1 What has changed in GDB?
2 (Organized release by release)
4 *** Changes since GDB 16
6 * "set style" commands now supports numeric format for basic colors
7 from 0 to 255 and #RRGGBB format for TrueColor.
9 * New built-in convenience variable $_colorsupport provides comma-separated
10 list of color space names supported by terminal. Each color space name is one
11 of monochrome, ansi_8color, aixterm_16color, xterm_256color or rgb_24bit.
12 It is handy for conditionally using styling colors based on terminal features.
15 (gdb) if $_regex ($_colorsupport, ".*(^|,)rgb_24bit($|,).*")
16 >set style filename background #FACADE
18 >if $_regex ($_colorsupport, ".*(^|,)xterm_256color($|,).*")
19 >set style filename background 224
21 >set style filename background red
25 * UST (static tracepoint) support from gdbserver has been removed.
29 maintenance check psymtabs
30 Renamed from maintenance check-psymtabs
32 maintenance check symtabs
33 Renamed from maintenance check-symtabs
35 set riscv numeric-register-names on|off
36 show riscv numeric-register-names
37 Controls whether GDB refers to risc-v registers by their numeric names
38 (e.g 'x1') or their abi names (e.g. 'ra').
39 Defaults to 'off', matching the old behaviour (abi names).
43 ** New class gdb.Color for dealing with colors.
45 ** New constant gdb.PARAM_COLOR represents color type of a
46 gdb.Parameter.value. Parameter's value is gdb.Color instance.
50 ** New type <gdb:color> for dealing with colors.
52 ** New constant PARAM_COLOR represents color type of a value
53 of a <gdb:parameter> object. Parameter's value is <gdb::color> instance.
57 binary-upload in qSupported reply
58 If the stub sends back 'binary-upload+' in it's qSupported reply,
59 then GDB will, where possible, make use of the 'x' packet. If the
60 stub doesn't report this feature supported, then GDB will not use
65 * Support for Nios II targets has been removed as this architecture
66 has been EOL'ed by Intel.
68 * GDB now supports watchpoints for tagged data pointers (see
69 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagged_pointer) on amd64, such as the
70 one used by the Linear Address Masking (LAM) feature provided by
73 * Debugging support for Intel MPX has been removed. This includes the
75 ** MPX register support
76 ** the commands "show/set mpx bound" (deprecated since GDB 15)
77 ** i386 and amd64 implementation of the hooks report_signal_info and
80 * GDB now supports printing of asynchronous events from the Intel Processor
81 Trace during 'record instruction-history', 'record function-call-history'
82 and all stepping commands. This can be controlled with the new
83 "set record btrace pt event-tracing" command.
85 * GDB now supports printing of ptwrite payloads from the Intel Processor
86 Trace during 'record instruction-history', 'record function-call-history'
87 and all stepping commands. The payload is also accessible in Python as a
88 RecordAuxiliary object. Printing is customizable via a ptwrite filter
89 function in Python. By default, the raw ptwrite payload is printed for
90 each ptwrite that is encountered.
92 * For breakpoints that are created in the 'pending' state, any
93 'thread' or 'task' keywords are parsed at the time the breakpoint is
94 created, rather than at the time the breakpoint becomes non-pending.
96 * Thread-specific breakpoints are only inserted into the program space
97 in which the thread of interest is running. In most cases program
98 spaces are unique for each inferior, so this means that
99 thread-specific breakpoints will usually only be inserted for the
100 inferior containing the thread of interest. The breakpoint will
101 be hit no less than before.
103 * For ARM targets, the offset of the pc in the jmp_buf has been fixed to match
104 glibc 2.20 and later. This should only matter when not using libc probes.
105 This may cause breakage when using an incompatible libc, like uclibc or
106 newlib, or an older glibc.
108 * MTE (Memory Tagging Extension) debugging is now supported on AArch64 baremetal
111 * Remove support (native and remote) for QNX Neutrino (triplet
114 * In a record session, when a forward emulation reaches the end of the reverse
115 history, the warning message has been changed to indicate that the end of the
116 history has been reached. It also specifies that the forward execution can
117 continue, and the recording will also continue.
119 * The Ada 'Object_Size attribute is now supported.
121 * Support for process record/replay and reverse debugging on loongarch*-linux*
122 targets has been added.
124 * New bash script gstack uses GDB to print stack traces of running processes.
128 ** Added gdb.record.clear. Clears the trace data of the current recording.
129 This forces re-decoding of the trace for successive commands.
131 ** Added the new event source gdb.tui_enabled.
133 ** New module gdb.missing_objfile that facilitates dealing with
134 missing objfiles when opening a core-file.
136 ** New function gdb.missing_objfile.register_handler that can
137 register an instance of a sub-class of
138 gdb.missing_debug.MissingObjfileHandler as a handler for missing
141 ** New class gdb.missing_objfile.MissingObjfileHandler which can be
142 sub-classed to create handlers for missing objfiles.
144 ** The 'signed' argument to gdb.Architecture.integer_type() will no
145 longer accept non-bool types.
147 ** The gdb.MICommand.installed property can only be set to True or
150 ** The 'qualified' argument to gdb.Breakpoint constructor will no
151 longer accept non-bool types.
153 ** Added the gdb.Symbol.is_artificial attribute.
155 * Debugger Adapter Protocol changes
157 ** The "scopes" request will now return a scope holding global
158 variables from the stack frame's compilation unit.
160 ** The "scopes" request will return a "returnValue" scope holding
161 the return value from the latest "stepOut" command, when
164 ** The "launch" and "attach" requests were rewritten in accordance
165 with some clarifications to the spec. Now they can be sent at
166 any time after the "initialized" event, but will not take effect
167 (or send a response) until after the "configurationDone" request
170 ** The "variables" request will not return artificial symbols.
174 show jit-reader-directory
175 Show the name of the directory that "jit-reader-load" uses for
178 set style line-number foreground COLOR
179 set style line-number background COLOR
180 set style line-number intensity VALUE
181 Control the styling of line numbers printed by GDB.
183 set style command foreground COLOR
184 set style command background COLOR
185 set style command intensity VALUE
186 Control the styling of GDB commands when displayed by GDB.
188 set style title foreground COLOR
189 set style title background COLOR
190 set style title intensity VALUE
191 This style now applies to the header line of lists, for example the
192 first line of the output of "info breakpoints". Previous uses of
193 this style have been replaced with the new "command" style.
195 set warn-language-frame-mismatch [on|off]
196 show warn-language-frame-mismatch
197 Control the warning that is emitted when specifying a language that
198 does not match the current frame's language.
200 maintenance info inline-frames [ADDRESS]
201 New command which displays GDB's inline-frame information for the
202 current address, or for ADDRESS if specified. The output identifies
203 inlined frames which start at the specified address.
205 maintenance info blocks [ADDRESS]
206 New command which displays information about all of the blocks at
207 ADDRESS, or at the current address if ADDRESS is not given. Blocks
208 are listed starting at the inner global block out to the most inner
211 maintenance frame-unwinder disable [-all | -name NAME | [-class] CLASS]
212 maintenance frame-unwinder enable [-all | -name NAME | [-class] CLASS]
213 Enable or disable frame unwinders. This is only meant to be used when
214 testing unwinders themselves, and you want to ensure that a fallback
215 algorithm won't obscure a regression. GDB is not expected to behave
216 well if you try to execute the inferior with unwinders disabled.
218 info missing-objfile-handlers
219 List all the registered missing-objfile handlers.
221 enable missing-objfile-handler LOCUS HANDLER
222 disable missing-objfile-handler LOCUS HANDLER
223 Enable or disable a missing-objfile handler with a name matching the
224 regular expression HANDLER, in LOCUS.
226 LOCUS can be 'global' to operate on global missing-objfile handler,
227 'progspace' to operate on handlers within the current program space,
228 or can be a regular expression which is matched against the filename
229 of the primary executable in each program space.
234 This command now supports file-name completion.
236 remove-symbol-file -a ADDRESS
237 The ADDRESS expression can now be a full expression consisting of
238 multiple terms, e.g. 'function + 0x1000' (without quotes),
239 previously only a single term could be given.
248 These commands now require their filename argument to be quoted if
249 it contains white space or quote characters. If the argument
250 contains no such special characters then quoting is not required.
252 maintenance print remote-registers
253 Add an "Expedited" column to the output of the command. It indicates
254 which registers were included in the last stop reply packet received by
257 mainenance info frame-unwinders
258 Add a CLASS column to the output. This class is a somewhat arbitrary
259 grouping of unwinders, based on which area of GDB adds the unwinder.
260 Also add an ENABLED column, that will show if the unwinder is enabled
263 maintenance set dwarf unwinders (on|off)
264 This command has been removed because the same functionality can be
265 achieved with maint frame-unwinder (enable|disable) DEBUGINFO.
267 maintenance show dwarf unwinders
268 This command has been removed since the functionality can be achieved
269 by checking the last column of maint info frame-unwinders.
272 Now includes the version of GNU Readline library that GDB is using.
277 Return information about files on the remote system. Like
278 vFile:fstat but takes a filename rather than an open file
282 Given ADDR and LENGTH, fetch LENGTH units from the memory at address
283 ADDR and send the fetched data in binary format. This packet is
284 equivalent to 'm', except that the data in the response are in
287 *** Changes in GDB 15
289 * The MPX commands "show/set mpx bound" have been deprecated, as Intel
290 listed MPX as removed in 2019.
292 * Building GDB and GDBserver now requires a C++17 compiler.
293 For example, GCC 9 or later.
295 * GDB index now contains information about the main function. This speeds up
296 startup when it is being used for some large binaries.
298 * On hosts where threading is available, DWARF reading is now done in
299 the background, resulting in faster startup. This can be controlled
300 using "maint set dwarf synchronous".
