value is a sequence, the contents of the sequence are
24276 used as the completions. It is up to @code{complete} to ensure that the
24277 contents actually do complete the word. A zero-length sequence is
24278 allowed, it means that there were no completions available. Only
24279 string elements of the sequence are used; other elements in the
24280 sequence are ignored.
24283 If the return value is one of the @samp{COMPLETE_} constants defined
24284 below, then the corresponding @value{GDBN}-internal completion
24285 function is invoked, and its result is used.
24288 All other results are treated as though there were no available
24293 When a new command is registered, it must be declared as a member of
24294 some general class of commands. This is used to classify top-level
24295 commands in the on-line help system; note that prefix commands are not
24296 listed under their own category but rather that of their top-level
24297 command. The available classifications are represented by constants
24298 defined in the @code{gdb} module:
24301 @findex COMMAND_NONE
24302 @findex gdb.COMMAND_NONE
24303 @item gdb.COMMAND_NONE
24304 The command does not belong to any particular class. A command in
24305 this category will not be displayed in any of the help categories.
24307 @findex COMMAND_RUNNING
24308 @findex gdb.COMMAND_RUNNING
24309 @item gdb.COMMAND_RUNNING
24310 The command is related to running the inferior. For example,
24311 @code{start}, @code{step}, and @code{continue} are in this category.
24312 Type @kbd{help running} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of
24313 commands in this category.
24315 @findex COMMAND_DATA
24316 @findex gdb.COMMAND_DATA
24317 @item gdb.COMMAND_DATA
24318 The command is related to data or variables. For example,
24319 @code{call}, @code{find}, and @code{print} are in this category. Type
24320 @kbd{help data} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of commands
24323 @findex COMMAND_STACK
24324 @findex gdb.COMMAND_STACK
24325 @item gdb.COMMAND_STACK
24326 The command has to do with manipulation of the stack. For example,
24327 @code{backtrace}, @code{frame}, and @code{return} are in this
24328 category. Type @kbd{help stack} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a
24329 list of commands in this category.
24331 @findex COMMAND_FILES
24332 @findex gdb.COMMAND_FILES
24333 @item gdb.COMMAND_FILES
24334 This class is used for file-related commands. For example,
24335 @code{file}, @code{list} and @code{section} are in this category.
24336 Type @kbd{help files} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of
24337 commands in this category.
24339 @findex COMMAND_SUPPORT
24340 @findex gdb.COMMAND_SUPPORT
24341 @item gdb.COMMAND_SUPPORT
24342 This should be used for ``support facilities'', generally meaning
24343 things that are useful to the user when interacting with @value{GDBN},
24344 but not related to the state of the inferior. For example,
24345 @code{help}, @code{make}, and @code{shell} are in this category. Type
24346 @kbd{help support} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of
24347 commands in this category.
24349 @findex COMMAND_STATUS
24350 @findex gdb.COMMAND_STATUS
24351 @item gdb.COMMAND_STATUS
24352 The command is an @samp{info}-related command, that is, related to the
24353 state of @value{GDBN} itself. For example, @code{info}, @code{macro},
24354 and @code{show} are in this category. Type @kbd{help status} at the
24355 @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of commands in this category.
24357 @findex COMMAND_BREAKPOINTS
24358 @findex gdb.COMMAND_BREAKPOINTS
24359 @item gdb.COMMAND_BREAKPOINTS
24360 The command has to do with breakpoints. For example, @code{break},
24361 @code{clear}, and @code{delete} are in this category. Type @kbd{help
24362 breakpoints} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of commands in
24365 @findex COMMAND_TRACEPOINTS
24366 @findex gdb.COMMAND_TRACEPOINTS
24367 @item gdb.COMMAND_TRACEPOINTS
24368 The command has to do with tracepoints. For example, @code{trace},
24369 @code{actions}, and @code{tfind} are in this category. Type
24370 @kbd{help tracepoints} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of
24371 commands in this category.
24373 @findex COMMAND_USER
24374 @findex gdb.COMMAND_USER
24375 @item gdb.COMMAND_USER
24376 The command is a general purpose command for the user, and typically
24377 does not fit in one of the other categories.
24378 Type @kbd{help user-defined} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see
24379 a list of commands in this category, as well as the list of gdb macros
24380 (@pxref{Sequences}).
24382 @findex COMMAND_OBSCURE
24383 @findex gdb.COMMAND_OBSCURE
24384 @item gdb.COMMAND_OBSCURE
24385 The command is only used in unusual circumstances, or is not of
24386 general interest to users. For example, @code{checkpoint},
24387 @code{fork}, and @code{stop} are in this category. Type @kbd{help
24388 obscure} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of commands in this
24391 @findex COMMAND_MAINTENANCE
24392 @findex gdb.COMMAND_MAINTENANCE
24393 @item gdb.COMMAND_MAINTENANCE
24394 The command is only useful to @value{GDBN} maintainers. The
24395 @code{maintenance} and @code{flushregs} commands are in this category.
24396 Type @kbd{help internals} at the @value{GDBN} prompt to see a list of
24397 commands in this category.
24400 A new command can use a predefined completion function, either by
24401 specifying it via an argument at initialization, or by returning it
24402 from the @code{complete} method. These predefined completion
24403 constants are all defined in the @code{gdb} module:
24406 @findex COMPLETE_NONE
24407 @findex gdb.COMPLETE_NONE
24408 @item gdb.COMPLETE_NONE
24409 This constant means that no completion should be done.
24411 @findex COMPLETE_FILENAME
24412 @findex gdb.COMPLETE_FILENAME
24413 @item gdb.COMPLETE_FILENAME
24414 This constant means that filename completion should be performed.
24416 @findex COMPLETE_LOCATION
24417 @findex gdb.COMPLETE_LOCATION
24418 @item gdb.COMPLETE_LOCATION
24419 This constant means that location completion should be done.
24420 @xref{Specify Location}.
24422 @findex COMPLETE_COMMAND
24423 @findex gdb.COMPLETE_COMMAND
24424 @item gdb.COMPLETE_COMMAND
24425 This constant means that completion should examine @value{GDBN}
24428 @findex COMPLETE_SYMBOL
24429 @findex gdb.COMPLETE_SYMBOL
24430 @item gdb.COMPLETE_SYMBOL
24431 This constant means that completion should be done using symbol names
24435 The following code snippet shows how a trivial CLI command can be
24436 implemented in Python:
24439 class HelloWorld (gdb.Command):
24440 """Greet the whole world."""
24442 def __init__ (self):
24443 super (HelloWorld, self).__init__ ("hello-world", gdb.COMMAND_USER)
24445 def invoke (self, arg, from_tty):
24446 print "Hello, World!"
24451 The last line instantiates the class, and is necessary to trigger the
24452 registration of the command with @value{GDBN}. Depending on how the
24453 Python code is read into @value{GDBN}, you may need to import the
24454 @code{gdb} module explicitly.
24456 @node Parameters In Python
24457 @subsubsection Parameters In Python
24459 @cindex parameters in python
24460 @cindex python parameters
24461 @tindex gdb.Parameter
24463 You can implement new @value{GDBN} parameters using Python. A new
24464 parameter is implemented as an instance of the @code{gdb.Parameter}
24467 Parameters are exposed to the user via the @code{set} and
24468 @code{show} commands. @xref{Help}.
24470 There are many parameters that already exist and can be set in
24471 @value{GDBN}. Two examples are: @code{set follow fork} and
24472 @code{set charset}. Setting these parameters influences certain
24473 behavior in @value{GDBN}. Similarly, you can define parameters that
24474 can be used to influence behavior in custom Python scripts and commands.
24476 @defun Parameter.__init__ (name, @var{command-class}, @var{parameter-class} @r{[}, @var{enum-sequence}@r{]})
24477 The object initializer for @code{Parameter} registers the new
24478 parameter with @value{GDBN}. This initializer is normally invoked
24479 from the subclass' own @code{__init__} method.
24481 @var{name} is the name of the new parameter. If @var{name} consists
24482 of multiple words, then the initial words are looked for as prefix
24483 parameters. An example of this can be illustrated with the
24484 @code{set print} set of parameters. If @var{name} is
24485 @code{print foo}, then @code{print} will be searched as the prefix
24486 parameter. In this case the parameter can subsequently be accessed in
24487 @value{GDBN} as @code{set print foo}.
24489 If @var{name} consists of multiple words, and no prefix parameter group
24490 can be found, an exception is raised.
24492 @var{command-class} should be one of the @samp{COMMAND_} constants
24493 (@pxref{Commands In Python}). This argument tells @value{GDBN} how to
24494 categorize the new parameter in the help system.
24496 @var{parameter-class} should be one of the @samp{PARAM_} constants
24497 defined below. This argument tells @value{GDBN} the type of the new
24498 parameter; this information is used for input validation and
24501 If @var{parameter-class} is @code{PARAM_ENUM}, then
24502 @var{enum-sequence} must be a sequence of strings. These strings
24503 represent the possible values for the parameter.
24505 If @var{parameter-class} is not @code{PARAM_ENUM}, then the presence
24506 of a fourth argument will cause an exception to be thrown.
24508 The help text for the new parameter is taken from the Python
24509 documentation string for the parameter's class, if there is one. If
24510 there is no documentation string, a default value is used.
24513 @defvar Parameter.set_doc
24514 If this attribute exists, and is a string, then its value is used as
24515 the help text for this parameter's @code{set} command. The value is
24516 examined when @code{Parameter.__init__} is invoked; subsequent changes
24520 @defvar Parameter.show_doc
24521 If this attribute exists, and is a string, then its value is used as
24522 the help text for this parameter's @code{show} command. The value is
24523 examined when @code{Parameter.__init__} is invoked; subsequent changes
24527 @defvar Parameter.value
24528 The @code{value} attribute holds the underlying value of the
24529 parameter. It can be read and assigned to just as any other
24530 attribute. @value{GDBN} does validation when assignments are made.
24533 There are two methods that should be implemented in any
24534 @code{Parameter} class. These are:
24536 @defun Parameter.get_set_string (self)
24537 @value{GDBN} will call this method when a @var{parameter}'s value has
24538 been changed via the @code{set} API (for example, @kbd{set foo off}).
24539 The @code{value} attribute has already been populated with the new
24540 value and may be used in output. This method must return a string.
24543 @defun Parameter.get_show_string (self, svalue)
24544 @value{GDBN} will call this method when a @var{parameter}'s
24545 @code{show} API has been invoked (for example, @kbd{show foo}). The
24546 argument @code{svalue} receives the string representation of the
24547 current value. This method must return a string.
24550 When a new parameter is defined, its type must be specified. The
24551 available types are represented by constants defined in the @code{gdb}
24555 @findex PARAM_BOOLEAN
24556 @findex gdb.PARAM_BOOLEAN
24557 @item gdb.PARAM_BOOLEAN
24558 The value is a plain boolean. The Python boolean values, @code{True}
24559 and @code{False} are the only valid values.
24561 @findex PARAM_AUTO_BOOLEAN
24562 @findex gdb.PARAM_AUTO_BOOLEAN
24563 @item gdb.PARAM_AUTO_BOOLEAN
24564 The value has three possible states: true, false, and @samp{auto}. In
24565 Python, true and false are represented using boolean constants, and
24566 @samp{auto} is represented using @code{None}.
24568 @findex PARAM_UINTEGER
24569 @findex gdb.PARAM_UINTEGER
24570 @item gdb.PARAM_UINTEGER
24571 The value is an unsigned integer. The value of 0 should be
24572 interpreted to mean ``unlimited''.
24574 @findex PARAM_INTEGER
24575 @findex gdb.PARAM_INTEGER
24576 @item gdb.PARAM_INTEGER
24577 The value is a signed integer. The value of 0 should be interpreted
24578 to mean ``unlimited''.
24580 @findex PARAM_STRING
24581 @findex gdb.PARAM_STRING
24582 @item gdb.PARAM_STRING
24583 The value is a string. When the user modifies the string, any escape
24584 sequences, such as @samp{\t}, @samp{\f}, and octal escapes, are
24585 translated into corresponding characters and encoded into the current
24588 @findex PARAM_STRING_NOESCAPE
24589 @findex gdb.PARAM_STRING_NOESCAPE
24590 @item gdb.PARAM_STRING_NOESCAPE
24591 The value is a string. When the user modifies the string, escapes are
24592 passed through untranslated.
24594 @findex PARAM_OPTIONAL_FILENAME
24595 @findex gdb.PARAM_OPTIONAL_FILENAME
24596 @item gdb.PARAM_OPTIONAL_FILENAME
24597 The value is a either a filename (a string), or @code{None}.
24599 @findex PARAM_FILENAME
24600 @findex gdb.PARAM_FILENAME
24601 @item gdb.PARAM_FILENAME
24602 The value is a filename. This is just like
24603 @code{PARAM_STRING_NOESCAPE}, but uses file names for completion.
24605 @findex PARAM_ZINTEGER
24606 @findex gdb.PARAM_ZINTEGER
24607 @item gdb.PARAM_ZINTEGER
24608 The value is an integer. This is like @code{PARAM_INTEGER}, except 0
24609 is interpreted as itself.
24612 @findex gdb.PARAM_ENUM
24613 @item gdb.PARAM_ENUM
24614 The value is a string, which must be one of a collection string
24615 constants provided when the parameter is created.
24618 @node Functions In Python
24619 @subsubsection Writing new convenience functions
24621 @cindex writing convenience functions
24622 @cindex convenience functions in python
24623 @cindex python convenience functions
24624 @tindex gdb.Function
24626 You can implement new convenience functions (@pxref{Convenience Vars})
24627 in Python. A convenience function is an instance of a subclass of the
24628 class @code{gdb.Function}.
24630 @defun Function.__init__ (name)
24631 The initializer for @code{Function} registers the new function with
24632 @value{GDBN}. The argument @var{name} is the name of the function,
24633 a string. The function will be visible to the user as a convenience
24634 variable of type @code{internal function}, whose name is the same as
24635 the given @var{name}.
24637 The documentation for the new function is taken from the documentation
24638 string for the new class.
24641 @defun Function.invoke (@var{*args})
24642 When a convenience function is evaluated, its arguments are converted
24643 to instances of @code{gdb.Value}, and then the function's
24644 @code{invoke} method is called. Note that @value{GDBN} does not
24645 predetermine the arity of convenience functions. Instead, all
24646 available arguments are passed to @code{invoke}, following the
24647 standard Python calling convention. In particular, a convenience
24648 function can have default values for parameters without ill effect.
24650 The return value of this method is used as its value in the enclosing
24651 expression. If an ordinary Python value is returned, it is converted
24652 to a @code{gdb.Value} following the usual rules.
24655 The following code snippet shows how a trivial convenience function can
24656 be implemented in Python:
24659 class Greet (gdb.Function):
24660 """Return string to greet someone.
24661 Takes a name as argument."""
24663 def __init__ (self):
24664 super (Greet, self).__init__ ("greet")
24666 def invoke (self, name):
24667 return "Hello, %s!" % name.string ()
24672 The last line instantiates the class, and is necessary to trigger the
24673 registration of the function with @value{GDBN}. Depending on how the
24674 Python code is read into @value{GDBN}, you may need to import the
24675 @code{gdb} module explicitly.
24677 @node Progspaces In Python
24678 @subsubsection Program Spaces In Python
24680 @cindex progspaces in python
24681 @tindex gdb.Progspace
24683 A program space, or @dfn{progspace}, represents a symbolic view
24684 of an address space.
24685 It consists of all of the objfiles of the program.
24686 @xref{Objfiles In Python}.
24687 @xref{Inferiors and Programs, program spaces}, for more details
24688 about program spaces.
24690 The following progspace-related functions are available in the
24693 @findex gdb.current_progspace
24694 @defun gdb.current_progspace ()
24695 This function returns the program space of the currently selected inferior.
24696 @xref{Inferiors and Programs}.
24699 @findex gdb.progspaces
24700 @defun gdb.progspaces ()
24701 Return a sequence of all the progspaces currently known to @value{GDBN}.
24704 Each progspace is represented by an instance of the @code{gdb.Progspace}
24707 @defvar Progspace.filename
24708 The file name of the progspace as a string.
24711 @defvar Progspace.pretty_printers
24712 The @code{pretty_printers} attribute is a list of functions. It is
24713 used to look up pretty-printers. A @code{Value} is passed to each
24714 function in order; if the function returns @code{None}, then the
24715 search continues. Otherwise, the return value should be an object
24716 which is used to format the value. @xref{Pretty Printing API}, for more
24720 @node Objfiles In Python
24721 @subsubsection Objfiles In Python
24723 @cindex objfiles in python
24724 @tindex gdb.Objfile
24726 @value{GDBN} loads symbols for an inferior from various
24727 symbol-containing files (@pxref{Files}). These include the primary
24728 executable file, any shared libraries used by the inferior, and any
24729 separate debug info files (@pxref{Separate Debug Files}).
24730 @value{GDBN} calls these symbol-containing files @dfn{objfiles}.
24732 The following objfile-related functions are available in the
24735 @findex gdb.current_objfile
24736 @defun gdb.current_objfile ()
24737 When auto-loading a Python script (@pxref{Python Auto-loading}), @value{GDBN}
24738 sets the ``current objfile'' to the corresponding objfile. This
24739 function returns the current objfile. If there is no current objfile,
24740 this function returns @code{None}.
24743 @findex gdb.objfiles
24744 @defun gdb.objfiles ()
24745 Return a sequence of all the objfiles current known to @value{GDBN}.
24746 @xref{Objfiles In Python}.
24749 Each objfile is represented by an instance of the @code{gdb.Objfile}
24752 @defvar Objfile.filename
24753 The file name of the objfile as a string.
24756 @defvar Objfile.pretty_printers
24757 The @code{pretty_printers} attribute is a list of functions. It is
24758 used to look up pretty-printers. A @code{Value} is passed to each
24759 function in order; if the function returns @code{None}, then the
24760 search continues. Otherwise, the return value should be an object
24761 which is used to format the value. @xref{Pretty Printing API}, for more
24765 A @code{gdb.Objfile} object has the following methods:
24767 @defun Objfile.is_valid ()
24768 Returns @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Objfile} object is valid,
24769 @code{False} if not. A @code{gdb.Objfile} object can become invalid
24770 if the object file it refers to is not loaded in @value{GDBN} any
24771 longer. All other @code{gdb.Objfile} methods will throw an exception
24772 if it is invalid at the time the method is called.
24775 @node Frames In Python
24776 @subsubsection Accessing inferior stack frames from Python.
24778 @cindex frames in python
24779 When the debugged program stops, @value{GDBN} is able to analyze its call
24780 stack (@pxref{Frames,,Stack frames}). The @code{gdb.Frame} class
24781 represents a frame in the stack. A @code{gdb.Frame} object is only valid
24782 while its corresponding frame exists in the inferior's stack. If you try
24783 to use an invalid frame object, @value{GDBN} will throw a @code{gdb.error}
24784 exception (@pxref{Exception Handling}).
24786 Two @code{gdb.Frame} objects can be compared for equality with the @code{==}
24790 (@value{GDBP}) python print gdb.newest_frame() == gdb.selected_frame ()
24794 The following frame-related functions are available in the @code{gdb} module:
24796 @findex gdb.selected_frame
24797 @defun gdb.selected_frame ()
24798 Return the selected frame object. (@pxref{Selection,,Selecting a Frame}).
24801 @findex gdb.newest_frame
24802 @defun gdb.newest_frame ()
24803 Return the newest frame object for the selected thread.
24806 @defun gdb.frame_stop_reason_string (reason)
24807 Return a string explaining the reason why @value{GDBN} stopped unwinding
24808 frames, as expressed by the given @var{reason} code (an integer, see the
24809 @code{unwind_stop_reason} method further down in this section).
24812 A @code{gdb.Frame} object has the following methods:
24815 @defun Frame.is_valid ()
24816 Returns true if the @code{gdb.Frame} object is valid, false if not.
24817 A frame object can become invalid if the frame it refers to doesn't
24818 exist anymore in the inferior. All @code{gdb.Frame} methods will throw
24819 an exception if it is invalid at the time the method is called.
24822 @defun Frame.name ()
24823 Returns the function name of the frame, or @code{None} if it can't be
24827 @defun Frame.type ()
24828 Returns the type of the frame. The value can be one of:
24830 @item gdb.NORMAL_FRAME
24831 An ordinary stack frame.
24833 @item gdb.DUMMY_FRAME
24834 A fake stack frame that was created by @value{GDBN} when performing an
24835 inferior function call.
24837 @item gdb.INLINE_FRAME
24838 A frame representing an inlined function. The function was inlined
24839 into a @code{gdb.NORMAL_FRAME} that is older than this one.
24841 @item gdb.TAILCALL_FRAME
24842 A frame representing a tail call. @xref{Tail Call Frames}.
24844 @item gdb.SIGTRAMP_FRAME
24845 A signal trampoline frame. This is the frame created by the OS when
24846 it calls into a signal handler.
24848 @item gdb.ARCH_FRAME
24849 A fake stack frame representing a cross-architecture call.
24851 @item gdb.SENTINEL_FRAME
24852 This is like @code{gdb.NORMAL_FRAME}, but it is only used for the
24857 @defun Frame.unwind_stop_reason ()
24858 Return an integer representing the reason why it's not possible to find
24859 more frames toward the outermost frame. Use
24860 @code{gdb.frame_stop_reason_string} to convert the value returned by this
24861 function to a string. The value can be one of:
24864 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_NO_REASON
24865 No particular reason (older frames should be available).
24867 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_NULL_ID
24868 The previous frame's analyzer returns an invalid result.
24870 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_OUTERMOST
24871 This frame is the outermost.
24873 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_UNAVAILABLE
24874 Cannot unwind further, because that would require knowing the
24875 values of registers or memory that have not been collected.
24877 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_INNER_ID
24878 This frame ID looks like it ought to belong to a NEXT frame,
24879 but we got it for a PREV frame. Normally, this is a sign of
24880 unwinder failure. It could also indicate stack corruption.
24882 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_SAME_ID
24883 This frame has the same ID as the previous one. That means
24884 that unwinding further would almost certainly give us another
24885 frame with exactly the same ID, so break the chain. Normally,
24886 this is a sign of unwinder failure. It could also indicate
24889 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_NO_SAVED_PC
24890 The frame unwinder did not find any saved PC, but we needed
24891 one to unwind further.
24893 @item gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_FIRST_ERROR
24894 Any stop reason greater or equal to this value indicates some kind
24895 of error. This special value facilitates writing code that tests
24896 for errors in unwinding in a way that will work correctly even if
24897 the list of the other values is modified in future @value{GDBN}
24898 versions. Using it, you could write:
24900 reason = gdb.selected_frame().unwind_stop_reason ()
24901 reason_str = gdb.frame_stop_reason_string (reason)
24902 if reason >= gdb.FRAME_UNWIND_FIRST_ERROR:
24903 print "An error occured: %s" % reason_str
24910 Returns the frame's resume address.
24913 @defun Frame.block ()
24914 Return the frame's code block. @xref{Blocks In Python}.
24917 @defun Frame.function ()
24918 Return the symbol for the function corresponding to this frame.
24919 @xref{Symbols In Python}.
24922 @defun Frame.older ()
24923 Return the frame that called this frame.
24926 @defun Frame.newer ()
24927 Return the frame called by this frame.
24930 @defun Frame.find_sal ()
24931 Return the frame's symtab and line object.
24932 @xref{Symbol Tables In Python}.
24935 @defun Frame.read_var (variable @r{[}, block@r{]})
24936 Return the value of @var{variable} in this frame. If the optional
24937 argument @var{block} is provided, search for the variable from that
24938 block; otherwise start at the frame's current block (which is
24939 determined by the frame's current program counter). @var{variable}
24940 must be a string or a @code{gdb.Symbol} object. @var{block} must be a
24941 @code{gdb.Block} object.
24944 @defun Frame.select ()
24945 Set this frame to be the selected frame. @xref{Stack, ,Examining the
24950 @node Blocks In Python
24951 @subsubsection Accessing frame blocks from Python.
24953 @cindex blocks in python
24956 Within each frame, @value{GDBN} maintains information on each block
24957 stored in that frame. These blocks are organized hierarchically, and
24958 are represented individually in Python as a @code{gdb.Block}.
24959 Please see @ref{Frames In Python}, for a more in-depth discussion on
24960 frames. Furthermore, see @ref{Stack, ,Examining the Stack}, for more
24961 detailed technical information on @value{GDBN}'s book-keeping of the
24964 A @code{gdb.Block} is iterable. The iterator returns the symbols
24965 (@pxref{Symbols In Python}) local to the block. Python programs
24966 should not assume that a specific block object will always contain a
24967 given symbol, since changes in @value{GDBN} features and
24968 infrastructure may cause symbols move across blocks in a symbol
24971 The following block-related functions are available in the @code{gdb}
24974 @findex gdb.block_for_pc
24975 @defun gdb.block_for_pc (pc)
24976 Return the @code{gdb.Block} containing the given @var{pc} value. If the
24977 block cannot be found for the @var{pc} value specified, the function
24978 will return @code{None}.
24981 A @code{gdb.Block} object has the following methods:
24984 @defun Block.is_valid ()
24985 Returns @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Block} object is valid,
24986 @code{False} if not. A block object can become invalid if the block it
24987 refers to doesn't exist anymore in the inferior. All other
24988 @code{gdb.Block} methods will throw an exception if it is invalid at
24989 the time the method is called. The block's validity is also checked
24990 during iteration over symbols of the block.
24994 A @code{gdb.Block} object has the following attributes:
24997 @defvar Block.start
24998 The start address of the block. This attribute is not writable.
25002 The end address of the block. This attribute is not writable.
25005 @defvar Block.function
25006 The name of the block represented as a @code{gdb.Symbol}. If the
25007 block is not named, then this attribute holds @code{None}. This
25008 attribute is not writable.
25011 @defvar Block.superblock
25012 The block containing this block. If this parent block does not exist,
25013 this attribute holds @code{None}. This attribute is not writable.
25016 @defvar Block.global_block
25017 The global block associated with this block. This attribute is not
25021 @defvar Block.static_block
25022 The static block associated with this block. This attribute is not
25026 @defvar Block.is_global
25027 @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Block} object is a global block,
25028 @code{False} if not. This attribute is not
25032 @defvar Block.is_static
25033 @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Block} object is a static block,
25034 @code{False} if not. This attribute is not writable.
25038 @node Symbols In Python
25039 @subsubsection Python representation of Symbols.
25041 @cindex symbols in python
25044 @value{GDBN} represents every variable, function and type as an
25045 entry in a symbol table. @xref{Symbols, ,Examining the Symbol Table}.
25046 Similarly, Python represents these symbols in @value{GDBN} with the
25047 @code{gdb.Symbol} object.
25049 The following symbol-related functions are available in the @code{gdb}
25052 @findex gdb.lookup_symbol
25053 @defun gdb.lookup_symbol (name @r{[}, block @r{[}, domain@r{]]})
25054 This function searches for a symbol by name. The search scope can be
25055 restricted to the parameters defined in the optional domain and block
25058 @var{name} is the name of the symbol. It must be a string. The
25059 optional @var{block} argument restricts the search to symbols visible
25060 in that @var{block}. The @var{block} argument must be a
25061 @code{gdb.Block} object. If omitted, the block for the current frame
25062 is used. The optional @var{domain} argument restricts
25063 the search to the domain type. The @var{domain} argument must be a
25064 domain constant defined in the @code{gdb} module and described later
25067 The result is a tuple of two elements.
25068 The first element is a @code{gdb.Symbol} object or @code{None} if the symbol
25070 If the symbol is found, the second element is @code{True} if the symbol
25071 is a field of a method's object (e.g., @code{this} in C@t{++}),
25072 otherwise it is @code{False}.
25073 If the symbol is not found, the second element is @code{False}.
25076 @findex gdb.lookup_global_symbol
25077 @defun gdb.lookup_global_symbol (name @r{[}, domain@r{]})
25078 This function searches for a global symbol by name.
25079 The search scope can be restricted to by the domain argument.
25081 @var{name} is the name of the symbol. It must be a string.
25082 The optional @var{domain} argument restricts the search to the domain type.
25083 The @var{domain} argument must be a domain constant defined in the @code{gdb}
25084 module and described later in this chapter.
25086 The result is a @code{gdb.Symbol} object or @code{None} if the symbol
25090 A @code{gdb.Symbol} object has the following attributes:
25093 @defvar Symbol.type
25094 The type of the symbol or @code{None} if no type is recorded.
25095 This attribute is represented as a @code{gdb.Type} object.
25096 @xref{Types In Python}. This attribute is not writable.
25099 @defvar Symbol.symtab
25100 The symbol table in which the symbol appears. This attribute is
25101 represented as a @code{gdb.Symtab} object. @xref{Symbol Tables In
25102 Python}. This attribute is not writable.
25105 @defvar Symbol.line
25106 The line number in the source code at which the symbol was defined.
25107 This is an integer.
25110 @defvar Symbol.name
25111 The name of the symbol as a string. This attribute is not writable.
25114 @defvar Symbol.linkage_name
25115 The name of the symbol, as used by the linker (i.e., may be mangled).
25116 This attribute is not writable.
25119 @defvar Symbol.print_name
25120 The name of the symbol in a form suitable for output. This is either
25121 @code{name} or @code{linkage_name}, depending on whether the user
25122 asked @value{GDBN} to display demangled or mangled names.
25125 @defvar Symbol.addr_class
25126 The address class of the symbol. This classifies how to find the value
25127 of a symbol. Each address class is a constant defined in the
25128 @code{gdb} module and described later in this chapter.
25131 @defvar Symbol.needs_frame
25132 This is @code{True} if evaluating this symbol's value requires a frame
25133 (@pxref{Frames In Python}) and @code{False} otherwise. Typically,
25134 local variables will require a frame, but other symbols will not.
25137 @defvar Symbol.is_argument
25138 @code{True} if the symbol is an argument of a function.
25141 @defvar Symbol.is_constant
25142 @code{True} if the symbol is a constant.
25145 @defvar Symbol.is_function
25146 @code{True} if the symbol is a function or a method.
25149 @defvar Symbol.is_variable
25150 @code{True} if the symbol is a variable.
25154 A @code{gdb.Symbol} object has the following methods:
25157 @defun Symbol.is_valid ()
25158 Returns @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Symbol} object is valid,
25159 @code{False} if not. A @code{gdb.Symbol} object can become invalid if
25160 the symbol it refers to does not exist in @value{GDBN} any longer.
25161 All other @code{gdb.Symbol} methods will throw an exception if it is
25162 invalid at the time the method is called.
25165 @defun Symbol.value (@r{[}frame@r{]})
25166 Compute the value of the symbol, as a @code{gdb.Value}. For
25167 functions, this computes the address of the function, cast to the
25168 appropriate type. If the symbol requires a frame in order to compute
25169 its value, then @var{frame} must be given. If @var{frame} is not
25170 given, or if @var{frame} is invalid, then this method will throw an
25175 The available domain categories in @code{gdb.Symbol} are represented
25176 as constants in the @code{gdb} module:
25179 @findex SYMBOL_UNDEF_DOMAIN
25180 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_UNDEF_DOMAIN
25181 @item gdb.SYMBOL_UNDEF_DOMAIN
25182 This is used when a domain has not been discovered or none of the
25183 following domains apply. This usually indicates an error either
25184 in the symbol information or in @value{GDBN}'s handling of symbols.
25185 @findex SYMBOL_VAR_DOMAIN
25186 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_VAR_DOMAIN
25187 @item gdb.SYMBOL_VAR_DOMAIN
25188 This domain contains variables, function names, typedef names and enum
25190 @findex SYMBOL_STRUCT_DOMAIN
25191 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_STRUCT_DOMAIN
25192 @item gdb.SYMBOL_STRUCT_DOMAIN
25193 This domain holds struct, union and enum type names.
25194 @findex SYMBOL_LABEL_DOMAIN
25195 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LABEL_DOMAIN
25196 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LABEL_DOMAIN
25197 This domain contains names of labels (for gotos).
25198 @findex SYMBOL_VARIABLES_DOMAIN
25199 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_VARIABLES_DOMAIN
25200 @item gdb.SYMBOL_VARIABLES_DOMAIN
25201 This domain holds a subset of the @code{SYMBOLS_VAR_DOMAIN}; it
25202 contains everything minus functions and types.
25203 @findex SYMBOL_FUNCTIONS_DOMAIN
25204 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_FUNCTIONS_DOMAIN
25205 @item gdb.SYMBOL_FUNCTION_DOMAIN
25206 This domain contains all functions.
25207 @findex SYMBOL_TYPES_DOMAIN
25208 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_TYPES_DOMAIN
25209 @item gdb.SYMBOL_TYPES_DOMAIN
25210 This domain contains all types.
25213 The available address class categories in @code{gdb.Symbol} are represented
25214 as constants in the @code{gdb} module:
25217 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_UNDEF
25218 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_UNDEF
25219 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_UNDEF
25220 If this is returned by address class, it indicates an error either in
25221 the symbol information or in @value{GDBN}'s handling of symbols.
25222 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_CONST
25223 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_CONST
25224 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_CONST
25225 Value is constant int.
25226 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_STATIC
25227 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_STATIC
25228 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_STATIC
25229 Value is at a fixed address.
25230 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_REGISTER
25231 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_REGISTER
25232 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_REGISTER
25233 Value is in a register.
25234 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_ARG
25235 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_ARG
25236 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_ARG
25237 Value is an argument. This value is at the offset stored within the
25238 symbol inside the frame's argument list.
25239 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_REF_ARG
25240 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_REF_ARG
25241 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_REF_ARG
25242 Value address is stored in the frame's argument list. Just like
25243 @code{LOC_ARG} except that the value's address is stored at the
25244 offset, not the value itself.
25245 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_REGPARM_ADDR
25246 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_REGPARM_ADDR
25247 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_REGPARM_ADDR
25248 Value is a specified register. Just like @code{LOC_REGISTER} except
25249 the register holds the address of the argument instead of the argument
25251 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_LOCAL
25252 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_LOCAL
25253 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_LOCAL
25254 Value is a local variable.
25255 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_TYPEDEF
25256 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_TYPEDEF
25257 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_TYPEDEF
25258 Value not used. Symbols in the domain @code{SYMBOL_STRUCT_DOMAIN} all
25260 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_BLOCK
25261 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_BLOCK
25262 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_BLOCK
25264 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_CONST_BYTES
25265 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_CONST_BYTES
25266 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_CONST_BYTES
25267 Value is a byte-sequence.
25268 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_UNRESOLVED
25269 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_UNRESOLVED
25270 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_UNRESOLVED
25271 Value is at a fixed address, but the address of the variable has to be
25272 determined from the minimal symbol table whenever the variable is
25274 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_OPTIMIZED_OUT
25275 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_OPTIMIZED_OUT
25276 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_OPTIMIZED_OUT
25277 The value does not actually exist in the program.
25278 @findex SYMBOL_LOC_COMPUTED
25279 @findex gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_COMPUTED
25280 @item gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_COMPUTED
25281 The value's address is a computed location.
25284 @node Symbol Tables In Python
25285 @subsubsection Symbol table representation in Python.
25287 @cindex symbol tables in python
25289 @tindex gdb.Symtab_and_line
25291 Access to symbol table data maintained by @value{GDBN} on the inferior
25292 is exposed to Python via two objects: @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} and
25293 @code{gdb.Symtab}. Symbol table and line data for a frame is returned
25294 from the @code{find_sal} method in @code{gdb.Frame} object.
25295 @xref{Frames In Python}.
25297 For more information on @value{GDBN}'s symbol table management, see
25298 @ref{Symbols, ,Examining the Symbol Table}, for more information.
25300 A @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} object has the following attributes:
25303 @defvar Symtab_and_line.symtab
25304 The symbol table object (@code{gdb.Symtab}) for this frame.
25305 This attribute is not writable.
25308 @defvar Symtab_and_line.pc
25309 Indicates the start of the address range occupied by code for the
25310 current source line. This attribute is not writable.
25313 @defvar Symtab_and_line.last
25314 Indicates the end of the address range occupied by code for the current
25315 source line. This attribute is not writable.
25318 @defvar Symtab_and_line.line
25319 Indicates the current line number for this object. This
25320 attribute is not writable.
25324 A @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} object has the following methods:
25327 @defun Symtab_and_line.is_valid ()
25328 Returns @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} object is valid,
25329 @code{False} if not. A @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} object can become
25330 invalid if the Symbol table and line object it refers to does not
25331 exist in @value{GDBN} any longer. All other
25332 @code{gdb.Symtab_and_line} methods will throw an exception if it is
25333 invalid at the time the method is called.
25337 A @code{gdb.Symtab} object has the following attributes:
25340 @defvar Symtab.filename
25341 The symbol table's source filename. This attribute is not writable.
25344 @defvar Symtab.objfile
25345 The symbol table's backing object file. @xref{Objfiles In Python}.
25346 This attribute is not writable.
25350 A @code{gdb.Symtab} object has the following methods:
25353 @defun Symtab.is_valid ()
25354 Returns @code{True} if the @code{gdb.Symtab} object is valid,
25355 @code{False} if not. A @code{gdb.Symtab} object can become invalid if
25356 the symbol table it refers to does not exist in @value{GDBN} any
25357 longer. All other @code{gdb.Symtab} methods will throw an exception
25358 if it is invalid at the time the method is called.
25361 @defun Symtab.fullname ()
25362 Return the symbol table's source absolute file name.
25365 @defun Symtab.global_block ()
25366 Return the global block of the underlying symbol table.
25367 @xref{Blocks In Python}.
25370 @defun Symtab.static_block ()
25371 Return the static block of the underlying symbol table.
25372 @xref{Blocks In Python}.
25376 @node Breakpoints In Python
25377 @subsubsection Manipulating breakpoints using Python
25379 @cindex breakpoints in python
25380 @tindex gdb.Breakpoint
25382 Python code can manipulate breakpoints via the @code{gdb.Breakpoint}
25385 @defun Breakpoint.__init__ (spec @r{[}, type @r{[}, wp_class @r{[},internal@r{]]]})
25386 Create a new breakpoint. @var{spec} is a string naming the
25387 location of the breakpoint, or an expression that defines a
25388 watchpoint. The contents can be any location recognized by the
25389 @code{break} command, or in the case of a watchpoint, by the @code{watch}
25390 command. The optional @var{type} denotes the breakpoint to create
25391 from the types defined later in this chapter. This argument can be
25392 either: @code{gdb.BP_BREAKPOINT} or @code{gdb.BP_WATCHPOINT}. @var{type}
25393 defaults to @code{gdb.BP_BREAKPOINT}. The optional @var{internal} argument
25394 allows the breakpoint to become invisible to the user. The breakpoint
25395 will neither be reported when created, nor will it be listed in the
25396 output from @code{info breakpoints} (but will be listed with the
25397 @code{maint info breakpoints} command). The optional @var{wp_class}
25398 argument defines the class of watchpoint to create, if @var{type} is
25399 @code{gdb.BP_WATCHPOINT}. If a watchpoint class is not provided, it is
25400 assumed to be a @code{gdb.WP_WRITE} class.
25403 @defun Breakpoint.stop (self)
25404 The @code{gdb.Breakpoint} class can be sub-classed and, in
25405 particular, you may choose to implement the @code{stop} method.
25406 If this method is defined as a sub-class of @code{gdb.Breakpoint},
25407 it will be called when the inferior reaches any location of a
25408 breakpoint which instantiates that sub-class. If the method returns
25409 @code{True}, the inferior will be stopped at the location of the
25410 breakpoint, otherwise the inferior will continue.
25412 If there are multiple breakpoints at the same location with a
25413 @code{stop} method, each one will be called regardless of the
25414 return status of the previous. This ensures that all @code{stop}
25415 methods have a chance to execute at that location. In this scenario
25416 if one of the methods returns @code{True} but the others return
25417 @code{False}, the inferior will still be stopped.
25419 You should not alter the execution state of the inferior (i.e.@:, step,
25420 next, etc.), alter the current frame context (i.e.@:, change the current
25421 active frame), or alter, add or delete any breakpoint. As a general
25422 rule, you should not alter any data within @value{GDBN} or the inferior
25425 Example @code{stop} implementation:
25428 class MyBreakpoint (gdb.Breakpoint):
25430 inf_val = gdb.parse_and_eval("foo")
25437 The available watchpoint types represented by constants are defined in the
25442 @findex gdb.WP_READ
25444 Read only watchpoint.
25447 @findex gdb.WP_WRITE
25449 Write only watchpoint.
25452 @findex gdb.WP_ACCESS
25453 @item gdb.WP_ACCESS
25454 Read/Write watchpoint.
25457 @defun Breakpoint.is_valid ()
25458 Return @code{True} if this @code{Breakpoint} object is valid,
25459 @code{False} otherwise. A @code{Breakpoint} object can become invalid
25460 if the user deletes the breakpoint. In this case, the object still
25461 exists, but the underlying breakpoint does not. In the cases of
25462 watchpoint scope, the watchpoint remains valid even if execution of the
25463 inferior leaves the scope of that watchpoint.
25466 @defun Breakpoint.delete
25467 Permanently deletes the @value{GDBN} breakpoint. This also
25468 invalidates the Python @code{Breakpoint} object. Any further access
25469 to this object's attributes or methods will raise an error.
25472 @defvar Breakpoint.enabled
25473 This attribute is @code{True} if the breakpoint is enabled, and
25474 @code{False} otherwise. This attribute is writable.
25477 @defvar Breakpoint.silent
25478 This attribute is @code{True} if the breakpoint is silent, and
25479 @code{False} otherwise. This attribute is writable.
25481 Note that a breakpoint can also be silent if it has commands and the
25482 first command is @code{silent}. This is not reported by the
25483 @code{silent} attribute.
25486 @defvar Breakpoint.thread
25487 If the breakpoint is thread-specific, this attribute holds the thread
25488 id. If the breakpoint is not thread-specific, this attribute is
25489 @code{None}. This attribute is writable.
25492 @defvar Breakpoint.task
25493 If the breakpoint is Ada task-specific, this attribute holds the Ada task
25494 id. If the breakpoint is not task-specific (or the underlying
25495 language is not Ada), this attribute is @code{None}. This attribute
25499 @defvar Breakpoint.ignore_count
25500 This attribute holds the ignore count for the breakpoint, an integer.
25501 This attribute is writable.
25504 @defvar Breakpoint.number
25505 This attribute holds the breakpoint's number --- the identifier used by
25506 the user to manipulate the breakpoint. This attribute is not writable.
25509 @defvar Breakpoint.type
25510 This attribute holds the breakpoint's type --- the identifier used to
25511 determine the actual breakpoint type or use-case. This attribute is not
25515 @defvar Breakpoint.visible
25516 This attribute tells whether the breakpoint is visible to the user
25517 when set, or when the @samp{info breakpoints} command is run. This
25518 attribute is not writable.
25521 The available types are represented by constants defined in the @code{gdb}
25525 @findex BP_BREAKPOINT
25526 @findex gdb.BP_BREAKPOINT
25527 @item gdb.BP_BREAKPOINT
25528 Normal code breakpoint.
25530 @findex BP_WATCHPOINT
25531 @findex gdb.BP_WATCHPOINT
25532 @item gdb.BP_WATCHPOINT
25533 Watchpoint breakpoint.
25535 @findex BP_HARDWARE_WATCHPOINT
25536 @findex gdb.BP_HARDWARE_WATCHPOINT
25537 @item gdb.BP_HARDWARE_WATCHPOINT
25538 Hardware assisted watchpoint.
25540 @findex BP_READ_WATCHPOINT
25541 @findex gdb.BP_READ_WATCHPOINT
25542 @item gdb.BP_READ_WATCHPOINT
25543 Hardware assisted read watchpoint.
25545 @findex BP_ACCESS_WATCHPOINT
25546 @findex gdb.BP_ACCESS_WATCHPOINT
25547 @item gdb.BP_ACCESS_WATCHPOINT
25548 Hardware assisted access watchpoint.
25551 @defvar Breakpoint.hit_count
25552 This attribute holds the hit count for the breakpoint, an integer.
25553 This attribute is writable, but currently it can only be set to zero.
25556 @defvar Breakpoint.location
25557 This attribute holds the location of the breakpoint, as specified by
25558 the user. It is a string. If the breakpoint does not have a location
25559 (that is, it is a watchpoint) the attribute's value is @code{None}. This
25560 attribute is not writable.
25563 @defvar Breakpoint.expression
25564 This attribute holds a breakpoint expression, as specified by
25565 the user. It is a string. If the breakpoint does not have an
25566 expression (the breakpoint is not a watchpoint) the attribute's value
25567 is @code{None}. This attribute is not writable.
25570 @defvar Breakpoint.condition
25571 This attribute holds the condition of the breakpoint, as specified by
25572 the user. It is a string. If there is no condition, this attribute's
25573 value is @code{None}. This attribute is writable.
25576 @defvar Breakpoint.commands
25577 This attribute holds the commands attached to the breakpoint. If
25578 there are commands, this attribute's value is a string holding all the
25579 commands, separated by newlines. If there are no commands, this
25580 attribute is @code{None}. This attribute is not writable.
25583 @node Finish Breakpoints in Python
25584 @subsubsection Finish Breakpoints
25586 @cindex python finish breakpoints
25587 @tindex gdb.FinishBreakpoint
25589 A finish breakpoint is a temporary breakpoint set at the return address of
25590 a frame, based on the @code{finish} command. @code{gdb.FinishBreakpoint}
25591 extends @code{gdb.Breakpoint}. The underlying breakpoint will be disabled
25592 and deleted when the execution will run out of the breakpoint scope (i.e.@:
25593 @code{Breakpoint.stop} or @code{FinishBreakpoint.out_of_scope} triggered).
25594 Finish breakpoints are thread specific and must be create with the right
25597 @defun FinishBreakpoint.__init__ (@r{[}frame@r{]} @r{[}, internal@r{]})
25598 Create a finish breakpoint at the return address of the @code{gdb.Frame}
25599 object @var{frame}. If @var{frame} is not provided, this defaults to the
25600 newest frame. The optional @var{internal} argument allows the breakpoint to
25601 become invisible to the user. @xref{Breakpoints In Python}, for further
25602 details about this argument.
25605 @defun FinishBreakpoint.out_of_scope (self)
25606 In some circumstances (e.g.@: @code{longjmp}, C@t{++} exceptions, @value{GDBN}
25607 @code{return} command, @dots{}), a function may not properly terminate, and
25608 thus never hit the finish breakpoint. When @value{GDBN} notices such a
25609 situation, the @code{out_of_scope} callback will be triggered.
25611 You may want to sub-class @code{gdb.FinishBreakpoint} and override this
25615 class MyFinishBreakpoint (gdb.FinishBreakpoint)
25617 print "normal finish"
25620 def out_of_scope ():
25621 print "abnormal finish"
25625 @defvar FinishBreakpoint.return_value
25626 When @value{GDBN} is stopped at a finish breakpoint and the frame
25627 used to build the @code{gdb.FinishBreakpoint} object had debug symbols, this
25628 attribute will contain a @code{gdb.Value} object corresponding to the return
25629 value of the function. The value will be @code{None} if the function return
25630 type is @code{void} or if the return value was not computable. This attribute
25634 @node Lazy Strings In Python
25635 @subsubsection Python representation of lazy strings.
25637 @cindex lazy strings in python
25638 @tindex gdb.LazyString
25640 A @dfn{lazy string} is a string whose contents is not retrieved or
25641 encoded until it is needed.
25643 A @code{gdb.LazyString} is represented in @value{GDBN} as an
25644 @code{address} that points to a region of memory, an @code{encoding}
25645 that will be used to encode that region of memory, and a @code{length}
25646 to delimit the region of memory that represents the string. The
25647 difference between a @code{gdb.LazyString} and a string wrapped within
25648 a @code{gdb.Value} is that a @code{gdb.LazyString} will be treated
25649 differently by @value{GDBN} when printing. A @code{gdb.LazyString} is
25650 retrieved and encoded during printing, while a @code{gdb.Value}
25651 wrapping a string is immediately retrieved and encoded on creation.
25653 A @code{gdb.LazyString} object has the following functions:
25655 @defun LazyString.value ()
25656 Convert the @code{gdb.LazyString} to a @code{gdb.Value}. This value
25657 will point to the string in memory, but will lose all the delayed
25658 retrieval, encoding and handling that @value{GDBN} applies to a
25659 @code{gdb.LazyString}.
25662 @defvar LazyString.address
25663 This attribute holds the address of the string. This attribute is not
25667 @defvar LazyString.length
25668 This attribute holds the length of the string in characters. If the
25669 length is -1, then the string will be fetched and encoded up to the
25670 first null of appropriate width. This attribute is not writable.
25673 @defvar LazyString.encoding
25674 This attribute holds the encoding that will be applied to the string
25675 when the string is printed by @value{GDBN}. If the encoding is not
25676 set, or contains an empty string, then @value{GDBN} will select the
25677 most appropriate encoding when the string is printed. This attribute
25681 @defvar LazyString.type
25682 This attribute holds the type that is represented by the lazy string's
25683 type. For a lazy string this will always be a pointer type. To
25684 resolve this to the lazy string's character type, use the type's
25685 @code{target} method. @xref{Types In Python}. This attribute is not
25689 @node Python Auto-loading
25690 @subsection Python Auto-loading
25691 @cindex Python auto-loading
25693 When a new object file is read (for example, due to the @code{file}
25694 command, or because the inferior has loaded a shared library),
25695 @value{GDBN} will look for Python support scripts in several ways:
25696 @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.py} (@pxref{objfile-gdb.py file})
25697 and @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} section
25698 (@pxref{dotdebug_gdb_scripts section}).
25700 The auto-loading feature is useful for supplying application-specific
25701 debugging commands and scripts.
25703 Auto-loading can be enabled or disabled,
25704 and the list of auto-loaded scripts can be printed.
25707 @anchor{set auto-load python-scripts}
25708 @kindex set auto-load python-scripts
25709 @item set auto-load python-scripts [on|off]
25710 Enable or disable the auto-loading of Python scripts.
25712 @anchor{show auto-load python-scripts}
25713 @kindex show auto-load python-scripts
25714 @item show auto-load python-scripts
25715 Show whether auto-loading of Python scripts is enabled or disabled.
25717 @anchor{info auto-load python-scripts}
25718 @kindex info auto-load python-scripts
25719 @cindex print list of auto-loaded Python scripts
25720 @item info auto-load python-scripts [@var{regexp}]
25721 Print the list of all Python scripts that @value{GDBN} auto-loaded.
25723 Also printed is the list of Python scripts that were mentioned in
25724 the @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} section and were not found
25725 (@pxref{dotdebug_gdb_scripts section}).
25726 This is useful because their names are not printed when @value{GDBN}
25727 tries to load them and fails. There may be many of them, and printing
25728 an error message for each one is problematic.
25730 If @var{regexp} is supplied only Python scripts with matching names are printed.
25735 (gdb) info auto-load python-scripts
25737 Yes py-section-script.py
25738 full name: /tmp/py-section-script.py
25739 No my-foo-pretty-printers.py
25743 When reading an auto-loaded file, @value{GDBN} sets the
25744 @dfn{current objfile}. This is available via the @code{gdb.current_objfile}
25745 function (@pxref{Objfiles In Python}). This can be useful for
25746 registering objfile-specific pretty-printers.
25749 * objfile-gdb.py file:: The @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.py} file
25750 * dotdebug_gdb_scripts section:: The @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} section
25751 * Which flavor to choose?::
25754 @node objfile-gdb.py file
25755 @subsubsection The @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.py} file
25756 @cindex @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.py}
25758 When a new object file is read, @value{GDBN} looks for
25759 a file named @file{@var{objfile}-gdb.py} (we call it @var{script-name} below),
25760 where @var{objfile} is the object file's real name, formed by ensuring
25761 that the file name is absolute, following all symlinks, and resolving
25762 @code{.} and @code{..} components. If this file exists and is
25763 readable, @value{GDBN} will evaluate it as a Python script.
25765 If this file does not exist, then @value{GDBN} will look for
25766 @var{script-name} file in all of the directories as specified below.
25768 Note that loading of this script file also requires accordingly configured
25769 @code{auto-load safe-path} (@pxref{Auto-loading safe path}).
25772 @anchor{set auto-load scripts-directory}
25773 @kindex set auto-load scripts-directory
25774 @item set auto-load scripts-directory @r{[}@var{directories}@r{]}
25775 Control @value{GDBN} auto-loaded scripts location. Multiple directory entries
25776 may be delimited by the host platform path separator in use
25777 (@samp{:} on Unix, @samp{;} on MS-Windows and MS-DOS).
25779 Each entry here needs to be covered also by the security setting
25780 @code{set auto-load safe-path} (@pxref{set auto-load safe-path}).
25782 @anchor{with-auto-load-dir}
25783 This variable defaults to @file{$debugdir:$datadir/auto-load}. The default
25784 @code{set auto-load safe-path} value can be also overriden by @value{GDBN}
25785 configuration option @option{--with-auto-load-dir}.
25787 Any reference to @file{$debugdir} will get replaced by
25788 @var{debug-file-directory} value (@pxref{Separate Debug Files}) and any
25789 reference to @file{$datadir} will get replaced by @var{data-directory} which is
25790 determined at @value{GDBN} startup (@pxref{Data Files}). @file{$debugdir} and
25791 @file{$datadir} must be placed as a directory component --- either alone or
25792 delimited by @file{/} or @file{\} directory separators, depending on the host
25795 The list of directories uses path separator (@samp{:} on GNU and Unix
25796 systems, @samp{;} on MS-Windows and MS-DOS) to separate directories, similarly
25797 to the @env{PATH} environment variable.
25799 @anchor{show auto-load scripts-directory}
25800 @kindex show auto-load scripts-directory
25801 @item show auto-load scripts-directory
25802 Show @value{GDBN} auto-loaded scripts location.
25805 @value{GDBN} does not track which files it has already auto-loaded this way.
25806 @value{GDBN} will load the associated script every time the corresponding
25807 @var{objfile} is opened.
25808 So your @file{-gdb.py} file should be careful to avoid errors if it
25809 is evaluated more than once.
25811 @node dotdebug_gdb_scripts section
25812 @subsubsection The @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} section
25813 @cindex @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} section
25815 For systems using file formats like ELF and COFF,
25816 when @value{GDBN} loads a new object file
25817 it will look for a special section named @samp{.debug_gdb_scripts}.
25818 If this section exists, its contents is a list of names of scripts to load.
25820 @value{GDBN} will look for each specified script file first in the
25821 current directory and then along the source search path
25822 (@pxref{Source Path, ,Specifying Source Directories}),
25823 except that @file{$cdir} is not searched, since the compilation
25824 directory is not relevant to scripts.
25826 Entries can be placed in section @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} with,
25827 for example, this GCC macro:
25830 /* Note: The "MS" section flags are to remove duplicates. */
25831 #define DEFINE_GDB_SCRIPT(script_name) \
25833 .pushsection \".debug_gdb_scripts\", \"MS\",@@progbits,1\n\
25835 .asciz \"" script_name "\"\n\
25841 Then one can reference the macro in a header or source file like this:
25844 DEFINE_GDB_SCRIPT ("my-app-scripts.py")
25847 The script name may include directories if desired.
25849 Note that loading of this script file also requires accordingly configured
25850 @code{auto-load safe-path} (@pxref{Auto-loading safe path}).
25852 If the macro is put in a header, any application or library
25853 using this header will get a reference to the specified script.
25855 @node Which flavor to choose?
25856 @subsubsection Which flavor to choose?
25858 Given the multiple ways of auto-loading Python scripts, it might not always
25859 be clear which one to choose. This section provides some guidance.
25861 Benefits of the @file{-gdb.py} way:
25865 Can be used with file formats that don't support multiple sections.
25868 Ease of finding scripts for public libraries.
25870 Scripts specified in the @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} section are searched for
25871 in the source search path.
25872 For publicly installed libraries, e.g., @file{libstdc++}, there typically
25873 isn't a source directory in which to find the script.
25876 Doesn't require source code additions.
25879 Benefits of the @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} way:
25883 Works with static linking.
25885 Scripts for libraries done the @file{-gdb.py} way require an objfile to
25886 trigger their loading. When an application is statically linked the only
25887 objfile available is the executable, and it is cumbersome to attach all the
25888 scripts from all the input libraries to the executable's @file{-gdb.py} script.
25891 Works with classes that are entirely inlined.
25893 Some classes can be entirely inlined, and thus there may not be an associated
25894 shared library to attach a @file{-gdb.py} script to.
25897 Scripts needn't be copied out of the source tree.
25899 In some circumstances, apps can be built out of large collections of internal
25900 libraries, and the build infrastructure necessary to install the
25901 @file{-gdb.py} scripts in a place where @value{GDBN} can find them is
25902 cumbersome. It may be easier to specify the scripts in the
25903 @code{.debug_gdb_scripts} section as relative paths, and add a path to the
25904 top of the source tree to the source search path.
25907 @node Python modules
25908 @subsection Python modules
25909 @cindex python modules
25911 @value{GDBN} comes with several modules to assist writing Python code.
25914 * gdb.printing:: Building and registering pretty-printers.
25915 * gdb.types:: Utilities for working with types.
25916 * gdb.prompt:: Utilities for prompt value substitution.
25920 @subsubsection gdb.printing
25921 @cindex gdb.printing
25923 This module provides a collection of utilities for working with
25927 @item PrettyPrinter (@var{name}, @var{subprinters}=None)
25928 This class specifies the API that makes @samp{info pretty-printer},
25929 @samp{enable pretty-printer} and @samp{disable pretty-printer} work.
25930 Pretty-printers should generally inherit from this class.
25932 @item SubPrettyPrinter (@var{name})
25933 For printers that handle multiple types, this class specifies the
25934 corresponding API for the subprinters.
25936 @item RegexpCollectionPrettyPrinter (@var{name})
25937 Utility class for handling multiple printers, all recognized via
25938 regular expressions.
25939 @xref{Writing a Pretty-Printer}, for an example.
25941 @item FlagEnumerationPrinter (@var{name})
25942 A pretty-printer which handles printing of @code{enum} values. Unlike
25943 @value{GDBN}'s built-in @code{enum} printing, this printer attempts to
25944 work properly when there is some overlap between the enumeration
25945 constants. @var{name} is the name of the printer and also the name of
25946 the @code{enum} type to look up.
25948 @item register_pretty_printer (@var{obj}, @var{printer}, @var{replace}=False)
25949 Register @var{printer} with the pretty-printer list of @var{obj}.
25950 If @var{replace} is @code{True} then any existing copy of the printer
25951 is replaced. Otherwise a @code{RuntimeError} exception is raised
25952 if a printer with the same name already exists.
25956 @subsubsection gdb.types
25959 This module provides a collection of utilities for working with
25960 @code{gdb.Types} objects.
25963 @item get_basic_type (@var{type})
25964 Return @var{type} with const and volatile qualifiers stripped,
25965 and with typedefs and C@t{++} references converted to the underlying type.
25970 typedef const int const_int;
25972 const_int& foo_ref (foo);
25973 int main () @{ return 0; @}
25980 (gdb) python import gdb.types
25981 (gdb) python foo_ref = gdb.parse_and_eval("foo_ref")
25982 (gdb) python print gdb.types.get_basic_type(foo_ref.type)
25986 @item has_field (@var{type}, @var{field})
25987 Return @code{True} if @var{type}, assumed to be a type with fields
25988 (e.g., a structure or union), has field @var{field}.
25990 @item make_enum_dict (@var{enum_type})
25991 Return a Python @code{dictionary} type produced from @var{enum_type}.
25993 @item deep_items (@var{type})
25994 Returns a Python iterator similar to the standard
25995 @code{gdb.Type.iteritems} method, except that the iterator returned
25996 by @code{deep_items} will recursively traverse anonymous struct or
25997 union fields. For example:
26011 Then in @value{GDBN}:
26013 (@value{GDBP}) python import gdb.types
26014 (@value{GDBP}) python struct_a = gdb.lookup_type("struct A")
26015 (@value{GDBP}) python print struct_a.keys ()
26017 (@value{GDBP}) python print [k for k,v in gdb.types.deep_items(struct_a)]
26018 @{['a', 'b0', 'b1']@}
26024 @subsubsection gdb.prompt
26027 This module provides a method for prompt value-substitution.
26030 @item substitute_prompt (@var{string})
26031 Return @var{string} with escape sequences substituted by values. Some
26032 escape sequences take arguments. You can specify arguments inside
26033 ``@{@}'' immediately following the escape sequence.
26035 The escape sequences you can pass to this function are:
26039 Substitute a backslash.
26041 Substitute an ESC character.
26043 Substitute the selected frame; an argument names a frame parameter.
26045 Substitute a newline.
26047 Substitute a parameter's value; the argument names the parameter.
26049 Substitute a carriage return.
26051 Substitute the selected thread; an argument names a thread parameter.
26053 Substitute the version of GDB.
26055 Substitute the current working directory.
26057 Begin a sequence of non-printing characters. These sequences are
26058 typically used with the ESC character, and are not counted in the string
26059 length. Example: ``\[\e[0;34m\](gdb)\[\e[0m\]'' will return a
26060 blue-colored ``(gdb)'' prompt where the length is five.
