.debug_types is a new DWARF 4 feature that adds some simple
compression to DWARF. The basic idea is that identical type
definitions are merged by the linker and put into a new .debug_types
section.
This introduces 'dwarf_off_ref', which is like Dwarf_Off, but carries
a flag indicating if the DIE came from .debug_types. This allows
future uses to find the DIE properly.
Type units are read a little differently from ordinary CUs. All type
units are read at once, then types are recoded for them. (I think
something like this is needed more generally, to support inter-CU
references, but I have not tried that.)
The type unit is also kept around longer, because any other CU may
refer to it. This necessitated a change to load_steal_kind to replace
the notion of a "stolen" CU with a request by the "stealer" for the
caller to delete the CU when appropriate.
I need elfutils patch 581c3f60e2b1fc7ddaf4260bb5a9cb59f8e3f0d0
to make this work properly; without it I see crashes.
You can make test cases by compiling with '-gdwarf-4 -fdebug-types-section'.
Build instructions:
1. install cmake
2. mkdir build
3. cd build
4. cmake -D__LIB=lib ..
5. make install
Default is to be installed on /usr/local, see rpm spec file for
installing on other places.
Known to work scenarios:
Mandriva Cooker:
cmake 2.4.5-1mdv2007.1
libelfutils1-devel 0.123-1mdv2007.1
Debian Unstable:
cmake 2.4.5-1
libdw-dev 0.123-2
Fedora Core 6:
cmake 2.4.5-2.fc6
elfutils-devel 0.126-1.fc6