566 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
566 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
README for gdb-6.3 release
|
||
Updated 20, November, 2006
|
||
|
||
This is GDB, the GNU source-level debugger.
|
||
|
||
A summary of new features is in the file `gdb/NEWS'.
|
||
|
||
Check the GDB home page at http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/ for up to
|
||
date release information, mailing list links and archives, etc.
|
||
|
||
The file `gdb/PROBLEMS' contains information on problems identified
|
||
late in the release cycle. GDB's bug tracking data base at
|
||
http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/ contains a more complete list of
|
||
bugs.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Unpacking and Installation -- quick overview
|
||
==========================
|
||
|
||
In this release, the GDB debugger sources, the generic GNU include
|
||
files, the BFD ("binary file description") library, the readline
|
||
library, and other libraries all have directories of their own
|
||
underneath the gdb-6.3 directory. The idea is that a variety of GNU
|
||
tools can share a common copy of these things. Be aware of variation
|
||
over time--for example don't try to build gdb with a copy of bfd from
|
||
a release other than the gdb release (such as a binutils release),
|
||
especially if the releases are more than a few weeks apart.
|
||
Configuration scripts and makefiles exist to cruise up and down this
|
||
directory tree and automatically build all the pieces in the right
|
||
order.
|
||
|
||
When you unpack the gdb-6.3.tar.gz file, you'll find a directory
|
||
called `gdb-6.3', which contains:
|
||
|
||
COPYING config-ml.in gettext.m4 ltconfig sim
|
||
COPYING.LIB config.guess include ltmain.sh src-release
|
||
Makefile.def config.sub install-sh md5.sum symlink-tree
|
||
Makefile.in configure libiberty missing texinfo
|
||
Makefile.tpl configure.in libtool.m4 mkinstalldirs ylwrap
|
||
README djunpack.bat ltcf-c.sh move-if-change
|
||
bfd etc ltcf-cxx.sh opcodes
|
||
config gdb ltcf-gcj.sh readline
|
||
|
||
You can build GDB right in the source directory:
|
||
|
||
cd gdb-6.3
|
||
./configure
|
||
make
|
||
cp gdb/gdb /usr/local/bin/gdb (or wherever you want)
|
||
|
||
However, we recommend that an empty directory be used instead.
|
||
This way you do not clutter your source tree with binary files
|
||
and will be able to create different builds with different
|
||
configuration options.
|
||
|
||
You can build GDB in any empty build directory:
|
||
|
||
mkdir build
|
||
cd build
|
||
<full path to your sources>/gdb-6.3/configure
|
||
make
|
||
cp gdb/gdb /usr/local/bin/gdb (or wherever you want)
|
||
|
||
(Building GDB with DJGPP tools for MS-DOS/MS-Windows is slightly
|
||
different; see the file gdb-6.3/gdb/config/djgpp/README for details.)
|
||
|
||
This will configure and build all the libraries as well as GDB. If
|
||
`configure' can't determine your system type, specify one as its
|
||
argument, e.g., `./configure sun4' or `./configure decstation'.
|
||
|
||
Make sure that your 'configure' line ends in 'gdb-6.3/configure':
|
||
|
||
/berman/migchain/source/gdb-6.3/configure # RIGHT
|
||
/berman/migchain/source/gdb-6.3/gdb/configure # WRONG
|
||
|
||
The gdb package contains several subdirectories, such as 'gdb',
|
||
'bfd', and 'readline'. If your 'configure' line ends in
|
||
'gdb-6.3/gdb/configure', then you are configuring only the gdb
|
||
subdirectory, not the whole gdb package. This leads to build errors
|
||
such as:
|
||
|
||
make: *** No rule to make target `../bfd/bfd.h', needed by `gdb.o'. Stop.
|
||
|
||
If you get other compiler errors during this stage, see the `Reporting
|
||
Bugs' section below; there are a few known problems.
