-This is GDB, a source-level debugger intended for GNU,
-presently running under un*x.
+ README for GDB release
-Before compiling GDB, you must set up links to four files according to
-the kind of machine you are running on. To do this, type `config.gdb
-machine', where machine is something like `vax' or `sun2'. This
-creates links named `param.h', `m-init.h', `opcode.h', and `pinsn.c'.
-(Note: we lack information on certain machines.)
+This is GDB, the GNU source-level debugger.
-Also, `Makefile' must be changed to say `OBSTACK = obstack.o' instead
-of `OBSTACK=-lobstack' (unless you want to install obstack.o as
-/lib/libobstack.a).
+A summary of new features is in the file `gdb/NEWS'.
-Once these files are set up, just `make' will do everything,
-producing an executable `gdb' in this directory.
+Check the GDB home page at http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/ for up to
+date release information, mailing list links and archives, etc.
-About the machine-dependent files...
+The file `gdb/PROBLEMS' contains information on problems identified
+late in the release cycle. GDB's bug tracking data base at
+http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/ contains a more complete list of
+bugs.
-m-<machine>.h
-This file contains macro definitions that express information
-about the machine's registers, stack frame format and instructions.
+Unpacking and Installation -- quick overview
+==========================
-m-<machine>init.h
+ The release is provided as a gzipped tar file called
+'gdb-VERSION.tar.gz', where VERSION is the version of GDB.
-This file defines one macro, which says how to round up from the
-address of the end of the text of one .o file to the beginning of
-the text of the next .o file.
+ The GDB debugger sources, the generic GNU include
+files, the BFD ("binary file description") library, the readline
+library, and other libraries all have directories of their own
+underneath the gdb-VERSION directory. The idea is that a variety of GNU
+tools can share a common copy of these things. Be aware of variation
+over time--for example don't try to build GDB with a copy of bfd from
+a release other than the GDB release (such as a binutils release),
+especially if the releases are more than a few weeks apart.
+Configuration scripts and makefiles exist to cruise up and down this
+directory tree and automatically build all the pieces in the right
+order.
-<machine>-opcode.h, <machine>-pinsn.c
-These files contain the information necessary to print instructions
-for your cpu type.
+ When you unpack the gdb-VERSION.tar.gz file, it will create a
+source directory called `gdb-VERSION'.
+
+You can build GDB right in the source directory:
+
+ cd gdb-VERSION
+ ./configure
+ make
+ cp gdb/gdb /usr/local/bin/gdb (or wherever you want)
+
+However, we recommend that an empty directory be used instead.
+This way you do not clutter your source tree with binary files
+and will be able to create different builds with different
+configuration options.
+
+You can build GDB in any empty build directory:
+
+ mkdir build
+ cd build
+ <full path to your sources>/gdb-VERSION/configure
+ make
+ cp gdb/gdb /usr/local/bin/gdb (or wherever you want)
+
+(Building GDB with DJGPP tools for MS-DOS/MS-Windows is slightly
+different; see the file gdb-VERSION/gdb/config/djgpp/README for details.)
+
+ This will configure and build all the libraries as well as GDB. If
+`configure' can't determine your system type, specify one as its
+argument, e.g., `./configure sun4' or `./configure decstation'.
+
+ Make sure that your 'configure' line ends in 'gdb-VERSION/configure':
+
+ /berman/migchain/source/gdb-VERSION/configure # RIGHT
+ /berman/migchain/source/gdb-VERSION/gdb/configure # WRONG
+
+ The GDB package contains several subdirectories, such as 'gdb',
+'bfd', and 'readline'. If your 'configure' line ends in
+'gdb-VERSION/gdb/configure', then you are configuring only the gdb
+subdirectory, not the whole GDB package. This leads to build errors
+such as:
+
+ make: *** No rule to make target `../bfd/bfd.h', needed by `gdb.o'. Stop.
+
+ If you get other compiler errors during this stage, see the `Reporting
+Bugs' section below; there are a few known problems.
+
+ GDB requires an ISO C (ANSI C) compiler. If you do not have an ISO
+C compiler for your system, you may be able to download and install
+the GNU CC compiler. It is available via anonymous FTP from the
+directory `ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/gcc'. GDB also requires an ISO
+C standard library. The GDB remote server, GDBserver, builds with some
+non-ISO standard libraries - e.g. for Windows CE.
