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This is gdb.info, produced by makeinfo version 5.2 from gdb.texinfo.
Copyright (C) 1988-2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
Invariant Sections being "Free Software" and "Free Software Needs Free
Documentation", with the Front-Cover Texts being "A GNU Manual," and
with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below.
(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: "You are free to copy and modify
this GNU Manual. Buying copies from GNU Press supports the FSF in
developing GNU and promoting software freedom."
INFO-DIR-SECTION Software development
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* Gdb: (gdb). The GNU debugger.
* gdbserver: (gdb) Server. The GNU debugging server.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
This file documents the GNU debugger GDB.
This is the Tenth Edition, of 'Debugging with GDB: the GNU
Source-Level Debugger' for GDB (GDB) Version 7.8.2.
Copyright (C) 1988-2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
Invariant Sections being "Free Software" and "Free Software Needs Free
Documentation", with the Front-Cover Texts being "A GNU Manual," and
with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below.
(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: "You are free to copy and modify
this GNU Manual. Buying copies from GNU Press supports the FSF in
developing GNU and promoting software freedom."

File: gdb.info, Node: Separate Debug Files, Next: MiniDebugInfo, Prev: Files, Up: GDB Files
18.2 Debugging Information in Separate Files
============================================
GDB allows you to put a program's debugging information in a file
separate from the executable itself, in a way that allows GDB to find
and load the debugging information automatically. Since debugging
information can be very large--sometimes larger than the executable code
itself--some systems distribute debugging information for their
executables in separate files, which users can install only when they
need to debug a problem.
GDB supports two ways of specifying the separate debug info file:
* The executable contains a "debug link" that specifies the name of
the separate debug info file. The separate debug file's name is
usually 'EXECUTABLE.debug', where EXECUTABLE is the name of the
corresponding executable file without leading directories (e.g.,
'ls.debug' for '/usr/bin/ls'). In addition, the debug link
specifies a 32-bit "Cyclic Redundancy Check" (CRC) checksum for the
debug file, which GDB uses to validate that the executable and the
debug file came from the same build.
* The executable contains a "build ID", a unique bit string that is
also present in the corresponding debug info file. (This is
supported only on some operating systems, notably those which use
the ELF format for binary files and the GNU Binutils.) For more
details about this feature, see the description of the '--build-id'
command-line option in *note Command Line Options:
(ld.info)Options. The debug info file's name is not specified
explicitly by the build ID, but can be computed from the build ID,
see below.
Depending on the way the debug info file is specified, GDB uses two
different methods of looking for the debug file:
* For the "debug link" method, GDB looks up the named file in the
directory of the executable file, then in a subdirectory of that
directory named '.debug', and finally under each one of the global
debug directories, in a subdirectory whose name is identical to the
leading directories of the executable's absolute file name.
* For the "build ID" method, GDB looks in the '.build-id'
subdirectory of each one of the global debug directories for a file
named 'NN/NNNNNNNN.debug', where NN are the first 2 hex characters
of the build ID bit string, and NNNNNNNN are the rest of the bit
string. (Real build ID strings are 32 or more hex characters, not
10.)
So, for example, suppose you ask GDB to debug '/usr/bin/ls', which
has a debug link that specifies the file 'ls.debug', and a build ID
whose value in hex is 'abcdef1234'. If the list of the global debug
directories includes '/usr/lib/debug', then GDB will look for the
following debug information files, in the indicated order:
- '/usr/lib/debug/.build-id/ab/cdef1234.debug'
- '/usr/bin/ls.debug'
- '/usr/bin/.debug/ls.debug'
- '/usr/lib/debug/usr/bin/ls.debug'.
Global debugging info directories default to what is set by GDB
configure option '--with-separate-debug-dir'. During GDB run you can
also set the global debugging info directories, and view the list GDB is
currently using.
'set debug-file-directory DIRECTORIES'
Set the directories which GDB searches for separate debugging
information files to DIRECTORY. Multiple path components can be
set concatenating them by a path separator.
'show debug-file-directory'
Show the directories GDB searches for separate debugging
information files.
A debug link is a special section of the executable file named
'.gnu_debuglink'. The section must contain:
* A filename, with any leading directory components removed, followed
by a zero byte,
* zero to three bytes of padding, as needed to reach the next
four-byte boundary within the section, and
* a four-byte CRC checksum, stored in the same endianness used for
the executable file itself. The checksum is computed on the
debugging information file's full contents by the function given
below, passing zero as the CRC argument.
Any executable file format can carry a debug link, as long as it can
contain a section named '.gnu_debuglink' with the contents described
above.
The build ID is a special section in the executable file (and in
other ELF binary files that GDB may consider). This section is often
named '.note.gnu.build-id', but that name is not mandatory. It contains
unique identification for the built files--the ID remains the same
across multiple builds of the same build tree. The default algorithm
SHA1 produces 160 bits (40 hexadecimal characters) of the content for
the build ID string. The same section with an identical value is
present in the original built binary with symbols, in its stripped
variant, and in the separate debugging information file.
The debugging information file itself should be an ordinary
executable, containing a full set of linker symbols, sections, and
debugging information. The sections of the debugging information file
should have the same names, addresses, and sizes as the original file,
but they need not contain any data--much like a '.bss' section in an
ordinary executable.
The GNU binary utilities (Binutils) package includes the 'objcopy'
utility that can produce the separated executable / debugging
information file pairs using the following commands:
objcopy --only-keep-debug foo foo.debug
strip -g foo
These commands remove the debugging information from the executable file
'foo' and place it in the file 'foo.debug'. You can use the first,
second or both methods to link the two files:
* The debug link method needs the following additional command to
also leave behind a debug link in 'foo':
objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.debug foo
Ulrich Drepper's 'elfutils' package, starting with version 0.53,
contains a version of the 'strip' command such that the command
'strip foo -f foo.debug' has the same functionality as the two
'objcopy' commands and the 'ln -s' command above, together.
* Build ID gets embedded into the main executable using 'ld
--build-id' or the GCC counterpart 'gcc -Wl,--build-id'. Build ID
support plus compatibility fixes for debug files separation are
present in GNU binary utilities (Binutils) package since version
2.18.
The CRC used in '.gnu_debuglink' is the CRC-32 defined in IEEE 802.3
using the polynomial:
x^{32} + x^{26} + x^{23} + x^{22} + x^{16} + x^{12} + x^{11}
+ x^{10} + x^8 + x^7 + x^5 + x^4 + x^2 + x + 1
The function is computed byte at a time, taking the least significant
bit of each byte first. The initial pattern '0xffffffff' is used, to
ensure leading zeros affect the CRC and the final result is inverted to
ensure trailing zeros also affect the CRC.
_Note:_ This is the same CRC polynomial as used in handling the
"Remote Serial Protocol" 'qCRC' packet (*note qCRC packet::). However
in the case of the Remote Serial Protocol, the CRC is computed _most_
significant bit first, and the result is not inverted, so trailing zeros
have no effect on the CRC value.
To complete the description, we show below the code of the function
which produces the CRC used in '.gnu_debuglink'. Inverting the
initially supplied 'crc' argument means that an initial call to this
function passing in zero will start computing the CRC using
'0xffffffff'.
unsigned long
gnu_debuglink_crc32 (unsigned long crc,
unsigned char *buf, size_t len)
{
static const unsigned long crc32_table[256] =
{
0x00000000, 0x77073096, 0xee0e612c, 0x990951ba, 0x076dc419,
0x706af48f, 0xe963a535, 0x9e6495a3, 0x0edb8832, 0x79dcb8a4,
0xe0d5e91e, 0x97d2d988, 0x09b64c2b, 0x7eb17cbd, 0xe7b82d07,
0x90bf1d91, 0x1db71064, 0x6ab020f2, 0xf3b97148, 0x84be41de,
0x1adad47d, 0x6ddde4eb, 0xf4d4b551, 0x83d385c7, 0x136c9856,
0x646ba8c0, 0xfd62f97a, 0x8a65c9ec, 0x14015c4f, 0x63066cd9,
0xfa0f3d63, 0x8d080df5, 0x3b6e20c8, 0x4c69105e, 0xd56041e4,
0xa2677172, 0x3c03e4d1, 0x4b04d447, 0xd20d85fd, 0xa50ab56b,
0x35b5a8fa, 0x42b2986c, 0xdbbbc9d6, 0xacbcf940, 0x32d86ce3,
0x45df5c75, 0xdcd60dcf, 0xabd13d59, 0x26d930ac, 0x51de003a,
0xc8d75180, 0xbfd06116, 0x21b4f4b5, 0x56b3c423, 0xcfba9599,
0xb8bda50f, 0x2802b89e, 0x5f058808, 0xc60cd9b2, 0xb10be924,
0x2f6f7c87, 0x58684c11, 0xc1611dab, 0xb6662d3d, 0x76dc4190,
0x01db7106, 0x98d220bc, 0xefd5102a, 0x71b18589, 0x06b6b51f,
0x9fbfe4a5, 0xe8b8d433, 0x7807c9a2, 0x0f00f934, 0x9609a88e,
0xe10e9818, 0x7f6a0dbb, 0x086d3d2d, 0x91646c97, 0xe6635c01,
0x6b6b51f4, 0x1c6c6162, 0x856530d8, 0xf262004e, 0x6c0695ed,
0x1b01a57b, 0x8208f4c1, 0xf50fc457, 0x65b0d9c6, 0x12b7e950,
0x8bbeb8ea, 0xfcb9887c, 0x62dd1ddf, 0x15da2d49, 0x8cd37cf3,
0xfbd44c65, 0x4db26158, 0x3ab551ce, 0xa3bc0074, 0xd4bb30e2,
0x4adfa541, 0x3dd895d7, 0xa4d1c46d, 0xd3d6f4fb, 0x4369e96a,
0x346ed9fc, 0xad678846, 0xda60b8d0, 0x44042d73, 0x33031de5,
0xaa0a4c5f, 0xdd0d7cc9, 0x5005713c, 0x270241aa, 0xbe0b1010,
0xc90c2086, 0x5768b525, 0x206f85b3, 0xb966d409, 0xce61e49f,
0x5edef90e, 0x29d9c998, 0xb0d09822, 0xc7d7a8b4, 0x59b33d17,
0x2eb40d81, 0xb7bd5c3b, 0xc0ba6cad, 0xedb88320, 0x9abfb3b6,
0x03b6e20c, 0x74b1d29a, 0xead54739, 0x9dd277af, 0x04db2615,
0x73dc1683, 0xe3630b12, 0x94643b84, 0x0d6d6a3e, 0x7a6a5aa8,
0xe40ecf0b, 0x9309ff9d, 0x0a00ae27, 0x7d079eb1, 0xf00f9344,
0x8708a3d2, 0x1e01f268, 0x6906c2fe, 0xf762575d, 0x806567cb,
0x196c3671, 0x6e6b06e7, 0xfed41b76, 0x89d32be0, 0x10da7a5a,
0x67dd4acc, 0xf9b9df6f, 0x8ebeeff9, 0x17b7be43, 0x60b08ed5,
0xd6d6a3e8, 0xa1d1937e, 0x38d8c2c4, 0x4fdff252, 0xd1bb67f1,
0xa6bc5767, 0x3fb506dd, 0x48b2364b, 0xd80d2bda, 0xaf0a1b4c,
0x36034af6, 0x41047a60, 0xdf60efc3, 0xa867df55, 0x316e8eef,
0x4669be79, 0xcb61b38c, 0xbc66831a, 0x256fd2a0, 0x5268e236,
0xcc0c7795, 0xbb0b4703, 0x220216b9, 0x5505262f, 0xc5ba3bbe,
0xb2bd0b28, 0x2bb45a92, 0x5cb36a04, 0xc2d7ffa7, 0xb5d0cf31,
0x2cd99e8b, 0x5bdeae1d, 0x9b64c2b0, 0xec63f226, 0x756aa39c,
0x026d930a, 0x9c0906a9, 0xeb0e363f, 0x72076785, 0x05005713,
0x95bf4a82, 0xe2b87a14, 0x7bb12bae, 0x0cb61b38, 0x92d28e9b,
0xe5d5be0d, 0x7cdcefb7, 0x0bdbdf21, 0x86d3d2d4, 0xf1d4e242,
0x68ddb3f8, 0x1fda836e, 0x81be16cd, 0xf6b9265b, 0x6fb077e1,
0x18b74777, 0x88085ae6, 0xff0f6a70, 0x66063bca, 0x11010b5c,
0x8f659eff, 0xf862ae69, 0x616bffd3, 0x166ccf45, 0xa00ae278,
0xd70dd2ee, 0x4e048354, 0x3903b3c2, 0xa7672661, 0xd06016f7,
0x4969474d, 0x3e6e77db, 0xaed16a4a, 0xd9d65adc, 0x40df0b66,
0x37d83bf0, 0xa9bcae53, 0xdebb9ec5, 0x47b2cf7f, 0x30b5ffe9,
0xbdbdf21c, 0xcabac28a, 0x53b39330, 0x24b4a3a6, 0xbad03605,
0xcdd70693, 0x54de5729, 0x23d967bf, 0xb3667a2e, 0xc4614ab8,
0x5d681b02, 0x2a6f2b94, 0xb40bbe37, 0xc30c8ea1, 0x5a05df1b,
0x2d02ef8d
};
unsigned char *end;
crc = ~crc & 0xffffffff;
for (end = buf + len; buf < end; ++buf)
crc = crc32_table[(crc ^ *buf) & 0xff] ^ (crc >> 8);
return ~crc & 0xffffffff;
}
This computation does not apply to the "build ID" method.

File: gdb.info, Node: MiniDebugInfo, Next: Index Files, Prev: Separate Debug Files, Up: GDB Files
18.3 Debugging information in a special section
===============================================
Some systems ship pre-built executables and libraries that have a
special '.gnu_debugdata' section. This feature is called
"MiniDebugInfo". This section holds an LZMA-compressed object and is
used to supply extra symbols for backtraces.
The intent of this section is to provide extra minimal debugging
information for use in simple backtraces. It is not intended to be a
replacement for full separate debugging information (*note Separate
Debug Files::). The example below shows the intended use; however, GDB
does not currently put restrictions on what sort of debugging
information might be included in the section.
GDB has support for this extension. If the section exists, then it
is used provided that no other source of debugging information can be
found, and that GDB was configured with LZMA support.
This section can be easily created using 'objcopy' and other standard
utilities:
# Extract the dynamic symbols from the main binary, there is no need
# to also have these in the normal symbol table.
nm -D BINARY --format=posix --defined-only \
| awk '{ print $1 }' | sort > dynsyms
# Extract all the text (i.e. function) symbols from the debuginfo.
# (Note that we actually also accept "D" symbols, for the benefit
# of platforms like PowerPC64 that use function descriptors.)
nm BINARY --format=posix --defined-only \
| awk '{ if ($2 == "T" || $2 == "t" || $2 == "D") print $1 }' \
| sort > funcsyms
# Keep all the function symbols not already in the dynamic symbol
# table.
comm -13 dynsyms funcsyms > keep_symbols
# Separate full debug info into debug binary.
objcopy --only-keep-debug BINARY debug
# Copy the full debuginfo, keeping only a minimal set of symbols and
# removing some unnecessary sections.
objcopy -S --remove-section .gdb_index --remove-section .comment \
--keep-symbols=keep_symbols debug mini_debuginfo
# Drop the full debug info from the original binary.
strip --strip-all -R .comment BINARY
# Inject the compressed data into the .gnu_debugdata section of the
# original binary.
xz mini_debuginfo
objcopy --add-section .gnu_debugdata=mini_debuginfo.xz BINARY

File: gdb.info, Node: Index Files, Next: Symbol Errors, Prev: MiniDebugInfo, Up: GDB Files
18.4 Index Files Speed Up GDB
=============================
When GDB finds a symbol file, it scans the symbols in the file in order
to construct an internal symbol table. This lets most GDB operations
work quickly--at the cost of a delay early on. For large programs, this
delay can be quite lengthy, so GDB provides a way to build an index,
which speeds up startup.
The index is stored as a section in the symbol file. GDB can write
the index to a file, then you can put it into the symbol file using
'objcopy'.
To create an index file, use the 'save gdb-index' command:
'save gdb-index DIRECTORY'
Create an index file for each symbol file currently known by GDB.
Each file is named after its corresponding symbol file, with
'.gdb-index' appended, and is written into the given DIRECTORY.
Once you have created an index file you can merge it into your symbol
file, here named 'symfile', using 'objcopy':
$ objcopy --add-section .gdb_index=symfile.gdb-index \
--set-section-flags .gdb_index=readonly symfile symfile
GDB will normally ignore older versions of '.gdb_index' sections that
have been deprecated. Usually they are deprecated because they are
missing a new feature or have performance issues. To tell GDB to use a
deprecated index section anyway specify 'set
use-deprecated-index-sections on'. The default is 'off'. This can
speed up startup, but may result in some functionality being lost.
*Note Index Section Format::.
_Warning:_ Setting 'use-deprecated-index-sections' to 'on' must be
done before gdb reads the file. The following will not work:
$ gdb -ex "set use-deprecated-index-sections on" <program>
Instead you must do, for example,
$ gdb -iex "set use-deprecated-index-sections on" <program>
There are currently some limitation on indices. They only work when
for DWARF debugging information, not stabs. And, they do not currently
work for programs using Ada.

File: gdb.info, Node: Symbol Errors, Next: Data Files, Prev: Index Files, Up: GDB Files
18.5 Errors Reading Symbol Files
================================
While reading a symbol file, GDB occasionally encounters problems, such
as symbol types it does not recognize, or known bugs in compiler output.
By default, GDB does not notify you of such problems, since they are
relatively common and primarily of interest to people debugging
compilers. If you are interested in seeing information about
ill-constructed symbol tables, you can either ask GDB to print only one
message about each such type of problem, no matter how many times the
problem occurs; or you can ask GDB to print more messages, to see how
many times the problems occur, with the 'set complaints' command (*note
Optional Warnings and Messages: Messages/Warnings.).
The messages currently printed, and their meanings, include:
'inner block not inside outer block in SYMBOL'
The symbol information shows where symbol scopes begin and end
(such as at the start of a function or a block of statements).
This error indicates that an inner scope block is not fully
contained in its outer scope blocks.
GDB circumvents the problem by treating the inner block as if it
had the same scope as the outer block. In the error message,
SYMBOL may be shown as "'(don't know)'" if the outer block is not a
function.
'block at ADDRESS out of order'
The symbol information for symbol scope blocks should occur in
order of increasing addresses. This error indicates that it does
not do so.
GDB does not circumvent this problem, and has trouble locating
symbols in the source file whose symbols it is reading. (You can
often determine what source file is affected by specifying 'set
verbose on'. *Note Optional Warnings and Messages:
Messages/Warnings.)
'bad block start address patched'
The symbol information for a symbol scope block has a start address
smaller than the address of the preceding source line. This is
known to occur in the SunOS 4.1.1 (and earlier) C compiler.
GDB circumvents the problem by treating the symbol scope block as
starting on the previous source line.
'bad string table offset in symbol N'
Symbol number N contains a pointer into the string table which is
larger than the size of the string table.
GDB circumvents the problem by considering the symbol to have the
name 'foo', which may cause other problems if many symbols end up
with this name.
'unknown symbol type 0xNN'
The symbol information contains new data types that GDB does not
yet know how to read. '0xNN' is the symbol type of the
uncomprehended information, in hexadecimal.
GDB circumvents the error by ignoring this symbol information.
This usually allows you to debug your program, though certain
symbols are not accessible. If you encounter such a problem and
feel like debugging it, you can debug 'gdb' with itself, breakpoint
on 'complain', then go up to the function 'read_dbx_symtab' and
examine '*bufp' to see the symbol.
'stub type has NULL name'
GDB could not find the full definition for a struct or class.
'const/volatile indicator missing (ok if using g++ v1.x), got...'
The symbol information for a C++ member function is missing some
information that recent versions of the compiler should have output
for it.
'info mismatch between compiler and debugger'
GDB could not parse a type specification output by the compiler.

File: gdb.info, Node: Data Files, Prev: Symbol Errors, Up: GDB Files
18.6 GDB Data Files
===================
GDB will sometimes read an auxiliary data file. These files are kept in
a directory known as the "data directory".
You can set the data directory's name, and view the name GDB is
currently using.
'set data-directory DIRECTORY'
Set the directory which GDB searches for auxiliary data files to
DIRECTORY.
'show data-directory'
Show the directory GDB searches for auxiliary data files.
You can set the default data directory by using the configure-time
'--with-gdb-datadir' option. If the data directory is inside GDB's
configured binary prefix (set with '--prefix' or '--exec-prefix'), then
the default data directory will be updated automatically if the
installed GDB is moved to a new location.
The data directory may also be specified with the '--data-directory'
command line option. *Note Mode Options::.

File: gdb.info, Node: Targets, Next: Remote Debugging, Prev: GDB Files, Up: Top
19 Specifying a Debugging Target
********************************
A "target" is the execution environment occupied by your program.
Often, GDB runs in the same host environment as your program; in that
case, the debugging target is specified as a side effect when you use
the 'file' or 'core' commands. When you need more flexibility--for
example, running GDB on a physically separate host, or controlling a
standalone system over a serial port or a realtime system over a TCP/IP
connection--you can use the 'target' command to specify one of the
target types configured for GDB (*note Commands for Managing Targets:
Target Commands.).
It is possible to build GDB for several different "target
architectures". When GDB is built like that, you can choose one of the
available architectures with the 'set architecture' command.
'set architecture ARCH'
This command sets the current target architecture to ARCH. The
value of ARCH can be '"auto"', in addition to one of the supported
architectures.
'show architecture'
Show the current target architecture.
'set processor'
'processor'
These are alias commands for, respectively, 'set architecture' and
'show architecture'.
* Menu:
* Active Targets:: Active targets
* Target Commands:: Commands for managing targets
* Byte Order:: Choosing target byte order

File: gdb.info, Node: Active Targets, Next: Target Commands, Up: Targets
19.1 Active Targets
===================
There are multiple classes of targets such as: processes, executable
files or recording sessions. Core files belong to the process class,
making core file and process mutually exclusive. Otherwise, GDB can
work concurrently on multiple active targets, one in each class. This
allows you to (for example) start a process and inspect its activity,
while still having access to the executable file after the process
finishes. Or if you start process recording (*note Reverse Execution::)
and 'reverse-step' there, you are presented a virtual layer of the
recording target, while the process target remains stopped at the
chronologically last point of the process execution.
Use the 'core-file' and 'exec-file' commands to select a new core
file or executable target (*note Commands to Specify Files: Files.). To
specify as a target a process that is already running, use the 'attach'
command (*note Debugging an Already-running Process: Attach.).

File: gdb.info, Node: Target Commands, Next: Byte Order, Prev: Active Targets, Up: Targets
19.2 Commands for Managing Targets
==================================
'target TYPE PARAMETERS'
Connects the GDB host environment to a target machine or process.
A target is typically a protocol for talking to debugging
facilities. You use the argument TYPE to specify the type or
protocol of the target machine.
Further PARAMETERS are interpreted by the target protocol, but
typically include things like device names or host names to connect
with, process numbers, and baud rates.
The 'target' command does not repeat if you press <RET> again after
executing the command.
'help target'
Displays the names of all targets available. To display targets
currently selected, use either 'info target' or 'info files' (*note
Commands to Specify Files: Files.).
'help target NAME'
Describe a particular target, including any parameters necessary to
select it.
'set gnutarget ARGS'
GDB uses its own library BFD to read your files. GDB knows whether
it is reading an "executable", a "core", or a ".o" file; however,
you can specify the file format with the 'set gnutarget' command.
Unlike most 'target' commands, with 'gnutarget' the 'target' refers
to a program, not a machine.
_Warning:_ To specify a file format with 'set gnutarget', you
must know the actual BFD name.
*Note Commands to Specify Files: Files.
'show gnutarget'
Use the 'show gnutarget' command to display what file format
'gnutarget' is set to read. If you have not set 'gnutarget', GDB
will determine the file format for each file automatically, and
'show gnutarget' displays 'The current BFD target is "auto"'.
Here are some common targets (available, or not, depending on the GDB
configuration):
'target exec PROGRAM'
An executable file. 'target exec PROGRAM' is the same as
'exec-file PROGRAM'.
'target core FILENAME'
A core dump file. 'target core FILENAME' is the same as 'core-file
FILENAME'.
'target remote MEDIUM'
A remote system connected to GDB via a serial line or network
connection. This command tells GDB to use its own remote protocol
over MEDIUM for debugging. *Note Remote Debugging::.
For example, if you have a board connected to '/dev/ttya' on the
machine running GDB, you could say:
target remote /dev/ttya
'target remote' supports the 'load' command. This is only useful
if you have some other way of getting the stub to the target
system, and you can put it somewhere in memory where it won't get
clobbered by the download.
'target sim [SIMARGS] ...'
Builtin CPU simulator. GDB includes simulators for most
architectures. In general,
target sim
load
run
works; however, you cannot assume that a specific memory map,
device drivers, or even basic I/O is available, although some
simulators do provide these. For info about any processor-specific
simulator details, see the appropriate section in *note Embedded
Processors: Embedded Processors.
'target native'
Setup for local/native process debugging. Useful to make the 'run'
command spawn native processes (likewise 'attach', etc.) even when
'set auto-connect-native-target' is 'off' (*note set
auto-connect-native-target::).
Different targets are available on different configurations of GDB;
your configuration may have more or fewer targets.
Many remote targets require you to download the executable's code
once you've successfully established a connection. You may wish to
control various aspects of this process.
'set hash'
This command controls whether a hash mark '#' is displayed while
downloading a file to the remote monitor. If on, a hash mark is
displayed after each S-record is successfully downloaded to the
monitor.
'show hash'
Show the current status of displaying the hash mark.
'set debug monitor'
Enable or disable display of communications messages between GDB
and the remote monitor.
'show debug monitor'
Show the current status of displaying communications between GDB
and the remote monitor.
'load FILENAME'
Depending on what remote debugging facilities are configured into
GDB, the 'load' command may be available. Where it exists, it is
meant to make FILENAME (an executable) available for debugging on
the remote system--by downloading, or dynamic linking, for example.
'load' also records the FILENAME symbol table in GDB, like the
'add-symbol-file' command.
If your GDB does not have a 'load' command, attempting to execute
it gets the error message "'You can't do that when your target is
...'"
The file is loaded at whatever address is specified in the
executable. For some object file formats, you can specify the load
address when you link the program; for other formats, like a.out,
the object file format specifies a fixed address.
Depending on the remote side capabilities, GDB may be able to load
programs into flash memory.
'load' does not repeat if you press <RET> again after using it.

File: gdb.info, Node: Byte Order, Prev: Target Commands, Up: Targets
19.3 Choosing Target Byte Order
===============================
Some types of processors, such as the MIPS, PowerPC, and Renesas SH,
offer the ability to run either big-endian or little-endian byte orders.
Usually the executable or symbol will include a bit to designate the
endian-ness, and you will not need to worry about which to use.
However, you may still find it useful to adjust GDB's idea of processor
endian-ness manually.
'set endian big'
Instruct GDB to assume the target is big-endian.
'set endian little'
Instruct GDB to assume the target is little-endian.
'set endian auto'
Instruct GDB to use the byte order associated with the executable.
'show endian'
Display GDB's current idea of the target byte order.
Note that these commands merely adjust interpretation of symbolic
data on the host, and that they have absolutely no effect on the target
system.