|
||
|
||
GDB requires an ISO C (ANSI C) compiler. If you do not have an ISO
|
||
C compiler for your system, you may be able to download and install
|
||
the GNU CC compiler. It is available via anonymous FTP from the
|
||
directory `ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/gcc'. GDB also requires an ISO
|
||
C standard library. The GDB remote server, gdbserver, builds with some
|
||
non-ISO standard libraries - e.g. for Windows CE.
|
||
|
||
GDB uses Expat, an XML parsing library, to implement some target-specific
|
||
features. Expat will be linked in if it is available at build time, or
|
||
those features will be disabled. The latest version of Expat should be
|
||
available from `http://expat.sourceforge.net'.
|
||
|
||
GDB can be used as a cross-debugger, running on a machine of one
|
||
type while debugging a program running on a machine of another type.
|
||
See below.
|
||
|
||
|
||
More Documentation
|
||
******************
|
||
|
||
All the documentation for GDB comes as part of the machine-readable
|
||
distribution. The documentation is written in Texinfo format, which
|
||
is a documentation system that uses a single source file to produce
|
||
both on-line information and a printed manual. You can use one of the
|
||
Info formatting commands to create the on-line version of the
|
||
documentation and TeX (or `texi2roff') to typeset the printed version.
|
||
|
||
GDB includes an already formatted copy of the on-line Info version
|
||
of this manual in the `gdb/doc' subdirectory. The main Info file is
|
||
`gdb-6.3/gdb/doc/gdb.info', and it refers to subordinate files
|
||
matching `gdb.info*' in the same directory. If necessary, you can
|
||
print out these files, or read them with any editor; but they are
|
||
easier to read using the `info' subsystem in GNU Emacs or the
|
||
standalone `info' program, available as part of the GNU Texinfo
|
||
distribution.
|
||
|
||
If you want to format these Info files yourself, you need one of the
|
||
Info formatting programs, such as `texinfo-format-buffer' or
|
||
`makeinfo'.
|
||
|
||
If you have `makeinfo' installed, and are in the top level GDB
|
||
source directory (`gdb-6.3', in the case of version 6.3), you can make
|
||
the Info file by typing:
|
||
|
||
cd gdb/doc
|
||
make info
|
||
|
||
If you want to typeset and print copies of this manual, you need
|
||
TeX, a program to print its DVI output files, and `texinfo.tex', the
|
||
Texinfo definitions file. This file is included in the GDB
|
||
distribution, in the directory `gdb-6.3/texinfo'.
|
||
|
||
TeX is a typesetting program; it does not print files directly, but
|
||
produces output files called DVI files. To print a typeset document,
|
||
you need a program to print DVI files. If your system has TeX
|
||
installed, chances are it has such a program. The precise command to
|
||
use depends on your system; `lpr -d' is common; another (for PostScript
|
||
devices) is `dvips'. The DVI print command may require a file name
|
||
without any extension or a `.dvi' extension.
|
||
|
||
TeX also requires a macro definitions file called `texinfo.tex'.
|
||
This file tells TeX how to typeset a document written in Texinfo
|
||
format. On its own, TeX cannot read, much less typeset a Texinfo file.
|
||
`texinfo.tex' is distributed with GDB and is located in the
|
||
`gdb-6.3/texinfo' directory.
|
||
|
||
If you have TeX and a DVI printer program installed, you can typeset
|
||
and print this manual. First switch to the the `gdb' subdirectory of
|
||
the main source directory (for example, to `gdb-6.3/gdb') and then type:
|
||
|
||
make doc/gdb.dvi
|
||
|
||
If you prefer to have the manual in PDF format, type this from the
|
||
`gdb/doc' subdirectory of the main source directory:
|
||
|
||
make gdb.pdf
|
||
|
||
For this to work, you will need the PDFTeX package to be installed.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Installing GDB
|
||
**************
|
||
|
||
GDB comes with a `configure' script that automates the process of
|
||
preparing GDB for installation; you can then use `make' to build the
|
||
`gdb' program.