+
+ GDB uses Expat, an XML parsing library, to implement some target-specific
+features. Expat will be linked in if it is available at build time, or
+those features will be disabled. The latest version of Expat should be
+available from `http://expat.sourceforge.net'.
+
+ GDB can be used as a cross-debugger, running on a machine of one
+type while debugging a program running on a machine of another type.
+See below.
+
+
+More Documentation
+******************
+
+ All the documentation for GDB comes as part of the machine-readable
+distribution. The documentation is written in Texinfo format, which
+is a documentation system that uses a single source file to produce
+both on-line information and a printed manual. You can use one of the
+Info formatting commands to create the on-line version of the
+documentation and TeX (or `texi2roff') to typeset the printed version.
+
+ GDB includes an already formatted copy of the on-line Info version
+of this manual in the `gdb/doc' subdirectory. The main Info file is
+`gdb-VERSION/gdb/doc/gdb.info', and it refers to subordinate files
+matching `gdb.info*' in the same directory. If necessary, you can
+print out these files, or read them with any editor; but they are
+easier to read using the `info' subsystem in GNU Emacs or the
+standalone `info' program, available as part of the GNU Texinfo
+distribution.
+
+ If you want to format these Info files yourself, you need one of the
+Info formatting programs, such as `texinfo-format-buffer' or
+`makeinfo'.
+
+ If you have `makeinfo' installed, and are in the top level GDB
+source directory (`gdb-VERSION'), you can make the Info file by
+typing:
+
+ cd gdb/doc
+ make info
+
+ If you want to typeset and print copies of this manual, you need
+TeX, a program to print its DVI output files, and `texinfo.tex', the
+Texinfo definitions file. This file is included in the GDB
+distribution, in the directory `gdb-VERSION/texinfo'.
+
+ TeX is a typesetting program; it does not print files directly, but
+produces output files called DVI files. To print a typeset document,
+you need a program to print DVI files. If your system has TeX
+installed, chances are it has such a program. The precise command to
+use depends on your system; `lpr -d' is common; another (for PostScript
+devices) is `dvips'. The DVI print command may require a file name
+without any extension or a `.dvi' extension.
+
+ TeX also requires a macro definitions file called `texinfo.tex'.
+This file tells TeX how to typeset a document written in Texinfo
+format. On its own, TeX cannot read, much less typeset a Texinfo file.
+ `texinfo.tex' is distributed with GDB and is located in the
+`gdb-VERSION/texinfo' directory.
+
+ If you have TeX and a DVI printer program installed, you can typeset
+and print this manual. First switch to the `gdb' subdirectory of
+the main source directory (for example, to `gdb-VERSION/gdb') and then type:
+
+ make doc/gdb.dvi
+
+ If you prefer to have the manual in PDF format, type this from the
+`gdb/doc' subdirectory of the main source directory:
+
+ make gdb.pdf
+
+For this to work, you will need the PDFTeX package to be installed.
+
+
+Installing GDB
+**************
+
+ GDB comes with a `configure' script that automates the process of
+preparing GDB for installation; you can then use `make' to build the
+`gdb' program.
+
+ The GDB distribution includes all the source code you need for GDB in
+a single directory. That directory contains:
+
+`gdb-VERSION/{COPYING,COPYING.LIB}'
+ Standard GNU license files. Please read them.
+
+`gdb-VERSION/bfd'
+ source for the Binary File Descriptor library
+
+`gdb-VERSION/config*'
+ script for configuring GDB, along with other support files
+
+`gdb-VERSION/gdb'
+ the source specific to GDB itself
+
+`gdb-VERSION/include'
+ GNU include files
+
+`gdb-VERSION/libiberty'
+ source for the `-liberty' free software library
+
+`gdb-VERSION/opcodes'
+ source for the library of opcode tables and disassemblers
+
+`gdb-VERSION/readline'
+ source for the GNU command-line interface
+ NOTE: The readline library is compiled for use by GDB, but will
+ not be installed on your system when "make install" is issued.