File: gdb.info, Node: Remote Debugging, Next: Configurations, Prev: Targets, Up: Top
20 Debugging Remote Programs
****************************
If you are trying to debug a program running on a machine that cannot
run GDB in the usual way, it is often useful to use remote debugging.
For example, you might use remote debugging on an operating system
kernel, or on a small system which does not have a general purpose
operating system powerful enough to run a full-featured debugger.
Some configurations of GDB have special serial or TCP/IP interfaces
to make this work with particular debugging targets. In addition, GDB
comes with a generic serial protocol (specific to GDB, but not specific
to any particular target system) which you can use if you write the
remote stubs--the code that runs on the remote system to communicate
with GDB.
Other remote targets may be available in your configuration of GDB;
use 'help target' to list them.
* Menu:
* Connecting:: Connecting to a remote target
* File Transfer:: Sending files to a remote system
* Server:: Using the gdbserver program
* Remote Configuration:: Remote configuration
* Remote Stub:: Implementing a remote stub

File: gdb.info, Node: Connecting, Next: File Transfer, Up: Remote Debugging
20.1 Connecting to a Remote Target
==================================
On the GDB host machine, you will need an unstripped copy of your
program, since GDB needs symbol and debugging information. Start up GDB
as usual, using the name of the local copy of your program as the first
argument.
GDB can communicate with the target over a serial line, or over an IP
network using TCP or UDP. In each case, GDB uses the same protocol for
debugging your program; only the medium carrying the debugging packets
varies. The 'target remote' command establishes a connection to the
target. Its arguments indicate which medium to use:
'target remote SERIAL-DEVICE'
Use SERIAL-DEVICE to communicate with the target. For example, to
use a serial line connected to the device named '/dev/ttyb':
target remote /dev/ttyb
If you're using a serial line, you may want to give GDB the
'--baud' option, or use the 'set serial baud' command (*note set
serial baud: Remote Configuration.) before the 'target' command.
'target remote HOST:PORT'
'target remote tcp:HOST:PORT'
Debug using a TCP connection to PORT on HOST. The HOST may be
either a host name or a numeric IP address; PORT must be a decimal
number. The HOST could be the target machine itself, if it is
directly connected to the net, or it might be a terminal server
which in turn has a serial line to the target.
For example, to connect to port 2828 on a terminal server named
'manyfarms':
target remote manyfarms:2828
If your remote target is actually running on the same machine as
your debugger session (e.g. a simulator for your target running on
the same host), you can omit the hostname. For example, to connect
to port 1234 on your local machine:
target remote :1234
Note that the colon is still required here.
'target remote udp:HOST:PORT'
Debug using UDP packets to PORT on HOST. For example, to connect
to UDP port 2828 on a terminal server named 'manyfarms':
target remote udp:manyfarms:2828
When using a UDP connection for remote debugging, you should keep
in mind that the 'U' stands for "Unreliable". UDP can silently
drop packets on busy or unreliable networks, which will cause havoc
with your debugging session.
'target remote | COMMAND'
Run COMMAND in the background and communicate with it using a pipe.
The COMMAND is a shell command, to be parsed and expanded by the
system's command shell, '/bin/sh'; it should expect remote protocol
packets on its standard input, and send replies on its standard
output. You could use this to run a stand-alone simulator that
speaks the remote debugging protocol, to make net connections using
programs like 'ssh', or for other similar tricks.
If COMMAND closes its standard output (perhaps by exiting), GDB
will try to send it a 'SIGTERM' signal. (If the program has
already exited, this will have no effect.)
Once the connection has been established, you can use all the usual
commands to examine and change data. The remote program is already
running; you can use 'step' and 'continue', and you do not need to use
'run'.
Whenever GDB is waiting for the remote program, if you type the
interrupt character (often 'Ctrl-c'), GDB attempts to stop the program.
This may or may not succeed, depending in part on the hardware and the
serial drivers the remote system uses. If you type the interrupt
character once again, GDB displays this prompt:
Interrupted while waiting for the program.
Give up (and stop debugging it)? (y or n)
If you type 'y', GDB abandons the remote debugging session. (If you
decide you want to try again later, you can use 'target remote' again to
connect once more.) If you type 'n', GDB goes back to waiting.
'detach'
When you have finished debugging the remote program, you can use
the 'detach' command to release it from GDB control. Detaching
from the target normally resumes its execution, but the results
will depend on your particular remote stub. After the 'detach'
command, GDB is free to connect to another target.
'disconnect'
The 'disconnect' command behaves like 'detach', except that the
target is generally not resumed. It will wait for GDB (this
instance or another one) to connect and continue debugging. After
the 'disconnect' command, GDB is again free to connect to another
target.
'monitor CMD'
This command allows you to send arbitrary commands directly to the
remote monitor. Since GDB doesn't care about the commands it sends
like this, this command is the way to extend GDB--you can add new
commands that only the external monitor will understand and
implement.

File: gdb.info, Node: File Transfer, Next: Server, Prev: Connecting, Up: Remote Debugging
20.2 Sending files to a remote system
=====================================
Some remote targets offer the ability to transfer files over the same
connection used to communicate with GDB. This is convenient for targets
accessible through other means, e.g. GNU/Linux systems running
'gdbserver' over a network interface. For other targets, e.g. embedded
devices with only a single serial port, this may be the only way to
upload or download files.
Not all remote targets support these commands.
'remote put HOSTFILE TARGETFILE'
Copy file HOSTFILE from the host system (the machine running GDB)
to TARGETFILE on the target system.
'remote get TARGETFILE HOSTFILE'
Copy file TARGETFILE from the target system to HOSTFILE on the host
system.
'remote delete TARGETFILE'
Delete TARGETFILE from the target system.

File: gdb.info, Node: Server, Next: Remote Configuration, Prev: File Transfer, Up: Remote Debugging
20.3 Using the 'gdbserver' Program
==================================
'gdbserver' is a control program for Unix-like systems, which allows you
to connect your program with a remote GDB via 'target remote'--but
without linking in the usual debugging stub.
'gdbserver' is not a complete replacement for the debugging stubs,
because it requires essentially the same operating-system facilities
that GDB itself does. In fact, a system that can run 'gdbserver' to
connect to a remote GDB could also run GDB locally! 'gdbserver' is
sometimes useful nevertheless, because it is a much smaller program than
GDB itself. It is also easier to port than all of GDB, so you may be
able to get started more quickly on a new system by using 'gdbserver'.
Finally, if you develop code for real-time systems, you may find that
the tradeoffs involved in real-time operation make it more convenient to
do as much development work as possible on another system, for example
by cross-compiling. You can use 'gdbserver' to make a similar choice
for debugging.
GDB and 'gdbserver' communicate via either a serial line or a TCP
connection, using the standard GDB remote serial protocol.
_Warning:_ 'gdbserver' does not have any built-in security. Do not
run 'gdbserver' connected to any public network; a GDB connection
to 'gdbserver' provides access to the target system with the same
privileges as the user running 'gdbserver'.
20.3.1 Running 'gdbserver'
--------------------------
Run 'gdbserver' on the target system. You need a copy of the program
you want to debug, including any libraries it requires. 'gdbserver'
does not need your program's symbol table, so you can strip the program
if necessary to save space. GDB on the host system does all the symbol
handling.
To use the server, you must tell it how to communicate with GDB; the
name of your program; and the arguments for your program. The usual
syntax is:
target> gdbserver COMM PROGRAM [ ARGS ... ]
COMM is either a device name (to use a serial line), or a TCP
hostname and portnumber, or '-' or 'stdio' to use stdin/stdout of
'gdbserver'. For example, to debug Emacs with the argument 'foo.txt'
and communicate with GDB over the serial port '/dev/com1':
target> gdbserver /dev/com1 emacs foo.txt
'gdbserver' waits passively for the host GDB to communicate with it.
To use a TCP connection instead of a serial line:
target> gdbserver host:2345 emacs foo.txt
The only difference from the previous example is the first argument,
specifying that you are communicating with the host GDB via TCP. The
'host:2345' argument means that 'gdbserver' is to expect a TCP
connection from machine 'host' to local TCP port 2345. (Currently, the
'host' part is ignored.) You can choose any number you want for the
port number as long as it does not conflict with any TCP ports already
in use on the target system (for example, '23' is reserved for
'telnet').(1) You must use the same port number with the host GDB
'target remote' command.
The 'stdio' connection is useful when starting 'gdbserver' with ssh:
(gdb) target remote | ssh -T hostname gdbserver - hello
The '-T' option to ssh is provided because we don't need a remote
pty, and we don't want escape-character handling. Ssh does this by
default when a command is provided, the flag is provided to make it
explicit. You could elide it if you want to.
Programs started with stdio-connected gdbserver have '/dev/null' for
'stdin', and 'stdout','stderr' are sent back to gdb for display through
a pipe connected to gdbserver. Both 'stdout' and 'stderr' use the same
pipe.
20.3.1.1 Attaching to a Running Program
.......................................
On some targets, 'gdbserver' can also attach to running programs. This
is accomplished via the '--attach' argument. The syntax is:
target> gdbserver --attach COMM PID
PID is the process ID of a currently running process. It isn't
necessary to point 'gdbserver' at a binary for the running process.
You can debug processes by name instead of process ID if your target
has the 'pidof' utility:
target> gdbserver --attach COMM `pidof PROGRAM`
In case more than one copy of PROGRAM is running, or PROGRAM has
multiple threads, most versions of 'pidof' support the '-s' option to
only return the first process ID.
20.3.1.2 Multi-Process Mode for 'gdbserver'
...........................................
When you connect to 'gdbserver' using 'target remote', 'gdbserver'
debugs the specified program only once. When the program exits, or you
detach from it, GDB closes the connection and 'gdbserver' exits.
If you connect using 'target extended-remote', 'gdbserver' enters
multi-process mode. When the debugged program exits, or you detach from
it, GDB stays connected to 'gdbserver' even though no program is
running. The 'run' and 'attach' commands instruct 'gdbserver' to run or
attach to a new program. The 'run' command uses 'set remote exec-file'
(*note set remote exec-file::) to select the program to run. Command
line arguments are supported, except for wildcard expansion and I/O
redirection (*note Arguments::).
To start 'gdbserver' without supplying an initial command to run or
process ID to attach, use the '--multi' command line option. Then you
can connect using 'target extended-remote' and start the program you
want to debug.
In multi-process mode 'gdbserver' does not automatically exit unless
you use the option '--once'. You can terminate it by using 'monitor
exit' (*note Monitor Commands for gdbserver::). Note that the
conditions under which 'gdbserver' terminates depend on how GDB connects
to it ('target remote' or 'target extended-remote'). The '--multi'
option to 'gdbserver' has no influence on that.
20.3.1.3 TCP port allocation lifecycle of 'gdbserver'
.....................................................
This section applies only when 'gdbserver' is run to listen on a TCP
port.
'gdbserver' normally terminates after all of its debugged processes
have terminated in 'target remote' mode. On the other hand, for 'target
extended-remote', 'gdbserver' stays running even with no processes left.
GDB normally terminates the spawned debugged process on its exit, which
normally also terminates 'gdbserver' in the 'target remote' mode.
Therefore, when the connection drops unexpectedly, and GDB cannot ask
'gdbserver' to kill its debugged processes, 'gdbserver' stays running
even in the 'target remote' mode.
When 'gdbserver' stays running, GDB can connect to it again later.
Such reconnecting is useful for features like *note disconnected
tracing::. For completeness, at most one GDB can be connected at a
time.
By default, 'gdbserver' keeps the listening TCP port open, so that
subsequent connections are possible. However, if you start 'gdbserver'
with the '--once' option, it will stop listening for any further
connection attempts after connecting to the first GDB session. This
means no further connections to 'gdbserver' will be possible after the
first one. It also means 'gdbserver' will terminate after the first
connection with remote GDB has closed, even for unexpectedly closed
connections and even in the 'target extended-remote' mode. The '--once'
option allows reusing the same port number for connecting to multiple
instances of 'gdbserver' running on the same host, since each instance
closes its port after the first connection.
20.3.1.4 Other Command-Line Arguments for 'gdbserver'
.....................................................
The '--debug' option tells 'gdbserver' to display extra status
information about the debugging process. The '--remote-debug' option
tells 'gdbserver' to display remote protocol debug output. These
options are intended for 'gdbserver' development and for bug reports to
the developers.
The '--debug-format=option1[,option2,...]' option tells 'gdbserver'
to include additional information in each output. Possible options are:
'none'
Turn off all extra information in debugging output.
'all'
Turn on all extra information in debugging output.
'timestamps'
Include a timestamp in each line of debugging output.
Options are processed in order. Thus, for example, if 'none' appears
last then no additional information is added to debugging output.
The '--wrapper' option specifies a wrapper to launch programs for
debugging. The option should be followed by the name of the wrapper,
then any command-line arguments to pass to the wrapper, then '--'
indicating the end of the wrapper arguments.
'gdbserver' runs the specified wrapper program with a combined
command line including the wrapper arguments, then the name of the
program to debug, then any arguments to the program. The wrapper runs
until it executes your program, and then GDB gains control.
You can use any program that eventually calls 'execve' with its
arguments as a wrapper. Several standard Unix utilities do this, e.g.
'env' and 'nohup'. Any Unix shell script ending with 'exec "$@"' will
also work.
For example, you can use 'env' to pass an environment variable to the
debugged program, without setting the variable in 'gdbserver''s
environment:
$ gdbserver --wrapper env LD_PRELOAD=libtest.so -- :2222 ./testprog
20.3.2 Connecting to 'gdbserver'
--------------------------------
Run GDB on the host system.
First make sure you have the necessary symbol files. Load symbols
for your application using the 'file' command before you connect. Use
'set sysroot' to locate target libraries (unless your GDB was compiled
with the correct sysroot using '--with-sysroot').
The symbol file and target libraries must exactly match the
executable and libraries on the target, with one exception: the files on
the host system should not be stripped, even if the files on the target
system are. Mismatched or missing files will lead to confusing results
during debugging. On GNU/Linux targets, mismatched or missing files may
also prevent 'gdbserver' from debugging multi-threaded programs.
Connect to your target (*note Connecting to a Remote Target:
Connecting.). For TCP connections, you must start up 'gdbserver' prior
to using the 'target remote' command. Otherwise you may get an error
whose text depends on the host system, but which usually looks something
like 'Connection refused'. Don't use the 'load' command in GDB when
using 'gdbserver', since the program is already on the target.
20.3.3 Monitor Commands for 'gdbserver'
---------------------------------------
During a GDB session using 'gdbserver', you can use the 'monitor'
command to send special requests to 'gdbserver'. Here are the available
commands.
'monitor help'
List the available monitor commands.
'monitor set debug 0'
'monitor set debug 1'
Disable or enable general debugging messages.
'monitor set remote-debug 0'
'monitor set remote-debug 1'
Disable or enable specific debugging messages associated with the
remote protocol (*note Remote Protocol::).
'monitor set debug-format option1[,option2,...]'
Specify additional text to add to debugging messages. Possible
options are:
'none'
Turn off all extra information in debugging output.
'all'
Turn on all extra information in debugging output.
'timestamps'
Include a timestamp in each line of debugging output.
Options are processed in order. Thus, for example, if 'none'
appears last then no additional information is added to debugging
output.
'monitor set libthread-db-search-path [PATH]'
When this command is issued, PATH is a colon-separated list of
directories to search for 'libthread_db' (*note set
libthread-db-search-path: Threads.). If you omit PATH,
'libthread-db-search-path' will be reset to its default value.
The special entry '$pdir' for 'libthread-db-search-path' is not
supported in 'gdbserver'.
'monitor exit'
Tell gdbserver to exit immediately. This command should be
followed by 'disconnect' to close the debugging session.
'gdbserver' will detach from any attached processes and kill any
processes it created. Use 'monitor exit' to terminate 'gdbserver'
at the end of a multi-process mode debug session.
20.3.4 Tracepoints support in 'gdbserver'
-----------------------------------------
On some targets, 'gdbserver' supports tracepoints, fast tracepoints and
static tracepoints.
For fast or static tracepoints to work, a special library called the
"in-process agent" (IPA), must be loaded in the inferior process. This
library is built and distributed as an integral part of 'gdbserver'. In
addition, support for static tracepoints requires building the
in-process agent library with static tracepoints support. At present,
the UST (LTTng Userspace Tracer, <http://lttng.org/ust>) tracing engine
is supported. This support is automatically available if UST
development headers are found in the standard include path when
'gdbserver' is built, or if 'gdbserver' was explicitly configured using
'--with-ust' to point at such headers. You can explicitly disable the
support using '--with-ust=no'.
There are several ways to load the in-process agent in your program:
'Specifying it as dependency at link time'
You can link your program dynamically with the in-process agent
library. On most systems, this is accomplished by adding
'-linproctrace' to the link command.
'Using the system's preloading mechanisms'
You can force loading the in-process agent at startup time by using
your system's support for preloading shared libraries. Many Unixes
support the concept of preloading user defined libraries. In most
cases, you do that by specifying 'LD_PRELOAD=libinproctrace.so' in
the environment. See also the description of 'gdbserver''s
'--wrapper' command line option.
'Using GDB to force loading the agent at run time'
On some systems, you can force the inferior to load a shared
library, by calling a dynamic loader function in the inferior that
takes care of dynamically looking up and loading a shared library.
On most Unix systems, the function is 'dlopen'. You'll use the
'call' command for that. For example:
(gdb) call dlopen ("libinproctrace.so", ...)
Note that on most Unix systems, for the 'dlopen' function to be
available, the program needs to be linked with '-ldl'.
On systems that have a userspace dynamic loader, like most Unix
systems, when you connect to 'gdbserver' using 'target remote', you'll
find that the program is stopped at the dynamic loader's entry point,
and no shared library has been loaded in the program's address space
yet, including the in-process agent. In that case, before being able to
use any of the fast or static tracepoints features, you need to let the
loader run and load the shared libraries. The simplest way to do that
is to run the program to the main procedure. E.g., if debugging a C or
C++ program, start 'gdbserver' like so:
$ gdbserver :9999 myprogram
Start GDB and connect to 'gdbserver' like so, and run to main:
$ gdb myprogram
(gdb) target remote myhost:9999
0x00007f215893ba60 in ?? () from /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2
(gdb) b main
(gdb) continue
The in-process tracing agent library should now be loaded into the
process; you can confirm it with the 'info sharedlibrary' command, which
will list 'libinproctrace.so' as loaded in the process. You are now
ready to install fast tracepoints, list static tracepoint markers, probe
static tracepoints markers, and start tracing.
---------- Footnotes ----------
(1) If you choose a port number that conflicts with another service,
'gdbserver' prints an error message and exits.

File: gdb.info, Node: Remote Configuration, Next: Remote Stub, Prev: Server, Up: Remote Debugging
20.4 Remote Configuration
=========================
This section documents the configuration options available when
debugging remote programs. For the options related to the File I/O
extensions of the remote protocol, see *note system-call-allowed:
system.
'set remoteaddresssize BITS'
Set the maximum size of address in a memory packet to the specified
number of bits. GDB will mask off the address bits above that
number, when it passes addresses to the remote target. The default
value is the number of bits in the target's address.
'show remoteaddresssize'
Show the current value of remote address size in bits.
'set serial baud N'
Set the baud rate for the remote serial I/O to N baud. The value
is used to set the speed of the serial port used for debugging
remote targets.
'show serial baud'
Show the current speed of the remote connection.
'set remotebreak'
If set to on, GDB sends a 'BREAK' signal to the remote when you
type 'Ctrl-c' to interrupt the program running on the remote. If
set to off, GDB sends the 'Ctrl-C' character instead. The default
is off, since most remote systems expect to see 'Ctrl-C' as the
interrupt signal.
'show remotebreak'
Show whether GDB sends 'BREAK' or 'Ctrl-C' to interrupt the remote
program.
'set remoteflow on'
'set remoteflow off'
Enable or disable hardware flow control ('RTS'/'CTS') on the serial
port used to communicate to the remote target.
'show remoteflow'
Show the current setting of hardware flow control.
'set remotelogbase BASE'
Set the base (a.k.a. radix) of logging serial protocol
communications to BASE. Supported values of BASE are: 'ascii',
'octal', and 'hex'. The default is 'ascii'.
'show remotelogbase'
Show the current setting of the radix for logging remote serial
protocol.
'set remotelogfile FILE'
Record remote serial communications on the named FILE. The default
is not to record at all.
'show remotelogfile.'
Show the current setting of the file name on which to record the
serial communications.
'set remotetimeout NUM'
Set the timeout limit to wait for the remote target to respond to
NUM seconds. The default is 2 seconds.
'show remotetimeout'
Show the current number of seconds to wait for the remote target
responses.
'set remote hardware-watchpoint-limit LIMIT'
'set remote hardware-breakpoint-limit LIMIT'
Restrict GDB to using LIMIT remote hardware breakpoint or
watchpoints. A limit of -1, the default, is treated as unlimited.
'set remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit LIMIT'
Restrict GDB to using LIMIT bytes for the maximum length of a
remote hardware watchpoint. A limit of -1, the default, is treated
as unlimited.
'show remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit'
Show the current limit (in bytes) of the maximum length of a remote
hardware watchpoint.
'set remote exec-file FILENAME'
'show remote exec-file'
Select the file used for 'run' with 'target extended-remote'. This
should be set to a filename valid on the target system. If it is
not set, the target will use a default filename (e.g. the last
program run).
'set remote interrupt-sequence'
Allow the user to select one of 'Ctrl-C', a 'BREAK' or 'BREAK-g' as
the sequence to the remote target in order to interrupt the
execution. 'Ctrl-C' is a default. Some system prefers 'BREAK'
which is high level of serial line for some certain time. Linux
kernel prefers 'BREAK-g', a.k.a Magic SysRq g. It is 'BREAK'
signal followed by character 'g'.
'show interrupt-sequence'
Show which of 'Ctrl-C', 'BREAK' or 'BREAK-g' is sent by GDB to
interrupt the remote program. 'BREAK-g' is BREAK signal followed
by 'g' and also known as Magic SysRq g.
'set remote interrupt-on-connect'
Specify whether interrupt-sequence is sent to remote target when
GDB connects to it. This is mostly needed when you debug Linux
kernel. Linux kernel expects 'BREAK' followed by 'g' which is
known as Magic SysRq g in order to connect GDB.
'show interrupt-on-connect'
Show whether interrupt-sequence is sent to remote target when GDB
connects to it.
'set tcp auto-retry on'
Enable auto-retry for remote TCP connections. This is useful if
the remote debugging agent is launched in parallel with GDB; there
is a race condition because the agent may not become ready to
accept the connection before GDB attempts to connect. When
auto-retry is enabled, if the initial attempt to connect fails, GDB
reattempts to establish the connection using the timeout specified
by 'set tcp connect-timeout'.
'set tcp auto-retry off'
Do not auto-retry failed TCP connections.
'show tcp auto-retry'
Show the current auto-retry setting.
'set tcp connect-timeout SECONDS'
'set tcp connect-timeout unlimited'
Set the timeout for establishing a TCP connection to the remote
target to SECONDS. The timeout affects both polling to retry
failed connections (enabled by 'set tcp auto-retry on') and waiting
for connections that are merely slow to complete, and represents an
approximate cumulative value. If SECONDS is 'unlimited', there is
no timeout and GDB will keep attempting to establish a connection
forever, unless interrupted with 'Ctrl-c'. The default is 15
seconds.
'show tcp connect-timeout'
Show the current connection timeout setting.
The GDB remote protocol autodetects the packets supported by your
debugging stub. If you need to override the autodetection, you can use
these commands to enable or disable individual packets. Each packet can
be set to 'on' (the remote target supports this packet), 'off' (the
remote target does not support this packet), or 'auto' (detect remote
target support for this packet). They all default to 'auto'. For more
information about each packet, see *note Remote Protocol::.
During normal use, you should not have to use any of these commands.
If you do, that may be a bug in your remote debugging stub, or a bug in
GDB. You may want to report the problem to the GDB developers.
For each packet NAME, the command to enable or disable the packet is
'set remote NAME-packet'. The available settings are:
Command Name Remote Packet Related Features
'fetch-register' 'p' 'info registers'
'set-register' 'P' 'set'
'binary-download' 'X' 'load', 'set'
'read-aux-vector' 'qXfer:auxv:read' 'info auxv'
'symbol-lookup' 'qSymbol' Detecting
multiple threads
'attach' 'vAttach' 'attach'
'verbose-resume' 'vCont' Stepping or
resuming
multiple threads
'run' 'vRun' 'run'
'software-breakpoint''Z0' 'break'
'hardware-breakpoint''Z1' 'hbreak'
'write-watchpoint' 'Z2' 'watch'
'read-watchpoint' 'Z3' 'rwatch'
'access-watchpoint' 'Z4' 'awatch'
'target-features' 'qXfer:features:read' 'set
architecture'
'library-info' 'qXfer:libraries:read' 'info
sharedlibrary'
'memory-map' 'qXfer:memory-map:read' 'info mem'
'read-sdata-object' 'qXfer:sdata:read' 'print $_sdata'
'read-spu-object' 'qXfer:spu:read' 'info spu'
'write-spu-object' 'qXfer:spu:write' 'info spu'
'read-siginfo-object''qXfer:siginfo:read' 'print
$_siginfo'
'write-siginfo-object''qXfer:siginfo:write' 'set $_siginfo'
'threads' 'qXfer:threads:read' 'info threads'
'get-thread-local- 'qGetTLSAddr' Displaying
storage-address' '__thread'
variables
'get-thread-information-block-address''qGetTIBAddr'Display
MS-Windows
Thread
Information
Block.
'search-memory' 'qSearch:memory' 'find'
'supported-packets' 'qSupported' Remote
communications
parameters
'pass-signals' 'QPassSignals' 'handle SIGNAL'
'program-signals' 'QProgramSignals' 'handle SIGNAL'
'hostio-close-packet''vFile:close' 'remote get',
'remote put'
'hostio-open-packet' 'vFile:open' 'remote get',
'remote put'
'hostio-pread-packet''vFile:pread' 'remote get',
'remote put'
'hostio-pwrite-packet''vFile:pwrite' 'remote get',
'remote put'
'hostio-unlink-packet''vFile:unlink' 'remote delete'
'hostio-readlink-packet''vFile:readlink' Host I/O
'noack-packet' 'QStartNoAckMode' Packet
acknowledgment
'osdata' 'qXfer:osdata:read' 'info os'
'query-attached' 'qAttached' Querying remote
process attach
state.
'trace-buffer-size' 'QTBuffer:size' 'set
trace-buffer-size'
'trace-status' 'qTStatus' 'tstatus'
'traceframe-info' 'qXfer:traceframe-info:read'Traceframe info
'install-in-trace' 'InstallInTrace' Install
tracepoint in
tracing
'disable-randomization''QDisableRandomization''set
disable-randomization'
'conditional-breakpoints-packet''Z0 and Z1' 'Support for
target-side
breakpoint
condition
evaluation'

File: gdb.info, Node: Remote Stub, Prev: Remote Configuration, Up: Remote Debugging
20.5 Implementing a Remote Stub
===============================
The stub files provided with GDB implement the target side of the
communication protocol, and the GDB side is implemented in the GDB
source file 'remote.c'. Normally, you can simply allow these
subroutines to communicate, and ignore the details. (If you're
implementing your own stub file, you can still ignore the details: start
with one of the existing stub files. 'sparc-stub.c' is the best
organized, and therefore the easiest to read.)
To debug a program running on another machine (the debugging "target"
machine), you must first arrange for all the usual prerequisites for the
program to run by itself. For example, for a C program, you need:
1. A startup routine to set up the C runtime environment; these
usually have a name like 'crt0'. The startup routine may be
supplied by your hardware supplier, or you may have to write your
own.
2. A C subroutine library to support your program's subroutine calls,
notably managing input and output.
3. A way of getting your program to the other machine--for example, a
download program. These are often supplied by the hardware
manufacturer, but you may have to write your own from hardware
documentation.
The next step is to arrange for your program to use a serial port to
communicate with the machine where GDB is running (the "host" machine).
In general terms, the scheme looks like this:
_On the host,_
GDB already understands how to use this protocol; when everything
else is set up, you can simply use the 'target remote' command
(*note Specifying a Debugging Target: Targets.).
_On the target,_
you must link with your program a few special-purpose subroutines
that implement the GDB remote serial protocol. The file containing
these subroutines is called a "debugging stub".
On certain remote targets, you can use an auxiliary program
'gdbserver' instead of linking a stub into your program. *Note
Using the 'gdbserver' Program: Server, for details.
The debugging stub is specific to the architecture of the remote
machine; for example, use 'sparc-stub.c' to debug programs on SPARC
boards.
These working remote stubs are distributed with GDB:
'i386-stub.c'
For Intel 386 and compatible architectures.
'm68k-stub.c'
For Motorola 680x0 architectures.
'sh-stub.c'
For Renesas SH architectures.
'sparc-stub.c'
For SPARC architectures.
'sparcl-stub.c'
For Fujitsu SPARCLITE architectures.
The 'README' file in the GDB distribution may list other recently
added stubs.
* Menu:
* Stub Contents:: What the stub can do for you
* Bootstrapping:: What you must do for the stub
* Debug Session:: Putting it all together

File: gdb.info, Node: Stub Contents, Next: Bootstrapping, Up: Remote Stub
20.5.1 What the Stub Can Do for You
-----------------------------------
The debugging stub for your architecture supplies these three
subroutines:
'set_debug_traps'
This routine arranges for 'handle_exception' to run when your
program stops. You must call this subroutine explicitly in your
program's startup code.
'handle_exception'
This is the central workhorse, but your program never calls it
explicitly--the setup code arranges for 'handle_exception' to run
when a trap is triggered.
'handle_exception' takes control when your program stops during
execution (for example, on a breakpoint), and mediates
communications with GDB on the host machine. This is where the
communications protocol is implemented; 'handle_exception' acts as
the GDB representative on the target machine. It begins by sending
summary information on the state of your program, then continues to
execute, retrieving and transmitting any information GDB needs,
until you execute a GDB command that makes your program resume; at
that point, 'handle_exception' returns control to your own code on
the target machine.
'breakpoint'
Use this auxiliary subroutine to make your program contain a
breakpoint. Depending on the particular situation, this may be the
only way for GDB to get control. For instance, if your target
machine has some sort of interrupt button, you won't need to call
this; pressing the interrupt button transfers control to
'handle_exception'--in effect, to GDB. On some machines, simply
receiving characters on the serial port may also trigger a trap;
again, in that situation, you don't need to call 'breakpoint' from
your own program--simply running 'target remote' from the host GDB
session gets control.
Call 'breakpoint' if none of these is true, or if you simply want
to make certain your program stops at a predetermined point for the
start of your debugging session.