305 Attempting to use both the 'r' and 'b' flags with the disassemble
306 command will now give an error. Previously the 'b' flag would
307 always override the 'r' flag.
311 GDB now generates sparse core files, on systems that support it.
313 maintenance info line-table
314 Add an EPILOGUE-BEGIN column to the output of the command. It indicates
315 if the line is considered the start of the epilgoue, and thus a point at
316 which the frame can be considered destroyed.
318 set unwindonsignal on|off
320 These commands are now aliases for the new set/show unwind-on-signal.
323 This command now gives an error if any unexpected arguments are
324 found after the command.
327 When using the command "list ." in a location that has no debug information
328 or no file loaded, GDB now says that there is no debug information to print
329 lines. This makes it more obvious that there is no information, as opposed
330 to implying there is no inferior loaded.
334 info missing-debug-handler
335 List all the registered missing debug handlers.
337 enable missing-debug-handler LOCUS HANDLER
338 disable missing-debug-handler LOCUS HANDLER
339 Enable or disable a missing debug handler with a name matching the
340 regular expression HANDLER, in LOCUS.
342 LOCUS can be 'global' to operate on global missing debug handler,
343 'progspace' to operate on handlers within the current program space,
344 or can be a regular expression which is matched against the filename
345 of the primary executable in each program space.
347 maintenance info linux-lwps
348 List all LWPs under control of the linux-nat target.
350 set remote thread-options-packet
351 show remote thread-options-packet
352 Set/show the use of the thread options packet.
354 set direct-call-timeout SECONDS
355 show direct-call-timeout
356 set indirect-call-timeout SECONDS
357 show indirect-call-timeout
358 These new settings can be used to limit how long GDB will wait for
359 an inferior function call to complete. The direct timeout is used
360 for inferior function calls from e.g. 'call' and 'print' commands,
361 while the indirect timeout is used for inferior function calls from
362 within a conditional breakpoint expression.
364 The default for the direct timeout is unlimited, while the default
365 for the indirect timeout is 30 seconds.
367 These timeouts will only have an effect for targets that are
368 operating in async mode. For non-async targets the timeouts are
369 ignored, GDB will wait indefinitely for an inferior function to
370 complete, unless interrupted by the user using Ctrl-C.
372 set unwind-on-timeout on|off
373 show unwind-on-timeout
374 These commands control whether GDB should unwind the stack when a
375 timeout occurs during an inferior function call. The default is
376 off, in which case the inferior will remain in the frame where the
377 timeout occurred. When on, GDB will unwind the stack removing the
378 dummy frame that was added for the inferior call, and restoring the
379 inferior state to how it was before the inferior call started.
381 set unwind-on-signal on|off
382 show unwind-on-signal
383 These new commands replaces the existing set/show unwindonsignal. The
384 old command is maintained as an alias.
386 * New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
388 ** The --remote-debug and --event-loop-debug command line options
391 ** The --debug command line option now takes an optional comma
392 separated list of components to emit debug for. The currently
393 supported components are: all, threads, event-loop, and remote.
394 If no components are given then threads is assumed.
396 ** The 'monitor set remote-debug' and 'monitor set event-loop-debug'
397 command have been removed.
399 ** The 'monitor set debug 0|1' command has been extended to take a
400 component name, e.g.: 'monitor set debug COMPONENT off|on'.
401 Possible component names are: all, threads, event-loop, and
406 ** New function gdb.notify_mi(NAME, DATA), that emits custom
407 GDB/MI async notification.
409 ** New read/write attribute gdb.Value.bytes that contains a bytes
410 object holding the contents of this value.
412 ** New module gdb.missing_debug that facilitates dealing with
413 objfiles that are missing any debug information.
415 ** New function gdb.missing_debug.register_handler that can register
416 an instance of a sub-class of gdb.missing_debug.MissingDebugInfo
417 as a handler for objfiles that are missing debug information.
419 ** New class gdb.missing_debug.MissingDebugInfo which can be
420 sub-classed to create handlers for objfiles with missing debug
423 ** Stop events now have a "details" attribute that holds a
424 dictionary that carries the same information as an MI "*stopped"
427 ** New function gdb.interrupt(), that interrupts GDB as if the user
430 ** New gdb.InferiorThread.ptid_string attribute. This read-only
431 attribute contains the string that appears in the 'Target Id'
432 column of the 'info threads' command output.
434 ** It is no longer possible to create new gdb.Progspace object using
435 'gdb.Progspace()', this will result in a TypeError. Progspace
436 objects can still be obtained through calling other API
437 functions, for example 'gdb.current_progspace()'.
439 ** User defined attributes can be added to a gdb.Inferior object,
440 these will be stored in the object's new Inferior.__dict__
443 ** User defined attributes can be added to a gdb.InferiorThread
444 object, these will be stored in the object's new
445 InferiorThread.__dict__ attribute.
447 ** New constants gdb.SYMBOL_TYPE_DOMAIN, gdb.SYMBOL_FUNCTION_DOMAIN,
448 and gdb.SEARCH_*_DOMAIN corresponding to all the existing symbol
449 domains. Symbol lookup can now search in multiple domains at
450 once, and can also narrowly search for just a type or function.
452 * Debugger Adapter Protocol changes
454 ** GDB now emits the "process" event.
456 ** GDB now supports the "cancel" request.
458 ** The "attach" request now supports specifying the program.
460 ** New command "set debug dap-log-level" controls DAP logging.
462 ** The "set debug dap-log-file" command is now documented. This
463 command was available in GDB 14 but not documented.
467 ** New constants SYMBOL_TYPE_DOMAIN, SYMBOL_FUNCTION_DOMAIN, and
468 SEARCH_*_DOMAIN corresponding to all the existing symbol domains.
469 Symbol lookup can now search in multiple domains at once, and can
470 also narrowly search for just a type or function.
474 New stop reason: clone
475 Indicates that a clone system call was executed.
478 Enable/disable optional event reporting, on a per-thread basis.
479 Currently supported options are GDB_THREAD_OPTION_CLONE, to enable
480 clone event reporting, and GDB_THREAD_OPTION_EXIT to enable thread
481 exit event reporting.
483 QThreadOptions in qSupported
484 The qSupported packet allows GDB to inform the stub it supports the
485 QThreadOptions packet, and the qSupported response can contain the
486 set of thread options the remote stub supports.
489 This new packet allows GDB to query the stub about a given address to check
490 if it is tagged or not. Many memory tagging-related GDB commands need to
491 perform this check before they read/write the allocation tag related to an
492 address. Currently, however, this is done through a 'vFile' request to read
493 the file /proc/<PID>/smaps and check if the address is in a region reported
494 as memory tagged. Since not all targets have a notion of what the smaps
495 file is about, this new packet provides a more generic way to perform such
498 *** Changes in GDB 14
500 * GDB now supports the AArch64 Scalable Matrix Extension 2 (SME2), which
501 includes a new 512 bit lookup table register named ZT0.
503 * GDB now supports the AArch64 Scalable Matrix Extension (SME), which includes
504 a new matrix register named ZA, a new thread register TPIDR2 and a new vector
505 length register SVG (streaming vector granule). GDB also supports tracking
506 ZA state across signal frames.
508 Some features are still under development or are dependent on ABI specs that
509 are still in alpha stage. For example, manual function calls with ZA state
510 don't have any special handling, and tracking of SVG changes based on
511 DWARF information is still not implemented, but there are plans to do so in
514 * GDB now recognizes the NO_COLOR environment variable and disables
515 styling according to the spec. See https://no-color.org/.
516 Styling can be re-enabled with "set style enabled on".
518 * The AArch64 'org.gnu.gdb.aarch64.pauth' Pointer Authentication feature string
519 has been deprecated in favor of the 'org.gnu.gdb.aarch64.pauth_v2' feature
522 * GDB now has some support for integer types larger than 64 bits.
524 * Removed targets and native configurations
526 GDB no longer supports AIX 4.x, AIX 5.x and AIX 6.x. The minimum supported
527 AIX version is now AIX 7.1.
529 * Multi-target feature configuration
531 GDB now supports the individual configuration of remote targets' feature
532 sets. Based on the current selection of a target, the commands 'set remote
533 <name>-packet (on|off|auto)' and 'show remote <name>-packet' can be used to
534 configure a target's feature packet and to display its configuration,
537 The individual packet sizes can be configured and shown using the commands
538 ** 'set remote memory-read-packet-size (number of bytes|fixed|limit)'
539 ** 'set remote memory-write-packet-size (number of bytes|fixed|limit)'
540 ** 'show remote memory-read-packet-size'
541 ** 'show remote memory-write-packet-size'.
543 The configuration of the packet itself, as well as the size of a memory-read
544 or memory-write packet applies to the currently selected target (if
545 available). If no target is selected, it applies to future remote
546 connections. Similarly, the show commands print the configuration of the
547 currently selected target. If no remote target is selected, the default
548 configuration for future connections is shown.
550 * GDB has initial built-in support for the Debugger Adapter Protocol.
551 This support requires that GDB be built with Python scripting
554 * For the break command, multiple uses of the 'thread' or 'task'
555 keywords will now give an error instead of just using the thread or
556 task id from the last instance of the keyword. E.g.:
557 break foo thread 1 thread 2
558 will now give an error rather than using 'thread 2'.
560 * For the watch command, multiple uses of the 'task' keyword will now
561 give an error instead of just using the task id from the last
562 instance of the keyword. E.g.:
563 watch my_var task 1 task 2
564 will now give an error rather than using 'task 2'. The 'thread'
565 keyword already gave an error when used multiple times with the
566 watch command, this remains unchanged.
568 * The 'set print elements' setting now helps when printing large arrays.
569 If an array would otherwise exceed max-value-size, but 'print elements'
570 is set such that the size of elements to print is less than or equal
571 to 'max-value-size', GDB will now still print the array, however only
572 'max-value-size' worth of data will be added into the value history.