+
+`gdb-VERSION/sim'
+ source for some simulators (ARM, D10V, SPARC, M32R, MIPS, PPC, V850, etc)
+
+`gdb-VERSION/texinfo'
+ The `texinfo.tex' file, which you need in order to make a printed
+ manual using TeX.
+
+`gdb-VERSION/etc'
+ Coding standards, useful files for editing GDB, and other
+ miscellanea.
+
+ Note: the following instructions are for building GDB on Unix or
+Unix-like systems. Instructions for building with DJGPP for
+MS-DOS/MS-Windows are in the file gdb/config/djgpp/README.
+
+ The simplest way to configure and build GDB is to run `configure'
+from the `gdb-VERSION' directory.
+
+ First switch to the `gdb-VERSION' source directory if you are
+not already in it; then run `configure'.
+
+ For example:
+
+ cd gdb-VERSION
+ ./configure
+ make
+
+ Running `configure' followed by `make' builds the `bfd',
+`readline', `mmalloc', and `libiberty' libraries, then `gdb' itself.
+The configured source files, and the binaries, are left in the
+corresponding source directories.
+
+ `configure' is a Bourne-shell (`/bin/sh') script; if your system
+does not recognize this automatically when you run a different shell,
+you may need to run `sh' on it explicitly:
+
+ sh configure
+
+ If you run `configure' from a directory that contains source
+directories for multiple libraries or programs, `configure' creates
+configuration files for every directory level underneath (unless
+you tell it not to, with the `--norecursion' option).
+
+ You can install `gdb' anywhere; it has no hardwired paths. However,
+you should make sure that the shell on your path (named by the `SHELL'
+environment variable) is publicly readable. Remember that GDB uses the
+shell to start your program--some systems refuse to let GDB debug child
+processes whose programs are not readable.
+
+
+Compiling GDB in another directory
+==================================
+
+ If you want to run GDB versions for several host or target machines,
+you need a different `gdb' compiled for each combination of host and
+target. `configure' is designed to make this easy by allowing you to
+generate each configuration in a separate subdirectory, rather than in
+the source directory. If your `make' program handles the `VPATH'
+feature correctly (GNU `make' and SunOS 'make' are two that should),
+running `make' in each of these directories builds the `gdb' program
+specified there.
+
+ To build `gdb' in a separate directory, run `configure' with the
+`--srcdir' option to specify where to find the source. (You also need
+to specify a path to find `configure' itself from your working
+directory. If the path to `configure' would be the same as the
+argument to `--srcdir', you can leave out the `--srcdir' option; it
+will be assumed.)
+
+ For example, you can build GDB in a separate
+directory for a Sun 4 like this:
+
+ cd gdb-VERSION
+ mkdir ../gdb-sun4
+ cd ../gdb-sun4
+ ../gdb-VERSION/configure
+ make
+
+ When `configure' builds a configuration using a remote source
+directory, it creates a tree for the binaries with the same structure
+(and using the same names) as the tree under the source directory. In
+the example, you'd find the Sun 4 library `libiberty.a' in the
+directory `gdb-sun4/libiberty', and GDB itself in `gdb-sun4/gdb'.
+
+ One popular reason to build several GDB configurations in separate
+directories is to configure GDB for cross-compiling (where GDB runs on
+one machine--the host--while debugging programs that run on another
+machine--the target). You specify a cross-debugging target by giving
+the `--target=TARGET' option to `configure'.
+
+ When you run `make' to build a program or library, you must run it
+in a configured directory--whatever directory you were in when you
+called `configure' (or one of its subdirectories).
+
+ The `Makefile' that `configure' generates in each source directory
+also runs recursively. If you type `make' in a source directory such
+as `gdb-VERSION' (or in a separate configured directory configured with
+`--srcdir=PATH/gdb-VERSION'), you will build all the required libraries,
+and then build GDB.
+
+ When you have multiple hosts or targets configured in separate
+directories, you can run `make' on them in parallel (for example, if
+they are NFS-mounted on each of the hosts); they will not interfere
+with each other.
