X-Git-Url: https://repo.jachan.dev/binutils.git/blobdiff_plain/4901e77de7b285c720a39c4153123d1c2b07aa17..68fc375edd9bafa5e40bda9b9a8ca6d5a7612c73:/gdb/NEWS diff --git a/gdb/NEWS b/gdb/NEWS index f6449154a4..c6c3841c20 100644 --- a/gdb/NEWS +++ b/gdb/NEWS @@ -1,5 +1,343 @@ - What has changed since GDB-3.5? - (Organized release by release) + What has changed in GDB? + (Organized release by release) + +*** Changes since GDB-4.16: + +* New native configurations + +Alpha Linux alpha-*-linux* + +*** Changes in GDB-4.16: + +* New native configurations + +Windows 95, x86 Windows NT i[345]86-*-cygwin32 +M68K NetBSD m68k-*-netbsd* +PowerPC AIX 4.x powerpc-*-aix* +PowerPC MacOS powerpc-*-macos* +PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32 +RS/6000 AIX 4.x rs6000-*-aix4* + +* New targets + +ARM with RDP protocol arm-*-* +I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff +MIPS VxWorks mips*-*-vxworks* +MIPS VR4300 with PMON mips64*vr4300{,el}-*-elf* +PowerPC with PPCBUG monitor powerpc{,le}-*-eabi* +Hitachi SH3 sh-*-* +Matra Sparclet sparclet-*-* + +* PowerPC simulator + +The powerpc-eabi configuration now includes the PSIM simulator, +contributed by Andrew Cagney, with assistance from Mike Meissner. +PSIM is a very elaborate model of the PowerPC, including not only +basic instruction set execution, but also details of execution unit +performance and I/O hardware. See sim/ppc/README for more details. + +* Solaris 2.5 + +GDB now works with Solaris 2.5. + +* Windows 95/NT native + +GDB will now work as a native debugger on Windows 95 and Windows NT. +To build it from source, you must use the "gnu-win32" environment, +which uses a DLL to emulate enough of Unix to run the GNU tools. +Further information, binaries, and sources are available at +ftp.cygnus.com, under pub/gnu-win32. + +* dont-repeat command + +If a user-defined command includes the command `dont-repeat', then the +command will not be repeated if the user just types return. This is +useful if the command is time-consuming to run, so that accidental +extra keystrokes don't run the same command many times. + +* Send break instead of ^C + +The standard remote protocol now includes an option to send a break +rather than a ^C to the target in order to interrupt it. By default, +GDB will send ^C; to send a break, set the variable `remotebreak' to 1. + +* Remote protocol timeout + +The standard remote protocol includes a new variable `remotetimeout' +that allows you to set the number of seconds before GDB gives up trying +to read from the target. The default value is 2. + +* Automatic tracking of dynamic object loading (HPUX and Solaris only) + +By default GDB will automatically keep track of objects as they are +loaded and unloaded by the dynamic linker. By using the command `set +stop-on-solib-events 1' you can arrange for GDB to stop the inferior +when shared library events occur, thus allowing you to set breakpoints +in shared libraries which are explicitly loaded by the inferior. + +Note this feature does not work on hpux8. On hpux9 you must link +/usr/lib/end.o into your program. This feature should work +automatically on hpux10. + +* Irix 5.x hardware watchpoint support + +Irix 5 configurations now support the use of hardware watchpoints. + +* Mips protocol "SYN garbage limit" + +When debugging a Mips target using the `target mips' protocol, you +may set the number of characters that GDB will ignore by setting +the `syn-garbage-limit'. A value of -1 means that GDB will ignore +every character. The default value is 1050. + +* Recording and replaying remote debug sessions + +If you set `remotelogfile' to the name of a file, gdb will write to it +a recording of a remote debug session. This recording may then be +replayed back to gdb using "gdbreplay". See gdbserver/README for +details. This is useful when you have a problem with GDB while doing +remote debugging; you can make a recording of the session and send it +to someone else, who can then recreate the problem. + +* Speedups for remote debugging + +GDB includes speedups for downloading and stepping MIPS systems using +the IDT monitor, fast downloads to the Hitachi SH E7000 emulator, +and more efficient S-record downloading. + +* Memory use reductions and statistics collection + +GDB now uses less memory and reports statistics about memory usage. +Try the `maint print statistics' command, for example. + +*** Changes in GDB-4.15: + +* Psymtabs for XCOFF + +The symbol reader for AIX GDB now uses partial symbol tables. This +can greatly improve startup time, especially for large executables. + +* Remote targets use caching + +Remote targets now use a data cache to speed up communication with the +remote side. The data cache could lead to incorrect results because +it doesn't know about volatile variables, thus making it impossible to +debug targets which use memory mapped I/O devices. `set remotecache +off' turns the the data cache off. + +* Remote targets may have threads + +The standard remote protocol now includes support for multiple threads +in the target system, using new protocol commands 'H' and 'T'. See +gdb/remote.c for details. + +* NetROM support + +If GDB is configured with `--enable-netrom', then it will include +support for the NetROM ROM emulator from XLNT Designs. The NetROM +acts as though it is a bank of ROM on the target board, but you can +write into it over the network. GDB's support consists only of +support for fast loading into the emulated ROM; to debug, you must use +another protocol, such as standard remote protocol. The usual +sequence is something like + + target nrom + load + target remote :1235 + +* Macintosh host + +GDB now includes support for the Apple Macintosh, as a host only. It +may be run as either an MPW tool or as a standalone application, and +it can debug through the serial port. All the usual GDB commands are +available, but to the target command, you must supply "serial" as the +device type instead of "/dev/ttyXX". See mpw-README in the main +directory for more information on how to build. The MPW configuration +scripts */mpw-config.in support only a few targets, and only the +mips-idt-ecoff target