File: gdb.info, Node: Bootstrapping, Next: Debug Session, Prev: Stub Contents, Up: Remote Stub
20.5.2 What You Must Do for the Stub
------------------------------------
The debugging stubs that come with GDB are set up for a particular chip
architecture, but they have no information about the rest of your
debugging target machine.
First of all you need to tell the stub how to communicate with the
serial port.
'int getDebugChar()'
Write this subroutine to read a single character from the serial
port. It may be identical to 'getchar' for your target system; a
different name is used to allow you to distinguish the two if you
wish.
'void putDebugChar(int)'
Write this subroutine to write a single character to the serial
port. It may be identical to 'putchar' for your target system; a
different name is used to allow you to distinguish the two if you
wish.
If you want GDB to be able to stop your program while it is running,
you need to use an interrupt-driven serial driver, and arrange for it to
stop when it receives a '^C' ('\003', the control-C character). That is
the character which GDB uses to tell the remote system to stop.
Getting the debugging target to return the proper status to GDB
probably requires changes to the standard stub; one quick and dirty way
is to just execute a breakpoint instruction (the "dirty" part is that
GDB reports a 'SIGTRAP' instead of a 'SIGINT').
Other routines you need to supply are:
'void exceptionHandler (int EXCEPTION_NUMBER, void *EXCEPTION_ADDRESS)'
Write this function to install EXCEPTION_ADDRESS in the exception
handling tables. You need to do this because the stub does not
have any way of knowing what the exception handling tables on your
target system are like (for example, the processor's table might be
in ROM, containing entries which point to a table in RAM). The
EXCEPTION_NUMBER specifies the exception which should be changed;
its meaning is architecture-dependent (for example, different
numbers might represent divide by zero, misaligned access, etc).
When this exception occurs, control should be transferred directly
to EXCEPTION_ADDRESS, and the processor state (stack, registers,
and so on) should be just as it is when a processor exception
occurs. So if you want to use a jump instruction to reach
EXCEPTION_ADDRESS, it should be a simple jump, not a jump to
subroutine.
For the 386, EXCEPTION_ADDRESS should be installed as an interrupt
gate so that interrupts are masked while the handler runs. The
gate should be at privilege level 0 (the most privileged level).
The SPARC and 68k stubs are able to mask interrupts themselves
without help from 'exceptionHandler'.
'void flush_i_cache()'
On SPARC and SPARCLITE only, write this subroutine to flush the
instruction cache, if any, on your target machine. If there is no
instruction cache, this subroutine may be a no-op.
On target machines that have instruction caches, GDB requires this
function to make certain that the state of your program is stable.
You must also make sure this library routine is available:
'void *memset(void *, int, int)'
This is the standard library function 'memset' that sets an area of
memory to a known value. If you have one of the free versions of
'libc.a', 'memset' can be found there; otherwise, you must either
obtain it from your hardware manufacturer, or write your own.
If you do not use the GNU C compiler, you may need other standard
library subroutines as well; this varies from one stub to another, but
in general the stubs are likely to use any of the common library
subroutines which 'GCC' generates as inline code.

File: gdb.info, Node: Debug Session, Prev: Bootstrapping, Up: Remote Stub
20.5.3 Putting it All Together
------------------------------
In summary, when your program is ready to debug, you must follow these
steps.
1. Make sure you have defined the supporting low-level routines (*note
What You Must Do for the Stub: Bootstrapping.):
'getDebugChar', 'putDebugChar',
'flush_i_cache', 'memset', 'exceptionHandler'.
2. Insert these lines in your program's startup code, before the main
procedure is called:
set_debug_traps();
breakpoint();
On some machines, when a breakpoint trap is raised, the hardware
automatically makes the PC point to the instruction after the
breakpoint. If your machine doesn't do that, you may need to
adjust 'handle_exception' to arrange for it to return to the
instruction after the breakpoint on this first invocation, so that
your program doesn't keep hitting the initial breakpoint instead of
making progress.
3. For the 680x0 stub only, you need to provide a variable called
'exceptionHook'. Normally you just use:
void (*exceptionHook)() = 0;
but if before calling 'set_debug_traps', you set it to point to a
function in your program, that function is called when 'GDB'
continues after stopping on a trap (for example, bus error). The
function indicated by 'exceptionHook' is called with one parameter:
an 'int' which is the exception number.
4. Compile and link together: your program, the GDB debugging stub for
your target architecture, and the supporting subroutines.
5. Make sure you have a serial connection between your target machine
and the GDB host, and identify the serial port on the host.
6. Download your program to your target machine (or get it there by
whatever means the manufacturer provides), and start it.
7. Start GDB on the host, and connect to the target (*note Connecting
to a Remote Target: Connecting.).

File: gdb.info, Node: Configurations, Next: Controlling GDB, Prev: Remote Debugging, Up: Top
21 Configuration-Specific Information
*************************************
While nearly all GDB commands are available for all native and cross
versions of the debugger, there are some exceptions. This chapter
describes things that are only available in certain configurations.
There are three major categories of configurations: native
configurations, where the host and target are the same, embedded
operating system configurations, which are usually the same for several
different processor architectures, and bare embedded processors, which
are quite different from each other.
* Menu:
* Native::
* Embedded OS::
* Embedded Processors::
* Architectures::

File: gdb.info, Node: Native, Next: Embedded OS, Up: Configurations
21.1 Native
===========
This section describes details specific to particular native
configurations.
* Menu:
* HP-UX:: HP-UX
* BSD libkvm Interface:: Debugging BSD kernel memory images
* SVR4 Process Information:: SVR4 process information
* DJGPP Native:: Features specific to the DJGPP port
* Cygwin Native:: Features specific to the Cygwin port
* Hurd Native:: Features specific to GNU Hurd
* Darwin:: Features specific to Darwin

File: gdb.info, Node: HP-UX, Next: BSD libkvm Interface, Up: Native
21.1.1 HP-UX
------------
On HP-UX systems, if you refer to a function or variable name that
begins with a dollar sign, GDB searches for a user or system name first,
before it searches for a convenience variable.

File: gdb.info, Node: BSD libkvm Interface, Next: SVR4 Process Information, Prev: HP-UX, Up: Native
21.1.2 BSD libkvm Interface
---------------------------
BSD-derived systems (FreeBSD/NetBSD/OpenBSD) have a kernel memory
interface that provides a uniform interface for accessing kernel virtual
memory images, including live systems and crash dumps. GDB uses this
interface to allow you to debug live kernels and kernel crash dumps on
many native BSD configurations. This is implemented as a special 'kvm'
debugging target. For debugging a live system, load the currently
running kernel into GDB and connect to the 'kvm' target:
(gdb) target kvm
For debugging crash dumps, provide the file name of the crash dump as
an argument:
(gdb) target kvm /var/crash/bsd.0
Once connected to the 'kvm' target, the following commands are
available:
'kvm pcb'
Set current context from the "Process Control Block" (PCB) address.
'kvm proc'
Set current context from proc address. This command isn't
available on modern FreeBSD systems.

File: gdb.info, Node: SVR4 Process Information, Next: DJGPP Native, Prev: BSD libkvm Interface, Up: Native
21.1.3 SVR4 Process Information
-------------------------------
Many versions of SVR4 and compatible systems provide a facility called
'/proc' that can be used to examine the image of a running process using
file-system subroutines.
If GDB is configured for an operating system with this facility, the
command 'info proc' is available to report information about the process
running your program, or about any process running on your system. This
includes, as of this writing, GNU/Linux, OSF/1 (Digital Unix), Solaris,
and Irix, but not HP-UX, for example.
This command may also work on core files that were created on a
system that has the '/proc' facility.
'info proc'
'info proc PROCESS-ID'
Summarize available information about any running process. If a
process ID is specified by PROCESS-ID, display information about
that process; otherwise display information about the program being
debugged. The summary includes the debugged process ID, the
command line used to invoke it, its current working directory, and
its executable file's absolute file name.
On some systems, PROCESS-ID can be of the form '[PID]/TID' which
specifies a certain thread ID within a process. If the optional
PID part is missing, it means a thread from the process being
debugged (the leading '/' still needs to be present, or else GDB
will interpret the number as a process ID rather than a thread ID).
'info proc cmdline'
Show the original command line of the process. This command is
specific to GNU/Linux.
'info proc cwd'
Show the current working directory of the process. This command is
specific to GNU/Linux.
'info proc exe'
Show the name of executable of the process. This command is
specific to GNU/Linux.
'info proc mappings'
Report the memory address space ranges accessible in the program,
with information on whether the process has read, write, or execute
access rights to each range. On GNU/Linux systems, each memory
range includes the object file which is mapped to that range,
instead of the memory access rights to that range.
'info proc stat'
'info proc status'
These subcommands are specific to GNU/Linux systems. They show the
process-related information, including the user ID and group ID;
how many threads are there in the process; its virtual memory
usage; the signals that are pending, blocked, and ignored; its TTY;
its consumption of system and user time; its stack size; its 'nice'
value; etc. For more information, see the 'proc' man page (type
'man 5 proc' from your shell prompt).
'info proc all'
Show all the information about the process described under all of
the above 'info proc' subcommands.
'set procfs-trace'
This command enables and disables tracing of 'procfs' API calls.
'show procfs-trace'
Show the current state of 'procfs' API call tracing.
'set procfs-file FILE'
Tell GDB to write 'procfs' API trace to the named FILE. GDB
appends the trace info to the previous contents of the file. The
default is to display the trace on the standard output.
'show procfs-file'
Show the file to which 'procfs' API trace is written.
'proc-trace-entry'
'proc-trace-exit'
'proc-untrace-entry'
'proc-untrace-exit'
These commands enable and disable tracing of entries into and exits
from the 'syscall' interface.
'info pidlist'
For QNX Neutrino only, this command displays the list of all the
processes and all the threads within each process.
'info meminfo'
For QNX Neutrino only, this command displays the list of all
mapinfos.

File: gdb.info, Node: DJGPP Native, Next: Cygwin Native, Prev: SVR4 Process Information, Up: Native
21.1.4 Features for Debugging DJGPP Programs
--------------------------------------------
DJGPP is a port of the GNU development tools to MS-DOS and MS-Windows.
DJGPP programs are 32-bit protected-mode programs that use the "DPMI"
(DOS Protected-Mode Interface) API to run on top of real-mode DOS
systems and their emulations.
GDB supports native debugging of DJGPP programs, and defines a few
commands specific to the DJGPP port. This subsection describes those
commands.
'info dos'
This is a prefix of DJGPP-specific commands which print information
about the target system and important OS structures.
'info dos sysinfo'
This command displays assorted information about the underlying
platform: the CPU type and features, the OS version and flavor, the
DPMI version, and the available conventional and DPMI memory.
'info dos gdt'
'info dos ldt'
'info dos idt'
These 3 commands display entries from, respectively, Global, Local,
and Interrupt Descriptor Tables (GDT, LDT, and IDT). The descriptor
tables are data structures which store a descriptor for each
segment that is currently in use. The segment's selector is an
index into a descriptor table; the table entry for that index holds
the descriptor's base address and limit, and its attributes and
access rights.
A typical DJGPP program uses 3 segments: a code segment, a data
segment (used for both data and the stack), and a DOS segment
(which allows access to DOS/BIOS data structures and absolute
addresses in conventional memory). However, the DPMI host will
usually define additional segments in order to support the DPMI
environment.
These commands allow to display entries from the descriptor tables.
Without an argument, all entries from the specified table are
displayed. An argument, which should be an integer expression,
means display a single entry whose index is given by the argument.
For example, here's a convenient way to display information about
the debugged program's data segment:
(gdb) info dos ldt $ds
0x13f: base=0x11970000 limit=0x0009ffff 32-Bit Data (Read/Write, Exp-up)
This comes in handy when you want to see whether a pointer is
outside the data segment's limit (i.e. "garbled").
'info dos pde'
'info dos pte'
These two commands display entries from, respectively, the Page
Directory and the Page Tables. Page Directories and Page Tables
are data structures which control how virtual memory addresses are
mapped into physical addresses. A Page Table includes an entry for
every page of memory that is mapped into the program's address
space; there may be several Page Tables, each one holding up to
4096 entries. A Page Directory has up to 4096 entries, one each
for every Page Table that is currently in use.
Without an argument, 'info dos pde' displays the entire Page
Directory, and 'info dos pte' displays all the entries in all of
the Page Tables. An argument, an integer expression, given to the
'info dos pde' command means display only that entry from the Page
Directory table. An argument given to the 'info dos pte' command
means display entries from a single Page Table, the one pointed to
by the specified entry in the Page Directory.
These commands are useful when your program uses "DMA" (Direct
Memory Access), which needs physical addresses to program the DMA
controller.
These commands are supported only with some DPMI servers.
'info dos address-pte ADDR'
This command displays the Page Table entry for a specified linear
address. The argument ADDR is a linear address which should
already have the appropriate segment's base address added to it,
because this command accepts addresses which may belong to _any_
segment. For example, here's how to display the Page Table entry
for the page where a variable 'i' is stored:
(gdb) info dos address-pte __djgpp_base_address + (char *)&i
Page Table entry for address 0x11a00d30:
Base=0x02698000 Dirty Acc. Not-Cached Write-Back Usr Read-Write +0xd30
This says that 'i' is stored at offset '0xd30' from the page whose
physical base address is '0x02698000', and shows all the attributes
of that page.
Note that you must cast the addresses of variables to a 'char *',
since otherwise the value of '__djgpp_base_address', the base
address of all variables and functions in a DJGPP program, will be
added using the rules of C pointer arithmetics: if 'i' is declared
an 'int', GDB will add 4 times the value of '__djgpp_base_address'
to the address of 'i'.
Here's another example, it displays the Page Table entry for the
transfer buffer:
(gdb) info dos address-pte *((unsigned *)&_go32_info_block + 3)
Page Table entry for address 0x29110:
Base=0x00029000 Dirty Acc. Not-Cached Write-Back Usr Read-Write +0x110
(The '+ 3' offset is because the transfer buffer's address is the
3rd member of the '_go32_info_block' structure.) The output
clearly shows that this DPMI server maps the addresses in
conventional memory 1:1, i.e. the physical ('0x00029000' + '0x110')
and linear ('0x29110') addresses are identical.
This command is supported only with some DPMI servers.
In addition to native debugging, the DJGPP port supports remote
debugging via a serial data link. The following commands are specific
to remote serial debugging in the DJGPP port of GDB.
'set com1base ADDR'
This command sets the base I/O port address of the 'COM1' serial
port.
'set com1irq IRQ'
This command sets the "Interrupt Request" ('IRQ') line to use for
the 'COM1' serial port.
There are similar commands 'set com2base', 'set com3irq', etc. for
setting the port address and the 'IRQ' lines for the other 3 COM
ports.
The related commands 'show com1base', 'show com1irq' etc. display
the current settings of the base address and the 'IRQ' lines used
by the COM ports.
'info serial'
This command prints the status of the 4 DOS serial ports. For each
port, it prints whether it's active or not, its I/O base address
and IRQ number, whether it uses a 16550-style FIFO, its baudrate,
and the counts of various errors encountered so far.

File: gdb.info, Node: Cygwin Native, Next: Hurd Native, Prev: DJGPP Native, Up: Native
21.1.5 Features for Debugging MS Windows PE Executables
-------------------------------------------------------
GDB supports native debugging of MS Windows programs, including DLLs
with and without symbolic debugging information.
MS-Windows programs that call 'SetConsoleMode' to switch off the
special meaning of the 'Ctrl-C' keystroke cannot be interrupted by
typing 'C-c'. For this reason, GDB on MS-Windows supports 'C-<BREAK>'
as an alternative interrupt key sequence, which can be used to interrupt
the debuggee even if it ignores 'C-c'.
There are various additional Cygwin-specific commands, described in
this section. Working with DLLs that have no debugging symbols is
described in *note Non-debug DLL Symbols::.
'info w32'
This is a prefix of MS Windows-specific commands which print
information about the target system and important OS structures.
'info w32 selector'
This command displays information returned by the Win32 API
'GetThreadSelectorEntry' function. It takes an optional argument
that is evaluated to a long value to give the information about
this given selector. Without argument, this command displays
information about the six segment registers.
'info w32 thread-information-block'
This command displays thread specific information stored in the
Thread Information Block (readable on the X86 CPU family using
'$fs' selector for 32-bit programs and '$gs' for 64-bit programs).
'info dll'
This is a Cygwin-specific alias of 'info shared'.
'dll-symbols'
This command is deprecated and will be removed in future versions
of GDB. Use the 'sharedlibrary' command instead.
This command loads symbols from a dll similarly to add-sym command
but without the need to specify a base address.
'set cygwin-exceptions MODE'
If MODE is 'on', GDB will break on exceptions that happen inside
the Cygwin DLL. If MODE is 'off', GDB will delay recognition of
exceptions, and may ignore some exceptions which seem to be caused
by internal Cygwin DLL "bookkeeping". This option is meant
primarily for debugging the Cygwin DLL itself; the default value is
'off' to avoid annoying GDB users with false 'SIGSEGV' signals.
'show cygwin-exceptions'
Displays whether GDB will break on exceptions that happen inside
the Cygwin DLL itself.
'set new-console MODE'
If MODE is 'on' the debuggee will be started in a new console on
next start. If MODE is 'off', the debuggee will be started in the
same console as the debugger.
'show new-console'
Displays whether a new console is used when the debuggee is
started.
'set new-group MODE'
This boolean value controls whether the debuggee should start a new
group or stay in the same group as the debugger. This affects the
way the Windows OS handles 'Ctrl-C'.
'show new-group'
Displays current value of new-group boolean.
'set debugevents'
This boolean value adds debug output concerning kernel events
related to the debuggee seen by the debugger. This includes events
that signal thread and process creation and exit, DLL loading and
unloading, console interrupts, and debugging messages produced by
the Windows 'OutputDebugString' API call.
'set debugexec'
This boolean value adds debug output concerning execute events
(such as resume thread) seen by the debugger.
'set debugexceptions'
This boolean value adds debug output concerning exceptions in the
debuggee seen by the debugger.
'set debugmemory'
This boolean value adds debug output concerning debuggee memory
reads and writes by the debugger.
'set shell'
This boolean values specifies whether the debuggee is called via a
shell or directly (default value is on).
'show shell'
Displays if the debuggee will be started with a shell.
* Menu:
* Non-debug DLL Symbols:: Support for DLLs without debugging symbols

File: gdb.info, Node: Non-debug DLL Symbols, Up: Cygwin Native
21.1.5.1 Support for DLLs without Debugging Symbols
...................................................
Very often on windows, some of the DLLs that your program relies on do
not include symbolic debugging information (for example,
'kernel32.dll'). When GDB doesn't recognize any debugging symbols in a
DLL, it relies on the minimal amount of symbolic information contained
in the DLL's export table. This section describes working with such
symbols, known internally to GDB as "minimal symbols".
Note that before the debugged program has started execution, no DLLs
will have been loaded. The easiest way around this problem is simply to
start the program -- either by setting a breakpoint or letting the
program run once to completion.
21.1.5.2 DLL Name Prefixes
..........................
In keeping with the naming conventions used by the Microsoft debugging
tools, DLL export symbols are made available with a prefix based on the
DLL name, for instance 'KERNEL32!CreateFileA'. The plain name is also
entered into the symbol table, so 'CreateFileA' is often sufficient. In
some cases there will be name clashes within a program (particularly if
the executable itself includes full debugging symbols) necessitating the
use of the fully qualified name when referring to the contents of the
DLL. Use single-quotes around the name to avoid the exclamation mark
("!") being interpreted as a language operator.
Note that the internal name of the DLL may be all upper-case, even
though the file name of the DLL is lower-case, or vice-versa. Since
symbols within GDB are _case-sensitive_ this may cause some confusion.
If in doubt, try the 'info functions' and 'info variables' commands or
even 'maint print msymbols' (*note Symbols::). Here's an example:
(gdb) info function CreateFileA
All functions matching regular expression "CreateFileA":
Non-debugging symbols:
0x77e885f4 CreateFileA
0x77e885f4 KERNEL32!CreateFileA
(gdb) info function !
All functions matching regular expression "!":
Non-debugging symbols:
0x6100114c cygwin1!__assert
0x61004034 cygwin1!_dll_crt0@0
0x61004240 cygwin1!dll_crt0(per_process *)
[etc...]
21.1.5.3 Working with Minimal Symbols
.....................................
Symbols extracted from a DLL's export table do not contain very much
type information. All that GDB can do is guess whether a symbol refers
to a function or variable depending on the linker section that contains
the symbol. Also note that the actual contents of the memory contained
in a DLL are not available unless the program is running. This means
that you cannot examine the contents of a variable or disassemble a
function within a DLL without a running program.
Variables are generally treated as pointers and dereferenced
automatically. For this reason, it is often necessary to prefix a
variable name with the address-of operator ("&") and provide explicit
type information in the command. Here's an example of the type of
problem:
(gdb) print 'cygwin1!__argv'
$1 = 268572168
(gdb) x 'cygwin1!__argv'
0x10021610: "\230y\""
And two possible solutions:
(gdb) print ((char **)'cygwin1!__argv')[0]
$2 = 0x22fd98 "/cygdrive/c/mydirectory/myprogram"
(gdb) x/2x &'cygwin1!__argv'
0x610c0aa8 <cygwin1!__argv>: 0x10021608 0x00000000
(gdb) x/x 0x10021608
0x10021608: 0x0022fd98
(gdb) x/s 0x0022fd98
0x22fd98: "/cygdrive/c/mydirectory/myprogram"
Setting a break point within a DLL is possible even before the
program starts execution. However, under these circumstances, GDB can't
examine the initial instructions of the function in order to skip the
function's frame set-up code. You can work around this by using "*&" to
set the breakpoint at a raw memory address:
(gdb) break *&'python22!PyOS_Readline'
Breakpoint 1 at 0x1e04eff0
The author of these extensions is not entirely convinced that setting
a break point within a shared DLL like 'kernel32.dll' is completely
safe.

File: gdb.info, Node: Hurd Native, Next: Darwin, Prev: Cygwin Native, Up: Native
21.1.6 Commands Specific to GNU Hurd Systems
--------------------------------------------
This subsection describes GDB commands specific to the GNU Hurd native
debugging.
'set signals'
'set sigs'
This command toggles the state of inferior signal interception by
GDB. Mach exceptions, such as breakpoint traps, are not affected
by this command. 'sigs' is a shorthand alias for 'signals'.
'show signals'
'show sigs'
Show the current state of intercepting inferior's signals.
'set signal-thread'
'set sigthread'
This command tells GDB which thread is the 'libc' signal thread.
That thread is run when a signal is delivered to a running process.
'set sigthread' is the shorthand alias of 'set signal-thread'.
'show signal-thread'
'show sigthread'
These two commands show which thread will run when the inferior is
delivered a signal.
'set stopped'
This commands tells GDB that the inferior process is stopped, as
with the 'SIGSTOP' signal. The stopped process can be continued by
delivering a signal to it.
'show stopped'
This command shows whether GDB thinks the debuggee is stopped.
'set exceptions'
Use this command to turn off trapping of exceptions in the
inferior. When exception trapping is off, neither breakpoints nor
single-stepping will work. To restore the default, set exception
trapping on.
'show exceptions'
Show the current state of trapping exceptions in the inferior.
'set task pause'
This command toggles task suspension when GDB has control. Setting
it to on takes effect immediately, and the task is suspended
whenever GDB gets control. Setting it to off will take effect the
next time the inferior is continued. If this option is set to off,
you can use 'set thread default pause on' or 'set thread pause on'
(see below) to pause individual threads.
'show task pause'
Show the current state of task suspension.
'set task detach-suspend-count'
This command sets the suspend count the task will be left with when
GDB detaches from it.
'show task detach-suspend-count'
Show the suspend count the task will be left with when detaching.
'set task exception-port'
'set task excp'
This command sets the task exception port to which GDB will forward
exceptions. The argument should be the value of the "send rights"
of the task. 'set task excp' is a shorthand alias.
'set noninvasive'
This command switches GDB to a mode that is the least invasive as
far as interfering with the inferior is concerned. This is the
same as using 'set task pause', 'set exceptions', and 'set signals'
to values opposite to the defaults.
'info send-rights'
'info receive-rights'
'info port-rights'
'info port-sets'
'info dead-names'
'info ports'
'info psets'
These commands display information about, respectively, send
rights, receive rights, port rights, port sets, and dead names of a
task. There are also shorthand aliases: 'info ports' for 'info
port-rights' and 'info psets' for 'info port-sets'.
'set thread pause'
This command toggles current thread suspension when GDB has
control. Setting it to on takes effect immediately, and the
current thread is suspended whenever GDB gets control. Setting it
to off will take effect the next time the inferior is continued.
Normally, this command has no effect, since when GDB has control,
the whole task is suspended. However, if you used 'set task pause
off' (see above), this command comes in handy to suspend only the
current thread.
'show thread pause'
This command shows the state of current thread suspension.
'set thread run'
This command sets whether the current thread is allowed to run.
'show thread run'
Show whether the current thread is allowed to run.
'set thread detach-suspend-count'
This command sets the suspend count GDB will leave on a thread when
detaching. This number is relative to the suspend count found by
GDB when it notices the thread; use 'set thread
takeover-suspend-count' to force it to an absolute value.
'show thread detach-suspend-count'
Show the suspend count GDB will leave on the thread when detaching.
'set thread exception-port'
'set thread excp'
Set the thread exception port to which to forward exceptions. This
overrides the port set by 'set task exception-port' (see above).
'set thread excp' is the shorthand alias.
'set thread takeover-suspend-count'
Normally, GDB's thread suspend counts are relative to the value GDB
finds when it notices each thread. This command changes the
suspend counts to be absolute instead.
'set thread default'
'show thread default'
Each of the above 'set thread' commands has a 'set thread default'
counterpart (e.g., 'set thread default pause', 'set thread default
exception-port', etc.). The 'thread default' variety of commands
sets the default thread properties for all threads; you can then
change the properties of individual threads with the non-default
commands.

File: gdb.info, Node: Darwin, Prev: Hurd Native, Up: Native
21.1.7 Darwin
-------------
GDB provides the following commands specific to the Darwin target:
'set debug darwin NUM'
When set to a non zero value, enables debugging messages specific
to the Darwin support. Higher values produce more verbose output.
'show debug darwin'
Show the current state of Darwin messages.
'set debug mach-o NUM'
When set to a non zero value, enables debugging messages while GDB
is reading Darwin object files. ("Mach-O" is the file format used
on Darwin for object and executable files.) Higher values produce
more verbose output. This is a command to diagnose problems
internal to GDB and should not be needed in normal usage.
'show debug mach-o'
Show the current state of Mach-O file messages.
'set mach-exceptions on'
'set mach-exceptions off'
On Darwin, faults are first reported as a Mach exception and are
then mapped to a Posix signal. Use this command to turn on
trapping of Mach exceptions in the inferior. This might be
sometimes useful to better understand the cause of a fault. The
default is off.
'show mach-exceptions'
Show the current state of exceptions trapping.

File: gdb.info, Node: Embedded OS, Next: Embedded Processors, Prev: Native, Up: Configurations
21.2 Embedded Operating Systems
===============================
This section describes configurations involving the debugging of
embedded operating systems that are available for several different
architectures.
* Menu:
* VxWorks:: Using GDB with VxWorks
GDB includes the ability to debug programs running on various
real-time operating systems.