+
+
+Specifying names for hosts and targets
+======================================
+
+ The specifications used for hosts and targets in the `configure'
+script are based on a three-part naming scheme, but some short
+predefined aliases are also supported. The full naming scheme encodes
+three pieces of information in the following pattern:
+
+ ARCHITECTURE-VENDOR-OS
+
+ For example, you can use the alias `sun4' as a HOST argument or in a
+`--target=TARGET' option. The equivalent full name is
+`sparc-sun-sunos4'.
+
+ The `configure' script accompanying GDB does not provide any query
+facility to list all supported host and target names or aliases.
+`configure' calls the Bourne shell script `config.sub' to map
+abbreviations to full names; you can read the script, if you wish, or
+you can use it to test your guesses on abbreviations--for example:
+
+ % sh config.sub sun4
+ sparc-sun-sunos4.1.1
+ % sh config.sub sun3
+ m68k-sun-sunos4.1.1
+ % sh config.sub decstation
+ mips-dec-ultrix4.2
+ % sh config.sub hp300bsd
+ m68k-hp-bsd
+ % sh config.sub i386v
+ i386-pc-sysv
+ % sh config.sub i786v
+ Invalid configuration `i786v': machine `i786v' not recognized
+
+`config.sub' is also distributed in the GDB source directory.
+
+
+`configure' options
+===================
+
+ Here is a summary of the `configure' options and arguments that are
+most often useful for building GDB. `configure' also has several other
+options not listed here. *note : (configure.info)What Configure Does,
+for a full explanation of `configure'.
+
+ configure [--help]
+ [--prefix=DIR]
+ [--srcdir=PATH]
+ [--norecursion] [--rm]
+ [--enable-build-warnings]
+ [--target=TARGET]
+ [--host=HOST]
+ [HOST]
+
+You may introduce options with a single `-' rather than `--' if you
+prefer; but you may abbreviate option names if you use `--'.
+
+`--help'
+ Display a quick summary of how to invoke `configure'.
+
+`-prefix=DIR'
+ Configure the source to install programs and files under directory
+ `DIR'.
+
+`--srcdir=PATH'
+ *Warning: using this option requires GNU `make', or another `make'
+ that compatibly implements the `VPATH' feature.*
+ Use this option to make configurations in directories separate
+ from the GDB source directories. Among other things, you can use
+ this to build (or maintain) several configurations simultaneously,
+ in separate directories. `configure' writes configuration
+ specific files in the current directory, but arranges for them to
+ use the source in the directory PATH. `configure' will create
+ directories under the working directory in parallel to the source
+ directories below PATH.
+
+`--host=HOST'
+ Configure GDB to run on the specified HOST.
+
+ There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available
+ hosts.
+
+`HOST ...'
+ Same as `--host=HOST'. If you omit this, GDB will guess; it's
+ quite accurate.
+
+`--norecursion'
+ Configure only the directory level where `configure' is executed;
+ do not propagate configuration to subdirectories.
+
+`--rm'
+ Remove the configuration that the other arguments specify.
+
+`--enable-build-warnings'
+ When building the GDB sources, ask the compiler to warn about any
+ code which looks even vaguely suspicious. You should only using
+ this feature if you're compiling with GNU CC. It passes the
+ following flags:
+ -Wimplicit
+ -Wreturn-type
+ -Wcomment
+ -Wtrigraphs
+ -Wformat
+ -Wparentheses
+ -Wpointer-arith
+
+`--enable-werror'
+ Treat compiler warnings as werrors. Use this only with GCC. It
+ adds the -Werror flag to the compiler, which will fail the
+ compilation if the compiler outputs any warning messages.
+
+`--target=TARGET'
+ Configure GDB for cross-debugging programs running on the specified
+ TARGET. Without this option, GDB is configured to debug programs
+ that run on the same machine (HOST) as GDB itself.
+
+ There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available
+ targets.
+
+`--with-gdb-datadir=PATH'
+ Set the GDB-specific data directory. GDB will look here for
+ certain supporting files or scripts. This defaults to the `gdb'
+ subdirectory of `datadir' (which can be set using `--datadir').
+
+`--with-relocated-sources=DIR'
+ Sets up the default source path substitution rule so that
+ directory names recorded in debug information will be
+ automatically adjusted for any directory under DIR. DIR should
+ be a subdirectory of GDB's configured prefix, the one mentioned
+ in the `--prefix' or `--exec-prefix' options to configure. This
+ option is useful if GDB is supposed to be moved to a different
+ place after it is built.