26062 End a sequence of non-printing characters.
26068 substitute_prompt (``frame: \f,
26069 print arguments: \p@{print frame-arguments@}'')
26072 @exdent will return the string:
26075 "frame: main, print arguments: scalars"
26080 @section Creating new spellings of existing commands
26081 @cindex aliases for commands
26083 It is often useful to define alternate spellings of existing commands.
26084 For example, if a new @value{GDBN} command defined in Python has
26085 a long name to type, it is handy to have an abbreviated version of it
26086 that involves less typing.
26088 @value{GDBN} itself uses aliases. For example @samp{s} is an alias
26089 of the @samp{step} command even though it is otherwise an ambiguous
26090 abbreviation of other commands like @samp{set} and @samp{show}.
26092 Aliases are also used to provide shortened or more common versions
26093 of multi-word commands. For example, @value{GDBN} provides the
26094 @samp{tty} alias of the @samp{set inferior-tty} command.
26096 You can define a new alias with the @samp{alias} command.
26101 @item alias [-a] [--] @var{ALIAS} = @var{COMMAND}
26105 @var{ALIAS} specifies the name of the new alias.
26106 Each word of @var{ALIAS} must consist of letters, numbers, dashes and
26109 @var{COMMAND} specifies the name of an existing command
26110 that is being aliased.
26112 The @samp{-a} option specifies that the new alias is an abbreviation
26113 of the command. Abbreviations are not shown in command
26114 lists displayed by the @samp{help} command.
26116 The @samp{--} option specifies the end of options,
26117 and is useful when @var{ALIAS} begins with a dash.
26119 Here is a simple example showing how to make an abbreviation
26120 of a command so that there is less to type.
26121 Suppose you were tired of typing @samp{disas}, the current
26122 shortest unambiguous abbreviation of the @samp{disassemble} command
26123 and you wanted an even shorter version named @samp{di}.
26124 The following will accomplish this.
26127 (gdb) alias -a di = disas
26130 Note that aliases are different from user-defined commands.
26131 With a user-defined command, you also need to write documentation
26132 for it with the @samp{document} command.
26133 An alias automatically picks up the documentation of the existing command.
26135 Here is an example where we make @samp{elms} an abbreviation of
26136 @samp{elements} in the @samp{set print elements} command.
26137 This is to show that you can make an abbreviation of any part
26141 (gdb) alias -a set print elms = set print elements
26142 (gdb) alias -a show print elms = show print elements
26143 (gdb) set p elms 20
26145 Limit on string chars or array elements to print is 200.
26148 Note that if you are defining an alias of a @samp{set} command,
26149 and you want to have an alias for the corresponding @samp{show}
26150 command, then you need to define the latter separately.
26152 Unambiguously abbreviated commands are allowed in @var{COMMAND} and
26153 @var{ALIAS}, just as they are normally.
26156 (gdb) alias -a set pr elms = set p ele
26159 Finally, here is an example showing the creation of a one word
26160 alias for a more complex command.
26161 This creates alias @samp{spe} of the command @samp{set print elements}.
26164 (gdb) alias spe = set print elements
26169 @chapter Command Interpreters
26170 @cindex command interpreters
26172 @value{GDBN} supports multiple command interpreters, and some command
26173 infrastructure to allow users or user interface writers to switch
26174 between interpreters or run commands in other interpreters.
26176 @value{GDBN} currently supports two command interpreters, the console
26177 interpreter (sometimes called the command-line interpreter or @sc{cli})
26178 and the machine interface interpreter (or @sc{gdb/mi}). This manual
26179 describes both of these interfaces in great detail.
26181 By default, @value{GDBN} will start with the console interpreter.
26182 However, the user may choose to start @value{GDBN} with another
26183 interpreter by specifying the @option{-i} or @option{--interpreter}
26184 startup options. Defined interpreters include:
26188 @cindex console interpreter
26189 The traditional console or command-line interpreter. This is the most often
26190 used interpreter with @value{GDBN}. With no interpreter specified at runtime,
26191 @value{GDBN} will use this interpreter.
26194 @cindex mi interpreter
26195 The newest @sc{gdb/mi} interface (currently @code{mi2}). Used primarily
26196 by programs wishing to use @value{GDBN} as a backend for a debugger GUI
26197 or an IDE. For more information, see @ref{GDB/MI, ,The @sc{gdb/mi}
26201 @cindex mi2 interpreter
26202 The current @sc{gdb/mi} interface.
26205 @cindex mi1 interpreter
26206 The @sc{gdb/mi} interface included in @value{GDBN} 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3.
26210 @cindex invoke another interpreter
26211 The interpreter being used by @value{GDBN} may not be dynamically
26212 switched at runtime. Although possible, this could lead to a very
26213 precarious situation. Consider an IDE using @sc{gdb/mi}. If a user
26214 enters the command "interpreter-set console" in a console view,
26215 @value{GDBN} would switch to using the console interpreter, rendering
26216 the IDE inoperable!
26218 @kindex interpreter-exec
26219 Although you may only choose a single interpreter at startup, you may execute
26220 commands in any interpreter from the current interpreter using the appropriate
26221 command. If you are running the console interpreter, simply use the
26222 @code{interpreter-exec} command:
26225 interpreter-exec mi "-data-list-register-names"
26228 @sc{gdb/mi} has a similar command, although it is only available in versions of
26229 @value{GDBN} which support @sc{gdb/mi} version 2 (or greater).
26232 @chapter @value{GDBN} Text User Interface
26234 @cindex Text User Interface
26237 * TUI Overview:: TUI overview
26238 * TUI Keys:: TUI key bindings
26239 * TUI Single Key Mode:: TUI single key mode
26240 * TUI Commands:: TUI-specific commands
26241 * TUI Configuration:: TUI configuration variables
26244 The @value{GDBN} Text User Interface (TUI) is a terminal
26245 interface which uses the @code{curses} library to show the source
26246 file, the assembly output, the program registers and @value{GDBN}
26247 commands in separate text windows. The TUI mode is supported only
26248 on platforms where a suitable version of the @code{curses} library
26251 The TUI mode is enabled by default when you invoke @value{GDBN} as
26252 @samp{@value{GDBP} -tui}.
26253 You can also switch in and out of TUI mode while @value{GDBN} runs by
26254 using various TUI commands and key bindings, such as @kbd{C-x C-a}.
26255 @xref{TUI Keys, ,TUI Key Bindings}.
26258 @section TUI Overview
26260 In TUI mode, @value{GDBN} can display several text windows:
26264 This window is the @value{GDBN} command window with the @value{GDBN}
26265 prompt and the @value{GDBN} output. The @value{GDBN} input is still
26266 managed using readline.
26269 The source window shows the source file of the program. The current
26270 line and active breakpoints are displayed in this window.
26273 The assembly window shows the disassembly output of the program.
26276 This window shows the processor registers. Registers are highlighted
26277 when their values change.
26280 The source and assembly windows show the current program position
26281 by highlighting the current line and marking it with a @samp{>} marker.
26282 Breakpoints are indicated with two markers. The first marker
26283 indicates the breakpoint type:
26287 Breakpoint which was hit at least once.
26290 Breakpoint which was never hit.
26293 Hardware breakpoint which was hit at least once.
26296 Hardware breakpoint which was never hit.
26299 The second marker indicates whether the breakpoint is enabled or not:
26303 Breakpoint is enabled.
26306 Breakpoint is disabled.
26309 The source, assembly and register windows are updated when the current
26310 thread changes, when the frame changes, or when the program counter
26313 These windows are not all visible at the same time. The command
26314 window is always visible. The others can be arranged in several
26325 source and assembly,
26328 source and registers, or
26331 assembly and registers.
26334 A status line above the command window shows the following information:
26338 Indicates the current @value{GDBN} target.
26339 (@pxref{Targets, ,Specifying a Debugging Target}).
26342 Gives the current process or thread number.
26343 When no process is being debugged, this field is set to @code{No process}.
26346 Gives the current function name for the selected frame.
26347 The name is demangled if demangling is turned on (@pxref{Print Settings}).
26348 When there is no symbol corresponding to the current program counter,
26349 the string @code{??} is displayed.
26352 Indicates the current line number for the selected frame.
26353 When the current line number is not known, the string @code{??} is displayed.
26356 Indicates the current program counter address.
26360 @section TUI Key Bindings
26361 @cindex TUI key bindings
26363 The TUI installs several key bindings in the readline keymaps
26364 @ifset SYSTEM_READLINE
26365 (@pxref{Command Line Editing, , , rluserman, GNU Readline Library}).
26367 @ifclear SYSTEM_READLINE
26368 (@pxref{Command Line Editing}).
26370 The following key bindings are installed for both TUI mode and the
26371 @value{GDBN} standard mode.
26380 Enter or leave the TUI mode. When leaving the TUI mode,
26381 the curses window management stops and @value{GDBN} operates using
26382 its standard mode, writing on the terminal directly. When reentering
26383 the TUI mode, control is given back to the curses windows.
26384 The screen is then refreshed.
26388 Use a TUI layout with only one window. The layout will
26389 either be @samp{source} or @samp{assembly}. When the TUI mode
26390 is not active, it will switch to the TUI mode.
26392 Think of this key binding as the Emacs @kbd{C-x 1} binding.
26396 Use a TUI layout with at least two windows. When the current
26397 layout already has two windows, the next layout with two windows is used.
26398 When a new layout is chosen, one window will always be common to the
26399 previous layout and the new one.
26401 Think of it as the Emacs @kbd{C-x 2} binding.
26405 Change the active window. The TUI associates several key bindings
26406 (like scrolling and arrow keys) with the active window. This command
26407 gives the focus to the next TUI window.
26409 Think of it as the Emacs @kbd{C-x o} binding.
26413 Switch in and out of the TUI SingleKey mode that binds single
26414 keys to @value{GDBN} commands (@pxref{TUI Single Key Mode}).
26417 The following key bindings only work in the TUI mode:
26422 Scroll the active window one page up.
26426 Scroll the active window one page down.
26430 Scroll the active window one line up.
26434 Scroll the active window one line down.
26438 Scroll the active window one column left.
26442 Scroll the active window one column right.
26446 Refresh the screen.
26449 Because the arrow keys scroll the active window in the TUI mode, they
26450 are not available for their normal use by readline unless the command
26451 window has the focus. When another window is active, you must use
26452 other readline key bindings such as @kbd{C-p}, @kbd{C-n}, @kbd{C-b}
26453 and @kbd{C-f} to control the command window.
26455 @node TUI Single Key Mode
26456 @section TUI Single Key Mode
26457 @cindex TUI single key mode
26459 The TUI also provides a @dfn{SingleKey} mode, which binds several
26460 frequently used @value{GDBN} commands to single keys. Type @kbd{C-x s} to
26461 switch into this mode, where the following key bindings are used:
26464 @kindex c @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26468 @kindex d @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26472 @kindex f @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26476 @kindex n @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26480 @kindex q @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26482 exit the SingleKey mode.
26484 @kindex r @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26488 @kindex s @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26492 @kindex u @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26496 @kindex v @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26500 @kindex w @r{(SingleKey TUI key)}
26505 Other keys temporarily switch to the @value{GDBN} command prompt.
26506 The key that was pressed is inserted in the editing buffer so that
26507 it is possible to type most @value{GDBN} commands without interaction
26508 with the TUI SingleKey mode. Once the command is entered the TUI
26509 SingleKey mode is restored. The only way to permanently leave
26510 this mode is by typing @kbd{q} or @kbd{C-x s}.
26514 @section TUI-specific Commands
26515 @cindex TUI commands
26517 The TUI has specific commands to control the text windows.
26518 These commands are always available, even when @value{GDBN} is not in
26519 the TUI mode. When @value{GDBN} is in the standard mode, most
26520 of these commands will automatically switch to the TUI mode.
26522 Note that if @value{GDBN}'s @code{stdout} is not connected to a
26523 terminal, or @value{GDBN} has been started with the machine interface
26524 interpreter (@pxref{GDB/MI, ,The @sc{gdb/mi} Interface}), most of
26525 these commands will fail with an error, because it would not be
26526 possible or desirable to enable curses window management.
26531 List and give the size of all displayed windows.
26535 Display the next layout.
26538 Display the previous layout.
26541 Display the source window only.
26544 Display the assembly window only.
26547 Display the source and assembly window.
26550 Display the register window together with the source or assembly window.
26554 Make the next window active for scrolling.
26557 Make the previous window active for scrolling.
26560 Make the source window active for scrolling.
26563 Make the assembly window active for scrolling.
26566 Make the register window active for scrolling.
26569 Make the command window active for scrolling.
26573 Refresh the screen. This is similar to typing @kbd{C-L}.
26575 @item tui reg float
26577 Show the floating point registers in the register window.
26579 @item tui reg general
26580 Show the general registers in the register window.
26583 Show the next register group. The list of register groups as well as
26584 their order is target specific. The predefined register groups are the
26585 following: @code{general}, @code{float}, @code{system}, @code{vector},
26586 @code{all}, @code{save}, @code{restore}.
26588 @item tui reg system
26589 Show the system registers in the register window.
26593 Update the source window and the current execution point.
26595 @item winheight @var{name} +@var{count}
26596 @itemx winheight @var{name} -@var{count}
26598 Change the height of the window @var{name} by @var{count}
26599 lines. Positive counts increase the height, while negative counts
26602 @item tabset @var{nchars}
26604 Set the width of tab stops to be @var{nchars} characters.
26607 @node TUI Configuration
26608 @section TUI Configuration Variables
26609 @cindex TUI configuration variables
26611 Several configuration variables control the appearance of TUI windows.
26614 @item set tui border-kind @var{kind}
26615 @kindex set tui border-kind
26616 Select the border appearance for the source, assembly and register windows.
26617 The possible values are the following:
26620 Use a space character to draw the border.
26623 Use @sc{ascii} characters @samp{+}, @samp{-} and @samp{|} to draw the border.
26626 Use the Alternate Character Set to draw the border. The border is
26627 drawn using character line graphics if the terminal supports them.
26630 @item set tui border-mode @var{mode}
26631 @kindex set tui border-mode
26632 @itemx set tui active-border-mode @var{mode}
26633 @kindex set tui active-border-mode
26634 Select the display attributes for the borders of the inactive windows
26635 or the active window. The @var{mode} can be one of the following:
26638 Use normal attributes to display the border.
26644 Use reverse video mode.
26647 Use half bright mode.
26649 @item half-standout
26650 Use half bright and standout mode.
26653 Use extra bright or bold mode.
26655 @item bold-standout
26656 Use extra bright or bold and standout mode.
26661 @chapter Using @value{GDBN} under @sc{gnu} Emacs
26664 @cindex @sc{gnu} Emacs
26665 A special interface allows you to use @sc{gnu} Emacs to view (and
26666 edit) the source files for the program you are debugging with
26669 To use this interface, use the command @kbd{M-x gdb} in Emacs. Give the
26670 executable file you want to debug as an argument. This command starts
26671 @value{GDBN} as a subprocess of Emacs, with input and output through a newly
26672 created Emacs buffer.
26673 @c (Do not use the @code{-tui} option to run @value{GDBN} from Emacs.)
26675 Running @value{GDBN} under Emacs can be just like running @value{GDBN} normally except for two
26680 All ``terminal'' input and output goes through an Emacs buffer, called
26683 This applies both to @value{GDBN} commands and their output, and to the input
26684 and output done by the program you are debugging.
26686 This is useful because it means that you can copy the text of previous
26687 commands and input them again; you can even use parts of the output
26690 All the facilities of Emacs' Shell mode are available for interacting
26691 with your program. In particular, you can send signals the usual
26692 way---for example, @kbd{C-c C-c} for an interrupt, @kbd{C-c C-z} for a
26696 @value{GDBN} displays source code through Emacs.
26698 Each time @value{GDBN} displays a stack frame, Emacs automatically finds the
26699 source file for that frame and puts an arrow (@samp{=>}) at the
26700 left margin of the current line. Emacs uses a separate buffer for
26701 source display, and splits the screen to show both your @value{GDBN} session
26704 Explicit @value{GDBN} @code{list} or search commands still produce output as
26705 usual, but you probably have no reason to use them from Emacs.
26708 We call this @dfn{text command mode}. Emacs 22.1, and later, also uses
26709 a graphical mode, enabled by default, which provides further buffers
26710 that can control the execution and describe the state of your program.
26711 @xref{GDB Graphical Interface,,, Emacs, The @sc{gnu} Emacs Manual}.
26713 If you specify an absolute file name when prompted for the @kbd{M-x
26714 gdb} argument, then Emacs sets your current working directory to where
26715 your program resides. If you only specify the file name, then Emacs
26716 sets your current working directory to the directory associated
26717 with the previous buffer. In this case, @value{GDBN} may find your
26718 program by searching your environment's @code{PATH} variable, but on
26719 some operating systems it might not find the source. So, although the
26720 @value{GDBN} input and output session proceeds normally, the auxiliary
26721 buffer does not display the current source and line of execution.
26723 The initial working directory of @value{GDBN} is printed on the top
26724 line of the GUD buffer and this serves as a default for the commands
26725 that specify files for @value{GDBN} to operate on. @xref{Files,
26726 ,Commands to Specify Files}.
26728 By default, @kbd{M-x gdb} calls the program called @file{gdb}. If you
26729 need to call @value{GDBN} by a different name (for example, if you
26730 keep several configurations around, with different names) you can
26731 customize the Emacs variable @code{gud-gdb-command-name} to run the
26734 In the GUD buffer, you can use these special Emacs commands in
26735 addition to the standard Shell mode commands:
26739 Describe the features of Emacs' GUD Mode.
26742 Execute to another source line, like the @value{GDBN} @code{step} command; also
26743 update the display window to show the current file and location.
26746 Execute to next source line in this function, skipping all function
26747 calls, like the @value{GDBN} @code{next} command. Then update the display window
26748 to show the current file and location.
26751 Execute one instruction, like the @value{GDBN} @code{stepi} command; update
26752 display window accordingly.
26755 Execute until exit from the selected stack frame, like the @value{GDBN}
26756 @code{finish} command.
26759 Continue execution of your program, like the @value{GDBN} @code{continue}
26763 Go up the number of frames indicated by the numeric argument
26764 (@pxref{Arguments, , Numeric Arguments, Emacs, The @sc{gnu} Emacs Manual}),
26765 like the @value{GDBN} @code{up} command.
26768 Go down the number of frames indicated by the numeric argument, like the
26769 @value{GDBN} @code{down} command.
26772 In any source file, the Emacs command @kbd{C-x @key{SPC}} (@code{gud-break})
26773 tells @value{GDBN} to set a breakpoint on the source line point is on.
26775 In text command mode, if you type @kbd{M-x speedbar}, Emacs displays a
26776 separate frame which shows a backtrace when the GUD buffer is current.
26777 Move point to any frame in the stack and type @key{RET} to make it
26778 become the current frame and display the associated source in the
26779 source buffer. Alternatively, click @kbd{Mouse-2} to make the
26780 selected frame become the current one. In graphical mode, the
26781 speedbar displays watch expressions.
26783 If you accidentally delete the source-display buffer, an easy way to get
26784 it back is to type the command @code{f} in the @value{GDBN} buffer, to
26785 request a frame display; when you run under Emacs, this recreates
26786 the source buffer if necessary to show you the context of the current
26789 The source files displayed in Emacs are in ordinary Emacs buffers
26790 which are visiting the source files in the usual way. You can edit
26791 the files with these buffers if you wish; but keep in mind that @value{GDBN}
26792 communicates with Emacs in terms of line numbers. If you add or
26793 delete lines from the text, the line numbers that @value{GDBN} knows cease
26794 to correspond properly with the code.
26796 A more detailed description of Emacs' interaction with @value{GDBN} is
26797 given in the Emacs manual (@pxref{Debuggers,,, Emacs, The @sc{gnu}
26800 @c The following dropped because Epoch is nonstandard. Reactivate
26803 @kindex Emacs Epoch environment
26807 Version 18 of @sc{gnu} Emacs has a built-in window system
26808 called the @code{epoch}
26809 environment. Users of this environment can use a new command,
26810 @code{inspect} which performs identically to @code{print} except that
26811 each value is printed in its own window.
26816 @chapter The @sc{gdb/mi} Interface
26818 @unnumberedsec Function and Purpose
26820 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, its purpose
26821 @sc{gdb/mi} is a line based machine oriented text interface to
26822 @value{GDBN} and is activated by specifying using the
26823 @option{--interpreter} command line option (@pxref{Mode Options}). It
26824 is specifically intended to support the development of systems which
26825 use the debugger as just one small component of a larger system.
26827 This chapter is a specification of the @sc{gdb/mi} interface. It is written
26828 in the form of a reference manual.
26830 Note that @sc{gdb/mi} is still under construction, so some of the
26831 features described below are incomplete and subject to change
26832 (@pxref{GDB/MI Development and Front Ends, , @sc{gdb/mi} Development and Front Ends}).
26834 @unnumberedsec Notation and Terminology
26836 @cindex notational conventions, for @sc{gdb/mi}
26837 This chapter uses the following notation:
26841 @code{|} separates two alternatives.
26844 @code{[ @var{something} ]} indicates that @var{something} is optional:
26845 it may or may not be given.
26848 @code{( @var{group} )*} means that @var{group} inside the parentheses
26849 may repeat zero or more times.
26852 @code{( @var{group} )+} means that @var{group} inside the parentheses
26853 may repeat one or more times.
26856 @code{"@var{string}"} means a literal @var{string}.
26860 @heading Dependencies
26864 * GDB/MI General Design::
26865 * GDB/MI Command Syntax::
26866 * GDB/MI Compatibility with CLI::
26867 * GDB/MI Development and Front Ends::
26868 * GDB/MI Output Records::
26869 * GDB/MI Simple Examples::
26870 * GDB/MI Command Description Format::
26871 * GDB/MI Breakpoint Commands::
26872 * GDB/MI Program Context::
26873 * GDB/MI Thread Commands::
26874 * GDB/MI Ada Tasking Commands::
26875 * GDB/MI Program Execution::
26876 * GDB/MI Stack Manipulation::
26877 * GDB/MI Variable Objects::
26878 * GDB/MI Data Manipulation::
26879 * GDB/MI Tracepoint Commands::
26880 * GDB/MI Symbol Query::
26881 * GDB/MI File Commands::
26883 * GDB/MI Kod Commands::
26884 * GDB/MI Memory Overlay Commands::
26885 * GDB/MI Signal Handling Commands::
26887 * GDB/MI Target Manipulation::
26888 * GDB/MI File Transfer Commands::
26889 * GDB/MI Miscellaneous Commands::
26892 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
26893 @node GDB/MI General Design
26894 @section @sc{gdb/mi} General Design
26895 @cindex GDB/MI General Design
26897 Interaction of a @sc{GDB/MI} frontend with @value{GDBN} involves three
26898 parts---commands sent to @value{GDBN}, responses to those commands
26899 and notifications. Each command results in exactly one response,
26900 indicating either successful completion of the command, or an error.
26901 For the commands that do not resume the target, the response contains the
26902 requested information. For the commands that resume the target, the
26903 response only indicates whether the target was successfully resumed.
26904 Notifications is the mechanism for reporting changes in the state of the
26905 target, or in @value{GDBN} state, that cannot conveniently be associated with
26906 a command and reported as part of that command response.
26908 The important examples of notifications are:
26912 Exec notifications. These are used to report changes in
26913 target state---when a target is resumed, or stopped. It would not
26914 be feasible to include this information in response of resuming
26915 commands, because one resume commands can result in multiple events in
26916 different threads. Also, quite some time may pass before any event
26917 happens in the target, while a frontend needs to know whether the resuming
26918 command itself was successfully executed.
26921 Console output, and status notifications. Console output
26922 notifications are used to report output of CLI commands, as well as
26923 diagnostics for other commands. Status notifications are used to
26924 report the progress of a long-running operation. Naturally, including
26925 this information in command response would mean no output is produced
26926 until the command is finished, which is undesirable.
26929 General notifications. Commands may have various side effects on
26930 the @value{GDBN} or target state beyond their official purpose. For example,
26931 a command may change the selected thread. Although such changes can
26932 be included in command response, using notification allows for more
26933 orthogonal frontend design.
26937 There's no guarantee that whenever an MI command reports an error,
26938 @value{GDBN} or the target are in any specific state, and especially,
26939 the state is not reverted to the state before the MI command was
26940 processed. Therefore, whenever an MI command results in an error,
26941 we recommend that the frontend refreshes all the information shown in
26942 the user interface.
26946 * Context management::
26947 * Asynchronous and non-stop modes::
26951 @node Context management
26952 @subsection Context management
26954 In most cases when @value{GDBN} accesses the target, this access is
26955 done in context of a specific thread and frame (@pxref{Frames}).
26956 Often, even when accessing global data, the target requires that a thread
26957 be specified. The CLI interface maintains the selected thread and frame,
26958 and supplies them to target on each command. This is convenient,
26959 because a command line user would not want to specify that information
26960 explicitly on each command, and because user interacts with
26961 @value{GDBN} via a single terminal, so no confusion is possible as
26962 to what thread and frame are the current ones.
26964 In the case of MI, the concept of selected thread and frame is less
26965 useful. First, a frontend can easily remember this information
26966 itself. Second, a graphical frontend can have more than one window,
26967 each one used for debugging a different thread, and the frontend might
26968 want to access additional threads for internal purposes. This
26969 increases the risk that by relying on implicitly selected thread, the
26970 frontend may be operating on a wrong one. Therefore, each MI command
26971 should explicitly specify which thread and frame to operate on. To
26972 make it possible, each MI command accepts the @samp{--thread} and
26973 @samp{--frame} options, the value to each is @value{GDBN} identifier
26974 for thread and frame to operate on.
26976 Usually, each top-level window in a frontend allows the user to select
26977 a thread and a frame, and remembers the user selection for further
26978 operations. However, in some cases @value{GDBN} may suggest that the
26979 current thread be changed. For example, when stopping on a breakpoint
26980 it is reasonable to switch to the thread where breakpoint is hit. For
26981 another example, if the user issues the CLI @samp{thread} command via
26982 the frontend, it is desirable to change the frontend's selected thread to the
26983 one specified by user. @value{GDBN} communicates the suggestion to
26984 change current thread using the @samp{=thread-selected} notification.
26985 No such notification is available for the selected frame at the moment.
26987 Note that historically, MI shares the selected thread with CLI, so
26988 frontends used the @code{-thread-select} to execute commands in the
26989 right context. However, getting this to work right is cumbersome. The
26990 simplest way is for frontend to emit @code{-thread-select} command
26991 before every command. This doubles the number of commands that need
26992 to be sent. The alternative approach is to suppress @code{-thread-select}
26993 if the selected thread in @value{GDBN} is supposed to be identical to the
26994 thread the frontend wants to operate on. However, getting this
26995 optimization right can be tricky. In particular, if the frontend
26996 sends several commands to @value{GDBN}, and one of the commands changes the
26997 selected thread, then the behaviour of subsequent commands will
26998 change. So, a frontend should either wait for response from such
26999 problematic commands, or explicitly add @code{-thread-select} for
27000 all subsequent commands. No frontend is known to do this exactly
27001 right, so it is suggested to just always pass the @samp{--thread} and
27002 @samp{--frame} options.
27004 @node Asynchronous and non-stop modes
27005 @subsection Asynchronous command execution and non-stop mode
27007 On some targets, @value{GDBN} is capable of processing MI commands
27008 even while the target is running. This is called @dfn{asynchronous
27009 command execution} (@pxref{Background Execution}). The frontend may
27010 specify a preferrence for asynchronous execution using the
27011 @code{-gdb-set target-async 1} command, which should be emitted before
27012 either running the executable or attaching to the target. After the
27013 frontend has started the executable or attached to the target, it can
27014 find if asynchronous execution is enabled using the
27015 @code{-list-target-features} command.
27017 Even if @value{GDBN} can accept a command while target is running,
27018 many commands that access the target do not work when the target is
27019 running. Therefore, asynchronous command execution is most useful
27020 when combined with non-stop mode (@pxref{Non-Stop Mode}). Then,
27021 it is possible to examine the state of one thread, while other threads
27024 When a given thread is running, MI commands that try to access the
27025 target in the context of that thread may not work, or may work only on
27026 some targets. In particular, commands that try to operate on thread's
27027 stack will not work, on any target. Commands that read memory, or
27028 modify breakpoints, may work or not work, depending on the target. Note
27029 that even commands that operate on global state, such as @code{print},
27030 @code{set}, and breakpoint commands, still access the target in the
27031 context of a specific thread, so frontend should try to find a
27032 stopped thread and perform the operation on that thread (using the
27033 @samp{--thread} option).
27035 Which commands will work in the context of a running thread is
27036 highly target dependent. However, the two commands
27037 @code{-exec-interrupt}, to stop a thread, and @code{-thread-info},
27038 to find the state of a thread, will always work.
27040 @node Thread groups
27041 @subsection Thread groups
27042 @value{GDBN} may be used to debug several processes at the same time.
27043 On some platfroms, @value{GDBN} may support debugging of several
27044 hardware systems, each one having several cores with several different
27045 processes running on each core. This section describes the MI
27046 mechanism to support such debugging scenarios.
27048 The key observation is that regardless of the structure of the
27049 target, MI can have a global list of threads, because most commands that
27050 accept the @samp{--thread} option do not need to know what process that
27051 thread belongs to. Therefore, it is not necessary to introduce
27052 neither additional @samp{--process} option, nor an notion of the
27053 current process in the MI interface. The only strictly new feature
27054 that is required is the ability to find how the threads are grouped
27057 To allow the user to discover such grouping, and to support arbitrary
27058 hierarchy of machines/cores/processes, MI introduces the concept of a
27059 @dfn{thread group}. Thread group is a collection of threads and other
27060 thread groups. A thread group always has a string identifier, a type,
27061 and may have additional attributes specific to the type. A new
27062 command, @code{-list-thread-groups}, returns the list of top-level
27063 thread groups, which correspond to processes that @value{GDBN} is
27064 debugging at the moment. By passing an identifier of a thread group
27065 to the @code{-list-thread-groups} command, it is possible to obtain
27066 the members of specific thread group.
27068 To allow the user to easily discover processes, and other objects, he
27069 wishes to debug, a concept of @dfn{available thread group} is
27070 introduced. Available thread group is an thread group that
27071 @value{GDBN} is not debugging, but that can be attached to, using the
27072 @code{-target-attach} command. The list of available top-level thread
27073 groups can be obtained using @samp{-list-thread-groups --available}.
27074 In general, the content of a thread group may be only retrieved only
27075 after attaching to that thread group.
27077 Thread groups are related to inferiors (@pxref{Inferiors and
27078 Programs}). Each inferior corresponds to a thread group of a special
27079 type @samp{process}, and some additional operations are permitted on
27080 such thread groups.
27082 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
27083 @node GDB/MI Command Syntax
27084 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Command Syntax
27087 * GDB/MI Input Syntax::
27088 * GDB/MI Output Syntax::
27091 @node GDB/MI Input Syntax
27092 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Input Syntax
27094 @cindex input syntax for @sc{gdb/mi}
27095 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, input syntax
27097 @item @var{command} @expansion{}
27098 @code{@var{cli-command} | @var{mi-command}}
27100 @item @var{cli-command} @expansion{}
27101 @code{[ @var{token} ] @var{cli-command} @var{nl}}, where
27102 @var{cli-command} is any existing @value{GDBN} CLI command.
27104 @item @var{mi-command} @expansion{}
27105 @code{[ @var{token} ] "-" @var{operation} ( " " @var{option} )*
27106 @code{[} " --" @code{]} ( " " @var{parameter} )* @var{nl}}
27108 @item @var{token} @expansion{}
27109 "any sequence of digits"
27111 @item @var{option} @expansion{}
27112 @code{"-" @var{parameter} [ " " @var{parameter} ]}
27114 @item @var{parameter} @expansion{}
27115 @code{@var{non-blank-sequence} | @var{c-string}}
27117 @item @var{operation} @expansion{}
27118 @emph{any of the operations described in this chapter}
27120 @item @var{non-blank-sequence} @expansion{}
27121 @emph{anything, provided it doesn't contain special characters such as
27122 "-", @var{nl}, """ and of course " "}
27124 @item @var{c-string} @expansion{}
27125 @code{""" @var{seven-bit-iso-c-string-content} """}
27127 @item @var{nl} @expansion{}
27136 The CLI commands are still handled by the @sc{mi} interpreter; their
27137 output is described below.
27140 The @code{@var{token}}, when present, is passed back when the command
27144 Some @sc{mi} commands accept optional arguments as part of the parameter
27145 list. Each option is identified by a leading @samp{-} (dash) and may be
27146 followed by an optional argument parameter. Options occur first in the
27147 parameter list and can be delimited from normal parameters using
27148 @samp{--} (this is useful when some parameters begin with a dash).
27155 We want easy access to the existing CLI syntax (for debugging).
27158 We want it to be easy to spot a @sc{mi} operation.
27161 @node GDB/MI Output Syntax
27162 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Output Syntax
27164 @cindex output syntax of @sc{gdb/mi}
27165 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, output syntax
27166 The output from @sc{gdb/mi} consists of zero or more out-of-band records
27167 followed, optionally, by a single result record. This result record
27168 is for the most recent command. The sequence of output records is
27169 terminated by @samp{(gdb)}.
27171 If an input command was prefixed with a @code{@var{token}} then the
27172 corresponding output for that command will also be prefixed by that same
27176 @item @var{output} @expansion{}
27177 @code{( @var{out-of-band-record} )* [ @var{result-record} ] "(gdb)" @var{nl}}
27179 @item @var{result-record} @expansion{}
27180 @code{ [ @var{token} ] "^" @var{result-class} ( "," @var{result} )* @var{nl}}
27182 @item @var{out-of-band-record} @expansion{}
27183 @code{@var{async-record} | @var{stream-record}}
27185 @item @var{async-record} @expansion{}
27186 @code{@var{exec-async-output} | @var{status-async-output} | @var{notify-async-output}}
27188 @item @var{exec-async-output} @expansion{}
27189 @code{[ @var{token} ] "*" @var{async-output}}
27191 @item @var{status-async-output} @expansion{}
27192 @code{[ @var{token} ] "+" @var{async-output}}
27194 @item @var{notify-async-output} @expansion{}
27195 @code{[ @var{token} ] "=" @var{async-output}}
27197 @item @var{async-output} @expansion{}
27198 @code{@var{async-class} ( "," @var{result} )* @var{nl}}
27200 @item @var{result-class} @expansion{}
27201 @code{"done" | "running" | "connected" | "error" | "exit"}
27203 @item @var{async-class} @expansion{}
27204 @code{"stopped" | @var{others}} (where @var{others} will be added
27205 depending on the needs---this is still in development).
27207 @item @var{result} @expansion{}
27208 @code{ @var{variable} "=" @var{value}}
27210 @item @var{variable} @expansion{}
27211 @code{ @var{string} }
27213 @item @var{value} @expansion{}
27214 @code{ @var{const} | @var{tuple} | @var{list} }
27216 @item @var{const} @expansion{}
27217 @code{@var{c-string}}
27219 @item @var{tuple} @expansion{}
27220 @code{ "@{@}" | "@{" @var{result} ( "," @var{result} )* "@}" }
27222 @item @var{list} @expansion{}
27223 @code{ "[]" | "[" @var{value} ( "," @var{value} )* "]" | "["
27224 @var{result} ( "," @var{result} )* "]" }
27226 @item @var{stream-record} @expansion{}
27227 @code{@var{console-stream-output} | @var{target-stream-output} | @var{log-stream-output}}
27229 @item @var{console-stream-output} @expansion{}
27230 @code{"~" @var{c-string}}
27232 @item @var{target-stream-output} @expansion{}
27233 @code{"@@" @var{c-string}}
27235 @item @var{log-stream-output} @expansion{}
27236 @code{"&" @var{c-string}}
27238 @item @var{nl} @expansion{}
27241 @item @var{token} @expansion{}
27242 @emph{any sequence of digits}.
27250 All output sequences end in a single line containing a period.
27253 The @code{@var{token}} is from the corresponding request. Note that
27254 for all async output, while the token is allowed by the grammar and
27255 may be output by future versions of @value{GDBN} for select async
27256 output messages, it is generally omitted. Frontends should treat
27257 all async output as reporting general changes in the state of the
27258 target and there should be no need to associate async output to any
27262 @cindex status output in @sc{gdb/mi}
27263 @var{status-async-output} contains on-going status information about the
27264 progress of a slow operation. It can be discarded. All status output is
27265 prefixed by @samp{+}.
27268 @cindex async output in @sc{gdb/mi}
27269 @var{exec-async-output} contains asynchronous state change on the target
27270 (stopped, started, disappeared). All async output is prefixed by
27274 @cindex notify output in @sc{gdb/mi}
27275 @var{notify-async-output} contains supplementary information that the
27276 client should handle (e.g., a new breakpoint information). All notify
27277 output is prefixed by @samp{=}.
27280 @cindex console output in @sc{gdb/mi}
27281 @var{console-stream-output} is output that should be displayed as is in the
27282 console. It is the textual response to a CLI command. All the console
27283 output is prefixed by @samp{~}.
27286 @cindex target output in @sc{gdb/mi}
27287 @var{target-stream-output} is the output produced by the target program.
27288 All the target output is prefixed by @samp{@@}.
27291 @cindex log output in @sc{gdb/mi}
27292 @var{log-stream-output} is output text coming from @value{GDBN}'s internals, for
27293 instance messages that should be displayed as part of an error log. All
27294 the log output is prefixed by @samp{&}.
27297 @cindex list output in @sc{gdb/mi}
27298 New @sc{gdb/mi} commands should only output @var{lists} containing
27304 @xref{GDB/MI Stream Records, , @sc{gdb/mi} Stream Records}, for more
27305 details about the various output records.
27307 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
27308 @node GDB/MI Compatibility with CLI
27309 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Compatibility with CLI
27311 @cindex compatibility, @sc{gdb/mi} and CLI
27312 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, compatibility with CLI
27314 For the developers convenience CLI commands can be entered directly,
27315 but there may be some unexpected behaviour. For example, commands
27316 that query the user will behave as if the user replied yes, breakpoint
27317 command lists are not executed and some CLI commands, such as
27318 @code{if}, @code{when} and @code{define}, prompt for further input with
27319 @samp{>}, which is not valid MI output.
27321 This feature may be removed at some stage in the future and it is
27322 recommended that front ends use the @code{-interpreter-exec} command
27323 (@pxref{-interpreter-exec}).
27325 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
27326 @node GDB/MI Development and Front Ends
27327 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Development and Front Ends
27328 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi} development
27330 The application which takes the MI output and presents the state of the
27331 program being debugged to the user is called a @dfn{front end}.
27333 Although @sc{gdb/mi} is still incomplete, it is currently being used
27334 by a variety of front ends to @value{GDBN}. This makes it difficult
27335 to introduce new functionality without breaking existing usage. This
27336 section tries to minimize the problems by describing how the protocol
27339 Some changes in MI need not break a carefully designed front end, and
27340 for these the MI version will remain unchanged. The following is a
27341 list of changes that may occur within one level, so front ends should
27342 parse MI output in a way that can handle them:
27346 New MI commands may be added.
27349 New fields may be added to the output of any MI command.
27352 The range of values for fields with specified values, e.g.,
27353 @code{in_scope} (@pxref{-var-update}) may be extended.
27355 @c The format of field's content e.g type prefix, may change so parse it
27356 @c at your own risk. Yes, in general?
27358 @c The order of fields may change? Shouldn't really matter but it might
27359 @c resolve inconsistencies.
27362 If the changes are likely to break front ends, the MI version level
27363 will be increased by one. This will allow the front end to parse the
27364 output according to the MI version. Apart from mi0, new versions of
27365 @value{GDBN} will not support old versions of MI and it will be the
27366 responsibility of the front end to work with the new one.
27368 @c Starting with mi3, add a new command -mi-version that prints the MI
27371 The best way to avoid unexpected changes in MI that might break your front
27372 end is to make your project known to @value{GDBN} developers and
27373 follow development on @email{gdb@@sourceware.org} and
27374 @email{gdb-patches@@sourceware.org}.
27375 @cindex mailing lists
27377 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
27378 @node GDB/MI Output Records
27379 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Output Records
27382 * GDB/MI Result Records::
27383 * GDB/MI Stream Records::
27384 * GDB/MI Async Records::
27385 * GDB/MI Frame Information::
27386 * GDB/MI Thread Information::
27387 * GDB/MI Ada Exception Information::
27390 @node GDB/MI Result Records
27391 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Result Records
27393 @cindex result records in @sc{gdb/mi}
27394 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, result records
27395 In addition to a number of out-of-band notifications, the response to a
27396 @sc{gdb/mi} command includes one of the following result indications:
27400 @item "^done" [ "," @var{results} ]
27401 The synchronous operation was successful, @code{@var{results}} are the return
27406 This result record is equivalent to @samp{^done}. Historically, it
27407 was output instead of @samp{^done} if the command has resumed the
27408 target. This behaviour is maintained for backward compatibility, but
27409 all frontends should treat @samp{^done} and @samp{^running}
27410 identically and rely on the @samp{*running} output record to determine
27411 which threads are resumed.
27415 @value{GDBN} has connected to a remote target.
27417 @item "^error" "," @var{c-string}
27419 The operation failed. The @code{@var{c-string}} contains the corresponding
27424 @value{GDBN} has terminated.
27428 @node GDB/MI Stream Records
27429 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Stream Records
27431 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, stream records
27432 @cindex stream records in @sc{gdb/mi}
27433 @value{GDBN} internally maintains a number of output streams: the console, the
27434 target, and the log. The output intended for each of these streams is
27435 funneled through the @sc{gdb/mi} interface using @dfn{stream records}.
27437 Each stream record begins with a unique @dfn{prefix character} which
27438 identifies its stream (@pxref{GDB/MI Output Syntax, , @sc{gdb/mi} Output
27439 Syntax}). In addition to the prefix, each stream record contains a
27440 @code{@var{string-output}}. This is either raw text (with an implicit new
27441 line) or a quoted C string (which does not contain an implicit newline).
27444 @item "~" @var{string-output}
27445 The console output stream contains text that should be displayed in the
27446 CLI console window. It contains the textual responses to CLI commands.
27448 @item "@@" @var{string-output}
27449 The target output stream contains any textual output from the running
27450 target. This is only present when GDB's event loop is truly
27451 asynchronous, which is currently only the case for remote targets.
27453 @item "&" @var{string-output}
27454 The log stream contains debugging messages being produced by @value{GDBN}'s
27458 @node GDB/MI Async Records
27459 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Async Records
27461 @cindex async records in @sc{gdb/mi}
27462 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, async records
27463 @dfn{Async} records are used to notify the @sc{gdb/mi} client of
27464 additional changes that have occurred. Those changes can either be a
27465 consequence of @sc{gdb/mi} commands (e.g., a breakpoint modified) or a result of
27466 target activity (e.g., target stopped).
27468 The following is the list of possible async records:
27472 @item *running,thread-id="@var{thread}"
27473 The target is now running. The @var{thread} field tells which
27474 specific thread is now running, and can be @samp{all} if all threads
27475 are running. The frontend should assume that no interaction with a
27476 running thread is possible after this notification is produced.
27477 The frontend should not assume that this notification is output
27478 only once for any command. @value{GDBN} may emit this notification
27479 several times, either for different threads, because it cannot resume
27480 all threads together, or even for a single thread, if the thread must
27481 be stepped though some code before letting it run freely.
27483 @item *stopped,reason="@var{reason}",thread-id="@var{id}",stopped-threads="@var{stopped}",core="@var{core}"
27484 The target has stopped. The @var{reason} field can have one of the
27488 @item breakpoint-hit
27489 A breakpoint was reached.
27490 @item watchpoint-trigger
27491 A watchpoint was triggered.
27492 @item read-watchpoint-trigger
27493 A read watchpoint was triggered.
27494 @item access-watchpoint-trigger
27495 An access watchpoint was triggered.
27496 @item function-finished
27497 An -exec-finish or similar CLI command was accomplished.
27498 @item location-reached
27499 An -exec-until or similar CLI command was accomplished.
27500 @item watchpoint-scope
27501 A watchpoint has gone out of scope.
27502 @item end-stepping-range
27503 An -exec-next, -exec-next-instruction, -exec-step, -exec-step-instruction or
27504 similar CLI command was accomplished.
27505 @item exited-signalled
27506 The inferior exited because of a signal.
27508 The inferior exited.
27509 @item exited-normally
27510 The inferior exited normally.
27511 @item signal-received
27512 A signal was received by the inferior.
27514 The inferior has stopped due to a library being loaded or unloaded.
27515 This can happen when @code{stop-on-solib-events} (@pxref{Files}) is
27516 set or when a @code{catch load} or @code{catch unload} catchpoint is
27517 in use (@pxref{Set Catchpoints}).
27519 The inferior has forked. This is reported when @code{catch fork}
27520 (@pxref{Set Catchpoints}) has been used.
27522 The inferior has vforked. This is reported in when @code{catch vfork}
27523 (@pxref{Set Catchpoints}) has been used.
27524 @item syscall-entry
27525 The inferior entered a system call. This is reported when @code{catch
27526 syscall} (@pxref{Set Catchpoints}) has been used.
27527 @item syscall-entry
27528 The inferior returned from a system call. This is reported when
27529 @code{catch syscall} (@pxref{Set Catchpoints}) has been used.
27531 The inferior called @code{exec}. This is reported when @code{catch exec}
27532 (@pxref{Set Catchpoints}) has been used.
27535 The @var{id} field identifies the thread that directly caused the stop
27536 -- for example by hitting a breakpoint. Depending on whether all-stop
27537 mode is in effect (@pxref{All-Stop Mode}), @value{GDBN} may either
27538 stop all threads, or only the thread that directly triggered the stop.
27539 If all threads are stopped, the @var{stopped} field will have the
27540 value of @code{"all"}. Otherwise, the value of the @var{stopped}
27541 field will be a list of thread identifiers. Presently, this list will
27542 always include a single thread, but frontend should be prepared to see
27543 several threads in the list. The @var{core} field reports the
27544 processor core on which the stop event has happened. This field may be absent
27545 if such information is not available.
27547 @item =thread-group-added,id="@var{id}"
27548 @itemx =thread-group-removed,id="@var{id}"
27549 A thread group was either added or removed. The @var{id} field
27550 contains the @value{GDBN} identifier of the thread group. When a thread
27551 group is added, it generally might not be associated with a running
27552 process. When a thread group is removed, its id becomes invalid and
27553 cannot be used in any way.
27555 @item =thread-group-started,id="@var{id}",pid="@var{pid}"
27556 A thread group became associated with a running program,
27557 either because the program was just started or the thread group
27558 was attached to a program. The @var{id} field contains the
27559 @value{GDBN} identifier of the thread group. The @var{pid} field
27560 contains process identifier, specific to the operating system.
27562 @item =thread-group-exited,id="@var{id}"[,exit-code="@var{code}"]
27563 A thread group is no longer associated with a running program,
27564 either because the program has exited, or because it was detached
27565 from. The @var{id} field contains the @value{GDBN} identifier of the
27566 thread group. @var{code} is the exit code of the inferior; it exists
27567 only when the inferior exited with some code.
27569 @item =thread-created,id="@var{id}",group-id="@var{gid}"
27570 @itemx =thread-exited,id="@var{id}",group-id="@var{gid}"
27571 A thread either was created, or has exited. The @var{id} field
27572 contains the @value{GDBN} identifier of the thread. The @var{gid}
27573 field identifies the thread group this thread belongs to.
27575 @item =thread-selected,id="@var{id}"
27576 Informs that the selected thread was changed as result of the last
27577 command. This notification is not emitted as result of @code{-thread-select}
27578 command but is emitted whenever an MI command that is not documented
27579 to change the selected thread actually changes it. In particular,
27580 invoking, directly or indirectly (via user-defined command), the CLI
27581 @code{thread} command, will generate this notification.
27583 We suggest that in response to this notification, front ends
27584 highlight the selected thread and cause subsequent commands to apply to
27587 @item =library-loaded,...
27588 Reports that a new library file was loaded by the program. This
27589 notification has 4 fields---@var{id}, @var{target-name},
27590 @var{host-name}, and @var{symbols-loaded}. The @var{id} field is an
27591 opaque identifier of the library. For remote debugging case,
27592 @var{target-name} and @var{host-name} fields give the name of the
27593 library file on the target, and on the host respectively. For native
27594 debugging, both those fields have the same value. The
27595 @var{symbols-loaded} field is emitted only for backward compatibility
27596 and should not be relied on to convey any useful information. The
27597 @var{thread-group} field, if present, specifies the id of the thread
27598 group in whose context the library was loaded. If the field is
27599 absent, it means the library was loaded in the context of all present
27602 @item =library-unloaded,...
27603 Reports that a library was unloaded by the program. This notification
27604 has 3 fields---@var{id}, @var{target-name} and @var{host-name} with
27605 the same meaning as for the @code{=library-loaded} notification.
27606 The @var{thread-group} field, if present, specifies the id of the
27607 thread group in whose context the library was unloaded. If the field is
27608 absent, it means the library was unloaded in the context of all present
27611 @item =breakpoint-created,bkpt=@{...@}
27612 @itemx =breakpoint-modified,bkpt=@{...@}
27613 @itemx =breakpoint-deleted,id=@var{number}
27614 Reports that a breakpoint was created, modified, or deleted,
27615 respectively. Only user-visible breakpoints are reported to the MI
27618 The @var{bkpt} argument is of the same form as returned by the various
27619 breakpoint commands; @xref{GDB/MI Breakpoint Commands}. The
27620 @var{number} is the ordinal number of the breakpoint.
27622 Note that if a breakpoint is emitted in the result record of a
27623 command, then it will not also be emitted in an async record.
27627 @node GDB/MI Frame Information
27628 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Frame Information
27630 Response from many MI commands includes an information about stack
27631 frame. This information is a tuple that may have the following
27636 The level of the stack frame. The innermost frame has the level of
27637 zero. This field is always present.
27640 The name of the function corresponding to the frame. This field may
27641 be absent if @value{GDBN} is unable to determine the function name.
27644 The code address for the frame. This field is always present.
27647 The name of the source files that correspond to the frame's code
27648 address. This field may be absent.
27651 The source line corresponding to the frames' code address. This field
27655 The name of the binary file (either executable or shared library) the
27656 corresponds to the frame's code address. This field may be absent.
27660 @node GDB/MI Thread Information
27661 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Thread Information
27663 Whenever @value{GDBN} has to report an information about a thread, it
27664 uses a tuple with the following fields:
27668 The numeric id assigned to the thread by @value{GDBN}. This field is
27672 Target-specific string identifying the thread. This field is always present.
27675 Additional information about the thread provided by the target.
27676 It is supposed to be human-readable and not interpreted by the
27677 frontend. This field is optional.
27680 Either @samp{stopped} or @samp{running}, depending on whether the
27681 thread is presently running. This field is always present.
27684 The value of this field is an integer number of the processor core the
27685 thread was last seen on. This field is optional.
27688 @node GDB/MI Ada Exception Information
27689 @subsection @sc{gdb/mi} Ada Exception Information
27691 Whenever a @code{*stopped} record is emitted because the program
27692 stopped after hitting an exception catchpoint (@pxref{Set Catchpoints}),
27693 @value{GDBN} provides the name of the exception that was raised via
27694 the @code{exception-name} field.
27696 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
27697 @node GDB/MI Simple Examples
27698 @section Simple Examples of @sc{gdb/mi} Interaction
27699 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, simple examples
27701 This subsection presents several simple examples of interaction using
27702 the @sc{gdb/mi} interface. In these examples, @samp{->} means that the
27703 following line is passed to @sc{gdb/mi} as input, while @samp{<-} means
27704 the output received from @sc{gdb/mi}.
27706 Note the line breaks shown in the examples are here only for
27707 readability, they don't appear in the real output.
27709 @subheading Setting a Breakpoint
27711 Setting a breakpoint generates synchronous output which contains detailed
27712 information of the breakpoint.
27715 -> -break-insert main
27716 <- ^done,bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",
27717 enabled="y",addr="0x08048564",func="main",file="myprog.c",
27718 fullname="/home/nickrob/myprog.c",line="68",times="0"@}
27722 @subheading Program Execution
27724 Program execution generates asynchronous records and MI gives the
27725 reason that execution stopped.
27731 <- *stopped,reason="breakpoint-hit",disp="keep",bkptno="1",thread-id="0",
27732 frame=@{addr="0x08048564",func="main",
27733 args=[@{name="argc",value="1"@},@{name="argv",value="0xbfc4d4d4"@}],
27734 file="myprog.c",fullname="/home/nickrob/myprog.c",line="68"@}
27739 <- *stopped,reason="exited-normally"
27743 @subheading Quitting @value{GDBN}
27745 Quitting @value{GDBN} just prints the result class @samp{^exit}.
27753 Please note that @samp{^exit} is printed immediately, but it might
27754 take some time for @value{GDBN} to actually exit. During that time, @value{GDBN}
27755 performs necessary cleanups, including killing programs being debugged
27756 or disconnecting from debug hardware, so the frontend should wait till
27757 @value{GDBN} exits and should only forcibly kill @value{GDBN} if it
27758 fails to exit in reasonable time.
27760 @subheading A Bad Command
27762 Here's what happens if you pass a non-existent command:
27766 <- ^error,msg="Undefined MI command: rubbish"
27771 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
27772 @node GDB/MI Command Description Format
27773 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Command Description Format
27775 The remaining sections describe blocks of commands. Each block of
27776 commands is laid out in a fashion similar to this section.
27778 @subheading Motivation
27780 The motivation for this collection of commands.
27782 @subheading Introduction
27784 A brief introduction to this collection of commands as a whole.
27786 @subheading Commands
27788 For each command in the block, the following is described:
27790 @subsubheading Synopsis
27793 -command @var{args}@dots{}
27796 @subsubheading Result
27798 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
27800 The corresponding @value{GDBN} CLI command(s), if any.
27802 @subsubheading Example
27804 Example(s) formatted for readability. Some of the described commands have
27805 not been implemented yet and these are labeled N.A.@: (not available).
27808 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
27809 @node GDB/MI Breakpoint Commands
27810 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Breakpoint Commands
27812 @cindex breakpoint commands for @sc{gdb/mi}
27813 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, breakpoint commands
27814 This section documents @sc{gdb/mi} commands for manipulating
27817 @subheading The @code{-break-after} Command
27818 @findex -break-after
27820 @subsubheading Synopsis
27823 -break-after @var{number} @var{count}
27826 The breakpoint number @var{number} is not in effect until it has been
27827 hit @var{count} times. To see how this is reflected in the output of
27828 the @samp{-break-list} command, see the description of the
27829 @samp{-break-list} command below.
27831 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
27833 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{ignore}.
27835 @subsubheading Example
27840 ^done,bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",
27841 enabled="y",addr="0x000100d0",func="main",file="hello.c",
27842 fullname="/home/foo/hello.c",line="5",times="0"@}
27849 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="1",nr_cols="6",
27850 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
27851 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
27852 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
27853 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
27854 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
27855 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
27856 body=[bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
27857 addr="0x000100d0",func="main",file="hello.c",fullname="/home/foo/hello.c",
27858 line="5",times="0",ignore="3"@}]@}
27863 @subheading The @code{-break-catch} Command
27864 @findex -break-catch
27867 @subheading The @code{-break-commands} Command
27868 @findex -break-commands
27870 @subsubheading Synopsis
27873 -break-commands @var{number} [ @var{command1} ... @var{commandN} ]
27876 Specifies the CLI commands that should be executed when breakpoint
27877 @var{number} is hit. The parameters @var{command1} to @var{commandN}
27878 are the commands. If no command is specified, any previously-set
27879 commands are cleared. @xref{Break Commands}. Typical use of this
27880 functionality is tracing a program, that is, printing of values of
27881 some variables whenever breakpoint is hit and then continuing.
27883 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
27885 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{commands}.
27887 @subsubheading Example
27892 ^done,bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",
27893 enabled="y",addr="0x000100d0",func="main",file="hello.c",
27894 fullname="/home/foo/hello.c",line="5",times="0"@}
27896 -break-commands 1 "print v" "continue"
27901 @subheading The @code{-break-condition} Command
27902 @findex -break-condition
27904 @subsubheading Synopsis
27907 -break-condition @var{number} @var{expr}
27910 Breakpoint @var{number} will stop the program only if the condition in
27911 @var{expr} is true. The condition becomes part of the
27912 @samp{-break-list} output (see the description of the @samp{-break-list}
27915 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
27917 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{condition}.
27919 @subsubheading Example
27923 -break-condition 1 1
27927 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="1",nr_cols="6",
27928 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
27929 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
27930 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
27931 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
27932 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
27933 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
27934 body=[bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
27935 addr="0x000100d0",func="main",file="hello.c",fullname="/home/foo/hello.c",
27936 line="5",cond="1",times="0",ignore="3"@}]@}
27940 @subheading The @code{-break-delete} Command
27941 @findex -break-delete
27943 @subsubheading Synopsis
27946 -break-delete ( @var{breakpoint} )+
27949 Delete the breakpoint(s) whose number(s) are specified in the argument
27950 list. This is obviously reflected in the breakpoint list.
27952 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
27954 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{delete}.
27956 @subsubheading Example
27964 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="0",nr_cols="6",
27965 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
27966 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
27967 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
27968 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
27969 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
27970 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
27975 @subheading The @code{-break-disable} Command
27976 @findex -break-disable
27978 @subsubheading Synopsis
27981 -break-disable ( @var{breakpoint} )+
27984 Disable the named @var{breakpoint}(s). The field @samp{enabled} in the
27985 break list is now set to @samp{n} for the named @var{breakpoint}(s).
27987 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
27989 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{disable}.
27991 @subsubheading Example
27999 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="1",nr_cols="6",
28000 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
28001 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
28002 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
28003 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
28004 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
28005 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
28006 body=[bkpt=@{number="2",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="n",
28007 addr="0x000100d0",func="main",file="hello.c",fullname="/home/foo/hello.c",
28008 line="5",times="0"@}]@}
28012 @subheading The @code{-break-enable} Command
28013 @findex -break-enable
28015 @subsubheading Synopsis
28018 -break-enable ( @var{breakpoint} )+
28021 Enable (previously disabled) @var{breakpoint}(s).
28023 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28025 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{enable}.
28027 @subsubheading Example
28035 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="1",nr_cols="6",
28036 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
28037 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
28038 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
28039 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
28040 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
28041 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
28042 body=[bkpt=@{number="2",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
28043 addr="0x000100d0",func="main",file="hello.c",fullname="/home/foo/hello.c",
28044 line="5",times="0"@}]@}
28048 @subheading The @code{-break-info} Command
28049 @findex -break-info
28051 @subsubheading Synopsis
28054 -break-info @var{breakpoint}
28058 Get information about a single breakpoint.
28060 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28062 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info break @var{breakpoint}}.
28064 @subsubheading Example
28067 @subheading The @code{-break-insert} Command
28068 @findex -break-insert
28070 @subsubheading Synopsis
28073 -break-insert [ -t ] [ -h ] [ -f ] [ -d ] [ -a ]
28074 [ -c @var{condition} ] [ -i @var{ignore-count} ]
28075 [ -p @var{thread-id} ] [ @var{location} ]
28079 If specified, @var{location}, can be one of:
28086 @item filename:linenum
28087 @item filename:function
28091 The possible optional parameters of this command are:
28095 Insert a temporary breakpoint.
28097 Insert a hardware breakpoint.
28099 If @var{location} cannot be parsed (for example if it
28100 refers to unknown files or functions), create a pending
28101 breakpoint. Without this flag, @value{GDBN} will report
28102 an error, and won't create a breakpoint, if @var{location}
28105 Create a disabled breakpoint.
28107 Create a tracepoint. @xref{Tracepoints}. When this parameter
28108 is used together with @samp{-h}, a fast tracepoint is created.
28109 @item -c @var{condition}
28110 Make the breakpoint conditional on @var{condition}.
28111 @item -i @var{ignore-count}
28112 Initialize the @var{ignore-count}.
28113 @item -p @var{thread-id}
28114 Restrict the breakpoint to the specified @var{thread-id}.
28117 @subsubheading Result
28119 The result is in the form:
28122 ^done,bkpt=@{number="@var{number}",type="@var{type}",disp="del"|"keep",
28123 enabled="y"|"n",addr="@var{hex}",func="@var{funcname}",file="@var{filename}",
28124 fullname="@var{full_filename}",line="@var{lineno}",[thread="@var{threadno},]
28125 times="@var{times}"@}
28129 where @var{number} is the @value{GDBN} number for this breakpoint,
28130 @var{funcname} is the name of the function where the breakpoint was
28131 inserted, @var{filename} is the name of the source file which contains
28132 this function, @var{lineno} is the source line number within that file
28133 and @var{times} the number of times that the breakpoint has been hit
28134 (always 0 for -break-insert but may be greater for -break-info or -break-list
28135 which use the same output).
28137 Note: this format is open to change.
28138 @c An out-of-band breakpoint instead of part of the result?
28140 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28142 The corresponding @value{GDBN} commands are @samp{break}, @samp{tbreak},
28143 @samp{hbreak}, and @samp{thbreak}. @c and @samp{rbreak}.