File: gdb.info, Node: VxWorks, Up: Embedded OS
21.2.1 Using GDB with VxWorks
-----------------------------
'target vxworks MACHINENAME'
A VxWorks system, attached via TCP/IP. The argument MACHINENAME is
the target system's machine name or IP address.
On VxWorks, 'load' links FILENAME dynamically on the current target
system as well as adding its symbols in GDB.
GDB enables developers to spawn and debug tasks running on networked
VxWorks targets from a Unix host. Already-running tasks spawned from
the VxWorks shell can also be debugged. GDB uses code that runs on both
the Unix host and on the VxWorks target. The program 'gdb' is installed
and executed on the Unix host. (It may be installed with the name
'vxgdb', to distinguish it from a GDB for debugging programs on the host
itself.)
'VxWorks-timeout ARGS'
All VxWorks-based targets now support the option 'vxworks-timeout'.
This option is set by the user, and ARGS represents the number of
seconds GDB waits for responses to rpc's. You might use this if
your VxWorks target is a slow software simulator or is on the far
side of a thin network line.
The following information on connecting to VxWorks was current when
this manual was produced; newer releases of VxWorks may use revised
procedures.
To use GDB with VxWorks, you must rebuild your VxWorks kernel to
include the remote debugging interface routines in the VxWorks library
'rdb.a'. To do this, define 'INCLUDE_RDB' in the VxWorks configuration
file 'configAll.h' and rebuild your VxWorks kernel. The resulting
kernel contains 'rdb.a', and spawns the source debugging task 'tRdbTask'
when VxWorks is booted. For more information on configuring and
remaking VxWorks, see the manufacturer's manual.
Once you have included 'rdb.a' in your VxWorks system image and set
your Unix execution search path to find GDB, you are ready to run GDB.
From your Unix host, run 'gdb' (or 'vxgdb', depending on your
installation).
GDB comes up showing the prompt:
(vxgdb)
* Menu:
* VxWorks Connection:: Connecting to VxWorks
* VxWorks Download:: VxWorks download
* VxWorks Attach:: Running tasks

File: gdb.info, Node: VxWorks Connection, Next: VxWorks Download, Up: VxWorks
21.2.1.1 Connecting to VxWorks
..............................
The GDB command 'target' lets you connect to a VxWorks target on the
network. To connect to a target whose host name is "'tt'", type:
(vxgdb) target vxworks tt
GDB displays messages like these:
Attaching remote machine across net...
Connected to tt.
GDB then attempts to read the symbol tables of any object modules
loaded into the VxWorks target since it was last booted. GDB locates
these files by searching the directories listed in the command search
path (*note Your Program's Environment: Environment.); if it fails to
find an object file, it displays a message such as:
prog.o: No such file or directory.
When this happens, add the appropriate directory to the search path
with the GDB command 'path', and execute the 'target' command again.

File: gdb.info, Node: VxWorks Download, Next: VxWorks Attach, Prev: VxWorks Connection, Up: VxWorks
21.2.1.2 VxWorks Download
.........................
If you have connected to the VxWorks target and you want to debug an
object that has not yet been loaded, you can use the GDB 'load' command
to download a file from Unix to VxWorks incrementally. The object file
given as an argument to the 'load' command is actually opened twice:
first by the VxWorks target in order to download the code, then by GDB
in order to read the symbol table. This can lead to problems if the
current working directories on the two systems differ. If both systems
have NFS mounted the same filesystems, you can avoid these problems by
using absolute paths. Otherwise, it is simplest to set the working
directory on both systems to the directory in which the object file
resides, and then to reference the file by its name, without any path.
For instance, a program 'prog.o' may reside in 'VXPATH/vw/demo/rdb' in
VxWorks and in 'HOSTPATH/vw/demo/rdb' on the host. To load this
program, type this on VxWorks:
-> cd "VXPATH/vw/demo/rdb"
Then, in GDB, type:
(vxgdb) cd HOSTPATH/vw/demo/rdb
(vxgdb) load prog.o
GDB displays a response similar to this:
Reading symbol data from wherever/vw/demo/rdb/prog.o... done.
You can also use the 'load' command to reload an object module after
editing and recompiling the corresponding source file. Note that this
makes GDB delete all currently-defined breakpoints, auto-displays, and
convenience variables, and to clear the value history. (This is
necessary in order to preserve the integrity of debugger's data
structures that reference the target system's symbol table.)

File: gdb.info, Node: VxWorks Attach, Prev: VxWorks Download, Up: VxWorks
21.2.1.3 Running Tasks
......................
You can also attach to an existing task using the 'attach' command as
follows:
(vxgdb) attach TASK
where TASK is the VxWorks hexadecimal task ID. The task can be running
or suspended when you attach to it. Running tasks are suspended at the
time of attachment.

File: gdb.info, Node: Embedded Processors, Next: Architectures, Prev: Embedded OS, Up: Configurations
21.3 Embedded Processors
========================
This section goes into details specific to particular embedded
configurations.
Whenever a specific embedded processor has a simulator, GDB allows to
send an arbitrary command to the simulator.
'sim COMMAND'
Send an arbitrary COMMAND string to the simulator. Consult the
documentation for the specific simulator in use for information
about acceptable commands.
* Menu:
* ARM:: ARM RDI
* M32R/D:: Renesas M32R/D
* M68K:: Motorola M68K
* MicroBlaze:: Xilinx MicroBlaze
* MIPS Embedded:: MIPS Embedded
* PowerPC Embedded:: PowerPC Embedded
* PA:: HP PA Embedded
* Sparclet:: Tsqware Sparclet
* Sparclite:: Fujitsu Sparclite
* Z8000:: Zilog Z8000
* AVR:: Atmel AVR
* CRIS:: CRIS
* Super-H:: Renesas Super-H

File: gdb.info, Node: ARM, Next: M32R/D, Up: Embedded Processors
21.3.1 ARM
----------
'target rdi DEV'
ARM Angel monitor, via RDI library interface to ADP protocol. You
may use this target to communicate with both boards running the
Angel monitor, or with the EmbeddedICE JTAG debug device.
'target rdp DEV'
ARM Demon monitor.
GDB provides the following ARM-specific commands:
'set arm disassembler'
This commands selects from a list of disassembly styles. The
'"std"' style is the standard style.
'show arm disassembler'
Show the current disassembly style.
'set arm apcs32'
This command toggles ARM operation mode between 32-bit and 26-bit.
'show arm apcs32'
Display the current usage of the ARM 32-bit mode.
'set arm fpu FPUTYPE'
This command sets the ARM floating-point unit (FPU) type. The
argument FPUTYPE can be one of these:
'auto'
Determine the FPU type by querying the OS ABI.
'softfpa'
Software FPU, with mixed-endian doubles on little-endian ARM
processors.
'fpa'
GCC-compiled FPA co-processor.
'softvfp'
Software FPU with pure-endian doubles.
'vfp'
VFP co-processor.
'show arm fpu'
Show the current type of the FPU.
'set arm abi'
This command forces GDB to use the specified ABI.
'show arm abi'
Show the currently used ABI.
'set arm fallback-mode (arm|thumb|auto)'
GDB uses the symbol table, when available, to determine whether
instructions are ARM or Thumb. This command controls GDB's default
behavior when the symbol table is not available. The default is
'auto', which causes GDB to use the current execution mode (from
the 'T' bit in the 'CPSR' register).
'show arm fallback-mode'
Show the current fallback instruction mode.
'set arm force-mode (arm|thumb|auto)'
This command overrides use of the symbol table to determine whether
instructions are ARM or Thumb. The default is 'auto', which causes
GDB to use the symbol table and then the setting of 'set arm
fallback-mode'.
'show arm force-mode'
Show the current forced instruction mode.
'set debug arm'
Toggle whether to display ARM-specific debugging messages from the
ARM target support subsystem.
'show debug arm'
Show whether ARM-specific debugging messages are enabled.
The following commands are available when an ARM target is debugged
using the RDI interface:
'rdilogfile [FILE]'
Set the filename for the ADP (Angel Debugger Protocol) packet log.
With an argument, sets the log file to the specified FILE. With no
argument, show the current log file name. The default log file is
'rdi.log'.
'rdilogenable [ARG]'
Control logging of ADP packets. With an argument of 1 or '"yes"'
enables logging, with an argument 0 or '"no"' disables it. With no
arguments displays the current setting. When logging is enabled,
ADP packets exchanged between GDB and the RDI target device are
logged to a file.
'set rdiromatzero'
Tell GDB whether the target has ROM at address 0. If on, vector
catching is disabled, so that zero address can be used. If off
(the default), vector catching is enabled. For this command to
take effect, it needs to be invoked prior to the 'target rdi'
command.
'show rdiromatzero'
Show the current setting of ROM at zero address.
'set rdiheartbeat'
Enable or disable RDI heartbeat packets. It is not recommended to
turn on this option, since it confuses ARM and EPI JTAG interface,
as well as the Angel monitor.
'show rdiheartbeat'
Show the setting of RDI heartbeat packets.
'target sim [SIMARGS] ...'
The GDB ARM simulator accepts the following optional arguments.
'--swi-support=TYPE'
Tell the simulator which SWI interfaces to support. The
argument TYPE may be a comma separated list of the following
values. The default value is 'all'.
'none'
'demon'
'angel'
'redboot'
'all'

File: gdb.info, Node: M32R/D, Next: M68K, Prev: ARM, Up: Embedded Processors
21.3.2 Renesas M32R/D and M32R/SDI
----------------------------------
'target m32r DEV'
Renesas M32R/D ROM monitor.
'target m32rsdi DEV'
Renesas M32R SDI server, connected via parallel port to the board.
The following GDB commands are specific to the M32R monitor:
'set download-path PATH'
Set the default path for finding downloadable SREC files.
'show download-path'
Show the default path for downloadable SREC files.
'set board-address ADDR'
Set the IP address for the M32R-EVA target board.
'show board-address'
Show the current IP address of the target board.
'set server-address ADDR'
Set the IP address for the download server, which is the GDB's host
machine.
'show server-address'
Display the IP address of the download server.
'upload [FILE]'
Upload the specified SREC FILE via the monitor's Ethernet upload
capability. If no FILE argument is given, the current executable
file is uploaded.
'tload [FILE]'
Test the 'upload' command.
The following commands are available for M32R/SDI:
'sdireset'
This command resets the SDI connection.
'sdistatus'
This command shows the SDI connection status.
'debug_chaos'
Instructs the remote that M32R/Chaos debugging is to be used.
'use_debug_dma'
Instructs the remote to use the DEBUG_DMA method of accessing
memory.
'use_mon_code'
Instructs the remote to use the MON_CODE method of accessing
memory.
'use_ib_break'
Instructs the remote to set breakpoints by IB break.
'use_dbt_break'
Instructs the remote to set breakpoints by DBT.

File: gdb.info, Node: M68K, Next: MicroBlaze, Prev: M32R/D, Up: Embedded Processors
21.3.3 M68k
-----------
The Motorola m68k configuration includes ColdFire support, and a target
command for the following ROM monitor.
'target dbug DEV'
dBUG ROM monitor for Motorola ColdFire.

File: gdb.info, Node: MicroBlaze, Next: MIPS Embedded, Prev: M68K, Up: Embedded Processors
21.3.4 MicroBlaze
-----------------
The MicroBlaze is a soft-core processor supported on various Xilinx
FPGAs, such as Spartan or Virtex series. Boards with these processors
usually have JTAG ports which connect to a host system running the
Xilinx Embedded Development Kit (EDK) or Software Development Kit (SDK).
This host system is used to download the configuration bitstream to the
target FPGA. The Xilinx Microprocessor Debugger (XMD) program
communicates with the target board using the JTAG interface and presents
a 'gdbserver' interface to the board. By default 'xmd' uses port
'1234'. (While it is possible to change this default port, it requires
the use of undocumented 'xmd' commands. Contact Xilinx support if you
need to do this.)
Use these GDB commands to connect to the MicroBlaze target processor.
'target remote :1234'
Use this command to connect to the target if you are running GDB on
the same system as 'xmd'.
'target remote XMD-HOST:1234'
Use this command to connect to the target if it is connected to
'xmd' running on a different system named XMD-HOST.
'load'
Use this command to download a program to the MicroBlaze target.
'set debug microblaze N'
Enable MicroBlaze-specific debugging messages if non-zero.
'show debug microblaze N'
Show MicroBlaze-specific debugging level.

File: gdb.info, Node: MIPS Embedded, Next: PowerPC Embedded, Prev: MicroBlaze, Up: Embedded Processors
21.3.5 MIPS Embedded
--------------------
GDB can use the MIPS remote debugging protocol to talk to a MIPS board
attached to a serial line. This is available when you configure GDB
with '--target=mips-elf'.
Use these GDB commands to specify the connection to your target
board:
'target mips PORT'
To run a program on the board, start up 'gdb' with the name of your
program as the argument. To connect to the board, use the command
'target mips PORT', where PORT is the name of the serial port
connected to the board. If the program has not already been
downloaded to the board, you may use the 'load' command to download
it. You can then use all the usual GDB commands.
For example, this sequence connects to the target board through a
serial port, and loads and runs a program called PROG through the
debugger:
host$ gdb PROG
GDB is free software and ...
(gdb) target mips /dev/ttyb
(gdb) load PROG
(gdb) run
'target mips HOSTNAME:PORTNUMBER'
On some GDB host configurations, you can specify a TCP connection
(for instance, to a serial line managed by a terminal concentrator)
instead of a serial port, using the syntax 'HOSTNAME:PORTNUMBER'.
'target pmon PORT'
PMON ROM monitor.
'target ddb PORT'
NEC's DDB variant of PMON for Vr4300.
'target lsi PORT'
LSI variant of PMON.
'target r3900 DEV'
Densan DVE-R3900 ROM monitor for Toshiba R3900 Mips.
'target array DEV'
Array Tech LSI33K RAID controller board.
GDB also supports these special commands for MIPS targets:
'set mipsfpu double'
'set mipsfpu single'
'set mipsfpu none'
'set mipsfpu auto'
'show mipsfpu'
If your target board does not support the MIPS floating point
coprocessor, you should use the command 'set mipsfpu none' (if you
need this, you may wish to put the command in your GDB init file).
This tells GDB how to find the return value of functions which
return floating point values. It also allows GDB to avoid saving
the floating point registers when calling functions on the board.
If you are using a floating point coprocessor with only single
precision floating point support, as on the R4650 processor, use
the command 'set mipsfpu single'. The default double precision
floating point coprocessor may be selected using 'set mipsfpu
double'.
In previous versions the only choices were double precision or no
floating point, so 'set mipsfpu on' will select double precision
and 'set mipsfpu off' will select no floating point.
As usual, you can inquire about the 'mipsfpu' variable with 'show
mipsfpu'.
'set timeout SECONDS'
'set retransmit-timeout SECONDS'
'show timeout'
'show retransmit-timeout'
You can control the timeout used while waiting for a packet, in the
MIPS remote protocol, with the 'set timeout SECONDS' command. The
default is 5 seconds. Similarly, you can control the timeout used
while waiting for an acknowledgment of a packet with the 'set
retransmit-timeout SECONDS' command. The default is 3 seconds.
You can inspect both values with 'show timeout' and 'show
retransmit-timeout'. (These commands are _only_ available when GDB
is configured for '--target=mips-elf'.)
The timeout set by 'set timeout' does not apply when GDB is waiting
for your program to stop. In that case, GDB waits forever because
it has no way of knowing how long the program is going to run
before stopping.
'set syn-garbage-limit NUM'
Limit the maximum number of characters GDB should ignore when it
tries to synchronize with the remote target. The default is 10
characters. Setting the limit to -1 means there's no limit.
'show syn-garbage-limit'
Show the current limit on the number of characters to ignore when
trying to synchronize with the remote system.
'set monitor-prompt PROMPT'
Tell GDB to expect the specified PROMPT string from the remote
monitor. The default depends on the target:
pmon target
'PMON'
ddb target
'NEC010'
lsi target
'PMON>'
'show monitor-prompt'
Show the current strings GDB expects as the prompt from the remote
monitor.
'set monitor-warnings'
Enable or disable monitor warnings about hardware breakpoints.
This has effect only for the 'lsi' target. When on, GDB will
display warning messages whose codes are returned by the 'lsi' PMON
monitor for breakpoint commands.
'show monitor-warnings'
Show the current setting of printing monitor warnings.
'pmon COMMAND'
This command allows sending an arbitrary COMMAND string to the
monitor. The monitor must be in debug mode for this to work.

File: gdb.info, Node: PowerPC Embedded, Next: PA, Prev: MIPS Embedded, Up: Embedded Processors
21.3.6 PowerPC Embedded
-----------------------
GDB supports using the DVC (Data Value Compare) register to implement in
hardware simple hardware watchpoint conditions of the form:
(gdb) watch ADDRESS|VARIABLE \
if ADDRESS|VARIABLE == CONSTANT EXPRESSION
The DVC register will be automatically used when GDB detects such
pattern in a condition expression, and the created watchpoint uses one
debug register (either the 'exact-watchpoints' option is on and the
variable is scalar, or the variable has a length of one byte). This
feature is available in native GDB running on a Linux kernel version
2.6.34 or newer.
When running on PowerPC embedded processors, GDB automatically uses
ranged hardware watchpoints, unless the 'exact-watchpoints' option is
on, in which case watchpoints using only one debug register are created
when watching variables of scalar types.
You can create an artificial array to watch an arbitrary memory
region using one of the following commands (*note Expressions::):
(gdb) watch *((char *) ADDRESS)@LENGTH
(gdb) watch {char[LENGTH]} ADDRESS
PowerPC embedded processors support masked watchpoints. See the
discussion about the 'mask' argument in *note Set Watchpoints::.
PowerPC embedded processors support hardware accelerated "ranged
breakpoints". A ranged breakpoint stops execution of the inferior
whenever it executes an instruction at any address within the range it
specifies. To set a ranged breakpoint in GDB, use the 'break-range'
command.
GDB provides the following PowerPC-specific commands:
'break-range START-LOCATION, END-LOCATION'
Set a breakpoint for an address range given by START-LOCATION and
END-LOCATION, which can specify a function name, a line number, an
offset of lines from the current line or from the start location,
or an address of an instruction (see *note Specify Location::, for
a list of all the possible ways to specify a LOCATION.) The
breakpoint will stop execution of the inferior whenever it executes
an instruction at any address within the specified range,
(including START-LOCATION and END-LOCATION.)
'set powerpc soft-float'
'show powerpc soft-float'
Force GDB to use (or not use) a software floating point calling
convention. By default, GDB selects the calling convention based
on the selected architecture and the provided executable file.
'set powerpc vector-abi'
'show powerpc vector-abi'
Force GDB to use the specified calling convention for vector
arguments and return values. The valid options are 'auto';
'generic', to avoid vector registers even if they are present;
'altivec', to use AltiVec registers; and 'spe' to use SPE
registers. By default, GDB selects the calling convention based on
the selected architecture and the provided executable file.
'set powerpc exact-watchpoints'
'show powerpc exact-watchpoints'
Allow GDB to use only one debug register when watching a variable
of scalar type, thus assuming that the variable is accessed through
the address of its first byte.
'target dink32 DEV'
DINK32 ROM monitor.
'target ppcbug DEV'
'target ppcbug1 DEV'
PPCBUG ROM monitor for PowerPC.
'target sds DEV'
SDS monitor, running on a PowerPC board (such as Motorola's ADS).
The following commands specific to the SDS protocol are supported by
GDB:
'set sdstimeout NSEC'
Set the timeout for SDS protocol reads to be NSEC seconds. The
default is 2 seconds.
'show sdstimeout'
Show the current value of the SDS timeout.
'sds COMMAND'
Send the specified COMMAND string to the SDS monitor.

File: gdb.info, Node: PA, Next: Sparclet, Prev: PowerPC Embedded, Up: Embedded Processors
21.3.7 HP PA Embedded
---------------------
'target op50n DEV'
OP50N monitor, running on an OKI HPPA board.
'target w89k DEV'
W89K monitor, running on a Winbond HPPA board.

File: gdb.info, Node: Sparclet, Next: Sparclite, Prev: PA, Up: Embedded Processors
21.3.8 Tsqware Sparclet
-----------------------
GDB enables developers to debug tasks running on Sparclet targets from a
Unix host. GDB uses code that runs on both the Unix host and on the
Sparclet target. The program 'gdb' is installed and executed on the
Unix host.
'remotetimeout ARGS'
GDB supports the option 'remotetimeout'. This option is set by the
user, and ARGS represents the number of seconds GDB waits for
responses.
When compiling for debugging, include the options '-g' to get debug
information and '-Ttext' to relocate the program to where you wish to
load it on the target. You may also want to add the options '-n' or
'-N' in order to reduce the size of the sections. Example:
sparclet-aout-gcc prog.c -Ttext 0x12010000 -g -o prog -N
You can use 'objdump' to verify that the addresses are what you
intended:
sparclet-aout-objdump --headers --syms prog
Once you have set your Unix execution search path to find GDB, you
are ready to run GDB. From your Unix host, run 'gdb' (or
'sparclet-aout-gdb', depending on your installation).
GDB comes up showing the prompt:
(gdbslet)
* Menu:
* Sparclet File:: Setting the file to debug
* Sparclet Connection:: Connecting to Sparclet
* Sparclet Download:: Sparclet download
* Sparclet Execution:: Running and debugging

File: gdb.info, Node: Sparclet File, Next: Sparclet Connection, Up: Sparclet
21.3.8.1 Setting File to Debug
..............................
The GDB command 'file' lets you choose with program to debug.
(gdbslet) file prog
GDB then attempts to read the symbol table of 'prog'. GDB locates
the file by searching the directories listed in the command search path.
If the file was compiled with debug information (option '-g'), source
files will be searched as well. GDB locates the source files by
searching the directories listed in the directory search path (*note
Your Program's Environment: Environment.). If it fails to find a file,
it displays a message such as:
prog: No such file or directory.
When this happens, add the appropriate directories to the search
paths with the GDB commands 'path' and 'dir', and execute the 'target'
command again.

File: gdb.info, Node: Sparclet Connection, Next: Sparclet Download, Prev: Sparclet File, Up: Sparclet
21.3.8.2 Connecting to Sparclet
...............................
The GDB command 'target' lets you connect to a Sparclet target. To
connect to a target on serial port "'ttya'", type:
(gdbslet) target sparclet /dev/ttya
Remote target sparclet connected to /dev/ttya
main () at ../prog.c:3
GDB displays messages like these:
Connected to ttya.

File: gdb.info, Node: Sparclet Download, Next: Sparclet Execution, Prev: Sparclet Connection, Up: Sparclet
21.3.8.3 Sparclet Download
..........................
Once connected to the Sparclet target, you can use the GDB 'load'
command to download the file from the host to the target. The file name
and load offset should be given as arguments to the 'load' command.
Since the file format is aout, the program must be loaded to the
starting address. You can use 'objdump' to find out what this value is.
The load offset is an offset which is added to the VMA (virtual memory
address) of each of the file's sections. For instance, if the program
'prog' was linked to text address 0x1201000, with data at 0x12010160 and
bss at 0x12010170, in GDB, type:
(gdbslet) load prog 0x12010000
Loading section .text, size 0xdb0 vma 0x12010000
If the code is loaded at a different address then what the program
was linked to, you may need to use the 'section' and 'add-symbol-file'
commands to tell GDB where to map the symbol table.

File: gdb.info, Node: Sparclet Execution, Prev: Sparclet Download, Up: Sparclet
21.3.8.4 Running and Debugging
..............................
You can now begin debugging the task using GDB's execution control
commands, 'b', 'step', 'run', etc. See the GDB manual for the list of
commands.
(gdbslet) b main
Breakpoint 1 at 0x12010000: file prog.c, line 3.
(gdbslet) run
Starting program: prog
Breakpoint 1, main (argc=1, argv=0xeffff21c) at prog.c:3
3 char *symarg = 0;
(gdbslet) step
4 char *execarg = "hello!";
(gdbslet)

File: gdb.info, Node: Sparclite, Next: Z8000, Prev: Sparclet, Up: Embedded Processors
21.3.9 Fujitsu Sparclite
------------------------
'target sparclite DEV'
Fujitsu sparclite boards, used only for the purpose of loading.
You must use an additional command to debug the program. For
example: target remote DEV using GDB standard remote protocol.

File: gdb.info, Node: Z8000, Next: AVR, Prev: Sparclite, Up: Embedded Processors
21.3.10 Zilog Z8000
-------------------
When configured for debugging Zilog Z8000 targets, GDB includes a Z8000
simulator.
For the Z8000 family, 'target sim' simulates either the Z8002 (the
unsegmented variant of the Z8000 architecture) or the Z8001 (the
segmented variant). The simulator recognizes which architecture is
appropriate by inspecting the object code.
'target sim ARGS'
Debug programs on a simulated CPU. If the simulator supports setup
options, specify them via ARGS.
After specifying this target, you can debug programs for the simulated
CPU in the same style as programs for your host computer; use the 'file'
command to load a new program image, the 'run' command to run your
program, and so on.
As well as making available all the usual machine registers (*note
Registers: Registers.), the Z8000 simulator provides three additional
items of information as specially named registers:
'cycles'
Counts clock-ticks in the simulator.
'insts'
Counts instructions run in the simulator.
'time'
Execution time in 60ths of a second.
You can refer to these values in GDB expressions with the usual
conventions; for example, 'b fputc if $cycles>5000' sets a conditional
breakpoint that suspends only after at least 5000 simulated clock ticks.

File: gdb.info, Node: AVR, Next: CRIS, Prev: Z8000, Up: Embedded Processors
21.3.11 Atmel AVR
-----------------
When configured for debugging the Atmel AVR, GDB supports the following
AVR-specific commands:
'info io_registers'
This command displays information about the AVR I/O registers. For
each register, GDB prints its number and value.

File: gdb.info, Node: CRIS, Next: Super-H, Prev: AVR, Up: Embedded Processors
21.3.12 CRIS
------------
When configured for debugging CRIS, GDB provides the following
CRIS-specific commands:
'set cris-version VER'
Set the current CRIS version to VER, either '10' or '32'. The CRIS
version affects register names and sizes. This command is useful
in case autodetection of the CRIS version fails.
'show cris-version'
Show the current CRIS version.
'set cris-dwarf2-cfi'
Set the usage of DWARF-2 CFI for CRIS debugging. The default is
'on'. Change to 'off' when using 'gcc-cris' whose version is below
'R59'.
'show cris-dwarf2-cfi'
Show the current state of using DWARF-2 CFI.
'set cris-mode MODE'
Set the current CRIS mode to MODE. It should only be changed when
debugging in guru mode, in which case it should be set to 'guru'
(the default is 'normal').
'show cris-mode'
Show the current CRIS mode.

File: gdb.info, Node: Super-H, Prev: CRIS, Up: Embedded Processors
21.3.13 Renesas Super-H
-----------------------
For the Renesas Super-H processor, GDB provides these commands:
'set sh calling-convention CONVENTION'
Set the calling-convention used when calling functions from GDB.
Allowed values are 'gcc', which is the default setting, and
'renesas'. With the 'gcc' setting, functions are called using the
GCC calling convention. If the DWARF-2 information of the called
function specifies that the function follows the Renesas calling
convention, the function is called using the Renesas calling
convention. If the calling convention is set to 'renesas', the
Renesas calling convention is always used, regardless of the
DWARF-2 information. This can be used to override the default of
'gcc' if debug information is missing, or the compiler does not
emit the DWARF-2 calling convention entry for a function.
'show sh calling-convention'
Show the current calling convention setting.

File: gdb.info, Node: Architectures, Prev: Embedded Processors, Up: Configurations
21.4 Architectures
==================
This section describes characteristics of architectures that affect all
uses of GDB with the architecture, both native and cross.
* Menu:
* AArch64::
* i386::
* Alpha::
* MIPS::
* HPPA:: HP PA architecture
* SPU:: Cell Broadband Engine SPU architecture
* PowerPC::
* Nios II::

File: gdb.info, Node: AArch64, Next: i386, Up: Architectures
21.4.1 AArch64
--------------
When GDB is debugging the AArch64 architecture, it provides the
following special commands:
'set debug aarch64'
This command determines whether AArch64 architecture-specific
debugging messages are to be displayed.
'show debug aarch64'
Show whether AArch64 debugging messages are displayed.

File: gdb.info, Node: i386, Next: Alpha, Prev: AArch64, Up: Architectures
21.4.2 x86 Architecture-specific Issues
---------------------------------------
'set struct-convention MODE'
Set the convention used by the inferior to return 'struct's and
'union's from functions to MODE. Possible values of MODE are
'"pcc"', '"reg"', and '"default"' (the default). '"default"' or
'"pcc"' means that 'struct's are returned on the stack, while
'"reg"' means that a 'struct' or a 'union' whose size is 1, 2, 4,
or 8 bytes will be returned in a register.
'show struct-convention'
Show the current setting of the convention to return 'struct's from
functions.
21.4.2.1 Intel(R) "Memory Protection Extensions" (MPX).
.......................................................
Memory Protection Extension (MPX) adds the bound registers 'BND0' (1)
through 'BND3'. Bound registers store a pair of 64-bit values which are
the lower bound and upper bound. Bounds are effective addresses or
memory locations. The upper bounds are architecturally represented in
1's complement form. A bound having lower bound = 0, and upper bound =
0 (1's complement of all bits set) will allow access to the entire
address space.
'BND0' through 'BND3' are represented in GDB as 'bnd0raw' through
'bnd3raw'. Pseudo registers 'bnd0' through 'bnd3' display the upper
bound performing the complement of one operation on the upper bound
value, i.e. when upper bound in 'bnd0raw' is 0 in the GDB 'bnd0' it will
be '0xfff...'. In this sense it can also be noted that the upper bounds
are inclusive.
As an example, assume that the register BND0 holds bounds for a
pointer having access allowed for the range between 0x32 and 0x71. The
values present on bnd0raw and bnd registers are presented as follows:
bnd0raw = {0x32, 0xffffffff8e}
bnd0 = {lbound = 0x32, ubound = 0x71} : size 64
This way the raw value can be accessed via bnd0raw...bnd3raw. Any
change on bnd0...bnd3 or bnd0raw...bnd3raw is reflect on its
counterpart. When the bnd0...bnd3 registers are displayed via Python,
the display includes the memory size, in bits, accessible to the
pointer.
---------- Footnotes ----------
(1) The register named with capital letters represent the
architecture registers.