+
+`--enable-64-bit-bfd'
+ Enable 64-bit support in BFD on 32-bit hosts.
+
+`--disable-gdbmi'
+ Build GDB without the GDB/MI machine interface.
+
+`--enable-tui'
+ Build GDB with the text-mode full-screen user interface (TUI).
+ Requires a curses library (ncurses and cursesX are also
+ supported).
+
+`--enable-gdbtk'
+ Build GDB with the gdbtk GUI interface. Requires TCL/Tk to be
+ installed.
+
+`--with-libunwind-ia64'
+ Use the libunwind library for unwinding function call stack on ia64
+ target platforms.
+ See http://www.nongnu.org/libunwind/index.html for details.
+
+`--with-curses'
+ Use the curses library instead of the termcap library, for
+ text-mode terminal operations.
+
+`--enable-profiling' Enable profiling of GDB itself. Necessary if you
+ want to use the "maint set profile" command for profiling GDB.
+ Requires the functions `monstartup' and `_mcleanup' to be present
+ in the standard C library used to build GDB, and also requires a
+ compiler that supports the `-pg' option.
+
+`--with-system-readline'
+ Use the readline library installed on the host, rather than the
+ library supplied as part of GDB tarball.
+
+`--with-expat'
+ Build GDB with the libexpat library. (Done by default if
+ libexpat is installed and found at configure time.) This library
+ is used to read XML files supplied with GDB. If it is
+ unavailable, some features, such as remote protocol memory maps,
+ target descriptions, and shared library lists, that are based on
+ XML files, will not be available in GDB. If your host does not
+ have libexpat installed, you can get the latest version from
+ http://expat.sourceforge.net.
+
+`--with-python[=PATH]'
+ Build GDB with Python scripting support. (Done by default if
+ libpython is present and found at configure time.) Python makes
+ GDB scripting much more powerful than the restricted CLI
+ scripting language. If your host does not have Python installed,
+ you can find it on http://www.python.org/download/. The oldest
+ version of Python supported by GDB is 2.4. The optional argument
+ PATH says where to find the Python headers and libraries; the
+ configure script will look in PATH/include for headers and in
+ PATH/lib for the libraries.
+
+`--without-included-regex'
+ Don't use the regex library included with GDB (as part of the
+ libiberty library). This is the default on hosts with version 2
+ of the GNU C library.
+
+`--with-sysroot=DIR'
+ Use DIR as the default system root directory for libraries whose
+ file names begin with `/lib' or `/usr/lib'. (The value of DIR
+ can be modified at run time by using the "set sysroot" command.)
+ If DIR is under the GDB configured prefix (set with `--prefix' or
+ `--exec-prefix' options), the default system root will be
+ automatically adjusted if and when GDB is moved to a different
+ location.
+
+`--with-system-gdbinit=FILE'
+ Configure GDB to automatically load a system-wide init file.
+ FILE should be an absolute file name. If FILE is in a directory
+ under the configured prefix, and GDB is moved to another location
+ after being built, the location of the system-wide init file will
+ be adjusted accordingly.
+
+`configure' accepts other options, for compatibility with configuring
+other GNU tools recursively; but these are the only options that affect
+GDB or its supporting libraries.
+
+
+Remote debugging
+=================
+
+ The files m68k-stub.c, i386-stub.c, and sparc-stub.c are examples
+of remote stubs to be used with remote.c. They are designed to run
+standalone on an m68k, i386, or SPARC cpu and communicate properly
+with the remote.c stub over a serial line.
+
+ The directory gdb/gdbserver/ contains `gdbserver', a program that
+allows remote debugging for Unix applications. GDBserver is only
+supported for some native configurations, including Sun 3, Sun 4, and
+Linux.
+The file gdb/gdbserver/README includes further notes on GDBserver; in
+particular, it explains how to build GDBserver for cross-debugging
+(where GDBserver runs on the target machine, which is of a different
+architecture than the host machine running GDB).
