348 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
348 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
What has changed since GDB-3.5?
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(Organized release by release)
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*** Changes in GDB-4.3:
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* New machines supported (host and target)
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Amiga 3000 running Amix m68k-cbm-svr4 or amix
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NCR 3000 386 running SVR4 i386-ncr-svr4 or ncr3000
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Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
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* Almost SCO Unix support
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We had hoped to support:
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SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco
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(except for core file support), but we discovered very late in the release
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that it has problems with process groups that render gdb unusable. Sorry
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about that. I encourage people to fix it and post the fixes.
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* Preliminary ELF and DWARF support
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GDB can read ELF object files on System V Release 4, and can handle
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debugging records for C, in DWARF format, in ELF files. This support
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is preliminary. If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please
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send mail to bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were
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reqired (if any).
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* New Readline
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GDB now uses the latest `readline' library. One user-visible change
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is that two tabs will list possible command completions, which previously
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required typing M-? (meta-question mark, or ESC ?).
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* Bugs fixed
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The `stepi' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed.
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Many bugs in C++ have been handled. Many more remain to be handled.
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See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details.
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* State of the MIPS world (in case you wondered):
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GDB can understand the symbol tables emitted by the compilers
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supplied by most vendors of MIPS-based machines, including DEC. These
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symbol tables are in a format that essentially nobody else uses.
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Some versions of gcc come with an assembler post-processor called
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mips-tfile. This program is required if you want to do source-level
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debugging of gcc-compiled programs. I believe FSF does not ship
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mips-tfile with gcc version 1, but it will eventually come with gcc
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version 2.
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Debugging of g++ output remains a problem. g++ version 1.xx does not
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really support it at all. (If you're lucky, you should be able to get
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line numbers and stack traces to work, but no parameters or local
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variables.) With some work it should be possible to improve the
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situation somewhat.
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When gcc version 2 is released, you will have somewhat better luck.
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However, even then you will get confusing results for inheritance and
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methods.
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We will eventually provide full debugging of g++ output on
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DECstations. This will probably involve some kind of stabs-in-ecoff
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encapulation, but the details have not been worked out yet.
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*** Changes in GDB-4.2:
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* Improved configuration
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Only one copy of `configure' exists now, and it is not self-modifying.
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Porting BFD is simpler.
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* Stepping improved
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The `step' and `next' commands now only stop at the first instruction
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of a source line. This prevents the multiple stops that used to occur
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in switch statements, for-loops, etc. `Step' continues to stop if a
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function that has debugging information is called within the line.
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* Bug fixing
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Lots of small bugs fixed. More remain.
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* New host supported (not target)
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Intel 386 PC clone running Mach i386-none-mach
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*** Changes in GDB-4.1:
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* Multiple source language support
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GDB now has internal scaffolding to handle several source languages.
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It determines the type of each source file from its filename extension,
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and will switch expression parsing and number formatting to match the
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language of the function in the currently selected stack frame.
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You can also specifically set the language to be used, with
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`set language c' or `set language modula-2'.
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* GDB and Modula-2
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GDB now has preliminary support for the GNU Modula-2 compiler,
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currently under development at the State University of New York at
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Buffalo. Development of both GDB and the GNU Modula-2 compiler will
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continue through the fall of 1991 and into 1992.
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Other Modula-2 compilers are currently not supported, and attempting to
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debug programs compiled with them will likely result in an error as the
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symbol table is read. Feel free to work on it, though!
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There are hooks in GDB for strict type checking and range checking,
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in the `Modula-2 philosophy', but they do not currently work.
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* set write on/off
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GDB can now write to executable and core files (e.g. patch
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a variable's value). You must turn this switch on, specify
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the file ("exec foo" or "core foo"), *then* modify it, e.g.
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by assigning a new value to a variable. Modifications take
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effect immediately.
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* Automatic SunOS shared library reading
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When you run your program, GDB automatically determines where its
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shared libraries (if any) have been loaded, and reads their symbols.
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The `share' command is no longer needed. This also works when
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examining core files.
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* set listsize
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You can specify the number of lines that the `list' command shows.
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The default is 10.
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* New machines supported (host and target)
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SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris
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Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x: m68k-sony-sysv or news
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Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1: a29k-nyu-sym1 or ultra3
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* New hosts supported (not targets)
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IBM RT/PC: romp-ibm-aix or rtpc
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* New targets supported (not hosts)
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AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
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AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
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Ultracomputer remote kernel debug a29k-nyu-kern
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* New remote interfaces
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AMD 29000 Adapt
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AMD 29000 Minimon
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*** Changes in GDB-4.0:
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* New Facilities
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Wide output is wrapped at good places to make the output more readable.
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Gdb now supports cross-debugging from a host machine of one type to a
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target machine of another type. Communication with the target system
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is over serial lines. The ``target'' command handles connecting to the
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remote system; the ``load'' command will download a program into the
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remote system. Serial stubs for the m68k and i386 are provided. Gdb
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also supports debugging of realtime processes running under VxWorks,
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using SunRPC Remote Procedure Calls over TCP/IP to talk to a debugger
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stub on the target system.
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New CPUs supported include the AMD 29000 and Intel 960.
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GDB now reads object files and symbol tables via a ``binary file''
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library, which allows a single copy of GDB to debug programs of multiple
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object file types such as a.out and coff.
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There is now a GDB reference card in "doc/refcard.tex". (Make targets
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refcard.dvi and refcard.ps are available to format it).