574 * For both the break and watch commands, it is now invalid to use both
575 the 'thread' and 'task' keywords within the same command. For
576 example the following commnds will now give an error:
577 break foo thread 1 task 1
578 watch var thread 2 task 3
580 * The printf command now accepts a '%V' output format which will
581 format an expression just as the 'print' command would. Print
582 options can be placed within '[...]' after the '%V' to modify how
583 the value is printed. E.g:
584 printf "%V", some_array
585 printf "%V[-array-indexes on]", some_array
586 will print the array without, or with array indexes included, just
587 as the array would be printed by the 'print' command. This
588 functionality is also available for dprintf when dprintf-style is
591 * When the printf command requires a string to be fetched from the
592 inferior, GDB now uses the existing 'max-value-size' setting to the
593 limit the memory allocated within GDB. The default 'max-value-size'
594 is 64k. To print longer strings you should increase
597 * The Ada 2022 Enum_Rep and Enum_Val attributes are now supported.
599 * The Ada 2022 target name symbol ('@') is now supported by the Ada
602 * The 'list' command now accepts '.' as an argument, which tells GDB to
603 print the location around the point of execution within the current frame.
604 If the inferior hasn't started yet, the command will print around the
605 beginning of the 'main' function.
607 * Using the 'list' command with no arguments in a situation where the
608 command would attempt to list past the end of the file now warns the
609 user that the end of file has been reached, refers the user to the
610 newly added '.' argument
612 * Breakpoints can now be inferior-specific. This is similar to the
613 existing thread-specific breakpoint support. Breakpoint conditions
614 can include the 'inferior' keyword followed by an inferior id (as
615 displayed in the 'info inferiors' output). It is invalid to use the
616 'inferior' keyword with either the 'thread' or 'task' keywords when
617 creating a breakpoint.
619 * New convenience function "$_shell", to execute a shell command and
620 return the result. This lets you run shell commands in expressions.
623 (gdb) p $_shell("true")
625 (gdb) p $_shell("false")
627 (gdb) break func if $_shell("some command") == 0
631 --additional-debug-dirs=PATHs
633 Provide a colon-separated list of additional directories to search for
634 separate debug info. These directories are added to the default value of
635 the 'debug-file-directory' GDB parameter.
639 set debug breakpoint on|off
640 show debug breakpoint
641 Print additional debug messages about breakpoint insertion and removal.
643 maintenance print record-instruction [ N ]
644 Print the recorded information for a given instruction. If N is not given
645 prints how GDB would undo the last instruction executed. If N is negative,
646 prints how GDB would undo the N-th previous instruction, and if N is
647 positive, it prints how GDB will redo the N-th following instruction.
649 maintenance info frame-unwinders
650 List the frame unwinders currently in effect, starting with the highest
653 maintenance wait-for-index-cache
654 Wait until all pending writes to the index cache have completed.
656 set always-read-ctf on|off
658 When off, CTF is only read if DWARF is not present. When on, CTF is
659 read regardless of whether DWARF is present. Off by default.
662 Get main symbol to identify entry point into program.
664 set tui mouse-events [on|off]
665 show tui mouse-events
666 When on (default), mouse clicks control the TUI and can be accessed by
667 Python extensions. When off, mouse clicks are handled by the terminal,
668 enabling terminal-native text selection.
672 ** MI version 1 has been removed.
674 ** mi now reports 'no-history' as a stop reason when hitting the end of the
675 reverse execution history.
677 ** When creating a thread-specific breakpoint using the '-p' option,
678 the -break-insert command would report the 'thread' field twice in
679 the reply. The content of both fields was always identical. This
680 has now been fixed; the 'thread' field will be reported just once
681 for thread-specific breakpoints, or not at all for breakpoints
682 without a thread restriction. The same is also true for the 'task'
683 field of an Ada task-specific breakpoint.
685 ** It is no longer possible to create a thread-specific breakpoint for
686 a thread that doesn't exist using '-break-insert -p ID'. Creating
687 breakpoints for non-existent threads is not allowed when using the
688 CLI, that the MI allowed it was a long standing bug, which has now
691 ** The '--simple-values' argument to the '-stack-list-arguments',
692 '-stack-list-locals', '-stack-list-variables', and '-var-list-children'
693 commands now takes reference types into account: that is, a value is now
694 considered simple if it is neither an array, structure, or union, nor a
695 reference to an array, structure, or union. (Previously all references were
696 considered simple.) Support for this feature can be verified by using the
697 '-list-features' command, which should contain "simple-values-ref-types".
699 ** The -break-insert command now accepts a '-g thread-group-id' option
700 to allow for the creation of inferior-specific breakpoints.
702 ** The bkpt tuple, which appears in breakpoint-created notifications,
703 and in the result of the -break-insert command can now include an
704 optional 'inferior' field for both the main breakpoint, and each
705 location, when the breakpoint is inferior-specific.
709 ** gdb.ThreadExitedEvent added. Emits a ThreadEvent.
711 ** The gdb.unwinder.Unwinder.name attribute is now read-only.
713 ** The name argument passed to gdb.unwinder.Unwinder.__init__ must
714 now be of type 'str' otherwise a TypeError will be raised.
716 ** The gdb.unwinder.Unwinder.enabled attribute can now only accept
717 values of type 'bool'. Changing this attribute will now
718 invalidate GDB's frame-cache, which means GDB will need to
719 rebuild its frame-cache when next required - either with, or
720 without the particular unwinder, depending on how 'enabled' was
723 ** New methods added to the gdb.PendingFrame class. These methods
724 have the same behavior as the corresponding methods on
725 gdb.Frame. The new methods are:
727 - gdb.PendingFrame.name: Return the name for the frame's
729 - gdb.PendingFrame.is_valid: Return True if the pending frame
731 - gdb.PendingFrame.pc: Return the $pc register value for this
733 - gdb.PendingFrame.language: Return a string containing the
734 language for this frame, or None.
735 - gdb.PendingFrame.find_sal: Return a gdb.Symtab_and_line
736 object for the current location within the pending frame, or
738 - gdb.PendingFrame.block: Return a gdb.Block for the current
739 pending frame, or None.
740 - gdb.PendingFrame.function: Return a gdb.Symbol for the
741 current pending frame, or None.
743 ** The frame-id passed to gdb.PendingFrame.create_unwind_info can
744 now use either an integer or a gdb.Value object for each of its
745 'sp', 'pc', and 'special' attributes.
747 ** A new class gdb.unwinder.FrameId has been added. Instances of
748 this class are constructed with 'sp' (stack-pointer) and 'pc'
749 (program-counter) values, and can be used as the frame-id when
750 calling gdb.PendingFrame.create_unwind_info.
752 ** It is now no longer possible to sub-class the
753 gdb.disassembler.DisassemblerResult type.
755 ** The Disassembler API from the gdb.disassembler module has been
756 extended to include styling support:
758 - The DisassemblerResult class can now be initialized with a list
759 of parts. Each part represents part of the disassembled
760 instruction along with the associated style information. This
761 list of parts can be accessed with the new
762 DisassemblerResult.parts property.
764 - New constants gdb.disassembler.STYLE_* representing all the
765 different styles part of an instruction might have.
767 - New methods DisassembleInfo.text_part and
768 DisassembleInfo.address_part which are used to create the new
769 styled parts of a disassembled instruction.
771 - Changes are backwards compatible, the older API can still be
772 used to disassemble instructions without styling.
774 ** New function gdb.execute_mi(COMMAND, [ARG]...), that invokes a
775 GDB/MI command and returns the output as a Python dictionary.
777 ** New function gdb.block_signals(). This returns a context manager
778 that blocks any signals that GDB needs to handle itself.
780 ** New class gdb.Thread. This is a subclass of threading.Thread
781 that calls gdb.block_signals in its "start" method.
783 ** gdb.parse_and_eval now has a new "global_context" parameter.
784 This can be used to request that the parse only examine global
787 ** gdb.Inferior now has a new "arguments" attribute. This holds the
788 command-line arguments to the inferior, if known.
790 ** gdb.Inferior now has a new "main_name" attribute. This holds the
791 name of the inferior's "main", if known.
793 ** gdb.Inferior now has new methods "clear_env", "set_env", and
794 "unset_env". These can be used to modify the inferior's
795 environment before it is started.
797 ** gdb.Value now has the 'assign' method.
799 ** gdb.Value now has the 'to_array' method. This converts an
800 array-like Value to an array.
802 ** gdb.Progspace now has the new method "objfile_for_address". This
803 returns the gdb.Objfile, if any, that covers a given address.
805 ** gdb.Breakpoint now has an "inferior" attribute. If the
806 Breakpoint object is inferior specific then this attribute holds
807 the inferior-id (an integer). If the Breakpoint object is not
808 inferior specific, then this field contains None. This field can
811 ** gdb.Type now has the "is_array_like" and "is_string_like"
812 methods. These reflect GDB's internal idea of whether a type
813 might be array- or string-like, even if they do not have the
814 corresponding type code.
816 ** gdb.ValuePrinter is a new class that can be used as the base
817 class for the result of applying a pretty-printer. As a base
818 class, it signals to gdb that the printer may implement new
819 pretty-printer methods.
821 ** New attribute Progspace.symbol_file. This attribute holds the
822 gdb.Objfile that corresponds to Progspace.filename (when
823 Progspace.filename is not None), otherwise, this attribute is
826 ** New attribute Progspace.executable_filename. This attribute
827 holds a string containing a file name set by the "exec-file" or
828 "file" commands, or None if no executable file is set. This
829 isn't the exact string passed by the user to these commands; the
830 file name will have been partially resolved to an absolute file
833 ** A new executable_changed event registry is available. This event
834 emits ExecutableChangedEvent objects, which have 'progspace' (a
835 gdb.Progspace) and 'reload' (a Boolean) attributes. This event
836 is emitted when gdb.Progspace.executable_filename changes.