+
+ There are a number of remote interfaces for talking to existing ROM
+monitors and other hardware:
+
+ remote-mips.c MIPS remote debugging protocol
+ remote-sds.c PowerPC SDS monitor
+ remote-sim.c Generalized simulator protocol
+
+
+Reporting Bugs in GDB
+=====================
+
+ There are several ways of reporting bugs in GDB. The prefered
+method is to use the World Wide Web:
+
+ http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/
+
+As an alternative, the bug report can be submitted, via e-mail, to the
+
+ When submitting a bug, please include the GDB version number, and
+how you configured it (e.g., "sun4" or "mach386 host,
+i586-intel-synopsys target"). Since GDB now supports so many
+different configurations, it is important that you be precise about
+this. If at all possible, you should include the actual banner
+that GDB prints when it starts up, or failing that, the actual
+configure command that you used when configuring GDB.
+
+ For more information on how/whether to report bugs, see the
+Reporting Bugs chapter of the GDB manual (gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo).
+
+
+Graphical interface to GDB -- X Windows, MS Windows
+==========================
+
+ Several graphical interfaces to GDB are available. You should
+check:
+
+ http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/links/
+
+for an up-to-date list.
+
+ Emacs users will very likely enjoy the Grand Unified Debugger mode;
+try typing `M-x gdb RET'.
+
+
+Writing Code for GDB
+=====================
+
+ There is information about writing code for GDB in the file
+`CONTRIBUTE' and at the website:
+
+ http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/
+
+in particular in the wiki.
+
+ If you are pondering writing anything but a short patch, especially
+take note of the information about copyrights and copyright assignment.
+It can take quite a while to get all the paperwork done, so
+we encourage you to start that process as soon as you decide you are
+planning to work on something, or at least well ahead of when you
+think you will be ready to submit the patches.
+
+
+GDB Testsuite
+=============
+
+ Included with the GDB distribution is a DejaGNU based testsuite
+that can either be used to test your newly built GDB, or for
+regression testing a GDB with local modifications.
+
+ Running the testsuite requires the prior installation of DejaGNU,
+which is generally available via ftp. The directory
+ftp://sources.redhat.com/pub/dejagnu/ will contain a recent snapshot.
+Once DejaGNU is installed, you can run the tests in one of the
+following ways:
+
+ (1) cd gdb-VERSION
+ make check-gdb
+
+or
+
+ (2) cd gdb-VERSION/gdb
+ make check
+
+or
+
+ (3) cd gdb-VERSION/gdb/testsuite
+ make site.exp (builds the site specific file)
+ runtest -tool gdb GDB=../gdb (or GDB=<somepath> as appropriate)
+
+When using a `make'-based method, you can use the Makefile variable
+`RUNTESTFLAGS' to pass flags to `runtest', e.g.:
+
+ make RUNTESTFLAGS=--directory=gdb.cp check
+
+If you use GNU make, you can use its `-j' option to run the testsuite
+in parallel. This can greatly reduce the amount of time it takes for
+the testsuite to run. In this case, if you set `RUNTESTFLAGS' then,
+by default, the tests will be run serially even under `-j'. You can
+override this and force a parallel run by setting the `make' variable
+`FORCE_PARALLEL' to any non-empty value. Note that the parallel `make
+check' assumes that you want to run the entire testsuite, so it is not
+compatible with some dejagnu options, like `--directory'.
+
+The last method gives you slightly more control in case of problems
+with building one or more test executables or if you are using the
+testsuite `standalone', without it being part of the GDB source tree.
+
+See the DejaGNU documentation for further details.
+
+
+Copyright and License Notices
+=============================
+
+Most files maintained by the GDB Project contain a copyright notice
+as well as a license notice, usually at the start of the file.
+
+To reduce the length of copyright notices, consecutive years in the
+copyright notice can be combined into a single range. For instance,
+the following list of copyright years...
+
+ 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991-1993, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
+
+... is abbreviated into:
+
+ 1986, 1988-1989, 1991-1993, 1999-2000, 2007-2011
+
+Every year of each range, inclusive, is a copyrightable year that
+could be listed individually.
+
+\f
+(this is for editing this file with GNU emacs)
+Local Variables:
+mode: text
+End:
projects / binutils.git / blobdiff