|
||
|
||
The GDB distribution includes all the source code you need for GDB in
|
||
a single directory, whose name is usually composed by appending the
|
||
version number to `gdb'.
|
||
|
||
For example, the GDB version 6.3 distribution is in the `gdb-6.3'
|
||
directory. That directory contains:
|
||
|
||
`gdb-6.3/{COPYING,COPYING.LIB}'
|
||
Standard GNU license files. Please read them.
|
||
|
||
`gdb-6.3/bfd'
|
||
source for the Binary File Descriptor library
|
||
|
||
`gdb-6.3/config*'
|
||
script for configuring GDB, along with other support files
|
||
|
||
`gdb-6.3/gdb'
|
||
the source specific to GDB itself
|
||
|
||
`gdb-6.3/include'
|
||
GNU include files
|
||
|
||
`gdb-6.3/libiberty'
|
||
source for the `-liberty' free software library
|
||
|
||
`gdb-6.3/opcodes'
|
||
source for the library of opcode tables and disassemblers
|
||
|
||
`gdb-6.3/readline'
|
||
source for the GNU command-line interface
|
||
NOTE: The readline library is compiled for use by GDB, but will
|
||
not be installed on your system when "make install" is issued.
|
||
|
||
`gdb-6.3/sim'
|
||
source for some simulators (ARM, D10V, SPARC, M32R, MIPS, PPC, V850, etc)
|
||
|
||
`gdb-6.3/texinfo'
|
||
The `texinfo.tex' file, which you need in order to make a printed
|
||
manual using TeX.
|
||
|
||
`gdb-6.3/etc'
|
||
Coding standards, useful files for editing GDB, and other
|
||
miscellanea.
|
||
|
||
Note: the following instructions are for building GDB on Unix or
|
||
Unix-like systems. Instructions for building with DJGPP for
|
||
MS-DOS/MS-Windows are in the file gdb/config/djgpp/README.
|
||
|
||
The simplest way to configure and build GDB is to run `configure'
|
||
from the `gdb-VERSION-NUMBER' source directory, which in this example
|
||
is the `gdb-6.3' directory.
|
||
|
||
First switch to the `gdb-VERSION-NUMBER' source directory if you are
|
||
not already in it; then run `configure'.
|
||
|
||
For example:
|
||
|
||
cd gdb-6.3
|
||
./configure
|
||
make
|
||
|
||
Running `configure' followed by `make' builds the `bfd',
|
||
`readline', `mmalloc', and `libiberty' libraries, then `gdb' itself.
|
||
The configured source files, and the binaries, are left in the
|
||
corresponding source directories.
|
||
|
||
`configure' is a Bourne-shell (`/bin/sh') script; if your system
|
||
does not recognize this automatically when you run a different shell,
|
||
you may need to run `sh' on it explicitly:
|
||
|
||
sh configure
|
||
|
||
If you run `configure' from a directory that contains source
|
||
directories for multiple libraries or programs, such as the `gdb-6.3'
|
||
source directory for version 6.3, `configure' creates configuration
|
||
files for every directory level underneath (unless you tell it not to,
|
||
with the `--norecursion' option).
|
||
|
||
You can run the `configure' script from any of the subordinate
|
||
directories in the GDB distribution, if you only want to configure that
|
||
subdirectory; but be sure to specify a path to it.
|
||
|
||
For example, with version 6.3, type the following to configure only
|
||
the `bfd' subdirectory:
|
||
|
||
cd gdb-6.3/bfd
|
||
../configure
|
||
|
||
You can install `gdb' anywhere; it has no hardwired paths. However,
|
||
you should make sure that the shell on your path (named by the `SHELL'
|
||
environment variable) is publicly readable. Remember that GDB uses the
|
||
shell to start your program--some systems refuse to let GDB debug child
|
||
processes whose programs are not readable.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Compiling GDB in another directory
|
||
==================================
|
||
|
||
If you want to run GDB versions for several host or target machines,
|
||
you need a different `gdb' compiled for each combination of host and
|
||
target. `configure' is designed to make this easy by allowing you to
|
||
generate each configuration in a separate subdirectory, rather than in
|
||
the source directory. If your `make' program handles the `VPATH'
|
||
feature correctly (GNU `make' and SunOS 'make' are two that should),
|
||
running `make' in each of these directories builds the `gdb' program
|
||
specified there.