File: gdb.info, Node: Alpha, Next: MIPS, Prev: i386, Up: Architectures
21.4.3 Alpha
------------
See the following section.

File: gdb.info, Node: MIPS, Next: HPPA, Prev: Alpha, Up: Architectures
21.4.4 MIPS
-----------
Alpha- and MIPS-based computers use an unusual stack frame, which
sometimes requires GDB to search backward in the object code to find the
beginning of a function.
To improve response time (especially for embedded applications, where
GDB may be restricted to a slow serial line for this search) you may
want to limit the size of this search, using one of these commands:
'set heuristic-fence-post LIMIT'
Restrict GDB to examining at most LIMIT bytes in its search for the
beginning of a function. A value of 0 (the default) means there is
no limit. However, except for 0, the larger the limit the more
bytes 'heuristic-fence-post' must search and therefore the longer
it takes to run. You should only need to use this command when
debugging a stripped executable.
'show heuristic-fence-post'
Display the current limit.
These commands are available _only_ when GDB is configured for debugging
programs on Alpha or MIPS processors.
Several MIPS-specific commands are available when debugging MIPS
programs:
'set mips abi ARG'
Tell GDB which MIPS ABI is used by the inferior. Possible values
of ARG are:
'auto'
The default ABI associated with the current binary (this is
the default).
'o32'
'o64'
'n32'
'n64'
'eabi32'
'eabi64'
'show mips abi'
Show the MIPS ABI used by GDB to debug the inferior.
'set mips compression ARG'
Tell GDB which MIPS compressed ISA (Instruction Set Architecture)
encoding is used by the inferior. GDB uses this for code
disassembly and other internal interpretation purposes. This
setting is only referred to when no executable has been associated
with the debugging session or the executable does not provide
information about the encoding it uses. Otherwise this setting is
automatically updated from information provided by the executable.
Possible values of ARG are 'mips16' and 'micromips'. The default
compressed ISA encoding is 'mips16', as executables containing
MIPS16 code frequently are not identified as such.
This setting is "sticky"; that is, it retains its value across
debugging sessions until reset either explicitly with this command
or implicitly from an executable.
The compiler and/or assembler typically add symbol table
annotations to identify functions compiled for the MIPS16 or
microMIPS ISAs. If these function-scope annotations are present,
GDB uses them in preference to the global compressed ISA encoding
setting.
'show mips compression'
Show the MIPS compressed ISA encoding used by GDB to debug the
inferior.
'set mipsfpu'
'show mipsfpu'
*Note set mipsfpu: MIPS Embedded.
'set mips mask-address ARG'
This command determines whether the most-significant 32 bits of
64-bit MIPS addresses are masked off. The argument ARG can be
'on', 'off', or 'auto'. The latter is the default setting, which
lets GDB determine the correct value.
'show mips mask-address'
Show whether the upper 32 bits of MIPS addresses are masked off or
not.
'set remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs'
This command controls compatibility with 64-bit MIPS targets that
transfer data in 32-bit quantities. If you have an old MIPS 64
target that transfers 32 bits for some registers, like SR and FSR,
and 64 bits for other registers, set this option to 'on'.
'show remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs'
Show the current setting of compatibility with older MIPS 64
targets.
'set debug mips'
This command turns on and off debugging messages for the
MIPS-specific target code in GDB.
'show debug mips'
Show the current setting of MIPS debugging messages.

File: gdb.info, Node: HPPA, Next: SPU, Prev: MIPS, Up: Architectures
21.4.5 HPPA
-----------
When GDB is debugging the HP PA architecture, it provides the following
special commands:
'set debug hppa'
This command determines whether HPPA architecture-specific
debugging messages are to be displayed.
'show debug hppa'
Show whether HPPA debugging messages are displayed.
'maint print unwind ADDRESS'
This command displays the contents of the unwind table entry at the
given ADDRESS.

File: gdb.info, Node: SPU, Next: PowerPC, Prev: HPPA, Up: Architectures
21.4.6 Cell Broadband Engine SPU architecture
---------------------------------------------
When GDB is debugging the Cell Broadband Engine SPU architecture, it
provides the following special commands:
'info spu event'
Display SPU event facility status. Shows current event mask and
pending event status.
'info spu signal'
Display SPU signal notification facility status. Shows pending
signal-control word and signal notification mode of both signal
notification channels.
'info spu mailbox'
Display SPU mailbox facility status. Shows all pending entries, in
order of processing, in each of the SPU Write Outbound, SPU Write
Outbound Interrupt, and SPU Read Inbound mailboxes.
'info spu dma'
Display MFC DMA status. Shows all pending commands in the MFC DMA
queue. For each entry, opcode, tag, class IDs, effective and local
store addresses and transfer size are shown.
'info spu proxydma'
Display MFC Proxy-DMA status. Shows all pending commands in the
MFC Proxy-DMA queue. For each entry, opcode, tag, class IDs,
effective and local store addresses and transfer size are shown.
When GDB is debugging a combined PowerPC/SPU application on the Cell
Broadband Engine, it provides in addition the following special
commands:
'set spu stop-on-load ARG'
Set whether to stop for new SPE threads. When set to 'on', GDB
will give control to the user when a new SPE thread enters its
'main' function. The default is 'off'.
'show spu stop-on-load'
Show whether to stop for new SPE threads.
'set spu auto-flush-cache ARG'
Set whether to automatically flush the software-managed cache.
When set to 'on', GDB will automatically cause the SPE
software-managed cache to be flushed whenever SPE execution stops.
This provides a consistent view of PowerPC memory that is accessed
via the cache. If an application does not use the software-managed
cache, this option has no effect.
'show spu auto-flush-cache'
Show whether to automatically flush the software-managed cache.

File: gdb.info, Node: PowerPC, Next: Nios II, Prev: SPU, Up: Architectures
21.4.7 PowerPC
--------------
When GDB is debugging the PowerPC architecture, it provides a set of
pseudo-registers to enable inspection of 128-bit wide Decimal Floating
Point numbers stored in the floating point registers. These values must
be stored in two consecutive registers, always starting at an even
register like 'f0' or 'f2'.
The pseudo-registers go from '$dl0' through '$dl15', and are formed
by joining the even/odd register pairs 'f0' and 'f1' for '$dl0', 'f2'
and 'f3' for '$dl1' and so on.
For POWER7 processors, GDB provides a set of pseudo-registers, the
64-bit wide Extended Floating Point Registers ('f32' through 'f63').

File: gdb.info, Node: Nios II, Prev: PowerPC, Up: Architectures
21.4.8 Nios II
--------------
When GDB is debugging the Nios II architecture, it provides the
following special commands:
'set debug nios2'
This command turns on and off debugging messages for the Nios II
target code in GDB.
'show debug nios2'
Show the current setting of Nios II debugging messages.

File: gdb.info, Node: Controlling GDB, Next: Extending GDB, Prev: Configurations, Up: Top
22 Controlling GDB
******************
You can alter the way GDB interacts with you by using the 'set' command.
For commands controlling how GDB displays data, see *note Print
Settings: Print Settings. Other settings are described here.
* Menu:
* Prompt:: Prompt
* Editing:: Command editing
* Command History:: Command history
* Screen Size:: Screen size
* Numbers:: Numbers
* ABI:: Configuring the current ABI
* Auto-loading:: Automatically loading associated files
* Messages/Warnings:: Optional warnings and messages
* Debugging Output:: Optional messages about internal happenings
* Other Misc Settings:: Other Miscellaneous Settings

File: gdb.info, Node: Prompt, Next: Editing, Up: Controlling GDB
22.1 Prompt
===========
GDB indicates its readiness to read a command by printing a string
called the "prompt". This string is normally '(gdb)'. You can change
the prompt string with the 'set prompt' command. For instance, when
debugging GDB with GDB, it is useful to change the prompt in one of the
GDB sessions so that you can always tell which one you are talking to.
_Note:_ 'set prompt' does not add a space for you after the prompt
you set. This allows you to set a prompt which ends in a space or a
prompt that does not.
'set prompt NEWPROMPT'
Directs GDB to use NEWPROMPT as its prompt string henceforth.
'show prompt'
Prints a line of the form: 'Gdb's prompt is: YOUR-PROMPT'
Versions of GDB that ship with Python scripting enabled have prompt
extensions. The commands for interacting with these extensions are:
'set extended-prompt PROMPT'
Set an extended prompt that allows for substitutions. *Note
gdb.prompt::, for a list of escape sequences that can be used for
substitution. Any escape sequences specified as part of the prompt
string are replaced with the corresponding strings each time the
prompt is displayed.
For example:
set extended-prompt Current working directory: \w (gdb)
Note that when an extended-prompt is set, it takes control of the
PROMPT_HOOK hook. *Note prompt_hook::, for further information.
'show extended-prompt'
Prints the extended prompt. Any escape sequences specified as part
of the prompt string with 'set extended-prompt', are replaced with
the corresponding strings each time the prompt is displayed.

File: gdb.info, Node: Editing, Next: Command History, Prev: Prompt, Up: Controlling GDB
22.2 Command Editing
====================
GDB reads its input commands via the "Readline" interface. This GNU
library provides consistent behavior for programs which provide a
command line interface to the user. Advantages are GNU Emacs-style or
"vi"-style inline editing of commands, 'csh'-like history substitution,
and a storage and recall of command history across debugging sessions.
You may control the behavior of command line editing in GDB with the
command 'set'.
'set editing'
'set editing on'
Enable command line editing (enabled by default).
'set editing off'
Disable command line editing.
'show editing'
Show whether command line editing is enabled.
*Note Command Line Editing::, for more details about the Readline
interface. Users unfamiliar with GNU Emacs or 'vi' are encouraged to
read that chapter.

File: gdb.info, Node: Command History, Next: Screen Size, Prev: Editing, Up: Controlling GDB
22.3 Command History
====================
GDB can keep track of the commands you type during your debugging
sessions, so that you can be certain of precisely what happened. Use
these commands to manage the GDB command history facility.
GDB uses the GNU History library, a part of the Readline package, to
provide the history facility. *Note Using History Interactively::, for
the detailed description of the History library.
To issue a command to GDB without affecting certain aspects of the
state which is seen by users, prefix it with 'server ' (*note Server
Prefix::). This means that this command will not affect the command
history, nor will it affect GDB's notion of which command to repeat if
<RET> is pressed on a line by itself.
The server prefix does not affect the recording of values into the
value history; to print a value without recording it into the value
history, use the 'output' command instead of the 'print' command.
Here is the description of GDB commands related to command history.
'set history filename FNAME'
Set the name of the GDB command history file to FNAME. This is the
file where GDB reads an initial command history list, and where it
writes the command history from this session when it exits. You
can access this list through history expansion or through the
history command editing characters listed below. This file
defaults to the value of the environment variable 'GDBHISTFILE', or
to './.gdb_history' ('./_gdb_history' on MS-DOS) if this variable
is not set.
'set history save'
'set history save on'
Record command history in a file, whose name may be specified with
the 'set history filename' command. By default, this option is
disabled.
'set history save off'
Stop recording command history in a file.
'set history size SIZE'
'set history size unlimited'
Set the number of commands which GDB keeps in its history list.
This defaults to the value of the environment variable 'HISTSIZE',
or to 256 if this variable is not set. If SIZE is 'unlimited', the
number of commands GDB keeps in the history list is unlimited.
History expansion assigns special meaning to the character '!'.
*Note Event Designators::, for more details.
Since '!' is also the logical not operator in C, history expansion is
off by default. If you decide to enable history expansion with the 'set
history expansion on' command, you may sometimes need to follow '!'
(when it is used as logical not, in an expression) with a space or a tab
to prevent it from being expanded. The readline history facilities do
not attempt substitution on the strings '!=' and '!(', even when history
expansion is enabled.
The commands to control history expansion are:
'set history expansion on'
'set history expansion'
Enable history expansion. History expansion is off by default.
'set history expansion off'
Disable history expansion.
'show history'
'show history filename'
'show history save'
'show history size'
'show history expansion'
These commands display the state of the GDB history parameters.
'show history' by itself displays all four states.
'show commands'
Display the last ten commands in the command history.
'show commands N'
Print ten commands centered on command number N.
'show commands +'
Print ten commands just after the commands last printed.

File: gdb.info, Node: Screen Size, Next: Numbers, Prev: Command History, Up: Controlling GDB
22.4 Screen Size
================
Certain commands to GDB may produce large amounts of information output
to the screen. To help you read all of it, GDB pauses and asks you for
input at the end of each page of output. Type <RET> when you want to
continue the output, or 'q' to discard the remaining output. Also, the
screen width setting determines when to wrap lines of output. Depending
on what is being printed, GDB tries to break the line at a readable
place, rather than simply letting it overflow onto the following line.
Normally GDB knows the size of the screen from the terminal driver
software. For example, on Unix GDB uses the termcap data base together
with the value of the 'TERM' environment variable and the 'stty rows'
and 'stty cols' settings. If this is not correct, you can override it
with the 'set height' and 'set width' commands:
'set height LPP'
'set height unlimited'
'show height'
'set width CPL'
'set width unlimited'
'show width'
These 'set' commands specify a screen height of LPP lines and a
screen width of CPL characters. The associated 'show' commands
display the current settings.
If you specify a height of either 'unlimited' or zero lines, GDB
does not pause during output no matter how long the output is.
This is useful if output is to a file or to an editor buffer.
Likewise, you can specify 'set width unlimited' or 'set width 0' to
prevent GDB from wrapping its output.
'set pagination on'
'set pagination off'
Turn the output pagination on or off; the default is on. Turning
pagination off is the alternative to 'set height unlimited'. Note
that running GDB with the '--batch' option (*note -batch: Mode
Options.) also automatically disables pagination.
'show pagination'
Show the current pagination mode.

File: gdb.info, Node: Numbers, Next: ABI, Prev: Screen Size, Up: Controlling GDB
22.5 Numbers
============
You can always enter numbers in octal, decimal, or hexadecimal in GDB by
the usual conventions: octal numbers begin with '0', decimal numbers end
with '.', and hexadecimal numbers begin with '0x'. Numbers that neither
begin with '0' or '0x', nor end with a '.' are, by default, entered in
base 10; likewise, the default display for numbers--when no particular
format is specified--is base 10. You can change the default base for
both input and output with the commands described below.
'set input-radix BASE'
Set the default base for numeric input. Supported choices for BASE
are decimal 8, 10, or 16. The base must itself be specified either
unambiguously or using the current input radix; for example, any of
set input-radix 012
set input-radix 10.
set input-radix 0xa
sets the input base to decimal. On the other hand, 'set
input-radix 10' leaves the input radix unchanged, no matter what it
was, since '10', being without any leading or trailing signs of its
base, is interpreted in the current radix. Thus, if the current
radix is 16, '10' is interpreted in hex, i.e. as 16 decimal, which
doesn't change the radix.
'set output-radix BASE'
Set the default base for numeric display. Supported choices for
BASE are decimal 8, 10, or 16. The base must itself be specified
either unambiguously or using the current input radix.
'show input-radix'
Display the current default base for numeric input.
'show output-radix'
Display the current default base for numeric display.
'set radix [BASE]'
'show radix'
These commands set and show the default base for both input and
output of numbers. 'set radix' sets the radix of input and output
to the same base; without an argument, it resets the radix back to
its default value of 10.

File: gdb.info, Node: ABI, Next: Auto-loading, Prev: Numbers, Up: Controlling GDB
22.6 Configuring the Current ABI
================================
GDB can determine the "ABI" (Application Binary Interface) of your
application automatically. However, sometimes you need to override its
conclusions. Use these commands to manage GDB's view of the current
ABI.
One GDB configuration can debug binaries for multiple operating
system targets, either via remote debugging or native emulation. GDB
will autodetect the "OS ABI" (Operating System ABI) in use, but you can
override its conclusion using the 'set osabi' command. One example
where this is useful is in debugging of binaries which use an alternate
C library (e.g. UCLIBC for GNU/Linux) which does not have the same
identifying marks that the standard C library for your platform
provides.
When GDB is debugging the AArch64 architecture, it provides a
"Newlib" OS ABI. This is useful for handling 'setjmp' and 'longjmp' when
debugging binaries that use the NEWLIB C library. The "Newlib" OS ABI
can be selected by 'set osabi Newlib'.
'show osabi'
Show the OS ABI currently in use.
'set osabi'
With no argument, show the list of registered available OS ABI's.
'set osabi ABI'
Set the current OS ABI to ABI.
Generally, the way that an argument of type 'float' is passed to a
function depends on whether the function is prototyped. For a
prototyped (i.e. ANSI/ISO style) function, 'float' arguments are passed
unchanged, according to the architecture's convention for 'float'. For
unprototyped (i.e. K&R style) functions, 'float' arguments are first
promoted to type 'double' and then passed.
Unfortunately, some forms of debug information do not reliably
indicate whether a function is prototyped. If GDB calls a function that
is not marked as prototyped, it consults 'set coerce-float-to-double'.
'set coerce-float-to-double'
'set coerce-float-to-double on'
Arguments of type 'float' will be promoted to 'double' when passed
to an unprototyped function. This is the default setting.
'set coerce-float-to-double off'
Arguments of type 'float' will be passed directly to unprototyped
functions.
'show coerce-float-to-double'
Show the current setting of promoting 'float' to 'double'.
GDB needs to know the ABI used for your program's C++ objects. The
correct C++ ABI depends on which C++ compiler was used to build your
application. GDB only fully supports programs with a single C++ ABI; if
your program contains code using multiple C++ ABI's or if GDB can not
identify your program's ABI correctly, you can tell GDB which ABI to
use. Currently supported ABI's include "gnu-v2", for 'g++' versions
before 3.0, "gnu-v3", for 'g++' versions 3.0 and later, and "hpaCC" for
the HP ANSI C++ compiler. Other C++ compilers may use the "gnu-v2" or
"gnu-v3" ABI's as well. The default setting is "auto".
'show cp-abi'
Show the C++ ABI currently in use.
'set cp-abi'
With no argument, show the list of supported C++ ABI's.
'set cp-abi ABI'
'set cp-abi auto'
Set the current C++ ABI to ABI, or return to automatic detection.

File: gdb.info, Node: Auto-loading, Next: Messages/Warnings, Prev: ABI, Up: Controlling GDB
22.7 Automatically loading associated files
===========================================
GDB sometimes reads files with commands and settings automatically,
without being explicitly told so by the user. We call this feature
"auto-loading". While auto-loading is useful for automatically adapting
GDB to the needs of your project, it can sometimes produce unexpected
results or introduce security risks (e.g., if the file comes from
untrusted sources).
* Menu:
* Init File in the Current Directory:: 'set/show/info auto-load local-gdbinit'
* libthread_db.so.1 file:: 'set/show/info auto-load libthread-db'
* Auto-loading safe path:: 'set/show/info auto-load safe-path'
* Auto-loading verbose mode:: 'set/show debug auto-load'
There are various kinds of files GDB can automatically load. In
addition to these files, GDB supports auto-loading code written in
various extension languages. *Note Auto-loading extensions::.
Note that loading of these associated files (including the local
'.gdbinit' file) requires accordingly configured 'auto-load safe-path'
(*note Auto-loading safe path::).
For these reasons, GDB includes commands and options to let you
control when to auto-load files and which files should be auto-loaded.
'set auto-load off'
Globally disable loading of all auto-loaded files. You may want to
use this command with the '-iex' option (*note Option
-init-eval-command::) such as:
$ gdb -iex "set auto-load off" untrusted-executable corefile
Be aware that system init file (*note System-wide configuration::)
and init files from your home directory (*note Home Directory Init
File::) still get read (as they come from generally trusted
directories). To prevent GDB from auto-loading even those init
files, use the '-nx' option (*note Mode Options::), in addition to
'set auto-load no'.
'show auto-load'
Show whether auto-loading of each specific 'auto-load' file(s) is
enabled or disabled.
(gdb) show auto-load
gdb-scripts: Auto-loading of canned sequences of commands scripts is on.
libthread-db: Auto-loading of inferior specific libthread_db is on.
local-gdbinit: Auto-loading of .gdbinit script from current directory
is on.
python-scripts: Auto-loading of Python scripts is on.
safe-path: List of directories from which it is safe to auto-load files
is $debugdir:$datadir/auto-load.
scripts-directory: List of directories from which to load auto-loaded scripts
is $debugdir:$datadir/auto-load.
'info auto-load'
Print whether each specific 'auto-load' file(s) have been
auto-loaded or not.
(gdb) info auto-load
gdb-scripts:
Loaded Script
Yes /home/user/gdb/gdb-gdb.gdb
libthread-db: No auto-loaded libthread-db.
local-gdbinit: Local .gdbinit file "/home/user/gdb/.gdbinit" has been
loaded.
python-scripts:
Loaded Script
Yes /home/user/gdb/gdb-gdb.py
These are GDB control commands for the auto-loading:
*Note set auto-load off::. Disable auto-loading globally.
*Note show auto-load::. Show setting of all kinds of
files.
*Note info auto-load::. Show state of all kinds of files.
*Note set auto-load gdb-scripts::. Control for GDB command scripts.
*Note show auto-load Show setting of GDB command
gdb-scripts::. scripts.
*Note info auto-load Show state of GDB command scripts.
gdb-scripts::.
*Note set auto-load Control for GDB Python scripts.
python-scripts::.
*Note show auto-load Show setting of GDB Python
python-scripts::. scripts.
*Note info auto-load Show state of GDB Python scripts.
python-scripts::.
*Note set auto-load Control for GDB Guile scripts.
guile-scripts::.
*Note show auto-load Show setting of GDB Guile scripts.
guile-scripts::.
*Note info auto-load Show state of GDB Guile scripts.
guile-scripts::.
*Note set auto-load Control for GDB auto-loaded
scripts-directory::. scripts location.
*Note show auto-load Show GDB auto-loaded scripts
scripts-directory::. location.
*Note set auto-load Control for init file in the
local-gdbinit::. current directory.
*Note show auto-load Show setting of init file in the
local-gdbinit::. current directory.
*Note info auto-load Show state of init file in the
local-gdbinit::. current directory.
*Note set auto-load Control for thread debugging
libthread-db::. library.
*Note show auto-load Show setting of thread debugging
libthread-db::. library.
*Note info auto-load Show state of thread debugging
libthread-db::. library.
*Note set auto-load safe-path::. Control directories trusted for
automatic loading.
*Note show auto-load safe-path::. Show directories trusted for
automatic loading.
*Note add-auto-load-safe-path::. Add directory trusted for
automatic loading.

File: gdb.info, Node: Init File in the Current Directory, Next: libthread_db.so.1 file, Up: Auto-loading
22.7.1 Automatically loading init file in the current directory
---------------------------------------------------------------
By default, GDB reads and executes the canned sequences of commands from
init file (if any) in the current working directory, see *note Init File
in the Current Directory during Startup::.
Note that loading of this local '.gdbinit' file also requires
accordingly configured 'auto-load safe-path' (*note Auto-loading safe
path::).
'set auto-load local-gdbinit [on|off]'
Enable or disable the auto-loading of canned sequences of commands
(*note Sequences::) found in init file in the current directory.
'show auto-load local-gdbinit'
Show whether auto-loading of canned sequences of commands from init
file in the current directory is enabled or disabled.
'info auto-load local-gdbinit'
Print whether canned sequences of commands from init file in the
current directory have been auto-loaded.

File: gdb.info, Node: libthread_db.so.1 file, Next: Auto-loading safe path, Prev: Init File in the Current Directory, Up: Auto-loading
22.7.2 Automatically loading thread debugging library
-----------------------------------------------------
This feature is currently present only on GNU/Linux native hosts.
GDB reads in some cases thread debugging library from places specific
to the inferior (*note set libthread-db-search-path::).
The special 'libthread-db-search-path' entry '$sdir' is processed
without checking this 'set auto-load libthread-db' switch as system
libraries have to be trusted in general. In all other cases of
'libthread-db-search-path' entries GDB checks first if 'set auto-load
libthread-db' is enabled before trying to open such thread debugging
library.
Note that loading of this debugging library also requires accordingly
configured 'auto-load safe-path' (*note Auto-loading safe path::).
'set auto-load libthread-db [on|off]'
Enable or disable the auto-loading of inferior specific thread
debugging library.
'show auto-load libthread-db'
Show whether auto-loading of inferior specific thread debugging
library is enabled or disabled.
'info auto-load libthread-db'
Print the list of all loaded inferior specific thread debugging
libraries and for each such library print list of inferior PIDs
using it.

File: gdb.info, Node: Auto-loading safe path, Next: Auto-loading verbose mode, Prev: libthread_db.so.1 file, Up: Auto-loading
22.7.3 Security restriction for auto-loading
--------------------------------------------
As the files of inferior can come from untrusted source (such as
submitted by an application user) GDB does not always load any files
automatically. GDB provides the 'set auto-load safe-path' setting to
list directories trusted for loading files not explicitly requested by
user. Each directory can also be a shell wildcard pattern.
If the path is not set properly you will see a warning and the file
will not get loaded:
$ ./gdb -q ./gdb
Reading symbols from /home/user/gdb/gdb...done.
warning: File "/home/user/gdb/gdb-gdb.gdb" auto-loading has been
declined by your `auto-load safe-path' set
to "$debugdir:$datadir/auto-load".
warning: File "/home/user/gdb/gdb-gdb.py" auto-loading has been
declined by your `auto-load safe-path' set
to "$debugdir:$datadir/auto-load".
To instruct GDB to go ahead and use the init files anyway, invoke GDB
like this:
$ gdb -q -iex "set auto-load safe-path /home/user/gdb" ./gdb
The list of trusted directories is controlled by the following
commands:
'set auto-load safe-path [DIRECTORIES]'
Set the list of directories (and their subdirectories) trusted for
automatic loading and execution of scripts. You can also enter a
specific trusted file. Each directory can also be a shell wildcard
pattern; wildcards do not match directory separator - see
'FNM_PATHNAME' for system function 'fnmatch' (*note fnmatch:
(libc)Wildcard Matching.). If you omit DIRECTORIES, 'auto-load
safe-path' will be reset to its default value as specified during
GDB compilation.
The list of directories uses path separator (':' on GNU and Unix
systems, ';' on MS-Windows and MS-DOS) to separate directories,
similarly to the 'PATH' environment variable.
'show auto-load safe-path'
Show the list of directories trusted for automatic loading and
execution of scripts.
'add-auto-load-safe-path'
Add an entry (or list of entries) the list of directories trusted
for automatic loading and execution of scripts. Multiple entries
may be delimited by the host platform path separator in use.
This variable defaults to what '--with-auto-load-dir' has been
configured to (*note with-auto-load-dir::). '$debugdir' and '$datadir'
substitution applies the same as for *note set auto-load
scripts-directory::. The default 'set auto-load safe-path' value can be
also overriden by GDB configuration option '--with-auto-load-safe-path'.
Setting this variable to '/' disables this security protection,
corresponding GDB configuration option is
'--without-auto-load-safe-path'. This variable is supposed to be set to
the system directories writable by the system superuser only. Users can
add their source directories in init files in their home directories
(*note Home Directory Init File::). See also deprecated init file in
the current directory (*note Init File in the Current Directory during
Startup::).
To force GDB to load the files it declined to load in the previous
example, you could use one of the following ways:
'~/.gdbinit': 'add-auto-load-safe-path ~/src/gdb'
Specify this trusted directory (or a file) as additional component
of the list. You have to specify also any existing directories
displayed by by 'show auto-load safe-path' (such as '/usr:/bin' in
this example).
'gdb -iex "set auto-load safe-path /usr:/bin:~/src/gdb" ...'
Specify this directory as in the previous case but just for a
single GDB session.
'gdb -iex "set auto-load safe-path /" ...'
Disable auto-loading safety for a single GDB session. This assumes
all the files you debug during this GDB session will come from
trusted sources.
'./configure --without-auto-load-safe-path'
During compilation of GDB you may disable any auto-loading safety.
This assumes all the files you will ever debug with this GDB come
from trusted sources.
On the other hand you can also explicitly forbid automatic files
loading which also suppresses any such warning messages:
'gdb -iex "set auto-load no" ...'
You can use GDB command-line option for a single GDB session.
'~/.gdbinit': 'set auto-load no'
Disable auto-loading globally for the user (*note Home Directory
Init File::). While it is improbable, you could also use system
init file instead (*note System-wide configuration::).
This setting applies to the file names as entered by user. If no
entry matches GDB tries as a last resort to also resolve all the file
names into their canonical form (typically resolving symbolic links) and
compare the entries again. GDB already canonicalizes most of the
filenames on its own before starting the comparison so a canonical form
of directories is recommended to be entered.