838 ** New event registries gdb.events.new_progspace and
839 gdb.events.free_progspace, these emit NewProgspaceEvent and
840 FreeProgspaceEvent event types respectively. Both of these event
841 types have a single 'progspace' attribute, which is the
842 gdb.Progspace that is either being added to GDB, or removed from
845 ** gdb.LazyString now implements the __str__ method.
847 ** New method gdb.Frame.static_link that returns the outer frame
848 of a nested function frame.
850 *** Changes in GDB 13
852 * MI version 1 is deprecated, and will be removed in GDB 14.
854 * GDB now supports dumping memory tag data for AArch64 MTE. It also supports
855 reading memory tag data for AArch64 MTE from core files generated by
856 the gcore command or the Linux kernel.
858 When a process uses memory-mapped pages protected by memory tags (for
859 example, AArch64 MTE), this additional information will be recorded in
860 the core file in the event of a crash or if GDB generates a core file
861 from the current process state. GDB will show this additional information
862 automatically, or through one of the memory-tag subcommands.
864 * Scheduler-locking and new threads
866 When scheduler-locking is in effect, only the current thread may run
867 when the inferior is resumed. However, previously, new threads
868 created by the resumed thread would still be able to run free. Now,
869 they are held stopped.
871 * "info breakpoints" now displays enabled breakpoint locations of
872 disabled breakpoints as in the "y-" state. For example:
874 (gdb) info breakpoints
875 Num Type Disp Enb Address What
876 1 breakpoint keep n <MULTIPLE>
877 1.1 y- 0x00000000000011b6 in ...
878 1.2 y- 0x00000000000011c2 in ...
879 1.3 n 0x00000000000011ce in ...
881 * Support for Thread Local Storage (TLS) variables on FreeBSD arm and
882 aarch64 architectures.
884 * GDB now supports hardware watchpoints on FreeBSD/Aarch64.
886 * Remove support for building against Python 2, it is now only possible to
887 build GDB against Python 3.
889 * DBX mode has been removed.
891 * GDB now honours the DWARF prologue_end line-table entry flag the compiler can
892 emit to indicate where a breakpoint should be placed to break in a function
895 * Completion now also offers "NUMBER" for "set" commands that accept
896 a numeric argument and the "unlimited" keyword. For example:
898 (gdb) set width <TAB>
903 (gdb) complete set width
907 * Disassembler styling using libopcodes. GDB now supports
908 disassembler styling using libopcodes. This is only available for
909 some targets (currently x86 and RISC-V). For unsupported targets
910 Python Pygments is still used. For supported targets, libopcodes
911 styling is used by default.
913 * The Windows native target now supports target async.
915 * gdb now supports zstd compressed debug sections (ELFCOMPRESS_ZSTD) for ELF.
917 * The format of 'disassemble /r' and 'record instruction-history /r'
918 has changed. The instruction bytes could now be grouped together,
919 and displayed in the endianness of the instruction. This is the
920 same layout as used by GNU objdump when disassembling.
922 There is now 'disassemble /b' and 'record instruction-history /b'
923 which will always display the instructions bytes one at a time in
924 memory order, that is, the byte at the lowest address first.
926 For both /r and /b GDB is now better at using whitespace in order to
927 align the disassembled instruction text.
929 * The TUI no longer styles the source and assembly code highlighted by
930 the current position indicator by default. You can however
931 re-enable styling using the new "set style tui-current-position"
934 * New convenience variable $_inferior_thread_count contains the number
935 of live threads in the current inferior.
937 * When a breakpoint with multiple code locations is hit, GDB now prints
938 the code location using the syntax <breakpoint_number>.<location_number>
940 Thread 1 "zeoes" hit Breakpoint 2.3, some_func () at zeoes.c:8
942 * When a breakpoint is hit, GDB now sets the convenience variables $_hit_bpnum
943 and $_hit_locno to the hit breakpoint number and code location number.
944 This allows to disable the last hit breakpoint using
945 (gdb) disable $_hit_bpnum
946 or disable only the specific breakpoint code location using
947 (gdb) disable $_hit_bpnum.$_hit_locno
948 These commands can be used inside the command list of a breakpoint to
949 automatically disable the just encountered breakpoint (or the just
950 encountered specific breakpoint code location).
951 When a breakpoint has only one location, $_hit_locno is set to 1 so that
952 (gdb) disable $_hit_bpnum.$_hit_locno
954 (gdb) disable $_hit_bpnum
955 are both disabling the breakpoint.
959 maintenance set ignore-prologue-end-flag on|off
960 maintenance show ignore-prologue-end-flag
961 This setting, which is off by default, controls whether GDB ignores the
962 PROLOGUE-END flag from the line-table when skipping prologue. This can be
963 used to force GDB to use prologue analyzers if the line-table is constructed
964 from erroneous debug information.
966 set print nibbles [on|off]
968 This controls whether the 'print/t' command will display binary values
969 in groups of four bits, known as "nibbles". The default is 'off'.
971 maintenance set libopcodes-styling on|off
972 maintenance show libopcodes-styling
973 These can be used to force off libopcodes based styling, the Python
974 Pygments styling will then be used instead.
976 set style disassembler comment
977 show style disassembler comment
978 set style disassembler immediate
979 show style disassembler immediate
980 set style disassembler mnemonic
981 show style disassembler mnemonic
982 set style disassembler register
983 show style disassembler register
984 set style disassembler address
985 show style disassembler address
986 set style disassembler symbol
987 show style disassembler symbol
988 For targets that support libopcodes based styling, these settings
989 control how various aspects of the disassembler output are styled.
990 The 'disassembler address' and 'disassembler symbol' styles are
991 aliases for the 'address' and 'function' styles respectively.
993 maintenance print frame-id [ LEVEL ]
994 Print GDB's internal frame-id for the frame at LEVEL. If LEVEL is
995 not given, then print the frame-id for the currently selected frame.
997 set debug infcall on|off
999 Print additional debug messages about inferior function calls.
1001 set debug solib on|off
1003 Print additional debug messages about shared library handling.
1005 set style tui-current-position [on|off]
1006 Whether to style the source and assembly code highlighted by the
1007 TUI's current position indicator. The default is off.
1009 set print characters LIMIT
1010 show print characters
1011 This new setting is like 'set print elements', but controls how many
1012 characters of a string are printed. This functionality used to be
1013 covered by 'set print elements', but it can be controlled separately
1014 now. LIMIT can be set to a numerical value to request that particular
1015 character count, to 'unlimited' to print all characters of a string,
1016 or to 'elements', which is also the default, to follow the setting of
1017 'set print elements' as it used to be.
1019 print -characters LIMIT
1020 This new option to the 'print' command has the same effect as a temporary
1021 use of 'set print characters'.
1025 document user-defined
1026 It is now possible to document user-defined aliases.
1027 When a user-defined alias is documented, the help and apropos commands
1028 use the provided documentation instead of the documentation of the
1030 Documenting a user-defined alias is particularly useful when the alias
1031 is a set of nested 'with' commands to avoid showing the help of
1032 the with command for an alias that will in fact launch the
1033 last command given in the nested commands.
1035 maintenance info line-table
1036 Add a PROLOGUE-END column to the output which indicates that an
1037 entry corresponds to an address where a breakpoint should be placed
1038 to be at the first instruction past a function's prologue.
1042 set debug aix-solib on|off
1043 show debug aix-solib
1044 set debug solib-frv on|off
1045 show debug solib-frv
1046 Removed in favor of "set/show debug solib".
1048 maintenance info program-spaces
1049 This command now includes a 'Core File' column which indicates the
1050 name of the core file associated with each program space.
1054 GNU/Linux/LoongArch (gdbserver) loongarch*-*-linux*
1056 GNU/Linux/CSKY (gdbserver) csky*-*linux*
1062 ** The async record stating the stopped reason 'breakpoint-hit' now
1063 contains an optional field locno giving the code location number
1064 when the breakpoint has multiple code locations.
1068 ** GDB will now reformat the doc string for gdb.Command and
1069 gdb.Parameter sub-classes to remove unnecessary leading
1070 whitespace from each line before using the string as the help
1073 ** New function gdb.format_address(ADDRESS, PROGSPACE, ARCHITECTURE),
1074 that formats ADDRESS as 'address <symbol+offset>', where symbol is
1075 looked up in PROGSPACE, and ARCHITECTURE is used to format address.
1076 This is the same format that GDB uses when printing address, symbol,
1077 and offset information from the disassembler.
1079 ** New function gdb.current_language that returns the name of the
1080 current language. Unlike gdb.parameter('language'), this will
1081 never return 'auto'.
1083 ** New method gdb.Frame.language that returns the name of the
1086 ** New Python API for wrapping GDB's disassembler:
1088 - gdb.disassembler.register_disassembler(DISASSEMBLER, ARCH).
1089 DISASSEMBLER is a sub-class of gdb.disassembler.Disassembler.
1090 ARCH is either None or a string containing a bfd architecture
1091 name. DISASSEMBLER is registered as a disassembler for
1092 architecture ARCH, or for all architectures if ARCH is None.
1093 The previous disassembler registered for ARCH is returned, this
1094 can be None if no previous disassembler was registered.
1096 - gdb.disassembler.Disassembler is the class from which all
1097 disassemblers should inherit. Its constructor takes a string,
1098 a name for the disassembler, which is currently only used in
1099 some debug output. Sub-classes should override the __call__
1100 method to perform disassembly, invoking __call__ on this base
1101 class will raise an exception.
1103 - gdb.disassembler.DisassembleInfo is the class used to describe
1104 a single disassembly request from GDB. An instance of this
1105 class is passed to the __call__ method of
1106 gdb.disassembler.Disassembler and has the following read-only
1107 attributes: 'address', and 'architecture', as well as the
1108 following method: 'read_memory'.