|
||
|
||
To build `gdb' in a separate directory, run `configure' with the
|
||
`--srcdir' option to specify where to find the source. (You also need
|
||
to specify a path to find `configure' itself from your working
|
||
directory. If the path to `configure' would be the same as the
|
||
argument to `--srcdir', you can leave out the `--srcdir' option; it
|
||
will be assumed.)
|
||
|
||
For example, with version 6.3, you can build GDB in a separate
|
||
directory for a Sun 4 like this:
|
||
|
||
cd gdb-6.3
|
||
mkdir ../gdb-sun4
|
||
cd ../gdb-sun4
|
||
../gdb-6.3/configure
|
||
make
|
||
|
||
When `configure' builds a configuration using a remote source
|
||
directory, it creates a tree for the binaries with the same structure
|
||
(and using the same names) as the tree under the source directory. In
|
||
the example, you'd find the Sun 4 library `libiberty.a' in the
|
||
directory `gdb-sun4/libiberty', and GDB itself in `gdb-sun4/gdb'.
|
||
|
||
One popular reason to build several GDB configurations in separate
|
||
directories is to configure GDB for cross-compiling (where GDB runs on
|
||
one machine--the host--while debugging programs that run on another
|
||
machine--the target). You specify a cross-debugging target by giving
|
||
the `--target=TARGET' option to `configure'.
|
||
|
||
When you run `make' to build a program or library, you must run it
|
||
in a configured directory--whatever directory you were in when you
|
||
called `configure' (or one of its subdirectories).
|
||
|
||
The `Makefile' that `configure' generates in each source directory
|
||
also runs recursively. If you type `make' in a source directory such
|
||
as `gdb-6.3' (or in a separate configured directory configured with
|
||
`--srcdir=PATH/gdb-6.3'), you will build all the required libraries,
|
||
and then build GDB.
|
||
|
||
When you have multiple hosts or targets configured in separate
|
||
directories, you can run `make' on them in parallel (for example, if
|
||
they are NFS-mounted on each of the hosts); they will not interfere
|
||
with each other.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Specifying names for hosts and targets
|
||
======================================
|
||
|
||
The specifications used for hosts and targets in the `configure'
|
||
script are based on a three-part naming scheme, but some short
|
||
predefined aliases are also supported. The full naming scheme encodes
|
||
three pieces of information in the following pattern:
|
||
|
||
ARCHITECTURE-VENDOR-OS
|
||
|
||
For example, you can use the alias `sun4' as a HOST argument or in a
|
||
`--target=TARGET' option. The equivalent full name is
|
||
`sparc-sun-sunos4'.
|
||
|
||
The `configure' script accompanying GDB does not provide any query
|
||
facility to list all supported host and target names or aliases.
|
||
`configure' calls the Bourne shell script `config.sub' to map
|
||
abbreviations to full names; you can read the script, if you wish, or
|
||
you can use it to test your guesses on abbreviations--for example:
|
||
|
||
% sh config.sub sun4
|
||
sparc-sun-sunos4.1.1
|
||
% sh config.sub sun3
|
||
m68k-sun-sunos4.1.1
|
||
% sh config.sub decstation
|
||
mips-dec-ultrix4.2
|
||
% sh config.sub hp300bsd
|
||
m68k-hp-bsd
|
||
% sh config.sub i386v
|
||
i386-pc-sysv
|
||
% sh config.sub i786v
|
||
Invalid configuration `i786v': machine `i786v' not recognized
|
||
|
||
`config.sub' is also distributed in the GDB source directory
|
||
(`gdb-6.3', for version 6.3).