File: gdb.info, Node: Auto-loading verbose mode, Prev: Auto-loading safe path, Up: Auto-loading
22.7.4 Displaying files tried for auto-load
-------------------------------------------
For better visibility of all the file locations where you can place
scripts to be auto-loaded with inferior -- or to protect yourself
against accidental execution of untrusted scripts -- GDB provides a
feature for printing all the files attempted to be loaded. Both
existing and non-existing files may be printed.
For example the list of directories from which it is safe to
auto-load files (*note Auto-loading safe path::) applies also to
canonicalized filenames which may not be too obvious while setting it
up.
(gdb) set debug auto-load on
(gdb) file ~/src/t/true
auto-load: Loading canned sequences of commands script "/tmp/true-gdb.gdb"
for objfile "/tmp/true".
auto-load: Updating directories of "/usr:/opt".
auto-load: Using directory "/usr".
auto-load: Using directory "/opt".
warning: File "/tmp/true-gdb.gdb" auto-loading has been declined
by your `auto-load safe-path' set to "/usr:/opt".
'set debug auto-load [on|off]'
Set whether to print the filenames attempted to be auto-loaded.
'show debug auto-load'
Show whether printing of the filenames attempted to be auto-loaded
is turned on or off.

File: gdb.info, Node: Messages/Warnings, Next: Debugging Output, Prev: Auto-loading, Up: Controlling GDB
22.8 Optional Warnings and Messages
===================================
By default, GDB is silent about its inner workings. If you are running
on a slow machine, you may want to use the 'set verbose' command. This
makes GDB tell you when it does a lengthy internal operation, so you
will not think it has crashed.
Currently, the messages controlled by 'set verbose' are those which
announce that the symbol table for a source file is being read; see
'symbol-file' in *note Commands to Specify Files: Files.
'set verbose on'
Enables GDB output of certain informational messages.
'set verbose off'
Disables GDB output of certain informational messages.
'show verbose'
Displays whether 'set verbose' is on or off.
By default, if GDB encounters bugs in the symbol table of an object
file, it is silent; but if you are debugging a compiler, you may find
this information useful (*note Errors Reading Symbol Files: Symbol
Errors.).
'set complaints LIMIT'
Permits GDB to output LIMIT complaints about each type of unusual
symbols before becoming silent about the problem. Set LIMIT to
zero to suppress all complaints; set it to a large number to
prevent complaints from being suppressed.
'show complaints'
Displays how many symbol complaints GDB is permitted to produce.
By default, GDB is cautious, and asks what sometimes seems to be a
lot of stupid questions to confirm certain commands. For example, if
you try to run a program which is already running:
(gdb) run
The program being debugged has been started already.
Start it from the beginning? (y or n)
If you are willing to unflinchingly face the consequences of your own
commands, you can disable this "feature":
'set confirm off'
Disables confirmation requests. Note that running GDB with the
'--batch' option (*note -batch: Mode Options.) also automatically
disables confirmation requests.
'set confirm on'
Enables confirmation requests (the default).
'show confirm'
Displays state of confirmation requests.
If you need to debug user-defined commands or sourced files you may
find it useful to enable "command tracing". In this mode each command
will be printed as it is executed, prefixed with one or more '+'
symbols, the quantity denoting the call depth of each command.
'set trace-commands on'
Enable command tracing.
'set trace-commands off'
Disable command tracing.
'show trace-commands'
Display the current state of command tracing.

File: gdb.info, Node: Debugging Output, Next: Other Misc Settings, Prev: Messages/Warnings, Up: Controlling GDB
22.9 Optional Messages about Internal Happenings
================================================
GDB has commands that enable optional debugging messages from various
GDB subsystems; normally these commands are of interest to GDB
maintainers, or when reporting a bug. This section documents those
commands.
'set exec-done-display'
Turns on or off the notification of asynchronous commands'
completion. When on, GDB will print a message when an asynchronous
command finishes its execution. The default is off.
'show exec-done-display'
Displays the current setting of asynchronous command completion
notification.
'set debug aarch64'
Turns on or off display of debugging messages related to ARM
AArch64. The default is off.
'show debug aarch64'
Displays the current state of displaying debugging messages related
to ARM AArch64.
'set debug arch'
Turns on or off display of gdbarch debugging info. The default is
off
'show debug arch'
Displays the current state of displaying gdbarch debugging info.
'set debug aix-solib'
Control display of debugging messages from the AIX shared library
support module. The default is off.
'show debug aix-thread'
Show the current state of displaying AIX shared library debugging
messages.
'set debug aix-thread'
Display debugging messages about inner workings of the AIX thread
module.
'show debug aix-thread'
Show the current state of AIX thread debugging info display.
'set debug check-physname'
Check the results of the "physname" computation. When reading
DWARF debugging information for C++, GDB attempts to compute each
entity's name. GDB can do this computation in two different ways,
depending on exactly what information is present. When enabled,
this setting causes GDB to compute the names both ways and display
any discrepancies.
'show debug check-physname'
Show the current state of "physname" checking.
'set debug coff-pe-read'
Control display of debugging messages related to reading of COFF/PE
exported symbols. The default is off.
'show debug coff-pe-read'
Displays the current state of displaying debugging messages related
to reading of COFF/PE exported symbols.
'set debug dwarf2-die'
Dump DWARF2 DIEs after they are read in. The value is the number
of nesting levels to print. A value of zero turns off the display.
'show debug dwarf2-die'
Show the current state of DWARF2 DIE debugging.
'set debug dwarf2-read'
Turns on or off display of debugging messages related to reading
DWARF debug info. The default is 0 (off). A value of 1 provides
basic information. A value greater than 1 provides more verbose
information.
'show debug dwarf2-read'
Show the current state of DWARF2 reader debugging.
'set debug displaced'
Turns on or off display of GDB debugging info for the displaced
stepping support. The default is off.
'show debug displaced'
Displays the current state of displaying GDB debugging info related
to displaced stepping.
'set debug event'
Turns on or off display of GDB event debugging info. The default
is off.
'show debug event'
Displays the current state of displaying GDB event debugging info.
'set debug expression'
Turns on or off display of debugging info about GDB expression
parsing. The default is off.
'show debug expression'
Displays the current state of displaying debugging info about GDB
expression parsing.
'set debug frame'
Turns on or off display of GDB frame debugging info. The default
is off.
'show debug frame'
Displays the current state of displaying GDB frame debugging info.
'set debug gnu-nat'
Turns on or off debugging messages from the GNU/Hurd debug support.
'show debug gnu-nat'
Show the current state of GNU/Hurd debugging messages.
'set debug infrun'
Turns on or off display of GDB debugging info for running the
inferior. The default is off. 'infrun.c' contains GDB's runtime
state machine used for implementing operations such as
single-stepping the inferior.
'show debug infrun'
Displays the current state of GDB inferior debugging.
'set debug jit'
Turns on or off debugging messages from JIT debug support.
'show debug jit'
Displays the current state of GDB JIT debugging.
'set debug lin-lwp'
Turns on or off debugging messages from the Linux LWP debug
support.
'show debug lin-lwp'
Show the current state of Linux LWP debugging messages.
'set debug mach-o'
Control display of debugging messages related to Mach-O symbols
processing. The default is off.
'show debug mach-o'
Displays the current state of displaying debugging messages related
to reading of COFF/PE exported symbols.
'set debug notification'
Turns on or off debugging messages about remote async notification.
The default is off.
'show debug notification'
Displays the current state of remote async notification debugging
messages.
'set debug observer'
Turns on or off display of GDB observer debugging. This includes
info such as the notification of observable events.
'show debug observer'
Displays the current state of observer debugging.
'set debug overload'
Turns on or off display of GDB C++ overload debugging info. This
includes info such as ranking of functions, etc. The default is
off.
'show debug overload'
Displays the current state of displaying GDB C++ overload debugging
info.
'set debug parser'
Turns on or off the display of expression parser debugging output.
Internally, this sets the 'yydebug' variable in the expression
parser. *Note Tracing Your Parser: (bison)Tracing, for details.
The default is off.
'show debug parser'
Show the current state of expression parser debugging.
'set debug remote'
Turns on or off display of reports on all packets sent back and
forth across the serial line to the remote machine. The info is
printed on the GDB standard output stream. The default is off.
'show debug remote'
Displays the state of display of remote packets.
'set debug serial'
Turns on or off display of GDB serial debugging info. The default
is off.
'show debug serial'
Displays the current state of displaying GDB serial debugging info.
'set debug solib-frv'
Turns on or off debugging messages for FR-V shared-library code.
'show debug solib-frv'
Display the current state of FR-V shared-library code debugging
messages.
'set debug symfile'
Turns on or off display of debugging messages related to symbol
file functions. The default is off. *Note Files::.
'show debug symfile'
Show the current state of symbol file debugging messages.
'set debug symtab-create'
Turns on or off display of debugging messages related to symbol
table creation. The default is 0 (off). A value of 1 provides
basic information. A value greater than 1 provides more verbose
information.
'show debug symtab-create'
Show the current state of symbol table creation debugging.
'set debug target'
Turns on or off display of GDB target debugging info. This info
includes what is going on at the target level of GDB, as it
happens. The default is 0. Set it to 1 to track events, and to 2
to also track the value of large memory transfers. Changes to this
flag do not take effect until the next time you connect to a target
or use the 'run' command.
'show debug target'
Displays the current state of displaying GDB target debugging info.
'set debug timestamp'
Turns on or off display of timestamps with GDB debugging info.
When enabled, seconds and microseconds are displayed before each
debugging message.
'show debug timestamp'
Displays the current state of displaying timestamps with GDB
debugging info.
'set debug varobj'
Turns on or off display of GDB variable object debugging info. The
default is off.
'show debug varobj'
Displays the current state of displaying GDB variable object
debugging info.
'set debug xml'
Turns on or off debugging messages for built-in XML parsers.
'show debug xml'
Displays the current state of XML debugging messages.

File: gdb.info, Node: Other Misc Settings, Prev: Debugging Output, Up: Controlling GDB
22.10 Other Miscellaneous Settings
==================================
'set interactive-mode'
If 'on', forces GDB to assume that GDB was started in a terminal.
In practice, this means that GDB should wait for the user to answer
queries generated by commands entered at the command prompt. If
'off', forces GDB to operate in the opposite mode, and it uses the
default answers to all queries. If 'auto' (the default), GDB tries
to determine whether its standard input is a terminal, and works in
interactive-mode if it is, non-interactively otherwise.
In the vast majority of cases, the debugger should be able to guess
correctly which mode should be used. But this setting can be
useful in certain specific cases, such as running a MinGW GDB
inside a cygwin window.
'show interactive-mode'
Displays whether the debugger is operating in interactive mode or
not.

File: gdb.info, Node: Extending GDB, Next: Interpreters, Prev: Controlling GDB, Up: Top
23 Extending GDB
****************
GDB provides several mechanisms for extension. GDB also provides the
ability to automatically load extensions when it reads a file for
debugging. This allows the user to automatically customize GDB for the
program being debugged.
* Menu:
* Sequences:: Canned Sequences of GDB Commands
* Python:: Extending GDB using Python
* Guile:: Extending GDB using Guile
* Auto-loading extensions:: Automatically loading extensions
* Multiple Extension Languages:: Working with multiple extension languages
* Aliases:: Creating new spellings of existing commands
To facilitate the use of extension languages, GDB is capable of
evaluating the contents of a file. When doing so, GDB can recognize
which extension language is being used by looking at the filename
extension. Files with an unrecognized filename extension are always
treated as a GDB Command Files. *Note Command files: Command Files.
You can control how GDB evaluates these files with the following
setting:
'set script-extension off'
All scripts are always evaluated as GDB Command Files.
'set script-extension soft'
The debugger determines the scripting language based on filename
extension. If this scripting language is supported, GDB evaluates
the script using that language. Otherwise, it evaluates the file
as a GDB Command File.
'set script-extension strict'
The debugger determines the scripting language based on filename
extension, and evaluates the script using that language. If the
language is not supported, then the evaluation fails.
'show script-extension'
Display the current value of the 'script-extension' option.

File: gdb.info, Node: Sequences, Next: Python, Up: Extending GDB
23.1 Canned Sequences of Commands
=================================
Aside from breakpoint commands (*note Breakpoint Command Lists: Break
Commands.), GDB provides two ways to store sequences of commands for
execution as a unit: user-defined commands and command files.
* Menu:
* Define:: How to define your own commands
* Hooks:: Hooks for user-defined commands
* Command Files:: How to write scripts of commands to be stored in a file
* Output:: Commands for controlled output
* Auto-loading sequences:: Controlling auto-loaded command files

File: gdb.info, Node: Define, Next: Hooks, Up: Sequences
23.1.1 User-defined Commands
----------------------------
A "user-defined command" is a sequence of GDB commands to which you
assign a new name as a command. This is done with the 'define' command.
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 + $arg2
end
To execute the command use:
adder 1 2 3
This defines the command 'adder', which prints the sum of its three
arguments. Note the arguments are text substitutions, so they may
reference variables, use complex expressions, or even perform inferior
functions calls.
In addition, '$argc' may be used to find out how many arguments have
been passed. This expands to a number in the range 0...10.
define adder
if $argc == 2
print $arg0 + $arg1
end
if $argc == 3
print $arg0 + $arg1 + $arg2
end
end
'define COMMANDNAME'
Define a command named COMMANDNAME. If there is already a command
by that name, you are asked to confirm that you want to redefine
it. The argument COMMANDNAME may be a bare command name consisting
of letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores. It may also start
with any predefined prefix command. For example, 'define target
my-target' creates a user-defined 'target my-target' command.
The definition of the command is made up of other GDB command
lines, which are given following the 'define' command. The end of
these commands is marked by a line containing 'end'.
'document COMMANDNAME'
Document the user-defined command COMMANDNAME, so that it can be
accessed by 'help'. The command COMMANDNAME must already be
defined. This command reads lines of documentation just as
'define' reads the lines of the command definition, ending with
'end'. After the 'document' command is finished, 'help' on command
COMMANDNAME displays the documentation you have written.
You may use the 'document' command again to change the
documentation of a command. Redefining the command with 'define'
does not change the documentation.
'dont-repeat'
Used inside a user-defined command, this tells GDB that this
command should not be repeated when the user hits <RET> (*note
repeat last command: Command Syntax.).
'help user-defined'
List all user-defined commands and all python commands defined in
class COMAND_USER. The first line of the documentation or docstring
is included (if any).
'show user'
'show user COMMANDNAME'
Display the GDB commands used to define COMMANDNAME (but not its
documentation). If no COMMANDNAME is given, display the
definitions for all user-defined commands. This does not work for
user-defined python commands.
'show max-user-call-depth'
'set max-user-call-depth'
The value of 'max-user-call-depth' controls how many recursion
levels are allowed in user-defined commands before GDB suspects an
infinite recursion and aborts the command. This does not apply to
user-defined python commands.
In addition to the above commands, user-defined commands frequently
use control flow commands, described in *note Command Files::.
When user-defined commands are executed, the commands of the
definition are not printed. An error in any command stops execution of
the user-defined command.
If used interactively, commands that would ask for confirmation
proceed without asking when used inside a user-defined command. Many
GDB commands that normally print messages to say what they are doing
omit the messages when used in a user-defined command.

File: gdb.info, Node: Hooks, Next: Command Files, Prev: Define, Up: Sequences
23.1.2 User-defined Command Hooks
---------------------------------
You may define "hooks", which are a special kind of user-defined
command. Whenever you run the command 'foo', if the user-defined
command 'hook-foo' exists, it is executed (with no arguments) before
that command.
A hook may also be defined which is run after the command you
executed. Whenever you run the command 'foo', if the user-defined
command 'hookpost-foo' exists, it is executed (with no arguments) after
that command. Post-execution hooks may exist simultaneously with
pre-execution hooks, for the same command.
It is valid for a hook to call the command which it hooks. If this
occurs, the hook is not re-executed, thereby avoiding infinite
recursion.
In addition, a pseudo-command, 'stop' exists. Defining ('hook-stop')
makes the associated commands execute every time execution stops in your
program: before breakpoint commands are run, displays are printed, or
the stack frame is printed.
For example, to ignore 'SIGALRM' signals while single-stepping, but
treat them normally during normal execution, you could define:
define hook-stop
handle SIGALRM nopass
end
define hook-run
handle SIGALRM pass
end
define hook-continue
handle SIGALRM pass
end
As a further example, to hook at the beginning and end of the 'echo'
command, and to add extra text to the beginning and end of the message,
you could define:
define hook-echo
echo <<<---
end
define hookpost-echo
echo --->>>\n
end
(gdb) echo Hello World
<<<---Hello World--->>>
(gdb)
You can define a hook for any single-word command in GDB, but not for
command aliases; you should define a hook for the basic command name,
e.g. 'backtrace' rather than 'bt'. You can hook a multi-word command by
adding 'hook-' or 'hookpost-' to the last word of the command, e.g.
'define target hook-remote' to add a hook to 'target remote'.
If an error occurs during the execution of your hook, execution of
GDB commands stops and GDB issues a prompt (before the command that you
actually typed had a chance to run).
If you try to define a hook which does not match any known command,
you get a warning from the 'define' command.

File: gdb.info, Node: Command Files, Next: Output, Prev: Hooks, Up: Sequences
23.1.3 Command Files
--------------------
A command file for GDB is a text file made of lines that are GDB
commands. Comments (lines starting with '#') may also be included. An
empty line in a command file does nothing; it does not mean to repeat
the last command, as it would from the terminal.
You can request the execution of a command file with the 'source'
command. Note that the 'source' command is also used to evaluate
scripts that are not Command Files. The exact behavior can be
configured using the 'script-extension' setting. *Note Extending GDB:
Extending GDB.
'source [-s] [-v] FILENAME'
Execute the command file FILENAME.
The lines in a command file are generally executed sequentially,
unless the order of execution is changed by one of the _flow-control
commands_ described below. The commands are not printed as they are
executed. An error in any command terminates execution of the command
file and control is returned to the console.
GDB first searches for FILENAME in the current directory. If the
file is not found there, and FILENAME does not specify a directory, then
GDB also looks for the file on the source search path (specified with
the 'directory' command); except that '$cdir' is not searched because
the compilation directory is not relevant to scripts.
If '-s' is specified, then GDB searches for FILENAME on the search
path even if FILENAME specifies a directory. The search is done by
appending FILENAME to each element of the search path. So, for example,
if FILENAME is 'mylib/myscript' and the search path contains
'/home/user' then GDB will look for the script
'/home/user/mylib/myscript'. The search is also done if FILENAME is an
absolute path. For example, if FILENAME is '/tmp/myscript' and the
search path contains '/home/user' then GDB will look for the script
'/home/user/tmp/myscript'. For DOS-like systems, if FILENAME contains a
drive specification, it is stripped before concatenation. For example,
if FILENAME is 'd:myscript' and the search path contains 'c:/tmp' then
GDB will look for the script 'c:/tmp/myscript'.
If '-v', for verbose mode, is given then GDB displays each command as
it is executed. The option must be given before FILENAME, and is
interpreted as part of the filename anywhere else.
Commands that would ask for confirmation if used interactively
proceed without asking when used in a command file. Many GDB commands
that normally print messages to say what they are doing omit the
messages when called from command files.
GDB also accepts command input from standard input. In this mode,
normal output goes to standard output and error output goes to standard
error. Errors in a command file supplied on standard input do not
terminate execution of the command file--execution continues with the
next command.
gdb < cmds > log 2>&1
(The syntax above will vary depending on the shell used.) This
example will execute commands from the file 'cmds'. All output and
errors would be directed to 'log'.
Since commands stored on command files tend to be more general than
commands typed interactively, they frequently need to deal with
complicated situations, such as different or unexpected values of
variables and symbols, changes in how the program being debugged is
built, etc. GDB provides a set of flow-control commands to deal with
these complexities. Using these commands, you can write complex scripts
that loop over data structures, execute commands conditionally, etc.
'if'
'else'
This command allows to include in your script conditionally
executed commands. The 'if' command takes a single argument, which
is an expression to evaluate. It is followed by a series of
commands that are executed only if the expression is true (its
value is nonzero). There can then optionally be an 'else' line,
followed by a series of commands that are only executed if the
expression was false. The end of the list is marked by a line
containing 'end'.
'while'
This command allows to write loops. Its syntax is similar to 'if':
the command takes a single argument, which is an expression to
evaluate, and must be followed by the commands to execute, one per
line, terminated by an 'end'. These commands are called the "body"
of the loop. The commands in the body of 'while' are executed
repeatedly as long as the expression evaluates to true.
'loop_break'
This command exits the 'while' loop in whose body it is included.
Execution of the script continues after that 'while's 'end' line.
'loop_continue'
This command skips the execution of the rest of the body of
commands in the 'while' loop in whose body it is included.
Execution branches to the beginning of the 'while' loop, where it
evaluates the controlling expression.
'end'
Terminate the block of commands that are the body of 'if', 'else',
or 'while' flow-control commands.

File: gdb.info, Node: Output, Next: Auto-loading sequences, Prev: Command Files, Up: Sequences
23.1.4 Commands for Controlled Output
-------------------------------------
During the execution of a command file or a user-defined command, normal
GDB output is suppressed; the only output that appears is what is
explicitly printed by the commands in the definition. This section
describes three commands useful for generating exactly the output you
want.
'echo TEXT'
Print TEXT. Nonprinting characters can be included in TEXT using C
escape sequences, such as '\n' to print a newline. *No newline is
printed unless you specify one.* In addition to the standard C
escape sequences, a backslash followed by a space stands for a
space. This is useful for displaying a string with spaces at the
beginning or the end, since leading and trailing spaces are
otherwise trimmed from all arguments. To print ' and foo = ', use
the command 'echo \ and foo = \ '.
A backslash at the end of TEXT can be used, as in C, to continue
the command onto subsequent lines. For example,
echo This is some text\n\
which is continued\n\
onto several lines.\n
produces the same output as
echo This is some text\n
echo which is continued\n
echo onto several lines.\n
'output EXPRESSION'
Print the value of EXPRESSION and nothing but that value: no
newlines, no '$NN = '. The value is not entered in the value
history either. *Note Expressions: Expressions, for more
information on expressions.
'output/FMT EXPRESSION'
Print the value of EXPRESSION in format FMT. You can use the same
formats as for 'print'. *Note Output Formats: Output Formats, for
more information.
'printf TEMPLATE, EXPRESSIONS...'
Print the values of one or more EXPRESSIONS under the control of
the string TEMPLATE. To print several values, make EXPRESSIONS be
a comma-separated list of individual expressions, which may be
either numbers or pointers. Their values are printed as specified
by TEMPLATE, exactly as a C program would do by executing the code
below:
printf (TEMPLATE, EXPRESSIONS...);
As in 'C' 'printf', ordinary characters in TEMPLATE are printed
verbatim, while "conversion specification" introduced by the '%'
character cause subsequent EXPRESSIONS to be evaluated, their
values converted and formatted according to type and style
information encoded in the conversion specifications, and then
printed.
For example, you can print two values in hex like this:
printf "foo, bar-foo = 0x%x, 0x%x\n", foo, bar-foo
'printf' supports all the standard 'C' conversion specifications,
including the flags and modifiers between the '%' character and the
conversion letter, with the following exceptions:
* The argument-ordering modifiers, such as '2$', are not
supported.
* The modifier '*' is not supported for specifying precision or
width.
* The ''' flag (for separation of digits into groups according
to 'LC_NUMERIC'') is not supported.
* The type modifiers 'hh', 'j', 't', and 'z' are not supported.
* The conversion letter 'n' (as in '%n') is not supported.
* The conversion letters 'a' and 'A' are not supported.
Note that the 'll' type modifier is supported only if the
underlying 'C' implementation used to build GDB supports the 'long
long int' type, and the 'L' type modifier is supported only if
'long double' type is available.
As in 'C', 'printf' supports simple backslash-escape sequences,
such as '\n', '\t', '\\', '\"', '\a', and '\f', that consist of
backslash followed by a single character. Octal and hexadecimal
escape sequences are not supported.
Additionally, 'printf' supports conversion specifications for DFP
("Decimal Floating Point") types using the following length
modifiers together with a floating point specifier. letters:
* 'H' for printing 'Decimal32' types.
* 'D' for printing 'Decimal64' types.
* 'DD' for printing 'Decimal128' types.
If the underlying 'C' implementation used to build GDB has support
for the three length modifiers for DFP types, other modifiers such
as width and precision will also be available for GDB to use.
In case there is no such 'C' support, no additional modifiers will
be available and the value will be printed in the standard way.
Here's an example of printing DFP types using the above conversion
letters:
printf "D32: %Hf - D64: %Df - D128: %DDf\n",1.2345df,1.2E10dd,1.2E1dl
'eval TEMPLATE, EXPRESSIONS...'
Convert the values of one or more EXPRESSIONS under the control of
the string TEMPLATE to a command line, and call it.

File: gdb.info, Node: Auto-loading sequences, Prev: Output, Up: Sequences
23.1.5 Controlling auto-loading native GDB scripts
--------------------------------------------------
When a new object file is read (for example, due to the 'file' command,
or because the inferior has loaded a shared library), GDB will look for
the command file 'OBJFILE-gdb.gdb'. *Note Auto-loading extensions::.
Auto-loading can be enabled or disabled, and the list of auto-loaded
scripts can be printed.
'set auto-load gdb-scripts [on|off]'
Enable or disable the auto-loading of canned sequences of commands
scripts.
'show auto-load gdb-scripts'
Show whether auto-loading of canned sequences of commands scripts
is enabled or disabled.
'info auto-load gdb-scripts [REGEXP]'
Print the list of all canned sequences of commands scripts that GDB
auto-loaded.
If REGEXP is supplied only canned sequences of commands scripts with
matching names are printed.

File: gdb.info, Node: Python, Next: Guile, Prev: Sequences, Up: Extending GDB
23.2 Extending GDB using Python
===============================
You can extend GDB using the Python programming language
(http://www.python.org/). This feature is available only if GDB was
configured using '--with-python'.
Python scripts used by GDB should be installed in
'DATA-DIRECTORY/python', where DATA-DIRECTORY is the data directory as
determined at GDB startup (*note Data Files::). This directory, known
as the "python directory", is automatically added to the Python Search
Path in order to allow the Python interpreter to locate all scripts
installed at this location.
Additionally, GDB commands and convenience functions which are
written in Python and are located in the
'DATA-DIRECTORY/python/gdb/command' or
'DATA-DIRECTORY/python/gdb/function' directories are automatically
imported when GDB starts.
* Menu:
* Python Commands:: Accessing Python from GDB.
* Python API:: Accessing GDB from Python.
* Python Auto-loading:: Automatically loading Python code.
* Python modules:: Python modules provided by GDB.

File: gdb.info, Node: Python Commands, Next: Python API, Up: Python
23.2.1 Python Commands
----------------------
GDB provides two commands for accessing the Python interpreter, and one
related setting:
'python-interactive [COMMAND]'
'pi [COMMAND]'
Without an argument, the 'python-interactive' command can be used
to start an interactive Python prompt. To return to GDB, type the
'EOF' character (e.g., 'Ctrl-D' on an empty prompt).
Alternatively, a single-line Python command can be given as an
argument and evaluated. If the command is an expression, the
result will be printed; otherwise, nothing will be printed. For
example:
(gdb) python-interactive 2 + 3
5
'python [COMMAND]'
'py [COMMAND]'
The 'python' command can be used to evaluate Python code.
If given an argument, the 'python' command will evaluate the
argument as a Python command. For example:
(gdb) python print 23
23
If you do not provide an argument to 'python', it will act as a
multi-line command, like 'define'. In this case, the Python script
is made up of subsequent command lines, given after the 'python'
command. This command list is terminated using a line containing
'end'. For example:
(gdb) python
Type python script
End with a line saying just "end".
>print 23
>end
23
'set python print-stack'
By default, GDB will print only the message component of a Python
exception when an error occurs in a Python script. This can be
controlled using 'set python print-stack': if 'full', then full
Python stack printing is enabled; if 'none', then Python stack and
message printing is disabled; if 'message', the default, only the
message component of the error is printed.
It is also possible to execute a Python script from the GDB
interpreter:
'source script-name'
The script name must end with '.py' and GDB must be configured to
recognize the script language based on filename extension using the
'script-extension' setting. *Note Extending GDB: Extending GDB.
'python execfile ("script-name")'
This method is based on the 'execfile' Python built-in function,
and thus is always available.