28145 @subsubheading Example
28150 ^done,bkpt=@{number="1",addr="0x0001072c",file="recursive2.c",
28151 fullname="/home/foo/recursive2.c,line="4",times="0"@}
28153 -break-insert -t foo
28154 ^done,bkpt=@{number="2",addr="0x00010774",file="recursive2.c",
28155 fullname="/home/foo/recursive2.c,line="11",times="0"@}
28158 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="2",nr_cols="6",
28159 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
28160 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
28161 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
28162 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
28163 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
28164 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
28165 body=[bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
28166 addr="0x0001072c", func="main",file="recursive2.c",
28167 fullname="/home/foo/recursive2.c,"line="4",times="0"@},
28168 bkpt=@{number="2",type="breakpoint",disp="del",enabled="y",
28169 addr="0x00010774",func="foo",file="recursive2.c",
28170 fullname="/home/foo/recursive2.c",line="11",times="0"@}]@}
28172 @c -break-insert -r foo.*
28173 @c ~int foo(int, int);
28174 @c ^done,bkpt=@{number="3",addr="0x00010774",file="recursive2.c,
28175 @c "fullname="/home/foo/recursive2.c",line="11",times="0"@}
28179 @subheading The @code{-break-list} Command
28180 @findex -break-list
28182 @subsubheading Synopsis
28188 Displays the list of inserted breakpoints, showing the following fields:
28192 number of the breakpoint
28194 type of the breakpoint: @samp{breakpoint} or @samp{watchpoint}
28196 should the breakpoint be deleted or disabled when it is hit: @samp{keep}
28199 is the breakpoint enabled or no: @samp{y} or @samp{n}
28201 memory location at which the breakpoint is set
28203 logical location of the breakpoint, expressed by function name, file
28206 number of times the breakpoint has been hit
28209 If there are no breakpoints or watchpoints, the @code{BreakpointTable}
28210 @code{body} field is an empty list.
28212 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28214 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info break}.
28216 @subsubheading Example
28221 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="2",nr_cols="6",
28222 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
28223 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
28224 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
28225 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
28226 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
28227 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
28228 body=[bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
28229 addr="0x000100d0",func="main",file="hello.c",line="5",times="0"@},
28230 bkpt=@{number="2",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
28231 addr="0x00010114",func="foo",file="hello.c",fullname="/home/foo/hello.c",
28232 line="13",times="0"@}]@}
28236 Here's an example of the result when there are no breakpoints:
28241 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="0",nr_cols="6",
28242 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
28243 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
28244 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
28245 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
28246 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
28247 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
28252 @subheading The @code{-break-passcount} Command
28253 @findex -break-passcount
28255 @subsubheading Synopsis
28258 -break-passcount @var{tracepoint-number} @var{passcount}
28261 Set the passcount for tracepoint @var{tracepoint-number} to
28262 @var{passcount}. If the breakpoint referred to by @var{tracepoint-number}
28263 is not a tracepoint, error is emitted. This corresponds to CLI
28264 command @samp{passcount}.
28266 @subheading The @code{-break-watch} Command
28267 @findex -break-watch
28269 @subsubheading Synopsis
28272 -break-watch [ -a | -r ]
28275 Create a watchpoint. With the @samp{-a} option it will create an
28276 @dfn{access} watchpoint, i.e., a watchpoint that triggers either on a
28277 read from or on a write to the memory location. With the @samp{-r}
28278 option, the watchpoint created is a @dfn{read} watchpoint, i.e., it will
28279 trigger only when the memory location is accessed for reading. Without
28280 either of the options, the watchpoint created is a regular watchpoint,
28281 i.e., it will trigger when the memory location is accessed for writing.
28282 @xref{Set Watchpoints, , Setting Watchpoints}.
28284 Note that @samp{-break-list} will report a single list of watchpoints and
28285 breakpoints inserted.
28287 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28289 The corresponding @value{GDBN} commands are @samp{watch}, @samp{awatch}, and
28292 @subsubheading Example
28294 Setting a watchpoint on a variable in the @code{main} function:
28299 ^done,wpt=@{number="2",exp="x"@}
28304 *stopped,reason="watchpoint-trigger",wpt=@{number="2",exp="x"@},
28305 value=@{old="-268439212",new="55"@},
28306 frame=@{func="main",args=[],file="recursive2.c",
28307 fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="5"@}
28311 Setting a watchpoint on a variable local to a function. @value{GDBN} will stop
28312 the program execution twice: first for the variable changing value, then
28313 for the watchpoint going out of scope.
28318 ^done,wpt=@{number="5",exp="C"@}
28323 *stopped,reason="watchpoint-trigger",
28324 wpt=@{number="5",exp="C"@},value=@{old="-276895068",new="3"@},
28325 frame=@{func="callee4",args=[],
28326 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
28327 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="13"@}
28332 *stopped,reason="watchpoint-scope",wpnum="5",
28333 frame=@{func="callee3",args=[@{name="strarg",
28334 value="0x11940 \"A string argument.\""@}],
28335 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
28336 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="18"@}
28340 Listing breakpoints and watchpoints, at different points in the program
28341 execution. Note that once the watchpoint goes out of scope, it is
28347 ^done,wpt=@{number="2",exp="C"@}
28350 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="2",nr_cols="6",
28351 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
28352 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
28353 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
28354 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
28355 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
28356 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
28357 body=[bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
28358 addr="0x00010734",func="callee4",
28359 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
28360 fullname="/home/foo/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c"line="8",times="1"@},
28361 bkpt=@{number="2",type="watchpoint",disp="keep",
28362 enabled="y",addr="",what="C",times="0"@}]@}
28367 *stopped,reason="watchpoint-trigger",wpt=@{number="2",exp="C"@},
28368 value=@{old="-276895068",new="3"@},
28369 frame=@{func="callee4",args=[],
28370 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
28371 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="13"@}
28374 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="2",nr_cols="6",
28375 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
28376 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
28377 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
28378 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
28379 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
28380 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
28381 body=[bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
28382 addr="0x00010734",func="callee4",
28383 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
28384 fullname="/home/foo/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="8",times="1"@},
28385 bkpt=@{number="2",type="watchpoint",disp="keep",
28386 enabled="y",addr="",what="C",times="-5"@}]@}
28390 ^done,reason="watchpoint-scope",wpnum="2",
28391 frame=@{func="callee3",args=[@{name="strarg",
28392 value="0x11940 \"A string argument.\""@}],
28393 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
28394 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="18"@}
28397 ^done,BreakpointTable=@{nr_rows="1",nr_cols="6",
28398 hdr=[@{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="number",colhdr="Num"@},
28399 @{width="14",alignment="-1",col_name="type",colhdr="Type"@},
28400 @{width="4",alignment="-1",col_name="disp",colhdr="Disp"@},
28401 @{width="3",alignment="-1",col_name="enabled",colhdr="Enb"@},
28402 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="addr",colhdr="Address"@},
28403 @{width="40",alignment="2",col_name="what",colhdr="What"@}],
28404 body=[bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
28405 addr="0x00010734",func="callee4",
28406 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
28407 fullname="/home/foo/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="8",
28412 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
28413 @node GDB/MI Program Context
28414 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Program Context
28416 @subheading The @code{-exec-arguments} Command
28417 @findex -exec-arguments
28420 @subsubheading Synopsis
28423 -exec-arguments @var{args}
28426 Set the inferior program arguments, to be used in the next
28429 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28431 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{set args}.
28433 @subsubheading Example
28437 -exec-arguments -v word
28444 @subheading The @code{-exec-show-arguments} Command
28445 @findex -exec-show-arguments
28447 @subsubheading Synopsis
28450 -exec-show-arguments
28453 Print the arguments of the program.
28455 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28457 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{show args}.
28459 @subsubheading Example
28464 @subheading The @code{-environment-cd} Command
28465 @findex -environment-cd
28467 @subsubheading Synopsis
28470 -environment-cd @var{pathdir}
28473 Set @value{GDBN}'s working directory.
28475 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28477 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{cd}.
28479 @subsubheading Example
28483 -environment-cd /kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/devo/gdb
28489 @subheading The @code{-environment-directory} Command
28490 @findex -environment-directory
28492 @subsubheading Synopsis
28495 -environment-directory [ -r ] [ @var{pathdir} ]+
28498 Add directories @var{pathdir} to beginning of search path for source files.
28499 If the @samp{-r} option is used, the search path is reset to the default
28500 search path. If directories @var{pathdir} are supplied in addition to the
28501 @samp{-r} option, the search path is first reset and then addition
28503 Multiple directories may be specified, separated by blanks. Specifying
28504 multiple directories in a single command
28505 results in the directories added to the beginning of the
28506 search path in the same order they were presented in the command.
28507 If blanks are needed as
28508 part of a directory name, double-quotes should be used around
28509 the name. In the command output, the path will show up separated
28510 by the system directory-separator character. The directory-separator
28511 character must not be used
28512 in any directory name.
28513 If no directories are specified, the current search path is displayed.
28515 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28517 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{dir}.
28519 @subsubheading Example
28523 -environment-directory /kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/devo/gdb
28524 ^done,source-path="/kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/devo/gdb:$cdir:$cwd"
28526 -environment-directory ""
28527 ^done,source-path="/kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/devo/gdb:$cdir:$cwd"
28529 -environment-directory -r /home/jjohnstn/src/gdb /usr/src
28530 ^done,source-path="/home/jjohnstn/src/gdb:/usr/src:$cdir:$cwd"
28532 -environment-directory -r
28533 ^done,source-path="$cdir:$cwd"
28538 @subheading The @code{-environment-path} Command
28539 @findex -environment-path
28541 @subsubheading Synopsis
28544 -environment-path [ -r ] [ @var{pathdir} ]+
28547 Add directories @var{pathdir} to beginning of search path for object files.
28548 If the @samp{-r} option is used, the search path is reset to the original
28549 search path that existed at gdb start-up. If directories @var{pathdir} are
28550 supplied in addition to the
28551 @samp{-r} option, the search path is first reset and then addition
28553 Multiple directories may be specified, separated by blanks. Specifying
28554 multiple directories in a single command
28555 results in the directories added to the beginning of the
28556 search path in the same order they were presented in the command.
28557 If blanks are needed as
28558 part of a directory name, double-quotes should be used around
28559 the name. In the command output, the path will show up separated
28560 by the system directory-separator character. The directory-separator
28561 character must not be used
28562 in any directory name.
28563 If no directories are specified, the current path is displayed.
28566 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28568 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{path}.
28570 @subsubheading Example
28575 ^done,path="/usr/bin"
28577 -environment-path /kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/ppc-eabi/gdb /bin
28578 ^done,path="/kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/ppc-eabi/gdb:/bin:/usr/bin"
28580 -environment-path -r /usr/local/bin
28581 ^done,path="/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin"
28586 @subheading The @code{-environment-pwd} Command
28587 @findex -environment-pwd
28589 @subsubheading Synopsis
28595 Show the current working directory.
28597 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28599 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{pwd}.
28601 @subsubheading Example
28606 ^done,cwd="/kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/devo/gdb"
28610 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
28611 @node GDB/MI Thread Commands
28612 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Thread Commands
28615 @subheading The @code{-thread-info} Command
28616 @findex -thread-info
28618 @subsubheading Synopsis
28621 -thread-info [ @var{thread-id} ]
28624 Reports information about either a specific thread, if
28625 the @var{thread-id} parameter is present, or about all
28626 threads. When printing information about all threads,
28627 also reports the current thread.
28629 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28631 The @samp{info thread} command prints the same information
28634 @subsubheading Result
28636 The result is a list of threads. The following attributes are
28637 defined for a given thread:
28641 This field exists only for the current thread. It has the value @samp{*}.
28644 The identifier that @value{GDBN} uses to refer to the thread.
28647 The identifier that the target uses to refer to the thread.
28650 Extra information about the thread, in a target-specific format. This
28654 The name of the thread. If the user specified a name using the
28655 @code{thread name} command, then this name is given. Otherwise, if
28656 @value{GDBN} can extract the thread name from the target, then that
28657 name is given. If @value{GDBN} cannot find the thread name, then this
28661 The stack frame currently executing in the thread.
28664 The thread's state. The @samp{state} field may have the following
28669 The thread is stopped. Frame information is available for stopped
28673 The thread is running. There's no frame information for running
28679 If @value{GDBN} can find the CPU core on which this thread is running,
28680 then this field is the core identifier. This field is optional.
28684 @subsubheading Example
28689 @{id="2",target-id="Thread 0xb7e14b90 (LWP 21257)",
28690 frame=@{level="0",addr="0xffffe410",func="__kernel_vsyscall",
28691 args=[]@},state="running"@},
28692 @{id="1",target-id="Thread 0xb7e156b0 (LWP 21254)",
28693 frame=@{level="0",addr="0x0804891f",func="foo",
28694 args=[@{name="i",value="10"@}],
28695 file="/tmp/a.c",fullname="/tmp/a.c",line="158"@},
28696 state="running"@}],
28697 current-thread-id="1"
28701 @subheading The @code{-thread-list-ids} Command
28702 @findex -thread-list-ids
28704 @subsubheading Synopsis
28710 Produces a list of the currently known @value{GDBN} thread ids. At the
28711 end of the list it also prints the total number of such threads.
28713 This command is retained for historical reasons, the
28714 @code{-thread-info} command should be used instead.
28716 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28718 Part of @samp{info threads} supplies the same information.
28720 @subsubheading Example
28725 ^done,thread-ids=@{thread-id="3",thread-id="2",thread-id="1"@},
28726 current-thread-id="1",number-of-threads="3"
28731 @subheading The @code{-thread-select} Command
28732 @findex -thread-select
28734 @subsubheading Synopsis
28737 -thread-select @var{threadnum}
28740 Make @var{threadnum} the current thread. It prints the number of the new
28741 current thread, and the topmost frame for that thread.
28743 This command is deprecated in favor of explicitly using the
28744 @samp{--thread} option to each command.
28746 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28748 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{thread}.
28750 @subsubheading Example
28757 *stopped,reason="end-stepping-range",thread-id="2",line="187",
28758 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.threads/linux-dp.c"
28762 thread-ids=@{thread-id="3",thread-id="2",thread-id="1"@},
28763 number-of-threads="3"
28766 ^done,new-thread-id="3",
28767 frame=@{level="0",func="vprintf",
28768 args=[@{name="format",value="0x8048e9c \"%*s%c %d %c\\n\""@},
28769 @{name="arg",value="0x2"@}],file="vprintf.c",line="31"@}
28773 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
28774 @node GDB/MI Ada Tasking Commands
28775 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Ada Tasking Commands
28777 @subheading The @code{-ada-task-info} Command
28778 @findex -ada-task-info
28780 @subsubheading Synopsis
28783 -ada-task-info [ @var{task-id} ]
28786 Reports information about either a specific Ada task, if the
28787 @var{task-id} parameter is present, or about all Ada tasks.
28789 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28791 The @samp{info tasks} command prints the same information
28792 about all Ada tasks (@pxref{Ada Tasks}).
28794 @subsubheading Result
28796 The result is a table of Ada tasks. The following columns are
28797 defined for each Ada task:
28801 This field exists only for the current thread. It has the value @samp{*}.
28804 The identifier that @value{GDBN} uses to refer to the Ada task.
28807 The identifier that the target uses to refer to the Ada task.
28810 The identifier of the thread corresponding to the Ada task.
28812 This field should always exist, as Ada tasks are always implemented
28813 on top of a thread. But if @value{GDBN} cannot find this corresponding
28814 thread for any reason, the field is omitted.
28817 This field exists only when the task was created by another task.
28818 In this case, it provides the ID of the parent task.
28821 The base priority of the task.
28824 The current state of the task. For a detailed description of the
28825 possible states, see @ref{Ada Tasks}.
28828 The name of the task.
28832 @subsubheading Example
28836 ^done,tasks=@{nr_rows="3",nr_cols="8",
28837 hdr=[@{width="1",alignment="-1",col_name="current",colhdr=""@},
28838 @{width="3",alignment="1",col_name="id",colhdr="ID"@},
28839 @{width="9",alignment="1",col_name="task-id",colhdr="TID"@},
28840 @{width="4",alignment="1",col_name="thread-id",colhdr=""@},
28841 @{width="4",alignment="1",col_name="parent-id",colhdr="P-ID"@},
28842 @{width="3",alignment="1",col_name="priority",colhdr="Pri"@},
28843 @{width="22",alignment="-1",col_name="state",colhdr="State"@},
28844 @{width="1",alignment="2",col_name="name",colhdr="Name"@}],
28845 body=[@{current="*",id="1",task-id=" 644010",thread-id="1",priority="48",
28846 state="Child Termination Wait",name="main_task"@}]@}
28850 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
28851 @node GDB/MI Program Execution
28852 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Program Execution
28854 These are the asynchronous commands which generate the out-of-band
28855 record @samp{*stopped}. Currently @value{GDBN} only really executes
28856 asynchronously with remote targets and this interaction is mimicked in
28859 @subheading The @code{-exec-continue} Command
28860 @findex -exec-continue
28862 @subsubheading Synopsis
28865 -exec-continue [--reverse] [--all|--thread-group N]
28868 Resumes the execution of the inferior program, which will continue
28869 to execute until it reaches a debugger stop event. If the
28870 @samp{--reverse} option is specified, execution resumes in reverse until
28871 it reaches a stop event. Stop events may include
28874 breakpoints or watchpoints
28876 signals or exceptions
28878 the end of the process (or its beginning under @samp{--reverse})
28880 the end or beginning of a replay log if one is being used.
28882 In all-stop mode (@pxref{All-Stop
28883 Mode}), may resume only one thread, or all threads, depending on the
28884 value of the @samp{scheduler-locking} variable. If @samp{--all} is
28885 specified, all threads (in all inferiors) will be resumed. The @samp{--all} option is
28886 ignored in all-stop mode. If the @samp{--thread-group} options is
28887 specified, then all threads in that thread group are resumed.
28889 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28891 The corresponding @value{GDBN} corresponding is @samp{continue}.
28893 @subsubheading Example
28900 *stopped,reason="breakpoint-hit",disp="keep",bkptno="2",frame=@{
28901 func="foo",args=[],file="hello.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/hello.c",
28907 @subheading The @code{-exec-finish} Command
28908 @findex -exec-finish
28910 @subsubheading Synopsis
28913 -exec-finish [--reverse]
28916 Resumes the execution of the inferior program until the current
28917 function is exited. Displays the results returned by the function.
28918 If the @samp{--reverse} option is specified, resumes the reverse
28919 execution of the inferior program until the point where current
28920 function was called.
28922 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28924 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{finish}.
28926 @subsubheading Example
28928 Function returning @code{void}.
28935 *stopped,reason="function-finished",frame=@{func="main",args=[],
28936 file="hello.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/hello.c",line="7"@}
28940 Function returning other than @code{void}. The name of the internal
28941 @value{GDBN} variable storing the result is printed, together with the
28948 *stopped,reason="function-finished",frame=@{addr="0x000107b0",func="foo",
28949 args=[@{name="a",value="1"],@{name="b",value="9"@}@},
28950 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
28951 gdb-result-var="$1",return-value="0"
28956 @subheading The @code{-exec-interrupt} Command
28957 @findex -exec-interrupt
28959 @subsubheading Synopsis
28962 -exec-interrupt [--all|--thread-group N]
28965 Interrupts the background execution of the target. Note how the token
28966 associated with the stop message is the one for the execution command
28967 that has been interrupted. The token for the interrupt itself only
28968 appears in the @samp{^done} output. If the user is trying to
28969 interrupt a non-running program, an error message will be printed.
28971 Note that when asynchronous execution is enabled, this command is
28972 asynchronous just like other execution commands. That is, first the
28973 @samp{^done} response will be printed, and the target stop will be
28974 reported after that using the @samp{*stopped} notification.
28976 In non-stop mode, only the context thread is interrupted by default.
28977 All threads (in all inferiors) will be interrupted if the
28978 @samp{--all} option is specified. If the @samp{--thread-group}
28979 option is specified, all threads in that group will be interrupted.
28981 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
28983 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{interrupt}.
28985 @subsubheading Example
28996 111*stopped,signal-name="SIGINT",signal-meaning="Interrupt",
28997 frame=@{addr="0x00010140",func="foo",args=[],file="try.c",
28998 fullname="/home/foo/bar/try.c",line="13"@}
29003 ^error,msg="mi_cmd_exec_interrupt: Inferior not executing."
29007 @subheading The @code{-exec-jump} Command
29010 @subsubheading Synopsis
29013 -exec-jump @var{location}
29016 Resumes execution of the inferior program at the location specified by
29017 parameter. @xref{Specify Location}, for a description of the
29018 different forms of @var{location}.
29020 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29022 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{jump}.
29024 @subsubheading Example
29027 -exec-jump foo.c:10
29028 *running,thread-id="all"
29033 @subheading The @code{-exec-next} Command
29036 @subsubheading Synopsis
29039 -exec-next [--reverse]
29042 Resumes execution of the inferior program, stopping when the beginning
29043 of the next source line is reached.
29045 If the @samp{--reverse} option is specified, resumes reverse execution
29046 of the inferior program, stopping at the beginning of the previous
29047 source line. If you issue this command on the first line of a
29048 function, it will take you back to the caller of that function, to the
29049 source line where the function was called.
29052 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29054 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{next}.
29056 @subsubheading Example
29062 *stopped,reason="end-stepping-range",line="8",file="hello.c"
29067 @subheading The @code{-exec-next-instruction} Command
29068 @findex -exec-next-instruction
29070 @subsubheading Synopsis
29073 -exec-next-instruction [--reverse]
29076 Executes one machine instruction. If the instruction is a function
29077 call, continues until the function returns. If the program stops at an
29078 instruction in the middle of a source line, the address will be
29081 If the @samp{--reverse} option is specified, resumes reverse execution
29082 of the inferior program, stopping at the previous instruction. If the
29083 previously executed instruction was a return from another function,
29084 it will continue to execute in reverse until the call to that function
29085 (from the current stack frame) is reached.
29087 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29089 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{nexti}.
29091 @subsubheading Example
29095 -exec-next-instruction
29099 *stopped,reason="end-stepping-range",
29100 addr="0x000100d4",line="5",file="hello.c"
29105 @subheading The @code{-exec-return} Command
29106 @findex -exec-return
29108 @subsubheading Synopsis
29114 Makes current function return immediately. Doesn't execute the inferior.
29115 Displays the new current frame.
29117 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29119 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{return}.
29121 @subsubheading Example
29125 200-break-insert callee4
29126 200^done,bkpt=@{number="1",addr="0x00010734",
29127 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="8"@}
29132 000*stopped,reason="breakpoint-hit",disp="keep",bkptno="1",
29133 frame=@{func="callee4",args=[],
29134 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29135 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="8"@}
29141 111^done,frame=@{level="0",func="callee3",
29142 args=[@{name="strarg",
29143 value="0x11940 \"A string argument.\""@}],
29144 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29145 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="18"@}
29150 @subheading The @code{-exec-run} Command
29153 @subsubheading Synopsis
29156 -exec-run [--all | --thread-group N]
29159 Starts execution of the inferior from the beginning. The inferior
29160 executes until either a breakpoint is encountered or the program
29161 exits. In the latter case the output will include an exit code, if
29162 the program has exited exceptionally.
29164 When no option is specified, the current inferior is started. If the
29165 @samp{--thread-group} option is specified, it should refer to a thread
29166 group of type @samp{process}, and that thread group will be started.
29167 If the @samp{--all} option is specified, then all inferiors will be started.
29169 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29171 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{run}.
29173 @subsubheading Examples
29178 ^done,bkpt=@{number="1",addr="0x0001072c",file="recursive2.c",line="4"@}
29183 *stopped,reason="breakpoint-hit",disp="keep",bkptno="1",
29184 frame=@{func="main",args=[],file="recursive2.c",
29185 fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="4"@}
29190 Program exited normally:
29198 *stopped,reason="exited-normally"
29203 Program exited exceptionally:
29211 *stopped,reason="exited",exit-code="01"
29215 Another way the program can terminate is if it receives a signal such as
29216 @code{SIGINT}. In this case, @sc{gdb/mi} displays this:
29220 *stopped,reason="exited-signalled",signal-name="SIGINT",
29221 signal-meaning="Interrupt"
29225 @c @subheading -exec-signal
29228 @subheading The @code{-exec-step} Command
29231 @subsubheading Synopsis
29234 -exec-step [--reverse]
29237 Resumes execution of the inferior program, stopping when the beginning
29238 of the next source line is reached, if the next source line is not a
29239 function call. If it is, stop at the first instruction of the called
29240 function. If the @samp{--reverse} option is specified, resumes reverse
29241 execution of the inferior program, stopping at the beginning of the
29242 previously executed source line.
29244 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29246 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{step}.
29248 @subsubheading Example
29250 Stepping into a function:
29256 *stopped,reason="end-stepping-range",
29257 frame=@{func="foo",args=[@{name="a",value="10"@},
29258 @{name="b",value="0"@}],file="recursive2.c",
29259 fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="11"@}
29269 *stopped,reason="end-stepping-range",line="14",file="recursive2.c"
29274 @subheading The @code{-exec-step-instruction} Command
29275 @findex -exec-step-instruction
29277 @subsubheading Synopsis
29280 -exec-step-instruction [--reverse]
29283 Resumes the inferior which executes one machine instruction. If the
29284 @samp{--reverse} option is specified, resumes reverse execution of the
29285 inferior program, stopping at the previously executed instruction.
29286 The output, once @value{GDBN} has stopped, will vary depending on
29287 whether we have stopped in the middle of a source line or not. In the
29288 former case, the address at which the program stopped will be printed
29291 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29293 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{stepi}.
29295 @subsubheading Example
29299 -exec-step-instruction
29303 *stopped,reason="end-stepping-range",
29304 frame=@{func="foo",args=[],file="try.c",
29305 fullname="/home/foo/bar/try.c",line="10"@}
29307 -exec-step-instruction
29311 *stopped,reason="end-stepping-range",
29312 frame=@{addr="0x000100f4",func="foo",args=[],file="try.c",
29313 fullname="/home/foo/bar/try.c",line="10"@}
29318 @subheading The @code{-exec-until} Command
29319 @findex -exec-until
29321 @subsubheading Synopsis
29324 -exec-until [ @var{location} ]
29327 Executes the inferior until the @var{location} specified in the
29328 argument is reached. If there is no argument, the inferior executes
29329 until a source line greater than the current one is reached. The
29330 reason for stopping in this case will be @samp{location-reached}.
29332 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29334 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{until}.
29336 @subsubheading Example
29340 -exec-until recursive2.c:6
29344 *stopped,reason="location-reached",frame=@{func="main",args=[],
29345 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="6"@}
29350 @subheading -file-clear
29351 Is this going away????
29354 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
29355 @node GDB/MI Stack Manipulation
29356 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Stack Manipulation Commands
29359 @subheading The @code{-stack-info-frame} Command
29360 @findex -stack-info-frame
29362 @subsubheading Synopsis
29368 Get info on the selected frame.
29370 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29372 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info frame} or @samp{frame}
29373 (without arguments).
29375 @subsubheading Example
29380 ^done,frame=@{level="1",addr="0x0001076c",func="callee3",
29381 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29382 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="17"@}
29386 @subheading The @code{-stack-info-depth} Command
29387 @findex -stack-info-depth
29389 @subsubheading Synopsis
29392 -stack-info-depth [ @var{max-depth} ]
29395 Return the depth of the stack. If the integer argument @var{max-depth}
29396 is specified, do not count beyond @var{max-depth} frames.
29398 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29400 There's no equivalent @value{GDBN} command.
29402 @subsubheading Example
29404 For a stack with frame levels 0 through 11:
29411 -stack-info-depth 4
29414 -stack-info-depth 12
29417 -stack-info-depth 11
29420 -stack-info-depth 13
29425 @subheading The @code{-stack-list-arguments} Command
29426 @findex -stack-list-arguments
29428 @subsubheading Synopsis
29431 -stack-list-arguments @var{print-values}
29432 [ @var{low-frame} @var{high-frame} ]
29435 Display a list of the arguments for the frames between @var{low-frame}
29436 and @var{high-frame} (inclusive). If @var{low-frame} and
29437 @var{high-frame} are not provided, list the arguments for the whole
29438 call stack. If the two arguments are equal, show the single frame
29439 at the corresponding level. It is an error if @var{low-frame} is
29440 larger than the actual number of frames. On the other hand,
29441 @var{high-frame} may be larger than the actual number of frames, in
29442 which case only existing frames will be returned.
29444 If @var{print-values} is 0 or @code{--no-values}, print only the names of
29445 the variables; if it is 1 or @code{--all-values}, print also their
29446 values; and if it is 2 or @code{--simple-values}, print the name,
29447 type and value for simple data types, and the name and type for arrays,
29448 structures and unions.
29450 Use of this command to obtain arguments in a single frame is
29451 deprecated in favor of the @samp{-stack-list-variables} command.
29453 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29455 @value{GDBN} does not have an equivalent command. @code{gdbtk} has a
29456 @samp{gdb_get_args} command which partially overlaps with the
29457 functionality of @samp{-stack-list-arguments}.
29459 @subsubheading Example
29466 frame=@{level="0",addr="0x00010734",func="callee4",
29467 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29468 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="8"@},
29469 frame=@{level="1",addr="0x0001076c",func="callee3",
29470 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29471 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="17"@},
29472 frame=@{level="2",addr="0x0001078c",func="callee2",
29473 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29474 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="22"@},
29475 frame=@{level="3",addr="0x000107b4",func="callee1",
29476 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29477 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="27"@},
29478 frame=@{level="4",addr="0x000107e0",func="main",
29479 file="../../../devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",
29480 fullname="/home/foo/bar/devo/gdb/testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line="32"@}]
29482 -stack-list-arguments 0
29485 frame=@{level="0",args=[]@},
29486 frame=@{level="1",args=[name="strarg"]@},
29487 frame=@{level="2",args=[name="intarg",name="strarg"]@},
29488 frame=@{level="3",args=[name="intarg",name="strarg",name="fltarg"]@},
29489 frame=@{level="4",args=[]@}]
29491 -stack-list-arguments 1
29494 frame=@{level="0",args=[]@},
29496 args=[@{name="strarg",value="0x11940 \"A string argument.\""@}]@},
29497 frame=@{level="2",args=[
29498 @{name="intarg",value="2"@},
29499 @{name="strarg",value="0x11940 \"A string argument.\""@}]@},
29500 @{frame=@{level="3",args=[
29501 @{name="intarg",value="2"@},
29502 @{name="strarg",value="0x11940 \"A string argument.\""@},
29503 @{name="fltarg",value="3.5"@}]@},
29504 frame=@{level="4",args=[]@}]
29506 -stack-list-arguments 0 2 2
29507 ^done,stack-args=[frame=@{level="2",args=[name="intarg",name="strarg"]@}]
29509 -stack-list-arguments 1 2 2
29510 ^done,stack-args=[frame=@{level="2",
29511 args=[@{name="intarg",value="2"@},
29512 @{name="strarg",value="0x11940 \"A string argument.\""@}]@}]
29516 @c @subheading -stack-list-exception-handlers
29519 @subheading The @code{-stack-list-frames} Command
29520 @findex -stack-list-frames
29522 @subsubheading Synopsis
29525 -stack-list-frames [ @var{low-frame} @var{high-frame} ]
29528 List the frames currently on the stack. For each frame it displays the
29533 The frame number, 0 being the topmost frame, i.e., the innermost function.
29535 The @code{$pc} value for that frame.
29539 File name of the source file where the function lives.
29540 @item @var{fullname}
29541 The full file name of the source file where the function lives.
29543 Line number corresponding to the @code{$pc}.
29545 The shared library where this function is defined. This is only given
29546 if the frame's function is not known.
29549 If invoked without arguments, this command prints a backtrace for the
29550 whole stack. If given two integer arguments, it shows the frames whose
29551 levels are between the two arguments (inclusive). If the two arguments
29552 are equal, it shows the single frame at the corresponding level. It is
29553 an error if @var{low-frame} is larger than the actual number of
29554 frames. On the other hand, @var{high-frame} may be larger than the
29555 actual number of frames, in which case only existing frames will be returned.
29557 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29559 The corresponding @value{GDBN} commands are @samp{backtrace} and @samp{where}.
29561 @subsubheading Example
29563 Full stack backtrace:
29569 [frame=@{level="0",addr="0x0001076c",func="foo",
29570 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="11"@},
29571 frame=@{level="1",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29572 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29573 frame=@{level="2",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29574 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29575 frame=@{level="3",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29576 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29577 frame=@{level="4",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29578 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29579 frame=@{level="5",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29580 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29581 frame=@{level="6",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29582 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29583 frame=@{level="7",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29584 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29585 frame=@{level="8",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29586 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29587 frame=@{level="9",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29588 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29589 frame=@{level="10",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29590 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29591 frame=@{level="11",addr="0x00010738",func="main",
29592 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="4"@}]
29596 Show frames between @var{low_frame} and @var{high_frame}:
29600 -stack-list-frames 3 5
29602 [frame=@{level="3",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29603 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29604 frame=@{level="4",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29605 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@},
29606 frame=@{level="5",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29607 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@}]
29611 Show a single frame:
29615 -stack-list-frames 3 3
29617 [frame=@{level="3",addr="0x000107a4",func="foo",
29618 file="recursive2.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/recursive2.c",line="14"@}]
29623 @subheading The @code{-stack-list-locals} Command
29624 @findex -stack-list-locals
29626 @subsubheading Synopsis
29629 -stack-list-locals @var{print-values}
29632 Display the local variable names for the selected frame. If
29633 @var{print-values} is 0 or @code{--no-values}, print only the names of
29634 the variables; if it is 1 or @code{--all-values}, print also their
29635 values; and if it is 2 or @code{--simple-values}, print the name,
29636 type and value for simple data types, and the name and type for arrays,
29637 structures and unions. In this last case, a frontend can immediately
29638 display the value of simple data types and create variable objects for
29639 other data types when the user wishes to explore their values in
29642 This command is deprecated in favor of the
29643 @samp{-stack-list-variables} command.
29645 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29647 @samp{info locals} in @value{GDBN}, @samp{gdb_get_locals} in @code{gdbtk}.
29649 @subsubheading Example
29653 -stack-list-locals 0
29654 ^done,locals=[name="A",name="B",name="C"]
29656 -stack-list-locals --all-values
29657 ^done,locals=[@{name="A",value="1"@},@{name="B",value="2"@},
29658 @{name="C",value="@{1, 2, 3@}"@}]
29659 -stack-list-locals --simple-values
29660 ^done,locals=[@{name="A",type="int",value="1"@},
29661 @{name="B",type="int",value="2"@},@{name="C",type="int [3]"@}]
29665 @subheading The @code{-stack-list-variables} Command
29666 @findex -stack-list-variables
29668 @subsubheading Synopsis
29671 -stack-list-variables @var{print-values}
29674 Display the names of local variables and function arguments for the selected frame. If
29675 @var{print-values} is 0 or @code{--no-values}, print only the names of
29676 the variables; if it is 1 or @code{--all-values}, print also their
29677 values; and if it is 2 or @code{--simple-values}, print the name,
29678 type and value for simple data types, and the name and type for arrays,
29679 structures and unions.
29681 @subsubheading Example
29685 -stack-list-variables --thread 1 --frame 0 --all-values
29686 ^done,variables=[@{name="x",value="11"@},@{name="s",value="@{a = 1, b = 2@}"@}]
29691 @subheading The @code{-stack-select-frame} Command
29692 @findex -stack-select-frame
29694 @subsubheading Synopsis
29697 -stack-select-frame @var{framenum}
29700 Change the selected frame. Select a different frame @var{framenum} on
29703 This command in deprecated in favor of passing the @samp{--frame}
29704 option to every command.
29706 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
29708 The corresponding @value{GDBN} commands are @samp{frame}, @samp{up},
29709 @samp{down}, @samp{select-frame}, @samp{up-silent}, and @samp{down-silent}.
29711 @subsubheading Example
29715 -stack-select-frame 2
29720 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
29721 @node GDB/MI Variable Objects
29722 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Variable Objects
29726 @subheading Motivation for Variable Objects in @sc{gdb/mi}
29728 For the implementation of a variable debugger window (locals, watched
29729 expressions, etc.), we are proposing the adaptation of the existing code
29730 used by @code{Insight}.
29732 The two main reasons for that are:
29736 It has been proven in practice (it is already on its second generation).
29739 It will shorten development time (needless to say how important it is
29743 The original interface was designed to be used by Tcl code, so it was
29744 slightly changed so it could be used through @sc{gdb/mi}. This section
29745 describes the @sc{gdb/mi} operations that will be available and gives some
29746 hints about their use.
29748 @emph{Note}: In addition to the set of operations described here, we
29749 expect the @sc{gui} implementation of a variable window to require, at
29750 least, the following operations:
29753 @item @code{-gdb-show} @code{output-radix}
29754 @item @code{-stack-list-arguments}
29755 @item @code{-stack-list-locals}
29756 @item @code{-stack-select-frame}
29761 @subheading Introduction to Variable Objects
29763 @cindex variable objects in @sc{gdb/mi}
29765 Variable objects are "object-oriented" MI interface for examining and
29766 changing values of expressions. Unlike some other MI interfaces that
29767 work with expressions, variable objects are specifically designed for
29768 simple and efficient presentation in the frontend. A variable object
29769 is identified by string name. When a variable object is created, the
29770 frontend specifies the expression for that variable object. The
29771 expression can be a simple variable, or it can be an arbitrary complex
29772 expression, and can even involve CPU registers. After creating a
29773 variable object, the frontend can invoke other variable object
29774 operations---for example to obtain or change the value of a variable
29775 object, or to change display format.
29777 Variable objects have hierarchical tree structure. Any variable object
29778 that corresponds to a composite type, such as structure in C, has
29779 a number of child variable objects, for example corresponding to each
29780 element of a structure. A child variable object can itself have
29781 children, recursively. Recursion ends when we reach
29782 leaf variable objects, which always have built-in types. Child variable
29783 objects are created only by explicit request, so if a frontend
29784 is not interested in the children of a particular variable object, no
29785 child will be created.
29787 For a leaf variable object it is possible to obtain its value as a
29788 string, or set the value from a string. String value can be also
29789 obtained for a non-leaf variable object, but it's generally a string
29790 that only indicates the type of the object, and does not list its
29791 contents. Assignment to a non-leaf variable object is not allowed.
29793 A frontend does not need to read the values of all variable objects each time
29794 the program stops. Instead, MI provides an update command that lists all
29795 variable objects whose values has changed since the last update
29796 operation. This considerably reduces the amount of data that must
29797 be transferred to the frontend. As noted above, children variable
29798 objects are created on demand, and only leaf variable objects have a
29799 real value. As result, gdb will read target memory only for leaf
29800 variables that frontend has created.
29802 The automatic update is not always desirable. For example, a frontend
29803 might want to keep a value of some expression for future reference,
29804 and never update it. For another example, fetching memory is
29805 relatively slow for embedded targets, so a frontend might want
29806 to disable automatic update for the variables that are either not
29807 visible on the screen, or ``closed''. This is possible using so
29808 called ``frozen variable objects''. Such variable objects are never
29809 implicitly updated.
29811 Variable objects can be either @dfn{fixed} or @dfn{floating}. For the
29812 fixed variable object, the expression is parsed when the variable
29813 object is created, including associating identifiers to specific
29814 variables. The meaning of expression never changes. For a floating
29815 variable object the values of variables whose names appear in the
29816 expressions are re-evaluated every time in the context of the current
29817 frame. Consider this example:
29822 struct work_state state;
29829 If a fixed variable object for the @code{state} variable is created in
29830 this function, and we enter the recursive call, the variable
29831 object will report the value of @code{state} in the top-level
29832 @code{do_work} invocation. On the other hand, a floating variable
29833 object will report the value of @code{state} in the current frame.
29835 If an expression specified when creating a fixed variable object
29836 refers to a local variable, the variable object becomes bound to the
29837 thread and frame in which the variable object is created. When such
29838 variable object is updated, @value{GDBN} makes sure that the
29839 thread/frame combination the variable object is bound to still exists,
29840 and re-evaluates the variable object in context of that thread/frame.
29842 The following is the complete set of @sc{gdb/mi} operations defined to
29843 access this functionality:
29845 @multitable @columnfractions .4 .6
29846 @item @strong{Operation}
29847 @tab @strong{Description}
29849 @item @code{-enable-pretty-printing}
29850 @tab enable Python-based pretty-printing
29851 @item @code{-var-create}
29852 @tab create a variable object
29853 @item @code{-var-delete}
29854 @tab delete the variable object and/or its children
29855 @item @code{-var-set-format}
29856 @tab set the display format of this variable
29857 @item @code{-var-show-format}
29858 @tab show the display format of this variable
29859 @item @code{-var-info-num-children}
29860 @tab tells how many children this object has
29861 @item @code{-var-list-children}
29862 @tab return a list of the object's children
29863 @item @code{-var-info-type}
29864 @tab show the type of this variable object
29865 @item @code{-var-info-expression}
29866 @tab print parent-relative expression that this variable object represents
29867 @item @code{-var-info-path-expression}
29868 @tab print full expression that this variable object represents
29869 @item @code{-var-show-attributes}
29870 @tab is this variable editable? does it exist here?
29871 @item @code{-var-evaluate-expression}
29872 @tab get the value of this variable
29873 @item @code{-var-assign}
29874 @tab set the value of this variable
29875 @item @code{-var-update}
29876 @tab update the variable and its children
29877 @item @code{-var-set-frozen}
29878 @tab set frozeness attribute
29879 @item @code{-var-set-update-range}
29880 @tab set range of children to display on update
29883 In the next subsection we describe each operation in detail and suggest
29884 how it can be used.
29886 @subheading Description And Use of Operations on Variable Objects
29888 @subheading The @code{-enable-pretty-printing} Command
29889 @findex -enable-pretty-printing
29892 -enable-pretty-printing
29895 @value{GDBN} allows Python-based visualizers to affect the output of the
29896 MI variable object commands. However, because there was no way to
29897 implement this in a fully backward-compatible way, a front end must
29898 request that this functionality be enabled.
29900 Once enabled, this feature cannot be disabled.
29902 Note that if Python support has not been compiled into @value{GDBN},
29903 this command will still succeed (and do nothing).
29905 This feature is currently (as of @value{GDBN} 7.0) experimental, and
29906 may work differently in future versions of @value{GDBN}.
29908 @subheading The @code{-var-create} Command
29909 @findex -var-create
29911 @subsubheading Synopsis
29914 -var-create @{@var{name} | "-"@}
29915 @{@var{frame-addr} | "*" | "@@"@} @var{expression}
29918 This operation creates a variable object, which allows the monitoring of
29919 a variable, the result of an expression, a memory cell or a CPU
29922 The @var{name} parameter is the string by which the object can be
29923 referenced. It must be unique. If @samp{-} is specified, the varobj
29924 system will generate a string ``varNNNNNN'' automatically. It will be
29925 unique provided that one does not specify @var{name} of that format.
29926 The command fails if a duplicate name is found.
29928 The frame under which the expression should be evaluated can be
29929 specified by @var{frame-addr}. A @samp{*} indicates that the current
29930 frame should be used. A @samp{@@} indicates that a floating variable
29931 object must be created.
29933 @var{expression} is any expression valid on the current language set (must not
29934 begin with a @samp{*}), or one of the following:
29938 @samp{*@var{addr}}, where @var{addr} is the address of a memory cell
29941 @samp{*@var{addr}-@var{addr}} --- a memory address range (TBD)
29944 @samp{$@var{regname}} --- a CPU register name
29947 @cindex dynamic varobj
29948 A varobj's contents may be provided by a Python-based pretty-printer. In this
29949 case the varobj is known as a @dfn{dynamic varobj}. Dynamic varobjs
29950 have slightly different semantics in some cases. If the
29951 @code{-enable-pretty-printing} command is not sent, then @value{GDBN}
29952 will never create a dynamic varobj. This ensures backward
29953 compatibility for existing clients.
29955 @subsubheading Result
29957 This operation returns attributes of the newly-created varobj. These
29962 The name of the varobj.
29965 The number of children of the varobj. This number is not necessarily
29966 reliable for a dynamic varobj. Instead, you must examine the
29967 @samp{has_more} attribute.
29970 The varobj's scalar value. For a varobj whose type is some sort of
29971 aggregate (e.g., a @code{struct}), or for a dynamic varobj, this value
29972 will not be interesting.
29975 The varobj's type. This is a string representation of the type, as
29976 would be printed by the @value{GDBN} CLI. If @samp{print object}
29977 (@pxref{Print Settings, set print object}) is set to @code{on}, the
29978 @emph{actual} (derived) type of the object is shown rather than the
29979 @emph{declared} one.
29982 If a variable object is bound to a specific thread, then this is the
29983 thread's identifier.
29986 For a dynamic varobj, this indicates whether there appear to be any
29987 children available. For a non-dynamic varobj, this will be 0.
29990 This attribute will be present and have the value @samp{1} if the
29991 varobj is a dynamic varobj. If the varobj is not a dynamic varobj,
29992 then this attribute will not be present.
29995 A dynamic varobj can supply a display hint to the front end. The
29996 value comes directly from the Python pretty-printer object's
29997 @code{display_hint} method. @xref{Pretty Printing API}.
30000 Typical output will look like this:
30003 name="@var{name}",numchild="@var{N}",type="@var{type}",thread-id="@var{M}",
30004 has_more="@var{has_more}"
30008 @subheading The @code{-var-delete} Command
30009 @findex -var-delete
30011 @subsubheading Synopsis
30014 -var-delete [ -c ] @var{name}
30017 Deletes a previously created variable object and all of its children.
30018 With the @samp{-c} option, just deletes the children.
30020 Returns an error if the object @var{name} is not found.
30023 @subheading The @code{-var-set-format} Command
30024 @findex -var-set-format
30026 @subsubheading Synopsis
30029 -var-set-format @var{name} @var{format-spec}
30032 Sets the output format for the value of the object @var{name} to be
30035 @anchor{-var-set-format}
30036 The syntax for the @var{format-spec} is as follows:
30039 @var{format-spec} @expansion{}
30040 @{binary | decimal | hexadecimal | octal | natural@}
30043 The natural format is the default format choosen automatically
30044 based on the variable type (like decimal for an @code{int}, hex
30045 for pointers, etc.).
30047 For a variable with children, the format is set only on the
30048 variable itself, and the children are not affected.
30050 @subheading The @code{-var-show-format} Command
30051 @findex -var-show-format
30053 @subsubheading Synopsis
30056 -var-show-format @var{name}
30059 Returns the format used to display the value of the object @var{name}.
30062 @var{format} @expansion{}
30067 @subheading The @code{-var-info-num-children} Command
30068 @findex -var-info-num-children
30070 @subsubheading Synopsis
30073 -var-info-num-children @var{name}
30076 Returns the number of children of a variable object @var{name}:
30082 Note that this number is not completely reliable for a dynamic varobj.
30083 It will return the current number of children, but more children may
30087 @subheading The @code{-var-list-children} Command
30088 @findex -var-list-children
30090 @subsubheading Synopsis
30093 -var-list-children [@var{print-values}] @var{name} [@var{from} @var{to}]
30095 @anchor{-var-list-children}
30097 Return a list of the children of the specified variable object and
30098 create variable objects for them, if they do not already exist. With
30099 a single argument or if @var{print-values} has a value of 0 or
30100 @code{--no-values}, print only the names of the variables; if
30101 @var{print-values} is 1 or @code{--all-values}, also print their
30102 values; and if it is 2 or @code{--simple-values} print the name and
30103 value for simple data types and just the name for arrays, structures
30106 @var{from} and @var{to}, if specified, indicate the range of children
30107 to report. If @var{from} or @var{to} is less than zero, the range is
30108 reset and all children will be reported. Otherwise, children starting
30109 at @var{from} (zero-based) and up to and excluding @var{to} will be
30112 If a child range is requested, it will only affect the current call to
30113 @code{-var-list-children}, but not future calls to @code{-var-update}.
30114 For this, you must instead use @code{-var-set-update-range}. The
30115 intent of this approach is to enable a front end to implement any
30116 update approach it likes; for example, scrolling a view may cause the
30117 front end to request more children with @code{-var-list-children}, and
30118 then the front end could call @code{-var-set-update-range} with a
30119 different range to ensure that future updates are restricted to just
30122 For each child the following results are returned:
30127 Name of the variable object created for this child.
30130 The expression to be shown to the user by the front end to designate this child.
30131 For example this may be the name of a structure member.
30133 For a dynamic varobj, this value cannot be used to form an
30134 expression. There is no way to do this at all with a dynamic varobj.
30136 For C/C@t{++} structures there are several pseudo children returned to
30137 designate access qualifiers. For these pseudo children @var{exp} is
30138 @samp{public}, @samp{private}, or @samp{protected}. In this case the
30139 type and value are not present.
30141 A dynamic varobj will not report the access qualifying
30142 pseudo-children, regardless of the language. This information is not
30143 available at all with a dynamic varobj.
30146 Number of children this child has. For a dynamic varobj, this will be
30150 The type of the child. If @samp{print object}
30151 (@pxref{Print Settings, set print object}) is set to @code{on}, the
30152 @emph{actual} (derived) type of the object is shown rather than the
30153 @emph{declared} one.
30156 If values were requested, this is the value.
30159 If this variable object is associated with a thread, this is the thread id.
30160 Otherwise this result is not present.
30163 If the variable object is frozen, this variable will be present with a value of 1.
30166 The result may have its own attributes:
30170 A dynamic varobj can supply a display hint to the front end. The
30171 value comes directly from the Python pretty-printer object's
30172 @code{display_hint} method. @xref{Pretty Printing API}.
30175 This is an integer attribute which is nonzero if there are children
30176 remaining after the end of the selected range.
30179 @subsubheading Example
30183 -var-list-children n
30184 ^done,numchild=@var{n},children=[child=@{name=@var{name},exp=@var{exp},
30185 numchild=@var{n},type=@var{type}@},@r{(repeats N times)}]
30187 -var-list-children --all-values n
30188 ^done,numchild=@var{n},children=[child=@{name=@var{name},exp=@var{exp},
30189 numchild=@var{n},value=@var{value},type=@var{type}@},@r{(repeats N times)}]
30193 @subheading The @code{-var-info-type} Command
30194 @findex -var-info-type
30196 @subsubheading Synopsis
30199 -var-info-type @var{name}
30202 Returns the type of the specified variable @var{name}. The type is
30203 returned as a string in the same format as it is output by the
30207 type=@var{typename}
30211 @subheading The @code{-var-info-expression} Command
30212 @findex -var-info-expression
30214 @subsubheading Synopsis
30217 -var-info-expression @var{name}
30220 Returns a string that is suitable for presenting this
30221 variable object in user interface. The string is generally
30222 not valid expression in the current language, and cannot be evaluated.
30224 For example, if @code{a} is an array, and variable object
30225 @code{A} was created for @code{a}, then we'll get this output:
30228 (gdb) -var-info-expression A.1
30229 ^done,lang="C",exp="1"
30233 Here, the values of @code{lang} can be @code{@{"C" | "C++" | "Java"@}}.
30235 Note that the output of the @code{-var-list-children} command also
30236 includes those expressions, so the @code{-var-info-expression} command
30239 @subheading The @code{-var-info-path-expression} Command
30240 @findex -var-info-path-expression
30242 @subsubheading Synopsis
30245 -var-info-path-expression @var{name}
30248 Returns an expression that can be evaluated in the current
30249 context and will yield the same value that a variable object has.
30250 Compare this with the @code{-var-info-expression} command, which
30251 result can be used only for UI presentation. Typical use of
30252 the @code{-var-info-path-expression} command is creating a
30253 watchpoint from a variable object.
30255 This command is currently not valid for children of a dynamic varobj,
30256 and will give an error when invoked on one.
30258 For example, suppose @code{C} is a C@t{++} class, derived from class
30259 @code{Base}, and that the @code{Base} class has a member called
30260 @code{m_size}. Assume a variable @code{c} is has the type of
30261 @code{C} and a variable object @code{C} was created for variable
30262 @code{c}. Then, we'll get this output:
30264 (gdb) -var-info-path-expression C.Base.public.m_size
30265 ^done,path_expr=((Base)c).m_size)
30268 @subheading The @code{-var-show-attributes} Command
30269 @findex -var-show-attributes
30271 @subsubheading Synopsis
30274 -var-show-attributes @var{name}
30277 List attributes of the specified variable object @var{name}:
30280 status=@var{attr} [ ( ,@var{attr} )* ]
30284 where @var{attr} is @code{@{ @{ editable | noneditable @} | TBD @}}.
30286 @subheading The @code{-var-evaluate-expression} Command
30287 @findex -var-evaluate-expression
30289 @subsubheading Synopsis
30292 -var-evaluate-expression [-f @var{format-spec}] @var{name}
30295 Evaluates the expression that is represented by the specified variable
30296 object and returns its value as a string. The format of the string
30297 can be specified with the @samp{-f} option. The possible values of
30298 this option are the same as for @code{-var-set-format}
30299 (@pxref{-var-set-format}). If the @samp{-f} option is not specified,
30300 the current display format will be used. The current display format
30301 can be changed using the @code{-var-set-format} command.
30307 Note that one must invoke @code{-var-list-children} for a variable
30308 before the value of a child variable can be evaluated.
30310 @subheading The @code{-var-assign} Command
30311 @findex -var-assign
30313 @subsubheading Synopsis
30316 -var-assign @var{name} @var{expression}
30319 Assigns the value of @var{expression} to the variable object specified
30320 by @var{name}. The object must be @samp{editable}. If the variable's
30321 value is altered by the assign, the variable will show up in any
30322 subsequent @code{-var-update} list.
30324 @subsubheading Example
30332 ^done,changelist=[@{name="var1",in_scope="true",type_changed="false"@}]
30336 @subheading The @code{-var-update} Command
30337 @findex -var-update
30339 @subsubheading Synopsis
30342 -var-update [@var{print-values}] @{@var{name} | "*"@}
30345 Reevaluate the expressions corresponding to the variable object
30346 @var{name} and all its direct and indirect children, and return the
30347 list of variable objects whose values have changed; @var{name} must
30348 be a root variable object. Here, ``changed'' means that the result of
30349 @code{-var-evaluate-expression} before and after the
30350 @code{-var-update} is different. If @samp{*} is used as the variable
30351 object names, all existing variable objects are updated, except
30352 for frozen ones (@pxref{-var-set-frozen}). The option
30353 @var{print-values} determines whether both names and values, or just
30354 names are printed. The possible values of this option are the same
30355 as for @code{-var-list-children} (@pxref{-var-list-children}). It is
30356 recommended to use the @samp{--all-values} option, to reduce the
30357 number of MI commands needed on each program stop.
30359 With the @samp{*} parameter, if a variable object is bound to a
30360 currently running thread, it will not be updated, without any
30363 If @code{-var-set-update-range} was previously used on a varobj, then
30364 only the selected range of children will be reported.
30366 @code{-var-update} reports all the changed varobjs in a tuple named
30369 Each item in the change list is itself a tuple holding:
30373 The name of the varobj.
30376 If values were requested for this update, then this field will be
30377 present and will hold the value of the varobj.
30380 @anchor{-var-update}
30381 This field is a string which may take one of three values:
30385 The variable object's current value is valid.
30388 The variable object does not currently hold a valid value but it may
30389 hold one in the future if its associated expression comes back into
30393 The variable object no longer holds a valid value.
30394 This can occur when the executable file being debugged has changed,
30395 either through recompilation or by using the @value{GDBN} @code{file}
30396 command. The front end should normally choose to delete these variable
30400 In the future new values may be added to this list so the front should
30401 be prepared for this possibility. @xref{GDB/MI Development and Front Ends, ,@sc{GDB/MI} Development and Front Ends}.
30404 This is only present if the varobj is still valid. If the type
30405 changed, then this will be the string @samp{true}; otherwise it will
30408 When a varobj's type changes, its children are also likely to have
30409 become incorrect. Therefore, the varobj's children are automatically
30410 deleted when this attribute is @samp{true}. Also, the varobj's update
30411 range, when set using the @code{-var-set-update-range} command, is
30415 If the varobj's type changed, then this field will be present and will
30418 @item new_num_children
30419 For a dynamic varobj, if the number of children changed, or if the
30420 type changed, this will be the new number of children.
30422 The @samp{numchild} field in other varobj responses is generally not
30423 valid for a dynamic varobj -- it will show the number of children that
30424 @value{GDBN} knows about, but because dynamic varobjs lazily
30425 instantiate their children, this will not reflect the number of
30426 children which may be available.
30428 The @samp{new_num_children} attribute only reports changes to the
30429 number of children known by @value{GDBN}. This is the only way to
30430 detect whether an update has removed children (which necessarily can
30431 only happen at the end of the update range).
30434 The display hint, if any.
30437 This is an integer value, which will be 1 if there are more children
30438 available outside the varobj's update range.
30441 This attribute will be present and have the value @samp{1} if the
30442 varobj is a dynamic varobj. If the varobj is not a dynamic varobj,
30443 then this attribute will not be present.
30446 If new children were added to a dynamic varobj within the selected
30447 update range (as set by @code{-var-set-update-range}), then they will
30448 be listed in this attribute.
30451 @subsubheading Example
30458 -var-update --all-values var1
30459 ^done,changelist=[@{name="var1",value="3",in_scope="true",
30460 type_changed="false"@}]
30464 @subheading The @code{-var-set-frozen} Command
30465 @findex -var-set-frozen
30466 @anchor{-var-set-frozen}
30468 @subsubheading Synopsis
30471 -var-set-frozen @var{name} @var{flag}
30474 Set the frozenness flag on the variable object @var{name}. The
30475 @var{flag} parameter should be either @samp{1} to make the variable
30476 frozen or @samp{0} to make it unfrozen. If a variable object is
30477 frozen, then neither itself, nor any of its children, are
30478 implicitly updated by @code{-var-update} of
30479 a parent variable or by @code{-var-update *}. Only
30480 @code{-var-update} of the variable itself will update its value and
30481 values of its children. After a variable object is unfrozen, it is
30482 implicitly updated by all subsequent @code{-var-update} operations.
30483 Unfreezing a variable does not update it, only subsequent
30484 @code{-var-update} does.
30486 @subsubheading Example
30490 -var-set-frozen V 1
30495 @subheading The @code{-var-set-update-range} command
30496 @findex -var-set-update-range
30497 @anchor{-var-set-update-range}
30499 @subsubheading Synopsis
30502 -var-set-update-range @var{name} @var{from} @var{to}
30505 Set the range of children to be returned by future invocations of
30506 @code{-var-update}.
30508 @var{from} and @var{to} indicate the range of children to report. If
30509 @var{from} or @var{to} is less than zero, the range is reset and all
30510 children will be reported. Otherwise, children starting at @var{from}
30511 (zero-based) and up to and excluding @var{to} will be reported.
30513 @subsubheading Example
30517 -var-set-update-range V 1 2
30521 @subheading The @code{-var-set-visualizer} command
30522 @findex -var-set-visualizer
30523 @anchor{-var-set-visualizer}
30525 @subsubheading Synopsis
30528 -var-set-visualizer @var{name} @var{visualizer}
30531 Set a visualizer for the variable object @var{name}.
30533 @var{visualizer} is the visualizer to use. The special value
30534 @samp{None} means to disable any visualizer in use.
30536 If not @samp{None}, @var{visualizer} must be a Python expression.
30537 This expression must evaluate to a callable object which accepts a
30538 single argument. @value{GDBN} will call this object with the value of
30539 the varobj @var{name} as an argument (this is done so that the same
30540 Python pretty-printing code can be used for both the CLI and MI).
30541 When called, this object must return an object which conforms to the
30542 pretty-printing interface (@pxref{Pretty Printing API}).
30544 The pre-defined function @code{gdb.default_visualizer} may be used to
30545 select a visualizer by following the built-in process
30546 (@pxref{Selecting Pretty-Printers}). This is done automatically when
30547 a varobj is created, and so ordinarily is not needed.
30549 This feature is only available if Python support is enabled. The MI
30550 command @code{-list-features} (@pxref{GDB/MI Miscellaneous Commands})
30551 can be used to check this.
30553 @subsubheading Example
30555 Resetting the visualizer:
30559 -var-set-visualizer V None
30563 Reselecting the default (type-based) visualizer:
30567 -var-set-visualizer V gdb.default_visualizer
30571 Suppose @code{SomeClass} is a visualizer class. A lambda expression
30572 can be used to instantiate this class for a varobj:
30576 -var-set-visualizer V "lambda val: SomeClass()"
30580 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
30581 @node GDB/MI Data Manipulation
30582 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Data Manipulation
30584 @cindex data manipulation, in @sc{gdb/mi}
30585 @cindex @sc{gdb/mi}, data manipulation
30586 This section describes the @sc{gdb/mi} commands that manipulate data:
30587 examine memory and registers, evaluate expressions, etc.
30589 @c REMOVED FROM THE INTERFACE.
30590 @c @subheading -data-assign
30591 @c Change the value of a program variable. Plenty of side effects.