1110 - gdb.disassembler.builtin_disassemble(INFO, MEMORY_SOURCE),
1111 calls GDB's builtin disassembler on INFO, which is a
1112 gdb.disassembler.DisassembleInfo object. MEMORY_SOURCE is
1113 optional, its default value is None. If MEMORY_SOURCE is not
1114 None then it must be an object that has a 'read_memory' method.
1116 - gdb.disassembler.DisassemblerResult is a class that can be used
1117 to wrap the result of a call to a Disassembler. It has
1118 read-only attributes 'length' and 'string'.
1120 ** gdb.Objfile now has an attribute named "is_file". This is True
1121 if the objfile comes from a file, and False otherwise.
1123 ** New function gdb.print_options that returns a dictionary of the
1124 prevailing print options, in the form accepted by
1125 gdb.Value.format_string.
1127 ** gdb.Value.format_string now uses the format provided by 'print',
1128 if it is called during a 'print' or other similar operation.
1130 ** gdb.Value.format_string now accepts the 'summary' keyword. This
1131 can be used to request a shorter representation of a value, the
1132 way that 'set print frame-arguments scalars' does.
1134 ** New Python type gdb.BreakpointLocation.
1135 The new attribute 'locations' of gdb.Breakpoint returns a list of
1136 gdb.BreakpointLocation objects specifying the locations where the
1137 breakpoint is inserted into the debuggee.
1139 ** The gdb.register_window_type method now restricts the set of
1140 acceptable window names. The first character of a window's name
1141 must start with a character in the set [a-zA-Z], every subsequent
1142 character of a window's name must be in the set [-_.a-zA-Z0-9].
1144 * New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
1146 ** GDBserver is now supported on LoongArch GNU/Linux.
1148 ** GDBserver is now supported on CSKY GNU/Linux.
1150 * LoongArch floating-point support
1152 GDB now supports floating-point on LoongArch GNU/Linux.
1154 * AMD GPU ROCm debugging support
1156 GDB now supports debugging programs offloaded to AMD GPUs using the ROCm
1159 *** Changes in GDB 12
1161 * DBX mode is deprecated, and will be removed in GDB 13
1163 * GDB 12 is the last release of GDB that will support building against
1164 Python 2. From GDB 13, it will only be possible to build GDB itself
1165 with Python 3 support.
1167 * The disable-randomization setting now works on Windows.
1169 * Improved C++ template support
1171 GDB now treats functions/types involving C++ templates like it does function
1172 overloads. Users may omit parameter lists to set breakpoints on families of
1173 template functions, including types/functions composed of multiple template types:
1175 (gdb) break template_func(template_1, int)
1177 The above will set breakpoints at every function `template_func' where
1178 the first function parameter is any template type named `template_1' and
1179 the second function parameter is `int'.
1181 TAB completion also gains similar improvements.
1183 * The FreeBSD native target now supports async mode.
1189 Enable or disable multithreaded symbol loading. This is enabled
1190 by default, but passing --disable-threading or --enable-threading=no
1191 to configure will disable it.
1193 Disabling this can cause a performance penalty when there are a lot of
1194 symbols to load, but is useful for debugging purposes.
1198 maint set backtrace-on-fatal-signal on|off
1199 maint show backtrace-on-fatal-signal
1200 This setting is 'on' by default. When 'on' GDB will print a limited
1201 backtrace to stderr in the situation where GDB terminates with a
1202 fatal signal. This only supported on some platforms where the
1203 backtrace and backtrace_symbols_fd functions are available.
1205 set source open on|off
1207 This setting, which is on by default, controls whether GDB will try
1208 to open source code files. Switching this off will stop GDB trying
1209 to open and read source code files, which can be useful if the files
1210 are located over a slow network connection.
1214 These are now deprecated aliases for "set max-value-size" and
1215 "show max-value-size".
1217 task apply [all | TASK-IDS...] [FLAG]... COMMAND
1218 Like "thread apply", but applies COMMAND to Ada tasks.
1221 Watchpoints can now be restricted to a specific Ada task.
1223 maint set internal-error backtrace on|off
1224 maint show internal-error backtrace
1225 maint set internal-warning backtrace on|off
1226 maint show internal-warning backtrace
1227 GDB can now print a backtrace of itself when it encounters either an
1228 internal-error, or an internal-warning. This is on by default for
1229 internal-error and off by default for internal-warning.
1232 Deprecated and replaced by "set logging enabled on|off".
1234 set logging enabled on|off
1235 show logging enabled
1236 These commands set or show whether logging is enabled or disabled.
1239 You can now exit GDB by using the new command "exit", in addition to
1240 the existing "quit" command.
1242 set debug threads on|off
1244 Print additional debug messages about thread creation and deletion.
1246 set debug linux-nat on|off
1247 show debug linux-nat
1248 These new commands replaced the old 'set debug lin-lwp' and 'show
1249 debug lin-lwp' respectively. Turning this setting on prints debug
1250 messages relating to GDB's handling of native Linux inferiors.
1252 maint flush source-cache
1253 Flush the contents of the source code cache.
1255 maint set gnu-source-highlight enabled on|off
1256 maint show gnu-source-highlight enabled
1257 Whether GDB should use the GNU Source Highlight library for adding
1258 styling to source code. When off, the library will not be used, even
1259 when available. When GNU Source Highlight isn't used, or can't add
1260 styling to a particular source file, then the Python Pygments
1261 library will be used instead.
1263 set suppress-cli-notifications (on|off)
1264 show suppress-cli-notifications
1265 This controls whether printing the notifications is suppressed for CLI.
1266 CLI notifications occur when you change the selected context
1267 (i.e., the current inferior, thread and/or the frame), or when
1268 the program being debugged stops (e.g., because of hitting a
1269 breakpoint, completing source-stepping, an interrupt, etc.).
1271 set style disassembler enabled on|off
1272 show style disassembler enabled
1273 If GDB is compiled with Python support, and the Python Pygments
1274 package is available, then, when this setting is on, disassembler
1275 output will have styling applied.
1277 set ada source-charset
1278 show ada source-charset
1279 Set the character set encoding that is assumed for Ada symbols. Valid
1280 values for this follow the values that can be passed to the GNAT
1281 compiler via the '-gnati' option. The default is ISO-8859-1.
1287 These are the new names for the old 'layout', 'focus', 'refresh',
1288 and 'winheight' tui commands respectively. The old names still
1289 exist as aliases to these new commands.
1293 The new command 'tui window width', and the alias 'winwidth' allow
1294 the width of a tui window to be adjusted when windows are laid out
1297 set debug tui on|off
1299 Control the display of debug output about GDB's tui.
1304 Printing of floating-point values with base-modifying formats like
1305 /x has been changed to display the underlying bytes of the value in
1306 the desired base. This was GDB's documented behavior, but was never
1307 implemented correctly.
1310 This command can now print a reply, if the reply includes
1311 non-printable characters. Any non-printable characters are printed
1312 as escaped hex, e.g. \x?? where '??' is replaces with the value of
1313 the non-printable character.
1316 The clone-inferior command now ensures that the TTY, CMD and ARGS
1317 settings are copied from the original inferior to the new one.
1318 All modifications to the environment variables done using the 'set
1319 environment' or 'unset environment' commands are also copied to the new
1322 set debug lin-lwp on|off
1324 These commands have been removed from GDB. The new command 'set
1325 debug linux-nat' and 'show debug linux-nat' should be used
1329 This command now includes information about the width of the tui
1330 windows in its output.
1336 These commands are now aliases for the 'tui layout', 'tui focus',
1337 'tui refresh', and 'tui window height' commands respectively.
1339 * GDB's Ada parser now supports an extension for specifying the exact
1340 byte contents of a floating-point literal. This can be useful for
1341 setting floating-point registers to a precise value without loss of
1342 precision. The syntax is an extension of the based literal syntax.
1343 Use, e.g., "16lf#0123abcd#" -- the number of "l"s controls the width
1344 of the floating-point type, and the "f" is the marker for floating
1349 ** The '-add-inferior' with no option flags now inherits the
1350 connection of the current inferior, this restores the behavior of
1351 GDB as it was prior to GDB 10.
1353 ** The '-add-inferior' command now accepts a '--no-connection'
1354 option, which causes the new inferior to start without a
1357 ** The default version of the MI interpreter is now 4 (-i=mi4).
1359 ** The "script" field in breakpoint output (which is syntactically
1360 incorrect in MI 3 and below) has changed in MI 4 to become a list.
1361 This affects the following commands and events:
1365 - =breakpoint-created
1366 - =breakpoint-modified
1368 The -fix-breakpoint-script-output command can be used to enable
1369 this behavior with previous MI versions.
1373 GNU/Linux/LoongArch loongarch*-*-linux*
1381 ** New function gdb.add_history(), which takes a gdb.Value object
1382 and adds the value it represents to GDB's history list. An
1383 integer, the index of the new item in the history list, is
1386 ** New function gdb.history_count(), which returns the number of
1387 values in GDB's value history.
1389 ** New gdb.events.gdb_exiting event. This event is called with a
1390 gdb.GdbExitingEvent object which has the read-only attribute
1391 'exit_code', which contains the value of the GDB exit code. This
1392 event is triggered once GDB decides it is going to exit, but
1393 before GDB starts to clean up its internal state.
1395 ** New function gdb.architecture_names(), which returns a list
1396 containing all of the possible Architecture.name() values. Each
1399 ** New function gdb.Architecture.integer_type(), which returns an
1400 integer type given a size and a signed-ness.
1402 ** New gdb.TargetConnection object type that represents a connection
1403 (as displayed by the 'info connections' command). A sub-class,
1404 gdb.RemoteTargetConnection, is used to represent 'remote' and
1405 'extended-remote' connections.
1407 ** The gdb.Inferior type now has a 'connection' property which is an
1408 instance of gdb.TargetConnection, the connection used by this
1409 inferior. This can be None if the inferior has no connection.