File: gdb.info, Node: Python API, Next: Python Auto-loading, Prev: Python Commands, Up: Python
23.2.2 Python API
-----------------
You can get quick online help for GDB's Python API by issuing the
command 'python help (gdb)'.
Functions and methods which have two or more optional arguments allow
them to be specified using keyword syntax. This allows passing some
optional arguments while skipping others. Example:
'gdb.some_function ('foo', bar = 1, baz = 2)'.
* Menu:
* Basic Python:: Basic Python Functions.
* Exception Handling:: How Python exceptions are translated.
* Values From Inferior:: Python representation of values.
* Types In Python:: Python representation of types.
* Pretty Printing API:: Pretty-printing values.
* Selecting Pretty-Printers:: How GDB chooses a pretty-printer.
* Writing a Pretty-Printer:: Writing a Pretty-Printer.
* Type Printing API:: Pretty-printing types.
* Frame Filter API:: Filtering Frames.
* Frame Decorator API:: Decorating Frames.
* Writing a Frame Filter:: Writing a Frame Filter.
* Xmethods In Python:: Adding and replacing methods of C++ classes.
* Xmethod API:: Xmethod types.
* Writing an Xmethod:: Writing an xmethod.
* Inferiors In Python:: Python representation of inferiors (processes)
* Events In Python:: Listening for events from GDB.
* Threads In Python:: Accessing inferior threads from Python.
* Commands In Python:: Implementing new commands in Python.
* Parameters In Python:: Adding new GDB parameters.
* Functions In Python:: Writing new convenience functions.
* Progspaces In Python:: Program spaces.
* Objfiles In Python:: Object files.
* Frames In Python:: Accessing inferior stack frames from Python.
* Blocks In Python:: Accessing blocks from Python.
* Symbols In Python:: Python representation of symbols.
* Symbol Tables In Python:: Python representation of symbol tables.
* Line Tables In Python:: Python representation of line tables.
* Breakpoints In Python:: Manipulating breakpoints using Python.
* Finish Breakpoints in Python:: Setting Breakpoints on function return
using Python.
* Lazy Strings In Python:: Python representation of lazy strings.
* Architectures In Python:: Python representation of architectures.

File: gdb.info, Node: Basic Python, Next: Exception Handling, Up: Python API
23.2.2.1 Basic Python
.....................
At startup, GDB overrides Python's 'sys.stdout' and 'sys.stderr' to
print using GDB's output-paging streams. A Python program which outputs
to one of these streams may have its output interrupted by the user
(*note Screen Size::). In this situation, a Python 'KeyboardInterrupt'
exception is thrown.
Some care must be taken when writing Python code to run in GDB. Two
things worth noting in particular:
* GDB install handlers for 'SIGCHLD' and 'SIGINT'. Python code must
not override these, or even change the options using 'sigaction'.
If your program changes the handling of these signals, GDB will
most likely stop working correctly. Note that it is unfortunately
common for GUI toolkits to install a 'SIGCHLD' handler.
* GDB takes care to mark its internal file descriptors as
close-on-exec. However, this cannot be done in a thread-safe way
on all platforms. Your Python programs should be aware of this and
should both create new file descriptors with the close-on-exec flag
set and arrange to close unneeded file descriptors before starting
a child process.
GDB introduces a new Python module, named 'gdb'. All methods and
classes added by GDB are placed in this module. GDB automatically
'import's the 'gdb' module for use in all scripts evaluated by the
'python' command.
-- Variable: gdb.PYTHONDIR
A string containing the python directory (*note Python::).
-- Function: gdb.execute (command [, from_tty [, to_string]])
Evaluate COMMAND, a string, as a GDB CLI command. If a GDB
exception happens while COMMAND runs, it is translated as described
in *note Exception Handling: Exception Handling.
The FROM_TTY flag specifies whether GDB ought to consider this
command as having originated from the user invoking it
interactively. It must be a boolean value. If omitted, it
defaults to 'False'.
By default, any output produced by COMMAND is sent to GDB's
standard output (and to the log output if logging is turned on).
If the TO_STRING parameter is 'True', then output will be collected
by 'gdb.execute' and returned as a string. The default is 'False',
in which case the return value is 'None'. If TO_STRING is 'True',
the GDB virtual terminal will be temporarily set to unlimited width
and height, and its pagination will be disabled; *note Screen
Size::.
-- Function: gdb.breakpoints ()
Return a sequence holding all of GDB's breakpoints. *Note
Breakpoints In Python::, for more information.
-- Function: gdb.parameter (parameter)
Return the value of a GDB PARAMETER given by its name, a string;
the parameter name string may contain spaces if the parameter has a
multi-part name. For example, 'print object' is a valid parameter
name.
If the named parameter does not exist, this function throws a
'gdb.error' (*note Exception Handling::). Otherwise, the
parameter's value is converted to a Python value of the appropriate
type, and returned.
-- Function: gdb.history (number)
Return a value from GDB's value history (*note Value History::).
The NUMBER argument indicates which history element to return. If
NUMBER is negative, then GDB will take its absolute value and count
backward from the last element (i.e., the most recent element) to
find the value to return. If NUMBER is zero, then GDB will return
the most recent element. If the element specified by NUMBER
doesn't exist in the value history, a 'gdb.error' exception will be
raised.
If no exception is raised, the return value is always an instance
of 'gdb.Value' (*note Values From Inferior::).
-- Function: gdb.parse_and_eval (expression)
Parse EXPRESSION, which must be a string, as an expression in the
current language, evaluate it, and return the result as a
'gdb.Value'.
This function can be useful when implementing a new command (*note
Commands In Python::), as it provides a way to parse the command's
argument as an expression. It is also useful simply to compute
values, for example, it is the only way to get the value of a
convenience variable (*note Convenience Vars::) as a 'gdb.Value'.
-- Function: gdb.find_pc_line (pc)
Return the 'gdb.Symtab_and_line' object corresponding to the PC
value. *Note Symbol Tables In Python::. If an invalid value of PC
is passed as an argument, then the 'symtab' and 'line' attributes
of the returned 'gdb.Symtab_and_line' object will be 'None' and 0
respectively.
-- Function: gdb.post_event (event)
Put EVENT, a callable object taking no arguments, into GDB's
internal event queue. This callable will be invoked at some later
point, during GDB's event processing. Events posted using
'post_event' will be run in the order in which they were posted;
however, there is no way to know when they will be processed
relative to other events inside GDB.
GDB is not thread-safe. If your Python program uses multiple
threads, you must be careful to only call GDB-specific functions in
the GDB thread. 'post_event' ensures this. For example:
(gdb) python
>import threading
>
>class Writer():
> def __init__(self, message):
> self.message = message;
> def __call__(self):
> gdb.write(self.message)
>
>class MyThread1 (threading.Thread):
> def run (self):
> gdb.post_event(Writer("Hello "))
>
>class MyThread2 (threading.Thread):
> def run (self):
> gdb.post_event(Writer("World\n"))
>
>MyThread1().start()
>MyThread2().start()
>end
(gdb) Hello World
-- Function: gdb.write (string [, stream])
Print a string to GDB's paginated output stream. The optional
STREAM determines the stream to print to. The default stream is
GDB's standard output stream. Possible stream values are:
'gdb.STDOUT'
GDB's standard output stream.
'gdb.STDERR'
GDB's standard error stream.
'gdb.STDLOG'
GDB's log stream (*note Logging Output::).
Writing to 'sys.stdout' or 'sys.stderr' will automatically call
this function and will automatically direct the output to the
relevant stream.
-- Function: gdb.flush ()
Flush the buffer of a GDB paginated stream so that the contents are
displayed immediately. GDB will flush the contents of a stream
automatically when it encounters a newline in the buffer. The
optional STREAM determines the stream to flush. The default stream
is GDB's standard output stream. Possible stream values are:
'gdb.STDOUT'
GDB's standard output stream.
'gdb.STDERR'
GDB's standard error stream.
'gdb.STDLOG'
GDB's log stream (*note Logging Output::).
Flushing 'sys.stdout' or 'sys.stderr' will automatically call this
function for the relevant stream.
-- Function: gdb.target_charset ()
Return the name of the current target character set (*note
Character Sets::). This differs from
'gdb.parameter('target-charset')' in that 'auto' is never returned.
-- Function: gdb.target_wide_charset ()
Return the name of the current target wide character set (*note
Character Sets::). This differs from
'gdb.parameter('target-wide-charset')' in that 'auto' is never
returned.
-- Function: gdb.solib_name (address)
Return the name of the shared library holding the given ADDRESS as
a string, or 'None'.
-- Function: gdb.decode_line [expression]
Return locations of the line specified by EXPRESSION, or of the
current line if no argument was given. This function returns a
Python tuple containing two elements. The first element contains a
string holding any unparsed section of EXPRESSION (or 'None' if the
expression has been fully parsed). The second element contains
either 'None' or another tuple that contains all the locations that
match the expression represented as 'gdb.Symtab_and_line' objects
(*note Symbol Tables In Python::). If EXPRESSION is provided, it
is decoded the way that GDB's inbuilt 'break' or 'edit' commands do
(*note Specify Location::).
-- Function: gdb.prompt_hook (current_prompt)
If PROMPT_HOOK is callable, GDB will call the method assigned to
this operation before a prompt is displayed by GDB.
The parameter 'current_prompt' contains the current GDB prompt.
This method must return a Python string, or 'None'. If a string is
returned, the GDB prompt will be set to that string. If 'None' is
returned, GDB will continue to use the current prompt.
Some prompts cannot be substituted in GDB. Secondary prompts such
as those used by readline for command input, and annotation related
prompts are prohibited from being changed.

File: gdb.info, Node: Exception Handling, Next: Values From Inferior, Prev: Basic Python, Up: Python API
23.2.2.2 Exception Handling
...........................
When executing the 'python' command, Python exceptions uncaught within
the Python code are translated to calls to GDB error-reporting
mechanism. If the command that called 'python' does not handle the
error, GDB will terminate it and print an error message containing the
Python exception name, the associated value, and the Python call stack
backtrace at the point where the exception was raised. Example:
(gdb) python print foo
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'foo' is not defined
GDB errors that happen in GDB commands invoked by Python code are
converted to Python exceptions. The type of the Python exception
depends on the error.
'gdb.error'
This is the base class for most exceptions generated by GDB. It is
derived from 'RuntimeError', for compatibility with earlier
versions of GDB.
If an error occurring in GDB does not fit into some more specific
category, then the generated exception will have this type.
'gdb.MemoryError'
This is a subclass of 'gdb.error' which is thrown when an operation
tried to access invalid memory in the inferior.
'KeyboardInterrupt'
User interrupt (via 'C-c' or by typing 'q' at a pagination prompt)
is translated to a Python 'KeyboardInterrupt' exception.
In all cases, your exception handler will see the GDB error message
as its value and the Python call stack backtrace at the Python statement
closest to where the GDB error occured as the traceback.
When implementing GDB commands in Python via 'gdb.Command', it is
useful to be able to throw an exception that doesn't cause a traceback
to be printed. For example, the user may have invoked the command
incorrectly. Use the 'gdb.GdbError' exception to handle this case.
Example:
(gdb) python
>class HelloWorld (gdb.Command):
> """Greet the whole world."""
> def __init__ (self):
> super (HelloWorld, self).__init__ ("hello-world", gdb.COMMAND_USER)
> def invoke (self, args, from_tty):
> argv = gdb.string_to_argv (args)
> if len (argv) != 0:
> raise gdb.GdbError ("hello-world takes no arguments")
> print "Hello, World!"
>HelloWorld ()
>end
(gdb) hello-world 42
hello-world takes no arguments

File: gdb.info, Node: Values From Inferior, Next: Types In Python, Prev: Exception Handling, Up: Python API
23.2.2.3 Values From Inferior
.............................
GDB provides values it obtains from the inferior program in an object of
type 'gdb.Value'. GDB uses this object for its internal bookkeeping of
the inferior's values, and for fetching values when necessary.
Inferior values that are simple scalars can be used directly in
Python expressions that are valid for the value's data type. Here's an
example for an integer or floating-point value 'some_val':
bar = some_val + 2
As result of this, 'bar' will also be a 'gdb.Value' object whose values
are of the same type as those of 'some_val'. Valid Python operations
can also be performed on 'gdb.Value' objects representing a 'struct' or
'class' object. For such cases, the overloaded operator (if present),
is used to perform the operation. For example, if 'val1' and 'val2' are
'gdb.Value' objects representing instances of a 'class' which overloads
the '+' operator, then one can use the '+' operator in their Python
script as follows:
val3 = val1 + val2
The result of the operation 'val3' is also a 'gdb.Value' object
corresponding to the value returned by the overloaded '+' operator. In
general, overloaded operators are invoked for the following operations:
'+' (binary addition), '-' (binary subtraction), '*' (multiplication),
'/', '%', '<<', '>>', '|', '&', '^'.
Inferior values that are structures or instances of some class can be
accessed using the Python "dictionary syntax". For example, if
'some_val' is a 'gdb.Value' instance holding a structure, you can access
its 'foo' element with:
bar = some_val['foo']
Again, 'bar' will also be a 'gdb.Value' object. Structure elements
can also be accessed by using 'gdb.Field' objects as subscripts (*note
Types In Python::, for more information on 'gdb.Field' objects). For
example, if 'foo_field' is a 'gdb.Field' object corresponding to element
'foo' of the above structure, then 'bar' can also be accessed as
follows:
bar = some_val[foo_field]
A 'gdb.Value' that represents a function can be executed via inferior
function call. Any arguments provided to the call must match the
function's prototype, and must be provided in the order specified by
that prototype.
For example, 'some_val' is a 'gdb.Value' instance representing a
function that takes two integers as arguments. To execute this
function, call it like so:
result = some_val (10,20)
Any values returned from a function call will be stored as a
'gdb.Value'.
The following attributes are provided:
-- Variable: Value.address
If this object is addressable, this read-only attribute holds a
'gdb.Value' object representing the address. Otherwise, this
attribute holds 'None'.
-- Variable: Value.is_optimized_out
This read-only boolean attribute is true if the compiler optimized
out this value, thus it is not available for fetching from the
inferior.
-- Variable: Value.type
The type of this 'gdb.Value'. The value of this attribute is a
'gdb.Type' object (*note Types In Python::).
-- Variable: Value.dynamic_type
The dynamic type of this 'gdb.Value'. This uses C++ run-time type
information (RTTI) to determine the dynamic type of the value. If
this value is of class type, it will return the class in which the
value is embedded, if any. If this value is of pointer or
reference to a class type, it will compute the dynamic type of the
referenced object, and return a pointer or reference to that type,
respectively. In all other cases, it will return the value's
static type.
Note that this feature will only work when debugging a C++ program
that includes RTTI for the object in question. Otherwise, it will
just return the static type of the value as in 'ptype foo' (*note
ptype: Symbols.).
-- Variable: Value.is_lazy
The value of this read-only boolean attribute is 'True' if this
'gdb.Value' has not yet been fetched from the inferior. GDB does
not fetch values until necessary, for efficiency. For example:
myval = gdb.parse_and_eval ('somevar')
The value of 'somevar' is not fetched at this time. It will be
fetched when the value is needed, or when the 'fetch_lazy' method
is invoked.
The following methods are provided:
-- Function: Value.__init__ (VAL)
Many Python values can be converted directly to a 'gdb.Value' via
this object initializer. Specifically:
Python boolean
A Python boolean is converted to the boolean type from the
current language.
Python integer
A Python integer is converted to the C 'long' type for the
current architecture.
Python long
A Python long is converted to the C 'long long' type for the
current architecture.
Python float
A Python float is converted to the C 'double' type for the
current architecture.
Python string
A Python string is converted to a target string in the current
target language using the current target encoding. If a
character cannot be represented in the current target
encoding, then an exception is thrown.
'gdb.Value'
If 'val' is a 'gdb.Value', then a copy of the value is made.
'gdb.LazyString'
If 'val' is a 'gdb.LazyString' (*note Lazy Strings In
Python::), then the lazy string's 'value' method is called,
and its result is used.
-- Function: Value.cast (type)
Return a new instance of 'gdb.Value' that is the result of casting
this instance to the type described by TYPE, which must be a
'gdb.Type' object. If the cast cannot be performed for some
reason, this method throws an exception.
-- Function: Value.dereference ()
For pointer data types, this method returns a new 'gdb.Value'
object whose contents is the object pointed to by the pointer. For
example, if 'foo' is a C pointer to an 'int', declared in your C
program as
int *foo;
then you can use the corresponding 'gdb.Value' to access what 'foo'
points to like this:
bar = foo.dereference ()
The result 'bar' will be a 'gdb.Value' object holding the value
pointed to by 'foo'.
A similar function 'Value.referenced_value' exists which also
returns 'gdb.Value' objects corresonding to the values pointed to
by pointer values (and additionally, values referenced by reference
values). However, the behavior of 'Value.dereference' differs from
'Value.referenced_value' by the fact that the behavior of
'Value.dereference' is identical to applying the C unary operator
'*' on a given value. For example, consider a reference to a
pointer 'ptrref', declared in your C++ program as
typedef int *intptr;
...
int val = 10;
intptr ptr = &val;
intptr &ptrref = ptr;
Though 'ptrref' is a reference value, one can apply the method
'Value.dereference' to the 'gdb.Value' object corresponding to it
and obtain a 'gdb.Value' which is identical to that corresponding
to 'val'. However, if you apply the method
'Value.referenced_value', the result would be a 'gdb.Value' object
identical to that corresponding to 'ptr'.
py_ptrref = gdb.parse_and_eval ("ptrref")
py_val = py_ptrref.dereference ()
py_ptr = py_ptrref.referenced_value ()
The 'gdb.Value' object 'py_val' is identical to that corresponding
to 'val', and 'py_ptr' is identical to that corresponding to 'ptr'.
In general, 'Value.dereference' can be applied whenever the C unary
operator '*' can be applied to the corresponding C value. For
those cases where applying both 'Value.dereference' and
'Value.referenced_value' is allowed, the results obtained need not
be identical (as we have seen in the above example). The results
are however identical when applied on 'gdb.Value' objects
corresponding to pointers ('gdb.Value' objects with type code
'TYPE_CODE_PTR') in a C/C++ program.
-- Function: Value.referenced_value ()
For pointer or reference data types, this method returns a new
'gdb.Value' object corresponding to the value referenced by the
pointer/reference value. For pointer data types,
'Value.dereference' and 'Value.referenced_value' produce identical
results. The difference between these methods is that
'Value.dereference' cannot get the values referenced by reference
values. For example, consider a reference to an 'int', declared in
your C++ program as
int val = 10;
int &ref = val;
then applying 'Value.dereference' to the 'gdb.Value' object
corresponding to 'ref' will result in an error, while applying
'Value.referenced_value' will result in a 'gdb.Value' object
identical to that corresponding to 'val'.
py_ref = gdb.parse_and_eval ("ref")
er_ref = py_ref.dereference () # Results in error
py_val = py_ref.referenced_value () # Returns the referenced value
The 'gdb.Value' object 'py_val' is identical to that corresponding
to 'val'.
-- Function: Value.dynamic_cast (type)
Like 'Value.cast', but works as if the C++ 'dynamic_cast' operator
were used. Consult a C++ reference for details.
-- Function: Value.reinterpret_cast (type)
Like 'Value.cast', but works as if the C++ 'reinterpret_cast'
operator were used. Consult a C++ reference for details.
-- Function: Value.string ([encoding[, errors[, length]]])
If this 'gdb.Value' represents a string, then this method converts
the contents to a Python string. Otherwise, this method will throw
an exception.
Values are interpreted as strings according to the rules of the
current language. If the optional length argument is given, the
string will be converted to that length, and will include any
embedded zeroes that the string may contain. Otherwise, for
languages where the string is zero-terminated, the entire string
will be converted.
For example, in C-like languages, a value is a string if it is a
pointer to or an array of characters or ints of type 'wchar_t',
'char16_t', or 'char32_t'.
If the optional ENCODING argument is given, it must be a string
naming the encoding of the string in the 'gdb.Value', such as
'"ascii"', '"iso-8859-6"' or '"utf-8"'. It accepts the same
encodings as the corresponding argument to Python's 'string.decode'
method, and the Python codec machinery will be used to convert the
string. If ENCODING is not given, or if ENCODING is the empty
string, then either the 'target-charset' (*note Character Sets::)
will be used, or a language-specific encoding will be used, if the
current language is able to supply one.
The optional ERRORS argument is the same as the corresponding
argument to Python's 'string.decode' method.
If the optional LENGTH argument is given, the string will be
fetched and converted to the given length.
-- Function: Value.lazy_string ([encoding [, length]])
If this 'gdb.Value' represents a string, then this method converts
the contents to a 'gdb.LazyString' (*note Lazy Strings In
Python::). Otherwise, this method will throw an exception.
If the optional ENCODING argument is given, it must be a string
naming the encoding of the 'gdb.LazyString'. Some examples are:
'ascii', 'iso-8859-6' or 'utf-8'. If the ENCODING argument is an
encoding that GDB does recognize, GDB will raise an error.
When a lazy string is printed, the GDB encoding machinery is used
to convert the string during printing. If the optional ENCODING
argument is not provided, or is an empty string, GDB will
automatically select the encoding most suitable for the string
type. For further information on encoding in GDB please see *note
Character Sets::.
If the optional LENGTH argument is given, the string will be
fetched and encoded to the length of characters specified. If the
LENGTH argument is not provided, the string will be fetched and
encoded until a null of appropriate width is found.
-- Function: Value.fetch_lazy ()
If the 'gdb.Value' object is currently a lazy value
('gdb.Value.is_lazy' is 'True'), then the value is fetched from the
inferior. Any errors that occur in the process will produce a
Python exception.
If the 'gdb.Value' object is not a lazy value, this method has no
effect.
This method does not return a value.

File: gdb.info, Node: Types In Python, Next: Pretty Printing API, Prev: Values From Inferior, Up: Python API
23.2.2.4 Types In Python
........................
GDB represents types from the inferior using the class 'gdb.Type'.
The following type-related functions are available in the 'gdb'
module:
-- Function: gdb.lookup_type (name [, block])
This function looks up a type by its NAME, which must be a string.
If BLOCK is given, then NAME is looked up in that scope.
Otherwise, it is searched for globally.
Ordinarily, this function will return an instance of 'gdb.Type'.
If the named type cannot be found, it will throw an exception.
If the type is a structure or class type, or an enum type, the fields
of that type can be accessed using the Python "dictionary syntax". For
example, if 'some_type' is a 'gdb.Type' instance holding a structure
type, you can access its 'foo' field with:
bar = some_type['foo']
'bar' will be a 'gdb.Field' object; see below under the description
of the 'Type.fields' method for a description of the 'gdb.Field' class.
An instance of 'Type' has the following attributes:
-- Variable: Type.code
The type code for this type. The type code will be one of the
'TYPE_CODE_' constants defined below.
-- Variable: Type.name
The name of this type. If this type has no name, then 'None' is
returned.
-- Variable: Type.sizeof
The size of this type, in target 'char' units. Usually, a target's
'char' type will be an 8-bit byte. However, on some unusual
platforms, this type may have a different size.
-- Variable: Type.tag
The tag name for this type. The tag name is the name after
'struct', 'union', or 'enum' in C and C++; not all languages have
this concept. If this type has no tag name, then 'None' is
returned.
The following methods are provided:
-- Function: Type.fields ()
For structure and union types, this method returns the fields.
Range types have two fields, the minimum and maximum values. Enum
types have one field per enum constant. Function and method types
have one field per parameter. The base types of C++ classes are
also represented as fields. If the type has no fields, or does not
fit into one of these categories, an empty sequence will be
returned.
Each field is a 'gdb.Field' object, with some pre-defined
attributes:
'bitpos'
This attribute is not available for 'enum' or 'static' (as in
C++ or Java) fields. The value is the position, counting in
bits, from the start of the containing type.
'enumval'
This attribute is only available for 'enum' fields, and its
value is the enumeration member's integer representation.
'name'
The name of the field, or 'None' for anonymous fields.
'artificial'
This is 'True' if the field is artificial, usually meaning
that it was provided by the compiler and not the user. This
attribute is always provided, and is 'False' if the field is
not artificial.
'is_base_class'
This is 'True' if the field represents a base class of a C++
structure. This attribute is always provided, and is 'False'
if the field is not a base class of the type that is the
argument of 'fields', or if that type was not a C++ class.
'bitsize'
If the field is packed, or is a bitfield, then this will have
a non-zero value, which is the size of the field in bits.
Otherwise, this will be zero; in this case the field's size is
given by its type.
'type'
The type of the field. This is usually an instance of 'Type',
but it can be 'None' in some situations.
'parent_type'
The type which contains this field. This is an instance of
'gdb.Type'.
-- Function: Type.array (N1 [, N2])
Return a new 'gdb.Type' object which represents an array of this
type. If one argument is given, it is the inclusive upper bound of
the array; in this case the lower bound is zero. If two arguments
are given, the first argument is the lower bound of the array, and
the second argument is the upper bound of the array. An array's
length must not be negative, but the bounds can be.
-- Function: Type.vector (N1 [, N2])
Return a new 'gdb.Type' object which represents a vector of this
type. If one argument is given, it is the inclusive upper bound of
the vector; in this case the lower bound is zero. If two arguments
are given, the first argument is the lower bound of the vector, and
the second argument is the upper bound of the vector. A vector's
length must not be negative, but the bounds can be.
The difference between an 'array' and a 'vector' is that arrays
behave like in C: when used in expressions they decay to a pointer
to the first element whereas vectors are treated as first class
values.
-- Function: Type.const ()
Return a new 'gdb.Type' object which represents a 'const'-qualified
variant of this type.
-- Function: Type.volatile ()
Return a new 'gdb.Type' object which represents a
'volatile'-qualified variant of this type.
-- Function: Type.unqualified ()
Return a new 'gdb.Type' object which represents an unqualified
variant of this type. That is, the result is neither 'const' nor
'volatile'.
-- Function: Type.range ()
Return a Python 'Tuple' object that contains two elements: the low
bound of the argument type and the high bound of that type. If the
type does not have a range, GDB will raise a 'gdb.error' exception
(*note Exception Handling::).
-- Function: Type.reference ()
Return a new 'gdb.Type' object which represents a reference to this
type.
-- Function: Type.pointer ()
Return a new 'gdb.Type' object which represents a pointer to this
type.
-- Function: Type.strip_typedefs ()
Return a new 'gdb.Type' that represents the real type, after
removing all layers of typedefs.
-- Function: Type.target ()
Return a new 'gdb.Type' object which represents the target type of
this type.
For a pointer type, the target type is the type of the pointed-to
object. For an array type (meaning C-like arrays), the target type
is the type of the elements of the array. For a function or method
type, the target type is the type of the return value. For a
complex type, the target type is the type of the elements. For a
typedef, the target type is the aliased type.
If the type does not have a target, this method will throw an
exception.
-- Function: Type.template_argument (n [, block])
If this 'gdb.Type' is an instantiation of a template, this will
return a new 'gdb.Type' which represents the type of the Nth
template argument.
If this 'gdb.Type' is not a template type, this will throw an
exception. Ordinarily, only C++ code will have template types.
If BLOCK is given, then NAME is looked up in that scope.
Otherwise, it is searched for globally.
Each type has a code, which indicates what category this type falls
into. The available type categories are represented by constants
defined in the 'gdb' module:
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_PTR'
The type is a pointer.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_ARRAY'
The type is an array.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_STRUCT'
The type is a structure.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_UNION'
The type is a union.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_ENUM'
The type is an enum.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_FLAGS'
A bit flags type, used for things such as status registers.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_FUNC'
The type is a function.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_INT'
The type is an integer type.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_FLT'
A floating point type.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_VOID'
The special type 'void'.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_SET'
A Pascal set type.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_RANGE'
A range type, that is, an integer type with bounds.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_STRING'
A string type. Note that this is only used for certain languages
with language-defined string types; C strings are not represented
this way.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_BITSTRING'
A string of bits. It is deprecated.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_ERROR'
An unknown or erroneous type.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_METHOD'
A method type, as found in C++ or Java.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_METHODPTR'
A pointer-to-member-function.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_MEMBERPTR'
A pointer-to-member.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_REF'
A reference type.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_CHAR'
A character type.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_BOOL'
A boolean type.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_COMPLEX'
A complex float type.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_TYPEDEF'
A typedef to some other type.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_NAMESPACE'
A C++ namespace.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_DECFLOAT'
A decimal floating point type.
'gdb.TYPE_CODE_INTERNAL_FUNCTION'
A function internal to GDB. This is the type used to represent
convenience functions.
Further support for types is provided in the 'gdb.types' Python
module (*note gdb.types::).