30592 @c @subsubheading GDB Command
30594 @c @subsubheading Example
30597 @subheading The @code{-data-disassemble} Command
30598 @findex -data-disassemble
30600 @subsubheading Synopsis
30604 [ -s @var{start-addr} -e @var{end-addr} ]
30605 | [ -f @var{filename} -l @var{linenum} [ -n @var{lines} ] ]
30613 @item @var{start-addr}
30614 is the beginning address (or @code{$pc})
30615 @item @var{end-addr}
30617 @item @var{filename}
30618 is the name of the file to disassemble
30619 @item @var{linenum}
30620 is the line number to disassemble around
30622 is the number of disassembly lines to be produced. If it is -1,
30623 the whole function will be disassembled, in case no @var{end-addr} is
30624 specified. If @var{end-addr} is specified as a non-zero value, and
30625 @var{lines} is lower than the number of disassembly lines between
30626 @var{start-addr} and @var{end-addr}, only @var{lines} lines are
30627 displayed; if @var{lines} is higher than the number of lines between
30628 @var{start-addr} and @var{end-addr}, only the lines up to @var{end-addr}
30631 is either 0 (meaning only disassembly), 1 (meaning mixed source and
30632 disassembly), 2 (meaning disassembly with raw opcodes), or 3 (meaning
30633 mixed source and disassembly with raw opcodes).
30636 @subsubheading Result
30638 The output for each instruction is composed of four fields:
30647 Note that whatever included in the instruction field, is not manipulated
30648 directly by @sc{gdb/mi}, i.e., it is not possible to adjust its format.
30650 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
30652 There's no direct mapping from this command to the CLI.
30654 @subsubheading Example
30656 Disassemble from the current value of @code{$pc} to @code{$pc + 20}:
30660 -data-disassemble -s $pc -e "$pc + 20" -- 0
30663 @{address="0x000107c0",func-name="main",offset="4",
30664 inst="mov 2, %o0"@},
30665 @{address="0x000107c4",func-name="main",offset="8",
30666 inst="sethi %hi(0x11800), %o2"@},
30667 @{address="0x000107c8",func-name="main",offset="12",
30668 inst="or %o2, 0x140, %o1\t! 0x11940 <_lib_version+8>"@},
30669 @{address="0x000107cc",func-name="main",offset="16",
30670 inst="sethi %hi(0x11800), %o2"@},
30671 @{address="0x000107d0",func-name="main",offset="20",
30672 inst="or %o2, 0x168, %o4\t! 0x11968 <_lib_version+48>"@}]
30676 Disassemble the whole @code{main} function. Line 32 is part of
30680 -data-disassemble -f basics.c -l 32 -- 0
30682 @{address="0x000107bc",func-name="main",offset="0",
30683 inst="save %sp, -112, %sp"@},
30684 @{address="0x000107c0",func-name="main",offset="4",
30685 inst="mov 2, %o0"@},
30686 @{address="0x000107c4",func-name="main",offset="8",
30687 inst="sethi %hi(0x11800), %o2"@},
30689 @{address="0x0001081c",func-name="main",offset="96",inst="ret "@},
30690 @{address="0x00010820",func-name="main",offset="100",inst="restore "@}]
30694 Disassemble 3 instructions from the start of @code{main}:
30698 -data-disassemble -f basics.c -l 32 -n 3 -- 0
30700 @{address="0x000107bc",func-name="main",offset="0",
30701 inst="save %sp, -112, %sp"@},
30702 @{address="0x000107c0",func-name="main",offset="4",
30703 inst="mov 2, %o0"@},
30704 @{address="0x000107c4",func-name="main",offset="8",
30705 inst="sethi %hi(0x11800), %o2"@}]
30709 Disassemble 3 instructions from the start of @code{main} in mixed mode:
30713 -data-disassemble -f basics.c -l 32 -n 3 -- 1
30715 src_and_asm_line=@{line="31",
30716 file="/kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/devo/gdb/ \
30717 testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line_asm_insn=[
30718 @{address="0x000107bc",func-name="main",offset="0",
30719 inst="save %sp, -112, %sp"@}]@},
30720 src_and_asm_line=@{line="32",
30721 file="/kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/flathead-dev/devo/gdb/ \
30722 testsuite/gdb.mi/basics.c",line_asm_insn=[
30723 @{address="0x000107c0",func-name="main",offset="4",
30724 inst="mov 2, %o0"@},
30725 @{address="0x000107c4",func-name="main",offset="8",
30726 inst="sethi %hi(0x11800), %o2"@}]@}]
30731 @subheading The @code{-data-evaluate-expression} Command
30732 @findex -data-evaluate-expression
30734 @subsubheading Synopsis
30737 -data-evaluate-expression @var{expr}
30740 Evaluate @var{expr} as an expression. The expression could contain an
30741 inferior function call. The function call will execute synchronously.
30742 If the expression contains spaces, it must be enclosed in double quotes.
30744 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
30746 The corresponding @value{GDBN} commands are @samp{print}, @samp{output}, and
30747 @samp{call}. In @code{gdbtk} only, there's a corresponding
30748 @samp{gdb_eval} command.
30750 @subsubheading Example
30752 In the following example, the numbers that precede the commands are the
30753 @dfn{tokens} described in @ref{GDB/MI Command Syntax, ,@sc{gdb/mi}
30754 Command Syntax}. Notice how @sc{gdb/mi} returns the same tokens in its
30758 211-data-evaluate-expression A
30761 311-data-evaluate-expression &A
30762 311^done,value="0xefffeb7c"
30764 411-data-evaluate-expression A+3
30767 511-data-evaluate-expression "A + 3"
30773 @subheading The @code{-data-list-changed-registers} Command
30774 @findex -data-list-changed-registers
30776 @subsubheading Synopsis
30779 -data-list-changed-registers
30782 Display a list of the registers that have changed.
30784 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
30786 @value{GDBN} doesn't have a direct analog for this command; @code{gdbtk}
30787 has the corresponding command @samp{gdb_changed_register_list}.
30789 @subsubheading Example
30791 On a PPC MBX board:
30799 *stopped,reason="breakpoint-hit",disp="keep",bkptno="1",frame=@{
30800 func="main",args=[],file="try.c",fullname="/home/foo/bar/try.c",
30803 -data-list-changed-registers
30804 ^done,changed-registers=["0","1","2","4","5","6","7","8","9",
30805 "10","11","13","14","15","16","17","18","19","20","21","22","23",
30806 "24","25","26","27","28","30","31","64","65","66","67","69"]
30811 @subheading The @code{-data-list-register-names} Command
30812 @findex -data-list-register-names
30814 @subsubheading Synopsis
30817 -data-list-register-names [ ( @var{regno} )+ ]
30820 Show a list of register names for the current target. If no arguments
30821 are given, it shows a list of the names of all the registers. If
30822 integer numbers are given as arguments, it will print a list of the
30823 names of the registers corresponding to the arguments. To ensure
30824 consistency between a register name and its number, the output list may
30825 include empty register names.
30827 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
30829 @value{GDBN} does not have a command which corresponds to
30830 @samp{-data-list-register-names}. In @code{gdbtk} there is a
30831 corresponding command @samp{gdb_regnames}.
30833 @subsubheading Example
30835 For the PPC MBX board:
30838 -data-list-register-names
30839 ^done,register-names=["r0","r1","r2","r3","r4","r5","r6","r7",
30840 "r8","r9","r10","r11","r12","r13","r14","r15","r16","r17","r18",
30841 "r19","r20","r21","r22","r23","r24","r25","r26","r27","r28","r29",
30842 "r30","r31","f0","f1","f2","f3","f4","f5","f6","f7","f8","f9",
30843 "f10","f11","f12","f13","f14","f15","f16","f17","f18","f19","f20",
30844 "f21","f22","f23","f24","f25","f26","f27","f28","f29","f30","f31",
30845 "", "pc","ps","cr","lr","ctr","xer"]
30847 -data-list-register-names 1 2 3
30848 ^done,register-names=["r1","r2","r3"]
30852 @subheading The @code{-data-list-register-values} Command
30853 @findex -data-list-register-values
30855 @subsubheading Synopsis
30858 -data-list-register-values @var{fmt} [ ( @var{regno} )*]
30861 Display the registers' contents. @var{fmt} is the format according to
30862 which the registers' contents are to be returned, followed by an optional
30863 list of numbers specifying the registers to display. A missing list of
30864 numbers indicates that the contents of all the registers must be returned.
30866 Allowed formats for @var{fmt} are:
30883 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
30885 The corresponding @value{GDBN} commands are @samp{info reg}, @samp{info
30886 all-reg}, and (in @code{gdbtk}) @samp{gdb_fetch_registers}.
30888 @subsubheading Example
30890 For a PPC MBX board (note: line breaks are for readability only, they
30891 don't appear in the actual output):
30895 -data-list-register-values r 64 65
30896 ^done,register-values=[@{number="64",value="0xfe00a300"@},
30897 @{number="65",value="0x00029002"@}]
30899 -data-list-register-values x
30900 ^done,register-values=[@{number="0",value="0xfe0043c8"@},
30901 @{number="1",value="0x3fff88"@},@{number="2",value="0xfffffffe"@},
30902 @{number="3",value="0x0"@},@{number="4",value="0xa"@},
30903 @{number="5",value="0x3fff68"@},@{number="6",value="0x3fff58"@},
30904 @{number="7",value="0xfe011e98"@},@{number="8",value="0x2"@},
30905 @{number="9",value="0xfa202820"@},@{number="10",value="0xfa202808"@},
30906 @{number="11",value="0x1"@},@{number="12",value="0x0"@},
30907 @{number="13",value="0x4544"@},@{number="14",value="0xffdfffff"@},
30908 @{number="15",value="0xffffffff"@},@{number="16",value="0xfffffeff"@},
30909 @{number="17",value="0xefffffed"@},@{number="18",value="0xfffffffe"@},
30910 @{number="19",value="0xffffffff"@},@{number="20",value="0xffffffff"@},
30911 @{number="21",value="0xffffffff"@},@{number="22",value="0xfffffff7"@},
30912 @{number="23",value="0xffffffff"@},@{number="24",value="0xffffffff"@},
30913 @{number="25",value="0xffffffff"@},@{number="26",value="0xfffffffb"@},
30914 @{number="27",value="0xffffffff"@},@{number="28",value="0xf7bfffff"@},
30915 @{number="29",value="0x0"@},@{number="30",value="0xfe010000"@},
30916 @{number="31",value="0x0"@},@{number="32",value="0x0"@},
30917 @{number="33",value="0x0"@},@{number="34",value="0x0"@},
30918 @{number="35",value="0x0"@},@{number="36",value="0x0"@},
30919 @{number="37",value="0x0"@},@{number="38",value="0x0"@},
30920 @{number="39",value="0x0"@},@{number="40",value="0x0"@},
30921 @{number="41",value="0x0"@},@{number="42",value="0x0"@},
30922 @{number="43",value="0x0"@},@{number="44",value="0x0"@},
30923 @{number="45",value="0x0"@},@{number="46",value="0x0"@},
30924 @{number="47",value="0x0"@},@{number="48",value="0x0"@},
30925 @{number="49",value="0x0"@},@{number="50",value="0x0"@},
30926 @{number="51",value="0x0"@},@{number="52",value="0x0"@},
30927 @{number="53",value="0x0"@},@{number="54",value="0x0"@},
30928 @{number="55",value="0x0"@},@{number="56",value="0x0"@},
30929 @{number="57",value="0x0"@},@{number="58",value="0x0"@},
30930 @{number="59",value="0x0"@},@{number="60",value="0x0"@},
30931 @{number="61",value="0x0"@},@{number="62",value="0x0"@},
30932 @{number="63",value="0x0"@},@{number="64",value="0xfe00a300"@},
30933 @{number="65",value="0x29002"@},@{number="66",value="0x202f04b5"@},
30934 @{number="67",value="0xfe0043b0"@},@{number="68",value="0xfe00b3e4"@},
30935 @{number="69",value="0x20002b03"@}]
30940 @subheading The @code{-data-read-memory} Command
30941 @findex -data-read-memory
30943 This command is deprecated, use @code{-data-read-memory-bytes} instead.
30945 @subsubheading Synopsis
30948 -data-read-memory [ -o @var{byte-offset} ]
30949 @var{address} @var{word-format} @var{word-size}
30950 @var{nr-rows} @var{nr-cols} [ @var{aschar} ]
30957 @item @var{address}
30958 An expression specifying the address of the first memory word to be
30959 read. Complex expressions containing embedded white space should be
30960 quoted using the C convention.
30962 @item @var{word-format}
30963 The format to be used to print the memory words. The notation is the
30964 same as for @value{GDBN}'s @code{print} command (@pxref{Output Formats,
30967 @item @var{word-size}
30968 The size of each memory word in bytes.
30970 @item @var{nr-rows}
30971 The number of rows in the output table.
30973 @item @var{nr-cols}
30974 The number of columns in the output table.
30977 If present, indicates that each row should include an @sc{ascii} dump. The
30978 value of @var{aschar} is used as a padding character when a byte is not a
30979 member of the printable @sc{ascii} character set (printable @sc{ascii}
30980 characters are those whose code is between 32 and 126, inclusively).
30982 @item @var{byte-offset}
30983 An offset to add to the @var{address} before fetching memory.
30986 This command displays memory contents as a table of @var{nr-rows} by
30987 @var{nr-cols} words, each word being @var{word-size} bytes. In total,
30988 @code{@var{nr-rows} * @var{nr-cols} * @var{word-size}} bytes are read
30989 (returned as @samp{total-bytes}). Should less than the requested number
30990 of bytes be returned by the target, the missing words are identified
30991 using @samp{N/A}. The number of bytes read from the target is returned
30992 in @samp{nr-bytes} and the starting address used to read memory in
30995 The address of the next/previous row or page is available in
30996 @samp{next-row} and @samp{prev-row}, @samp{next-page} and
30999 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31001 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{x}. @code{gdbtk} has
31002 @samp{gdb_get_mem} memory read command.
31004 @subsubheading Example
31006 Read six bytes of memory starting at @code{bytes+6} but then offset by
31007 @code{-6} bytes. Format as three rows of two columns. One byte per
31008 word. Display each word in hex.
31012 9-data-read-memory -o -6 -- bytes+6 x 1 3 2
31013 9^done,addr="0x00001390",nr-bytes="6",total-bytes="6",
31014 next-row="0x00001396",prev-row="0x0000138e",next-page="0x00001396",
31015 prev-page="0x0000138a",memory=[
31016 @{addr="0x00001390",data=["0x00","0x01"]@},
31017 @{addr="0x00001392",data=["0x02","0x03"]@},
31018 @{addr="0x00001394",data=["0x04","0x05"]@}]
31022 Read two bytes of memory starting at address @code{shorts + 64} and
31023 display as a single word formatted in decimal.
31027 5-data-read-memory shorts+64 d 2 1 1
31028 5^done,addr="0x00001510",nr-bytes="2",total-bytes="2",
31029 next-row="0x00001512",prev-row="0x0000150e",
31030 next-page="0x00001512",prev-page="0x0000150e",memory=[
31031 @{addr="0x00001510",data=["128"]@}]
31035 Read thirty two bytes of memory starting at @code{bytes+16} and format
31036 as eight rows of four columns. Include a string encoding with @samp{x}
31037 used as the non-printable character.
31041 4-data-read-memory bytes+16 x 1 8 4 x
31042 4^done,addr="0x000013a0",nr-bytes="32",total-bytes="32",
31043 next-row="0x000013c0",prev-row="0x0000139c",
31044 next-page="0x000013c0",prev-page="0x00001380",memory=[
31045 @{addr="0x000013a0",data=["0x10","0x11","0x12","0x13"],ascii="xxxx"@},
31046 @{addr="0x000013a4",data=["0x14","0x15","0x16","0x17"],ascii="xxxx"@},
31047 @{addr="0x000013a8",data=["0x18","0x19","0x1a","0x1b"],ascii="xxxx"@},
31048 @{addr="0x000013ac",data=["0x1c","0x1d","0x1e","0x1f"],ascii="xxxx"@},
31049 @{addr="0x000013b0",data=["0x20","0x21","0x22","0x23"],ascii=" !\"#"@},
31050 @{addr="0x000013b4",data=["0x24","0x25","0x26","0x27"],ascii="$%&'"@},
31051 @{addr="0x000013b8",data=["0x28","0x29","0x2a","0x2b"],ascii="()*+"@},
31052 @{addr="0x000013bc",data=["0x2c","0x2d","0x2e","0x2f"],ascii=",-./"@}]
31056 @subheading The @code{-data-read-memory-bytes} Command
31057 @findex -data-read-memory-bytes
31059 @subsubheading Synopsis
31062 -data-read-memory-bytes [ -o @var{byte-offset} ]
31063 @var{address} @var{count}
31070 @item @var{address}
31071 An expression specifying the address of the first memory word to be
31072 read. Complex expressions containing embedded white space should be
31073 quoted using the C convention.
31076 The number of bytes to read. This should be an integer literal.
31078 @item @var{byte-offset}
31079 The offsets in bytes relative to @var{address} at which to start
31080 reading. This should be an integer literal. This option is provided
31081 so that a frontend is not required to first evaluate address and then
31082 perform address arithmetics itself.
31086 This command attempts to read all accessible memory regions in the
31087 specified range. First, all regions marked as unreadable in the memory
31088 map (if one is defined) will be skipped. @xref{Memory Region
31089 Attributes}. Second, @value{GDBN} will attempt to read the remaining
31090 regions. For each one, if reading full region results in an errors,
31091 @value{GDBN} will try to read a subset of the region.
31093 In general, every single byte in the region may be readable or not,
31094 and the only way to read every readable byte is to try a read at
31095 every address, which is not practical. Therefore, @value{GDBN} will
31096 attempt to read all accessible bytes at either beginning or the end
31097 of the region, using a binary division scheme. This heuristic works
31098 well for reading accross a memory map boundary. Note that if a region
31099 has a readable range that is neither at the beginning or the end,
31100 @value{GDBN} will not read it.
31102 The result record (@pxref{GDB/MI Result Records}) that is output of
31103 the command includes a field named @samp{memory} whose content is a
31104 list of tuples. Each tuple represent a successfully read memory block
31105 and has the following fields:
31109 The start address of the memory block, as hexadecimal literal.
31112 The end address of the memory block, as hexadecimal literal.
31115 The offset of the memory block, as hexadecimal literal, relative to
31116 the start address passed to @code{-data-read-memory-bytes}.
31119 The contents of the memory block, in hex.
31125 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31127 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{x}.
31129 @subsubheading Example
31133 -data-read-memory-bytes &a 10
31134 ^done,memory=[@{begin="0xbffff154",offset="0x00000000",
31136 contents="01000000020000000300"@}]
31141 @subheading The @code{-data-write-memory-bytes} Command
31142 @findex -data-write-memory-bytes
31144 @subsubheading Synopsis
31147 -data-write-memory-bytes @var{address} @var{contents}
31154 @item @var{address}
31155 An expression specifying the address of the first memory word to be
31156 read. Complex expressions containing embedded white space should be
31157 quoted using the C convention.
31159 @item @var{contents}
31160 The hex-encoded bytes to write.
31164 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31166 There's no corresponding @value{GDBN} command.
31168 @subsubheading Example
31172 -data-write-memory-bytes &a "aabbccdd"
31178 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
31179 @node GDB/MI Tracepoint Commands
31180 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Tracepoint Commands
31182 The commands defined in this section implement MI support for
31183 tracepoints. For detailed introduction, see @ref{Tracepoints}.
31185 @subheading The @code{-trace-find} Command
31186 @findex -trace-find
31188 @subsubheading Synopsis
31191 -trace-find @var{mode} [@var{parameters}@dots{}]
31194 Find a trace frame using criteria defined by @var{mode} and
31195 @var{parameters}. The following table lists permissible
31196 modes and their parameters. For details of operation, see @ref{tfind}.
31201 No parameters are required. Stops examining trace frames.
31204 An integer is required as parameter. Selects tracepoint frame with
31207 @item tracepoint-number
31208 An integer is required as parameter. Finds next
31209 trace frame that corresponds to tracepoint with the specified number.
31212 An address is required as parameter. Finds
31213 next trace frame that corresponds to any tracepoint at the specified
31216 @item pc-inside-range
31217 Two addresses are required as parameters. Finds next trace
31218 frame that corresponds to a tracepoint at an address inside the
31219 specified range. Both bounds are considered to be inside the range.
31221 @item pc-outside-range
31222 Two addresses are required as parameters. Finds
31223 next trace frame that corresponds to a tracepoint at an address outside
31224 the specified range. Both bounds are considered to be inside the range.
31227 Line specification is required as parameter. @xref{Specify Location}.
31228 Finds next trace frame that corresponds to a tracepoint at
31229 the specified location.
31233 If @samp{none} was passed as @var{mode}, the response does not
31234 have fields. Otherwise, the response may have the following fields:
31238 This field has either @samp{0} or @samp{1} as the value, depending
31239 on whether a matching tracepoint was found.
31242 The index of the found traceframe. This field is present iff
31243 the @samp{found} field has value of @samp{1}.
31246 The index of the found tracepoint. This field is present iff
31247 the @samp{found} field has value of @samp{1}.
31250 The information about the frame corresponding to the found trace
31251 frame. This field is present only if a trace frame was found.
31252 @xref{GDB/MI Frame Information}, for description of this field.
31256 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31258 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{tfind}.
31260 @subheading -trace-define-variable
31261 @findex -trace-define-variable
31263 @subsubheading Synopsis
31266 -trace-define-variable @var{name} [ @var{value} ]
31269 Create trace variable @var{name} if it does not exist. If
31270 @var{value} is specified, sets the initial value of the specified
31271 trace variable to that value. Note that the @var{name} should start
31272 with the @samp{$} character.
31274 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31276 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{tvariable}.
31278 @subheading -trace-list-variables
31279 @findex -trace-list-variables
31281 @subsubheading Synopsis
31284 -trace-list-variables
31287 Return a table of all defined trace variables. Each element of the
31288 table has the following fields:
31292 The name of the trace variable. This field is always present.
31295 The initial value. This is a 64-bit signed integer. This
31296 field is always present.
31299 The value the trace variable has at the moment. This is a 64-bit
31300 signed integer. This field is absent iff current value is
31301 not defined, for example if the trace was never run, or is
31306 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31308 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{tvariables}.
31310 @subsubheading Example
31314 -trace-list-variables
31315 ^done,trace-variables=@{nr_rows="1",nr_cols="3",
31316 hdr=[@{width="15",alignment="-1",col_name="name",colhdr="Name"@},
31317 @{width="11",alignment="-1",col_name="initial",colhdr="Initial"@},
31318 @{width="11",alignment="-1",col_name="current",colhdr="Current"@}],
31319 body=[variable=@{name="$trace_timestamp",initial="0"@}
31320 variable=@{name="$foo",initial="10",current="15"@}]@}
31324 @subheading -trace-save
31325 @findex -trace-save
31327 @subsubheading Synopsis
31330 -trace-save [-r ] @var{filename}
31333 Saves the collected trace data to @var{filename}. Without the
31334 @samp{-r} option, the data is downloaded from the target and saved
31335 in a local file. With the @samp{-r} option the target is asked
31336 to perform the save.
31338 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31340 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{tsave}.
31343 @subheading -trace-start
31344 @findex -trace-start
31346 @subsubheading Synopsis
31352 Starts a tracing experiments. The result of this command does not
31355 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31357 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{tstart}.
31359 @subheading -trace-status
31360 @findex -trace-status
31362 @subsubheading Synopsis
31368 Obtains the status of a tracing experiment. The result may include
31369 the following fields:
31374 May have a value of either @samp{0}, when no tracing operations are
31375 supported, @samp{1}, when all tracing operations are supported, or
31376 @samp{file} when examining trace file. In the latter case, examining
31377 of trace frame is possible but new tracing experiement cannot be
31378 started. This field is always present.
31381 May have a value of either @samp{0} or @samp{1} depending on whether
31382 tracing experiement is in progress on target. This field is present
31383 if @samp{supported} field is not @samp{0}.
31386 Report the reason why the tracing was stopped last time. This field
31387 may be absent iff tracing was never stopped on target yet. The
31388 value of @samp{request} means the tracing was stopped as result of
31389 the @code{-trace-stop} command. The value of @samp{overflow} means
31390 the tracing buffer is full. The value of @samp{disconnection} means
31391 tracing was automatically stopped when @value{GDBN} has disconnected.
31392 The value of @samp{passcount} means tracing was stopped when a
31393 tracepoint was passed a maximal number of times for that tracepoint.
31394 This field is present if @samp{supported} field is not @samp{0}.
31396 @item stopping-tracepoint
31397 The number of tracepoint whose passcount as exceeded. This field is
31398 present iff the @samp{stop-reason} field has the value of
31402 @itemx frames-created
31403 The @samp{frames} field is a count of the total number of trace frames
31404 in the trace buffer, while @samp{frames-created} is the total created
31405 during the run, including ones that were discarded, such as when a
31406 circular trace buffer filled up. Both fields are optional.
31410 These fields tell the current size of the tracing buffer and the
31411 remaining space. These fields are optional.
31414 The value of the circular trace buffer flag. @code{1} means that the
31415 trace buffer is circular and old trace frames will be discarded if
31416 necessary to make room, @code{0} means that the trace buffer is linear
31420 The value of the disconnected tracing flag. @code{1} means that
31421 tracing will continue after @value{GDBN} disconnects, @code{0} means
31422 that the trace run will stop.
31426 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31428 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{tstatus}.
31430 @subheading -trace-stop
31431 @findex -trace-stop
31433 @subsubheading Synopsis
31439 Stops a tracing experiment. The result of this command has the same
31440 fields as @code{-trace-status}, except that the @samp{supported} and
31441 @samp{running} fields are not output.
31443 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31445 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{tstop}.
31448 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
31449 @node GDB/MI Symbol Query
31450 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Symbol Query Commands
31454 @subheading The @code{-symbol-info-address} Command
31455 @findex -symbol-info-address
31457 @subsubheading Synopsis
31460 -symbol-info-address @var{symbol}
31463 Describe where @var{symbol} is stored.
31465 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31467 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info address}.
31469 @subsubheading Example
31473 @subheading The @code{-symbol-info-file} Command
31474 @findex -symbol-info-file
31476 @subsubheading Synopsis
31482 Show the file for the symbol.
31484 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31486 There's no equivalent @value{GDBN} command. @code{gdbtk} has
31487 @samp{gdb_find_file}.
31489 @subsubheading Example
31493 @subheading The @code{-symbol-info-function} Command
31494 @findex -symbol-info-function
31496 @subsubheading Synopsis
31499 -symbol-info-function
31502 Show which function the symbol lives in.
31504 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31506 @samp{gdb_get_function} in @code{gdbtk}.
31508 @subsubheading Example
31512 @subheading The @code{-symbol-info-line} Command
31513 @findex -symbol-info-line
31515 @subsubheading Synopsis
31521 Show the core addresses of the code for a source line.
31523 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31525 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info line}.
31526 @code{gdbtk} has the @samp{gdb_get_line} and @samp{gdb_get_file} commands.
31528 @subsubheading Example
31532 @subheading The @code{-symbol-info-symbol} Command
31533 @findex -symbol-info-symbol
31535 @subsubheading Synopsis
31538 -symbol-info-symbol @var{addr}
31541 Describe what symbol is at location @var{addr}.
31543 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31545 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info symbol}.
31547 @subsubheading Example
31551 @subheading The @code{-symbol-list-functions} Command
31552 @findex -symbol-list-functions
31554 @subsubheading Synopsis
31557 -symbol-list-functions
31560 List the functions in the executable.
31562 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31564 @samp{info functions} in @value{GDBN}, @samp{gdb_listfunc} and
31565 @samp{gdb_search} in @code{gdbtk}.
31567 @subsubheading Example
31572 @subheading The @code{-symbol-list-lines} Command
31573 @findex -symbol-list-lines
31575 @subsubheading Synopsis
31578 -symbol-list-lines @var{filename}
31581 Print the list of lines that contain code and their associated program
31582 addresses for the given source filename. The entries are sorted in
31583 ascending PC order.
31585 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31587 There is no corresponding @value{GDBN} command.
31589 @subsubheading Example
31592 -symbol-list-lines basics.c
31593 ^done,lines=[@{pc="0x08048554",line="7"@},@{pc="0x0804855a",line="8"@}]
31599 @subheading The @code{-symbol-list-types} Command
31600 @findex -symbol-list-types
31602 @subsubheading Synopsis
31608 List all the type names.
31610 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31612 The corresponding commands are @samp{info types} in @value{GDBN},
31613 @samp{gdb_search} in @code{gdbtk}.
31615 @subsubheading Example
31619 @subheading The @code{-symbol-list-variables} Command
31620 @findex -symbol-list-variables
31622 @subsubheading Synopsis
31625 -symbol-list-variables
31628 List all the global and static variable names.
31630 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31632 @samp{info variables} in @value{GDBN}, @samp{gdb_search} in @code{gdbtk}.
31634 @subsubheading Example
31638 @subheading The @code{-symbol-locate} Command
31639 @findex -symbol-locate
31641 @subsubheading Synopsis
31647 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31649 @samp{gdb_loc} in @code{gdbtk}.
31651 @subsubheading Example
31655 @subheading The @code{-symbol-type} Command
31656 @findex -symbol-type
31658 @subsubheading Synopsis
31661 -symbol-type @var{variable}
31664 Show type of @var{variable}.
31666 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31668 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{ptype}, @code{gdbtk} has
31669 @samp{gdb_obj_variable}.
31671 @subsubheading Example
31676 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
31677 @node GDB/MI File Commands
31678 @section @sc{gdb/mi} File Commands
31680 This section describes the GDB/MI commands to specify executable file names
31681 and to read in and obtain symbol table information.
31683 @subheading The @code{-file-exec-and-symbols} Command
31684 @findex -file-exec-and-symbols
31686 @subsubheading Synopsis
31689 -file-exec-and-symbols @var{file}
31692 Specify the executable file to be debugged. This file is the one from
31693 which the symbol table is also read. If no file is specified, the
31694 command clears the executable and symbol information. If breakpoints
31695 are set when using this command with no arguments, @value{GDBN} will produce
31696 error messages. Otherwise, no output is produced, except a completion
31699 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31701 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{file}.
31703 @subsubheading Example
31707 -file-exec-and-symbols /kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/TRUNK/mbx/hello.mbx
31713 @subheading The @code{-file-exec-file} Command
31714 @findex -file-exec-file
31716 @subsubheading Synopsis
31719 -file-exec-file @var{file}
31722 Specify the executable file to be debugged. Unlike
31723 @samp{-file-exec-and-symbols}, the symbol table is @emph{not} read
31724 from this file. If used without argument, @value{GDBN} clears the information
31725 about the executable file. No output is produced, except a completion
31728 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31730 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{exec-file}.
31732 @subsubheading Example
31736 -file-exec-file /kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/TRUNK/mbx/hello.mbx
31743 @subheading The @code{-file-list-exec-sections} Command
31744 @findex -file-list-exec-sections
31746 @subsubheading Synopsis
31749 -file-list-exec-sections
31752 List the sections of the current executable file.
31754 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31756 The @value{GDBN} command @samp{info file} shows, among the rest, the same
31757 information as this command. @code{gdbtk} has a corresponding command
31758 @samp{gdb_load_info}.
31760 @subsubheading Example
31765 @subheading The @code{-file-list-exec-source-file} Command
31766 @findex -file-list-exec-source-file
31768 @subsubheading Synopsis
31771 -file-list-exec-source-file
31774 List the line number, the current source file, and the absolute path
31775 to the current source file for the current executable. The macro
31776 information field has a value of @samp{1} or @samp{0} depending on
31777 whether or not the file includes preprocessor macro information.
31779 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31781 The @value{GDBN} equivalent is @samp{info source}
31783 @subsubheading Example
31787 123-file-list-exec-source-file
31788 123^done,line="1",file="foo.c",fullname="/home/bar/foo.c,macro-info="1"
31793 @subheading The @code{-file-list-exec-source-files} Command
31794 @findex -file-list-exec-source-files
31796 @subsubheading Synopsis
31799 -file-list-exec-source-files
31802 List the source files for the current executable.
31804 It will always output the filename, but only when @value{GDBN} can find
31805 the absolute file name of a source file, will it output the fullname.
31807 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31809 The @value{GDBN} equivalent is @samp{info sources}.
31810 @code{gdbtk} has an analogous command @samp{gdb_listfiles}.
31812 @subsubheading Example
31815 -file-list-exec-source-files
31817 @{file=foo.c,fullname=/home/foo.c@},
31818 @{file=/home/bar.c,fullname=/home/bar.c@},
31819 @{file=gdb_could_not_find_fullpath.c@}]
31824 @subheading The @code{-file-list-shared-libraries} Command
31825 @findex -file-list-shared-libraries
31827 @subsubheading Synopsis
31830 -file-list-shared-libraries
31833 List the shared libraries in the program.
31835 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31837 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info shared}.
31839 @subsubheading Example
31843 @subheading The @code{-file-list-symbol-files} Command
31844 @findex -file-list-symbol-files
31846 @subsubheading Synopsis
31849 -file-list-symbol-files
31854 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31856 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info file} (part of it).
31858 @subsubheading Example
31863 @subheading The @code{-file-symbol-file} Command
31864 @findex -file-symbol-file
31866 @subsubheading Synopsis
31869 -file-symbol-file @var{file}
31872 Read symbol table info from the specified @var{file} argument. When
31873 used without arguments, clears @value{GDBN}'s symbol table info. No output is
31874 produced, except for a completion notification.
31876 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31878 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{symbol-file}.
31880 @subsubheading Example
31884 -file-symbol-file /kwikemart/marge/ezannoni/TRUNK/mbx/hello.mbx
31890 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
31891 @node GDB/MI Memory Overlay Commands
31892 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Memory Overlay Commands
31894 The memory overlay commands are not implemented.
31896 @c @subheading -overlay-auto
31898 @c @subheading -overlay-list-mapping-state
31900 @c @subheading -overlay-list-overlays
31902 @c @subheading -overlay-map
31904 @c @subheading -overlay-off
31906 @c @subheading -overlay-on
31908 @c @subheading -overlay-unmap
31910 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
31911 @node GDB/MI Signal Handling Commands
31912 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Signal Handling Commands
31914 Signal handling commands are not implemented.
31916 @c @subheading -signal-handle
31918 @c @subheading -signal-list-handle-actions
31920 @c @subheading -signal-list-signal-types
31924 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
31925 @node GDB/MI Target Manipulation
31926 @section @sc{gdb/mi} Target Manipulation Commands
31929 @subheading The @code{-target-attach} Command
31930 @findex -target-attach
31932 @subsubheading Synopsis
31935 -target-attach @var{pid} | @var{gid} | @var{file}
31938 Attach to a process @var{pid} or a file @var{file} outside of
31939 @value{GDBN}, or a thread group @var{gid}. If attaching to a thread
31940 group, the id previously returned by
31941 @samp{-list-thread-groups --available} must be used.
31943 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31945 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{attach}.
31947 @subsubheading Example
31951 =thread-created,id="1"
31952 *stopped,thread-id="1",frame=@{addr="0xb7f7e410",func="bar",args=[]@}
31958 @subheading The @code{-target-compare-sections} Command
31959 @findex -target-compare-sections
31961 @subsubheading Synopsis
31964 -target-compare-sections [ @var{section} ]
31967 Compare data of section @var{section} on target to the exec file.
31968 Without the argument, all sections are compared.
31970 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31972 The @value{GDBN} equivalent is @samp{compare-sections}.
31974 @subsubheading Example
31979 @subheading The @code{-target-detach} Command
31980 @findex -target-detach
31982 @subsubheading Synopsis
31985 -target-detach [ @var{pid} | @var{gid} ]
31988 Detach from the remote target which normally resumes its execution.
31989 If either @var{pid} or @var{gid} is specified, detaches from either
31990 the specified process, or specified thread group. There's no output.
31992 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
31994 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{detach}.
31996 @subsubheading Example
32006 @subheading The @code{-target-disconnect} Command
32007 @findex -target-disconnect
32009 @subsubheading Synopsis
32015 Disconnect from the remote target. There's no output and the target is
32016 generally not resumed.
32018 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32020 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{disconnect}.
32022 @subsubheading Example
32032 @subheading The @code{-target-download} Command
32033 @findex -target-download
32035 @subsubheading Synopsis
32041 Loads the executable onto the remote target.
32042 It prints out an update message every half second, which includes the fields:
32046 The name of the section.
32048 The size of what has been sent so far for that section.
32050 The size of the section.
32052 The total size of what was sent so far (the current and the previous sections).
32054 The size of the overall executable to download.
32058 Each message is sent as status record (@pxref{GDB/MI Output Syntax, ,
32059 @sc{gdb/mi} Output Syntax}).
32061 In addition, it prints the name and size of the sections, as they are
32062 downloaded. These messages include the following fields:
32066 The name of the section.
32068 The size of the section.
32070 The size of the overall executable to download.
32074 At the end, a summary is printed.
32076 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32078 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{load}.
32080 @subsubheading Example
32082 Note: each status message appears on a single line. Here the messages
32083 have been broken down so that they can fit onto a page.
32088 +download,@{section=".text",section-size="6668",total-size="9880"@}
32089 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="512",section-size="6668",
32090 total-sent="512",total-size="9880"@}
32091 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="1024",section-size="6668",
32092 total-sent="1024",total-size="9880"@}
32093 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="1536",section-size="6668",
32094 total-sent="1536",total-size="9880"@}
32095 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="2048",section-size="6668",
32096 total-sent="2048",total-size="9880"@}
32097 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="2560",section-size="6668",
32098 total-sent="2560",total-size="9880"@}
32099 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="3072",section-size="6668",
32100 total-sent="3072",total-size="9880"@}
32101 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="3584",section-size="6668",
32102 total-sent="3584",total-size="9880"@}
32103 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="4096",section-size="6668",
32104 total-sent="4096",total-size="9880"@}
32105 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="4608",section-size="6668",
32106 total-sent="4608",total-size="9880"@}
32107 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="5120",section-size="6668",
32108 total-sent="5120",total-size="9880"@}
32109 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="5632",section-size="6668",
32110 total-sent="5632",total-size="9880"@}
32111 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="6144",section-size="6668",
32112 total-sent="6144",total-size="9880"@}
32113 +download,@{section=".text",section-sent="6656",section-size="6668",
32114 total-sent="6656",total-size="9880"@}
32115 +download,@{section=".init",section-size="28",total-size="9880"@}
32116 +download,@{section=".fini",section-size="28",total-size="9880"@}
32117 +download,@{section=".data",section-size="3156",total-size="9880"@}
32118 +download,@{section=".data",section-sent="512",section-size="3156",
32119 total-sent="7236",total-size="9880"@}
32120 +download,@{section=".data",section-sent="1024",section-size="3156",
32121 total-sent="7748",total-size="9880"@}
32122 +download,@{section=".data",section-sent="1536",section-size="3156",
32123 total-sent="8260",total-size="9880"@}
32124 +download,@{section=".data",section-sent="2048",section-size="3156",
32125 total-sent="8772",total-size="9880"@}
32126 +download,@{section=".data",section-sent="2560",section-size="3156",
32127 total-sent="9284",total-size="9880"@}
32128 +download,@{section=".data",section-sent="3072",section-size="3156",
32129 total-sent="9796",total-size="9880"@}
32130 ^done,address="0x10004",load-size="9880",transfer-rate="6586",
32137 @subheading The @code{-target-exec-status} Command
32138 @findex -target-exec-status
32140 @subsubheading Synopsis
32143 -target-exec-status
32146 Provide information on the state of the target (whether it is running or
32147 not, for instance).
32149 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32151 There's no equivalent @value{GDBN} command.
32153 @subsubheading Example
32157 @subheading The @code{-target-list-available-targets} Command
32158 @findex -target-list-available-targets
32160 @subsubheading Synopsis
32163 -target-list-available-targets
32166 List the possible targets to connect to.
32168 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32170 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{help target}.
32172 @subsubheading Example
32176 @subheading The @code{-target-list-current-targets} Command
32177 @findex -target-list-current-targets
32179 @subsubheading Synopsis
32182 -target-list-current-targets
32185 Describe the current target.
32187 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32189 The corresponding information is printed by @samp{info file} (among
32192 @subsubheading Example
32196 @subheading The @code{-target-list-parameters} Command
32197 @findex -target-list-parameters
32199 @subsubheading Synopsis
32202 -target-list-parameters
32208 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32212 @subsubheading Example
32216 @subheading The @code{-target-select} Command
32217 @findex -target-select
32219 @subsubheading Synopsis
32222 -target-select @var{type} @var{parameters @dots{}}
32225 Connect @value{GDBN} to the remote target. This command takes two args:
32229 The type of target, for instance @samp{remote}, etc.
32230 @item @var{parameters}
32231 Device names, host names and the like. @xref{Target Commands, ,
32232 Commands for Managing Targets}, for more details.
32235 The output is a connection notification, followed by the address at
32236 which the target program is, in the following form:
32239 ^connected,addr="@var{address}",func="@var{function name}",
32240 args=[@var{arg list}]
32243 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32245 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{target}.
32247 @subsubheading Example
32251 -target-select remote /dev/ttya
32252 ^connected,addr="0xfe00a300",func="??",args=[]
32256 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
32257 @node GDB/MI File Transfer Commands
32258 @section @sc{gdb/mi} File Transfer Commands
32261 @subheading The @code{-target-file-put} Command
32262 @findex -target-file-put
32264 @subsubheading Synopsis
32267 -target-file-put @var{hostfile} @var{targetfile}
32270 Copy file @var{hostfile} from the host system (the machine running
32271 @value{GDBN}) to @var{targetfile} on the target system.
32273 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32275 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{remote put}.
32277 @subsubheading Example
32281 -target-file-put localfile remotefile
32287 @subheading The @code{-target-file-get} Command
32288 @findex -target-file-get
32290 @subsubheading Synopsis
32293 -target-file-get @var{targetfile} @var{hostfile}
32296 Copy file @var{targetfile} from the target system to @var{hostfile}
32297 on the host system.
32299 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32301 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{remote get}.
32303 @subsubheading Example
32307 -target-file-get remotefile localfile
32313 @subheading The @code{-target-file-delete} Command
32314 @findex -target-file-delete
32316 @subsubheading Synopsis
32319 -target-file-delete @var{targetfile}
32322 Delete @var{targetfile} from the target system.
32324 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32326 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{remote delete}.
32328 @subsubheading Example
32332 -target-file-delete remotefile
32338 @c %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% SECTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
32339 @node GDB/MI Miscellaneous Commands
32340 @section Miscellaneous @sc{gdb/mi} Commands
32342 @c @subheading -gdb-complete
32344 @subheading The @code{-gdb-exit} Command
32347 @subsubheading Synopsis
32353 Exit @value{GDBN} immediately.
32355 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32357 Approximately corresponds to @samp{quit}.
32359 @subsubheading Example
32369 @subheading The @code{-exec-abort} Command
32370 @findex -exec-abort
32372 @subsubheading Synopsis
32378 Kill the inferior running program.
32380 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32382 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{kill}.
32384 @subsubheading Example
32389 @subheading The @code{-gdb-set} Command
32392 @subsubheading Synopsis
32398 Set an internal @value{GDBN} variable.
32399 @c IS THIS A DOLLAR VARIABLE? OR SOMETHING LIKE ANNOTATE ?????
32401 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32403 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{set}.
32405 @subsubheading Example
32415 @subheading The @code{-gdb-show} Command
32418 @subsubheading Synopsis
32424 Show the current value of a @value{GDBN} variable.
32426 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32428 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{show}.
32430 @subsubheading Example
32439 @c @subheading -gdb-source
32442 @subheading The @code{-gdb-version} Command
32443 @findex -gdb-version
32445 @subsubheading Synopsis
32451 Show version information for @value{GDBN}. Used mostly in testing.
32453 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32455 The @value{GDBN} equivalent is @samp{show version}. @value{GDBN} by
32456 default shows this information when you start an interactive session.
32458 @subsubheading Example
32460 @c This example modifies the actual output from GDB to avoid overfull
32466 ~Copyright 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
32467 ~GDB is free software, covered by the GNU General Public License, and
32468 ~you are welcome to change it and/or distribute copies of it under
32469 ~ certain conditions.
32470 ~Type "show copying" to see the conditions.
32471 ~There is absolutely no warranty for GDB. Type "show warranty" for
32473 ~This GDB was configured as
32474 "--host=sparc-sun-solaris2.5.1 --target=ppc-eabi".
32479 @subheading The @code{-list-features} Command
32480 @findex -list-features
32482 Returns a list of particular features of the MI protocol that
32483 this version of gdb implements. A feature can be a command,
32484 or a new field in an output of some command, or even an
32485 important bugfix. While a frontend can sometimes detect presence
32486 of a feature at runtime, it is easier to perform detection at debugger
32489 The command returns a list of strings, with each string naming an
32490 available feature. Each returned string is just a name, it does not
32491 have any internal structure. The list of possible feature names
32497 (gdb) -list-features
32498 ^done,result=["feature1","feature2"]
32501 The current list of features is:
32504 @item frozen-varobjs
32505 Indicates support for the @code{-var-set-frozen} command, as well
32506 as possible presense of the @code{frozen} field in the output
32507 of @code{-varobj-create}.
32508 @item pending-breakpoints
32509 Indicates support for the @option{-f} option to the @code{-break-insert}
32512 Indicates Python scripting support, Python-based
32513 pretty-printing commands, and possible presence of the
32514 @samp{display_hint} field in the output of @code{-var-list-children}
32516 Indicates support for the @code{-thread-info} command.
32517 @item data-read-memory-bytes
32518 Indicates support for the @code{-data-read-memory-bytes} and the
32519 @code{-data-write-memory-bytes} commands.
32520 @item breakpoint-notifications
32521 Indicates that changes to breakpoints and breakpoints created via the
32522 CLI will be announced via async records.
32523 @item ada-task-info
32524 Indicates support for the @code{-ada-task-info} command.
32527 @subheading The @code{-list-target-features} Command
32528 @findex -list-target-features
32530 Returns a list of particular features that are supported by the
32531 target. Those features affect the permitted MI commands, but
32532 unlike the features reported by the @code{-list-features} command, the
32533 features depend on which target GDB is using at the moment. Whenever
32534 a target can change, due to commands such as @code{-target-select},
32535 @code{-target-attach} or @code{-exec-run}, the list of target features
32536 may change, and the frontend should obtain it again.
32540 (gdb) -list-features
32541 ^done,result=["async"]
32544 The current list of features is:
32548 Indicates that the target is capable of asynchronous command
32549 execution, which means that @value{GDBN} will accept further commands
32550 while the target is running.
32553 Indicates that the target is capable of reverse execution.
32554 @xref{Reverse Execution}, for more information.
32558 @subheading The @code{-list-thread-groups} Command
32559 @findex -list-thread-groups
32561 @subheading Synopsis
32564 -list-thread-groups [ --available ] [ --recurse 1 ] [ @var{group} ... ]
32567 Lists thread groups (@pxref{Thread groups}). When a single thread
32568 group is passed as the argument, lists the children of that group.
32569 When several thread group are passed, lists information about those
32570 thread groups. Without any parameters, lists information about all
32571 top-level thread groups.
32573 Normally, thread groups that are being debugged are reported.
32574 With the @samp{--available} option, @value{GDBN} reports thread groups
32575 available on the target.
32577 The output of this command may have either a @samp{threads} result or
32578 a @samp{groups} result. The @samp{thread} result has a list of tuples
32579 as value, with each tuple describing a thread (@pxref{GDB/MI Thread
32580 Information}). The @samp{groups} result has a list of tuples as value,
32581 each tuple describing a thread group. If top-level groups are
32582 requested (that is, no parameter is passed), or when several groups
32583 are passed, the output always has a @samp{groups} result. The format
32584 of the @samp{group} result is described below.
32586 To reduce the number of roundtrips it's possible to list thread groups
32587 together with their children, by passing the @samp{--recurse} option
32588 and the recursion depth. Presently, only recursion depth of 1 is
32589 permitted. If this option is present, then every reported thread group
32590 will also include its children, either as @samp{group} or
32591 @samp{threads} field.
32593 In general, any combination of option and parameters is permitted, with
32594 the following caveats:
32598 When a single thread group is passed, the output will typically
32599 be the @samp{threads} result. Because threads may not contain
32600 anything, the @samp{recurse} option will be ignored.
32603 When the @samp{--available} option is passed, limited information may
32604 be available. In particular, the list of threads of a process might
32605 be inaccessible. Further, specifying specific thread groups might
32606 not give any performance advantage over listing all thread groups.
32607 The frontend should assume that @samp{-list-thread-groups --available}
32608 is always an expensive operation and cache the results.
32612 The @samp{groups} result is a list of tuples, where each tuple may
32613 have the following fields:
32617 Identifier of the thread group. This field is always present.
32618 The identifier is an opaque string; frontends should not try to
32619 convert it to an integer, even though it might look like one.
32622 The type of the thread group. At present, only @samp{process} is a
32626 The target-specific process identifier. This field is only present
32627 for thread groups of type @samp{process} and only if the process exists.
32630 The number of children this thread group has. This field may be
32631 absent for an available thread group.
32634 This field has a list of tuples as value, each tuple describing a
32635 thread. It may be present if the @samp{--recurse} option is
32636 specified, and it's actually possible to obtain the threads.
32639 This field is a list of integers, each identifying a core that one
32640 thread of the group is running on. This field may be absent if
32641 such information is not available.
32644 The name of the executable file that corresponds to this thread group.
32645 The field is only present for thread groups of type @samp{process},
32646 and only if there is a corresponding executable file.
32650 @subheading Example
32654 -list-thread-groups
32655 ^done,groups=[@{id="17",type="process",pid="yyy",num_children="2"@}]
32656 -list-thread-groups 17
32657 ^done,threads=[@{id="2",target-id="Thread 0xb7e14b90 (LWP 21257)",
32658 frame=@{level="0",addr="0xffffe410",func="__kernel_vsyscall",args=[]@},state="running"@},
32659 @{id="1",target-id="Thread 0xb7e156b0 (LWP 21254)",
32660 frame=@{level="0",addr="0x0804891f",func="foo",args=[@{name="i",value="10"@}],
32661 file="/tmp/a.c",fullname="/tmp/a.c",line="158"@},state="running"@}]]
32662 -list-thread-groups --available
32663 ^done,groups=[@{id="17",type="process",pid="yyy",num_children="2",cores=[1,2]@}]
32664 -list-thread-groups --available --recurse 1
32665 ^done,groups=[@{id="17", types="process",pid="yyy",num_children="2",cores=[1,2],
32666 threads=[@{id="1",target-id="Thread 0xb7e14b90",cores=[1]@},
32667 @{id="2",target-id="Thread 0xb7e14b90",cores=[2]@}]@},..]
32668 -list-thread-groups --available --recurse 1 17 18
32669 ^done,groups=[@{id="17", types="process",pid="yyy",num_children="2",cores=[1,2],
32670 threads=[@{id="1",target-id="Thread 0xb7e14b90",cores=[1]@},
32671 @{id="2",target-id="Thread 0xb7e14b90",cores=[2]@}]@},...]
32674 @subheading The @code{-info-os} Command
32677 @subsubheading Synopsis
32680 -info-os [ @var{type} ]
32683 If no argument is supplied, the command returns a table of available
32684 operating-system-specific information types. If one of these types is
32685 supplied as an argument @var{type}, then the command returns a table
32686 of data of that type.
32688 The types of information available depend on the target operating
32691 @subsubheading @value{GDBN} Command
32693 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{info os}.
32695 @subsubheading Example
32697 When run on a @sc{gnu}/Linux system, the output will look something
32703 ^done,OSDataTable=@{nr_rows="9",nr_cols="3",
32704 hdr=[@{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="col0",colhdr="Type"@},
32705 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="col1",colhdr="Description"@},
32706 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="col2",colhdr="Title"@}],
32707 body=[item=@{col0="processes",col1="Listing of all processes",
32708 col2="Processes"@},
32709 item=@{col0="procgroups",col1="Listing of all process groups",
32710 col2="Process groups"@},
32711 item=@{col0="threads",col1="Listing of all threads",
32713 item=@{col0="files",col1="Listing of all file descriptors",
32714 col2="File descriptors"@},
32715 item=@{col0="sockets",col1="Listing of all internet-domain sockets",
32717 item=@{col0="shm",col1="Listing of all shared-memory regions",
32718 col2="Shared-memory regions"@},
32719 item=@{col0="semaphores",col1="Listing of all semaphores",
32720 col2="Semaphores"@},
32721 item=@{col0="msg",col1="Listing of all message queues",
32722 col2="Message queues"@},
32723 item=@{col0="modules",col1="Listing of all loaded kernel modules",
32724 col2="Kernel modules"@}]@}
32727 ^done,OSDataTable=@{nr_rows="190",nr_cols="4",
32728 hdr=[@{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="col0",colhdr="pid"@},
32729 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="col1",colhdr="user"@},
32730 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="col2",colhdr="command"@},
32731 @{width="10",alignment="-1",col_name="col3",colhdr="cores"@}],
32732 body=[item=@{col0="1",col1="root",col2="/sbin/init",col3="0"@},
32733 item=@{col0="2",col1="root",col2="[kthreadd]",col3="1"@},
32734 item=@{col0="3",col1="root",col2="[ksoftirqd/0]",col3="0"@},
32736 item=@{col0="26446",col1="stan",col2="bash",col3="0"@},
32737 item=@{col0="28152",col1="stan",col2="bash",col3="1"@}]@}
32741 (Note that the MI output here includes a @code{"Title"} column that
32742 does not appear in command-line @code{info os}; this column is useful
32743 for MI clients that want to enumerate the types of data, such as in a
32744 popup menu, but is needless clutter on the command line, and
32745 @code{info os} omits it.)
32747 @subheading The @code{-add-inferior} Command
32748 @findex -add-inferior
32750 @subheading Synopsis
32756 Creates a new inferior (@pxref{Inferiors and Programs}). The created
32757 inferior is not associated with any executable. Such association may
32758 be established with the @samp{-file-exec-and-symbols} command
32759 (@pxref{GDB/MI File Commands}). The command response has a single
32760 field, @samp{thread-group}, whose value is the identifier of the
32761 thread group corresponding to the new inferior.
32763 @subheading Example
32768 ^done,thread-group="i3"
32771 @subheading The @code{-interpreter-exec} Command
32772 @findex -interpreter-exec
32774 @subheading Synopsis
32777 -interpreter-exec @var{interpreter} @var{command}
32779 @anchor{-interpreter-exec}
32781 Execute the specified @var{command} in the given @var{interpreter}.
32783 @subheading @value{GDBN} Command
32785 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{interpreter-exec}.
32787 @subheading Example
32791 -interpreter-exec console "break main"
32792 &"During symbol reading, couldn't parse type; debugger out of date?.\n"
32793 &"During symbol reading, bad structure-type format.\n"
32794 ~"Breakpoint 1 at 0x8074fc6: file ../../src/gdb/main.c, line 743.\n"
32799 @subheading The @code{-inferior-tty-set} Command
32800 @findex -inferior-tty-set
32802 @subheading Synopsis
32805 -inferior-tty-set /dev/pts/1
32808 Set terminal for future runs of the program being debugged.
32810 @subheading @value{GDBN} Command
32812 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{set inferior-tty} /dev/pts/1.
32814 @subheading Example
32818 -inferior-tty-set /dev/pts/1
32823 @subheading The @code{-inferior-tty-show} Command
32824 @findex -inferior-tty-show
32826 @subheading Synopsis
32832 Show terminal for future runs of program being debugged.
32834 @subheading @value{GDBN} Command
32836 The corresponding @value{GDBN} command is @samp{show inferior-tty}.
32838 @subheading Example
32842 -inferior-tty-set /dev/pts/1
32846 ^done,inferior_tty_terminal="/dev/pts/1"
32850 @subheading The @code{-enable-timings} Command
32851 @findex -enable-timings
32853 @subheading Synopsis
32856 -enable-timings [yes | no]
32859 Toggle the printing of the wallclock, user and system times for an MI
32860 command as a field in its output. This command is to help frontend
32861 developers optimize the performance of their code. No argument is
32862 equivalent to @samp{yes}.
32864 @subheading @value{GDBN} Command
32868 @subheading Example
32876 ^done,bkpt=@{number="1",type="breakpoint",disp="keep",enabled="y",
32877 addr="0x080484ed",func="main",file="myprog.c",
32878 fullname="/home/nickrob/myprog.c",line="73",times="0"@},
32879 time=@{wallclock="0.05185",user="0.00800",system="0.00000"@}
32887 *stopped,reason="breakpoint-hit",disp="keep",bkptno="1",thread-id="0",
32888 frame=@{addr="0x080484ed",func="main",args=[@{name="argc",value="1"@},
32889 @{name="argv",value="0xbfb60364"@}],file="myprog.c",
32890 fullname="/home/nickrob/myprog.c",line="73"@}
32895 @chapter @value{GDBN} Annotations
32897 This chapter describes annotations in @value{GDBN}. Annotations were
32898 designed to interface @value{GDBN} to graphical user interfaces or other
32899 similar programs which want to interact with @value{GDBN} at a
32900 relatively high level.
32902 The annotation mechanism has largely been superseded by @sc{gdb/mi}
32906 This is Edition @value{EDITION}, @value{DATE}.
32910 * Annotations Overview:: What annotations are; the general syntax.
32911 * Server Prefix:: Issuing a command without affecting user state.
32912 * Prompting:: Annotations marking @value{GDBN}'s need for input.
32913 * Errors:: Annotations for error messages.
32914 * Invalidation:: Some annotations describe things now invalid.
32915 * Annotations for Running::
32916 Whether the program is running, how it stopped, etc.
32917 * Source Annotations:: Annotations describing source code.
32920 @node Annotations Overview
32921 @section What is an Annotation?
32922 @cindex annotations
32924 Annotations start with a newline character, two @samp{control-z}
32925 characters, and the name of the annotation. If there is no additional
32926 information associated with this annotation, the name of the annotation
32927 is followed immediately by a newline. If there is additional
32928 information, the name of the annotation is followed by a space, the
32929 additional information, and a newline. The additional information
32930 cannot contain newline characters.
32932 Any output not beginning with a newline and two @samp{control-z}
32933 characters denotes literal output from @value{GDBN}. Currently there is
32934 no need for @value{GDBN} to output a newline followed by two
32935 @samp{control-z} characters, but if there was such a need, the
32936 annotations could be extended with an @samp{escape} annotation which
32937 means those three characters as output.
32939 The annotation @var{level}, which is specified using the
32940 @option{--annotate} command line option (@pxref{Mode Options}), controls
32941 how much information @value{GDBN} prints together with its prompt,
32942 values of expressions, source lines, and other types of output. Level 0
32943 is for no annotations, level 1 is for use when @value{GDBN} is run as a
32944 subprocess of @sc{gnu} Emacs, level 3 is the maximum annotation suitable
32945 for programs that control @value{GDBN}, and level 2 annotations have
32946 been made obsolete (@pxref{Limitations, , Limitations of the Annotation
32947 Interface, annotate, GDB's Obsolete Annotations}).
32950 @kindex set annotate
32951 @item set annotate @var{level}
32952 The @value{GDBN} command @code{set annotate} sets the level of
32953 annotations to the specified @var{level}.
32955 @item show annotate
32956 @kindex show annotate
32957 Show the current annotation level.
32960 This chapter describes level 3 annotations.
32962 A simple example of starting up @value{GDBN} with annotations is:
32965 $ @kbd{gdb --annotate=3}
32967 Copyright 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
32968 GDB is free software, covered by the GNU General Public License,
32969 and you are welcome to change it and/or distribute copies of it
32970 under certain conditions.
32971 Type "show copying" to see the conditions.
32972 There is absolutely no warranty for GDB. Type "show warranty"
32974 This GDB was configured as "i386-pc-linux-gnu"
32985 Here @samp{quit} is input to @value{GDBN}; the rest is output from
32986 @value{GDBN}. The three lines beginning @samp{^Z^Z} (where @samp{^Z}
32987 denotes a @samp{control-z} character) are annotations; the rest is
32988 output from @value{GDBN}.
32990 @node Server Prefix
32991 @section The Server Prefix
32992 @cindex server prefix
32994 If you prefix a command with @samp{server } then it will not affect
32995 the command history, nor will it affect @value{GDBN}'s notion of which
32996 command to repeat if @key{RET} is pressed on a line by itself. This
32997 means that commands can be run behind a user's back by a front-end in
32998 a transparent manner.
33000 The @code{server } prefix does not affect the recording of values into
33001 the value history; to print a value without recording it into the
33002 value history, use the @code{output} command instead of the
33003 @code{print} command.
33005 Using this prefix also disables confirmation requests
33006 (@pxref{confirmation requests}).
33009 @section Annotation for @value{GDBN} Input
33011 @cindex annotations for prompts
33012 When @value{GDBN} prompts for input, it annotates this fact so it is possible
33013 to know when to send output, when the output from a given command is
33016 Different kinds of input each have a different @dfn{input type}. Each
33017 input type has three annotations: a @code{pre-} annotation, which
33018 denotes the beginning of any prompt which is being output, a plain
33019 annotation, which denotes the end of the prompt, and then a @code{post-}
33020 annotation which denotes the end of any echo which may (or may not) be
33021 associated with the input. For example, the @code{prompt} input type
33022 features the following annotations:
33030 The input types are
33033 @findex pre-prompt annotation
33034 @findex prompt annotation
33035 @findex post-prompt annotation
33037 When @value{GDBN} is prompting for a command (the main @value{GDBN} prompt).
33039 @findex pre-commands annotation
33040 @findex commands annotation
33041 @findex post-commands annotation
33043 When @value{GDBN} prompts for a set of commands, like in the @code{commands}
33044 command. The annotations are repeated for each command which is input.