1411 ** New 'gdb.events.connection_removed' event registry, which emits a
1412 'gdb.ConnectionEvent' when a connection is removed from GDB.
1413 This event has a 'connection' property, a gdb.TargetConnection
1414 object for the connection being removed.
1416 ** New gdb.connections() function that returns a list of all
1417 currently active connections.
1419 ** New gdb.RemoteTargetConnection.send_packet(PACKET) method. This
1420 is equivalent to the existing 'maint packet' CLI command; it
1421 allows a user specified packet to be sent to the remote target.
1423 ** New function gdb.host_charset(), returns a string, which is the
1424 name of the current host charset.
1426 ** New gdb.set_parameter(NAME, VALUE). This sets the gdb parameter
1429 ** New gdb.with_parameter(NAME, VALUE). This returns a context
1430 manager that temporarily sets the gdb parameter NAME to VALUE,
1431 then resets it when the context is exited.
1433 ** The gdb.Value.format_string method now takes a 'styling'
1434 argument, which is a boolean. When true, the returned string can
1435 include escape sequences to apply styling. The styling will only
1436 be present if styling is otherwise turned on in GDB (see 'help
1437 set styling'). When false, which is the default if the argument
1438 is not given, then no styling is applied to the returned string.
1440 ** New read-only attribute gdb.InferiorThread.details, which is
1441 either a string, containing additional, target specific thread
1442 state information, or None, if there is no such additional
1445 ** New read-only attribute gdb.Type.is_scalar, which is True for
1446 scalar types, and False for all other types.
1448 ** New read-only attribute gdb.Type.is_signed. This attribute
1449 should only be read when Type.is_scalar is True, and will be True
1450 for signed types, and False for all other types. Attempting to
1451 read this attribute for non-scalar types will raise a ValueError.
1453 ** It is now possible to add GDB/MI commands implemented in Python.
1455 * New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
1457 ** GDBserver is now supported on OpenRISC GNU/Linux.
1459 * New native configurations
1461 GNU/Linux/OpenRISC or1k*-*-linux*
1463 *** Changes in GDB 11
1465 * The 'set disassembler-options' command now supports specifying options
1468 * GDB now supports general memory tagging functionality if the underlying
1469 architecture supports the proper primitives and hooks. Currently this is
1470 enabled only for AArch64 MTE.
1474 - Additional information when the inferior crashes with a SIGSEGV caused by
1475 a memory tag violation.
1477 - A new modifier 'm' for the "x" command, which displays allocation tags for a
1478 particular memory range.
1480 - Display of memory tag mismatches by "print", for addresses and
1481 pointers, if memory tagging is supported by the architecture.
1483 * Building GDB now requires GMP (The GNU Multiple Precision Arithmetic
1488 ** '-break-insert --qualified' and '-dprintf-insert --qualified'
1490 The MI -break-insert and -dprintf-insert commands now support a
1491 new "--qualified" option that makes GDB interpret a specified
1492 function name as a complete fully-qualified name. This is the
1493 equivalent of the CLI's "break -qualified" and "dprintf
1496 ** '-break-insert --force-condition' and '-dprintf-insert --force-condition'
1498 The MI -break-insert and -dprintf-insert commands now support a
1499 '--force-condition' flag to forcibly define a condition even when
1500 the condition is invalid at all locations of the breakpoint. This
1501 is equivalent to the '-force-condition' flag of the CLI's "break"
1504 ** '-break-condition --force'
1506 The MI -break-condition command now supports a '--force' flag to
1507 forcibly define a condition even when the condition is invalid at
1508 all locations of the selected breakpoint. This is equivalent to
1509 the '-force' flag of the CLI's "cond" command.
1511 ** '-file-list-exec-source-files [--group-by-objfile]
1512 [--basename | --dirname]
1515 The existing -file-list-exec-source-files command now takes an
1516 optional REGEXP which is used to filter the source files that are
1517 included in the results.
1519 By default REGEXP is matched against the full filename of the
1520 source file. When one of --basename or --dirname is given then
1521 REGEXP is only matched against the specified part of the full
1524 When the optional --group-by-objfile flag is used the output
1525 format is changed, the results are now a list of object files
1526 (executable and libraries) with the source files that are
1527 associated with each object file.
1529 The results from -file-list-exec-source-files now include a
1530 'debug-fully-read' field which takes the value 'true' or 'false'.
1531 A 'true' value indicates the source file is from a compilation
1532 unit that has had its debug information fully read in by GDB, a
1533 value of 'false' indicates GDB has only performed a partial scan
1534 of the debug information so far.
1536 * GDB now supports core file debugging for x86_64 Cygwin programs.
1538 * GDB will now look for the .gdbinit file in a config directory before
1539 looking for ~/.gdbinit. The file is searched for in the following
1540 locations: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gdb/gdbinit, $HOME/.config/gdb/gdbinit,
1541 $HOME/.gdbinit. On Apple hosts the search order is instead:
1542 $HOME/Library/Preferences/gdb/gdbinit, $HOME/.gdbinit.
1544 * GDB now supports fixed point types which are described in DWARF
1545 as base types with a fixed-point encoding. Additionally, support
1546 for the DW_AT_GNU_numerator and DW_AT_GNU_denominator has also
1549 For Ada, this allows support for fixed point types without requiring
1550 the use of the GNAT encoding (based on information added to the type's
1551 name following a GNAT-specific format).
1553 * GDB will now load and process commands from ~/.config/gdb/gdbearlyinit
1554 or ~/.gdbearlyinit if these files are present. These files are
1555 processed earlier than any of the other initialization files and
1556 can affect parts of GDB's startup that previously had already been
1557 completed before the initialization files were read, for example
1558 styling of the initial GDB greeting.
1560 * GDB now has two new options "--early-init-command" and
1561 "--early-init-eval-command" with corresponding short options "-eix"
1562 and "-eiex" that allow options (that would normally appear in a
1563 gdbearlyinit file) to be passed on the command line.
1565 * For RISC-V targets, the target feature "org.gnu.gdb.riscv.vector" is
1566 now understood by GDB, and can be used to describe the vector
1567 registers of a target. The precise requirements of this register
1568 feature are documented in the GDB manual.
1570 * For ARM targets, the "org.gnu.gdb.arm.m-profile-mve" feature is now
1571 supported by GDB and describes a new VPR register from the ARM MVE
1572 (Helium) extension. See the GDB manual for more information.
1576 ** TUI windows now support mouse actions. The mouse wheel scrolls
1577 the appropriate window.
1579 ** Key combinations that do not have a specific action on the
1580 focused window are passed to GDB. For example, you now can use
1581 Ctrl-Left/Ctrl-Right to move between words in the command window
1582 regardless of which window is in focus. Previously you would
1583 need to focus on the command window for such key combinations to
1588 set debug event-loop
1589 show debug event-loop
1590 Control the display of debug output about GDB's event loop.
1592 set print memory-tag-violations
1593 show print memory-tag-violations
1594 Control whether to display additional information about memory tag violations
1595 when printing pointers and addresses. Architecture support for memory
1596 tagging is required for this option to have an effect.
1598 maintenance flush symbol-cache
1599 maintenance flush register-cache
1600 These new commands are equivalent to the already existing commands
1601 'maintenance flush-symbol-cache' and 'flushregs' respectively.
1603 maintenance flush dcache
1604 A new command to flush the dcache.
1606 maintenance info target-sections
1607 Print GDB's internal target sections table.
1609 maintenance info jit
1610 Print the JIT code objects in the inferior known to GDB.
1612 memory-tag show-logical-tag POINTER
1613 Print the logical tag for POINTER.
1614 memory-tag with-logical-tag POINTER TAG
1615 Print POINTER with logical tag TAG.
1616 memory-tag show-allocation-tag ADDRESS
1617 Print the allocation tag for ADDRESS.
1618 memory-tag set-allocation-tag ADDRESS LENGTH TAGS
1619 Set the allocation tag for [ADDRESS, ADDRESS + LENGTH) to TAGS.
1620 memory-tag check POINTER
1621 Validate that POINTER's logical tag matches the allocation tag.
1623 set startup-quietly on|off
1624 show startup-quietly
1625 When 'on', this causes GDB to act as if "-silent" were passed on the
1626 command line. This command needs to be added to an early
1627 initialization file (e.g. ~/.config/gdb/gdbearlyinit) in order to
1630 set print type hex on|off
1632 When 'on', the 'ptype' command uses hexadecimal notation to print sizes
1633 and offsets of struct members. When 'off', decimal notation is used.
1635 set python ignore-environment on|off
1636 show python ignore-environment
1637 When 'on', this causes GDB's builtin Python to ignore any
1638 environment variables that would otherwise affect how Python
1639 behaves. This command needs to be added to an early initialization
1640 file (e.g. ~/.config/gdb/gdbearlyinit) in order to affect GDB.
1642 set python dont-write-bytecode auto|on|off
1643 show python dont-write-bytecode
1644 When 'on', this causes GDB's builtin Python to not write any
1645 byte-code (.pyc files) to disk. This command needs to be added to
1646 an early initialization file (e.g. ~/.config/gdb/gdbearlyinit) in
1647 order to affect GDB. When 'off' byte-code will always be written.
1648 When set to 'auto' (the default) Python will check the
1649 PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE environment variable.
1653 break [PROBE_MODIFIER] [LOCATION] [thread THREADNUM]
1654 [-force-condition] [if CONDITION]
1655 This command would previously refuse setting a breakpoint if the
1656 CONDITION expression is invalid at a location. It now accepts and
1657 defines the breakpoint if there is at least one location at which
1658 the CONDITION is valid. The locations for which the CONDITION is
1659 invalid, are automatically disabled. If CONDITION is invalid at all
1660 of the locations, setting the breakpoint is still rejected. However,
1661 the '-force-condition' flag can be used in this case for forcing GDB to
1662 define the breakpoint, making all the current locations automatically
1663 disabled. This may be useful if the user knows the condition will
1664 become meaningful at a future location, e.g. due to a shared library
1667 condition [-force] N COND
1668 The behavior of this command is changed the same way for the 'break'
1669 command as explained above. The '-force' flag can be used to force
1670 GDB into defining the condition even when COND is invalid for all the
1671 current locations of breakpoint N.