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* Control-Variable user interface simplified
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All variables that control the operation of the debugger can be set
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by the ``set'' command, and displayed by the ``show'' command.
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For example, ``set prompt new-gdb=>'' will change your prompt to new-gdb=>.
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``Show prompt'' produces the response:
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Gdb's prompt is new-gdb=>.
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What follows are the NEW set commands. The command ``help set'' will
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print a complete list of old and new set commands. ``help set FOO''
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will give a longer description of the variable FOO. ``show'' will show
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all of the variable descriptions and their current settings.
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confirm on/off: Enables warning questions for operations that are
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hard to recover from, e.g. rerunning the program while
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it is already running. Default is ON.
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editing on/off: Enables EMACS style command line editing
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of input. Previous lines can be recalled with
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control-P, the current line can be edited with control-B,
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you can search for commands with control-R, etc.
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Default is ON.
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history filename NAME: NAME is where the gdb command history
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will be stored. The default is .gdb_history,
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or the value of the environment variable
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GDBHISTFILE.
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history size N: The size, in commands, of the command history. The
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default is 256, or the value of the environment variable
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HISTSIZE.
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history save on/off: If this value is set to ON, the history file will
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be saved after exiting gdb. If set to OFF, the
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file will not be saved. The default is OFF.
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history expansion on/off: If this value is set to ON, then csh-like
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history expansion will be performed on
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command line input. The default is OFF.
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radix N: Sets the default radix for input and output. It can be set
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to 8, 10, or 16. Note that the argument to "radix" is interpreted
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in the current radix, so "set radix 10" is always a no-op.
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height N: This integer value is the number of lines on a page. Default
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is 24, the current `stty rows'' setting, or the ``li#''
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setting from the termcap entry matching the environment
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variable TERM.
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width N: This integer value is the number of characters on a line.
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Default is 80, the current `stty cols'' setting, or the ``co#''
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setting from the termcap entry matching the environment
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variable TERM.
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Note: ``set screensize'' is obsolete. Use ``set height'' and
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``set width'' instead.
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print address on/off: Print memory addresses in various command displays,
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such as stack traces and structure values. Gdb looks
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more ``symbolic'' if you turn this off; it looks more
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``machine level'' with it on. Default is ON.
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print array on/off: Prettyprint arrays. New convenient format! Default
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is OFF.
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print demangle on/off: Print C++ symbols in "source" form if on,
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"raw" form if off.
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print asm-demangle on/off: Same, for assembler level printouts
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like instructions.
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print vtbl on/off: Prettyprint C++ virtual function tables. Default is OFF.
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* Support for Epoch Environment.
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The epoch environment is a version of Emacs v18 with windowing. One
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new command, ``inspect'', is identical to ``print'', except that if you
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are running in the epoch environment, the value is printed in its own
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window.
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* Support for Shared Libraries
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GDB can now debug programs and core files that use SunOS shared libraries.
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Symbols from a shared library cannot be referenced
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before the shared library has been linked with the program (this
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happens after you type ``run'' and before the function main() is entered).
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At any time after this linking (including when examining core files
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from dynamically linked programs), gdb reads the symbols from each
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shared library when you type the ``sharedlibrary'' command.
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It can be abbreviated ``share''.
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sharedlibrary REGEXP: Load shared object library symbols for files
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matching a unix regular expression. No argument
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indicates to load symbols for all shared libraries.
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info sharedlibrary: Status of loaded shared libraries.
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* Watchpoints
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A watchpoint stops execution of a program whenever the value of an
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expression changes. Checking for this slows down execution
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tremendously whenever you are in the scope of the expression, but is
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quite useful for catching tough ``bit-spreader'' or pointer misuse
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problems. Some machines such as the 386 have hardware for doing this
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more quickly, and future versions of gdb will use this hardware.
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watch EXP: Set a watchpoint (breakpoint) for an expression.
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info watchpoints: Information about your watchpoints.
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delete N: Deletes watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
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disable N: Temporarily turns off watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
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enable N: Re-enables watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
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* C++ multiple inheritance
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When used with a GCC version 2 compiler, GDB supports multiple inheritance
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for C++ programs.
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* C++ exception handling
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Gdb now supports limited C++ exception handling. Besides the existing
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ability to breakpoint on an exception handler, gdb can breakpoint on
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the raising of an exception (before the stack is peeled back to the
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handler's context).
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catch FOO: If there is a FOO exception handler in the dynamic scope,
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set a breakpoint to catch exceptions which may be raised there.
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Multiple exceptions (``catch foo bar baz'') may be caught.
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info catch: Lists all exceptions which may be caught in the
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current stack frame.
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* Minor command changes
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The command ``call func (arg, arg, ...)'' now acts like the print
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command, except it does not print or save a value if the function's result
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is void. This is similar to dbx usage.
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The ``up'' and ``down'' commands now always print the frame they end up
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at; ``up-silently'' and `down-silently'' can be used in scripts to change
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frames without printing.
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* New directory command
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'dir' now adds directories to the FRONT of the source search path.
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The path starts off empty. Source files that contain debug information
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about the directory in which they were compiled can be found even
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with an empty path; Sun CC and GCC include this information. If GDB can't
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find your source file in the current directory, type "dir .".
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* Configuring GDB for compilation
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For normal use, type ``./configure host''. See README or gdb.texinfo
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for more details.
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GDB now handles cross debugging. If you are remotely debugging between
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two different machines, type ``./configure host -target=targ''.
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Host is the machine where gdb will run; targ is the machine
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where the program that you are debugging will run.
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