33046 @findex pre-overload-choice annotation
33047 @findex overload-choice annotation
33048 @findex post-overload-choice annotation
33049 @item overload-choice
33050 When @value{GDBN} wants the user to select between various overloaded functions.
33052 @findex pre-query annotation
33053 @findex query annotation
33054 @findex post-query annotation
33056 When @value{GDBN} wants the user to confirm a potentially dangerous operation.
33058 @findex pre-prompt-for-continue annotation
33059 @findex prompt-for-continue annotation
33060 @findex post-prompt-for-continue annotation
33061 @item prompt-for-continue
33062 When @value{GDBN} is asking the user to press return to continue. Note: Don't
33063 expect this to work well; instead use @code{set height 0} to disable
33064 prompting. This is because the counting of lines is buggy in the
33065 presence of annotations.
33070 @cindex annotations for errors, warnings and interrupts
33072 @findex quit annotation
33077 This annotation occurs right before @value{GDBN} responds to an interrupt.
33079 @findex error annotation
33084 This annotation occurs right before @value{GDBN} responds to an error.
33086 Quit and error annotations indicate that any annotations which @value{GDBN} was
33087 in the middle of may end abruptly. For example, if a
33088 @code{value-history-begin} annotation is followed by a @code{error}, one
33089 cannot expect to receive the matching @code{value-history-end}. One
33090 cannot expect not to receive it either, however; an error annotation
33091 does not necessarily mean that @value{GDBN} is immediately returning all the way
33094 @findex error-begin annotation
33095 A quit or error annotation may be preceded by
33101 Any output between that and the quit or error annotation is the error
33104 Warning messages are not yet annotated.
33105 @c If we want to change that, need to fix warning(), type_error(),
33106 @c range_error(), and possibly other places.
33109 @section Invalidation Notices
33111 @cindex annotations for invalidation messages
33112 The following annotations say that certain pieces of state may have
33116 @findex frames-invalid annotation
33117 @item ^Z^Zframes-invalid
33119 The frames (for example, output from the @code{backtrace} command) may
33122 @findex breakpoints-invalid annotation
33123 @item ^Z^Zbreakpoints-invalid
33125 The breakpoints may have changed. For example, the user just added or
33126 deleted a breakpoint.
33129 @node Annotations for Running
33130 @section Running the Program
33131 @cindex annotations for running programs
33133 @findex starting annotation
33134 @findex stopping annotation
33135 When the program starts executing due to a @value{GDBN} command such as
33136 @code{step} or @code{continue},
33142 is output. When the program stops,
33148 is output. Before the @code{stopped} annotation, a variety of
33149 annotations describe how the program stopped.
33152 @findex exited annotation
33153 @item ^Z^Zexited @var{exit-status}
33154 The program exited, and @var{exit-status} is the exit status (zero for
33155 successful exit, otherwise nonzero).
33157 @findex signalled annotation
33158 @findex signal-name annotation
33159 @findex signal-name-end annotation
33160 @findex signal-string annotation
33161 @findex signal-string-end annotation
33162 @item ^Z^Zsignalled
33163 The program exited with a signal. After the @code{^Z^Zsignalled}, the
33164 annotation continues:
33170 ^Z^Zsignal-name-end
33174 ^Z^Zsignal-string-end
33179 where @var{name} is the name of the signal, such as @code{SIGILL} or
33180 @code{SIGSEGV}, and @var{string} is the explanation of the signal, such
33181 as @code{Illegal Instruction} or @code{Segmentation fault}.
33182 @var{intro-text}, @var{middle-text}, and @var{end-text} are for the
33183 user's benefit and have no particular format.
33185 @findex signal annotation
33187 The syntax of this annotation is just like @code{signalled}, but @value{GDBN} is
33188 just saying that the program received the signal, not that it was
33189 terminated with it.
33191 @findex breakpoint annotation
33192 @item ^Z^Zbreakpoint @var{number}
33193 The program hit breakpoint number @var{number}.
33195 @findex watchpoint annotation
33196 @item ^Z^Zwatchpoint @var{number}
33197 The program hit watchpoint number @var{number}.
33200 @node Source Annotations
33201 @section Displaying Source
33202 @cindex annotations for source display
33204 @findex source annotation
33205 The following annotation is used instead of displaying source code:
33208 ^Z^Zsource @var{filename}:@var{line}:@var{character}:@var{middle}:@var{addr}
33211 where @var{filename} is an absolute file name indicating which source
33212 file, @var{line} is the line number within that file (where 1 is the
33213 first line in the file), @var{character} is the character position
33214 within the file (where 0 is the first character in the file) (for most
33215 debug formats this will necessarily point to the beginning of a line),
33216 @var{middle} is @samp{middle} if @var{addr} is in the middle of the
33217 line, or @samp{beg} if @var{addr} is at the beginning of the line, and
33218 @var{addr} is the address in the target program associated with the
33219 source which is being displayed. @var{addr} is in the form @samp{0x}
33220 followed by one or more lowercase hex digits (note that this does not
33221 depend on the language).
33223 @node JIT Interface
33224 @chapter JIT Compilation Interface
33225 @cindex just-in-time compilation
33226 @cindex JIT compilation interface
33228 This chapter documents @value{GDBN}'s @dfn{just-in-time} (JIT) compilation
33229 interface. A JIT compiler is a program or library that generates native
33230 executable code at runtime and executes it, usually in order to achieve good
33231 performance while maintaining platform independence.
33233 Programs that use JIT compilation are normally difficult to debug because
33234 portions of their code are generated at runtime, instead of being loaded from
33235 object files, which is where @value{GDBN} normally finds the program's symbols
33236 and debug information. In order to debug programs that use JIT compilation,
33237 @value{GDBN} has an interface that allows the program to register in-memory
33238 symbol files with @value{GDBN} at runtime.
33240 If you are using @value{GDBN} to debug a program that uses this interface, then
33241 it should work transparently so long as you have not stripped the binary. If
33242 you are developing a JIT compiler, then the interface is documented in the rest
33243 of this chapter. At this time, the only known client of this interface is the
33246 Broadly speaking, the JIT interface mirrors the dynamic loader interface. The
33247 JIT compiler communicates with @value{GDBN} by writing data into a global
33248 variable and calling a fuction at a well-known symbol. When @value{GDBN}
33249 attaches, it reads a linked list of symbol files from the global variable to
33250 find existing code, and puts a breakpoint in the function so that it can find
33251 out about additional code.
33254 * Declarations:: Relevant C struct declarations
33255 * Registering Code:: Steps to register code
33256 * Unregistering Code:: Steps to unregister code
33257 * Custom Debug Info:: Emit debug information in a custom format
33261 @section JIT Declarations
33263 These are the relevant struct declarations that a C program should include to
33264 implement the interface:
33274 struct jit_code_entry
33276 struct jit_code_entry *next_entry;
33277 struct jit_code_entry *prev_entry;
33278 const char *symfile_addr;
33279 uint64_t symfile_size;
33282 struct jit_descriptor
33285 /* This type should be jit_actions_t, but we use uint32_t
33286 to be explicit about the bitwidth. */
33287 uint32_t action_flag;
33288 struct jit_code_entry *relevant_entry;
33289 struct jit_code_entry *first_entry;
33292 /* GDB puts a breakpoint in this function. */
33293 void __attribute__((noinline)) __jit_debug_register_code() @{ @};
33295 /* Make sure to specify the version statically, because the
33296 debugger may check the version before we can set it. */
33297 struct jit_descriptor __jit_debug_descriptor = @{ 1, 0, 0, 0 @};
33300 If the JIT is multi-threaded, then it is important that the JIT synchronize any
33301 modifications to this global data properly, which can easily be done by putting
33302 a global mutex around modifications to these structures.
33304 @node Registering Code
33305 @section Registering Code
33307 To register code with @value{GDBN}, the JIT should follow this protocol:
33311 Generate an object file in memory with symbols and other desired debug
33312 information. The file must include the virtual addresses of the sections.
33315 Create a code entry for the file, which gives the start and size of the symbol
33319 Add it to the linked list in the JIT descriptor.
33322 Point the relevant_entry field of the descriptor at the entry.
33325 Set @code{action_flag} to @code{JIT_REGISTER} and call
33326 @code{__jit_debug_register_code}.
33329 When @value{GDBN} is attached and the breakpoint fires, @value{GDBN} uses the
33330 @code{relevant_entry} pointer so it doesn't have to walk the list looking for
33331 new code. However, the linked list must still be maintained in order to allow
33332 @value{GDBN} to attach to a running process and still find the symbol files.
33334 @node Unregistering Code
33335 @section Unregistering Code
33337 If code is freed, then the JIT should use the following protocol:
33341 Remove the code entry corresponding to the code from the linked list.
33344 Point the @code{relevant_entry} field of the descriptor at the code entry.
33347 Set @code{action_flag} to @code{JIT_UNREGISTER} and call
33348 @code{__jit_debug_register_code}.
33351 If the JIT frees or recompiles code without unregistering it, then @value{GDBN}
33352 and the JIT will leak the memory used for the associated symbol files.
33354 @node Custom Debug Info
33355 @section Custom Debug Info
33356 @cindex custom JIT debug info
33357 @cindex JIT debug info reader
33359 Generating debug information in platform-native file formats (like ELF
33360 or COFF) may be an overkill for JIT compilers; especially if all the
33361 debug info is used for is displaying a meaningful backtrace. The
33362 issue can be resolved by having the JIT writers decide on a debug info
33363 format and also provide a reader that parses the debug info generated
33364 by the JIT compiler. This section gives a brief overview on writing
33365 such a parser. More specific details can be found in the source file
33366 @file{gdb/jit-reader.in}, which is also installed as a header at
33367 @file{@var{includedir}/gdb/jit-reader.h} for easy inclusion.
33369 The reader is implemented as a shared object (so this functionality is
33370 not available on platforms which don't allow loading shared objects at
33371 runtime). Two @value{GDBN} commands, @code{jit-reader-load} and
33372 @code{jit-reader-unload} are provided, to be used to load and unload
33373 the readers from a preconfigured directory. Once loaded, the shared
33374 object is used the parse the debug information emitted by the JIT
33378 * Using JIT Debug Info Readers:: How to use supplied readers correctly
33379 * Writing JIT Debug Info Readers:: Creating a debug-info reader
33382 @node Using JIT Debug Info Readers
33383 @subsection Using JIT Debug Info Readers
33384 @kindex jit-reader-load
33385 @kindex jit-reader-unload
33387 Readers can be loaded and unloaded using the @code{jit-reader-load}
33388 and @code{jit-reader-unload} commands.
33391 @item jit-reader-load @var{reader-name}
33392 Load the JIT reader named @var{reader-name}. On a UNIX system, this
33393 will usually load @file{@var{libdir}/gdb/@var{reader-name}}, where
33394 @var{libdir} is the system library directory, usually
33395 @file{/usr/local/lib}. Only one reader can be active at a time;
33396 trying to load a second reader when one is already loaded will result
33397 in @value{GDBN} reporting an error. A new JIT reader can be loaded by
33398 first unloading the current one using @code{jit-reader-load} and then
33399 invoking @code{jit-reader-load}.
33401 @item jit-reader-unload
33402 Unload the currently loaded JIT reader.
33406 @node Writing JIT Debug Info Readers
33407 @subsection Writing JIT Debug Info Readers
33408 @cindex writing JIT debug info readers
33410 As mentioned, a reader is essentially a shared object conforming to a
33411 certain ABI. This ABI is described in @file{jit-reader.h}.
33413 @file{jit-reader.h} defines the structures, macros and functions
33414 required to write a reader. It is installed (along with
33415 @value{GDBN}), in @file{@var{includedir}/gdb} where @var{includedir} is
33416 the system include directory.
33418 Readers need to be released under a GPL compatible license. A reader
33419 can be declared as released under such a license by placing the macro
33420 @code{GDB_DECLARE_GPL_COMPATIBLE_READER} in a source file.
33422 The entry point for readers is the symbol @code{gdb_init_reader},
33423 which is expected to be a function with the prototype
33425 @findex gdb_init_reader
33427 extern struct gdb_reader_funcs *gdb_init_reader (void);
33430 @cindex @code{struct gdb_reader_funcs}
33432 @code{struct gdb_reader_funcs} contains a set of pointers to callback
33433 functions. These functions are executed to read the debug info
33434 generated by the JIT compiler (@code{read}), to unwind stack frames
33435 (@code{unwind}) and to create canonical frame IDs
33436 (@code{get_Frame_id}). It also has a callback that is called when the
33437 reader is being unloaded (@code{destroy}). The struct looks like this
33440 struct gdb_reader_funcs
33442 /* Must be set to GDB_READER_INTERFACE_VERSION. */
33443 int reader_version;
33445 /* For use by the reader. */
33448 gdb_read_debug_info *read;
33449 gdb_unwind_frame *unwind;
33450 gdb_get_frame_id *get_frame_id;
33451 gdb_destroy_reader *destroy;
33455 @cindex @code{struct gdb_symbol_callbacks}
33456 @cindex @code{struct gdb_unwind_callbacks}
33458 The callbacks are provided with another set of callbacks by
33459 @value{GDBN} to do their job. For @code{read}, these callbacks are
33460 passed in a @code{struct gdb_symbol_callbacks} and for @code{unwind}
33461 and @code{get_frame_id}, in a @code{struct gdb_unwind_callbacks}.
33462 @code{struct gdb_symbol_callbacks} has callbacks to create new object
33463 files and new symbol tables inside those object files. @code{struct
33464 gdb_unwind_callbacks} has callbacks to read registers off the current
33465 frame and to write out the values of the registers in the previous
33466 frame. Both have a callback (@code{target_read}) to read bytes off the
33467 target's address space.
33469 @node In-Process Agent
33470 @chapter In-Process Agent
33471 @cindex debugging agent
33472 The traditional debugging model is conceptually low-speed, but works fine,
33473 because most bugs can be reproduced in debugging-mode execution. However,
33474 as multi-core or many-core processors are becoming mainstream, and
33475 multi-threaded programs become more and more popular, there should be more
33476 and more bugs that only manifest themselves at normal-mode execution, for
33477 example, thread races, because debugger's interference with the program's
33478 timing may conceal the bugs. On the other hand, in some applications,
33479 it is not feasible for the debugger to interrupt the program's execution
33480 long enough for the developer to learn anything helpful about its behavior.
33481 If the program's correctness depends on its real-time behavior, delays
33482 introduced by a debugger might cause the program to fail, even when the
33483 code itself is correct. It is useful to be able to observe the program's
33484 behavior without interrupting it.
33486 Therefore, traditional debugging model is too intrusive to reproduce
33487 some bugs. In order to reduce the interference with the program, we can
33488 reduce the number of operations performed by debugger. The
33489 @dfn{In-Process Agent}, a shared library, is running within the same
33490 process with inferior, and is able to perform some debugging operations
33491 itself. As a result, debugger is only involved when necessary, and
33492 performance of debugging can be improved accordingly. Note that
33493 interference with program can be reduced but can't be removed completely,
33494 because the in-process agent will still stop or slow down the program.
33496 The in-process agent can interpret and execute Agent Expressions
33497 (@pxref{Agent Expressions}) during performing debugging operations. The
33498 agent expressions can be used for different purposes, such as collecting
33499 data in tracepoints, and condition evaluation in breakpoints.
33501 @anchor{Control Agent}
33502 You can control whether the in-process agent is used as an aid for
33503 debugging with the following commands:
33506 @kindex set agent on
33508 Causes the in-process agent to perform some operations on behalf of the
33509 debugger. Just which operations requested by the user will be done
33510 by the in-process agent depends on the its capabilities. For example,
33511 if you request to evaluate breakpoint conditions in the in-process agent,
33512 and the in-process agent has such capability as well, then breakpoint
33513 conditions will be evaluated in the in-process agent.
33515 @kindex set agent off
33516 @item set agent off
33517 Disables execution of debugging operations by the in-process agent. All
33518 of the operations will be performed by @value{GDBN}.
33522 Display the current setting of execution of debugging operations by
33523 the in-process agent.
33527 * In-Process Agent Protocol::
33530 @node In-Process Agent Protocol
33531 @section In-Process Agent Protocol
33532 @cindex in-process agent protocol
33534 The in-process agent is able to communicate with both @value{GDBN} and
33535 GDBserver (@pxref{In-Process Agent}). This section documents the protocol
33536 used for communications between @value{GDBN} or GDBserver and the IPA.
33537 In general, @value{GDBN} or GDBserver sends commands
33538 (@pxref{IPA Protocol Commands}) and data to in-process agent, and then
33539 in-process agent replies back with the return result of the command, or
33540 some other information. The data sent to in-process agent is composed
33541 of primitive data types, such as 4-byte or 8-byte type, and composite
33542 types, which are called objects (@pxref{IPA Protocol Objects}).
33545 * IPA Protocol Objects::
33546 * IPA Protocol Commands::
33549 @node IPA Protocol Objects
33550 @subsection IPA Protocol Objects
33551 @cindex ipa protocol objects
33553 The commands sent to and results received from agent may contain some
33554 complex data types called @dfn{objects}.
33556 The in-process agent is running on the same machine with @value{GDBN}
33557 or GDBserver, so it doesn't have to handle as much differences between
33558 two ends as remote protocol (@pxref{Remote Protocol}) tries to handle.
33559 However, there are still some differences of two ends in two processes:
33563 word size. On some 64-bit machines, @value{GDBN} or GDBserver can be
33564 compiled as a 64-bit executable, while in-process agent is a 32-bit one.
33566 ABI. Some machines may have multiple types of ABI, @value{GDBN} or
33567 GDBserver is compiled with one, and in-process agent is compiled with
33571 Here are the IPA Protocol Objects:
33575 agent expression object. It represents an agent expression
33576 (@pxref{Agent Expressions}).
33577 @anchor{agent expression object}
33579 tracepoint action object. It represents a tracepoint action
33580 (@pxref{Tracepoint Actions,,Tracepoint Action Lists}) to collect registers,
33581 memory, static trace data and to evaluate expression.
33582 @anchor{tracepoint action object}
33584 tracepoint object. It represents a tracepoint (@pxref{Tracepoints}).
33585 @anchor{tracepoint object}
33589 The following table describes important attributes of each IPA protocol
33592 @multitable @columnfractions .30 .20 .50
33593 @headitem Name @tab Size @tab Description
33594 @item @emph{agent expression object} @tab @tab
33595 @item length @tab 4 @tab length of bytes code
33596 @item byte code @tab @var{length} @tab contents of byte code
33597 @item @emph{tracepoint action for collecting memory} @tab @tab
33598 @item 'M' @tab 1 @tab type of tracepoint action
33599 @item addr @tab 8 @tab if @var{basereg} is @samp{-1}, @var{addr} is the
33600 address of the lowest byte to collect, otherwise @var{addr} is the offset
33601 of @var{basereg} for memory collecting.
33602 @item len @tab 8 @tab length of memory for collecting
33603 @item basereg @tab 4 @tab the register number containing the starting
33604 memory address for collecting.
33605 @item @emph{tracepoint action for collecting registers} @tab @tab
33606 @item 'R' @tab 1 @tab type of tracepoint action
33607 @item @emph{tracepoint action for collecting static trace data} @tab @tab
33608 @item 'L' @tab 1 @tab type of tracepoint action
33609 @item @emph{tracepoint action for expression evaluation} @tab @tab
33610 @item 'X' @tab 1 @tab type of tracepoint action
33611 @item agent expression @tab length of @tab @ref{agent expression object}
33612 @item @emph{tracepoint object} @tab @tab
33613 @item number @tab 4 @tab number of tracepoint
33614 @item address @tab 8 @tab address of tracepoint inserted on
33615 @item type @tab 4 @tab type of tracepoint
33616 @item enabled @tab 1 @tab enable or disable of tracepoint
33617 @item step_count @tab 8 @tab step
33618 @item pass_count @tab 8 @tab pass
33619 @item numactions @tab 4 @tab number of tracepoint actions
33620 @item hit count @tab 8 @tab hit count
33621 @item trace frame usage @tab 8 @tab trace frame usage
33622 @item compiled_cond @tab 8 @tab compiled condition
33623 @item orig_size @tab 8 @tab orig size
33624 @item condition @tab 4 if condition is NULL otherwise length of
33625 @ref{agent expression object}
33626 @tab zero if condition is NULL, otherwise is
33627 @ref{agent expression object}
33628 @item actions @tab variable
33629 @tab numactions number of @ref{tracepoint action object}
33632 @node IPA Protocol Commands
33633 @subsection IPA Protocol Commands
33634 @cindex ipa protocol commands
33636 The spaces in each command are delimiters to ease reading this commands
33637 specification. They don't exist in real commands.
33641 @item FastTrace:@var{tracepoint_object} @var{gdb_jump_pad_head}
33642 Installs a new fast tracepoint described by @var{tracepoint_object}
33643 (@pxref{tracepoint object}). @var{gdb_jump_pad_head}, 8-byte long, is the
33644 head of @dfn{jumppad}, which is used to jump to data collection routine
33649 @item OK @var{target_address} @var{gdb_jump_pad_head} @var{fjump_size} @var{fjump}
33650 @var{target_address} is address of tracepoint in the inferior.
33651 @var{gdb_jump_pad_head} is updated head of jumppad. Both of
33652 @var{target_address} and @var{gdb_jump_pad_head} are 8-byte long.
33653 @var{fjump} contains a sequence of instructions jump to jumppad entry.
33654 @var{fjump_size}, 4-byte long, is the size of @var{fjump}.
33661 Closes the in-process agent. This command is sent when @value{GDBN} or GDBserver
33662 is about to kill inferiors.
33670 @item probe_marker_at:@var{address}
33671 Asks in-process agent to probe the marker at @var{address}.
33678 @item unprobe_marker_at:@var{address}
33679 Asks in-process agent to unprobe the marker at @var{address}.
33683 @chapter Reporting Bugs in @value{GDBN}
33684 @cindex bugs in @value{GDBN}
33685 @cindex reporting bugs in @value{GDBN}
33687 Your bug reports play an essential role in making @value{GDBN} reliable.
33689 Reporting a bug may help you by bringing a solution to your problem, or it
33690 may not. But in any case the principal function of a bug report is to help
33691 the entire community by making the next version of @value{GDBN} work better. Bug
33692 reports are your contribution to the maintenance of @value{GDBN}.
33694 In order for a bug report to serve its purpose, you must include the
33695 information that enables us to fix the bug.
33698 * Bug Criteria:: Have you found a bug?
33699 * Bug Reporting:: How to report bugs
33703 @section Have You Found a Bug?
33704 @cindex bug criteria
33706 If you are not sure whether you have found a bug, here are some guidelines:
33709 @cindex fatal signal
33710 @cindex debugger crash
33711 @cindex crash of debugger
33713 If the debugger gets a fatal signal, for any input whatever, that is a
33714 @value{GDBN} bug. Reliable debuggers never crash.
33716 @cindex error on valid input
33718 If @value{GDBN} produces an error message for valid input, that is a
33719 bug. (Note that if you're cross debugging, the problem may also be
33720 somewhere in the connection to the target.)
33722 @cindex invalid input
33724 If @value{GDBN} does not produce an error message for invalid input,
33725 that is a bug. However, you should note that your idea of
33726 ``invalid input'' might be our idea of ``an extension'' or ``support
33727 for traditional practice''.
33730 If you are an experienced user of debugging tools, your suggestions
33731 for improvement of @value{GDBN} are welcome in any case.
33734 @node Bug Reporting
33735 @section How to Report Bugs
33736 @cindex bug reports
33737 @cindex @value{GDBN} bugs, reporting
33739 A number of companies and individuals offer support for @sc{gnu} products.
33740 If you obtained @value{GDBN} from a support organization, we recommend you
33741 contact that organization first.
33743 You can find contact information for many support companies and
33744 individuals in the file @file{etc/SERVICE} in the @sc{gnu} Emacs
33746 @c should add a web page ref...
33749 @ifset BUGURL_DEFAULT
33750 In any event, we also recommend that you submit bug reports for
33751 @value{GDBN}. The preferred method is to submit them directly using
33752 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/, @value{GDBN}'s Bugs web
33753 page}. Alternatively, the @email{bug-gdb@@gnu.org, e-mail gateway} can
33756 @strong{Do not send bug reports to @samp{info-gdb}, or to
33757 @samp{help-gdb}, or to any newsgroups.} Most users of @value{GDBN} do
33758 not want to receive bug reports. Those that do have arranged to receive
33761 The mailing list @samp{bug-gdb} has a newsgroup @samp{gnu.gdb.bug} which
33762 serves as a repeater. The mailing list and the newsgroup carry exactly
33763 the same messages. Often people think of posting bug reports to the
33764 newsgroup instead of mailing them. This appears to work, but it has one
33765 problem which can be crucial: a newsgroup posting often lacks a mail
33766 path back to the sender. Thus, if we need to ask for more information,
33767 we may be unable to reach you. For this reason, it is better to send
33768 bug reports to the mailing list.
33770 @ifclear BUGURL_DEFAULT
33771 In any event, we also recommend that you submit bug reports for
33772 @value{GDBN} to @value{BUGURL}.
33776 The fundamental principle of reporting bugs usefully is this:
33777 @strong{report all the facts}. If you are not sure whether to state a
33778 fact or leave it out, state it!
33780 Often people omit facts because they think they know what causes the
33781 problem and assume that some details do not matter. Thus, you might
33782 assume that the name of the variable you use in an example does not matter.
33783 Well, probably it does not, but one cannot be sure. Perhaps the bug is a
33784 stray memory reference which happens to fetch from the location where that
33785 name is stored in memory; perhaps, if the name were different, the contents
33786 of that location would fool the debugger into doing the right thing despite
33787 the bug. Play it safe and give a specific, complete example. That is the
33788 easiest thing for you to do, and the most helpful.
33790 Keep in mind that the purpose of a bug report is to enable us to fix the
33791 bug. It may be that the bug has been reported previously, but neither
33792 you nor we can know that unless your bug report is complete and
33795 Sometimes people give a few sketchy facts and ask, ``Does this ring a
33796 bell?'' Those bug reports are useless, and we urge everyone to
33797 @emph{refuse to respond to them} except to chide the sender to report
33800 To enable us to fix the bug, you should include all these things:
33804 The version of @value{GDBN}. @value{GDBN} announces it if you start
33805 with no arguments; you can also print it at any time using @code{show
33808 Without this, we will not know whether there is any point in looking for
33809 the bug in the current version of @value{GDBN}.
33812 The type of machine you are using, and the operating system name and
33816 What compiler (and its version) was used to compile @value{GDBN}---e.g.@:
33817 ``@value{GCC}--2.8.1''.
33820 What compiler (and its version) was used to compile the program you are
33821 debugging---e.g.@: ``@value{GCC}--2.8.1'', or ``HP92453-01 A.10.32.03 HP
33822 C Compiler''. For @value{NGCC}, you can say @kbd{@value{GCC} --version}
33823 to get this information; for other compilers, see the documentation for
33827 The command arguments you gave the compiler to compile your example and
33828 observe the bug. For example, did you use @samp{-O}? To guarantee
33829 you will not omit something important, list them all. A copy of the
33830 Makefile (or the output from make) is sufficient.
33832 If we were to try to guess the arguments, we would probably guess wrong
33833 and then we might not encounter the bug.
33836 A complete input script, and all necessary source files, that will
33840 A description of what behavior you observe that you believe is
33841 incorrect. For example, ``It gets a fatal signal.''
33843 Of course, if the bug is that @value{GDBN} gets a fatal signal, then we
33844 will certainly notice it. But if the bug is incorrect output, we might
33845 not notice unless it is glaringly wrong. You might as well not give us
33846 a chance to make a mistake.
33848 Even if the problem you experience is a fatal signal, you should still
33849 say so explicitly. Suppose something strange is going on, such as, your
33850 copy of @value{GDBN} is out of synch, or you have encountered a bug in
33851 the C library on your system. (This has happened!) Your copy might
33852 crash and ours would not. If you told us to expect a crash, then when
33853 ours fails to crash, we would know that the bug was not happening for
33854 us. If you had not told us to expect a crash, then we would not be able
33855 to draw any conclusion from our observations.
33858 @cindex recording a session script
33859 To collect all this information, you can use a session recording program
33860 such as @command{script}, which is available on many Unix systems.
33861 Just run your @value{GDBN} session inside @command{script} and then
33862 include the @file{typescript} file with your bug report.
33864 Another way to record a @value{GDBN} session is to run @value{GDBN}
33865 inside Emacs and then save the entire buffer to a file.
33868 If you wish to suggest changes to the @value{GDBN} source, send us context
33869 diffs. If you even discuss something in the @value{GDBN} source, refer to
33870 it by context, not by line number.
33872 The line numbers in our development sources will not match those in your
33873 sources. Your line numbers would convey no useful information to us.
33877 Here are some things that are not necessary:
33881 A description of the envelope of the bug.
33883 Often people who encounter a bug spend a lot of time investigating
33884 which changes to the input file will make the bug go away and which
33885 changes will not affect it.
33887 This is often time consuming and not very useful, because the way we
33888 will find the bug is by running a single example under the debugger
33889 with breakpoints, not by pure deduction from a series of examples.
33890 We recommend that you save your time for something else.
33892 Of course, if you can find a simpler example to report @emph{instead}
33893 of the original one, that is a convenience for us. Errors in the
33894 output will be easier to spot, running under the debugger will take
33895 less time, and so on.
33897 However, simplification is not vital; if you do not want to do this,
33898 report the bug anyway and send us the entire test case you used.
33901 A patch for the bug.
33903 A patch for the bug does help us if it is a good one. But do not omit
33904 the necessary information, such as the test case, on the assumption that
33905 a patch is all we need. We might see problems with your patch and decide
33906 to fix the problem another way, or we might not understand it at all.
33908 Sometimes with a program as complicated as @value{GDBN} it is very hard to
33909 construct an example that will make the program follow a certain path
33910 through the code. If you do not send us the example, we will not be able
33911 to construct one, so we will not be able to verify that the bug is fixed.
33913 And if we cannot understand what bug you are trying to fix, or why your
33914 patch should be an improvement, we will not install it. A test case will
33915 help us to understand.
33918 A guess about what the bug is or what it depends on.
33920 Such guesses are usually wrong. Even we cannot guess right about such
33921 things without first using the debugger to find the facts.
33924 @c The readline documentation is distributed with the readline code
33925 @c and consists of the two following files:
33928 @c Use -I with makeinfo to point to the appropriate directory,
33929 @c environment var TEXINPUTS with TeX.
33930 @ifclear SYSTEM_READLINE
33931 @include rluser.texi
33932 @include hsuser.texi
33936 @appendix In Memoriam
33938 The @value{GDBN} project mourns the loss of the following long-time
33943 Fred was a long-standing contributor to @value{GDBN} (1991-2006), and
33944 to Free Software in general. Outside of @value{GDBN}, he was known in
33945 the Amiga world for his series of Fish Disks, and the GeekGadget project.
33947 @item Michael Snyder
33948 Michael was one of the Global Maintainers of the @value{GDBN} project,
33949 with contributions recorded as early as 1996, until 2011. In addition
33950 to his day to day participation, he was a large driving force behind
33951 adding Reverse Debugging to @value{GDBN}.
33954 Beyond their technical contributions to the project, they were also
33955 enjoyable members of the Free Software Community. We will miss them.
33957 @node Formatting Documentation
33958 @appendix Formatting Documentation
33960 @cindex @value{GDBN} reference card
33961 @cindex reference card
33962 The @value{GDBN} 4 release includes an already-formatted reference card, ready
33963 for printing with PostScript or Ghostscript, in the @file{gdb}
33964 subdirectory of the main source directory@footnote{In
33965 @file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}/gdb/refcard.ps} of the version @value{GDBVN}
33966 release.}. If you can use PostScript or Ghostscript with your printer,
33967 you can print the reference card immediately with @file{refcard.ps}.
33969 The release also includes the source for the reference card. You
33970 can format it, using @TeX{}, by typing:
33976 The @value{GDBN} reference card is designed to print in @dfn{landscape}
33977 mode on US ``letter'' size paper;
33978 that is, on a sheet 11 inches wide by 8.5 inches
33979 high. You will need to specify this form of printing as an option to
33980 your @sc{dvi} output program.
33982 @cindex documentation
33984 All the documentation for @value{GDBN} comes as part of the machine-readable
33985 distribution. The documentation is written in Texinfo format, which is
33986 a documentation system that uses a single source file to produce both
33987 on-line information and a printed manual. You can use one of the Info
33988 formatting commands to create the on-line version of the documentation
33989 and @TeX{} (or @code{texi2roff}) to typeset the printed version.
33991 @value{GDBN} includes an already formatted copy of the on-line Info
33992 version of this manual in the @file{gdb} subdirectory. The main Info
33993 file is @file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}/gdb/gdb.info}, and it refers to
33994 subordinate files matching @samp{gdb.info*} in the same directory. If
33995 necessary, you can print out these files, or read them with any editor;
33996 but they are easier to read using the @code{info} subsystem in @sc{gnu}
33997 Emacs or the standalone @code{info} program, available as part of the
33998 @sc{gnu} Texinfo distribution.
34000 If you want to format these Info files yourself, you need one of the
34001 Info formatting programs, such as @code{texinfo-format-buffer} or
34004 If you have @code{makeinfo} installed, and are in the top level
34005 @value{GDBN} source directory (@file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}}, in the case of
34006 version @value{GDBVN}), you can make the Info file by typing:
34013 If you want to typeset and print copies of this manual, you need @TeX{},
34014 a program to print its @sc{dvi} output files, and @file{texinfo.tex}, the
34015 Texinfo definitions file.
34017 @TeX{} is a typesetting program; it does not print files directly, but
34018 produces output files called @sc{dvi} files. To print a typeset
34019 document, you need a program to print @sc{dvi} files. If your system
34020 has @TeX{} installed, chances are it has such a program. The precise
34021 command to use depends on your system; @kbd{lpr -d} is common; another
34022 (for PostScript devices) is @kbd{dvips}. The @sc{dvi} print command may
34023 require a file name without any extension or a @samp{.dvi} extension.
34025 @TeX{} also requires a macro definitions file called
34026 @file{texinfo.tex}. This file tells @TeX{} how to typeset a document
34027 written in Texinfo format. On its own, @TeX{} cannot either read or
34028 typeset a Texinfo file. @file{texinfo.tex} is distributed with GDB
34029 and is located in the @file{gdb-@var{version-number}/texinfo}
34032 If you have @TeX{} and a @sc{dvi} printer program installed, you can
34033 typeset and print this manual. First switch to the @file{gdb}
34034 subdirectory of the main source directory (for example, to
34035 @file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}/gdb}) and type:
34041 Then give @file{gdb.dvi} to your @sc{dvi} printing program.
34043 @node Installing GDB
34044 @appendix Installing @value{GDBN}
34045 @cindex installation
34048 * Requirements:: Requirements for building @value{GDBN}
34049 * Running Configure:: Invoking the @value{GDBN} @file{configure} script
34050 * Separate Objdir:: Compiling @value{GDBN} in another directory
34051 * Config Names:: Specifying names for hosts and targets
34052 * Configure Options:: Summary of options for configure
34053 * System-wide configuration:: Having a system-wide init file
34057 @section Requirements for Building @value{GDBN}
34058 @cindex building @value{GDBN}, requirements for
34060 Building @value{GDBN} requires various tools and packages to be available.
34061 Other packages will be used only if they are found.
34063 @heading Tools/Packages Necessary for Building @value{GDBN}
34065 @item ISO C90 compiler
34066 @value{GDBN} is written in ISO C90. It should be buildable with any
34067 working C90 compiler, e.g.@: GCC.
34071 @heading Tools/Packages Optional for Building @value{GDBN}
34075 @value{GDBN} can use the Expat XML parsing library. This library may be
34076 included with your operating system distribution; if it is not, you
34077 can get the latest version from @url{http://expat.sourceforge.net}.
34078 The @file{configure} script will search for this library in several
34079 standard locations; if it is installed in an unusual path, you can
34080 use the @option{--with-libexpat-prefix} option to specify its location.
34086 Remote protocol memory maps (@pxref{Memory Map Format})
34088 Target descriptions (@pxref{Target Descriptions})
34090 Remote shared library lists (@xref{Library List Format},
34091 or alternatively @pxref{Library List Format for SVR4 Targets})
34093 MS-Windows shared libraries (@pxref{Shared Libraries})
34095 Traceframe info (@pxref{Traceframe Info Format})
34099 @cindex compressed debug sections
34100 @value{GDBN} will use the @samp{zlib} library, if available, to read
34101 compressed debug sections. Some linkers, such as GNU gold, are capable
34102 of producing binaries with compressed debug sections. If @value{GDBN}
34103 is compiled with @samp{zlib}, it will be able to read the debug
34104 information in such binaries.
34106 The @samp{zlib} library is likely included with your operating system
34107 distribution; if it is not, you can get the latest version from
34108 @url{http://zlib.net}.
34111 @value{GDBN}'s features related to character sets (@pxref{Character
34112 Sets}) require a functioning @code{iconv} implementation. If you are
34113 on a GNU system, then this is provided by the GNU C Library. Some
34114 other systems also provide a working @code{iconv}.
34116 If @value{GDBN} is using the @code{iconv} program which is installed
34117 in a non-standard place, you will need to tell @value{GDBN} where to find it.
34118 This is done with @option{--with-iconv-bin} which specifies the
34119 directory that contains the @code{iconv} program.
34121 On systems without @code{iconv}, you can install GNU Libiconv. If you
34122 have previously installed Libiconv, you can use the
34123 @option{--with-libiconv-prefix} option to configure.
34125 @value{GDBN}'s top-level @file{configure} and @file{Makefile} will
34126 arrange to build Libiconv if a directory named @file{libiconv} appears
34127 in the top-most source directory. If Libiconv is built this way, and
34128 if the operating system does not provide a suitable @code{iconv}
34129 implementation, then the just-built library will automatically be used
34130 by @value{GDBN}. One easy way to set this up is to download GNU
34131 Libiconv, unpack it, and then rename the directory holding the
34132 Libiconv source code to @samp{libiconv}.
34135 @node Running Configure
34136 @section Invoking the @value{GDBN} @file{configure} Script
34137 @cindex configuring @value{GDBN}
34138 @value{GDBN} comes with a @file{configure} script that automates the process
34139 of preparing @value{GDBN} for installation; you can then use @code{make} to
34140 build the @code{gdb} program.
34142 @c irrelevant in info file; it's as current as the code it lives with.
34143 @footnote{If you have a more recent version of @value{GDBN} than @value{GDBVN},
34144 look at the @file{README} file in the sources; we may have improved the
34145 installation procedures since publishing this manual.}
34148 The @value{GDBN} distribution includes all the source code you need for
34149 @value{GDBN} in a single directory, whose name is usually composed by
34150 appending the version number to @samp{gdb}.
34152 For example, the @value{GDBN} version @value{GDBVN} distribution is in the
34153 @file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}} directory. That directory contains:
34156 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/configure @r{(and supporting files)}
34157 script for configuring @value{GDBN} and all its supporting libraries
34159 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/gdb
34160 the source specific to @value{GDBN} itself
34162 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/bfd
34163 source for the Binary File Descriptor library
34165 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/include
34166 @sc{gnu} include files
34168 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/libiberty
34169 source for the @samp{-liberty} free software library
34171 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/opcodes
34172 source for the library of opcode tables and disassemblers
34174 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/readline
34175 source for the @sc{gnu} command-line interface
34177 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/glob
34178 source for the @sc{gnu} filename pattern-matching subroutine
34180 @item gdb-@value{GDBVN}/mmalloc
34181 source for the @sc{gnu} memory-mapped malloc package
34184 The simplest way to configure and build @value{GDBN} is to run @file{configure}
34185 from the @file{gdb-@var{version-number}} source directory, which in
34186 this example is the @file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}} directory.
34188 First switch to the @file{gdb-@var{version-number}} source directory
34189 if you are not already in it; then run @file{configure}. Pass the
34190 identifier for the platform on which @value{GDBN} will run as an
34196 cd gdb-@value{GDBVN}
34197 ./configure @var{host}
34202 where @var{host} is an identifier such as @samp{sun4} or
34203 @samp{decstation}, that identifies the platform where @value{GDBN} will run.
34204 (You can often leave off @var{host}; @file{configure} tries to guess the
34205 correct value by examining your system.)
34207 Running @samp{configure @var{host}} and then running @code{make} builds the
34208 @file{bfd}, @file{readline}, @file{mmalloc}, and @file{libiberty}
34209 libraries, then @code{gdb} itself. The configured source files, and the
34210 binaries, are left in the corresponding source directories.
34213 @file{configure} is a Bourne-shell (@code{/bin/sh}) script; if your
34214 system does not recognize this automatically when you run a different
34215 shell, you may need to run @code{sh} on it explicitly:
34218 sh configure @var{host}
34221 If you run @file{configure} from a directory that contains source
34222 directories for multiple libraries or programs, such as the
34223 @file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}} source directory for version @value{GDBVN},
34225 creates configuration files for every directory level underneath (unless
34226 you tell it not to, with the @samp{--norecursion} option).
34228 You should run the @file{configure} script from the top directory in the
34229 source tree, the @file{gdb-@var{version-number}} directory. If you run
34230 @file{configure} from one of the subdirectories, you will configure only
34231 that subdirectory. That is usually not what you want. In particular,
34232 if you run the first @file{configure} from the @file{gdb} subdirectory
34233 of the @file{gdb-@var{version-number}} directory, you will omit the
34234 configuration of @file{bfd}, @file{readline}, and other sibling
34235 directories of the @file{gdb} subdirectory. This leads to build errors
34236 about missing include files such as @file{bfd/bfd.h}.
34238 You can install @code{@value{GDBP}} anywhere; it has no hardwired paths.
34239 However, you should make sure that the shell on your path (named by
34240 the @samp{SHELL} environment variable) is publicly readable. Remember
34241 that @value{GDBN} uses the shell to start your program---some systems refuse to
34242 let @value{GDBN} debug child processes whose programs are not readable.
34244 @node Separate Objdir
34245 @section Compiling @value{GDBN} in Another Directory
34247 If you want to run @value{GDBN} versions for several host or target machines,
34248 you need a different @code{gdb} compiled for each combination of
34249 host and target. @file{configure} is designed to make this easy by
34250 allowing you to generate each configuration in a separate subdirectory,
34251 rather than in the source directory. If your @code{make} program
34252 handles the @samp{VPATH} feature (@sc{gnu} @code{make} does), running
34253 @code{make} in each of these directories builds the @code{gdb}
34254 program specified there.
34256 To build @code{gdb} in a separate directory, run @file{configure}
34257 with the @samp{--srcdir} option to specify where to find the source.
34258 (You also need to specify a path to find @file{configure}
34259 itself from your working directory. If the path to @file{configure}
34260 would be the same as the argument to @samp{--srcdir}, you can leave out
34261 the @samp{--srcdir} option; it is assumed.)
34263 For example, with version @value{GDBVN}, you can build @value{GDBN} in a
34264 separate directory for a Sun 4 like this:
34268 cd gdb-@value{GDBVN}
34271 ../gdb-@value{GDBVN}/configure sun4
34276 When @file{configure} builds a configuration using a remote source
34277 directory, it creates a tree for the binaries with the same structure
34278 (and using the same names) as the tree under the source directory. In
34279 the example, you'd find the Sun 4 library @file{libiberty.a} in the
34280 directory @file{gdb-sun4/libiberty}, and @value{GDBN} itself in
34281 @file{gdb-sun4/gdb}.
34283 Make sure that your path to the @file{configure} script has just one
34284 instance of @file{gdb} in it. If your path to @file{configure} looks
34285 like @file{../gdb-@value{GDBVN}/gdb/configure}, you are configuring only
34286 one subdirectory of @value{GDBN}, not the whole package. This leads to
34287 build errors about missing include files such as @file{bfd/bfd.h}.
34289 One popular reason to build several @value{GDBN} configurations in separate
34290 directories is to configure @value{GDBN} for cross-compiling (where
34291 @value{GDBN} runs on one machine---the @dfn{host}---while debugging
34292 programs that run on another machine---the @dfn{target}).
34293 You specify a cross-debugging target by
34294 giving the @samp{--target=@var{target}} option to @file{configure}.
34296 When you run @code{make} to build a program or library, you must run
34297 it in a configured directory---whatever directory you were in when you
34298 called @file{configure} (or one of its subdirectories).
34300 The @code{Makefile} that @file{configure} generates in each source
34301 directory also runs recursively. If you type @code{make} in a source
34302 directory such as @file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}} (or in a separate configured
34303 directory configured with @samp{--srcdir=@var{dirname}/gdb-@value{GDBVN}}), you
34304 will build all the required libraries, and then build GDB.
34306 When you have multiple hosts or targets configured in separate
34307 directories, you can run @code{make} on them in parallel (for example,
34308 if they are NFS-mounted on each of the hosts); they will not interfere
34312 @section Specifying Names for Hosts and Targets
34314 The specifications used for hosts and targets in the @file{configure}
34315 script are based on a three-part naming scheme, but some short predefined
34316 aliases are also supported. The full naming scheme encodes three pieces
34317 of information in the following pattern:
34320 @var{architecture}-@var{vendor}-@var{os}
34323 For example, you can use the alias @code{sun4} as a @var{host} argument,
34324 or as the value for @var{target} in a @code{--target=@var{target}}
34325 option. The equivalent full name is @samp{sparc-sun-sunos4}.
34327 The @file{configure} script accompanying @value{GDBN} does not provide
34328 any query facility to list all supported host and target names or
34329 aliases. @file{configure} calls the Bourne shell script
34330 @code{config.sub} to map abbreviations to full names; you can read the
34331 script, if you wish, or you can use it to test your guesses on
34332 abbreviations---for example:
34335 % sh config.sub i386-linux
34337 % sh config.sub alpha-linux
34338 alpha-unknown-linux-gnu
34339 % sh config.sub hp9k700
34341 % sh config.sub sun4
34342 sparc-sun-sunos4.1.1
34343 % sh config.sub sun3
34344 m68k-sun-sunos4.1.1
34345 % sh config.sub i986v
34346 Invalid configuration `i986v': machine `i986v' not recognized
34350 @code{config.sub} is also distributed in the @value{GDBN} source
34351 directory (@file{gdb-@value{GDBVN}}, for version @value{GDBVN}).
34353 @node Configure Options
34354 @section @file{configure} Options
34356 Here is a summary of the @file{configure} options and arguments that
34357 are most often useful for building @value{GDBN}. @file{configure} also has
34358 several other options not listed here. @inforef{What Configure
34359 Does,,configure.info}, for a full explanation of @file{configure}.
34362 configure @r{[}--help@r{]}
34363 @r{[}--prefix=@var{dir}@r{]}
34364 @r{[}--exec-prefix=@var{dir}@r{]}
34365 @r{[}--srcdir=@var{dirname}@r{]}
34366 @r{[}--norecursion@r{]} @r{[}--rm@r{]}
34367 @r{[}--target=@var{target}@r{]}
34372 You may introduce options with a single @samp{-} rather than
34373 @samp{--} if you prefer; but you may abbreviate option names if you use
34378 Display a quick summary of how to invoke @file{configure}.
34380 @item --prefix=@var{dir}
34381 Configure the source to install programs and files under directory
34384 @item --exec-prefix=@var{dir}
34385 Configure the source to install programs under directory
34388 @c avoid splitting the warning from the explanation:
34390 @item --srcdir=@var{dirname}
34391 @strong{Warning: using this option requires @sc{gnu} @code{make}, or another
34392 @code{make} that implements the @code{VPATH} feature.}@*
34393 Use this option to make configurations in directories separate from the
34394 @value{GDBN} source directories. Among other things, you can use this to
34395 build (or maintain) several configurations simultaneously, in separate
34396 directories. @file{configure} writes configuration-specific files in
34397 the current directory, but arranges for them to use the source in the
34398 directory @var{dirname}. @file{configure} creates directories under
34399 the working directory in parallel to the source directories below
34402 @item --norecursion
34403 Configure only the directory level where @file{configure} is executed; do not
34404 propagate configuration to subdirectories.
34406 @item --target=@var{target}
34407 Configure @value{GDBN} for cross-debugging programs running on the specified
34408 @var{target}. Without this option, @value{GDBN} is configured to debug
34409 programs that run on the same machine (@var{host}) as @value{GDBN} itself.
34411 There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available targets.
34413 @item @var{host} @dots{}
34414 Configure @value{GDBN} to run on the specified @var{host}.
34416 There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available hosts.
34419 There are many other options available as well, but they are generally
34420 needed for special purposes only.
34422 @node System-wide configuration
34423 @section System-wide configuration and settings
34424 @cindex system-wide init file
34426 @value{GDBN} can be configured to have a system-wide init file;
34427 this file will be read and executed at startup (@pxref{Startup, , What
34428 @value{GDBN} does during startup}).
34430 Here is the corresponding configure option:
34433 @item --with-system-gdbinit=@var{file}
34434 Specify that the default location of the system-wide init file is
34438 If @value{GDBN} has been configured with the option @option{--prefix=$prefix},
34439 it may be subject to relocation. Two possible cases:
34443 If the default location of this init file contains @file{$prefix},
34444 it will be subject to relocation. Suppose that the configure options
34445 are @option{--prefix=$prefix --with-system-gdbinit=$prefix/etc/gdbinit};
34446 if @value{GDBN} is moved from @file{$prefix} to @file{$install}, the system
34447 init file is looked for as @file{$install/etc/gdbinit} instead of
34448 @file{$prefix/etc/gdbinit}.
34451 By contrast, if the default location does not contain the prefix,
34452 it will not be relocated. E.g.@: if @value{GDBN} has been configured with
34453 @option{--prefix=/usr/local --with-system-gdbinit=/usr/share/gdb/gdbinit},
34454 then @value{GDBN} will always look for @file{/usr/share/gdb/gdbinit},
34455 wherever @value{GDBN} is installed.
34458 @node Maintenance Commands
34459 @appendix Maintenance Commands
34460 @cindex maintenance commands
34461 @cindex internal commands
34463 In addition to commands intended for @value{GDBN} users, @value{GDBN}
34464 includes a number of commands intended for @value{GDBN} developers,
34465 that are not documented elsewhere in this manual. These commands are
34466 provided here for reference. (For commands that turn on debugging
34467 messages, see @ref{Debugging Output}.)
34470 @kindex maint agent
34471 @kindex maint agent-eval
34472 @item maint agent @r{[}-at @var{location}@r{,}@r{]} @var{expression}
34473 @itemx maint agent-eval @r{[}-at @var{location}@r{,}@r{]} @var{expression}
34474 Translate the given @var{expression} into remote agent bytecodes.
34475 This command is useful for debugging the Agent Expression mechanism
34476 (@pxref{Agent Expressions}). The @samp{agent} version produces an
34477 expression useful for data collection, such as by tracepoints, while
34478 @samp{maint agent-eval} produces an expression that evaluates directly
34479 to a result. For instance, a collection expression for @code{globa +
34480 globb} will include bytecodes to record four bytes of memory at each
34481 of the addresses of @code{globa} and @code{globb}, while discarding
34482 the result of the addition, while an evaluation expression will do the
34483 addition and return the sum.
34484 If @code{-at} is given, generate remote agent bytecode for @var{location}.
34485 If not, generate remote agent bytecode for current frame PC address.
34487 @kindex maint agent-printf
34488 @item maint agent-printf @var{format},@var{expr},...
34489 Translate the given format string and list of argument expressions
34490 into remote agent bytecodes and display them as a disassembled list.
34491 This command is useful for debugging the agent version of dynamic
34492 printf (@pxref{Dynamic Printf}.
34494 @kindex maint info breakpoints
34495 @item @anchor{maint info breakpoints}maint info breakpoints
34496 Using the same format as @samp{info breakpoints}, display both the
34497 breakpoints you've set explicitly, and those @value{GDBN} is using for
34498 internal purposes. Internal breakpoints are shown with negative
34499 breakpoint numbers. The type column identifies what kind of breakpoint
34504 Normal, explicitly set breakpoint.
34507 Normal, explicitly set watchpoint.
34510 Internal breakpoint, used to handle correctly stepping through
34511 @code{longjmp} calls.
34513 @item longjmp resume
34514 Internal breakpoint at the target of a @code{longjmp}.
34517 Temporary internal breakpoint used by the @value{GDBN} @code{until} command.
34520 Temporary internal breakpoint used by the @value{GDBN} @code{finish} command.
34523 Shared library events.
34527 @kindex maint info bfds
34528 @item maint info bfds
34529 This prints information about each @code{bfd} object that is known to
34530 @value{GDBN}. @xref{Top, , BFD, bfd, The Binary File Descriptor Library}.
34532 @kindex set displaced-stepping
34533 @kindex show displaced-stepping
34534 @cindex displaced stepping support
34535 @cindex out-of-line single-stepping
34536 @item set displaced-stepping
34537 @itemx show displaced-stepping
34538 Control whether or not @value{GDBN} will do @dfn{displaced stepping}
34539 if the target supports it. Displaced stepping is a way to single-step
34540 over breakpoints without removing them from the inferior, by executing
34541 an out-of-line copy of the instruction that was originally at the
34542 breakpoint location. It is also known as out-of-line single-stepping.
34545 @item set displaced-stepping on
34546 If the target architecture supports it, @value{GDBN} will use
34547 displaced stepping to step over breakpoints.
34549 @item set displaced-stepping off
34550 @value{GDBN} will not use displaced stepping to step over breakpoints,
34551 even if such is supported by the target architecture.
34553 @cindex non-stop mode, and @samp{set displaced-stepping}
34554 @item set displaced-stepping auto
34555 This is the default mode. @value{GDBN} will use displaced stepping
34556 only if non-stop mode is active (@pxref{Non-Stop Mode}) and the target
34557 architecture supports displaced stepping.
34560 @kindex maint check-symtabs
34561 @item maint check-symtabs
34562 Check the consistency of psymtabs and symtabs.
34564 @kindex maint cplus first_component
34565 @item maint cplus first_component @var{name}
34566 Print the first C@t{++} class/namespace component of @var{name}.
34568 @kindex maint cplus namespace
34569 @item maint cplus namespace
34570 Print the list of possible C@t{++} namespaces.
34572 @kindex maint demangle
34573 @item maint demangle @var{name}
34574 Demangle a C@t{++} or Objective-C mangled @var{name}.
34576 @kindex maint deprecate
34577 @kindex maint undeprecate
34578 @cindex deprecated commands
34579 @item maint deprecate @var{command} @r{[}@var{replacement}@r{]}
34580 @itemx maint undeprecate @var{command}
34581 Deprecate or undeprecate the named @var{command}. Deprecated commands
34582 cause @value{GDBN} to issue a warning when you use them. The optional
34583 argument @var{replacement} says which newer command should be used in
34584 favor of the deprecated one; if it is given, @value{GDBN} will mention
34585 the replacement as part of the warning.
34587 @kindex maint dump-me
34588 @item maint dump-me
34589 @cindex @code{SIGQUIT} signal, dump core of @value{GDBN}
34590 Cause a fatal signal in the debugger and force it to dump its core.
34591 This is supported only on systems which support aborting a program
34592 with the @code{SIGQUIT} signal.
34594 @kindex maint internal-error
34595 @kindex maint internal-warning
34596 @item maint internal-error @r{[}@var{message-text}@r{]}
34597 @itemx maint internal-warning @r{[}@var{message-text}@r{]}
34598 Cause @value{GDBN} to call the internal function @code{internal_error}
34599 or @code{internal_warning} and hence behave as though an internal error
34600 or internal warning has been detected. In addition to reporting the
34601 internal problem, these functions give the user the opportunity to
34602 either quit @value{GDBN} or create a core file of the current
34603 @value{GDBN} session.
34605 These commands take an optional parameter @var{message-text} that is
34606 used as the text of the error or warning message.
34608 Here's an example of using @code{internal-error}:
34611 (@value{GDBP}) @kbd{maint internal-error testing, 1, 2}
34612 @dots{}/maint.c:121: internal-error: testing, 1, 2
34613 A problem internal to GDB has been detected. Further
34614 debugging may prove unreliable.
34615 Quit this debugging session? (y or n) @kbd{n}
34616 Create a core file? (y or n) @kbd{n}
34620 @cindex @value{GDBN} internal error
34621 @cindex internal errors, control of @value{GDBN} behavior
34623 @kindex maint set internal-error
34624 @kindex maint show internal-error
34625 @kindex maint set internal-warning
34626 @kindex maint show internal-warning
34627 @item maint set internal-error @var{action} [ask|yes|no]
34628 @itemx maint show internal-error @var{action}
34629 @itemx maint set internal-warning @var{action} [ask|yes|no]
34630 @itemx maint show internal-warning @var{action}
34631 When @value{GDBN} reports an internal problem (error or warning) it
34632 gives the user the opportunity to both quit @value{GDBN} and create a
34633 core file of the current @value{GDBN} session. These commands let you
34634 override the default behaviour for each particular @var{action},
34635 described in the table below.
34639 You can specify that @value{GDBN} should always (yes) or never (no)
34640 quit. The default is to ask the user what to do.
34643 You can specify that @value{GDBN} should always (yes) or never (no)
34644 create a core file. The default is to ask the user what to do.
34647 @kindex maint packet
34648 @item maint packet @var{text}
34649 If @value{GDBN} is talking to an inferior via the serial protocol,
34650 then this command sends the string @var{text} to the inferior, and
34651 displays the response packet. @value{GDBN} supplies the initial
34652 @samp{$} character, the terminating @samp{#} character, and the
34655 @kindex maint print architecture
34656 @item maint print architecture @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
34657 Print the entire architecture configuration. The optional argument
34658 @var{file} names the file where the output goes.
34660 @kindex maint print c-tdesc
34661 @item maint print c-tdesc
34662 Print the current target description (@pxref{Target Descriptions}) as
34663 a C source file. The created source file can be used in @value{GDBN}
34664 when an XML parser is not available to parse the description.
34666 @kindex maint print dummy-frames
34667 @item maint print dummy-frames
34668 Prints the contents of @value{GDBN}'s internal dummy-frame stack.
34671 (@value{GDBP}) @kbd{b add}
34673 (@value{GDBP}) @kbd{print add(2,3)}
34674 Breakpoint 2, add (a=2, b=3) at @dots{}
34676 The program being debugged stopped while in a function called from GDB.
34678 (@value{GDBP}) @kbd{maint print dummy-frames}
34679 0x1a57c80: pc=0x01014068 fp=0x0200bddc sp=0x0200bdd6
34680 top=0x0200bdd4 id=@{stack=0x200bddc,code=0x101405c@}
34681 call_lo=0x01014000 call_hi=0x01014001
34685 Takes an optional file parameter.
34687 @kindex maint print registers
34688 @kindex maint print raw-registers
34689 @kindex maint print cooked-registers
34690 @kindex maint print register-groups
34691 @kindex maint print remote-registers
34692 @item maint print registers @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
34693 @itemx maint print raw-registers @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
34694 @itemx maint print cooked-registers @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
34695 @itemx maint print register-groups @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
34696 @itemx maint print remote-registers @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
34697 Print @value{GDBN}'s internal register data structures.
34699 The command @code{maint print raw-registers} includes the contents of
34700 the raw register cache; the command @code{maint print
34701 cooked-registers} includes the (cooked) value of all registers,
34702 including registers which aren't available on the target nor visible
34703 to user; the command @code{maint print register-groups} includes the
34704 groups that each register is a member of; and the command @code{maint
34705 print remote-registers} includes the remote target's register numbers
34706 and offsets in the `G' packets. @xref{Registers,, Registers, gdbint,
34707 @value{GDBN} Internals}.
34709 These commands take an optional parameter, a file name to which to
34710 write the information.
34712 @kindex maint print reggroups
34713 @item maint print reggroups @r{[}@var{file}@r{]}
34714 Print @value{GDBN}'s internal register group data structures. The
34715 optional argument @var{file} tells to what file to write the
34718 The register groups info looks like this:
34721 (@value{GDBP}) @kbd{maint print reggroups}
34734 This command forces @value{GDBN} to flush its internal register cache.
34736 @kindex maint print objfiles
34737 @cindex info for known object files
34738 @item maint print objfiles
34739 Print a dump of all known object files. For each object file, this
34740 command prints its name, address in memory, and all of its psymtabs
34743 @kindex maint print section-scripts
34744 @cindex info for known .debug_gdb_scripts-loaded scripts
34745 @item maint print section-scripts [@var{regexp}]
34746 Print a dump of scripts specified in the @code{.debug_gdb_section} section.
34747 If @var{regexp} is specified, only print scripts loaded by object files
34748 matching @var{regexp}.
34749 For each script, this command prints its name as specified in the objfile,
34750 and the full path if known.
34751 @xref{dotdebug_gdb_scripts section}.
34753 @kindex maint print statistics
34754 @cindex bcache statistics
34755 @item maint print statistics
34756 This command prints, for each object file in the program, various data
34757 about that object file followed by the byte cache (@dfn{bcache})
34758 statistics for the object file. The objfile data includes the number
34759 of minimal, partial, full, and stabs symbols, the number of types
34760 defined by the objfile, the number of as yet unexpanded psym tables,
34761 the number of line tables and string tables, and the amount of memory
34762 used by the various tables. The bcache statistics include the counts,
34763 sizes, and counts of duplicates of all and unique objects, max,
34764 average, and median entry size, total memory used and its overhead and
34765 savings, and various measures of the hash table size and chain
34768 @kindex maint print target-stack
34769 @cindex target stack description
34770 @item maint print target-stack
34771 A @dfn{target} is an interface between the debugger and a particular
34772 kind of file or process. Targets can be stacked in @dfn{strata},
34773 so that more than one target can potentially respond to a request.