File: gdb.info, Node: Pretty Printing API, Next: Selecting Pretty-Printers, Prev: Types In Python, Up: Python API
23.2.2.5 Pretty Printing API
............................
An example output is provided (*note Pretty Printing::).
A pretty-printer is just an object that holds a value and implements
a specific interface, defined here.
-- Function: pretty_printer.children (self)
GDB will call this method on a pretty-printer to compute the
children of the pretty-printer's value.
This method must return an object conforming to the Python iterator
protocol. Each item returned by the iterator must be a tuple
holding two elements. The first element is the "name" of the
child; the second element is the child's value. The value can be
any Python object which is convertible to a GDB value.
This method is optional. If it does not exist, GDB will act as
though the value has no children.
-- Function: pretty_printer.display_hint (self)
The CLI may call this method and use its result to change the
formatting of a value. The result will also be supplied to an MI
consumer as a 'displayhint' attribute of the variable being
printed.
This method is optional. If it does exist, this method must return
a string.
Some display hints are predefined by GDB:
'array'
Indicate that the object being printed is "array-like". The
CLI uses this to respect parameters such as 'set print
elements' and 'set print array'.
'map'
Indicate that the object being printed is "map-like", and that
the children of this value can be assumed to alternate between
keys and values.
'string'
Indicate that the object being printed is "string-like". If
the printer's 'to_string' method returns a Python string of
some kind, then GDB will call its internal language-specific
string-printing function to format the string. For the CLI
this means adding quotation marks, possibly escaping some
characters, respecting 'set print elements', and the like.
-- Function: pretty_printer.to_string (self)
GDB will call this method to display the string representation of
the value passed to the object's constructor.
When printing from the CLI, if the 'to_string' method exists, then
GDB will prepend its result to the values returned by 'children'.
Exactly how this formatting is done is dependent on the display
hint, and may change as more hints are added. Also, depending on
the print settings (*note Print Settings::), the CLI may print just
the result of 'to_string' in a stack trace, omitting the result of
'children'.
If this method returns a string, it is printed verbatim.
Otherwise, if this method returns an instance of 'gdb.Value', then
GDB prints this value. This may result in a call to another
pretty-printer.
If instead the method returns a Python value which is convertible
to a 'gdb.Value', then GDB performs the conversion and prints the
resulting value. Again, this may result in a call to another
pretty-printer. Python scalars (integers, floats, and booleans)
and strings are convertible to 'gdb.Value'; other types are not.
Finally, if this method returns 'None' then no further operations
are peformed in this method and nothing is printed.
If the result is not one of these types, an exception is raised.
GDB provides a function which can be used to look up the default
pretty-printer for a 'gdb.Value':
-- Function: gdb.default_visualizer (value)
This function takes a 'gdb.Value' object as an argument. If a
pretty-printer for this value exists, then it is returned. If no
such printer exists, then this returns 'None'.

File: gdb.info, Node: Selecting Pretty-Printers, Next: Writing a Pretty-Printer, Prev: Pretty Printing API, Up: Python API
23.2.2.6 Selecting Pretty-Printers
..................................
The Python list 'gdb.pretty_printers' contains an array of functions or
callable objects that have been registered via addition as a
pretty-printer. Printers in this list are called 'global' printers,
they're available when debugging all inferiors. Each 'gdb.Progspace'
contains a 'pretty_printers' attribute. Each 'gdb.Objfile' also
contains a 'pretty_printers' attribute.
Each function on these lists is passed a single 'gdb.Value' argument
and should return a pretty-printer object conforming to the interface
definition above (*note Pretty Printing API::). If a function cannot
create a pretty-printer for the value, it should return 'None'.
GDB first checks the 'pretty_printers' attribute of each
'gdb.Objfile' in the current program space and iteratively calls each
enabled lookup routine in the list for that 'gdb.Objfile' until it
receives a pretty-printer object. If no pretty-printer is found in the
objfile lists, GDB then searches the pretty-printer list of the current
program space, calling each enabled function until an object is
returned. After these lists have been exhausted, it tries the global
'gdb.pretty_printers' list, again calling each enabled function until an
object is returned.
The order in which the objfiles are searched is not specified. For a
given list, functions are always invoked from the head of the list, and
iterated over sequentially until the end of the list, or a printer
object is returned.
For various reasons a pretty-printer may not work. For example, the
underlying data structure may have changed and the pretty-printer is out
of date.
The consequences of a broken pretty-printer are severe enough that
GDB provides support for enabling and disabling individual printers.
For example, if 'print frame-arguments' is on, a backtrace can become
highly illegible if any argument is printed with a broken printer.
Pretty-printers are enabled and disabled by attaching an 'enabled'
attribute to the registered function or callable object. If this
attribute is present and its value is 'False', the printer is disabled,
otherwise the printer is enabled.

File: gdb.info, Node: Writing a Pretty-Printer, Next: Type Printing API, Prev: Selecting Pretty-Printers, Up: Python API
23.2.2.7 Writing a Pretty-Printer
.................................
A pretty-printer consists of two parts: a lookup function to detect if
the type is supported, and the printer itself.
Here is an example showing how a 'std::string' printer might be
written. *Note Pretty Printing API::, for details on the API this class
must provide.
class StdStringPrinter(object):
"Print a std::string"
def __init__(self, val):
self.val = val
def to_string(self):
return self.val['_M_dataplus']['_M_p']
def display_hint(self):
return 'string'
And here is an example showing how a lookup function for the printer
example above might be written.
def str_lookup_function(val):
lookup_tag = val.type.tag
if lookup_tag == None:
return None
regex = re.compile("^std::basic_string<char,.*>$")
if regex.match(lookup_tag):
return StdStringPrinter(val)
return None
The example lookup function extracts the value's type, and attempts
to match it to a type that it can pretty-print. If it is a type the
printer can pretty-print, it will return a printer object. If not, it
returns 'None'.
We recommend that you put your core pretty-printers into a Python
package. If your pretty-printers are for use with a library, we further
recommend embedding a version number into the package name. This
practice will enable GDB to load multiple versions of your
pretty-printers at the same time, because they will have different
names.
You should write auto-loaded code (*note Python Auto-loading::) such
that it can be evaluated multiple times without changing its meaning.
An ideal auto-load file will consist solely of 'import's of your printer
modules, followed by a call to a register pretty-printers with the
current objfile.
Taken as a whole, this approach will scale nicely to multiple
inferiors, each potentially using a different library version.
Embedding a version number in the Python package name will ensure that
GDB is able to load both sets of printers simultaneously. Then, because
the search for pretty-printers is done by objfile, and because your
auto-loaded code took care to register your library's printers with a
specific objfile, GDB will find the correct printers for the specific
version of the library used by each inferior.
To continue the 'std::string' example (*note Pretty Printing API::),
this code might appear in 'gdb.libstdcxx.v6':
def register_printers(objfile):
objfile.pretty_printers.append(str_lookup_function)
And then the corresponding contents of the auto-load file would be:
import gdb.libstdcxx.v6
gdb.libstdcxx.v6.register_printers(gdb.current_objfile())
The previous example illustrates a basic pretty-printer. There are a
few things that can be improved on. The printer doesn't have a name,
making it hard to identify in a list of installed printers. The lookup
function has a name, but lookup functions can have arbitrary, even
identical, names.
Second, the printer only handles one type, whereas a library
typically has several types. One could install a lookup function for
each desired type in the library, but one could also have a single
lookup function recognize several types. The latter is the conventional
way this is handled. If a pretty-printer can handle multiple data
types, then its "subprinters" are the printers for the individual data
types.
The 'gdb.printing' module provides a formal way of solving these
problems (*note gdb.printing::). Here is another example that handles
multiple types.
These are the types we are going to pretty-print:
struct foo { int a, b; };
struct bar { struct foo x, y; };
Here are the printers:
class fooPrinter:
"""Print a foo object."""
def __init__(self, val):
self.val = val
def to_string(self):
return ("a=<" + str(self.val["a"]) +
"> b=<" + str(self.val["b"]) + ">")
class barPrinter:
"""Print a bar object."""
def __init__(self, val):
self.val = val
def to_string(self):
return ("x=<" + str(self.val["x"]) +
"> y=<" + str(self.val["y"]) + ">")
This example doesn't need a lookup function, that is handled by the
'gdb.printing' module. Instead a function is provided to build up the
object that handles the lookup.
import gdb.printing
def build_pretty_printer():
pp = gdb.printing.RegexpCollectionPrettyPrinter(
"my_library")
pp.add_printer('foo', '^foo$', fooPrinter)
pp.add_printer('bar', '^bar$', barPrinter)
return pp
And here is the autoload support:
import gdb.printing
import my_library
gdb.printing.register_pretty_printer(
gdb.current_objfile(),
my_library.build_pretty_printer())
Finally, when this printer is loaded into GDB, here is the
corresponding output of 'info pretty-printer':
(gdb) info pretty-printer
my_library.so:
my_library
foo
bar

File: gdb.info, Node: Type Printing API, Next: Frame Filter API, Prev: Writing a Pretty-Printer, Up: Python API
23.2.2.8 Type Printing API
..........................
GDB provides a way for Python code to customize type display. This is
mainly useful for substituting canonical typedef names for types.
A "type printer" is just a Python object conforming to a certain
protocol. A simple base class implementing the protocol is provided;
see *note gdb.types::. A type printer must supply at least:
-- Instance Variable of type_printer: enabled
A boolean which is True if the printer is enabled, and False
otherwise. This is manipulated by the 'enable type-printer' and
'disable type-printer' commands.
-- Instance Variable of type_printer: name
The name of the type printer. This must be a string. This is used
by the 'enable type-printer' and 'disable type-printer' commands.
-- Method on type_printer: instantiate (self)
This is called by GDB at the start of type-printing. It is only
called if the type printer is enabled. This method must return a
new object that supplies a 'recognize' method, as described below.
When displaying a type, say via the 'ptype' command, GDB will compute
a list of type recognizers. This is done by iterating first over the
per-objfile type printers (*note Objfiles In Python::), followed by the
per-progspace type printers (*note Progspaces In Python::), and finally
the global type printers.
GDB will call the 'instantiate' method of each enabled type printer.
If this method returns 'None', then the result is ignored; otherwise, it
is appended to the list of recognizers.
Then, when GDB is going to display a type name, it iterates over the
list of recognizers. For each one, it calls the recognition function,
stopping if the function returns a non-'None' value. The recognition
function is defined as:
-- Method on type_recognizer: recognize (self, type)
If TYPE is not recognized, return 'None'. Otherwise, return a
string which is to be printed as the name of TYPE. The TYPE
argument will be an instance of 'gdb.Type' (*note Types In
Python::).
GDB uses this two-pass approach so that type printers can efficiently
cache information without holding on to it too long. For example, it
can be convenient to look up type information in a type printer and hold
it for a recognizer's lifetime; if a single pass were done then type
printers would have to make use of the event system in order to avoid
holding information that could become stale as the inferior changed.

File: gdb.info, Node: Frame Filter API, Next: Frame Decorator API, Prev: Type Printing API, Up: Python API
23.2.2.9 Filtering Frames.
..........................
Frame filters are Python objects that manipulate the visibility of a
frame or frames when a backtrace (*note Backtrace::) is printed by GDB.
Only commands that print a backtrace, or, in the case of GDB/MI
commands (*note GDB/MI::), those that return a collection of frames are
affected. The commands that work with frame filters are:
'backtrace' (*note The backtrace command: backtrace-command.),
'-stack-list-frames' (*note The -stack-list-frames command:
-stack-list-frames.), '-stack-list-variables' (*note The
-stack-list-variables command: -stack-list-variables.),
'-stack-list-arguments' *note The -stack-list-arguments command:
-stack-list-arguments.) and '-stack-list-locals' (*note The
-stack-list-locals command: -stack-list-locals.).
A frame filter works by taking an iterator as an argument, applying
actions to the contents of that iterator, and returning another iterator
(or, possibly, the same iterator it was provided in the case where the
filter does not perform any operations). Typically, frame filters
utilize tools such as the Python's 'itertools' module to work with and
create new iterators from the source iterator. Regardless of how a
filter chooses to apply actions, it must not alter the underlying GDB
frame or frames, or attempt to alter the call-stack within GDB. This
preserves data integrity within GDB. Frame filters are executed on a
priority basis and care should be taken that some frame filters may have
been executed before, and that some frame filters will be executed
after.
An important consideration when designing frame filters, and well
worth reflecting upon, is that frame filters should avoid unwinding the
call stack if possible. Some stacks can run very deep, into the tens of
thousands in some cases. To search every frame when a frame filter
executes may be too expensive at that step. The frame filter cannot
know how many frames it has to iterate over, and it may have to iterate
through them all. This ends up duplicating effort as GDB performs this
iteration when it prints the frames. If the filter can defer unwinding
frames until frame decorators are executed, after the last filter has
executed, it should. *Note Frame Decorator API::, for more information
on decorators. Also, there are examples for both frame decorators and
filters in later chapters. *Note Writing a Frame Filter::, for more
information.
The Python dictionary 'gdb.frame_filters' contains key/object
pairings that comprise a frame filter. Frame filters in this dictionary
are called 'global' frame filters, and they are available when debugging
all inferiors. These frame filters must register with the dictionary
directly. In addition to the 'global' dictionary, there are other
dictionaries that are loaded with different inferiors via auto-loading
(*note Python Auto-loading::). The two other areas where frame filter
dictionaries can be found are: 'gdb.Progspace' which contains a
'frame_filters' dictionary attribute, and each 'gdb.Objfile' object
which also contains a 'frame_filters' dictionary attribute.
When a command is executed from GDB that is compatible with frame
filters, GDB combines the 'global', 'gdb.Progspace' and all
'gdb.Objfile' dictionaries currently loaded. All of the 'gdb.Objfile'
dictionaries are combined, as several frames, and thus several object
files, might be in use. GDB then prunes any frame filter whose
'enabled' attribute is 'False'. This pruned list is then sorted
according to the 'priority' attribute in each filter.
Once the dictionaries are combined, pruned and sorted, GDB creates an
iterator which wraps each frame in the call stack in a 'FrameDecorator'
object, and calls each filter in order. The output from the previous
filter will always be the input to the next filter, and so on.
Frame filters have a mandatory interface which each frame filter must
implement, defined here:
-- Function: FrameFilter.filter (iterator)
GDB will call this method on a frame filter when it has reached the
order in the priority list for that filter.
For example, if there are four frame filters:
Name Priority
Filter1 5
Filter2 10
Filter3 100
Filter4 1
The order that the frame filters will be called is:
Filter3 -> Filter2 -> Filter1 -> Filter4
Note that the output from 'Filter3' is passed to the input of
'Filter2', and so on.
This 'filter' method is passed a Python iterator. This iterator
contains a sequence of frame decorators that wrap each 'gdb.Frame',
or a frame decorator that wraps another frame decorator. The first
filter that is executed in the sequence of frame filters will
receive an iterator entirely comprised of default 'FrameDecorator'
objects. However, after each frame filter is executed, the
previous frame filter may have wrapped some or all of the frame
decorators with their own frame decorator. As frame decorators
must also conform to a mandatory interface, these decorators can be
assumed to act in a uniform manner (*note Frame Decorator API::).
This method must return an object conforming to the Python iterator
protocol. Each item in the iterator must be an object conforming
to the frame decorator interface. If a frame filter does not wish
to perform any operations on this iterator, it should return that
iterator untouched.
This method is not optional. If it does not exist, GDB will raise
and print an error.
-- Variable: FrameFilter.name
The 'name' attribute must be Python string which contains the name
of the filter displayed by GDB (*note Frame Filter Management::).
This attribute may contain any combination of letters or numbers.
Care should be taken to ensure that it is unique. This attribute
is mandatory.
-- Variable: FrameFilter.enabled
The 'enabled' attribute must be Python boolean. This attribute
indicates to GDB whether the frame filter is enabled, and should be
considered when frame filters are executed. If 'enabled' is
'True', then the frame filter will be executed when any of the
backtrace commands detailed earlier in this chapter are executed.
If 'enabled' is 'False', then the frame filter will not be
executed. This attribute is mandatory.
-- Variable: FrameFilter.priority
The 'priority' attribute must be Python integer. This attribute
controls the order of execution in relation to other frame filters.
There are no imposed limits on the range of 'priority' other than
it must be a valid integer. The higher the 'priority' attribute,
the sooner the frame filter will be executed in relation to other
frame filters. Although 'priority' can be negative, it is
recommended practice to assume zero is the lowest priority that a
frame filter can be assigned. Frame filters that have the same
priority are executed in unsorted order in that priority slot.
This attribute is mandatory.

File: gdb.info, Node: Frame Decorator API, Next: Writing a Frame Filter, Prev: Frame Filter API, Up: Python API
23.2.2.10 Decorating Frames.
............................
Frame decorators are sister objects to frame filters (*note Frame Filter
API::). Frame decorators are applied by a frame filter and can only be
used in conjunction with frame filters.
The purpose of a frame decorator is to customize the printed content
of each 'gdb.Frame' in commands where frame filters are executed. This
concept is called decorating a frame. Frame decorators decorate a
'gdb.Frame' with Python code contained within each API call. This
separates the actual data contained in a 'gdb.Frame' from the decorated
data produced by a frame decorator. This abstraction is necessary to
maintain integrity of the data contained in each 'gdb.Frame'.
Frame decorators have a mandatory interface, defined below.
GDB already contains a frame decorator called 'FrameDecorator'. This
contains substantial amounts of boilerplate code to decorate the content
of a 'gdb.Frame'. It is recommended that other frame decorators inherit
and extend this object, and only to override the methods needed.
-- Function: FrameDecorator.elided (self)
The 'elided' method groups frames together in a hierarchical
system. An example would be an interpreter, where multiple
low-level frames make up a single call in the interpreted language.
In this example, the frame filter would elide the low-level frames
and present a single high-level frame, representing the call in the
interpreted language, to the user.
The 'elided' function must return an iterable and this iterable
must contain the frames that are being elided wrapped in a suitable
frame decorator. If no frames are being elided this function may
return an empty iterable, or 'None'. Elided frames are indented
from normal frames in a 'CLI' backtrace, or in the case of
'GDB/MI', are placed in the 'children' field of the eliding frame.
It is the frame filter's task to also filter out the elided frames
from the source iterator. This will avoid printing the frame
twice.
-- Function: FrameDecorator.function (self)
This method returns the name of the function in the frame that is
to be printed.
This method must return a Python string describing the function, or
'None'.
If this function returns 'None', GDB will not print any data for
this field.
-- Function: FrameDecorator.address (self)
This method returns the address of the frame that is to be printed.
This method must return a Python numeric integer type of sufficient
size to describe the address of the frame, or 'None'.
If this function returns a 'None', GDB will not print any data for
this field.
-- Function: FrameDecorator.filename (self)
This method returns the filename and path associated with this
frame.
This method must return a Python string containing the filename and
the path to the object file backing the frame, or 'None'.
If this function returns a 'None', GDB will not print any data for
this field.
-- Function: FrameDecorator.line (self):
This method returns the line number associated with the current
position within the function addressed by this frame.
This method must return a Python integer type, or 'None'.
If this function returns a 'None', GDB will not print any data for
this field.
-- Function: FrameDecorator.frame_args (self)
This method must return an iterable, or 'None'. Returning an empty
iterable, or 'None' means frame arguments will not be printed for
this frame. This iterable must contain objects that implement two
methods, described here.
This object must implement a 'argument' method which takes a single
'self' parameter and must return a 'gdb.Symbol' (*note Symbols In
Python::), or a Python string. The object must also implement a
'value' method which takes a single 'self' parameter and must
return a 'gdb.Value' (*note Values From Inferior::), a Python
value, or 'None'. If the 'value' method returns 'None', and the
'argument' method returns a 'gdb.Symbol', GDB will look-up and
print the value of the 'gdb.Symbol' automatically.
A brief example:
class SymValueWrapper():
def __init__(self, symbol, value):
self.sym = symbol
self.val = value
def value(self):
return self.val
def symbol(self):
return self.sym
class SomeFrameDecorator()
...
...
def frame_args(self):
args = []
try:
block = self.inferior_frame.block()
except:
return None
# Iterate over all symbols in a block. Only add
# symbols that are arguments.
for sym in block:
if not sym.is_argument:
continue
args.append(SymValueWrapper(sym,None))
# Add example synthetic argument.
args.append(SymValueWrapper(``foo'', 42))
return args
-- Function: FrameDecorator.frame_locals (self)
This method must return an iterable or 'None'. Returning an empty
iterable, or 'None' means frame local arguments will not be printed
for this frame.
The object interface, the description of the various strategies for
reading frame locals, and the example are largely similar to those
described in the 'frame_args' function, (*note The frame filter
frame_args function: frame_args.). Below is a modified example:
class SomeFrameDecorator()
...
...
def frame_locals(self):
vars = []
try:
block = self.inferior_frame.block()
except:
return None
# Iterate over all symbols in a block. Add all
# symbols, except arguments.
for sym in block:
if sym.is_argument:
continue
vars.append(SymValueWrapper(sym,None))
# Add an example of a synthetic local variable.
vars.append(SymValueWrapper(``bar'', 99))
return vars
-- Function: FrameDecorator.inferior_frame (self):
This method must return the underlying 'gdb.Frame' that this frame
decorator is decorating. GDB requires the underlying frame for
internal frame information to determine how to print certain values
when printing a frame.

File: gdb.info, Node: Writing a Frame Filter, Next: Xmethods In Python, Prev: Frame Decorator API, Up: Python API
23.2.2.11 Writing a Frame Filter
................................
There are three basic elements that a frame filter must implement: it
must correctly implement the documented interface (*note Frame Filter
API::), it must register itself with GDB, and finally, it must decide if
it is to work on the data provided by GDB. In all cases, whether it
works on the iterator or not, each frame filter must return an iterator.
A bare-bones frame filter follows the pattern in the following example.
import gdb
class FrameFilter():
def __init__(self):
# Frame filter attribute creation.
#
# 'name' is the name of the filter that GDB will display.
#
# 'priority' is the priority of the filter relative to other
# filters.
#
# 'enabled' is a boolean that indicates whether this filter is
# enabled and should be executed.
self.name = "Foo"
self.priority = 100
self.enabled = True
# Register this frame filter with the global frame_filters
# dictionary.
gdb.frame_filters[self.name] = self
def filter(self, frame_iter):
# Just return the iterator.
return frame_iter
The frame filter in the example above implements the three
requirements for all frame filters. It implements the API, self
registers, and makes a decision on the iterator (in this case, it just
returns the iterator untouched).
The first step is attribute creation and assignment, and as shown in
the comments the filter assigns the following attributes: 'name',
'priority' and whether the filter should be enabled with the 'enabled'
attribute.
The second step is registering the frame filter with the dictionary
or dictionaries that the frame filter has interest in. As shown in the
comments, this filter just registers itself with the global dictionary
'gdb.frame_filters'. As noted earlier, 'gdb.frame_filters' is a
dictionary that is initialized in the 'gdb' module when GDB starts.
What dictionary a filter registers with is an important consideration.
Generally, if a filter is specific to a set of code, it should be
registered either in the 'objfile' or 'progspace' dictionaries as they
are specific to the program currently loaded in GDB. The global
dictionary is always present in GDB and is never unloaded. Any filters
registered with the global dictionary will exist until GDB exits. To
avoid filters that may conflict, it is generally better to register
frame filters against the dictionaries that more closely align with the
usage of the filter currently in question. *Note Python Auto-loading::,
for further information on auto-loading Python scripts.
GDB takes a hands-off approach to frame filter registration,
therefore it is the frame filter's responsibility to ensure registration
has occurred, and that any exceptions are handled appropriately. In
particular, you may wish to handle exceptions relating to Python
dictionary key uniqueness. It is mandatory that the dictionary key is
the same as frame filter's 'name' attribute. When a user manages frame
filters (*note Frame Filter Management::), the names GDB will display
are those contained in the 'name' attribute.
The final step of this example is the implementation of the 'filter'
method. As shown in the example comments, we define the 'filter' method
and note that the method must take an iterator, and also must return an
iterator. In this bare-bones example, the frame filter is not very
useful as it just returns the iterator untouched. However this is a
valid operation for frame filters that have the 'enabled' attribute set,
but decide not to operate on any frames.
In the next example, the frame filter operates on all frames and
utilizes a frame decorator to perform some work on the frames. *Note
Frame Decorator API::, for further information on the frame decorator
interface.
This example works on inlined frames. It highlights frames which are
inlined by tagging them with an "[inlined]" tag. By applying a frame
decorator to all frames with the Python 'itertools imap' method, the
example defers actions to the frame decorator. Frame decorators are
only processed when GDB prints the backtrace.
This introduces a new decision making topic: whether to perform
decision making operations at the filtering step, or at the printing
step. In this example's approach, it does not perform any filtering
decisions at the filtering step beyond mapping a frame decorator to each
frame. This allows the actual decision making to be performed when each
frame is printed. This is an important consideration, and well worth
reflecting upon when designing a frame filter. An issue that frame
filters should avoid is unwinding the stack if possible. Some stacks
can run very deep, into the tens of thousands in some cases. To search
every frame to determine if it is inlined ahead of time may be too
expensive at the filtering step. The frame filter cannot know how many
frames it has to iterate over, and it would have to iterate through them
all. This ends up duplicating effort as GDB performs this iteration
when it prints the frames.
In this example decision making can be deferred to the printing step.
As each frame is printed, the frame decorator can examine each frame in
turn when GDB iterates. From a performance viewpoint, this is the most
appropriate decision to make as it avoids duplicating the effort that
the printing step would undertake anyway. Also, if there are many frame
filters unwinding the stack during filtering, it can substantially delay
the printing of the backtrace which will result in large memory usage,
and a poor user experience.
class InlineFilter():
def __init__(self):
self.name = "InlinedFrameFilter"
self.priority = 100
self.enabled = True
gdb.frame_filters[self.name] = self
def filter(self, frame_iter):
frame_iter = itertools.imap(InlinedFrameDecorator,
frame_iter)
return frame_iter
This frame filter is somewhat similar to the earlier example, except
that the 'filter' method applies a frame decorator object called
'InlinedFrameDecorator' to each element in the iterator. The 'imap'
Python method is light-weight. It does not proactively iterate over the
iterator, but rather creates a new iterator which wraps the existing
one.
Below is the frame decorator for this example.
class InlinedFrameDecorator(FrameDecorator):
def __init__(self, fobj):
super(InlinedFrameDecorator, self).__init__(fobj)
def function(self):
frame = fobj.inferior_frame()
name = str(frame.name())
if frame.type() == gdb.INLINE_FRAME:
name = name + " [inlined]"
return name
This frame decorator only defines and overrides the 'function'
method. It lets the supplied 'FrameDecorator', which is shipped with
GDB, perform the other work associated with printing this frame.
The combination of these two objects create this output from a
backtrace:
#0 0x004004e0 in bar () at inline.c:11
#1 0x00400566 in max [inlined] (b=6, a=12) at inline.c:21
#2 0x00400566 in main () at inline.c:31
So in the case of this example, a frame decorator is applied to all
frames, regardless of whether they may be inlined or not. As GDB
iterates over the iterator produced by the frame filters, GDB executes
each frame decorator which then makes a decision on what to print in the
'function' callback. Using a strategy like this is a way to defer
decisions on the frame content to printing time.
Eliding Frames
--------------
It might be that the above example is not desirable for representing
inlined frames, and a hierarchical approach may be preferred. If we
want to hierarchically represent frames, the 'elided' frame decorator
interface might be preferable.
This example approaches the issue with the 'elided' method. This
example is quite long, but very simplistic. It is out-of-scope for this
section to write a complete example that comprehensively covers all
approaches of finding and printing inlined frames. However, this
example illustrates the approach an author might use.
This example comprises of three sections.
class InlineFrameFilter():
def __init__(self):
self.name = "InlinedFrameFilter"
self.priority = 100
self.enabled = True
gdb.frame_filters[self.name] = self
def filter(self, frame_iter):
return ElidingInlineIterator(frame_iter)
This frame filter is very similar to the other examples. The only
difference is this frame filter is wrapping the iterator provided to it
('frame_iter') with a custom iterator called 'ElidingInlineIterator'.
This again defers actions to when GDB prints the backtrace, as the
iterator is not traversed until printing.
The iterator for this example is as follows. It is in this section
of the example where decisions are made on the content of the backtrace.
class ElidingInlineIterator:
def __init__(self, ii):
self.input_iterator = ii
def __iter__(self):
return self
def next(self):
frame = next(self.input_iterator)
if frame.inferior_frame().type() != gdb.INLINE_FRAME:
return frame
try:
eliding_frame = next(self.input_iterator)
except StopIteration:
return frame
return ElidingFrameDecorator(eliding_frame, [frame])
This iterator implements the Python iterator protocol. When the
'next' function is called (when GDB prints each frame), the iterator
checks if this frame decorator, 'frame', is wrapping an inlined frame.
If it is not, it returns the existing frame decorator untouched. If it
is wrapping an inlined frame, it assumes that the inlined frame was
contained within the next oldest frame, 'eliding_frame', which it
fetches. It then creates and returns a frame decorator,
'ElidingFrameDecorator', which contains both the elided frame, and the
eliding frame.
class ElidingInlineDecorator(FrameDecorator):
def __init__(self, frame, elided_frames):
super(ElidingInlineDecorator, self).__init__(frame)
self.frame = frame
self.elided_frames = elided_frames
def elided(self):
return iter(self.elided_frames)
This frame decorator overrides one function and returns the inlined
frame in the 'elided' method. As before it lets 'FrameDecorator' do the
rest of the work involved in printing this frame. This produces the
following output.
#0 0x004004e0 in bar () at inline.c:11
#2 0x00400529 in main () at inline.c:25
#1 0x00400529 in max (b=6, a=12) at inline.c:15
In that output, 'max' which has been inlined into 'main' is printed
hierarchically. Another approach would be to combine the 'function'
method, and the 'elided' method to both print a marker in the inlined
frame, and also show the hierarchical relationship.
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