1674 maintenance flush-symbol-cache
1675 These commands are deprecated in favor of the new commands
1676 'maintenance flush register-cache' and 'maintenance flush
1677 symbol-cache' respectively.
1679 set style version foreground COLOR
1680 set style version background COLOR
1681 set style version intensity VALUE
1682 Control the styling of GDB's version number text.
1685 When the ID parameter is omitted, then this command prints information
1686 about the current inferior. When the ID parameter is present, the
1687 behavior of the command is unchanged and have the inferior ID become
1688 the current inferior.
1690 maintenance info sections
1691 The ALLOBJ keyword has been replaced with an -all-objects command
1692 line flag. It is now possible to filter which sections are printed
1693 even when -all-objects is passed.
1695 ptype[/FLAGS] TYPE | EXPRESSION
1696 The 'ptype' command has two new flags. When '/x' is set, hexadecimal
1697 notation is used when printing sizes and offsets of struct members.
1698 When '/d' is set, decimal notation is used when printing sizes and
1699 offsets of struct members. Default behavior is given by 'show print
1703 The info sources command output has been restructured. The results
1704 are now based around a list of objfiles (executable and libraries),
1705 and for each objfile the source files that are part of that objfile
1708 * Removed targets and native configurations
1710 ARM Symbian arm*-*-symbianelf*
1712 * New remote packets
1715 Request the remote to send allocation tags for a particular memory range.
1717 Request the remote to store the specified allocation tags to the requested
1722 ** Improved support for rvalue reference values:
1723 TYPE_CODE_RVALUE_REF is now exported as part of the API and the
1724 value-referenced-value procedure now handles rvalue reference
1727 ** New procedures for obtaining value variants:
1728 value-reference-value, value-rvalue-reference-value and
1731 ** Temporary breakpoints can now be created with make-breakpoint and
1732 tested for using breakpoint-temporary?.
1736 ** Inferior objects now contain a read-only 'connection_num' attribute that
1737 gives the connection number as seen in 'info connections' and
1740 ** New method gdb.Frame.level() which returns the stack level of the
1743 ** New method gdb.PendingFrame.level() which returns the stack level
1744 of the frame object.
1746 ** When hitting a catchpoint, the Python API will now emit a
1747 gdb.BreakpointEvent rather than a gdb.StopEvent. The
1748 gdb.Breakpoint attached to the event will have type BP_CATCHPOINT.
1750 ** Python TUI windows can now receive mouse click events. If the
1751 Window object implements the click method, it is called for each
1752 mouse click event in this window.
1754 *** Changes in GDB 10
1756 * There are new feature names for ARC targets: "org.gnu.gdb.arc.core"
1757 and "org.gnu.gdb.arc.aux". The old names are still supported but
1758 must be considered obsolete. They will be deprecated after some
1761 * Help and apropos commands will now show the documentation of a
1762 command only once, even if that command has one or more aliases.
1763 These commands now show the command name, then all of its aliases,
1764 and finally the description of the command.
1766 * 'help aliases' now shows only the user defined aliases. GDB predefined
1767 aliases are shown together with their aliased command.
1769 * GDB now supports debuginfod, an HTTP server for distributing ELF/DWARF
1770 debugging information as well as source code.
1772 When built with debuginfod, GDB can automatically query debuginfod
1773 servers for the separate debug files and source code of the executable
1776 To build GDB with debuginfod, pass --with-debuginfod to configure (this
1777 requires libdebuginfod, the debuginfod client library).
1779 debuginfod is distributed with elfutils, starting with version 0.178.
1781 You can get the latest version from https://sourceware.org/elfutils.
1783 * Multi-target debugging support
1785 GDB now supports debugging multiple target connections
1786 simultaneously. For example, you can now have each inferior
1787 connected to different remote servers running in different machines,
1788 or have one inferior debugging a local native process, an inferior
1789 debugging a core dump, etc.
1791 This support is experimental and comes with some limitations -- you
1792 can only resume multiple targets simultaneously if all targets
1793 support non-stop mode, and all remote stubs or servers must support
1794 the same set of remote protocol features exactly. See also "info
1795 connections" and "add-inferior -no-connection" below, and "maint set
1796 target-non-stop" in the user manual.
1798 * New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
1800 ** GDBserver is now supported on ARC GNU/Linux.
1802 ** GDBserver is now supported on RISC-V GNU/Linux.
1804 ** GDBserver no longer supports these host triplets:
1806 i[34567]86-*-lynxos*
1815 i[34567]86-*-mingw32ce*
1817 * Debugging MS-Windows processes now sets $_exitsignal when the
1818 inferior is terminated by a signal, instead of setting $_exitcode.
1820 * Multithreaded symbol loading has now been enabled by default on systems
1821 that support it (see entry for GDB 9, below), providing faster
1822 performance for programs with many symbols.
1824 * The $_siginfo convenience variable now also works on Windows targets,
1825 and will display the EXCEPTION_RECORD of the last handled exception.
1827 * TUI windows can now be arranged horizontally.
1829 * The command history filename can now be set to the empty string
1830 either using 'set history filename' or by setting 'GDBHISTFILE=' in
1831 the environment. The effect of setting this filename to the empty
1832 string is that GDB will not try to load any previous command
1835 * On Windows targets, it is now possible to debug 32-bit programs with a
1840 set exec-file-mismatch -- Set exec-file-mismatch handling (ask|warn|off).
1841 show exec-file-mismatch -- Show exec-file-mismatch handling (ask|warn|off).
1842 Set or show the option 'exec-file-mismatch'. When GDB attaches to a
1843 running process, this new option indicates whether to detect
1844 a mismatch between the current executable file loaded by GDB and the
1845 executable file used to start the process. If 'ask', the default,
1846 display a warning and ask the user whether to load the process
1847 executable file; if 'warn', just display a warning; if 'off', don't
1848 attempt to detect a mismatch.
1850 tui new-layout NAME WINDOW WEIGHT [WINDOW WEIGHT]...
1851 Define a new TUI layout, specifying its name and the windows that
1854 maintenance print xml-tdesc [FILE]
1855 Prints the current target description as an XML document. If the
1856 optional FILE is provided (which is an XML target description) then
1857 the target description is read from FILE into GDB, and then
1860 maintenance print core-file-backed-mappings
1861 Prints file-backed mappings loaded from a core file's note section.
1862 Output is expected to be similar to that of "info proc mappings".
1864 set debug fortran-array-slicing on|off
1865 show debug fortran-array-slicing
1866 Print debugging when taking slices of Fortran arrays.
1868 set fortran repack-array-slices on|off
1869 show fortran repack-array-slices
1870 When taking slices from Fortran arrays and strings, if the slice is
1871 non-contiguous within the original value then, when this option is
1872 on, the new value will be repacked into a single contiguous value.
1873 When this option is off, then the value returned will consist of a
1874 descriptor that describes the slice within the memory of the
1875 original parent value.
1879 alias [-a] [--] ALIAS = COMMAND [DEFAULT-ARGS...]
1880 The alias command can now specify default args for an alias.
1881 GDB automatically prepends the alias default args to the argument list
1882 provided explicitly by the user.
1883 For example, to have a backtrace with full details, you can define
1884 an alias 'bt_ALL' as
1885 'alias bt_ALL = backtrace -entry-values both -frame-arg all
1886 -past-main -past-entry -full'.
1887 Alias default arguments can also use a set of nested 'with' commands,
1888 e.g. 'alias pp10 = with print pretty -- with print elem 10 -- print'
1889 defines the alias pp10 that will pretty print a maximum of 10 elements
1890 of the given expression (if the expression is an array).
1894 GNU/Linux/RISC-V (gdbserver) riscv*-*-linux*
1895 BPF bpf-unknown-none
1900 ** gdb.register_window_type can be used to implement new TUI windows
1903 ** Dynamic types can now be queried. gdb.Type has a new attribute,
1904 "dynamic", and gdb.Type.sizeof can be None for a dynamic type. A
1905 field of a dynamic type may have None for its "bitpos" attribute
1908 ** Commands written in Python can be in the "TUI" help class by
1909 registering with the new constant gdb.COMMAND_TUI.
1911 ** New method gdb.PendingFrame.architecture () to retrieve the
1912 architecture of the pending frame.
1914 ** New gdb.Architecture.registers method that returns a
1915 gdb.RegisterDescriptorIterator object, an iterator that returns
1916 gdb.RegisterDescriptor objects. The new RegisterDescriptor is a
1917 way to query the registers available for an architecture.
1919 ** New gdb.Architecture.register_groups method that returns a
1920 gdb.RegisterGroupIterator object, an iterator that returns
1921 gdb.RegisterGroup objects. The new RegisterGroup is a way to
1922 discover the available register groups.
1926 ** GDB can now be built with GNU Guile 3.0 and 2.2 in addition to 2.0.
1928 ** Procedures 'memory-port-read-buffer-size',
1929 'set-memory-port-read-buffer-size!', 'memory-port-write-buffer-size',
1930 and 'set-memory-port-write-buffer-size!' are deprecated. When
1931 using Guile 2.2 and later, users who need to control the size of
1932 a memory port's internal buffer can use the 'setvbuf' procedure.
1934 *** Changes in GDB 9
1936 * 'thread-exited' event is now available in the annotations interface.
1938 * New built-in convenience variables $_gdb_major and $_gdb_minor
1939 provide the GDB version. They are handy for conditionally using
1940 features available only in or since specific GDB versions, in
1941 scripts that should work error-free with many different versions,
1942 such as in system-wide init files.