34774 In particular, memory accesses will walk down the stack of targets
34775 until they find a target that is interested in handling that particular
34778 This command prints a short description of each layer that was pushed on
34779 the @dfn{target stack}, starting from the top layer down to the bottom one.
34781 @kindex maint print type
34782 @cindex type chain of a data type
34783 @item maint print type @var{expr}
34784 Print the type chain for a type specified by @var{expr}. The argument
34785 can be either a type name or a symbol. If it is a symbol, the type of
34786 that symbol is described. The type chain produced by this command is
34787 a recursive definition of the data type as stored in @value{GDBN}'s
34788 data structures, including its flags and contained types.
34790 @kindex maint set dwarf2 always-disassemble
34791 @kindex maint show dwarf2 always-disassemble
34792 @item maint set dwarf2 always-disassemble
34793 @item maint show dwarf2 always-disassemble
34794 Control the behavior of @code{info address} when using DWARF debugging
34797 The default is @code{off}, which means that @value{GDBN} should try to
34798 describe a variable's location in an easily readable format. When
34799 @code{on}, @value{GDBN} will instead display the DWARF location
34800 expression in an assembly-like format. Note that some locations are
34801 too complex for @value{GDBN} to describe simply; in this case you will
34802 always see the disassembly form.
34804 Here is an example of the resulting disassembly:
34807 (gdb) info addr argc
34808 Symbol "argc" is a complex DWARF expression:
34812 For more information on these expressions, see
34813 @uref{http://www.dwarfstd.org/, the DWARF standard}.
34815 @kindex maint set dwarf2 max-cache-age
34816 @kindex maint show dwarf2 max-cache-age
34817 @item maint set dwarf2 max-cache-age
34818 @itemx maint show dwarf2 max-cache-age
34819 Control the DWARF 2 compilation unit cache.
34821 @cindex DWARF 2 compilation units cache
34822 In object files with inter-compilation-unit references, such as those
34823 produced by the GCC option @samp{-feliminate-dwarf2-dups}, the DWARF 2
34824 reader needs to frequently refer to previously read compilation units.
34825 This setting controls how long a compilation unit will remain in the
34826 cache if it is not referenced. A higher limit means that cached
34827 compilation units will be stored in memory longer, and more total
34828 memory will be used. Setting it to zero disables caching, which will
34829 slow down @value{GDBN} startup, but reduce memory consumption.
34831 @kindex maint set profile
34832 @kindex maint show profile
34833 @cindex profiling GDB
34834 @item maint set profile
34835 @itemx maint show profile
34836 Control profiling of @value{GDBN}.
34838 Profiling will be disabled until you use the @samp{maint set profile}
34839 command to enable it. When you enable profiling, the system will begin
34840 collecting timing and execution count data; when you disable profiling or
34841 exit @value{GDBN}, the results will be written to a log file. Remember that
34842 if you use profiling, @value{GDBN} will overwrite the profiling log file
34843 (often called @file{gmon.out}). If you have a record of important profiling
34844 data in a @file{gmon.out} file, be sure to move it to a safe location.
34846 Configuring with @samp{--enable-profiling} arranges for @value{GDBN} to be
34847 compiled with the @samp{-pg} compiler option.
34849 @kindex maint set show-debug-regs
34850 @kindex maint show show-debug-regs
34851 @cindex hardware debug registers
34852 @item maint set show-debug-regs
34853 @itemx maint show show-debug-regs
34854 Control whether to show variables that mirror the hardware debug
34855 registers. Use @code{ON} to enable, @code{OFF} to disable. If
34856 enabled, the debug registers values are shown when @value{GDBN} inserts or
34857 removes a hardware breakpoint or watchpoint, and when the inferior
34858 triggers a hardware-assisted breakpoint or watchpoint.
34860 @kindex maint set show-all-tib
34861 @kindex maint show show-all-tib
34862 @item maint set show-all-tib
34863 @itemx maint show show-all-tib
34864 Control whether to show all non zero areas within a 1k block starting
34865 at thread local base, when using the @samp{info w32 thread-information-block}
34868 @kindex maint space
34869 @cindex memory used by commands
34871 Control whether to display memory usage for each command. If set to a
34872 nonzero value, @value{GDBN} will display how much memory each command
34873 took, following the command's own output. This can also be requested
34874 by invoking @value{GDBN} with the @option{--statistics} command-line
34875 switch (@pxref{Mode Options}).
34878 @cindex time of command execution
34880 Control whether to display the execution time of @value{GDBN} for each command.
34881 If set to a nonzero value, @value{GDBN} will display how much time it
34882 took to execute each command, following the command's own output.
34883 Both CPU time and wallclock time are printed.
34884 Printing both is useful when trying to determine whether the cost is
34885 CPU or, e.g., disk/network, latency.
34886 Note that the CPU time printed is for @value{GDBN} only, it does not include
34887 the execution time of the inferior because there's no mechanism currently
34888 to compute how much time was spent by @value{GDBN} and how much time was
34889 spent by the program been debugged.
34890 This can also be requested by invoking @value{GDBN} with the
34891 @option{--statistics} command-line switch (@pxref{Mode Options}).
34893 @kindex maint translate-address
34894 @item maint translate-address @r{[}@var{section}@r{]} @var{addr}
34895 Find the symbol stored at the location specified by the address
34896 @var{addr} and an optional section name @var{section}. If found,
34897 @value{GDBN} prints the name of the closest symbol and an offset from
34898 the symbol's location to the specified address. This is similar to
34899 the @code{info address} command (@pxref{Symbols}), except that this
34900 command also allows to find symbols in other sections.
34902 If section was not specified, the section in which the symbol was found
34903 is also printed. For dynamically linked executables, the name of
34904 executable or shared library containing the symbol is printed as well.
34908 The following command is useful for non-interactive invocations of
34909 @value{GDBN}, such as in the test suite.
34912 @item set watchdog @var{nsec}
34913 @kindex set watchdog
34914 @cindex watchdog timer
34915 @cindex timeout for commands
34916 Set the maximum number of seconds @value{GDBN} will wait for the
34917 target operation to finish. If this time expires, @value{GDBN}
34918 reports and error and the command is aborted.
34920 @item show watchdog
34921 Show the current setting of the target wait timeout.
34924 @node Remote Protocol
34925 @appendix @value{GDBN} Remote Serial Protocol
34930 * Stop Reply Packets::
34931 * General Query Packets::
34932 * Architecture-Specific Protocol Details::
34933 * Tracepoint Packets::
34934 * Host I/O Packets::
34936 * Notification Packets::
34937 * Remote Non-Stop::
34938 * Packet Acknowledgment::
34940 * File-I/O Remote Protocol Extension::
34941 * Library List Format::
34942 * Library List Format for SVR4 Targets::
34943 * Memory Map Format::
34944 * Thread List Format::
34945 * Traceframe Info Format::
34951 There may be occasions when you need to know something about the
34952 protocol---for example, if there is only one serial port to your target
34953 machine, you might want your program to do something special if it
34954 recognizes a packet meant for @value{GDBN}.
34956 In the examples below, @samp{->} and @samp{<-} are used to indicate
34957 transmitted and received data, respectively.
34959 @cindex protocol, @value{GDBN} remote serial
34960 @cindex serial protocol, @value{GDBN} remote
34961 @cindex remote serial protocol
34962 All @value{GDBN} commands and responses (other than acknowledgments
34963 and notifications, see @ref{Notification Packets}) are sent as a
34964 @var{packet}. A @var{packet} is introduced with the character
34965 @samp{$}, the actual @var{packet-data}, and the terminating character
34966 @samp{#} followed by a two-digit @var{checksum}:
34969 @code{$}@var{packet-data}@code{#}@var{checksum}
34973 @cindex checksum, for @value{GDBN} remote
34975 The two-digit @var{checksum} is computed as the modulo 256 sum of all
34976 characters between the leading @samp{$} and the trailing @samp{#} (an
34977 eight bit unsigned checksum).
34979 Implementors should note that prior to @value{GDBN} 5.0 the protocol
34980 specification also included an optional two-digit @var{sequence-id}:
34983 @code{$}@var{sequence-id}@code{:}@var{packet-data}@code{#}@var{checksum}
34986 @cindex sequence-id, for @value{GDBN} remote
34988 That @var{sequence-id} was appended to the acknowledgment. @value{GDBN}
34989 has never output @var{sequence-id}s. Stubs that handle packets added
34990 since @value{GDBN} 5.0 must not accept @var{sequence-id}.
34992 When either the host or the target machine receives a packet, the first
34993 response expected is an acknowledgment: either @samp{+} (to indicate
34994 the package was received correctly) or @samp{-} (to request
34998 -> @code{$}@var{packet-data}@code{#}@var{checksum}
35003 The @samp{+}/@samp{-} acknowledgments can be disabled
35004 once a connection is established.
35005 @xref{Packet Acknowledgment}, for details.
35007 The host (@value{GDBN}) sends @var{command}s, and the target (the
35008 debugging stub incorporated in your program) sends a @var{response}. In
35009 the case of step and continue @var{command}s, the response is only sent
35010 when the operation has completed, and the target has again stopped all
35011 threads in all attached processes. This is the default all-stop mode
35012 behavior, but the remote protocol also supports @value{GDBN}'s non-stop
35013 execution mode; see @ref{Remote Non-Stop}, for details.
35015 @var{packet-data} consists of a sequence of characters with the
35016 exception of @samp{#} and @samp{$} (see @samp{X} packet for additional
35019 @cindex remote protocol, field separator
35020 Fields within the packet should be separated using @samp{,} @samp{;} or
35021 @samp{:}. Except where otherwise noted all numbers are represented in
35022 @sc{hex} with leading zeros suppressed.
35024 Implementors should note that prior to @value{GDBN} 5.0, the character
35025 @samp{:} could not appear as the third character in a packet (as it
35026 would potentially conflict with the @var{sequence-id}).
35028 @cindex remote protocol, binary data
35029 @anchor{Binary Data}
35030 Binary data in most packets is encoded either as two hexadecimal
35031 digits per byte of binary data. This allowed the traditional remote
35032 protocol to work over connections which were only seven-bit clean.
35033 Some packets designed more recently assume an eight-bit clean
35034 connection, and use a more efficient encoding to send and receive
35037 The binary data representation uses @code{7d} (@sc{ascii} @samp{@}})
35038 as an escape character. Any escaped byte is transmitted as the escape
35039 character followed by the original character XORed with @code{0x20}.
35040 For example, the byte @code{0x7d} would be transmitted as the two
35041 bytes @code{0x7d 0x5d}. The bytes @code{0x23} (@sc{ascii} @samp{#}),
35042 @code{0x24} (@sc{ascii} @samp{$}), and @code{0x7d} (@sc{ascii}
35043 @samp{@}}) must always be escaped. Responses sent by the stub
35044 must also escape @code{0x2a} (@sc{ascii} @samp{*}), so that it
35045 is not interpreted as the start of a run-length encoded sequence
35048 Response @var{data} can be run-length encoded to save space.
35049 Run-length encoding replaces runs of identical characters with one
35050 instance of the repeated character, followed by a @samp{*} and a
35051 repeat count. The repeat count is itself sent encoded, to avoid
35052 binary characters in @var{data}: a value of @var{n} is sent as
35053 @code{@var{n}+29}. For a repeat count greater or equal to 3, this
35054 produces a printable @sc{ascii} character, e.g.@: a space (@sc{ascii}
35055 code 32) for a repeat count of 3. (This is because run-length
35056 encoding starts to win for counts 3 or more.) Thus, for example,
35057 @samp{0* } is a run-length encoding of ``0000'': the space character
35058 after @samp{*} means repeat the leading @code{0} @w{@code{32 - 29 =
35061 The printable characters @samp{#} and @samp{$} or with a numeric value
35062 greater than 126 must not be used. Runs of six repeats (@samp{#}) or
35063 seven repeats (@samp{$}) can be expanded using a repeat count of only
35064 five (@samp{"}). For example, @samp{00000000} can be encoded as
35067 The error response returned for some packets includes a two character
35068 error number. That number is not well defined.
35070 @cindex empty response, for unsupported packets
35071 For any @var{command} not supported by the stub, an empty response
35072 (@samp{$#00}) should be returned. That way it is possible to extend the
35073 protocol. A newer @value{GDBN} can tell if a packet is supported based
35076 At a minimum, a stub is required to support the @samp{g} and @samp{G}
35077 commands for register access, and the @samp{m} and @samp{M} commands
35078 for memory access. Stubs that only control single-threaded targets
35079 can implement run control with the @samp{c} (continue), and @samp{s}
35080 (step) commands. Stubs that support multi-threading targets should
35081 support the @samp{vCont} command. All other commands are optional.
35086 The following table provides a complete list of all currently defined
35087 @var{command}s and their corresponding response @var{data}.
35088 @xref{File-I/O Remote Protocol Extension}, for details about the File
35089 I/O extension of the remote protocol.
35091 Each packet's description has a template showing the packet's overall
35092 syntax, followed by an explanation of the packet's meaning. We
35093 include spaces in some of the templates for clarity; these are not
35094 part of the packet's syntax. No @value{GDBN} packet uses spaces to
35095 separate its components. For example, a template like @samp{foo
35096 @var{bar} @var{baz}} describes a packet beginning with the three ASCII
35097 bytes @samp{foo}, followed by a @var{bar}, followed directly by a
35098 @var{baz}. @value{GDBN} does not transmit a space character between the
35099 @samp{foo} and the @var{bar}, or between the @var{bar} and the
35102 @cindex @var{thread-id}, in remote protocol
35103 @anchor{thread-id syntax}
35104 Several packets and replies include a @var{thread-id} field to identify
35105 a thread. Normally these are positive numbers with a target-specific
35106 interpretation, formatted as big-endian hex strings. A @var{thread-id}
35107 can also be a literal @samp{-1} to indicate all threads, or @samp{0} to
35110 In addition, the remote protocol supports a multiprocess feature in
35111 which the @var{thread-id} syntax is extended to optionally include both
35112 process and thread ID fields, as @samp{p@var{pid}.@var{tid}}.
35113 The @var{pid} (process) and @var{tid} (thread) components each have the
35114 format described above: a positive number with target-specific
35115 interpretation formatted as a big-endian hex string, literal @samp{-1}
35116 to indicate all processes or threads (respectively), or @samp{0} to
35117 indicate an arbitrary process or thread. Specifying just a process, as
35118 @samp{p@var{pid}}, is equivalent to @samp{p@var{pid}.-1}. It is an
35119 error to specify all processes but a specific thread, such as
35120 @samp{p-1.@var{tid}}. Note that the @samp{p} prefix is @emph{not} used
35121 for those packets and replies explicitly documented to include a process
35122 ID, rather than a @var{thread-id}.
35124 The multiprocess @var{thread-id} syntax extensions are only used if both
35125 @value{GDBN} and the stub report support for the @samp{multiprocess}
35126 feature using @samp{qSupported}. @xref{multiprocess extensions}, for
35129 Note that all packet forms beginning with an upper- or lower-case
35130 letter, other than those described here, are reserved for future use.
35132 Here are the packet descriptions.
35137 @cindex @samp{!} packet
35138 @anchor{extended mode}
35139 Enable extended mode. In extended mode, the remote server is made
35140 persistent. The @samp{R} packet is used to restart the program being
35146 The remote target both supports and has enabled extended mode.
35150 @cindex @samp{?} packet
35151 Indicate the reason the target halted. The reply is the same as for
35152 step and continue. This packet has a special interpretation when the
35153 target is in non-stop mode; see @ref{Remote Non-Stop}.
35156 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
35158 @item A @var{arglen},@var{argnum},@var{arg},@dots{}
35159 @cindex @samp{A} packet
35160 Initialized @code{argv[]} array passed into program. @var{arglen}
35161 specifies the number of bytes in the hex encoded byte stream
35162 @var{arg}. See @code{gdbserver} for more details.
35167 The arguments were set.
35173 @cindex @samp{b} packet
35174 (Don't use this packet; its behavior is not well-defined.)
35175 Change the serial line speed to @var{baud}.
35177 JTC: @emph{When does the transport layer state change? When it's
35178 received, or after the ACK is transmitted. In either case, there are
35179 problems if the command or the acknowledgment packet is dropped.}
35181 Stan: @emph{If people really wanted to add something like this, and get
35182 it working for the first time, they ought to modify ser-unix.c to send
35183 some kind of out-of-band message to a specially-setup stub and have the
35184 switch happen "in between" packets, so that from remote protocol's point
35185 of view, nothing actually happened.}
35187 @item B @var{addr},@var{mode}
35188 @cindex @samp{B} packet
35189 Set (@var{mode} is @samp{S}) or clear (@var{mode} is @samp{C}) a
35190 breakpoint at @var{addr}.
35192 Don't use this packet. Use the @samp{Z} and @samp{z} packets instead
35193 (@pxref{insert breakpoint or watchpoint packet}).
35195 @cindex @samp{bc} packet
35198 Backward continue. Execute the target system in reverse. No parameter.
35199 @xref{Reverse Execution}, for more information.
35202 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
35204 @cindex @samp{bs} packet
35207 Backward single step. Execute one instruction in reverse. No parameter.
35208 @xref{Reverse Execution}, for more information.
35211 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
35213 @item c @r{[}@var{addr}@r{]}
35214 @cindex @samp{c} packet
35215 Continue. @var{addr} is address to resume. If @var{addr} is omitted,
35216 resume at current address.
35218 This packet is deprecated for multi-threading support. @xref{vCont
35222 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
35224 @item C @var{sig}@r{[};@var{addr}@r{]}
35225 @cindex @samp{C} packet
35226 Continue with signal @var{sig} (hex signal number). If
35227 @samp{;@var{addr}} is omitted, resume at same address.
35229 This packet is deprecated for multi-threading support. @xref{vCont
35233 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
35236 @cindex @samp{d} packet
35239 Don't use this packet; instead, define a general set packet
35240 (@pxref{General Query Packets}).
35244 @cindex @samp{D} packet
35245 The first form of the packet is used to detach @value{GDBN} from the
35246 remote system. It is sent to the remote target
35247 before @value{GDBN} disconnects via the @code{detach} command.
35249 The second form, including a process ID, is used when multiprocess
35250 protocol extensions are enabled (@pxref{multiprocess extensions}), to
35251 detach only a specific process. The @var{pid} is specified as a
35252 big-endian hex string.
35262 @item F @var{RC},@var{EE},@var{CF};@var{XX}
35263 @cindex @samp{F} packet
35264 A reply from @value{GDBN} to an @samp{F} packet sent by the target.
35265 This is part of the File-I/O protocol extension. @xref{File-I/O
35266 Remote Protocol Extension}, for the specification.
35269 @anchor{read registers packet}
35270 @cindex @samp{g} packet
35271 Read general registers.
35275 @item @var{XX@dots{}}
35276 Each byte of register data is described by two hex digits. The bytes
35277 with the register are transmitted in target byte order. The size of
35278 each register and their position within the @samp{g} packet are
35279 determined by the @value{GDBN} internal gdbarch functions
35280 @code{DEPRECATED_REGISTER_RAW_SIZE} and @code{gdbarch_register_name}. The
35281 specification of several standard @samp{g} packets is specified below.
35283 When reading registers from a trace frame (@pxref{Analyze Collected
35284 Data,,Using the Collected Data}), the stub may also return a string of
35285 literal @samp{x}'s in place of the register data digits, to indicate
35286 that the corresponding register has not been collected, thus its value
35287 is unavailable. For example, for an architecture with 4 registers of
35288 4 bytes each, the following reply indicates to @value{GDBN} that
35289 registers 0 and 2 have not been collected, while registers 1 and 3
35290 have been collected, and both have zero value:
35294 <- @code{xxxxxxxx00000000xxxxxxxx00000000}
35301 @item G @var{XX@dots{}}
35302 @cindex @samp{G} packet
35303 Write general registers. @xref{read registers packet}, for a
35304 description of the @var{XX@dots{}} data.
35314 @item H @var{op} @var{thread-id}
35315 @cindex @samp{H} packet
35316 Set thread for subsequent operations (@samp{m}, @samp{M}, @samp{g},
35317 @samp{G}, et.al.). @var{op} depends on the operation to be performed:
35318 it should be @samp{c} for step and continue operations (note that this
35319 is deprecated, supporting the @samp{vCont} command is a better
35320 option), @samp{g} for other operations. The thread designator
35321 @var{thread-id} has the format and interpretation described in
35322 @ref{thread-id syntax}.
35333 @c 'H': How restrictive (or permissive) is the thread model. If a
35334 @c thread is selected and stopped, are other threads allowed
35335 @c to continue to execute? As I mentioned above, I think the
35336 @c semantics of each command when a thread is selected must be
35337 @c described. For example:
35339 @c 'g': If the stub supports threads and a specific thread is
35340 @c selected, returns the register block from that thread;
35341 @c otherwise returns current registers.
35343 @c 'G' If the stub supports threads and a specific thread is
35344 @c selected, sets the registers of the register block of
35345 @c that thread; otherwise sets current registers.
35347 @item i @r{[}@var{addr}@r{[},@var{nnn}@r{]]}
35348 @anchor{cycle step packet}
35349 @cindex @samp{i} packet
35350 Step the remote target by a single clock cycle. If @samp{,@var{nnn}} is
35351 present, cycle step @var{nnn} cycles. If @var{addr} is present, cycle
35352 step starting at that address.
35355 @cindex @samp{I} packet
35356 Signal, then cycle step. @xref{step with signal packet}. @xref{cycle
35360 @cindex @samp{k} packet
35363 FIXME: @emph{There is no description of how to operate when a specific
35364 thread context has been selected (i.e.@: does 'k' kill only that
35367 @item m @var{addr},@var{length}
35368 @cindex @samp{m} packet
35369 Read @var{length} bytes of memory starting at address @var{addr}.
35370 Note that @var{addr} may not be aligned to any particular boundary.
35372 The stub need not use any particular size or alignment when gathering
35373 data from memory for the response; even if @var{addr} is word-aligned
35374 and @var{length} is a multiple of the word size, the stub is free to
35375 use byte accesses, or not. For this reason, this packet may not be
35376 suitable for accessing memory-mapped I/O devices.
35377 @cindex alignment of remote memory accesses
35378 @cindex size of remote memory accesses
35379 @cindex memory, alignment and size of remote accesses
35383 @item @var{XX@dots{}}
35384 Memory contents; each byte is transmitted as a two-digit hexadecimal
35385 number. The reply may contain fewer bytes than requested if the
35386 server was able to read only part of the region of memory.
35391 @item M @var{addr},@var{length}:@var{XX@dots{}}
35392 @cindex @samp{M} packet
35393 Write @var{length} bytes of memory starting at address @var{addr}.
35394 @var{XX@dots{}} is the data; each byte is transmitted as a two-digit
35395 hexadecimal number.
35402 for an error (this includes the case where only part of the data was
35407 @cindex @samp{p} packet
35408 Read the value of register @var{n}; @var{n} is in hex.
35409 @xref{read registers packet}, for a description of how the returned
35410 register value is encoded.
35414 @item @var{XX@dots{}}
35415 the register's value
35419 Indicating an unrecognized @var{query}.
35422 @item P @var{n@dots{}}=@var{r@dots{}}
35423 @anchor{write register packet}
35424 @cindex @samp{P} packet
35425 Write register @var{n@dots{}} with value @var{r@dots{}}. The register
35426 number @var{n} is in hexadecimal, and @var{r@dots{}} contains two hex
35427 digits for each byte in the register (target byte order).
35437 @item q @var{name} @var{params}@dots{}
35438 @itemx Q @var{name} @var{params}@dots{}
35439 @cindex @samp{q} packet
35440 @cindex @samp{Q} packet
35441 General query (@samp{q}) and set (@samp{Q}). These packets are
35442 described fully in @ref{General Query Packets}.
35445 @cindex @samp{r} packet
35446 Reset the entire system.
35448 Don't use this packet; use the @samp{R} packet instead.
35451 @cindex @samp{R} packet
35452 Restart the program being debugged. @var{XX}, while needed, is ignored.
35453 This packet is only available in extended mode (@pxref{extended mode}).
35455 The @samp{R} packet has no reply.
35457 @item s @r{[}@var{addr}@r{]}
35458 @cindex @samp{s} packet
35459 Single step. @var{addr} is the address at which to resume. If
35460 @var{addr} is omitted, resume at same address.
35462 This packet is deprecated for multi-threading support. @xref{vCont
35466 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
35468 @item S @var{sig}@r{[};@var{addr}@r{]}
35469 @anchor{step with signal packet}
35470 @cindex @samp{S} packet
35471 Step with signal. This is analogous to the @samp{C} packet, but
35472 requests a single-step, rather than a normal resumption of execution.
35474 This packet is deprecated for multi-threading support. @xref{vCont
35478 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
35480 @item t @var{addr}:@var{PP},@var{MM}
35481 @cindex @samp{t} packet
35482 Search backwards starting at address @var{addr} for a match with pattern
35483 @var{PP} and mask @var{MM}. @var{PP} and @var{MM} are 4 bytes.
35484 @var{addr} must be at least 3 digits.
35486 @item T @var{thread-id}
35487 @cindex @samp{T} packet
35488 Find out if the thread @var{thread-id} is alive. @xref{thread-id syntax}.
35493 thread is still alive
35499 Packets starting with @samp{v} are identified by a multi-letter name,
35500 up to the first @samp{;} or @samp{?} (or the end of the packet).
35502 @item vAttach;@var{pid}
35503 @cindex @samp{vAttach} packet
35504 Attach to a new process with the specified process ID @var{pid}.
35505 The process ID is a
35506 hexadecimal integer identifying the process. In all-stop mode, all
35507 threads in the attached process are stopped; in non-stop mode, it may be
35508 attached without being stopped if that is supported by the target.
35510 @c In non-stop mode, on a successful vAttach, the stub should set the
35511 @c current thread to a thread of the newly-attached process. After
35512 @c attaching, GDB queries for the attached process's thread ID with qC.
35513 @c Also note that, from a user perspective, whether or not the
35514 @c target is stopped on attach in non-stop mode depends on whether you
35515 @c use the foreground or background version of the attach command, not
35516 @c on what vAttach does; GDB does the right thing with respect to either
35517 @c stopping or restarting threads.
35519 This packet is only available in extended mode (@pxref{extended mode}).
35525 @item @r{Any stop packet}
35526 for success in all-stop mode (@pxref{Stop Reply Packets})
35528 for success in non-stop mode (@pxref{Remote Non-Stop})
35531 @item vCont@r{[};@var{action}@r{[}:@var{thread-id}@r{]]}@dots{}
35532 @cindex @samp{vCont} packet
35533 @anchor{vCont packet}
35534 Resume the inferior, specifying different actions for each thread.
35535 If an action is specified with no @var{thread-id}, then it is applied to any
35536 threads that don't have a specific action specified; if no default action is
35537 specified then other threads should remain stopped in all-stop mode and
35538 in their current state in non-stop mode.
35539 Specifying multiple
35540 default actions is an error; specifying no actions is also an error.
35541 Thread IDs are specified using the syntax described in @ref{thread-id syntax}.
35543 Currently supported actions are:
35549 Continue with signal @var{sig}. The signal @var{sig} should be two hex digits.
35553 Step with signal @var{sig}. The signal @var{sig} should be two hex digits.
35558 The optional argument @var{addr} normally associated with the
35559 @samp{c}, @samp{C}, @samp{s}, and @samp{S} packets is
35560 not supported in @samp{vCont}.
35562 The @samp{t} action is only relevant in non-stop mode
35563 (@pxref{Remote Non-Stop}) and may be ignored by the stub otherwise.
35564 A stop reply should be generated for any affected thread not already stopped.
35565 When a thread is stopped by means of a @samp{t} action,
35566 the corresponding stop reply should indicate that the thread has stopped with
35567 signal @samp{0}, regardless of whether the target uses some other signal
35568 as an implementation detail.
35570 The stub must support @samp{vCont} if it reports support for
35571 multiprocess extensions (@pxref{multiprocess extensions}). Note that in
35572 this case @samp{vCont} actions can be specified to apply to all threads
35573 in a process by using the @samp{p@var{pid}.-1} form of the
35577 @xref{Stop Reply Packets}, for the reply specifications.
35580 @cindex @samp{vCont?} packet
35581 Request a list of actions supported by the @samp{vCont} packet.
35585 @item vCont@r{[};@var{action}@dots{}@r{]}
35586 The @samp{vCont} packet is supported. Each @var{action} is a supported
35587 command in the @samp{vCont} packet.
35589 The @samp{vCont} packet is not supported.
35592 @item vFile:@var{operation}:@var{parameter}@dots{}
35593 @cindex @samp{vFile} packet
35594 Perform a file operation on the target system. For details,
35595 see @ref{Host I/O Packets}.
35597 @item vFlashErase:@var{addr},@var{length}
35598 @cindex @samp{vFlashErase} packet
35599 Direct the stub to erase @var{length} bytes of flash starting at
35600 @var{addr}. The region may enclose any number of flash blocks, but
35601 its start and end must fall on block boundaries, as indicated by the
35602 flash block size appearing in the memory map (@pxref{Memory Map
35603 Format}). @value{GDBN} groups flash memory programming operations
35604 together, and sends a @samp{vFlashDone} request after each group; the
35605 stub is allowed to delay erase operation until the @samp{vFlashDone}
35606 packet is received.
35616 @item vFlashWrite:@var{addr}:@var{XX@dots{}}
35617 @cindex @samp{vFlashWrite} packet
35618 Direct the stub to write data to flash address @var{addr}. The data
35619 is passed in binary form using the same encoding as for the @samp{X}
35620 packet (@pxref{Binary Data}). The memory ranges specified by
35621 @samp{vFlashWrite} packets preceding a @samp{vFlashDone} packet must
35622 not overlap, and must appear in order of increasing addresses
35623 (although @samp{vFlashErase} packets for higher addresses may already
35624 have been received; the ordering is guaranteed only between
35625 @samp{vFlashWrite} packets). If a packet writes to an address that was
35626 neither erased by a preceding @samp{vFlashErase} packet nor by some other
35627 target-specific method, the results are unpredictable.
35635 for vFlashWrite addressing non-flash memory
35641 @cindex @samp{vFlashDone} packet
35642 Indicate to the stub that flash programming operation is finished.
35643 The stub is permitted to delay or batch the effects of a group of
35644 @samp{vFlashErase} and @samp{vFlashWrite} packets until a
35645 @samp{vFlashDone} packet is received. The contents of the affected
35646 regions of flash memory are unpredictable until the @samp{vFlashDone}
35647 request is completed.
35649 @item vKill;@var{pid}
35650 @cindex @samp{vKill} packet
35651 Kill the process with the specified process ID. @var{pid} is a
35652 hexadecimal integer identifying the process. This packet is used in
35653 preference to @samp{k} when multiprocess protocol extensions are
35654 supported; see @ref{multiprocess extensions}.
35664 @item vRun;@var{filename}@r{[};@var{argument}@r{]}@dots{}
35665 @cindex @samp{vRun} packet
35666 Run the program @var{filename}, passing it each @var{argument} on its
35667 command line. The file and arguments are hex-encoded strings. If
35668 @var{filename} is an empty string, the stub may use a default program
35669 (e.g.@: the last program run). The program is created in the stopped
35672 @c FIXME: What about non-stop mode?
35674 This packet is only available in extended mode (@pxref{extended mode}).
35680 @item @r{Any stop packet}
35681 for success (@pxref{Stop Reply Packets})
35685 @anchor{vStopped packet}
35686 @cindex @samp{vStopped} packet
35688 In non-stop mode (@pxref{Remote Non-Stop}), acknowledge a previous stop
35689 reply and prompt for the stub to report another one.
35693 @item @r{Any stop packet}
35694 if there is another unreported stop event (@pxref{Stop Reply Packets})
35696 if there are no unreported stop events
35699 @item X @var{addr},@var{length}:@var{XX@dots{}}
35701 @cindex @samp{X} packet
35702 Write data to memory, where the data is transmitted in binary.
35703 @var{addr} is address, @var{length} is number of bytes,
35704 @samp{@var{XX}@dots{}} is binary data (@pxref{Binary Data}).
35714 @item z @var{type},@var{addr},@var{kind}
35715 @itemx Z @var{type},@var{addr},@var{kind}
35716 @anchor{insert breakpoint or watchpoint packet}
35717 @cindex @samp{z} packet
35718 @cindex @samp{Z} packets
35719 Insert (@samp{Z}) or remove (@samp{z}) a @var{type} breakpoint or
35720 watchpoint starting at address @var{address} of kind @var{kind}.
35722 Each breakpoint and watchpoint packet @var{type} is documented
35725 @emph{Implementation notes: A remote target shall return an empty string
35726 for an unrecognized breakpoint or watchpoint packet @var{type}. A
35727 remote target shall support either both or neither of a given
35728 @samp{Z@var{type}@dots{}} and @samp{z@var{type}@dots{}} packet pair. To
35729 avoid potential problems with duplicate packets, the operations should
35730 be implemented in an idempotent way.}
35732 @item z0,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35733 @itemx Z0,@var{addr},@var{kind}@r{[};@var{cond_list}@dots{}@r{]}@r{[};cmds:@var{persist},@var{cmd_list}@dots{}@r{]}
35734 @cindex @samp{z0} packet
35735 @cindex @samp{Z0} packet
35736 Insert (@samp{Z0}) or remove (@samp{z0}) a memory breakpoint at address
35737 @var{addr} of type @var{kind}.
35739 A memory breakpoint is implemented by replacing the instruction at
35740 @var{addr} with a software breakpoint or trap instruction. The
35741 @var{kind} is target-specific and typically indicates the size of
35742 the breakpoint in bytes that should be inserted. E.g., the @sc{arm}
35743 and @sc{mips} can insert either a 2 or 4 byte breakpoint. Some
35744 architectures have additional meanings for @var{kind};
35745 @var{cond_list} is an optional list of conditional expressions in bytecode
35746 form that should be evaluated on the target's side. These are the
35747 conditions that should be taken into consideration when deciding if
35748 the breakpoint trigger should be reported back to @var{GDBN}.
35750 The @var{cond_list} parameter is comprised of a series of expressions,
35751 concatenated without separators. Each expression has the following form:
35755 @item X @var{len},@var{expr}
35756 @var{len} is the length of the bytecode expression and @var{expr} is the
35757 actual conditional expression in bytecode form.
35761 The optional @var{cmd_list} parameter introduces commands that may be
35762 run on the target, rather than being reported back to @value{GDBN}.
35763 The parameter starts with a numeric flag @var{persist}; if the flag is
35764 nonzero, then the breakpoint may remain active and the commands
35765 continue to be run even when @value{GDBN} disconnects from the target.
35766 Following this flag is a series of expressions concatenated with no
35767 separators. Each expression has the following form:
35771 @item X @var{len},@var{expr}
35772 @var{len} is the length of the bytecode expression and @var{expr} is the
35773 actual conditional expression in bytecode form.
35777 see @ref{Architecture-Specific Protocol Details}.
35779 @emph{Implementation note: It is possible for a target to copy or move
35780 code that contains memory breakpoints (e.g., when implementing
35781 overlays). The behavior of this packet, in the presence of such a
35782 target, is not defined.}
35794 @item z1,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35795 @itemx Z1,@var{addr},@var{kind}@r{[};@var{cond_list}@dots{}@r{]}
35796 @cindex @samp{z1} packet
35797 @cindex @samp{Z1} packet
35798 Insert (@samp{Z1}) or remove (@samp{z1}) a hardware breakpoint at
35799 address @var{addr}.
35801 A hardware breakpoint is implemented using a mechanism that is not
35802 dependant on being able to modify the target's memory. @var{kind}
35803 and @var{cond_list} have the same meaning as in @samp{Z0} packets.
35805 @emph{Implementation note: A hardware breakpoint is not affected by code
35818 @item z2,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35819 @itemx Z2,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35820 @cindex @samp{z2} packet
35821 @cindex @samp{Z2} packet
35822 Insert (@samp{Z2}) or remove (@samp{z2}) a write watchpoint at @var{addr}.
35823 @var{kind} is interpreted as the number of bytes to watch.
35835 @item z3,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35836 @itemx Z3,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35837 @cindex @samp{z3} packet
35838 @cindex @samp{Z3} packet
35839 Insert (@samp{Z3}) or remove (@samp{z3}) a read watchpoint at @var{addr}.
35840 @var{kind} is interpreted as the number of bytes to watch.
35852 @item z4,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35853 @itemx Z4,@var{addr},@var{kind}
35854 @cindex @samp{z4} packet
35855 @cindex @samp{Z4} packet
35856 Insert (@samp{Z4}) or remove (@samp{z4}) an access watchpoint at @var{addr}.
35857 @var{kind} is interpreted as the number of bytes to watch.
35871 @node Stop Reply Packets
35872 @section Stop Reply Packets
35873 @cindex stop reply packets
35875 The @samp{C}, @samp{c}, @samp{S}, @samp{s}, @samp{vCont},
35876 @samp{vAttach}, @samp{vRun}, @samp{vStopped}, and @samp{?} packets can
35877 receive any of the below as a reply. Except for @samp{?}
35878 and @samp{vStopped}, that reply is only returned
35879 when the target halts. In the below the exact meaning of @dfn{signal
35880 number} is defined by the header @file{include/gdb/signals.h} in the
35881 @value{GDBN} source code.
35883 As in the description of request packets, we include spaces in the
35884 reply templates for clarity; these are not part of the reply packet's
35885 syntax. No @value{GDBN} stop reply packet uses spaces to separate its
35891 The program received signal number @var{AA} (a two-digit hexadecimal
35892 number). This is equivalent to a @samp{T} response with no
35893 @var{n}:@var{r} pairs.
35895 @item T @var{AA} @var{n1}:@var{r1};@var{n2}:@var{r2};@dots{}
35896 @cindex @samp{T} packet reply
35897 The program received signal number @var{AA} (a two-digit hexadecimal
35898 number). This is equivalent to an @samp{S} response, except that the
35899 @samp{@var{n}:@var{r}} pairs can carry values of important registers
35900 and other information directly in the stop reply packet, reducing
35901 round-trip latency. Single-step and breakpoint traps are reported
35902 this way. Each @samp{@var{n}:@var{r}} pair is interpreted as follows:
35906 If @var{n} is a hexadecimal number, it is a register number, and the
35907 corresponding @var{r} gives that register's value. @var{r} is a
35908 series of bytes in target byte order, with each byte given by a
35909 two-digit hex number.
35912 If @var{n} is @samp{thread}, then @var{r} is the @var{thread-id} of
35913 the stopped thread, as specified in @ref{thread-id syntax}.
35916 If @var{n} is @samp{core}, then @var{r} is the hexadecimal number of
35917 the core on which the stop event was detected.
35920 If @var{n} is a recognized @dfn{stop reason}, it describes a more
35921 specific event that stopped the target. The currently defined stop
35922 reasons are listed below. @var{aa} should be @samp{05}, the trap
35923 signal. At most one stop reason should be present.
35926 Otherwise, @value{GDBN} should ignore this @samp{@var{n}:@var{r}} pair
35927 and go on to the next; this allows us to extend the protocol in the
35931 The currently defined stop reasons are:
35937 The packet indicates a watchpoint hit, and @var{r} is the data address, in
35940 @cindex shared library events, remote reply
35942 The packet indicates that the loaded libraries have changed.
35943 @value{GDBN} should use @samp{qXfer:libraries:read} to fetch a new
35944 list of loaded libraries. @var{r} is ignored.
35946 @cindex replay log events, remote reply
35948 The packet indicates that the target cannot continue replaying
35949 logged execution events, because it has reached the end (or the
35950 beginning when executing backward) of the log. The value of @var{r}
35951 will be either @samp{begin} or @samp{end}. @xref{Reverse Execution},
35952 for more information.
35956 @itemx W @var{AA} ; process:@var{pid}
35957 The process exited, and @var{AA} is the exit status. This is only
35958 applicable to certain targets.
35960 The second form of the response, including the process ID of the exited
35961 process, can be used only when @value{GDBN} has reported support for
35962 multiprocess protocol extensions; see @ref{multiprocess extensions}.
35963 The @var{pid} is formatted as a big-endian hex string.
35966 @itemx X @var{AA} ; process:@var{pid}
35967 The process terminated with signal @var{AA}.
35969 The second form of the response, including the process ID of the
35970 terminated process, can be used only when @value{GDBN} has reported
35971 support for multiprocess protocol extensions; see @ref{multiprocess
35972 extensions}. The @var{pid} is formatted as a big-endian hex string.
35974 @item O @var{XX}@dots{}
35975 @samp{@var{XX}@dots{}} is hex encoding of @sc{ascii} data, to be
35976 written as the program's console output. This can happen at any time
35977 while the program is running and the debugger should continue to wait
35978 for @samp{W}, @samp{T}, etc. This reply is not permitted in non-stop mode.
35980 @item F @var{call-id},@var{parameter}@dots{}
35981 @var{call-id} is the identifier which says which host system call should
35982 be called. This is just the name of the function. Translation into the
35983 correct system call is only applicable as it's defined in @value{GDBN}.
35984 @xref{File-I/O Remote Protocol Extension}, for a list of implemented
35987 @samp{@var{parameter}@dots{}} is a list of parameters as defined for
35988 this very system call.
35990 The target replies with this packet when it expects @value{GDBN} to
35991 call a host system call on behalf of the target. @value{GDBN} replies
35992 with an appropriate @samp{F} packet and keeps up waiting for the next
35993 reply packet from the target. The latest @samp{C}, @samp{c}, @samp{S}
35994 or @samp{s} action is expected to be continued. @xref{File-I/O Remote
35995 Protocol Extension}, for more details.
35999 @node General Query Packets
36000 @section General Query Packets
36001 @cindex remote query requests
36003 Packets starting with @samp{q} are @dfn{general query packets};
36004 packets starting with @samp{Q} are @dfn{general set packets}. General
36005 query and set packets are a semi-unified form for retrieving and
36006 sending information to and from the stub.
36008 The initial letter of a query or set packet is followed by a name
36009 indicating what sort of thing the packet applies to. For example,
36010 @value{GDBN} may use a @samp{qSymbol} packet to exchange symbol
36011 definitions with the stub. These packet names follow some
36016 The name must not contain commas, colons or semicolons.
36018 Most @value{GDBN} query and set packets have a leading upper case
36021 The names of custom vendor packets should use a company prefix, in
36022 lower case, followed by a period. For example, packets designed at
36023 the Acme Corporation might begin with @samp{qacme.foo} (for querying
36024 foos) or @samp{Qacme.bar} (for setting bars).
36027 The name of a query or set packet should be separated from any
36028 parameters by a @samp{:}; the parameters themselves should be
36029 separated by @samp{,} or @samp{;}. Stubs must be careful to match the
36030 full packet name, and check for a separator or the end of the packet,
36031 in case two packet names share a common prefix. New packets should not begin
36032 with @samp{qC}, @samp{qP}, or @samp{qL}@footnote{The @samp{qP} and @samp{qL}
36033 packets predate these conventions, and have arguments without any terminator
36034 for the packet name; we suspect they are in widespread use in places that
36035 are difficult to upgrade. The @samp{qC} packet has no arguments, but some
36036 existing stubs (e.g.@: RedBoot) are known to not check for the end of the
36039 Like the descriptions of the other packets, each description here
36040 has a template showing the packet's overall syntax, followed by an
36041 explanation of the packet's meaning. We include spaces in some of the
36042 templates for clarity; these are not part of the packet's syntax. No
36043 @value{GDBN} packet uses spaces to separate its components.
36045 Here are the currently defined query and set packets:
36051 Turn on or off the agent as a helper to perform some debugging operations
36052 delegated from @value{GDBN} (@pxref{Control Agent}).
36054 @item QAllow:@var{op}:@var{val}@dots{}
36055 @cindex @samp{QAllow} packet
36056 Specify which operations @value{GDBN} expects to request of the
36057 target, as a semicolon-separated list of operation name and value
36058 pairs. Possible values for @var{op} include @samp{WriteReg},
36059 @samp{WriteMem}, @samp{InsertBreak}, @samp{InsertTrace},
36060 @samp{InsertFastTrace}, and @samp{Stop}. @var{val} is either 0,
36061 indicating that @value{GDBN} will not request the operation, or 1,
36062 indicating that it may. (The target can then use this to set up its
36063 own internals optimally, for instance if the debugger never expects to
36064 insert breakpoints, it may not need to install its own trap handler.)
36067 @cindex current thread, remote request
36068 @cindex @samp{qC} packet
36069 Return the current thread ID.
36073 @item QC @var{thread-id}
36074 Where @var{thread-id} is a thread ID as documented in
36075 @ref{thread-id syntax}.
36076 @item @r{(anything else)}
36077 Any other reply implies the old thread ID.
36080 @item qCRC:@var{addr},@var{length}
36081 @cindex CRC of memory block, remote request
36082 @cindex @samp{qCRC} packet
36083 Compute the CRC checksum of a block of memory using CRC-32 defined in
36084 IEEE 802.3. The CRC is computed byte at a time, taking the most
36085 significant bit of each byte first. The initial pattern code
36086 @code{0xffffffff} is used to ensure leading zeros affect the CRC.
36088 @emph{Note:} This is the same CRC used in validating separate debug
36089 files (@pxref{Separate Debug Files, , Debugging Information in Separate
36090 Files}). However the algorithm is slightly different. When validating
36091 separate debug files, the CRC is computed taking the @emph{least}
36092 significant bit of each byte first, and the final result is inverted to
36093 detect trailing zeros.
36098 An error (such as memory fault)
36099 @item C @var{crc32}
36100 The specified memory region's checksum is @var{crc32}.
36103 @item QDisableRandomization:@var{value}
36104 @cindex disable address space randomization, remote request
36105 @cindex @samp{QDisableRandomization} packet
36106 Some target operating systems will randomize the virtual address space
36107 of the inferior process as a security feature, but provide a feature
36108 to disable such randomization, e.g.@: to allow for a more deterministic
36109 debugging experience. On such systems, this packet with a @var{value}
36110 of 1 directs the target to disable address space randomization for
36111 processes subsequently started via @samp{vRun} packets, while a packet
36112 with a @var{value} of 0 tells the target to enable address space
36115 This packet is only available in extended mode (@pxref{extended mode}).
36120 The request succeeded.
36123 An error occurred. @var{nn} are hex digits.
36126 An empty reply indicates that @samp{QDisableRandomization} is not supported
36130 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36131 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36132 This should only be done on targets that actually support disabling
36133 address space randomization.
36136 @itemx qsThreadInfo
36137 @cindex list active threads, remote request
36138 @cindex @samp{qfThreadInfo} packet
36139 @cindex @samp{qsThreadInfo} packet
36140 Obtain a list of all active thread IDs from the target (OS). Since there
36141 may be too many active threads to fit into one reply packet, this query
36142 works iteratively: it may require more than one query/reply sequence to
36143 obtain the entire list of threads. The first query of the sequence will
36144 be the @samp{qfThreadInfo} query; subsequent queries in the
36145 sequence will be the @samp{qsThreadInfo} query.
36147 NOTE: This packet replaces the @samp{qL} query (see below).
36151 @item m @var{thread-id}
36153 @item m @var{thread-id},@var{thread-id}@dots{}
36154 a comma-separated list of thread IDs
36156 (lower case letter @samp{L}) denotes end of list.
36159 In response to each query, the target will reply with a list of one or
36160 more thread IDs, separated by commas.
36161 @value{GDBN} will respond to each reply with a request for more thread
36162 ids (using the @samp{qs} form of the query), until the target responds
36163 with @samp{l} (lower-case ell, for @dfn{last}).
36164 Refer to @ref{thread-id syntax}, for the format of the @var{thread-id}
36167 @item qGetTLSAddr:@var{thread-id},@var{offset},@var{lm}
36168 @cindex get thread-local storage address, remote request
36169 @cindex @samp{qGetTLSAddr} packet
36170 Fetch the address associated with thread local storage specified
36171 by @var{thread-id}, @var{offset}, and @var{lm}.
36173 @var{thread-id} is the thread ID associated with the
36174 thread for which to fetch the TLS address. @xref{thread-id syntax}.
36176 @var{offset} is the (big endian, hex encoded) offset associated with the
36177 thread local variable. (This offset is obtained from the debug
36178 information associated with the variable.)
36180 @var{lm} is the (big endian, hex encoded) OS/ABI-specific encoding of the
36181 load module associated with the thread local storage. For example,
36182 a @sc{gnu}/Linux system will pass the link map address of the shared
36183 object associated with the thread local storage under consideration.
36184 Other operating environments may choose to represent the load module
36185 differently, so the precise meaning of this parameter will vary.
36189 @item @var{XX}@dots{}
36190 Hex encoded (big endian) bytes representing the address of the thread
36191 local storage requested.
36194 An error occurred. @var{nn} are hex digits.
36197 An empty reply indicates that @samp{qGetTLSAddr} is not supported by the stub.
36200 @item qGetTIBAddr:@var{thread-id}
36201 @cindex get thread information block address
36202 @cindex @samp{qGetTIBAddr} packet
36203 Fetch address of the Windows OS specific Thread Information Block.
36205 @var{thread-id} is the thread ID associated with the thread.
36209 @item @var{XX}@dots{}
36210 Hex encoded (big endian) bytes representing the linear address of the
36211 thread information block.
36214 An error occured. This means that either the thread was not found, or the
36215 address could not be retrieved.
36218 An empty reply indicates that @samp{qGetTIBAddr} is not supported by the stub.
36221 @item qL @var{startflag} @var{threadcount} @var{nextthread}
36222 Obtain thread information from RTOS. Where: @var{startflag} (one hex
36223 digit) is one to indicate the first query and zero to indicate a
36224 subsequent query; @var{threadcount} (two hex digits) is the maximum
36225 number of threads the response packet can contain; and @var{nextthread}
36226 (eight hex digits), for subsequent queries (@var{startflag} is zero), is
36227 returned in the response as @var{argthread}.
36229 Don't use this packet; use the @samp{qfThreadInfo} query instead (see above).
36233 @item qM @var{count} @var{done} @var{argthread} @var{thread}@dots{}
36234 Where: @var{count} (two hex digits) is the number of threads being
36235 returned; @var{done} (one hex digit) is zero to indicate more threads
36236 and one indicates no further threads; @var{argthreadid} (eight hex
36237 digits) is @var{nextthread} from the request packet; @var{thread}@dots{}
36238 is a sequence of thread IDs from the target. @var{threadid} (eight hex
36239 digits). See @code{remote.c:parse_threadlist_response()}.
36243 @cindex section offsets, remote request
36244 @cindex @samp{qOffsets} packet
36245 Get section offsets that the target used when relocating the downloaded
36250 @item Text=@var{xxx};Data=@var{yyy}@r{[};Bss=@var{zzz}@r{]}
36251 Relocate the @code{Text} section by @var{xxx} from its original address.
36252 Relocate the @code{Data} section by @var{yyy} from its original address.
36253 If the object file format provides segment information (e.g.@: @sc{elf}
36254 @samp{PT_LOAD} program headers), @value{GDBN} will relocate entire
36255 segments by the supplied offsets.
36257 @emph{Note: while a @code{Bss} offset may be included in the response,
36258 @value{GDBN} ignores this and instead applies the @code{Data} offset
36259 to the @code{Bss} section.}
36261 @item TextSeg=@var{xxx}@r{[};DataSeg=@var{yyy}@r{]}
36262 Relocate the first segment of the object file, which conventionally
36263 contains program code, to a starting address of @var{xxx}. If
36264 @samp{DataSeg} is specified, relocate the second segment, which
36265 conventionally contains modifiable data, to a starting address of
36266 @var{yyy}. @value{GDBN} will report an error if the object file
36267 does not contain segment information, or does not contain at least
36268 as many segments as mentioned in the reply. Extra segments are
36269 kept at fixed offsets relative to the last relocated segment.
36272 @item qP @var{mode} @var{thread-id}
36273 @cindex thread information, remote request
36274 @cindex @samp{qP} packet
36275 Returns information on @var{thread-id}. Where: @var{mode} is a hex
36276 encoded 32 bit mode; @var{thread-id} is a thread ID
36277 (@pxref{thread-id syntax}).
36279 Don't use this packet; use the @samp{qThreadExtraInfo} query instead
36282 Reply: see @code{remote.c:remote_unpack_thread_info_response()}.
36286 @cindex non-stop mode, remote request
36287 @cindex @samp{QNonStop} packet
36289 Enter non-stop (@samp{QNonStop:1}) or all-stop (@samp{QNonStop:0}) mode.
36290 @xref{Remote Non-Stop}, for more information.
36295 The request succeeded.
36298 An error occurred. @var{nn} are hex digits.
36301 An empty reply indicates that @samp{QNonStop} is not supported by
36305 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36306 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36307 Use of this packet is controlled by the @code{set non-stop} command;
36308 @pxref{Non-Stop Mode}.
36310 @item QPassSignals: @var{signal} @r{[};@var{signal}@r{]}@dots{}
36311 @cindex pass signals to inferior, remote request
36312 @cindex @samp{QPassSignals} packet
36313 @anchor{QPassSignals}
36314 Each listed @var{signal} should be passed directly to the inferior process.
36315 Signals are numbered identically to continue packets and stop replies
36316 (@pxref{Stop Reply Packets}). Each @var{signal} list item should be
36317 strictly greater than the previous item. These signals do not need to stop
36318 the inferior, or be reported to @value{GDBN}. All other signals should be
36319 reported to @value{GDBN}. Multiple @samp{QPassSignals} packets do not
36320 combine; any earlier @samp{QPassSignals} list is completely replaced by the
36321 new list. This packet improves performance when using @samp{handle
36322 @var{signal} nostop noprint pass}.
36327 The request succeeded.
36330 An error occurred. @var{nn} are hex digits.
36333 An empty reply indicates that @samp{QPassSignals} is not supported by
36337 Use of this packet is controlled by the @code{set remote pass-signals}
36338 command (@pxref{Remote Configuration, set remote pass-signals}).
36339 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36340 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36342 @item QProgramSignals: @var{signal} @r{[};@var{signal}@r{]}@dots{}
36343 @cindex signals the inferior may see, remote request
36344 @cindex @samp{QProgramSignals} packet
36345 @anchor{QProgramSignals}
36346 Each listed @var{signal} may be delivered to the inferior process.
36347 Others should be silently discarded.
36349 In some cases, the remote stub may need to decide whether to deliver a
36350 signal to the program or not without @value{GDBN} involvement. One
36351 example of that is while detaching --- the program's threads may have
36352 stopped for signals that haven't yet had a chance of being reported to
36353 @value{GDBN}, and so the remote stub can use the signal list specified
36354 by this packet to know whether to deliver or ignore those pending
36357 This does not influence whether to deliver a signal as requested by a
36358 resumption packet (@pxref{vCont packet}).
36360 Signals are numbered identically to continue packets and stop replies
36361 (@pxref{Stop Reply Packets}). Each @var{signal} list item should be
36362 strictly greater than the previous item. Multiple
36363 @samp{QProgramSignals} packets do not combine; any earlier
36364 @samp{QProgramSignals} list is completely replaced by the new list.
36369 The request succeeded.
36372 An error occurred. @var{nn} are hex digits.
36375 An empty reply indicates that @samp{QProgramSignals} is not supported
36379 Use of this packet is controlled by the @code{set remote program-signals}
36380 command (@pxref{Remote Configuration, set remote program-signals}).
36381 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36382 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36384 @item qRcmd,@var{command}
36385 @cindex execute remote command, remote request
36386 @cindex @samp{qRcmd} packet
36387 @var{command} (hex encoded) is passed to the local interpreter for
36388 execution. Invalid commands should be reported using the output
36389 string. Before the final result packet, the target may also respond
36390 with a number of intermediate @samp{O@var{output}} console output
36391 packets. @emph{Implementors should note that providing access to a
36392 stubs's interpreter may have security implications}.
36397 A command response with no output.
36399 A command response with the hex encoded output string @var{OUTPUT}.
36401 Indicate a badly formed request.
36403 An empty reply indicates that @samp{qRcmd} is not recognized.
36406 (Note that the @code{qRcmd} packet's name is separated from the
36407 command by a @samp{,}, not a @samp{:}, contrary to the naming
36408 conventions above. Please don't use this packet as a model for new
36411 @item qSearch:memory:@var{address};@var{length};@var{search-pattern}
36412 @cindex searching memory, in remote debugging
36413 @cindex @samp{qSearch:memory} packet
36414 @anchor{qSearch memory}
36415 Search @var{length} bytes at @var{address} for @var{search-pattern}.
36416 @var{address} and @var{length} are encoded in hex.
36417 @var{search-pattern} is a sequence of bytes, hex encoded.
36422 The pattern was not found.
36424 The pattern was found at @var{address}.
36426 A badly formed request or an error was encountered while searching memory.
36428 An empty reply indicates that @samp{qSearch:memory} is not recognized.
36431 @item QStartNoAckMode
36432 @cindex @samp{QStartNoAckMode} packet
36433 @anchor{QStartNoAckMode}
36434 Request that the remote stub disable the normal @samp{+}/@samp{-}
36435 protocol acknowledgments (@pxref{Packet Acknowledgment}).
36440 The stub has switched to no-acknowledgment mode.
36441 @value{GDBN} acknowledges this reponse,
36442 but neither the stub nor @value{GDBN} shall send or expect further
36443 @samp{+}/@samp{-} acknowledgments in the current connection.
36445 An empty reply indicates that the stub does not support no-acknowledgment mode.
36448 @item qSupported @r{[}:@var{gdbfeature} @r{[};@var{gdbfeature}@r{]}@dots{} @r{]}
36449 @cindex supported packets, remote query
36450 @cindex features of the remote protocol
36451 @cindex @samp{qSupported} packet
36452 @anchor{qSupported}
36453 Tell the remote stub about features supported by @value{GDBN}, and
36454 query the stub for features it supports. This packet allows
36455 @value{GDBN} and the remote stub to take advantage of each others'
36456 features. @samp{qSupported} also consolidates multiple feature probes
36457 at startup, to improve @value{GDBN} performance---a single larger
36458 packet performs better than multiple smaller probe packets on
36459 high-latency links. Some features may enable behavior which must not
36460 be on by default, e.g.@: because it would confuse older clients or
36461 stubs. Other features may describe packets which could be
36462 automatically probed for, but are not. These features must be
36463 reported before @value{GDBN} will use them. This ``default
36464 unsupported'' behavior is not appropriate for all packets, but it
36465 helps to keep the initial connection time under control with new
36466 versions of @value{GDBN} which support increasing numbers of packets.
36470 @item @var{stubfeature} @r{[};@var{stubfeature}@r{]}@dots{}
36471 The stub supports or does not support each returned @var{stubfeature},
36472 depending on the form of each @var{stubfeature} (see below for the
36475 An empty reply indicates that @samp{qSupported} is not recognized,
36476 or that no features needed to be reported to @value{GDBN}.
36479 The allowed forms for each feature (either a @var{gdbfeature} in the
36480 @samp{qSupported} packet, or a @var{stubfeature} in the response)
36484 @item @var{name}=@var{value}
36485 The remote protocol feature @var{name} is supported, and associated
36486 with the specified @var{value}. The format of @var{value} depends
36487 on the feature, but it must not include a semicolon.
36489 The remote protocol feature @var{name} is supported, and does not
36490 need an associated value.
36492 The remote protocol feature @var{name} is not supported.
36494 The remote protocol feature @var{name} may be supported, and
36495 @value{GDBN} should auto-detect support in some other way when it is
36496 needed. This form will not be used for @var{gdbfeature} notifications,
36497 but may be used for @var{stubfeature} responses.
36500 Whenever the stub receives a @samp{qSupported} request, the
36501 supplied set of @value{GDBN} features should override any previous
36502 request. This allows @value{GDBN} to put the stub in a known
36503 state, even if the stub had previously been communicating with
36504 a different version of @value{GDBN}.
36506 The following values of @var{gdbfeature} (for the packet sent by @value{GDBN})
36511 This feature indicates whether @value{GDBN} supports multiprocess
36512 extensions to the remote protocol. @value{GDBN} does not use such
36513 extensions unless the stub also reports that it supports them by
36514 including @samp{multiprocess+} in its @samp{qSupported} reply.
36515 @xref{multiprocess extensions}, for details.
36518 This feature indicates that @value{GDBN} supports the XML target
36519 description. If the stub sees @samp{xmlRegisters=} with target
36520 specific strings separated by a comma, it will report register
36524 This feature indicates whether @value{GDBN} supports the
36525 @samp{qRelocInsn} packet (@pxref{Tracepoint Packets,,Relocate
36526 instruction reply packet}).
36529 Stubs should ignore any unknown values for
36530 @var{gdbfeature}. Any @value{GDBN} which sends a @samp{qSupported}
36531 packet supports receiving packets of unlimited length (earlier
36532 versions of @value{GDBN} may reject overly long responses). Additional values
36533 for @var{gdbfeature} may be defined in the future to let the stub take
36534 advantage of new features in @value{GDBN}, e.g.@: incompatible
36535 improvements in the remote protocol---the @samp{multiprocess} feature is
36536 an example of such a feature. The stub's reply should be independent
36537 of the @var{gdbfeature} entries sent by @value{GDBN}; first @value{GDBN}
36538 describes all the features it supports, and then the stub replies with
36539 all the features it supports.