has been tested. + +* Autoconf + +GDB configuration now uses autoconf. This is not user-visible, +but does simplify configuration and building. + +* hpux10 + +GDB now supports hpux10. + +*** Changes in GDB-4.14: + +* New native configurations + +x86 FreeBSD i[345]86-*-freebsd +x86 NetBSD i[345]86-*-netbsd +NS32k NetBSD ns32k-*-netbsd +Sparc NetBSD sparc-*-netbsd + +* New targets + +A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks +HP PA PRO embedded (WinBond W89K & Oki OP50N) hppa*-*-pro* +CPU32 EST-300 emulator m68*-*-est* +PowerPC ELF powerpc-*-elf +WDC 65816 w65-*-* + +* Alpha OSF/1 support for procfs + +GDB now supports procfs under OSF/1-2.x and higher, which makes it +possible to attach to running processes. As the mounting of the /proc +filesystem is optional on the Alpha, GDB automatically determines +the availability of /proc during startup. This can lead to problems +if /proc is unmounted after GDB has been started. + +* Arguments to user-defined commands + +User commands may accept up to 10 arguments separated by whitespace. +Arguments are accessed within the user command via $arg0..$arg9. A +trivial example: +define adder + print $arg0 + $arg1 + $arg2 + +To execute the command use: +adder 1 2 3 + +Defines the command "adder" which prints the sum of its three arguments. +Note the arguments are text substitutions, so they may reference variables, +use complex expressions, or even perform inferior function calls. + +* New `if' and `while' commands + +This makes it possible to write more sophisticated user-defined +commands. Both commands take a single argument, which is the +expression to evaluate, and must be followed by the commands to +execute, one per line, if the expression is nonzero, the list being +terminated by the word `end'. The `if' command list may include an +`else' word, which causes the following commands to be executed only +if the expression is zero. + +* Fortran source language mode + +GDB now includes partial support for Fortran 77. It will recognize +Fortran programs and can evaluate a subset of Fortran expressions, but +variables and functions may not be handled correctly. GDB will work +with G77, but does not yet know much about symbols emitted by other +Fortran compilers. + +* Better HPUX support + +Most debugging facilities now work on dynamic executables for HPPAs +running hpux9 or later. You can attach to running dynamically linked +processes, but by default the dynamic libraries will be read-only, so +for instance you won't be able to put breakpoints in them. To change +that behavior do the following before running the program: + + adb -w a.out + __dld_flags?W 0x5 + control-d + +This will cause the libraries to be mapped private and read-write. +To revert to the normal behavior, do this: + + adb -w a.out + __dld_flags?W 0x4 + control-d + +You cannot set breakpoints or examine data in the library until after +the library is loaded if the function/data symbols do not have +external linkage. + +GDB can now also read debug symbols produced by the HP C compiler on +HPPAs (sorry, no C++, Fortran or 68k support). + +* Target byte order now dynamically selectable + +You can choose which byte order to use with a target system, via the +commands "set endian big" and "set endian little", and you can see the +current setting by using "show endian". You can also give the command +"set endian auto", in which case GDB will use the byte order +associated with the executable. Currently, only embedded MIPS +configurations support dynamic selection of target byte order. + +* New DOS host serial code + +This version uses DPMI interrupts to handle buffered I/O, so you +no longer need to run asynctsr when debugging boards connected to +a PC's serial port. + +*** Changes in GDB-4.13: + +* New "complete" command + +This lists all the possible completions for the rest of the line, if it +were to be given as a command itself. This is intended for use by emacs. + +* Trailing space optional in prompt + +"set prompt" no longer adds a space for you after the prompt you set. This +allows you to set a prompt which ends in a space or one that does not. + +* Breakpoint hit counts + +"info break" now displays a count of the number of times the breakpoint +has been hit. This is especially useful in conjunction with "ignore"; you +can ignore a large number of breakpoint hits, look at the breakpoint info +to see how many times the breakpoint was hit, then run again, ignoring one +less than that number, and this will get you quickly to the last hit of +that breakpoint. + +* Ability to stop printing at NULL character + +"set print null-stop" will cause GDB to stop printing the characters of +an array when the first NULL is encountered. This is useful when large +arrays actually contain only short strings. + +* Shared library breakpoints + +In SunOS 4.x, SVR4, and Alpha OSF/1 configurations, you can now set +breakpoints in shared libraries before the executable is run. + +* Hardware watchpoints + +There is a new hardware breakpoint for the watch command for sparclite +targets. See gdb/sparclite/hw_breakpoint.note. + +Hardware watchpoints are also now supported under Linux. + +* Annotations + +Annotations have been added. These are for use with graphical interfaces, +and are still experimental. Currently only gdba.el uses these. + +* Improved Irix 5 support + +GDB now works properly with Irix 5.2. + +* Improved HPPA support + +GDB now works properly with the latest GCC and GAS. + +* New native configurations + +Sequent PTX4 i[34]86-sequent-ptx4 +HPPA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf* +Atari TT running SVR4 m68*-*-sysv4* +RS/6000 LynxOS rs6000-*-lynxos* + +* New targets + +OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k +MIPS R4000 mips64*{,el}-*-{ecoff,elf} +Sparc64 sparc64-*-* + +* Hitachi SH7000 and E7000-PC ICE support + +There is now support for communicating with the Hitachi E7000-PC ICE. +This is available automatically when GDB is configured for the SH. + +* Fixes + +As usual, a variety of small fixes and improvements, both generic +and configuration-specific. See the ChangeLog for more detail. *** Changes in GDB-4.12: