Debugging with GDB: The GNU source-level debugger (GNU manuals) by Richard Stallman (2011-05-03)

✍ Scribed by Richard Stallman, Roland Pesch, et al Stan Shebs

• Publisher: GNU Press
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 794
• Edition: 10
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The GNU Debugger allows you to see what is going on "inside" a program while it executes - or what a program was doing at the moment it crashed. GDB supports C, C++, Java, Fortran and Assembly among other languages; it is also designed to work closely with the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC). The GNU Debugger Program has four special features that helps you catch bugs in the act: It starts your program for you, specifying anything that might affect it's behavior. Makes your program stop under specified conditions. Examines what happened when the program stopped. Allows you to experiment with changes to see what effect they have on the program. This book will show you: setting and clearing breakpoints examining the stack, source files and data examining the symbol table altering program execution specifying a target for debugging how to control the debugger how to use canned command sequences how to install GDB and much more! This manual is written for programmers. It is designed so someone can begin utilizing GDB after just reading the first chapter, or read the whole manual and master the program. Synopsis of ideas and extensive examples are given.

✦ Table of Contents

Summary of gdb
Free Software
Free Software Needs Free Documentation
Contributors to gdb
A Sample gdb Session
Getting In and Out of gdb
Invoking gdb
Choosing Files
Choosing Modes
What gdb Does During Startup
Quitting gdb
Shell Commands
Logging Output
gdb Commands
Command Syntax
Command Completion
Getting Help
Running Programs Under gdb
Compiling for Debugging
Starting your Program
Your Program's Arguments
Your Program's Environment
Your Program's Working Directory
Your Program's Input and Output
Debugging an Already-running Process
Killing the Child Process
Debugging Multiple Inferiors and Programs
Debugging Programs with Multiple Threads
Debugging Forks
Setting a Bookmark to Return to Later
A Non-obvious Benefit of Using Checkpoints
Stopping and Continuing
Breakpoints, Watchpoints, and Catchpoints
Setting Breakpoints
Setting Watchpoints
Setting Catchpoints
Deleting Breakpoints
Disabling Breakpoints
Break Conditions
Breakpoint Command Lists
Dynamic Printf
How to save breakpoints to a file
Static Probe Points
Cannot insert breakpoints''Breakpoint address adjusted...''
Continuing and Stepping
Skipping Over Functions and Files
Signals
Stopping and Starting Multi-thread Programs
All-Stop Mode
Non-Stop Mode
Background Execution
Thread-Specific Breakpoints
Interrupted System Calls
Observer Mode
Running programs backward
Recording Inferior's Execution and Replaying It
Examining the Stack
Stack Frames
Backtraces
Selecting a Frame
Information About a Frame
Management of Frame Filters.
Examining Source Files
Printing Source Lines
Specifying a Location
Linespec Locations
Explicit Locations
Address Locations
Editing Source Files
Choosing your Editor
Searching Source Files
Specifying Source Directories
Source and Machine Code
Examining Data
Expressions
Ambiguous Expressions
Program Variables
Artificial Arrays
Output Formats
Examining Memory
Automatic Display
Print Settings
Pretty Printing
Pretty-Printer Introduction
Pretty-Printer Example
Pretty-Printer Commands
Value History
Convenience Variables
Convenience Functions
Registers
Floating Point Hardware
Vector Unit
Operating System Auxiliary Information
Memory Region Attributes
Attributes
Memory Access Mode
Memory Access Size
Data Cache
Memory Access Checking
Copy Between Memory and a File
How to Produce a Core File from Your Program
Character Sets
Caching Data of Targets
Search Memory
Value Sizes
Debugging Optimized Code
Inline Functions
Tail Call Frames
C Preprocessor Macros
Tracepoints
Commands to Set Tracepoints
Create and Delete Tracepoints
Enable and Disable Tracepoints
Tracepoint Passcounts
Tracepoint Conditions
Trace State Variables
Tracepoint Action Lists
Listing Tracepoints
Listing Static Tracepoint Markers
Starting and Stopping Trace Experiments
Tracepoint Restrictions
Using the Collected Data
tfind n
tdump
save tracepoints filename
Convenience Variables for Tracepoints
Using Trace Files
Debugging Programs That Use Overlays
How Overlays Work
Overlay Commands
Automatic Overlay Debugging
Overlay Sample Program
Using gdb with Different Languages
Switching Between Source Languages
List of Filename Extensions and Languages
Setting the Working Language
Having gdb Infer the Source Language
Displaying the Language
Type and Range Checking
An Overview of Type Checking
An Overview of Range Checking
Supported Languages
C and C++
C and C++ Operators
C and C++ Constants
C++ Expressions
C and C++ Defaults
C and C++ Type and Range Checks
gdb and C
gdb Features for C++
Decimal Floating Point format
D
Go
Objective-C
Method Names in Commands
The Print Command With Objective-C
OpenCL C
OpenCL C Datatypes
OpenCL C Expressions
OpenCL C Operators
Fortran
Fortran Operators and Expressions
Fortran Defaults
Special Fortran Commands
Pascal
Rust
Modula-2
Operators
Built-in Functions and Procedures
Constants
Modula-2 Types
Modula-2 Defaults
Deviations from Standard Modula-2
Modula-2 Type and Range Checks
The Scope Operators :: and .