36541 Similarly, @value{GDBN} will silently ignore unrecognized stub feature
36542 responses, as long as each response uses one of the standard forms.
36544 Some features are flags. A stub which supports a flag feature
36545 should respond with a @samp{+} form response. Other features
36546 require values, and the stub should respond with an @samp{=}
36549 Each feature has a default value, which @value{GDBN} will use if
36550 @samp{qSupported} is not available or if the feature is not mentioned
36551 in the @samp{qSupported} response. The default values are fixed; a
36552 stub is free to omit any feature responses that match the defaults.
36554 Not all features can be probed, but for those which can, the probing
36555 mechanism is useful: in some cases, a stub's internal
36556 architecture may not allow the protocol layer to know some information
36557 about the underlying target in advance. This is especially common in
36558 stubs which may be configured for multiple targets.
36560 These are the currently defined stub features and their properties:
36562 @multitable @columnfractions 0.35 0.2 0.12 0.2
36563 @c NOTE: The first row should be @headitem, but we do not yet require
36564 @c a new enough version of Texinfo (4.7) to use @headitem.
36566 @tab Value Required
36570 @item @samp{PacketSize}
36575 @item @samp{qXfer:auxv:read}
36580 @item @samp{qXfer:features:read}
36585 @item @samp{qXfer:libraries:read}
36590 @item @samp{qXfer:memory-map:read}
36595 @item @samp{qXfer:sdata:read}
36600 @item @samp{qXfer:spu:read}
36605 @item @samp{qXfer:spu:write}
36610 @item @samp{qXfer:siginfo:read}
36615 @item @samp{qXfer:siginfo:write}
36620 @item @samp{qXfer:threads:read}
36625 @item @samp{qXfer:traceframe-info:read}
36630 @item @samp{qXfer:uib:read}
36635 @item @samp{qXfer:fdpic:read}
36640 @item @samp{QNonStop}
36645 @item @samp{QPassSignals}
36650 @item @samp{QStartNoAckMode}
36655 @item @samp{multiprocess}
36660 @item @samp{ConditionalBreakpoints}
36665 @item @samp{ConditionalTracepoints}
36670 @item @samp{ReverseContinue}
36675 @item @samp{ReverseStep}
36680 @item @samp{TracepointSource}
36685 @item @samp{QAgent}
36690 @item @samp{QAllow}
36695 @item @samp{QDisableRandomization}
36700 @item @samp{EnableDisableTracepoints}
36705 @item @samp{tracenz}
36710 @item @samp{BreakpointCommands}
36717 These are the currently defined stub features, in more detail:
36720 @cindex packet size, remote protocol
36721 @item PacketSize=@var{bytes}
36722 The remote stub can accept packets up to at least @var{bytes} in
36723 length. @value{GDBN} will send packets up to this size for bulk
36724 transfers, and will never send larger packets. This is a limit on the
36725 data characters in the packet, including the frame and checksum.
36726 There is no trailing NUL byte in a remote protocol packet; if the stub
36727 stores packets in a NUL-terminated format, it should allow an extra
36728 byte in its buffer for the NUL. If this stub feature is not supported,
36729 @value{GDBN} guesses based on the size of the @samp{g} packet response.
36731 @item qXfer:auxv:read
36732 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:auxv:read} packet
36733 (@pxref{qXfer auxiliary vector read}).
36735 @item qXfer:features:read
36736 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:features:read} packet
36737 (@pxref{qXfer target description read}).
36739 @item qXfer:libraries:read
36740 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:libraries:read} packet
36741 (@pxref{qXfer library list read}).
36743 @item qXfer:libraries-svr4:read
36744 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:libraries-svr4:read} packet
36745 (@pxref{qXfer svr4 library list read}).
36747 @item qXfer:memory-map:read
36748 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:memory-map:read} packet
36749 (@pxref{qXfer memory map read}).
36751 @item qXfer:sdata:read
36752 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:sdata:read} packet
36753 (@pxref{qXfer sdata read}).
36755 @item qXfer:spu:read
36756 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:spu:read} packet
36757 (@pxref{qXfer spu read}).
36759 @item qXfer:spu:write
36760 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:spu:write} packet
36761 (@pxref{qXfer spu write}).
36763 @item qXfer:siginfo:read
36764 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:siginfo:read} packet
36765 (@pxref{qXfer siginfo read}).
36767 @item qXfer:siginfo:write
36768 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:siginfo:write} packet
36769 (@pxref{qXfer siginfo write}).
36771 @item qXfer:threads:read
36772 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:threads:read} packet
36773 (@pxref{qXfer threads read}).
36775 @item qXfer:traceframe-info:read
36776 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:traceframe-info:read}
36777 packet (@pxref{qXfer traceframe info read}).
36779 @item qXfer:uib:read
36780 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:uib:read}
36781 packet (@pxref{qXfer unwind info block}).
36783 @item qXfer:fdpic:read
36784 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:fdpic:read}
36785 packet (@pxref{qXfer fdpic loadmap read}).
36788 The remote stub understands the @samp{QNonStop} packet
36789 (@pxref{QNonStop}).
36792 The remote stub understands the @samp{QPassSignals} packet
36793 (@pxref{QPassSignals}).
36795 @item QStartNoAckMode
36796 The remote stub understands the @samp{QStartNoAckMode} packet and
36797 prefers to operate in no-acknowledgment mode. @xref{Packet Acknowledgment}.
36800 @anchor{multiprocess extensions}
36801 @cindex multiprocess extensions, in remote protocol
36802 The remote stub understands the multiprocess extensions to the remote
36803 protocol syntax. The multiprocess extensions affect the syntax of
36804 thread IDs in both packets and replies (@pxref{thread-id syntax}), and
36805 add process IDs to the @samp{D} packet and @samp{W} and @samp{X}
36806 replies. Note that reporting this feature indicates support for the
36807 syntactic extensions only, not that the stub necessarily supports
36808 debugging of more than one process at a time. The stub must not use
36809 multiprocess extensions in packet replies unless @value{GDBN} has also
36810 indicated it supports them in its @samp{qSupported} request.
36812 @item qXfer:osdata:read
36813 The remote stub understands the @samp{qXfer:osdata:read} packet
36814 ((@pxref{qXfer osdata read}).
36816 @item ConditionalBreakpoints
36817 The target accepts and implements evaluation of conditional expressions
36818 defined for breakpoints. The target will only report breakpoint triggers
36819 when such conditions are true (@pxref{Conditions, ,Break Conditions}).
36821 @item ConditionalTracepoints
36822 The remote stub accepts and implements conditional expressions defined
36823 for tracepoints (@pxref{Tracepoint Conditions}).
36825 @item ReverseContinue
36826 The remote stub accepts and implements the reverse continue packet
36830 The remote stub accepts and implements the reverse step packet
36833 @item TracepointSource
36834 The remote stub understands the @samp{QTDPsrc} packet that supplies
36835 the source form of tracepoint definitions.
36838 The remote stub understands the @samp{QAgent} packet.
36841 The remote stub understands the @samp{QAllow} packet.
36843 @item QDisableRandomization
36844 The remote stub understands the @samp{QDisableRandomization} packet.
36846 @item StaticTracepoint
36847 @cindex static tracepoints, in remote protocol
36848 The remote stub supports static tracepoints.
36850 @item InstallInTrace
36851 @anchor{install tracepoint in tracing}
36852 The remote stub supports installing tracepoint in tracing.
36854 @item EnableDisableTracepoints
36855 The remote stub supports the @samp{QTEnable} (@pxref{QTEnable}) and
36856 @samp{QTDisable} (@pxref{QTDisable}) packets that allow tracepoints
36857 to be enabled and disabled while a trace experiment is running.
36860 @cindex string tracing, in remote protocol
36861 The remote stub supports the @samp{tracenz} bytecode for collecting strings.
36862 See @ref{Bytecode Descriptions} for details about the bytecode.
36864 @item BreakpointCommands
36865 @cindex breakpoint commands, in remote protocol
36866 The remote stub supports running a breakpoint's command list itself,
36867 rather than reporting the hit to @value{GDBN}.
36872 @cindex symbol lookup, remote request
36873 @cindex @samp{qSymbol} packet
36874 Notify the target that @value{GDBN} is prepared to serve symbol lookup
36875 requests. Accept requests from the target for the values of symbols.
36880 The target does not need to look up any (more) symbols.
36881 @item qSymbol:@var{sym_name}
36882 The target requests the value of symbol @var{sym_name} (hex encoded).
36883 @value{GDBN} may provide the value by using the
36884 @samp{qSymbol:@var{sym_value}:@var{sym_name}} message, described
36888 @item qSymbol:@var{sym_value}:@var{sym_name}
36889 Set the value of @var{sym_name} to @var{sym_value}.
36891 @var{sym_name} (hex encoded) is the name of a symbol whose value the
36892 target has previously requested.
36894 @var{sym_value} (hex) is the value for symbol @var{sym_name}. If
36895 @value{GDBN} cannot supply a value for @var{sym_name}, then this field
36901 The target does not need to look up any (more) symbols.
36902 @item qSymbol:@var{sym_name}
36903 The target requests the value of a new symbol @var{sym_name} (hex
36904 encoded). @value{GDBN} will continue to supply the values of symbols
36905 (if available), until the target ceases to request them.
36910 @item QTDisconnected
36917 @itemx qTMinFTPILen
36919 @xref{Tracepoint Packets}.
36921 @item qThreadExtraInfo,@var{thread-id}
36922 @cindex thread attributes info, remote request
36923 @cindex @samp{qThreadExtraInfo} packet
36924 Obtain a printable string description of a thread's attributes from
36925 the target OS. @var{thread-id} is a thread ID;
36926 see @ref{thread-id syntax}. This
36927 string may contain anything that the target OS thinks is interesting
36928 for @value{GDBN} to tell the user about the thread. The string is
36929 displayed in @value{GDBN}'s @code{info threads} display. Some
36930 examples of possible thread extra info strings are @samp{Runnable}, or
36931 @samp{Blocked on Mutex}.
36935 @item @var{XX}@dots{}
36936 Where @samp{@var{XX}@dots{}} is a hex encoding of @sc{ascii} data,
36937 comprising the printable string containing the extra information about
36938 the thread's attributes.
36941 (Note that the @code{qThreadExtraInfo} packet's name is separated from
36942 the command by a @samp{,}, not a @samp{:}, contrary to the naming
36943 conventions above. Please don't use this packet as a model for new
36962 @xref{Tracepoint Packets}.
36964 @item qXfer:@var{object}:read:@var{annex}:@var{offset},@var{length}
36965 @cindex read special object, remote request
36966 @cindex @samp{qXfer} packet
36967 @anchor{qXfer read}
36968 Read uninterpreted bytes from the target's special data area
36969 identified by the keyword @var{object}. Request @var{length} bytes
36970 starting at @var{offset} bytes into the data. The content and
36971 encoding of @var{annex} is specific to @var{object}; it can supply
36972 additional details about what data to access.
36974 Here are the specific requests of this form defined so far. All
36975 @samp{qXfer:@var{object}:read:@dots{}} requests use the same reply
36976 formats, listed below.
36979 @item qXfer:auxv:read::@var{offset},@var{length}
36980 @anchor{qXfer auxiliary vector read}
36981 Access the target's @dfn{auxiliary vector}. @xref{OS Information,
36982 auxiliary vector}. Note @var{annex} must be empty.
36984 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36985 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36987 @item qXfer:features:read:@var{annex}:@var{offset},@var{length}
36988 @anchor{qXfer target description read}
36989 Access the @dfn{target description}. @xref{Target Descriptions}. The
36990 annex specifies which XML document to access. The main description is
36991 always loaded from the @samp{target.xml} annex.
36993 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
36994 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
36996 @item qXfer:libraries:read:@var{annex}:@var{offset},@var{length}
36997 @anchor{qXfer library list read}
36998 Access the target's list of loaded libraries. @xref{Library List Format}.
36999 The annex part of the generic @samp{qXfer} packet must be empty
37000 (@pxref{qXfer read}).
37002 Targets which maintain a list of libraries in the program's memory do
37003 not need to implement this packet; it is designed for platforms where
37004 the operating system manages the list of loaded libraries.
37006 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
37007 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
37009 @item qXfer:libraries-svr4:read:@var{annex}:@var{offset},@var{length}
37010 @anchor{qXfer svr4 library list read}
37011 Access the target's list of loaded libraries when the target is an SVR4
37012 platform. @xref{Library List Format for SVR4 Targets}. The annex part
37013 of the generic @samp{qXfer} packet must be empty (@pxref{qXfer read}).
37015 This packet is optional for better performance on SVR4 targets.
37016 @value{GDBN} uses memory read packets to read the SVR4 library list otherwise.
37018 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
37019 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
37021 @item qXfer:memory-map:read::@var{offset},@var{length}
37022 @anchor{qXfer memory map read}
37023 Access the target's @dfn{memory-map}. @xref{Memory Map Format}. The
37024 annex part of the generic @samp{qXfer} packet must be empty
37025 (@pxref{qXfer read}).
37027 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
37028 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
37030 @item qXfer:sdata:read::@var{offset},@var{length}
37031 @anchor{qXfer sdata read}
37033 Read contents of the extra collected static tracepoint marker
37034 information. The annex part of the generic @samp{qXfer} packet must
37035 be empty (@pxref{qXfer read}). @xref{Tracepoint Actions,,Tracepoint
37038 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
37039 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response
37040 (@pxref{qSupported}).
37042 @item qXfer:siginfo:read::@var{offset},@var{length}
37043 @anchor{qXfer siginfo read}
37044 Read contents of the extra signal information on the target
37045 system. The annex part of the generic @samp{qXfer} packet must be
37046 empty (@pxref{qXfer read}).
37048 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
37049 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response
37050 (@pxref{qSupported}).
37052 @item qXfer:spu:read:@var{annex}:@var{offset},@var{length}
37053 @anchor{qXfer spu read}
37054 Read contents of an @code{spufs} file on the target system. The
37055 annex specifies which file to read; it must be of the form
37056 @file{@var{id}/@var{name}}, where @var{id} specifies an SPU context ID
37057 in the target process, and @var{name} identifes the @code{spufs} file
37058 in that context to be accessed.
37060 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
37061 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response
37062 (@pxref{qSupported}).
37064 @item qXfer:threads:read::@var{offset},@var{length}
37065 @anchor{qXfer threads read}
37066 Access the list of threads on target. @xref{Thread List Format}. The
37067 annex part of the generic @samp{qXfer} packet must be empty
37068 (@pxref{qXfer read}).
37070 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
37071 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
37073 @item qXfer:traceframe-info:read::@var{offset},@var{length}
37074 @anchor{qXfer traceframe info read}
37076 Return a description of the current traceframe's contents.
37077 @xref{Traceframe Info Format}. The annex part of the generic
37078 @samp{qXfer} packet must be empty (@pxref{qXfer read}).
37080 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
37081 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
37083 @item qXfer:uib:read:@var{pc}:@var{offset},@var{length}
37084 @anchor{qXfer unwind info block}
37086 Return the unwind information block for @var{pc}. This packet is used
37087 on OpenVMS/ia64 to ask the kernel unwind information.
37089 This packet is not probed by default.
37091 @item qXfer:fdpic:read:@var{annex}:@var{offset},@var{length}
37092 @anchor{qXfer fdpic loadmap read}
37093 Read contents of @code{loadmap}s on the target system. The
37094 annex, either @samp{exec} or @samp{interp}, specifies which @code{loadmap},
37095 executable @code{loadmap} or interpreter @code{loadmap} to read.
37097 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
37098 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
37100 @item qXfer:osdata:read::@var{offset},@var{length}
37101 @anchor{qXfer osdata read}
37102 Access the target's @dfn{operating system information}.
37103 @xref{Operating System Information}.
37110 Data @var{data} (@pxref{Binary Data}) has been read from the
37111 target. There may be more data at a higher address (although
37112 it is permitted to return @samp{m} even for the last valid
37113 block of data, as long as at least one byte of data was read).
37114 @var{data} may have fewer bytes than the @var{length} in the
37118 Data @var{data} (@pxref{Binary Data}) has been read from the target.
37119 There is no more data to be read. @var{data} may have fewer bytes
37120 than the @var{length} in the request.
37123 The @var{offset} in the request is at the end of the data.
37124 There is no more data to be read.
37127 The request was malformed, or @var{annex} was invalid.
37130 The offset was invalid, or there was an error encountered reading the data.
37131 @var{nn} is a hex-encoded @code{errno} value.
37134 An empty reply indicates the @var{object} string was not recognized by
37135 the stub, or that the object does not support reading.
37138 @item qXfer:@var{object}:write:@var{annex}:@var{offset}:@var{data}@dots{}
37139 @cindex write data into object, remote request
37140 @anchor{qXfer write}
37141 Write uninterpreted bytes into the target's special data area
37142 identified by the keyword @var{object}, starting at @var{offset} bytes
37143 into the data. @var{data}@dots{} is the binary-encoded data
37144 (@pxref{Binary Data}) to be written. The content and encoding of @var{annex}
37145 is specific to @var{object}; it can supply additional details about what data
37148 Here are the specific requests of this form defined so far. All
37149 @samp{qXfer:@var{object}:write:@dots{}} requests use the same reply
37150 formats, listed below.
37153 @item qXfer:siginfo:write::@var{offset}:@var{data}@dots{}
37154 @anchor{qXfer siginfo write}
37155 Write @var{data} to the extra signal information on the target system.
37156 The annex part of the generic @samp{qXfer} packet must be
37157 empty (@pxref{qXfer write}).
37159 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
37160 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response
37161 (@pxref{qSupported}).
37163 @item qXfer:spu:write:@var{annex}:@var{offset}:@var{data}@dots{}
37164 @anchor{qXfer spu write}
37165 Write @var{data} to an @code{spufs} file on the target system. The
37166 annex specifies which file to write; it must be of the form
37167 @file{@var{id}/@var{name}}, where @var{id} specifies an SPU context ID
37168 in the target process, and @var{name} identifes the @code{spufs} file
37169 in that context to be accessed.
37171 This packet is not probed by default; the remote stub must request it,
37172 by supplying an appropriate @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
37178 @var{nn} (hex encoded) is the number of bytes written.
37179 This may be fewer bytes than supplied in the request.
37182 The request was malformed, or @var{annex} was invalid.
37185 The offset was invalid, or there was an error encountered writing the data.
37186 @var{nn} is a hex-encoded @code{errno} value.
37189 An empty reply indicates the @var{object} string was not
37190 recognized by the stub, or that the object does not support writing.
37193 @item qXfer:@var{object}:@var{operation}:@dots{}
37194 Requests of this form may be added in the future. When a stub does
37195 not recognize the @var{object} keyword, or its support for
37196 @var{object} does not recognize the @var{operation} keyword, the stub
37197 must respond with an empty packet.
37199 @item qAttached:@var{pid}
37200 @cindex query attached, remote request
37201 @cindex @samp{qAttached} packet
37202 Return an indication of whether the remote server attached to an
37203 existing process or created a new process. When the multiprocess
37204 protocol extensions are supported (@pxref{multiprocess extensions}),
37205 @var{pid} is an integer in hexadecimal format identifying the target
37206 process. Otherwise, @value{GDBN} will omit the @var{pid} field and
37207 the query packet will be simplified as @samp{qAttached}.
37209 This query is used, for example, to know whether the remote process
37210 should be detached or killed when a @value{GDBN} session is ended with
37211 the @code{quit} command.
37216 The remote server attached to an existing process.
37218 The remote server created a new process.
37220 A badly formed request or an error was encountered.
37225 @node Architecture-Specific Protocol Details
37226 @section Architecture-Specific Protocol Details
37228 This section describes how the remote protocol is applied to specific
37229 target architectures. Also see @ref{Standard Target Features}, for
37230 details of XML target descriptions for each architecture.
37233 * ARM-Specific Protocol Details::
37234 * MIPS-Specific Protocol Details::
37237 @node ARM-Specific Protocol Details
37238 @subsection @acronym{ARM}-specific Protocol Details
37241 * ARM Breakpoint Kinds::
37244 @node ARM Breakpoint Kinds
37245 @subsubsection @acronym{ARM} Breakpoint Kinds
37246 @cindex breakpoint kinds, @acronym{ARM}
37248 These breakpoint kinds are defined for the @samp{Z0} and @samp{Z1} packets.
37253 16-bit Thumb mode breakpoint.
37256 32-bit Thumb mode (Thumb-2) breakpoint.
37259 32-bit @acronym{ARM} mode breakpoint.
37263 @node MIPS-Specific Protocol Details
37264 @subsection @acronym{MIPS}-specific Protocol Details
37267 * MIPS Register packet Format::
37268 * MIPS Breakpoint Kinds::
37271 @node MIPS Register packet Format
37272 @subsubsection @acronym{MIPS} Register Packet Format
37273 @cindex register packet format, @acronym{MIPS}
37275 The following @code{g}/@code{G} packets have previously been defined.
37276 In the below, some thirty-two bit registers are transferred as
37277 sixty-four bits. Those registers should be zero/sign extended (which?)
37278 to fill the space allocated. Register bytes are transferred in target
37279 byte order. The two nibbles within a register byte are transferred
37280 most-significant -- least-significant.
37285 All registers are transferred as thirty-two bit quantities in the order:
37286 32 general-purpose; sr; lo; hi; bad; cause; pc; 32 floating-point
37287 registers; fsr; fir; fp.
37290 All registers are transferred as sixty-four bit quantities (including
37291 thirty-two bit registers such as @code{sr}). The ordering is the same
37296 @node MIPS Breakpoint Kinds
37297 @subsubsection @acronym{MIPS} Breakpoint Kinds
37298 @cindex breakpoint kinds, @acronym{MIPS}
37300 These breakpoint kinds are defined for the @samp{Z0} and @samp{Z1} packets.
37305 16-bit @acronym{MIPS16} mode breakpoint.
37308 16-bit @acronym{microMIPS} mode breakpoint.
37311 32-bit standard @acronym{MIPS} mode breakpoint.
37314 32-bit @acronym{microMIPS} mode breakpoint.
37318 @node Tracepoint Packets
37319 @section Tracepoint Packets
37320 @cindex tracepoint packets
37321 @cindex packets, tracepoint
37323 Here we describe the packets @value{GDBN} uses to implement
37324 tracepoints (@pxref{Tracepoints}).
37328 @item QTDP:@var{n}:@var{addr}:@var{ena}:@var{step}:@var{pass}[:F@var{flen}][:X@var{len},@var{bytes}]@r{[}-@r{]}
37329 @cindex @samp{QTDP} packet
37330 Create a new tracepoint, number @var{n}, at @var{addr}. If @var{ena}
37331 is @samp{E}, then the tracepoint is enabled; if it is @samp{D}, then
37332 the tracepoint is disabled. @var{step} is the tracepoint's step
37333 count, and @var{pass} is its pass count. If an @samp{F} is present,
37334 then the tracepoint is to be a fast tracepoint, and the @var{flen} is
37335 the number of bytes that the target should copy elsewhere to make room
37336 for the tracepoint. If an @samp{X} is present, it introduces a
37337 tracepoint condition, which consists of a hexadecimal length, followed
37338 by a comma and hex-encoded bytes, in a manner similar to action
37339 encodings as described below. If the trailing @samp{-} is present,
37340 further @samp{QTDP} packets will follow to specify this tracepoint's
37346 The packet was understood and carried out.
37348 @xref{Tracepoint Packets,,Relocate instruction reply packet}.
37350 The packet was not recognized.
37353 @item QTDP:-@var{n}:@var{addr}:@r{[}S@r{]}@var{action}@dots{}@r{[}-@r{]}
37354 Define actions to be taken when a tracepoint is hit. @var{n} and
37355 @var{addr} must be the same as in the initial @samp{QTDP} packet for
37356 this tracepoint. This packet may only be sent immediately after
37357 another @samp{QTDP} packet that ended with a @samp{-}. If the
37358 trailing @samp{-} is present, further @samp{QTDP} packets will follow,
37359 specifying more actions for this tracepoint.
37361 In the series of action packets for a given tracepoint, at most one
37362 can have an @samp{S} before its first @var{action}. If such a packet
37363 is sent, it and the following packets define ``while-stepping''
37364 actions. Any prior packets define ordinary actions --- that is, those
37365 taken when the tracepoint is first hit. If no action packet has an
37366 @samp{S}, then all the packets in the series specify ordinary
37367 tracepoint actions.
37369 The @samp{@var{action}@dots{}} portion of the packet is a series of
37370 actions, concatenated without separators. Each action has one of the
37376 Collect the registers whose bits are set in @var{mask}. @var{mask} is
37377 a hexadecimal number whose @var{i}'th bit is set if register number
37378 @var{i} should be collected. (The least significant bit is numbered
37379 zero.) Note that @var{mask} may be any number of digits long; it may
37380 not fit in a 32-bit word.
37382 @item M @var{basereg},@var{offset},@var{len}
37383 Collect @var{len} bytes of memory starting at the address in register
37384 number @var{basereg}, plus @var{offset}. If @var{basereg} is
37385 @samp{-1}, then the range has a fixed address: @var{offset} is the
37386 address of the lowest byte to collect. The @var{basereg},
37387 @var{offset}, and @var{len} parameters are all unsigned hexadecimal
37388 values (the @samp{-1} value for @var{basereg} is a special case).
37390 @item X @var{len},@var{expr}
37391 Evaluate @var{expr}, whose length is @var{len}, and collect memory as
37392 it directs. @var{expr} is an agent expression, as described in
37393 @ref{Agent Expressions}. Each byte of the expression is encoded as a
37394 two-digit hex number in the packet; @var{len} is the number of bytes
37395 in the expression (and thus one-half the number of hex digits in the
37400 Any number of actions may be packed together in a single @samp{QTDP}
37401 packet, as long as the packet does not exceed the maximum packet
37402 length (400 bytes, for many stubs). There may be only one @samp{R}
37403 action per tracepoint, and it must precede any @samp{M} or @samp{X}
37404 actions. Any registers referred to by @samp{M} and @samp{X} actions
37405 must be collected by a preceding @samp{R} action. (The
37406 ``while-stepping'' actions are treated as if they were attached to a
37407 separate tracepoint, as far as these restrictions are concerned.)
37412 The packet was understood and carried out.
37414 @xref{Tracepoint Packets,,Relocate instruction reply packet}.
37416 The packet was not recognized.
37419 @item QTDPsrc:@var{n}:@var{addr}:@var{type}:@var{start}:@var{slen}:@var{bytes}
37420 @cindex @samp{QTDPsrc} packet
37421 Specify a source string of tracepoint @var{n} at address @var{addr}.
37422 This is useful to get accurate reproduction of the tracepoints
37423 originally downloaded at the beginning of the trace run. @var{type}
37424 is the name of the tracepoint part, such as @samp{cond} for the
37425 tracepoint's conditional expression (see below for a list of types), while
37426 @var{bytes} is the string, encoded in hexadecimal.
37428 @var{start} is the offset of the @var{bytes} within the overall source
37429 string, while @var{slen} is the total length of the source string.
37430 This is intended for handling source strings that are longer than will
37431 fit in a single packet.
37432 @c Add detailed example when this info is moved into a dedicated
37433 @c tracepoint descriptions section.
37435 The available string types are @samp{at} for the location,
37436 @samp{cond} for the conditional, and @samp{cmd} for an action command.
37437 @value{GDBN} sends a separate packet for each command in the action
37438 list, in the same order in which the commands are stored in the list.
37440 The target does not need to do anything with source strings except
37441 report them back as part of the replies to the @samp{qTfP}/@samp{qTsP}
37444 Although this packet is optional, and @value{GDBN} will only send it
37445 if the target replies with @samp{TracepointSource} @xref{General
37446 Query Packets}, it makes both disconnected tracing and trace files
37447 much easier to use. Otherwise the user must be careful that the
37448 tracepoints in effect while looking at trace frames are identical to
37449 the ones in effect during the trace run; even a small discrepancy
37450 could cause @samp{tdump} not to work, or a particular trace frame not
37453 @item QTDV:@var{n}:@var{value}
37454 @cindex define trace state variable, remote request
37455 @cindex @samp{QTDV} packet
37456 Create a new trace state variable, number @var{n}, with an initial
37457 value of @var{value}, which is a 64-bit signed integer. Both @var{n}
37458 and @var{value} are encoded as hexadecimal values. @value{GDBN} has
37459 the option of not using this packet for initial values of zero; the
37460 target should simply create the trace state variables as they are
37461 mentioned in expressions.
37463 @item QTFrame:@var{n}
37464 @cindex @samp{QTFrame} packet
37465 Select the @var{n}'th tracepoint frame from the buffer, and use the
37466 register and memory contents recorded there to answer subsequent
37467 request packets from @value{GDBN}.
37469 A successful reply from the stub indicates that the stub has found the
37470 requested frame. The response is a series of parts, concatenated
37471 without separators, describing the frame we selected. Each part has
37472 one of the following forms:
37476 The selected frame is number @var{n} in the trace frame buffer;
37477 @var{f} is a hexadecimal number. If @var{f} is @samp{-1}, then there
37478 was no frame matching the criteria in the request packet.
37481 The selected trace frame records a hit of tracepoint number @var{t};
37482 @var{t} is a hexadecimal number.
37486 @item QTFrame:pc:@var{addr}
37487 Like @samp{QTFrame:@var{n}}, but select the first tracepoint frame after the
37488 currently selected frame whose PC is @var{addr};
37489 @var{addr} is a hexadecimal number.
37491 @item QTFrame:tdp:@var{t}
37492 Like @samp{QTFrame:@var{n}}, but select the first tracepoint frame after the
37493 currently selected frame that is a hit of tracepoint @var{t}; @var{t}
37494 is a hexadecimal number.
37496 @item QTFrame:range:@var{start}:@var{end}
37497 Like @samp{QTFrame:@var{n}}, but select the first tracepoint frame after the
37498 currently selected frame whose PC is between @var{start} (inclusive)
37499 and @var{end} (inclusive); @var{start} and @var{end} are hexadecimal
37502 @item QTFrame:outside:@var{start}:@var{end}
37503 Like @samp{QTFrame:range:@var{start}:@var{end}}, but select the first
37504 frame @emph{outside} the given range of addresses (exclusive).
37507 @cindex @samp{qTMinFTPILen} packet
37508 This packet requests the minimum length of instruction at which a fast
37509 tracepoint (@pxref{Set Tracepoints}) may be placed. For instance, on
37510 the 32-bit x86 architecture, it is possible to use a 4-byte jump, but
37511 it depends on the target system being able to create trampolines in
37512 the first 64K of memory, which might or might not be possible for that
37513 system. So the reply to this packet will be 4 if it is able to
37520 The minimum instruction length is currently unknown.
37522 The minimum instruction length is @var{length}, where @var{length} is greater
37523 or equal to 1. @var{length} is a hexadecimal number. A reply of 1 means
37524 that a fast tracepoint may be placed on any instruction regardless of size.
37526 An error has occurred.
37528 An empty reply indicates that the request is not supported by the stub.
37532 @cindex @samp{QTStart} packet
37533 Begin the tracepoint experiment. Begin collecting data from
37534 tracepoint hits in the trace frame buffer. This packet supports the
37535 @samp{qRelocInsn} reply (@pxref{Tracepoint Packets,,Relocate
37536 instruction reply packet}).
37539 @cindex @samp{QTStop} packet
37540 End the tracepoint experiment. Stop collecting trace frames.
37542 @item QTEnable:@var{n}:@var{addr}
37544 @cindex @samp{QTEnable} packet
37545 Enable tracepoint @var{n} at address @var{addr} in a started tracepoint
37546 experiment. If the tracepoint was previously disabled, then collection
37547 of data from it will resume.
37549 @item QTDisable:@var{n}:@var{addr}
37551 @cindex @samp{QTDisable} packet
37552 Disable tracepoint @var{n} at address @var{addr} in a started tracepoint
37553 experiment. No more data will be collected from the tracepoint unless
37554 @samp{QTEnable:@var{n}:@var{addr}} is subsequently issued.
37557 @cindex @samp{QTinit} packet
37558 Clear the table of tracepoints, and empty the trace frame buffer.
37560 @item QTro:@var{start1},@var{end1}:@var{start2},@var{end2}:@dots{}
37561 @cindex @samp{QTro} packet
37562 Establish the given ranges of memory as ``transparent''. The stub
37563 will answer requests for these ranges from memory's current contents,
37564 if they were not collected as part of the tracepoint hit.
37566 @value{GDBN} uses this to mark read-only regions of memory, like those
37567 containing program code. Since these areas never change, they should
37568 still have the same contents they did when the tracepoint was hit, so
37569 there's no reason for the stub to refuse to provide their contents.
37571 @item QTDisconnected:@var{value}
37572 @cindex @samp{QTDisconnected} packet
37573 Set the choice to what to do with the tracing run when @value{GDBN}
37574 disconnects from the target. A @var{value} of 1 directs the target to
37575 continue the tracing run, while 0 tells the target to stop tracing if
37576 @value{GDBN} is no longer in the picture.
37579 @cindex @samp{qTStatus} packet
37580 Ask the stub if there is a trace experiment running right now.
37582 The reply has the form:
37586 @item T@var{running}@r{[};@var{field}@r{]}@dots{}
37587 @var{running} is a single digit @code{1} if the trace is presently
37588 running, or @code{0} if not. It is followed by semicolon-separated
37589 optional fields that an agent may use to report additional status.
37593 If the trace is not running, the agent may report any of several
37594 explanations as one of the optional fields:
37599 No trace has been run yet.
37601 @item tstop[:@var{text}]:0
37602 The trace was stopped by a user-originated stop command. The optional
37603 @var{text} field is a user-supplied string supplied as part of the
37604 stop command (for instance, an explanation of why the trace was
37605 stopped manually). It is hex-encoded.
37608 The trace stopped because the trace buffer filled up.
37610 @item tdisconnected:0
37611 The trace stopped because @value{GDBN} disconnected from the target.
37613 @item tpasscount:@var{tpnum}
37614 The trace stopped because tracepoint @var{tpnum} exceeded its pass count.
37616 @item terror:@var{text}:@var{tpnum}
37617 The trace stopped because tracepoint @var{tpnum} had an error. The
37618 string @var{text} is available to describe the nature of the error
37619 (for instance, a divide by zero in the condition expression).
37620 @var{text} is hex encoded.
37623 The trace stopped for some other reason.
37627 Additional optional fields supply statistical and other information.
37628 Although not required, they are extremely useful for users monitoring
37629 the progress of a trace run. If a trace has stopped, and these
37630 numbers are reported, they must reflect the state of the just-stopped
37635 @item tframes:@var{n}
37636 The number of trace frames in the buffer.
37638 @item tcreated:@var{n}
37639 The total number of trace frames created during the run. This may
37640 be larger than the trace frame count, if the buffer is circular.
37642 @item tsize:@var{n}
37643 The total size of the trace buffer, in bytes.
37645 @item tfree:@var{n}
37646 The number of bytes still unused in the buffer.
37648 @item circular:@var{n}
37649 The value of the circular trace buffer flag. @code{1} means that the
37650 trace buffer is circular and old trace frames will be discarded if
37651 necessary to make room, @code{0} means that the trace buffer is linear
37654 @item disconn:@var{n}
37655 The value of the disconnected tracing flag. @code{1} means that
37656 tracing will continue after @value{GDBN} disconnects, @code{0} means
37657 that the trace run will stop.
37661 @item qTP:@var{tp}:@var{addr}
37662 @cindex tracepoint status, remote request
37663 @cindex @samp{qTP} packet
37664 Ask the stub for the current state of tracepoint number @var{tp} at
37665 address @var{addr}.
37669 @item V@var{hits}:@var{usage}
37670 The tracepoint has been hit @var{hits} times so far during the trace
37671 run, and accounts for @var{usage} in the trace buffer. Note that
37672 @code{while-stepping} steps are not counted as separate hits, but the
37673 steps' space consumption is added into the usage number.
37677 @item qTV:@var{var}
37678 @cindex trace state variable value, remote request
37679 @cindex @samp{qTV} packet
37680 Ask the stub for the value of the trace state variable number @var{var}.
37685 The value of the variable is @var{value}. This will be the current
37686 value of the variable if the user is examining a running target, or a
37687 saved value if the variable was collected in the trace frame that the
37688 user is looking at. Note that multiple requests may result in
37689 different reply values, such as when requesting values while the
37690 program is running.
37693 The value of the variable is unknown. This would occur, for example,
37694 if the user is examining a trace frame in which the requested variable
37699 @cindex @samp{qTfP} packet
37701 @cindex @samp{qTsP} packet
37702 These packets request data about tracepoints that are being used by
37703 the target. @value{GDBN} sends @code{qTfP} to get the first piece
37704 of data, and multiple @code{qTsP} to get additional pieces. Replies
37705 to these packets generally take the form of the @code{QTDP} packets
37706 that define tracepoints. (FIXME add detailed syntax)
37709 @cindex @samp{qTfV} packet
37711 @cindex @samp{qTsV} packet
37712 These packets request data about trace state variables that are on the
37713 target. @value{GDBN} sends @code{qTfV} to get the first vari of data,
37714 and multiple @code{qTsV} to get additional variables. Replies to
37715 these packets follow the syntax of the @code{QTDV} packets that define
37716 trace state variables.
37722 @cindex @samp{qTfSTM} packet
37723 @cindex @samp{qTsSTM} packet
37724 These packets request data about static tracepoint markers that exist
37725 in the target program. @value{GDBN} sends @code{qTfSTM} to get the
37726 first piece of data, and multiple @code{qTsSTM} to get additional
37727 pieces. Replies to these packets take the following form:
37731 @item m @var{address}:@var{id}:@var{extra}
37733 @item m @var{address}:@var{id}:@var{extra},@var{address}:@var{id}:@var{extra}@dots{}
37734 a comma-separated list of markers
37736 (lower case letter @samp{L}) denotes end of list.
37738 An error occurred. @var{nn} are hex digits.
37740 An empty reply indicates that the request is not supported by the
37744 @var{address} is encoded in hex.
37745 @var{id} and @var{extra} are strings encoded in hex.
37747 In response to each query, the target will reply with a list of one or
37748 more markers, separated by commas. @value{GDBN} will respond to each
37749 reply with a request for more markers (using the @samp{qs} form of the
37750 query), until the target responds with @samp{l} (lower-case ell, for
37753 @item qTSTMat:@var{address}
37755 @cindex @samp{qTSTMat} packet
37756 This packets requests data about static tracepoint markers in the
37757 target program at @var{address}. Replies to this packet follow the
37758 syntax of the @samp{qTfSTM} and @code{qTsSTM} packets that list static
37759 tracepoint markers.
37761 @item QTSave:@var{filename}
37762 @cindex @samp{QTSave} packet
37763 This packet directs the target to save trace data to the file name
37764 @var{filename} in the target's filesystem. @var{filename} is encoded
37765 as a hex string; the interpretation of the file name (relative vs
37766 absolute, wild cards, etc) is up to the target.
37768 @item qTBuffer:@var{offset},@var{len}
37769 @cindex @samp{qTBuffer} packet
37770 Return up to @var{len} bytes of the current contents of trace buffer,
37771 starting at @var{offset}. The trace buffer is treated as if it were
37772 a contiguous collection of traceframes, as per the trace file format.
37773 The reply consists as many hex-encoded bytes as the target can deliver
37774 in a packet; it is not an error to return fewer than were asked for.
37775 A reply consisting of just @code{l} indicates that no bytes are
37778 @item QTBuffer:circular:@var{value}
37779 This packet directs the target to use a circular trace buffer if
37780 @var{value} is 1, or a linear buffer if the value is 0.
37782 @item QTNotes:@r{[}@var{type}:@var{text}@r{]}@r{[};@var{type}:@var{text}@r{]}@dots{}
37783 @cindex @samp{QTNotes} packet
37784 This packet adds optional textual notes to the trace run. Allowable
37785 types include @code{user}, @code{notes}, and @code{tstop}, the
37786 @var{text} fields are arbitrary strings, hex-encoded.
37790 @subsection Relocate instruction reply packet
37791 When installing fast tracepoints in memory, the target may need to
37792 relocate the instruction currently at the tracepoint address to a
37793 different address in memory. For most instructions, a simple copy is
37794 enough, but, for example, call instructions that implicitly push the
37795 return address on the stack, and relative branches or other
37796 PC-relative instructions require offset adjustment, so that the effect
37797 of executing the instruction at a different address is the same as if
37798 it had executed in the original location.
37800 In response to several of the tracepoint packets, the target may also
37801 respond with a number of intermediate @samp{qRelocInsn} request
37802 packets before the final result packet, to have @value{GDBN} handle
37803 this relocation operation. If a packet supports this mechanism, its
37804 documentation will explicitly say so. See for example the above
37805 descriptions for the @samp{QTStart} and @samp{QTDP} packets. The
37806 format of the request is:
37809 @item qRelocInsn:@var{from};@var{to}
37811 This requests @value{GDBN} to copy instruction at address @var{from}
37812 to address @var{to}, possibly adjusted so that executing the
37813 instruction at @var{to} has the same effect as executing it at
37814 @var{from}. @value{GDBN} writes the adjusted instruction to target
37815 memory starting at @var{to}.
37820 @item qRelocInsn:@var{adjusted_size}
37821 Informs the stub the relocation is complete. @var{adjusted_size} is
37822 the length in bytes of resulting relocated instruction sequence.
37824 A badly formed request was detected, or an error was encountered while
37825 relocating the instruction.
37828 @node Host I/O Packets
37829 @section Host I/O Packets
37830 @cindex Host I/O, remote protocol
37831 @cindex file transfer, remote protocol
37833 The @dfn{Host I/O} packets allow @value{GDBN} to perform I/O
37834 operations on the far side of a remote link. For example, Host I/O is
37835 used to upload and download files to a remote target with its own
37836 filesystem. Host I/O uses the same constant values and data structure
37837 layout as the target-initiated File-I/O protocol. However, the
37838 Host I/O packets are structured differently. The target-initiated
37839 protocol relies on target memory to store parameters and buffers.
37840 Host I/O requests are initiated by @value{GDBN}, and the
37841 target's memory is not involved. @xref{File-I/O Remote Protocol
37842 Extension}, for more details on the target-initiated protocol.
37844 The Host I/O request packets all encode a single operation along with
37845 its arguments. They have this format:
37849 @item vFile:@var{operation}: @var{parameter}@dots{}
37850 @var{operation} is the name of the particular request; the target
37851 should compare the entire packet name up to the second colon when checking
37852 for a supported operation. The format of @var{parameter} depends on
37853 the operation. Numbers are always passed in hexadecimal. Negative
37854 numbers have an explicit minus sign (i.e.@: two's complement is not
37855 used). Strings (e.g.@: filenames) are encoded as a series of
37856 hexadecimal bytes. The last argument to a system call may be a
37857 buffer of escaped binary data (@pxref{Binary Data}).
37861 The valid responses to Host I/O packets are:
37865 @item F @var{result} [, @var{errno}] [; @var{attachment}]
37866 @var{result} is the integer value returned by this operation, usually
37867 non-negative for success and -1 for errors. If an error has occured,
37868 @var{errno} will be included in the result. @var{errno} will have a
37869 value defined by the File-I/O protocol (@pxref{Errno Values}). For
37870 operations which return data, @var{attachment} supplies the data as a
37871 binary buffer. Binary buffers in response packets are escaped in the
37872 normal way (@pxref{Binary Data}). See the individual packet
37873 documentation for the interpretation of @var{result} and
37877 An empty response indicates that this operation is not recognized.
37881 These are the supported Host I/O operations:
37884 @item vFile:open: @var{pathname}, @var{flags}, @var{mode}
37885 Open a file at @var{pathname} and return a file descriptor for it, or
37886 return -1 if an error occurs. @var{pathname} is a string,
37887 @var{flags} is an integer indicating a mask of open flags
37888 (@pxref{Open Flags}), and @var{mode} is an integer indicating a mask
37889 of mode bits to use if the file is created (@pxref{mode_t Values}).
37890 @xref{open}, for details of the open flags and mode values.
37892 @item vFile:close: @var{fd}
37893 Close the open file corresponding to @var{fd} and return 0, or
37894 -1 if an error occurs.
37896 @item vFile:pread: @var{fd}, @var{count}, @var{offset}
37897 Read data from the open file corresponding to @var{fd}. Up to
37898 @var{count} bytes will be read from the file, starting at @var{offset}
37899 relative to the start of the file. The target may read fewer bytes;
37900 common reasons include packet size limits and an end-of-file
37901 condition. The number of bytes read is returned. Zero should only be
37902 returned for a successful read at the end of the file, or if
37903 @var{count} was zero.
37905 The data read should be returned as a binary attachment on success.
37906 If zero bytes were read, the response should include an empty binary
37907 attachment (i.e.@: a trailing semicolon). The return value is the
37908 number of target bytes read; the binary attachment may be longer if
37909 some characters were escaped.
37911 @item vFile:pwrite: @var{fd}, @var{offset}, @var{data}
37912 Write @var{data} (a binary buffer) to the open file corresponding
37913 to @var{fd}. Start the write at @var{offset} from the start of the
37914 file. Unlike many @code{write} system calls, there is no
37915 separate @var{count} argument; the length of @var{data} in the
37916 packet is used. @samp{vFile:write} returns the number of bytes written,
37917 which may be shorter than the length of @var{data}, or -1 if an
37920 @item vFile:unlink: @var{pathname}
37921 Delete the file at @var{pathname} on the target. Return 0,
37922 or -1 if an error occurs. @var{pathname} is a string.
37924 @item vFile:readlink: @var{filename}
37925 Read value of symbolic link @var{filename} on the target. Return
37926 the number of bytes read, or -1 if an error occurs.
37928 The data read should be returned as a binary attachment on success.
37929 If zero bytes were read, the response should include an empty binary
37930 attachment (i.e.@: a trailing semicolon). The return value is the
37931 number of target bytes read; the binary attachment may be longer if
37932 some characters were escaped.
37937 @section Interrupts
37938 @cindex interrupts (remote protocol)
37940 When a program on the remote target is running, @value{GDBN} may
37941 attempt to interrupt it by sending a @samp{Ctrl-C}, @code{BREAK} or
37942 a @code{BREAK} followed by @code{g},
37943 control of which is specified via @value{GDBN}'s @samp{interrupt-sequence}.
37945 The precise meaning of @code{BREAK} is defined by the transport
37946 mechanism and may, in fact, be undefined. @value{GDBN} does not
37947 currently define a @code{BREAK} mechanism for any of the network
37948 interfaces except for TCP, in which case @value{GDBN} sends the
37949 @code{telnet} BREAK sequence.
37951 @samp{Ctrl-C}, on the other hand, is defined and implemented for all
37952 transport mechanisms. It is represented by sending the single byte
37953 @code{0x03} without any of the usual packet overhead described in
37954 the Overview section (@pxref{Overview}). When a @code{0x03} byte is
37955 transmitted as part of a packet, it is considered to be packet data
37956 and does @emph{not} represent an interrupt. E.g., an @samp{X} packet
37957 (@pxref{X packet}), used for binary downloads, may include an unescaped
37958 @code{0x03} as part of its packet.
37960 @code{BREAK} followed by @code{g} is also known as Magic SysRq g.
37961 When Linux kernel receives this sequence from serial port,
37962 it stops execution and connects to gdb.
37964 Stubs are not required to recognize these interrupt mechanisms and the
37965 precise meaning associated with receipt of the interrupt is
37966 implementation defined. If the target supports debugging of multiple
37967 threads and/or processes, it should attempt to interrupt all
37968 currently-executing threads and processes.
37969 If the stub is successful at interrupting the
37970 running program, it should send one of the stop
37971 reply packets (@pxref{Stop Reply Packets}) to @value{GDBN} as a result
37972 of successfully stopping the program in all-stop mode, and a stop reply
37973 for each stopped thread in non-stop mode.
37974 Interrupts received while the
37975 program is stopped are discarded.
37977 @node Notification Packets
37978 @section Notification Packets
37979 @cindex notification packets
37980 @cindex packets, notification
37982 The @value{GDBN} remote serial protocol includes @dfn{notifications},
37983 packets that require no acknowledgment. Both the GDB and the stub
37984 may send notifications (although the only notifications defined at
37985 present are sent by the stub). Notifications carry information
37986 without incurring the round-trip latency of an acknowledgment, and so
37987 are useful for low-impact communications where occasional packet loss
37990 A notification packet has the form @samp{% @var{data} #
37991 @var{checksum}}, where @var{data} is the content of the notification,
37992 and @var{checksum} is a checksum of @var{data}, computed and formatted
37993 as for ordinary @value{GDBN} packets. A notification's @var{data}
37994 never contains @samp{$}, @samp{%} or @samp{#} characters. Upon
37995 receiving a notification, the recipient sends no @samp{+} or @samp{-}
37996 to acknowledge the notification's receipt or to report its corruption.
37998 Every notification's @var{data} begins with a name, which contains no
37999 colon characters, followed by a colon character.
38001 Recipients should silently ignore corrupted notifications and
38002 notifications they do not understand. Recipients should restart
38003 timeout periods on receipt of a well-formed notification, whether or
38004 not they understand it.
38006 Senders should only send the notifications described here when this
38007 protocol description specifies that they are permitted. In the
38008 future, we may extend the protocol to permit existing notifications in
38009 new contexts; this rule helps older senders avoid confusing newer
38012 (Older versions of @value{GDBN} ignore bytes received until they see
38013 the @samp{$} byte that begins an ordinary packet, so new stubs may
38014 transmit notifications without fear of confusing older clients. There
38015 are no notifications defined for @value{GDBN} to send at the moment, but we
38016 assume that most older stubs would ignore them, as well.)
38018 The following notification packets from the stub to @value{GDBN} are
38022 @item Stop: @var{reply}
38023 Report an asynchronous stop event in non-stop mode.
38024 The @var{reply} has the form of a stop reply, as
38025 described in @ref{Stop Reply Packets}. Refer to @ref{Remote Non-Stop},
38026 for information on how these notifications are acknowledged by
38030 @node Remote Non-Stop
38031 @section Remote Protocol Support for Non-Stop Mode
38033 @value{GDBN}'s remote protocol supports non-stop debugging of
38034 multi-threaded programs, as described in @ref{Non-Stop Mode}. If the stub
38035 supports non-stop mode, it should report that to @value{GDBN} by including
38036 @samp{QNonStop+} in its @samp{qSupported} response (@pxref{qSupported}).
38038 @value{GDBN} typically sends a @samp{QNonStop} packet only when
38039 establishing a new connection with the stub. Entering non-stop mode
38040 does not alter the state of any currently-running threads, but targets
38041 must stop all threads in any already-attached processes when entering
38042 all-stop mode. @value{GDBN} uses the @samp{?} packet as necessary to
38043 probe the target state after a mode change.
38045 In non-stop mode, when an attached process encounters an event that
38046 would otherwise be reported with a stop reply, it uses the
38047 asynchronous notification mechanism (@pxref{Notification Packets}) to
38048 inform @value{GDBN}. In contrast to all-stop mode, where all threads
38049 in all processes are stopped when a stop reply is sent, in non-stop
38050 mode only the thread reporting the stop event is stopped. That is,
38051 when reporting a @samp{S} or @samp{T} response to indicate completion
38052 of a step operation, hitting a breakpoint, or a fault, only the
38053 affected thread is stopped; any other still-running threads continue
38054 to run. When reporting a @samp{W} or @samp{X} response, all running
38055 threads belonging to other attached processes continue to run.
38057 Only one stop reply notification at a time may be pending; if
38058 additional stop events occur before @value{GDBN} has acknowledged the
38059 previous notification, they must be queued by the stub for later
38060 synchronous transmission in response to @samp{vStopped} packets from
38061 @value{GDBN}. Because the notification mechanism is unreliable,
38062 the stub is permitted to resend a stop reply notification
38063 if it believes @value{GDBN} may not have received it. @value{GDBN}
38064 ignores additional stop reply notifications received before it has
38065 finished processing a previous notification and the stub has completed
38066 sending any queued stop events.
38068 Otherwise, @value{GDBN} must be prepared to receive a stop reply
38069 notification at any time. Specifically, they may appear when
38070 @value{GDBN} is not otherwise reading input from the stub, or when
38071 @value{GDBN} is expecting to read a normal synchronous response or a
38072 @samp{+}/@samp{-} acknowledgment to a packet it has sent.
38073 Notification packets are distinct from any other communication from
38074 the stub so there is no ambiguity.
38076 After receiving a stop reply notification, @value{GDBN} shall
38077 acknowledge it by sending a @samp{vStopped} packet (@pxref{vStopped packet})
38078 as a regular, synchronous request to the stub. Such acknowledgment
38079 is not required to happen immediately, as @value{GDBN} is permitted to
38080 send other, unrelated packets to the stub first, which the stub should
38083 Upon receiving a @samp{vStopped} packet, if the stub has other queued
38084 stop events to report to @value{GDBN}, it shall respond by sending a
38085 normal stop reply response. @value{GDBN} shall then send another
38086 @samp{vStopped} packet to solicit further responses; again, it is
38087 permitted to send other, unrelated packets as well which the stub
38088 should process normally.
38090 If the stub receives a @samp{vStopped} packet and there are no
38091 additional stop events to report, the stub shall return an @samp{OK}
38092 response. At this point, if further stop events occur, the stub shall
38093 send a new stop reply notification, @value{GDBN} shall accept the
38094 notification, and the process shall be repeated.
38096 In non-stop mode, the target shall respond to the @samp{?} packet as
38097 follows. First, any incomplete stop reply notification/@samp{vStopped}
38098 sequence in progress is abandoned. The target must begin a new
38099 sequence reporting stop events for all stopped threads, whether or not
38100 it has previously reported those events to @value{GDBN}. The first
38101 stop reply is sent as a synchronous reply to the @samp{?} packet, and
38102 subsequent stop replies are sent as responses to @samp{vStopped} packets
38103 using the mechanism described above. The target must not send
38104 asynchronous stop reply notifications until the sequence is complete.
38105 If all threads are running when the target receives the @samp{?} packet,
38106 or if the target is not attached to any process, it shall respond
38109 @node Packet Acknowledgment
38110 @section Packet Acknowledgment
38112 @cindex acknowledgment, for @value{GDBN} remote
38113 @cindex packet acknowledgment, for @value{GDBN} remote
38114 By default, when either the host or the target machine receives a packet,
38115 the first response expected is an acknowledgment: either @samp{+} (to indicate
38116 the package was received correctly) or @samp{-} (to request retransmission).
38117 This mechanism allows the @value{GDBN} remote protocol to operate over
38118 unreliable transport mechanisms, such as a serial line.
38120 In cases where the transport mechanism is itself reliable (such as a pipe or
38121 TCP connection), the @samp{+}/@samp{-} acknowledgments are redundant.
38122 It may be desirable to disable them in that case to reduce communication
38123 overhead, or for other reasons. This can be accomplished by means of the
38124 @samp{QStartNoAckMode} packet; @pxref{QStartNoAckMode}.
38126 When in no-acknowledgment mode, neither the stub nor @value{GDBN} shall send or
38127 expect @samp{+}/@samp{-} protocol acknowledgments. The packet
38128 and response format still includes the normal checksum, as described in
38129 @ref{Overview}, but the checksum may be ignored by the receiver.
38131 If the stub supports @samp{QStartNoAckMode} and prefers to operate in
38132 no-acknowledgment mode, it should report that to @value{GDBN}
38133 by including @samp{QStartNoAckMode+} in its response to @samp{qSupported};
38134 @pxref{qSupported}.
38135 If @value{GDBN} also supports @samp{QStartNoAckMode} and it has not been
38136 disabled via the @code{set remote noack-packet off} command
38137 (@pxref{Remote Configuration}),
38138 @value{GDBN} may then send a @samp{QStartNoAckMode} packet to the stub.
38139 Only then may the stub actually turn off packet acknowledgments.
38140 @value{GDBN} sends a final @samp{+} acknowledgment of the stub's @samp{OK}
38141 response, which can be safely ignored by the stub.
38143 Note that @code{set remote noack-packet} command only affects negotiation
38144 between @value{GDBN} and the stub when subsequent connections are made;
38145 it does not affect the protocol acknowledgment state for any current
38147 Since @samp{+}/@samp{-} acknowledgments are enabled by default when a
38148 new connection is established,
38149 there is also no protocol request to re-enable the acknowledgments
38150 for the current connection, once disabled.
38155 Example sequence of a target being re-started. Notice how the restart
38156 does not get any direct output:
38161 @emph{target restarts}
38164 <- @code{T001:1234123412341234}
38168 Example sequence of a target being stepped by a single instruction:
38171 -> @code{G1445@dots{}}
38176 <- @code{T001:1234123412341234}
38180 <- @code{1455@dots{}}
38184 @node File-I/O Remote Protocol Extension
38185 @section File-I/O Remote Protocol Extension
38186 @cindex File-I/O remote protocol extension
38189 * File-I/O Overview::
38190 * Protocol Basics::
38191 * The F Request Packet::
38192 * The F Reply Packet::
38193 * The Ctrl-C Message::
38195 * List of Supported Calls::
38196 * Protocol-specific Representation of Datatypes::
38198 * File-I/O Examples::
38201 @node File-I/O Overview
38202 @subsection File-I/O Overview
38203 @cindex file-i/o overview
38205 The @dfn{File I/O remote protocol extension} (short: File-I/O) allows the
38206 target to use the host's file system and console I/O to perform various
38207 system calls. System calls on the target system are translated into a
38208 remote protocol packet to the host system, which then performs the needed
38209 actions and returns a response packet to the target system.
38210 This simulates file system operations even on targets that lack file systems.
38212 The protocol is defined to be independent of both the host and target systems.
38213 It uses its own internal representation of datatypes and values. Both
38214 @value{GDBN} and the target's @value{GDBN} stub are responsible for
38215 translating the system-dependent value representations into the internal
38216 protocol representations when data is transmitted.
38218 The communication is synchronous. A system call is possible only when
38219 @value{GDBN} is waiting for a response from the @samp{C}, @samp{c}, @samp{S}
38220 or @samp{s} packets. While @value{GDBN} handles the request for a system call,
38221 the target is stopped to allow deterministic access to the target's
38222 memory. Therefore File-I/O is not interruptible by target signals. On
38223 the other hand, it is possible to interrupt File-I/O by a user interrupt
38224 (@samp{Ctrl-C}) within @value{GDBN}.
38226 The target's request to perform a host system call does not finish
38227 the latest @samp{C}, @samp{c}, @samp{S} or @samp{s} action. That means,
38228 after finishing the system call, the target returns to continuing the
38229 previous activity (continue, step). No additional continue or step
38230 request from @value{GDBN} is required.
38233 (@value{GDBP}) continue
38234 <- target requests 'system call X'
38235 target is stopped, @value{GDBN} executes system call
38236 -> @value{GDBN} returns result
38237 ... target continues, @value{GDBN} returns to wait for the target
38238 <- target hits breakpoint and sends a Txx packet
38241 The protocol only supports I/O on the console and to regular files on
38242 the host file system. Character or block special devices, pipes,
38243 named pipes, sockets or any other communication method on the host
38244 system are not supported by this protocol.
38246 File I/O is not supported in non-stop mode.
38248 @node Protocol Basics
38249 @subsection Protocol Basics
38250 @cindex protocol basics, file-i/o
38252 The File-I/O protocol uses the @code{F} packet as the request as well
38253 as reply packet. Since a File-I/O system call can only occur when
38254 @value{GDBN} is waiting for a response from the continuing or stepping target,
38255 the File-I/O request is a reply that @value{GDBN} has to expect as a result
38256 of a previous @samp{C}, @samp{c}, @samp{S} or @samp{s} packet.
38257 This @code{F} packet contains all information needed to allow @value{GDBN}
38258 to call the appropriate host system call:
38262 A unique identifier for the requested system call.
38265 All parameters to the system call. Pointers are given as addresses
38266 in the target memory address space. Pointers to strings are given as
38267 pointer/length pair. Numerical values are given as they are.
38268 Numerical control flags are given in a protocol-specific representation.
38272 At this point, @value{GDBN} has to perform the following actions.
38276 If the parameters include pointer values to data needed as input to a
38277 system call, @value{GDBN} requests this data from the target with a
38278 standard @code{m} packet request. This additional communication has to be
38279 expected by the target implementation and is handled as any other @code{m}
38283 @value{GDBN} translates all value from protocol representation to host
38284 representation as needed. Datatypes are coerced into the host types.
38287 @value{GDBN} calls the system call.
38290 It then coerces datatypes back to protocol representation.
38293 If the system call is expected to return data in buffer space specified
38294 by pointer parameters to the call, the data is transmitted to the
38295 target using a @code{M} or @code{X} packet. This packet has to be expected
38296 by the target implementation and is handled as any other @code{M} or @code{X}
38301 Eventually @value{GDBN} replies with another @code{F} packet which contains all
38302 necessary information for the target to continue. This at least contains
38309 @code{errno}, if has been changed by the system call.
38316 After having done the needed type and value coercion, the target continues
38317 the latest continue or step action.
38319 @node The F Request Packet
38320 @subsection The @code{F} Request Packet
38321 @cindex file-i/o request packet
38322 @cindex @code{F} request packet
38324 The @code{F} request packet has the following format:
38327 @item F@var{call-id},@var{parameter@dots{}}
38329 @var{call-id} is the identifier to indicate the host system call to be called.