|
||
|
||
|
||
`configure' options
|
||
===================
|
||
|
||
Here is a summary of the `configure' options and arguments that are
|
||
most often useful for building GDB. `configure' also has several other
|
||
options not listed here. *note : (configure.info)What Configure Does,
|
||
for a full explanation of `configure'.
|
||
|
||
configure [--help]
|
||
[--prefix=DIR]
|
||
[--srcdir=PATH]
|
||
[--norecursion] [--rm]
|
||
[--enable-build-warnings]
|
||
[--target=TARGET]
|
||
[--host=HOST]
|
||
[HOST]
|
||
|
||
You may introduce options with a single `-' rather than `--' if you
|
||
prefer; but you may abbreviate option names if you use `--'.
|
||
|
||
`--help'
|
||
Display a quick summary of how to invoke `configure'.
|
||
|
||
`-prefix=DIR'
|
||
Configure the source to install programs and files under directory
|
||
`DIR'.
|
||
|
||
`--srcdir=PATH'
|
||
*Warning: using this option requires GNU `make', or another `make'
|
||
that compatibly implements the `VPATH' feature.*
|
||
Use this option to make configurations in directories separate
|
||
from the GDB source directories. Among other things, you can use
|
||
this to build (or maintain) several configurations simultaneously,
|
||
in separate directories. `configure' writes configuration
|
||
specific files in the current directory, but arranges for them to
|
||
use the source in the directory PATH. `configure' will create
|
||
directories under the working directory in parallel to the source
|
||
directories below PATH.
|
||
|
||
`--norecursion'
|
||
Configure only the directory level where `configure' is executed;
|
||
do not propagate configuration to subdirectories.
|
||
|
||
`--rm'
|
||
Remove the configuration that the other arguments specify.
|
||
|
||
`--enable-build-warnings'
|
||
When building the GDB sources, ask the compiler to warn about any
|
||
code which looks even vaguely suspicious. You should only using
|
||
this feature if you're compiling with GNU CC. It passes the
|
||
following flags:
|
||
-Wimplicit
|
||
-Wreturn-type
|
||
-Wcomment
|
||
-Wtrigraphs
|
||
-Wformat
|
||
-Wparentheses
|
||
-Wpointer-arith
|
||
|
||
`--target=TARGET'
|
||
Configure GDB for cross-debugging programs running on the specified
|
||
TARGET. Without this option, GDB is configured to debug programs
|
||
that run on the same machine (HOST) as GDB itself.
|
||
|
||
There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available
|
||
targets.
|
||
|
||
`--host=HOST'
|
||
Configure GDB to run on the specified HOST.
|
||
|
||
There is no convenient way to generate a list of all available
|
||
hosts.
|
||
|
||
`HOST ...'
|
||
Same as `--host=HOST'. If you omit this, GDB will guess; it's
|
||
quite accurate.
|
||
|
||
`--with-gdb-datadir=PATH'
|
||
Set the GDB-specific data directory. GDB will look here for
|
||
certain supporting files or scripts. This defaults to the `gdb'
|
||
subdirectory of `datadir' (which can be set using `--datadir').
|
||
|
||
`configure' accepts other options, for compatibility with configuring
|
||
other GNU tools recursively; but these are the only options that affect
|
||
GDB or its supporting libraries.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Remote debugging
|
||
=================
|
||
|
||
The files m68k-stub.c, i386-stub.c, and sparc-stub.c are examples
|
||
of remote stubs to be used with remote.c. They are designed to run
|
||
standalone on an m68k, i386, or SPARC cpu and communicate properly
|
||
with the remote.c stub over a serial line.
|
||
|
||
The directory gdb/gdbserver/ contains `gdbserver', a program that
|
||
allows remote debugging for Unix applications. gdbserver is only
|
||
supported for some native configurations, including Sun 3, Sun 4, and
|
||
Linux.