gdb and Modula-2
Ada
Introduction
Omissions from Ada
Additions to Ada
Overloading support for Ada
Stopping at the Very Beginning
Ada Exceptions
Extensions for Ada Tasks
Tasking Support when Debugging Core Files
Tasking Support when using the Ravenscar Profile
Known Peculiarities of Ada Mode
Unsupported Languages
Examining the Symbol Table
Altering Execution
Assignment to Variables
Continuing at a Different Address
Giving your Program a Signal
Returning from a Function
Calling Program Functions
Patching Programs
Compiling and injecting code in gdb
Compilation options for the compile command
Caveats when using the compile command
Compiler search for the compile command
gdb Files
Commands to Specify Files
File Caching
Debugging Information in Separate Files
Debugging information in a special section
Index Files Speed Up gdb
Errors Reading Symbol Files
GDB Data Files
Specifying a Debugging Target
Active Targets
Commands for Managing Targets
Choosing Target Byte Order
Debugging Remote Programs
Connecting to a Remote Target
Types of Remote Connections
Host and Target Files
Remote Connection Commands
Sending files to a remote system
Using the gdbserver Program
Running gdbserver
Attaching to a Running Program
TCP port allocation lifecycle of gdbserver
Other Command-Line Arguments for gdbserver
Connecting to gdbserver
Monitor Commands for gdbserver
Tracepoints support in gdbserver
Remote Configuration
Implementing a Remote Stub
What the Stub Can Do for You
What You Must Do for the Stub
Putting it All Together
Configuration-Specific Information
Native
BSD libkvm Interface
SVR4 Process Information
Features for Debugging djgpp Programs
Features for Debugging MS Windows PE Executables
Support for DLLs without Debugging Symbols
DLL Name Prefixes
Working with Minimal Symbols
Commands Specific to gnu Hurd Systems
Darwin
Embedded Operating Systems
Embedded Processors
Synopsys ARC
ARM
M68k
MicroBlaze
MIPS Embedded
PowerPC Embedded
Atmel AVR
CRIS
Renesas Super-H
Architectures
AArch64
x86 Architecture-specific Issues
Intel Memory Protection Extensions (MPX).
Alpha
MIPS
HPPA
Cell Broadband Engine SPU architecture
PowerPC
Nios II
Controlling gdb
Prompt
Command Editing
Command History
Screen Size
Numbers
Configuring the Current ABI
Automatically loading associated files
Automatically loading init file in the current directory
Automatically loading thread debugging library
Security restriction for auto-loading
Displaying files tried for auto-load
Optional Warnings and Messages
Optional Messages about Internal Happenings
Other Miscellaneous Settings
Extending gdb
Canned Sequences of Commands
User-defined Commands
User-defined Command Hooks
Command Files
Commands for Controlled Output
Controlling auto-loading native gdb scripts
Extending gdb using Python
Python Commands
Python API
Basic Python
Exception Handling
Values From Inferior
Types In Python
Pretty Printing API
Selecting Pretty-Printers
Writing a Pretty-Printer
Type Printing API
Filtering Frames.
Decorating Frames.
Writing a Frame Filter
Unwinding Frames in Python
Xmethods In Python
Xmethod API
Writing an Xmethod
Inferiors In Python
Events In Python
Threads In Python
Commands In Python
Parameters In Python
Writing new convenience functions
Program Spaces In Python
Objfiles In Python
Accessing inferior stack frames from Python.
Accessing blocks from Python.
Python representation of Symbols.
Symbol table representation in Python.
Manipulating line tables using Python
Manipulating breakpoints using Python
Finish Breakpoints
Python representation of lazy strings.
Python representation of architectures
Python Auto-loading
Python modules
gdb.printing
gdb.types
gdb.prompt
Extending gdb using Guile
Guile Introduction
Guile Commands
Guile API
Basic Guile
Guile Configuration
GDB Scheme Data Types
Guile Exception Handling
Values From Inferior In Guile
Arithmetic In Guile
Types In Guile
Guile Pretty Printing API
Selecting Guile Pretty-Printers
Writing a Guile Pretty-Printer
Commands In Guile
Parameters In Guile
Program Spaces In Guile
Objfiles In Guile
Accessing inferior stack frames from Guile.
Accessing blocks from Guile.
Guile representation of Symbols.
Symbol table representation in Guile.
Manipulating breakpoints using Guile
Guile representation of lazy strings.
Guile representation of architectures
Disassembly In Guile
I/O Ports in Guile
Memory Ports in Guile
Iterators In Guile
Guile Auto-loading
Guile Modules
Guile Printing Module
Guile Types Module
Auto-loading extensions
The objfile-gdb.ext file
The .debug_gdb_scripts section
Script File Entries
Script Text Entries
Which flavor to choose?