38330 This is just the name of the function.
38332 @var{parameter@dots{}} are the parameters to the system call.
38333 Parameters are hexadecimal integer values, either the actual values in case
38334 of scalar datatypes, pointers to target buffer space in case of compound
38335 datatypes and unspecified memory areas, or pointer/length pairs in case
38336 of string parameters. These are appended to the @var{call-id} as a
38337 comma-delimited list. All values are transmitted in ASCII
38338 string representation, pointer/length pairs separated by a slash.
38344 @node The F Reply Packet
38345 @subsection The @code{F} Reply Packet
38346 @cindex file-i/o reply packet
38347 @cindex @code{F} reply packet
38349 The @code{F} reply packet has the following format:
38353 @item F@var{retcode},@var{errno},@var{Ctrl-C flag};@var{call-specific attachment}
38355 @var{retcode} is the return code of the system call as hexadecimal value.
38357 @var{errno} is the @code{errno} set by the call, in protocol-specific
38359 This parameter can be omitted if the call was successful.
38361 @var{Ctrl-C flag} is only sent if the user requested a break. In this
38362 case, @var{errno} must be sent as well, even if the call was successful.
38363 The @var{Ctrl-C flag} itself consists of the character @samp{C}:
38370 or, if the call was interrupted before the host call has been performed:
38377 assuming 4 is the protocol-specific representation of @code{EINTR}.
38382 @node The Ctrl-C Message
38383 @subsection The @samp{Ctrl-C} Message
38384 @cindex ctrl-c message, in file-i/o protocol
38386 If the @samp{Ctrl-C} flag is set in the @value{GDBN}
38387 reply packet (@pxref{The F Reply Packet}),
38388 the target should behave as if it had
38389 gotten a break message. The meaning for the target is ``system call
38390 interrupted by @code{SIGINT}''. Consequentially, the target should actually stop
38391 (as with a break message) and return to @value{GDBN} with a @code{T02}
38394 It's important for the target to know in which
38395 state the system call was interrupted. There are two possible cases:
38399 The system call hasn't been performed on the host yet.
38402 The system call on the host has been finished.
38406 These two states can be distinguished by the target by the value of the
38407 returned @code{errno}. If it's the protocol representation of @code{EINTR}, the system
38408 call hasn't been performed. This is equivalent to the @code{EINTR} handling
38409 on POSIX systems. In any other case, the target may presume that the
38410 system call has been finished --- successfully or not --- and should behave
38411 as if the break message arrived right after the system call.
38413 @value{GDBN} must behave reliably. If the system call has not been called
38414 yet, @value{GDBN} may send the @code{F} reply immediately, setting @code{EINTR} as
38415 @code{errno} in the packet. If the system call on the host has been finished
38416 before the user requests a break, the full action must be finished by
38417 @value{GDBN}. This requires sending @code{M} or @code{X} packets as necessary.
38418 The @code{F} packet may only be sent when either nothing has happened
38419 or the full action has been completed.
38422 @subsection Console I/O
38423 @cindex console i/o as part of file-i/o
38425 By default and if not explicitly closed by the target system, the file
38426 descriptors 0, 1 and 2 are connected to the @value{GDBN} console. Output
38427 on the @value{GDBN} console is handled as any other file output operation
38428 (@code{write(1, @dots{})} or @code{write(2, @dots{})}). Console input is handled
38429 by @value{GDBN} so that after the target read request from file descriptor
38430 0 all following typing is buffered until either one of the following
38435 The user types @kbd{Ctrl-c}. The behaviour is as explained above, and the
38437 system call is treated as finished.
38440 The user presses @key{RET}. This is treated as end of input with a trailing
38444 The user types @kbd{Ctrl-d}. This is treated as end of input. No trailing
38445 character (neither newline nor @samp{Ctrl-D}) is appended to the input.
38449 If the user has typed more characters than fit in the buffer given to
38450 the @code{read} call, the trailing characters are buffered in @value{GDBN} until
38451 either another @code{read(0, @dots{})} is requested by the target, or debugging
38452 is stopped at the user's request.
38455 @node List of Supported Calls
38456 @subsection List of Supported Calls
38457 @cindex list of supported file-i/o calls
38474 @unnumberedsubsubsec open
38475 @cindex open, file-i/o system call
38480 int open(const char *pathname, int flags);
38481 int open(const char *pathname, int flags, mode_t mode);
38485 @samp{Fopen,@var{pathptr}/@var{len},@var{flags},@var{mode}}
38488 @var{flags} is the bitwise @code{OR} of the following values:
38492 If the file does not exist it will be created. The host
38493 rules apply as far as file ownership and time stamps
38497 When used with @code{O_CREAT}, if the file already exists it is
38498 an error and open() fails.
38501 If the file already exists and the open mode allows
38502 writing (@code{O_RDWR} or @code{O_WRONLY} is given) it will be
38503 truncated to zero length.
38506 The file is opened in append mode.
38509 The file is opened for reading only.
38512 The file is opened for writing only.
38515 The file is opened for reading and writing.
38519 Other bits are silently ignored.
38523 @var{mode} is the bitwise @code{OR} of the following values:
38527 User has read permission.
38530 User has write permission.
38533 Group has read permission.
38536 Group has write permission.
38539 Others have read permission.
38542 Others have write permission.
38546 Other bits are silently ignored.
38549 @item Return value:
38550 @code{open} returns the new file descriptor or -1 if an error
38557 @var{pathname} already exists and @code{O_CREAT} and @code{O_EXCL} were used.
38560 @var{pathname} refers to a directory.
38563 The requested access is not allowed.
38566 @var{pathname} was too long.
38569 A directory component in @var{pathname} does not exist.
38572 @var{pathname} refers to a device, pipe, named pipe or socket.
38575 @var{pathname} refers to a file on a read-only filesystem and
38576 write access was requested.
38579 @var{pathname} is an invalid pointer value.
38582 No space on device to create the file.
38585 The process already has the maximum number of files open.
38588 The limit on the total number of files open on the system
38592 The call was interrupted by the user.
38598 @unnumberedsubsubsec close
38599 @cindex close, file-i/o system call
38608 @samp{Fclose,@var{fd}}
38610 @item Return value:
38611 @code{close} returns zero on success, or -1 if an error occurred.
38617 @var{fd} isn't a valid open file descriptor.
38620 The call was interrupted by the user.
38626 @unnumberedsubsubsec read
38627 @cindex read, file-i/o system call
38632 int read(int fd, void *buf, unsigned int count);
38636 @samp{Fread,@var{fd},@var{bufptr},@var{count}}
38638 @item Return value:
38639 On success, the number of bytes read is returned.
38640 Zero indicates end of file. If count is zero, read
38641 returns zero as well. On error, -1 is returned.
38647 @var{fd} is not a valid file descriptor or is not open for
38651 @var{bufptr} is an invalid pointer value.
38654 The call was interrupted by the user.
38660 @unnumberedsubsubsec write
38661 @cindex write, file-i/o system call
38666 int write(int fd, const void *buf, unsigned int count);
38670 @samp{Fwrite,@var{fd},@var{bufptr},@var{count}}
38672 @item Return value:
38673 On success, the number of bytes written are returned.
38674 Zero indicates nothing was written. On error, -1
38681 @var{fd} is not a valid file descriptor or is not open for
38685 @var{bufptr} is an invalid pointer value.
38688 An attempt was made to write a file that exceeds the
38689 host-specific maximum file size allowed.
38692 No space on device to write the data.
38695 The call was interrupted by the user.
38701 @unnumberedsubsubsec lseek
38702 @cindex lseek, file-i/o system call
38707 long lseek (int fd, long offset, int flag);
38711 @samp{Flseek,@var{fd},@var{offset},@var{flag}}
38713 @var{flag} is one of:
38717 The offset is set to @var{offset} bytes.
38720 The offset is set to its current location plus @var{offset}
38724 The offset is set to the size of the file plus @var{offset}
38728 @item Return value:
38729 On success, the resulting unsigned offset in bytes from
38730 the beginning of the file is returned. Otherwise, a
38731 value of -1 is returned.
38737 @var{fd} is not a valid open file descriptor.
38740 @var{fd} is associated with the @value{GDBN} console.
38743 @var{flag} is not a proper value.
38746 The call was interrupted by the user.
38752 @unnumberedsubsubsec rename
38753 @cindex rename, file-i/o system call
38758 int rename(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath);
38762 @samp{Frename,@var{oldpathptr}/@var{len},@var{newpathptr}/@var{len}}
38764 @item Return value:
38765 On success, zero is returned. On error, -1 is returned.
38771 @var{newpath} is an existing directory, but @var{oldpath} is not a
38775 @var{newpath} is a non-empty directory.
38778 @var{oldpath} or @var{newpath} is a directory that is in use by some
38782 An attempt was made to make a directory a subdirectory
38786 A component used as a directory in @var{oldpath} or new
38787 path is not a directory. Or @var{oldpath} is a directory
38788 and @var{newpath} exists but is not a directory.
38791 @var{oldpathptr} or @var{newpathptr} are invalid pointer values.
38794 No access to the file or the path of the file.
38798 @var{oldpath} or @var{newpath} was too long.
38801 A directory component in @var{oldpath} or @var{newpath} does not exist.
38804 The file is on a read-only filesystem.
38807 The device containing the file has no room for the new
38811 The call was interrupted by the user.
38817 @unnumberedsubsubsec unlink
38818 @cindex unlink, file-i/o system call
38823 int unlink(const char *pathname);
38827 @samp{Funlink,@var{pathnameptr}/@var{len}}
38829 @item Return value:
38830 On success, zero is returned. On error, -1 is returned.
38836 No access to the file or the path of the file.
38839 The system does not allow unlinking of directories.
38842 The file @var{pathname} cannot be unlinked because it's
38843 being used by another process.
38846 @var{pathnameptr} is an invalid pointer value.
38849 @var{pathname} was too long.
38852 A directory component in @var{pathname} does not exist.
38855 A component of the path is not a directory.
38858 The file is on a read-only filesystem.
38861 The call was interrupted by the user.
38867 @unnumberedsubsubsec stat/fstat
38868 @cindex fstat, file-i/o system call
38869 @cindex stat, file-i/o system call
38874 int stat(const char *pathname, struct stat *buf);
38875 int fstat(int fd, struct stat *buf);
38879 @samp{Fstat,@var{pathnameptr}/@var{len},@var{bufptr}}@*
38880 @samp{Ffstat,@var{fd},@var{bufptr}}
38882 @item Return value:
38883 On success, zero is returned. On error, -1 is returned.
38889 @var{fd} is not a valid open file.
38892 A directory component in @var{pathname} does not exist or the
38893 path is an empty string.
38896 A component of the path is not a directory.
38899 @var{pathnameptr} is an invalid pointer value.
38902 No access to the file or the path of the file.
38905 @var{pathname} was too long.
38908 The call was interrupted by the user.
38914 @unnumberedsubsubsec gettimeofday
38915 @cindex gettimeofday, file-i/o system call
38920 int gettimeofday(struct timeval *tv, void *tz);
38924 @samp{Fgettimeofday,@var{tvptr},@var{tzptr}}
38926 @item Return value:
38927 On success, 0 is returned, -1 otherwise.
38933 @var{tz} is a non-NULL pointer.
38936 @var{tvptr} and/or @var{tzptr} is an invalid pointer value.
38942 @unnumberedsubsubsec isatty
38943 @cindex isatty, file-i/o system call
38948 int isatty(int fd);
38952 @samp{Fisatty,@var{fd}}
38954 @item Return value:
38955 Returns 1 if @var{fd} refers to the @value{GDBN} console, 0 otherwise.
38961 The call was interrupted by the user.
38966 Note that the @code{isatty} call is treated as a special case: it returns
38967 1 to the target if the file descriptor is attached
38968 to the @value{GDBN} console, 0 otherwise. Implementing through system calls
38969 would require implementing @code{ioctl} and would be more complex than
38974 @unnumberedsubsubsec system
38975 @cindex system, file-i/o system call
38980 int system(const char *command);
38984 @samp{Fsystem,@var{commandptr}/@var{len}}
38986 @item Return value:
38987 If @var{len} is zero, the return value indicates whether a shell is
38988 available. A zero return value indicates a shell is not available.
38989 For non-zero @var{len}, the value returned is -1 on error and the
38990 return status of the command otherwise. Only the exit status of the
38991 command is returned, which is extracted from the host's @code{system}
38992 return value by calling @code{WEXITSTATUS(retval)}. In case
38993 @file{/bin/sh} could not be executed, 127 is returned.
38999 The call was interrupted by the user.
39004 @value{GDBN} takes over the full task of calling the necessary host calls
39005 to perform the @code{system} call. The return value of @code{system} on
39006 the host is simplified before it's returned
39007 to the target. Any termination signal information from the child process
39008 is discarded, and the return value consists
39009 entirely of the exit status of the called command.
39011 Due to security concerns, the @code{system} call is by default refused
39012 by @value{GDBN}. The user has to allow this call explicitly with the
39013 @code{set remote system-call-allowed 1} command.
39016 @item set remote system-call-allowed
39017 @kindex set remote system-call-allowed
39018 Control whether to allow the @code{system} calls in the File I/O
39019 protocol for the remote target. The default is zero (disabled).
39021 @item show remote system-call-allowed
39022 @kindex show remote system-call-allowed
39023 Show whether the @code{system} calls are allowed in the File I/O
39027 @node Protocol-specific Representation of Datatypes
39028 @subsection Protocol-specific Representation of Datatypes
39029 @cindex protocol-specific representation of datatypes, in file-i/o protocol
39032 * Integral Datatypes::
39034 * Memory Transfer::
39039 @node Integral Datatypes
39040 @unnumberedsubsubsec Integral Datatypes
39041 @cindex integral datatypes, in file-i/o protocol
39043 The integral datatypes used in the system calls are @code{int},
39044 @code{unsigned int}, @code{long}, @code{unsigned long},
39045 @code{mode_t}, and @code{time_t}.
39047 @code{int}, @code{unsigned int}, @code{mode_t} and @code{time_t} are
39048 implemented as 32 bit values in this protocol.
39050 @code{long} and @code{unsigned long} are implemented as 64 bit types.
39052 @xref{Limits}, for corresponding MIN and MAX values (similar to those
39053 in @file{limits.h}) to allow range checking on host and target.
39055 @code{time_t} datatypes are defined as seconds since the Epoch.
39057 All integral datatypes transferred as part of a memory read or write of a
39058 structured datatype e.g.@: a @code{struct stat} have to be given in big endian
39061 @node Pointer Values
39062 @unnumberedsubsubsec Pointer Values
39063 @cindex pointer values, in file-i/o protocol
39065 Pointers to target data are transmitted as they are. An exception
39066 is made for pointers to buffers for which the length isn't
39067 transmitted as part of the function call, namely strings. Strings
39068 are transmitted as a pointer/length pair, both as hex values, e.g.@:
39075 which is a pointer to data of length 18 bytes at position 0x1aaf.
39076 The length is defined as the full string length in bytes, including
39077 the trailing null byte. For example, the string @code{"hello world"}
39078 at address 0x123456 is transmitted as
39084 @node Memory Transfer
39085 @unnumberedsubsubsec Memory Transfer
39086 @cindex memory transfer, in file-i/o protocol
39088 Structured data which is transferred using a memory read or write (for
39089 example, a @code{struct stat}) is expected to be in a protocol-specific format
39090 with all scalar multibyte datatypes being big endian. Translation to
39091 this representation needs to be done both by the target before the @code{F}
39092 packet is sent, and by @value{GDBN} before
39093 it transfers memory to the target. Transferred pointers to structured
39094 data should point to the already-coerced data at any time.
39098 @unnumberedsubsubsec struct stat
39099 @cindex struct stat, in file-i/o protocol
39101 The buffer of type @code{struct stat} used by the target and @value{GDBN}
39102 is defined as follows:
39106 unsigned int st_dev; /* device */
39107 unsigned int st_ino; /* inode */
39108 mode_t st_mode; /* protection */
39109 unsigned int st_nlink; /* number of hard links */
39110 unsigned int st_uid; /* user ID of owner */
39111 unsigned int st_gid; /* group ID of owner */
39112 unsigned int st_rdev; /* device type (if inode device) */
39113 unsigned long st_size; /* total size, in bytes */
39114 unsigned long st_blksize; /* blocksize for filesystem I/O */
39115 unsigned long st_blocks; /* number of blocks allocated */
39116 time_t st_atime; /* time of last access */
39117 time_t st_mtime; /* time of last modification */
39118 time_t st_ctime; /* time of last change */
39122 The integral datatypes conform to the definitions given in the
39123 appropriate section (see @ref{Integral Datatypes}, for details) so this
39124 structure is of size 64 bytes.
39126 The values of several fields have a restricted meaning and/or
39132 A value of 0 represents a file, 1 the console.
39135 No valid meaning for the target. Transmitted unchanged.
39138 Valid mode bits are described in @ref{Constants}. Any other
39139 bits have currently no meaning for the target.
39144 No valid meaning for the target. Transmitted unchanged.
39149 These values have a host and file system dependent
39150 accuracy. Especially on Windows hosts, the file system may not
39151 support exact timing values.
39154 The target gets a @code{struct stat} of the above representation and is
39155 responsible for coercing it to the target representation before
39158 Note that due to size differences between the host, target, and protocol
39159 representations of @code{struct stat} members, these members could eventually
39160 get truncated on the target.
39162 @node struct timeval
39163 @unnumberedsubsubsec struct timeval
39164 @cindex struct timeval, in file-i/o protocol
39166 The buffer of type @code{struct timeval} used by the File-I/O protocol
39167 is defined as follows:
39171 time_t tv_sec; /* second */
39172 long tv_usec; /* microsecond */
39176 The integral datatypes conform to the definitions given in the
39177 appropriate section (see @ref{Integral Datatypes}, for details) so this
39178 structure is of size 8 bytes.
39181 @subsection Constants
39182 @cindex constants, in file-i/o protocol
39184 The following values are used for the constants inside of the
39185 protocol. @value{GDBN} and target are responsible for translating these
39186 values before and after the call as needed.
39197 @unnumberedsubsubsec Open Flags
39198 @cindex open flags, in file-i/o protocol
39200 All values are given in hexadecimal representation.
39212 @node mode_t Values
39213 @unnumberedsubsubsec mode_t Values
39214 @cindex mode_t values, in file-i/o protocol
39216 All values are given in octal representation.
39233 @unnumberedsubsubsec Errno Values
39234 @cindex errno values, in file-i/o protocol
39236 All values are given in decimal representation.
39261 @code{EUNKNOWN} is used as a fallback error value if a host system returns
39262 any error value not in the list of supported error numbers.
39265 @unnumberedsubsubsec Lseek Flags
39266 @cindex lseek flags, in file-i/o protocol
39275 @unnumberedsubsubsec Limits
39276 @cindex limits, in file-i/o protocol
39278 All values are given in decimal representation.
39281 INT_MIN -2147483648
39283 UINT_MAX 4294967295
39284 LONG_MIN -9223372036854775808
39285 LONG_MAX 9223372036854775807
39286 ULONG_MAX 18446744073709551615
39289 @node File-I/O Examples
39290 @subsection File-I/O Examples
39291 @cindex file-i/o examples
39293 Example sequence of a write call, file descriptor 3, buffer is at target
39294 address 0x1234, 6 bytes should be written:
39297 <- @code{Fwrite,3,1234,6}
39298 @emph{request memory read from target}
39301 @emph{return "6 bytes written"}
39305 Example sequence of a read call, file descriptor 3, buffer is at target
39306 address 0x1234, 6 bytes should be read:
39309 <- @code{Fread,3,1234,6}
39310 @emph{request memory write to target}
39311 -> @code{X1234,6:XXXXXX}
39312 @emph{return "6 bytes read"}
39316 Example sequence of a read call, call fails on the host due to invalid
39317 file descriptor (@code{EBADF}):
39320 <- @code{Fread,3,1234,6}
39324 Example sequence of a read call, user presses @kbd{Ctrl-c} before syscall on
39328 <- @code{Fread,3,1234,6}
39333 Example sequence of a read call, user presses @kbd{Ctrl-c} after syscall on
39337 <- @code{Fread,3,1234,6}
39338 -> @code{X1234,6:XXXXXX}
39342 @node Library List Format
39343 @section Library List Format
39344 @cindex library list format, remote protocol
39346 On some platforms, a dynamic loader (e.g.@: @file{ld.so}) runs in the
39347 same process as your application to manage libraries. In this case,
39348 @value{GDBN} can use the loader's symbol table and normal memory
39349 operations to maintain a list of shared libraries. On other
39350 platforms, the operating system manages loaded libraries.
39351 @value{GDBN} can not retrieve the list of currently loaded libraries
39352 through memory operations, so it uses the @samp{qXfer:libraries:read}
39353 packet (@pxref{qXfer library list read}) instead. The remote stub
39354 queries the target's operating system and reports which libraries
39357 The @samp{qXfer:libraries:read} packet returns an XML document which
39358 lists loaded libraries and their offsets. Each library has an
39359 associated name and one or more segment or section base addresses,
39360 which report where the library was loaded in memory.
39362 For the common case of libraries that are fully linked binaries, the
39363 library should have a list of segments. If the target supports
39364 dynamic linking of a relocatable object file, its library XML element
39365 should instead include a list of allocated sections. The segment or
39366 section bases are start addresses, not relocation offsets; they do not
39367 depend on the library's link-time base addresses.
39369 @value{GDBN} must be linked with the Expat library to support XML
39370 library lists. @xref{Expat}.
39372 A simple memory map, with one loaded library relocated by a single
39373 offset, looks like this:
39377 <library name="/lib/libc.so.6">
39378 <segment address="0x10000000"/>
39383 Another simple memory map, with one loaded library with three
39384 allocated sections (.text, .data, .bss), looks like this:
39388 <library name="sharedlib.o">
39389 <section address="0x10000000"/>
39390 <section address="0x20000000"/>
39391 <section address="0x30000000"/>
39396 The format of a library list is described by this DTD:
39399 <!-- library-list: Root element with versioning -->
39400 <!ELEMENT library-list (library)*>
39401 <!ATTLIST library-list version CDATA #FIXED "1.0">
39402 <!ELEMENT library (segment*, section*)>
39403 <!ATTLIST library name CDATA #REQUIRED>
39404 <!ELEMENT segment EMPTY>
39405 <!ATTLIST segment address CDATA #REQUIRED>
39406 <!ELEMENT section EMPTY>
39407 <!ATTLIST section address CDATA #REQUIRED>
39410 In addition, segments and section descriptors cannot be mixed within a
39411 single library element, and you must supply at least one segment or
39412 section for each library.
39414 @node Library List Format for SVR4 Targets
39415 @section Library List Format for SVR4 Targets
39416 @cindex library list format, remote protocol
39418 On SVR4 platforms @value{GDBN} can use the symbol table of a dynamic loader
39419 (e.g.@: @file{ld.so}) and normal memory operations to maintain a list of
39420 shared libraries. Still a special library list provided by this packet is
39421 more efficient for the @value{GDBN} remote protocol.
39423 The @samp{qXfer:libraries-svr4:read} packet returns an XML document which lists
39424 loaded libraries and their SVR4 linker parameters. For each library on SVR4
39425 target, the following parameters are reported:
39429 @code{name}, the absolute file name from the @code{l_name} field of
39430 @code{struct link_map}.
39432 @code{lm} with address of @code{struct link_map} used for TLS
39433 (Thread Local Storage) access.
39435 @code{l_addr}, the displacement as read from the field @code{l_addr} of
39436 @code{struct link_map}. For prelinked libraries this is not an absolute
39437 memory address. It is a displacement of absolute memory address against
39438 address the file was prelinked to during the library load.
39440 @code{l_ld}, which is memory address of the @code{PT_DYNAMIC} segment
39443 Additionally the single @code{main-lm} attribute specifies address of
39444 @code{struct link_map} used for the main executable. This parameter is used
39445 for TLS access and its presence is optional.
39447 @value{GDBN} must be linked with the Expat library to support XML
39448 SVR4 library lists. @xref{Expat}.
39450 A simple memory map, with two loaded libraries (which do not use prelink),
39454 <library-list-svr4 version="1.0" main-lm="0xe4f8f8">
39455 <library name="/lib/ld-linux.so.2" lm="0xe4f51c" l_addr="0xe2d000"
39457 <library name="/lib/libc.so.6" lm="0xe4fbe8" l_addr="0x154000"
39459 </library-list-svr>
39462 The format of an SVR4 library list is described by this DTD:
39465 <!-- library-list-svr4: Root element with versioning -->
39466 <!ELEMENT library-list-svr4 (library)*>
39467 <!ATTLIST library-list-svr4 version CDATA #FIXED "1.0">
39468 <!ATTLIST library-list-svr4 main-lm CDATA #IMPLIED>
39469 <!ELEMENT library EMPTY>
39470 <!ATTLIST library name CDATA #REQUIRED>
39471 <!ATTLIST library lm CDATA #REQUIRED>
39472 <!ATTLIST library l_addr CDATA #REQUIRED>
39473 <!ATTLIST library l_ld CDATA #REQUIRED>
39476 @node Memory Map Format
39477 @section Memory Map Format
39478 @cindex memory map format
39480 To be able to write into flash memory, @value{GDBN} needs to obtain a
39481 memory map from the target. This section describes the format of the
39484 The memory map is obtained using the @samp{qXfer:memory-map:read}
39485 (@pxref{qXfer memory map read}) packet and is an XML document that
39486 lists memory regions.
39488 @value{GDBN} must be linked with the Expat library to support XML
39489 memory maps. @xref{Expat}.
39491 The top-level structure of the document is shown below:
39494 <?xml version="1.0"?>
39495 <!DOCTYPE memory-map
39496 PUBLIC "+//IDN gnu.org//DTD GDB Memory Map V1.0//EN"
39497 "http://sourceware.org/gdb/gdb-memory-map.dtd">
39503 Each region can be either:
39508 A region of RAM starting at @var{addr} and extending for @var{length}
39512 <memory type="ram" start="@var{addr}" length="@var{length}"/>
39517 A region of read-only memory:
39520 <memory type="rom" start="@var{addr}" length="@var{length}"/>
39525 A region of flash memory, with erasure blocks @var{blocksize}
39529 <memory type="flash" start="@var{addr}" length="@var{length}">
39530 <property name="blocksize">@var{blocksize}</property>
39536 Regions must not overlap. @value{GDBN} assumes that areas of memory not covered
39537 by the memory map are RAM, and uses the ordinary @samp{M} and @samp{X}
39538 packets to write to addresses in such ranges.
39540 The formal DTD for memory map format is given below:
39543 <!-- ................................................... -->
39544 <!-- Memory Map XML DTD ................................ -->
39545 <!-- File: memory-map.dtd .............................. -->
39546 <!-- .................................... .............. -->
39547 <!-- memory-map.dtd -->
39548 <!-- memory-map: Root element with versioning -->
39549 <!ELEMENT memory-map (memory | property)>
39550 <!ATTLIST memory-map version CDATA #FIXED "1.0.0">
39551 <!ELEMENT memory (property)>
39552 <!-- memory: Specifies a memory region,
39553 and its type, or device. -->
39554 <!ATTLIST memory type CDATA #REQUIRED
39555 start CDATA #REQUIRED
39556 length CDATA #REQUIRED
39557 device CDATA #IMPLIED>
39558 <!-- property: Generic attribute tag -->
39559 <!ELEMENT property (#PCDATA | property)*>
39560 <!ATTLIST property name CDATA #REQUIRED>
39563 @node Thread List Format
39564 @section Thread List Format
39565 @cindex thread list format
39567 To efficiently update the list of threads and their attributes,
39568 @value{GDBN} issues the @samp{qXfer:threads:read} packet
39569 (@pxref{qXfer threads read}) and obtains the XML document with
39570 the following structure:
39573 <?xml version="1.0"?>
39575 <thread id="id" core="0">
39576 ... description ...
39581 Each @samp{thread} element must have the @samp{id} attribute that
39582 identifies the thread (@pxref{thread-id syntax}). The
39583 @samp{core} attribute, if present, specifies which processor core
39584 the thread was last executing on. The content of the of @samp{thread}
39585 element is interpreted as human-readable auxilliary information.
39587 @node Traceframe Info Format
39588 @section Traceframe Info Format
39589 @cindex traceframe info format
39591 To be able to know which objects in the inferior can be examined when
39592 inspecting a tracepoint hit, @value{GDBN} needs to obtain the list of
39593 memory ranges, registers and trace state variables that have been
39594 collected in a traceframe.
39596 This list is obtained using the @samp{qXfer:traceframe-info:read}
39597 (@pxref{qXfer traceframe info read}) packet and is an XML document.
39599 @value{GDBN} must be linked with the Expat library to support XML
39600 traceframe info discovery. @xref{Expat}.
39602 The top-level structure of the document is shown below:
39605 <?xml version="1.0"?>
39606 <!DOCTYPE traceframe-info
39607 PUBLIC "+//IDN gnu.org//DTD GDB Memory Map V1.0//EN"
39608 "http://sourceware.org/gdb/gdb-traceframe-info.dtd">
39614 Each traceframe block can be either:
39619 A region of collected memory starting at @var{addr} and extending for
39620 @var{length} bytes from there:
39623 <memory start="@var{addr}" length="@var{length}"/>
39628 The formal DTD for the traceframe info format is given below:
39631 <!ELEMENT traceframe-info (memory)* >
39632 <!ATTLIST traceframe-info version CDATA #FIXED "1.0">
39634 <!ELEMENT memory EMPTY>
39635 <!ATTLIST memory start CDATA #REQUIRED
39636 length CDATA #REQUIRED>
39639 @include agentexpr.texi
39641 @node Target Descriptions
39642 @appendix Target Descriptions
39643 @cindex target descriptions
39645 One of the challenges of using @value{GDBN} to debug embedded systems
39646 is that there are so many minor variants of each processor
39647 architecture in use. It is common practice for vendors to start with
39648 a standard processor core --- ARM, PowerPC, or @acronym{MIPS}, for example ---
39649 and then make changes to adapt it to a particular market niche. Some
39650 architectures have hundreds of variants, available from dozens of
39651 vendors. This leads to a number of problems:
39655 With so many different customized processors, it is difficult for
39656 the @value{GDBN} maintainers to keep up with the changes.
39658 Since individual variants may have short lifetimes or limited
39659 audiences, it may not be worthwhile to carry information about every
39660 variant in the @value{GDBN} source tree.
39662 When @value{GDBN} does support the architecture of the embedded system
39663 at hand, the task of finding the correct architecture name to give the
39664 @command{set architecture} command can be error-prone.
39667 To address these problems, the @value{GDBN} remote protocol allows a
39668 target system to not only identify itself to @value{GDBN}, but to
39669 actually describe its own features. This lets @value{GDBN} support
39670 processor variants it has never seen before --- to the extent that the
39671 descriptions are accurate, and that @value{GDBN} understands them.
39673 @value{GDBN} must be linked with the Expat library to support XML
39674 target descriptions. @xref{Expat}.
39677 * Retrieving Descriptions:: How descriptions are fetched from a target.
39678 * Target Description Format:: The contents of a target description.
39679 * Predefined Target Types:: Standard types available for target
39681 * Standard Target Features:: Features @value{GDBN} knows about.
39684 @node Retrieving Descriptions
39685 @section Retrieving Descriptions
39687 Target descriptions can be read from the target automatically, or
39688 specified by the user manually. The default behavior is to read the
39689 description from the target. @value{GDBN} retrieves it via the remote
39690 protocol using @samp{qXfer} requests (@pxref{General Query Packets,
39691 qXfer}). The @var{annex} in the @samp{qXfer} packet will be
39692 @samp{target.xml}. The contents of the @samp{target.xml} annex are an
39693 XML document, of the form described in @ref{Target Description
39696 Alternatively, you can specify a file to read for the target description.
39697 If a file is set, the target will not be queried. The commands to
39698 specify a file are:
39701 @cindex set tdesc filename
39702 @item set tdesc filename @var{path}
39703 Read the target description from @var{path}.
39705 @cindex unset tdesc filename
39706 @item unset tdesc filename
39707 Do not read the XML target description from a file. @value{GDBN}
39708 will use the description supplied by the current target.
39710 @cindex show tdesc filename
39711 @item show tdesc filename
39712 Show the filename to read for a target description, if any.
39716 @node Target Description Format
39717 @section Target Description Format
39718 @cindex target descriptions, XML format
39720 A target description annex is an @uref{http://www.w3.org/XML/, XML}
39721 document which complies with the Document Type Definition provided in
39722 the @value{GDBN} sources in @file{gdb/features/gdb-target.dtd}. This
39723 means you can use generally available tools like @command{xmllint} to
39724 check that your feature descriptions are well-formed and valid.
39725 However, to help people unfamiliar with XML write descriptions for
39726 their targets, we also describe the grammar here.
39728 Target descriptions can identify the architecture of the remote target
39729 and (for some architectures) provide information about custom register
39730 sets. They can also identify the OS ABI of the remote target.
39731 @value{GDBN} can use this information to autoconfigure for your
39732 target, or to warn you if you connect to an unsupported target.
39734 Here is a simple target description:
39737 <target version="1.0">
39738 <architecture>i386:x86-64</architecture>
39743 This minimal description only says that the target uses
39744 the x86-64 architecture.
39746 A target description has the following overall form, with [ ] marking
39747 optional elements and @dots{} marking repeatable elements. The elements
39748 are explained further below.
39751 <?xml version="1.0"?>
39752 <!DOCTYPE target SYSTEM "gdb-target.dtd">
39753 <target version="1.0">
39754 @r{[}@var{architecture}@r{]}
39755 @r{[}@var{osabi}@r{]}
39756 @r{[}@var{compatible}@r{]}
39757 @r{[}@var{feature}@dots{}@r{]}
39762 The description is generally insensitive to whitespace and line
39763 breaks, under the usual common-sense rules. The XML version
39764 declaration and document type declaration can generally be omitted
39765 (@value{GDBN} does not require them), but specifying them may be
39766 useful for XML validation tools. The @samp{version} attribute for
39767 @samp{<target>} may also be omitted, but we recommend
39768 including it; if future versions of @value{GDBN} use an incompatible
39769 revision of @file{gdb-target.dtd}, they will detect and report
39770 the version mismatch.
39772 @subsection Inclusion
39773 @cindex target descriptions, inclusion
39776 @cindex <xi:include>
39779 It can sometimes be valuable to split a target description up into
39780 several different annexes, either for organizational purposes, or to
39781 share files between different possible target descriptions. You can
39782 divide a description into multiple files by replacing any element of
39783 the target description with an inclusion directive of the form:
39786 <xi:include href="@var{document}"/>
39790 When @value{GDBN} encounters an element of this form, it will retrieve
39791 the named XML @var{document}, and replace the inclusion directive with
39792 the contents of that document. If the current description was read
39793 using @samp{qXfer}, then so will be the included document;
39794 @var{document} will be interpreted as the name of an annex. If the
39795 current description was read from a file, @value{GDBN} will look for
39796 @var{document} as a file in the same directory where it found the
39797 original description.
39799 @subsection Architecture
39800 @cindex <architecture>
39802 An @samp{<architecture>} element has this form:
39805 <architecture>@var{arch}</architecture>
39808 @var{arch} is one of the architectures from the set accepted by
39809 @code{set architecture} (@pxref{Targets, ,Specifying a Debugging Target}).
39812 @cindex @code{<osabi>}
39814 This optional field was introduced in @value{GDBN} version 7.0.
39815 Previous versions of @value{GDBN} ignore it.
39817 An @samp{<osabi>} element has this form:
39820 <osabi>@var{abi-name}</osabi>
39823 @var{abi-name} is an OS ABI name from the same selection accepted by
39824 @w{@code{set osabi}} (@pxref{ABI, ,Configuring the Current ABI}).
39826 @subsection Compatible Architecture
39827 @cindex @code{<compatible>}
39829 This optional field was introduced in @value{GDBN} version 7.0.
39830 Previous versions of @value{GDBN} ignore it.
39832 A @samp{<compatible>} element has this form:
39835 <compatible>@var{arch}</compatible>
39838 @var{arch} is one of the architectures from the set accepted by
39839 @code{set architecture} (@pxref{Targets, ,Specifying a Debugging Target}).
39841 A @samp{<compatible>} element is used to specify that the target
39842 is able to run binaries in some other than the main target architecture
39843 given by the @samp{<architecture>} element. For example, on the
39844 Cell Broadband Engine, the main architecture is @code{powerpc:common}
39845 or @code{powerpc:common64}, but the system is able to run binaries
39846 in the @code{spu} architecture as well. The way to describe this
39847 capability with @samp{<compatible>} is as follows:
39850 <architecture>powerpc:common</architecture>
39851 <compatible>spu</compatible>
39854 @subsection Features
39857 Each @samp{<feature>} describes some logical portion of the target
39858 system. Features are currently used to describe available CPU
39859 registers and the types of their contents. A @samp{<feature>} element
39863 <feature name="@var{name}">
39864 @r{[}@var{type}@dots{}@r{]}
39870 Each feature's name should be unique within the description. The name
39871 of a feature does not matter unless @value{GDBN} has some special
39872 knowledge of the contents of that feature; if it does, the feature
39873 should have its standard name. @xref{Standard Target Features}.
39877 Any register's value is a collection of bits which @value{GDBN} must
39878 interpret. The default interpretation is a two's complement integer,
39879 but other types can be requested by name in the register description.
39880 Some predefined types are provided by @value{GDBN} (@pxref{Predefined
39881 Target Types}), and the description can define additional composite types.
39883 Each type element must have an @samp{id} attribute, which gives
39884 a unique (within the containing @samp{<feature>}) name to the type.
39885 Types must be defined before they are used.
39888 Some targets offer vector registers, which can be treated as arrays
39889 of scalar elements. These types are written as @samp{<vector>} elements,
39890 specifying the array element type, @var{type}, and the number of elements,
39894 <vector id="@var{id}" type="@var{type}" count="@var{count}"/>
39898 If a register's value is usefully viewed in multiple ways, define it
39899 with a union type containing the useful representations. The
39900 @samp{<union>} element contains one or more @samp{<field>} elements,
39901 each of which has a @var{name} and a @var{type}:
39904 <union id="@var{id}">
39905 <field name="@var{name}" type="@var{type}"/>
39911 If a register's value is composed from several separate values, define
39912 it with a structure type. There are two forms of the @samp{<struct>}
39913 element; a @samp{<struct>} element must either contain only bitfields
39914 or contain no bitfields. If the structure contains only bitfields,
39915 its total size in bytes must be specified, each bitfield must have an
39916 explicit start and end, and bitfields are automatically assigned an
39917 integer type. The field's @var{start} should be less than or
39918 equal to its @var{end}, and zero represents the least significant bit.
39921 <struct id="@var{id}" size="@var{size}">
39922 <field name="@var{name}" start="@var{start}" end="@var{end}"/>
39927 If the structure contains no bitfields, then each field has an
39928 explicit type, and no implicit padding is added.
39931 <struct id="@var{id}">
39932 <field name="@var{name}" type="@var{type}"/>
39938 If a register's value is a series of single-bit flags, define it with
39939 a flags type. The @samp{<flags>} element has an explicit @var{size}
39940 and contains one or more @samp{<field>} elements. Each field has a
39941 @var{name}, a @var{start}, and an @var{end}. Only single-bit flags
39945 <flags id="@var{id}" size="@var{size}">
39946 <field name="@var{name}" start="@var{start}" end="@var{end}"/>
39951 @subsection Registers
39954 Each register is represented as an element with this form:
39957 <reg name="@var{name}"
39958 bitsize="@var{size}"
39959 @r{[}regnum="@var{num}"@r{]}
39960 @r{[}save-restore="@var{save-restore}"@r{]}
39961 @r{[}type="@var{type}"@r{]}
39962 @r{[}group="@var{group}"@r{]}/>
39966 The components are as follows:
39971 The register's name; it must be unique within the target description.
39974 The register's size, in bits.
39977 The register's number. If omitted, a register's number is one greater
39978 than that of the previous register (either in the current feature or in
39979 a preceding feature); the first register in the target description
39980 defaults to zero. This register number is used to read or write
39981 the register; e.g.@: it is used in the remote @code{p} and @code{P}
39982 packets, and registers appear in the @code{g} and @code{G} packets
39983 in order of increasing register number.
39986 Whether the register should be preserved across inferior function
39987 calls; this must be either @code{yes} or @code{no}. The default is
39988 @code{yes}, which is appropriate for most registers except for
39989 some system control registers; this is not related to the target's
39993 The type of the register. @var{type} may be a predefined type, a type
39994 defined in the current feature, or one of the special types @code{int}
39995 and @code{float}. @code{int} is an integer type of the correct size
39996 for @var{bitsize}, and @code{float} is a floating point type (in the
39997 architecture's normal floating point format) of the correct size for
39998 @var{bitsize}. The default is @code{int}.
40001 The register group to which this register belongs. @var{group} must
40002 be either @code{general}, @code{float}, or @code{vector}. If no
40003 @var{group} is specified, @value{GDBN} will not display the register
40004 in @code{info registers}.
40008 @node Predefined Target Types
40009 @section Predefined Target Types
40010 @cindex target descriptions, predefined types
40012 Type definitions in the self-description can build up composite types
40013 from basic building blocks, but can not define fundamental types. Instead,
40014 standard identifiers are provided by @value{GDBN} for the fundamental
40015 types. The currently supported types are:
40024 Signed integer types holding the specified number of bits.
40031 Unsigned integer types holding the specified number of bits.
40035 Pointers to unspecified code and data. The program counter and
40036 any dedicated return address register may be marked as code
40037 pointers; printing a code pointer converts it into a symbolic
40038 address. The stack pointer and any dedicated address registers
40039 may be marked as data pointers.
40042 Single precision IEEE floating point.
40045 Double precision IEEE floating point.
40048 The 12-byte extended precision format used by ARM FPA registers.
40051 The 10-byte extended precision format used by x87 registers.
40054 32bit @sc{eflags} register used by x86.
40057 32bit @sc{mxcsr} register used by x86.
40061 @node Standard Target Features
40062 @section Standard Target Features
40063 @cindex target descriptions, standard features
40065 A target description must contain either no registers or all the
40066 target's registers. If the description contains no registers, then
40067 @value{GDBN} will assume a default register layout, selected based on
40068 the architecture. If the description contains any registers, the
40069 default layout will not be used; the standard registers must be
40070 described in the target description, in such a way that @value{GDBN}
40071 can recognize them.
40073 This is accomplished by giving specific names to feature elements
40074 which contain standard registers. @value{GDBN} will look for features
40075 with those names and verify that they contain the expected registers;
40076 if any known feature is missing required registers, or if any required
40077 feature is missing, @value{GDBN} will reject the target
40078 description. You can add additional registers to any of the
40079 standard features --- @value{GDBN} will display them just as if
40080 they were added to an unrecognized feature.
40082 This section lists the known features and their expected contents.
40083 Sample XML documents for these features are included in the
40084 @value{GDBN} source tree, in the directory @file{gdb/features}.
40086 Names recognized by @value{GDBN} should include the name of the
40087 company or organization which selected the name, and the overall
40088 architecture to which the feature applies; so e.g.@: the feature
40089 containing ARM core registers is named @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.core}.
40091 The names of registers are not case sensitive for the purpose
40092 of recognizing standard features, but @value{GDBN} will only display
40093 registers using the capitalization used in the description.
40100 * PowerPC Features::
40106 @subsection ARM Features
40107 @cindex target descriptions, ARM features
40109 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.core} feature is required for non-M-profile
40111 It should contain registers @samp{r0} through @samp{r13}, @samp{sp},
40112 @samp{lr}, @samp{pc}, and @samp{cpsr}.
40114 For M-profile targets (e.g. Cortex-M3), the @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.core}
40115 feature is replaced by @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.m-profile}. It should contain
40116 registers @samp{r0} through @samp{r13}, @samp{sp}, @samp{lr}, @samp{pc},
40119 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.fpa} feature is optional. If present, it
40120 should contain registers @samp{f0} through @samp{f7} and @samp{fps}.
40122 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.xscale.iwmmxt} feature is optional. If present,
40123 it should contain at least registers @samp{wR0} through @samp{wR15} and
40124 @samp{wCGR0} through @samp{wCGR3}. The @samp{wCID}, @samp{wCon},
40125 @samp{wCSSF}, and @samp{wCASF} registers are optional.
40127 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.vfp} feature is optional. If present, it
40128 should contain at least registers @samp{d0} through @samp{d15}. If
40129 they are present, @samp{d16} through @samp{d31} should also be included.
40130 @value{GDBN} will synthesize the single-precision registers from
40131 halves of the double-precision registers.
40133 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.neon} feature is optional. It does not
40134 need to contain registers; it instructs @value{GDBN} to display the
40135 VFP double-precision registers as vectors and to synthesize the
40136 quad-precision registers from pairs of double-precision registers.
40137 If this feature is present, @samp{org.gnu.gdb.arm.vfp} must also
40138 be present and include 32 double-precision registers.
40140 @node i386 Features
40141 @subsection i386 Features
40142 @cindex target descriptions, i386 features
40144 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.i386.core} feature is required for i386/amd64
40145 targets. It should describe the following registers:
40149 @samp{eax} through @samp{edi} plus @samp{eip} for i386
40151 @samp{rax} through @samp{r15} plus @samp{rip} for amd64
40153 @samp{eflags}, @samp{cs}, @samp{ss}, @samp{ds}, @samp{es},
40154 @samp{fs}, @samp{gs}
40156 @samp{st0} through @samp{st7}
40158 @samp{fctrl}, @samp{fstat}, @samp{ftag}, @samp{fiseg}, @samp{fioff},
40159 @samp{foseg}, @samp{fooff} and @samp{fop}
40162 The register sets may be different, depending on the target.
40164 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.i386.sse} feature is optional. It should
40165 describe registers:
40169 @samp{xmm0} through @samp{xmm7} for i386
40171 @samp{xmm0} through @samp{xmm15} for amd64
40176 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.i386.avx} feature is optional and requires the
40177 @samp{org.gnu.gdb.i386.sse} feature. It should
40178 describe the upper 128 bits of @sc{ymm} registers:
40182 @samp{ymm0h} through @samp{ymm7h} for i386
40184 @samp{ymm0h} through @samp{ymm15h} for amd64
40187 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.i386.linux} feature is optional. It should
40188 describe a single register, @samp{orig_eax}.
40190 @node MIPS Features
40191 @subsection @acronym{MIPS} Features
40192 @cindex target descriptions, @acronym{MIPS} features
40194 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.mips.cpu} feature is required for @acronym{MIPS} targets.
40195 It should contain registers @samp{r0} through @samp{r31}, @samp{lo},
40196 @samp{hi}, and @samp{pc}. They may be 32-bit or 64-bit depending
40199 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.mips.cp0} feature is also required. It should
40200 contain at least the @samp{status}, @samp{badvaddr}, and @samp{cause}
40201 registers. They may be 32-bit or 64-bit depending on the target.
40203 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.mips.fpu} feature is currently required, though
40204 it may be optional in a future version of @value{GDBN}. It should
40205 contain registers @samp{f0} through @samp{f31}, @samp{fcsr}, and
40206 @samp{fir}. They may be 32-bit or 64-bit depending on the target.
40208 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.mips.dsp} feature is optional. It should
40209 contain registers @samp{hi1} through @samp{hi3}, @samp{lo1} through
40210 @samp{lo3}, and @samp{dspctl}. The @samp{dspctl} register should
40211 be 32-bit and the rest may be 32-bit or 64-bit depending on the target.
40213 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.mips.linux} feature is optional. It should
40214 contain a single register, @samp{restart}, which is used by the
40215 Linux kernel to control restartable syscalls.
40217 @node M68K Features
40218 @subsection M68K Features
40219 @cindex target descriptions, M68K features
40222 @item @samp{org.gnu.gdb.m68k.core}
40223 @itemx @samp{org.gnu.gdb.coldfire.core}
40224 @itemx @samp{org.gnu.gdb.fido.core}
40225 One of those features must be always present.
40226 The feature that is present determines which flavor of m68k is
40227 used. The feature that is present should contain registers
40228 @samp{d0} through @samp{d7}, @samp{a0} through @samp{a5}, @samp{fp},
40229 @samp{sp}, @samp{ps} and @samp{pc}.
40231 @item @samp{org.gnu.gdb.coldfire.fp}
40232 This feature is optional. If present, it should contain registers
40233 @samp{fp0} through @samp{fp7}, @samp{fpcontrol}, @samp{fpstatus} and
40237 @node PowerPC Features
40238 @subsection PowerPC Features
40239 @cindex target descriptions, PowerPC features
40241 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.power.core} feature is required for PowerPC
40242 targets. It should contain registers @samp{r0} through @samp{r31},
40243 @samp{pc}, @samp{msr}, @samp{cr}, @samp{lr}, @samp{ctr}, and
40244 @samp{xer}. They may be 32-bit or 64-bit depending on the target.
40246 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.power.fpu} feature is optional. It should
40247 contain registers @samp{f0} through @samp{f31} and @samp{fpscr}.
40249 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.power.altivec} feature is optional. It should
40250 contain registers @samp{vr0} through @samp{vr31}, @samp{vscr},
40253 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.power.vsx} feature is optional. It should
40254 contain registers @samp{vs0h} through @samp{vs31h}. @value{GDBN}
40255 will combine these registers with the floating point registers
40256 (@samp{f0} through @samp{f31}) and the altivec registers (@samp{vr0}
40257 through @samp{vr31}) to present the 128-bit wide registers @samp{vs0}
40258 through @samp{vs63}, the set of vector registers for POWER7.
40260 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.power.spe} feature is optional. It should
40261 contain registers @samp{ev0h} through @samp{ev31h}, @samp{acc}, and
40262 @samp{spefscr}. SPE targets should provide 32-bit registers in
40263 @samp{org.gnu.gdb.power.core} and provide the upper halves in
40264 @samp{ev0h} through @samp{ev31h}. @value{GDBN} will combine
40265 these to present registers @samp{ev0} through @samp{ev31} to the
40268 @node TIC6x Features
40269 @subsection TMS320C6x Features
40270 @cindex target descriptions, TIC6x features
40271 @cindex target descriptions, TMS320C6x features
40272 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.tic6x.core} feature is required for TMS320C6x
40273 targets. It should contain registers @samp{A0} through @samp{A15},
40274 registers @samp{B0} through @samp{B15}, @samp{CSR} and @samp{PC}.
40276 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.tic6x.gp} feature is optional. It should
40277 contain registers @samp{A16} through @samp{A31} and @samp{B16}
40278 through @samp{B31}.
40280 The @samp{org.gnu.gdb.tic6x.c6xp} feature is optional. It should
40281 contain registers @samp{TSR}, @samp{ILC} and @samp{RILC}.
40283 @node Operating System Information
40284 @appendix Operating System Information
40285 @cindex operating system information
40291 Users of @value{GDBN} often wish to obtain information about the state of
40292 the operating system running on the target---for example the list of
40293 processes, or the list of open files. This section describes the
40294 mechanism that makes it possible. This mechanism is similar to the
40295 target features mechanism (@pxref{Target Descriptions}), but focuses
40296 on a different aspect of target.
40298 Operating system information is retrived from the target via the
40299 remote protocol, using @samp{qXfer} requests (@pxref{qXfer osdata
40300 read}). The object name in the request should be @samp{osdata}, and
40301 the @var{annex} identifies the data to be fetched.
40304 @appendixsection Process list
40305 @cindex operating system information, process list
40307 When requesting the process list, the @var{annex} field in the
40308 @samp{qXfer} request should be @samp{processes}. The returned data is
40309 an XML document. The formal syntax of this document is defined in
40310 @file{gdb/features/osdata.dtd}.
40312 An example document is:
40315 <?xml version="1.0"?>
40316 <!DOCTYPE target SYSTEM "osdata.dtd">
40317 <osdata type="processes">
40319 <column name="pid">1</column>
40320 <column name="user">root</column>
40321 <column name="command">/sbin/init</column>
40322 <column name="cores">1,2,3</column>
40327 Each item should include a column whose name is @samp{pid}. The value
40328 of that column should identify the process on the target. The
40329 @samp{user} and @samp{command} columns are optional, and will be
40330 displayed by @value{GDBN}. The @samp{cores} column, if present,
40331 should contain a comma-separated list of cores that this process
40332 is running on. Target may provide additional columns,
40333 which @value{GDBN} currently ignores.
40335 @node Trace File Format
40336 @appendix Trace File Format
40337 @cindex trace file format
40339 The trace file comes in three parts: a header, a textual description
40340 section, and a trace frame section with binary data.
40342 The header has the form @code{\x7fTRACE0\n}. The first byte is
40343 @code{0x7f} so as to indicate that the file contains binary data,
40344 while the @code{0} is a version number that may have different values
40347 The description section consists of multiple lines of @sc{ascii} text
40348 separated by newline characters (@code{0xa}). The lines may include a
40349 variety of optional descriptive or context-setting information, such
40350 as tracepoint definitions or register set size. @value{GDBN} will
40351 ignore any line that it does not recognize. An empty line marks the end
40354 @c FIXME add some specific types of data
40356 The trace frame section consists of a number of consecutive frames.
40357 Each frame begins with a two-byte tracepoint number, followed by a
40358 four-byte size giving the amount of data in the frame. The data in
40359 the frame consists of a number of blocks, each introduced by a
40360 character indicating its type (at least register, memory, and trace
40361 state variable). The data in this section is raw binary, not a
40362 hexadecimal or other encoding; its endianness matches the target's
40365 @c FIXME bi-arch may require endianness/arch info in description section
40368 @item R @var{bytes}
40369 Register block. The number and ordering of bytes matches that of a
40370 @code{g} packet in the remote protocol. Note that these are the
40371 actual bytes, in target order and @value{GDBN} register order, not a
40372 hexadecimal encoding.
40374 @item M @var{address} @var{length} @var{bytes}...
40375 Memory block. This is a contiguous block of memory, at the 8-byte
40376 address @var{address}, with a 2-byte length @var{length}, followed by
40377 @var{length} bytes.
40379 @item V @var{number} @var{value}
40380 Trace state variable block. This records the 8-byte signed value
40381 @var{value} of trace state variable numbered @var{number}.
40385 Future enhancements of the trace file format may include additional types
40388 @node Index Section Format
40389 @appendix @code{.gdb_index} section format
40390 @cindex .gdb_index section format
40391 @cindex index section format
40393 This section documents the index section that is created by @code{save
40394 gdb-index} (@pxref{Index Files}). The index section is
40395 DWARF-specific; some knowledge of DWARF is assumed in this
40398 The mapped index file format is designed to be directly
40399 @code{mmap}able on any architecture. In most cases, a datum is
40400 represented using a little-endian 32-bit integer value, called an
40401 @code{offset_type}. Big endian machines must byte-swap the values
40402 before using them. Exceptions to this rule are noted. The data is
40403 laid out such that alignment is always respected.
40405 A mapped index consists of several areas, laid out in order.
40409 The file header. This is a sequence of values, of @code{offset_type}
40410 unless otherwise noted:
40414 The version number, currently 7. Versions 1, 2 and 3 are obsolete.
40415 Version 4 uses a different hashing function from versions 5 and 6.
40416 Version 6 includes symbols for inlined functions, whereas versions 4
40417 and 5 do not. Version 7 adds attributes to the CU indices in the
40418 symbol table. @value{GDBN} will only read version 4, 5, or 6 indices
40419 by specifying @code{set use-deprecated-index-sections on}.
40422 The offset, from the start of the file, of the CU list.
40425 The offset, from the start of the file, of the types CU list. Note
40426 that this area can be empty, in which case this offset will be equal
40427 to the next offset.
40430 The offset, from the start of the file, of the address area.
40433 The offset, from the start of the file, of the symbol table.
40436 The offset, from the start of the file, of the constant pool.
40440 The CU list. This is a sequence of pairs of 64-bit little-endian
40441 values, sorted by the CU offset. The first element in each pair is
40442 the offset of a CU in the @code{.debug_info} section. The second
40443 element in each pair is the length of that CU. References to a CU
40444 elsewhere in the map are done using a CU index, which is just the
40445 0-based index into this table. Note that if there are type CUs, then
40446 conceptually CUs and type CUs form a single list for the purposes of
40450 The types CU list. This is a sequence of triplets of 64-bit
40451 little-endian values. In a triplet, the first value is the CU offset,
40452 the second value is the type offset in the CU, and the third value is
40453 the type signature. The types CU list is not sorted.
40456 The address area. The address area consists of a sequence of address
40457 entries. Each address entry has three elements:
40461 The low address. This is a 64-bit little-endian value.
40464 The high address. This is a 64-bit little-endian value. Like
40465 @code{DW_AT_high_pc}, the value is one byte beyond the end.
40468 The CU index. This is an @code{offset_type} value.
40472 The symbol table. This is an open-addressed hash table. The size of
40473 the hash table is always a power of 2.
40475 Each slot in the hash table consists of a pair of @code{offset_type}
40476 values. The first value is the offset of the symbol's name in the
40477 constant pool. The second value is the offset of the CU vector in the
40480 If both values are 0, then this slot in the hash table is empty. This
40481 is ok because while 0 is a valid constant pool index, it cannot be a
40482 valid index for both a string and a CU vector.
40484 The hash value for a table entry is computed by applying an
40485 iterative hash function to the symbol's name. Starting with an
40486 initial value of @code{r = 0}, each (unsigned) character @samp{c} in
40487 the string is incorporated into the hash using the formula depending on the
40492 The formula is @code{r = r * 67 + c - 113}.
40494 @item Versions 5 to 7
40495 The formula is @code{r = r * 67 + tolower (c) - 113}.
40498 The terminating @samp{\0} is not incorporated into the hash.
40500 The step size used in the hash table is computed via
40501 @code{((hash * 17) & (size - 1)) | 1}, where @samp{hash} is the hash
40502 value, and @samp{size} is the size of the hash table. The step size
40503 is used to find the next candidate slot when handling a hash
40506 The names of C@t{++} symbols in the hash table are canonicalized. We
40507 don't currently have a simple description of the canonicalization
40508 algorithm; if you intend to create new index sections, you must read
40512 The constant pool. This is simply a bunch of bytes. It is organized
40513 so that alignment is correct: CU vectors are stored first, followed by
40516 A CU vector in the constant pool is a sequence of @code{offset_type}
40517 values. The first value is the number of CU indices in the vector.
40518 Each subsequent value is the index and symbol attributes of a CU in
40519 the CU list. This element in the hash table is used to indicate which
40520 CUs define the symbol and how the symbol is used.
40521 See below for the format of each CU index+attributes entry.
40523 A string in the constant pool is zero-terminated.
40526 Attributes were added to CU index values in @code{.gdb_index} version 7.
40527 If a symbol has multiple uses within a CU then there is one
40528 CU index+attributes value for each use.
40530 The format of each CU index+attributes entry is as follows
40536 This is the index of the CU in the CU list.
40538 These bits are reserved for future purposes and must be zero.
40540 The kind of the symbol in the CU.
40544 This value is reserved and should not be used.
40545 By reserving zero the full @code{offset_type} value is backwards compatible
40546 with previous versions of the index.
40548 The symbol is a type.
40550 The symbol is a variable or an enum value.
40552 The symbol is a function.
40554 Any other kind of symbol.
40556 These values are reserved.
40560 This bit is zero if the value is global and one if it is static.
40562 The determination of whether a symbol is global or static is complicated.
40563 The authorative reference is the file @file{dwarf2read.c} in
40564 @value{GDBN} sources.
40568 This pseudo-code describes the computation of a symbol's kind and
40569 global/static attributes in the index.
40572 is_external = get_attribute (die, DW_AT_external);
40573 language = get_attribute (cu_die, DW_AT_language);
40576 case DW_TAG_typedef:
40577 case DW_TAG_base_type:
40578 case DW_TAG_subrange_type:
40582 case DW_TAG_enumerator:
40584 is_static = (language != CPLUS && language != JAVA);
40586 case DW_TAG_subprogram:
40588 is_static = ! (is_external || language == ADA);
40590 case DW_TAG_constant:
40592 is_static = ! is_external;
40594 case DW_TAG_variable:
40596 is_static = ! is_external;
40598 case DW_TAG_namespace:
40602 case DW_TAG_class_type:
40603 case DW_TAG_interface_type:
40604 case DW_TAG_structure_type:
40605 case DW_TAG_union_type:
40606 case DW_TAG_enumeration_type:
40608 is_static = (language != CPLUS && language != JAVA);
40617 @node GNU Free Documentation License
40618 @appendix GNU Free Documentation License
40621 @node Concept Index
40622 @unnumbered Concept Index
40626 @node Command and Variable Index
40627 @unnumbered Command, Variable, and Function Index
40632 % I think something like @@colophon should be in texinfo. In the
40634 \long\def\colophon{\hbox to0pt{}\vfill
40635 \centerline{The body of this manual is set in}
40636 \centerline{\fontname\tenrm,}
40637 \centerline{with headings in {\bf\fontname\tenbf}}
40638 \centerline{and examples in {\tt\fontname\tentt}.}
40639 \centerline{{\it\fontname\tenit\/},}
40640 \centerline{{\bf\fontname\tenbf}, and}
40641 \centerline{{\sl\fontname\tensl\/}}
40642 \centerline{are used for emphasis.}\vfill}
40644 % Blame: doc@@cygnus.com, 1991.