|
||
The file gdb/gdbserver/README includes further notes on gdbserver; in
|
||
particular, it explains how to build gdbserver for cross-debugging
|
||
(where gdbserver runs on the target machine, which is of a different
|
||
architecture than the host machine running GDB).
|
||
|
||
There are a number of remote interfaces for talking to existing ROM
|
||
monitors and other hardware:
|
||
|
||
remote-mips.c MIPS remote debugging protocol
|
||
remote-sds.c PowerPC SDS monitor
|
||
remote-sim.c Generalized simulator protocol
|
||
|
||
|
||
Reporting Bugs in GDB
|
||
=====================
|
||
|
||
There are several ways of reporting bugs in GDB. The prefered
|
||
method is to use the World Wide Web:
|
||
|
||
http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/
|
||
|
||
As an alternative, the bug report can be submitted, via e-mail, to the
|
||
address "bug-gdb@gnu.org".
|
||
|
||
When submitting a bug, please include the GDB version number (e.g.,
|
||
gdb-6.3), and how you configured it (e.g., "sun4" or "mach386 host,
|
||
i586-intel-synopsys target"). Since GDB now supports so many
|
||
different configurations, it is important that you be precise about
|
||
this. If at all possible, you should include the actual banner that
|
||
GDB prints when it starts up, or failing that, the actual configure
|
||
command that you used when configuring GDB.
|
||
|
||
For more information on how/whether to report bugs, see the
|
||
Reporting Bugs chapter of the GDB manual (gdb/doc/gdb.texinfo).
|
||
|
||
|
||
Graphical interface to GDB -- X Windows, MS Windows
|
||
==========================
|
||
|
||
Several graphical interfaces to GDB are available. You should
|
||
check:
|
||
|
||
http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/links/
|
||
|
||
for an up-to-date list.
|
||
|
||
Emacs users will very likely enjoy the Grand Unified Debugger mode;
|
||
try typing `M-x gdb RET'.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Writing Code for GDB
|
||
=====================
|
||
|
||
There is a lot of information about writing code for GDB in the
|
||
internals manual, distributed with GDB in gdb/doc/gdbint.texinfo. You
|
||
can read it by hand, print it by using TeX and texinfo, or process it
|
||
into an `info' file for use with Emacs' info mode or the standalone
|
||
`info' program.
|
||
|
||
If you are pondering writing anything but a short patch, especially
|
||
take note of the information about copyrights in the node Submitting
|
||
Patches. It can take quite a while to get all the paperwork done, so
|
||
we encourage you to start that process as soon as you decide you are
|
||
planning to work on something, or at least well ahead of when you
|
||
think you will be ready to submit the patches.
|
||
|
||
|
||
GDB Testsuite
|
||
=============
|
||
|
||
Included with the GDB distribution is a DejaGNU based testsuite
|
||
that can either be used to test your newly built GDB, or for
|
||
regression testing a GDB with local modifications.
|
||
|
||
Running the testsuite requires the prior installation of DejaGNU,
|
||
which is generally available via ftp. The directory
|
||
ftp://sources.redhat.com/pub/dejagnu/ will contain a recent snapshot.
|
||
Once DejaGNU is installed, you can run the tests in one of the
|
||
following ways:
|
||
|
||
(1) cd gdb-6.3
|
||
make check-gdb
|
||
|
||
or
|
||
|
||
(2) cd gdb-6.3/gdb
|
||
make check
|
||
|
||
or
|
||
|
||
(3) cd gdb-6.3/gdb/testsuite
|
||
make site.exp (builds the site specific file)
|
||
runtest -tool gdb GDB=../gdb (or GDB=<somepath> as appropriate)
|
||
|
||
The last method gives you slightly more control in case of problems
|
||
with building one or more test executables or if you are using the
|
||
testsuite `standalone', without it being part of the GDB source tree.
|
||
|
||
See the DejaGNU documentation for further details.
|
||
|
||
|
||
(this is for editing this file with GNU emacs)
|
||
Local Variables:
|
||
mode: text
|
||
End:
|