Multiple Extension Languages
Python comes first
Creating new spellings of existing commands
Command Interpreters
gdb Text User Interface
TUI Overview
TUI Key Bindings
TUI Single Key Mode
TUI-specific Commands
TUI Configuration Variables
Using gdb under gnu Emacs
The gdb/mi Interface
Function and Purpose
Notation and Terminology
gdb/mi General Design
Context management
Threads and Frames
Language
Asynchronous command execution and non-stop mode
Thread groups
gdb/mi Command Syntax
gdb/mi Input Syntax
gdb/mi Output Syntax
gdb/mi Compatibility with CLI
gdb/mi Development and Front Ends
gdb/mi Output Records
gdb/mi Result Records
gdb/mi Stream Records
gdb/mi Async Records
gdb/mi Breakpoint Information
gdb/mi Frame Information
gdb/mi Thread Information
gdb/mi Ada Exception Information
Simple Examples of gdb/mi Interaction
gdb/mi Command Description Format
gdb/mi Breakpoint Commands
gdb/mi Catchpoint Commands
Shared Library gdb/mi Catchpoints
Ada Exception gdb/mi Catchpoints
gdb/mi Program Context
gdb/mi Thread Commands
gdb/mi Ada Tasking Commands
gdb/mi Program Execution
gdb/mi Stack Manipulation Commands
gdb/mi Variable Objects
gdb/mi Data Manipulation
gdb/mi Tracepoint Commands
gdb/mi Symbol Query Commands
gdb/mi File Commands
gdb/mi Target Manipulation Commands
gdb/mi File Transfer Commands
Ada Exceptions gdb/mi Commands
gdb/mi Support Commands
Miscellaneous gdb/mi Commands
gdb Annotations
What is an Annotation?
The Server Prefix
Annotation for gdb Input
Errors
Invalidation Notices
Running the Program
Displaying Source
JIT Compilation Interface
JIT Declarations
Registering Code
Unregistering Code
Custom Debug Info
Using JIT Debug Info Readers
Writing JIT Debug Info Readers
In-Process Agent
In-Process Agent Protocol
IPA Protocol Objects
IPA Protocol Commands
Reporting Bugs in gdb
Have You Found a Bug?
How to Report Bugs
Command Line Editing
Introduction to Line Editing
Readline Interaction
Readline Bare Essentials
Readline Movement Commands
Readline Killing Commands
Readline Arguments
Searching for Commands in the History
Readline Init File
Readline Init File Syntax
Conditional Init Constructs
Sample Init File
Bindable Readline Commands
Commands For Moving
Commands For Manipulating The History
Commands For Changing Text
Killing And Yanking
Specifying Numeric Arguments
Letting Readline Type For You
Keyboard Macros
Some Miscellaneous Commands
Readline vi Mode
Using History Interactively
History Expansion
Event Designators
Word Designators
Modifiers
In Memoriam
Formatting Documentation
Installing gdb
Requirements for Building gdb
Invoking the gdb configure Script
Compiling gdb in Another Directory
Specifying Names for Hosts and Targets
configure Options
System-wide configuration and settings
Installed System-wide Configuration Scripts
Maintenance Commands
gdb Remote Serial Protocol
Overview
Packets
Stop Reply Packets
General Query Packets
Architecture-Specific Protocol Details
ARM-specific Protocol Details
ARM Breakpoint Kinds
MIPS-specific Protocol Details
MIPS Register Packet Format
MIPS Breakpoint Kinds
Tracepoint Packets
Relocate instruction reply packet
Host I/O Packets
Interrupts
Notification Packets
Remote Protocol Support for Non-Stop Mode
Packet Acknowledgment
Examples
File-I/O Remote Protocol Extension
File-I/O Overview
Protocol Basics
The F Request Packet
The F Reply Packet
The Ctrl-C Message
Console I/O
List of Supported Calls
open
close
read
write
lseek
rename
unlink
stat/fstat
gettimeofday
isatty
system
Protocol-specific Representation of Datatypes
Integral Datatypes
Pointer Values
Memory Transfer
struct stat
struct timeval
Constants
Open Flags
mode_t Values
Errno Values
Lseek Flags
Limits
File-I/O Examples
Library List Format
Library List Format for SVR4 Targets
Memory Map Format
Thread List Format
Traceframe Info Format
Branch Trace Format
Branch Trace Configuration Format
The GDB Agent Expression Mechanism
General Bytecode Design
Bytecode Descriptions
Using Agent Expressions
Varying Target Capabilities
Rationale
Target Descriptions
Retrieving Descriptions
Target Description Format
Inclusion
Architecture
OS ABI
Compatible Architecture
Features
Types
Registers
Predefined Target Types
Enum Target Types
Standard Target Features
AArch64 Features
ARC Features
ARM Features
i386 Features
MicroBlaze Features
MIPS Features
M68K Features
NDS32 Features
Nios II Features
PowerPC Features
S/390 and System z Features
TMS320C6x Features
Operating System Information
Process list
Trace File Format
.gdb_index section format
Manual pages
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
GNU Free Documentation License
Concept Index
Command, Variable, and Function Index