1944 * New built-in convenience functions $_gdb_setting, $_gdb_setting_str,
1945 $_gdb_maint_setting and $_gdb_maint_setting_str provide access to values
1946 of the GDB settings and the GDB maintenance settings. They are handy
1947 for changing the logic of user defined commands depending on the
1948 current GDB settings.
1950 * GDB now supports Thread Local Storage (TLS) variables on several
1951 FreeBSD architectures (amd64, i386, powerpc, riscv). Other
1952 architectures require kernel changes. TLS is not yet supported for
1953 amd64 and i386 process core dumps.
1955 * Support for Pointer Authentication (PAC) on AArch64 Linux. Return
1956 addresses that required unmasking are shown in the backtrace with the
1959 * Two new convenience functions $_cimag and $_creal that extract the
1960 imaginary and real parts respectively from complex numbers.
1962 * New built-in convenience variables $_shell_exitcode and $_shell_exitsignal
1963 provide the exitcode or exit status of the shell commands launched by
1964 GDB commands such as "shell", "pipe" and "make".
1966 * The command define-prefix can now define user defined prefix commands.
1967 User defined commands can now be defined using these user defined prefix
1970 * Command names can now use the . character.
1972 * The RX port now supports XML target descriptions.
1974 * GDB now shows the Ada task names at more places, e.g. in task switching
1977 * GDB can now be compiled with Python 3 on Windows.
1979 * New convenience variable $_ada_exception holds the address of the
1980 Ada exception being thrown. This is set by Ada-related catchpoints.
1982 * GDB can now place breakpoints on nested functions and subroutines in
1983 Fortran code. The '::' operator can be used between parent and
1984 child scopes when placing breakpoints, for example:
1986 (gdb) break outer_function::inner_function
1988 The 'outer_function::' prefix is only needed if 'inner_function' is
1989 not visible in the current scope.
1991 * In addition to the system-wide gdbinit file, if configured with
1992 --with-system-gdbinit-dir, GDB will now also load files in that directory
1993 as system gdbinit files, unless the -nx or -n flag is provided. Files
1994 with extensions .gdb, .py and .scm are supported as long as GDB was
1995 compiled with support for that language.
1997 * GDB now supports multithreaded symbol loading for higher performance.
1998 This feature is still in testing, so it is disabled by default. You
1999 can turn it on using 'maint set worker-threads unlimited'.
2003 ** The gdb.Value type has a new method 'format_string' which returns a
2004 string representing the value. The formatting is controlled by the
2005 optional keyword arguments: 'raw', 'pretty_arrays', 'pretty_structs',
2006 'array_indexes', 'symbols', 'unions', 'deref_refs', 'actual_objects',
2007 'static_members', 'max_elements', 'repeat_threshold', and 'format'.
2009 ** gdb.Type has a new property 'objfile' which returns the objfile the
2010 type was defined in.
2012 ** The frame information printed by the python frame filtering code
2013 is now consistent with what the 'backtrace' command prints when
2014 there are no filters, or when the 'backtrace' '-no-filters' option
2017 ** The new function gdb.lookup_static_symbol can be used to look up
2018 symbols with static linkage.
2020 ** The new function gdb.lookup_static_symbols can be used to look up
2021 all static symbols with static linkage.
2023 ** gdb.Objfile has new methods 'lookup_global_symbol' and
2024 'lookup_static_symbol' to lookup a symbol from this objfile only.
2026 ** gdb.Block now supports the dictionary syntax for accessing symbols in
2027 this block (e.g. block['local_variable']).
2031 | [COMMAND] | SHELL_COMMAND
2032 | -d DELIM COMMAND DELIM SHELL_COMMAND
2033 pipe [COMMAND] | SHELL_COMMAND
2034 pipe -d DELIM COMMAND DELIM SHELL_COMMAND
2035 Executes COMMAND and sends its output to SHELL_COMMAND.
2036 With no COMMAND, repeat the last executed command
2037 and send its output to SHELL_COMMAND.
2039 define-prefix COMMAND
2040 Define or mark a command as a user-defined prefix command.
2042 with SETTING [VALUE] [-- COMMAND]
2043 w SETTING [VALUE] [-- COMMAND]
2044 Temporarily set SETTING, run COMMAND, and restore SETTING.
2045 Usage: with SETTING -- COMMAND
2046 With no COMMAND, repeats the last executed command.
2047 SETTING is any GDB setting you can change with the "set"
2048 subcommands. For example, 'with language c -- print someobj'
2049 temporarily switches to the C language in order to print someobj.
2050 Settings can be combined: 'w lang c -- w print elements unlimited --
2051 usercmd' switches to the C language and runs usercmd with no limit
2052 of array elements to print.
2054 maint with SETTING [VALUE] [-- COMMAND]
2055 Like "with", but works with "maintenance set" settings.
2057 set may-call-functions [on|off]
2058 show may-call-functions
2059 This controls whether GDB will attempt to call functions in
2060 the program, such as with expressions in the print command. It
2061 defaults to on. Calling functions in the program being debugged
2062 can have undesired side effects. It is now possible to forbid
2063 such function calls. If function calls are forbidden, GDB will throw
2064 an error when a command (such as print expression) calls a function
2067 set print finish [on|off]
2069 This controls whether the `finish' command will display the value
2070 that is returned by the current function. When `off', the value is
2071 still entered into the value history, but it is not printed. The
2075 show print max-depth
2076 Allows deeply nested structures to be simplified when printing by
2077 replacing deeply nested parts (beyond the max-depth) with ellipses.
2078 The default max-depth is 20, but this can be set to unlimited to get
2079 the old behavior back.
2081 set print raw-values [on|off]
2082 show print raw-values
2083 By default, GDB applies the enabled pretty printers when printing a
2084 value. This allows to ignore the enabled pretty printers for a series
2085 of commands. The default is 'off'.
2087 set logging debugredirect [on|off]
2088 By default, GDB debug output will go to both the terminal and the logfile.
2089 Set if you want debug output to go only to the log file.
2091 set style title foreground COLOR
2092 set style title background COLOR
2093 set style title intensity VALUE
2094 Control the styling of titles.
2096 set style highlight foreground COLOR
2097 set style highlight background COLOR
2098 set style highlight intensity VALUE
2099 Control the styling of highlightings.
2101 maint set worker-threads
2102 maint show worker-threads
2103 Control the number of worker threads that can be used by GDB. The
2104 default is 0. "unlimited" lets GDB choose a number that is
2105 reasonable. Currently worker threads are only used when demangling
2106 the names of linker symbols.
2108 set style tui-border foreground COLOR
2109 set style tui-border background COLOR
2110 Control the styling of TUI borders.
2112 set style tui-active-border foreground COLOR
2113 set style tui-active-border background COLOR
2114 Control the styling of the active TUI border.
2116 maint set test-settings KIND
2117 maint show test-settings KIND
2118 A set of commands used by the testsuite for exercising the settings
2121 maint set tui-resize-message [on|off]
2122 maint show tui-resize-message
2123 Control whether GDB prints a message each time the terminal is
2124 resized when in TUI mode. This is primarily useful for testing the
2127 set print frame-info [short-location|location|location-and-address
2128 |source-and-location|source-line|auto]
2129 show print frame-info
2130 This controls what frame information is printed by the commands printing
2131 a frame. This setting will e.g. influence the behavior of 'backtrace',
2132 'frame', 'stepi'. The python frame filtering also respect this setting.
2133 The 'backtrace' '-frame-info' option can override this global setting.
2135 set tui compact-source
2136 show tui compact-source
2138 Enable the "compact" display mode for the TUI source window. The
2139 compact display uses only as much space as is needed for the line
2140 numbers in the current file, and only a single space to separate the
2141 line numbers from the source.
2143 info modules [-q] [REGEXP]
2144 Return a list of Fortran modules matching REGEXP, or all modules if
2147 info module functions [-q] [-m MODULE_REGEXP] [-t TYPE_REGEXP] [REGEXP]
2148 Return a list of functions within all modules, grouped by module.
2149 The list of functions can be restricted with the optional regular
2150 expressions. MODULE_REGEXP matches against the module name,
2151 TYPE_REGEXP matches against the function type signature, and REGEXP
2152 matches against the function name.
2154 info module variables [-q] [-m MODULE_REGEXP] [-t TYPE_REGEXP] [REGEXP]
2155 Return a list of variables within all modules, grouped by module.
2156 The list of variables can be restricted with the optional regular
2157 expressions. MODULE_REGEXP matches against the module name,
2158 TYPE_REGEXP matches against the variable type, and REGEXP matches
2159 against the variable name.
2161 set debug remote-packet-max-chars
2162 show debug remote-packet-max-chars
2163 Controls the number of characters to output in a remote packet when using
2165 The default is 512 bytes.
2168 Lists the target connections currently in use.
2173 The "help" command uses the title style to enhance the
2174 readibility of its output by styling the classes and
2178 Similarly to "help", the "apropos" command also uses the
2179 title style for the command names. "apropos" accepts now
2180 a flag "-v" (verbose) to show the full documentation
2181 of matching commands and to use the highlight style to mark
2182 the documentation parts matching REGEXP.
2186 The GDB printf and eval commands can now print C-style and Ada-style
2187 string convenience variables without calling functions in the program.
2188 This allows to do formatted printing of strings without having
2189 a running inferior, or when debugging a core dump.
2191 info sources [-dirname | -basename] [--] [REGEXP]
2192 This command has now optional arguments to only print the files
2193 whose names match REGEXP. The arguments -dirname and -basename
2194 allow to restrict matching respectively to the dirname and basename
2198 The "show style" and its subcommands are now styling
2199 a style name in their output using its own style, to help
2200 the user visualize the different styles.
2202 set print frame-arguments
2203 The new value 'presence' indicates to only indicate the presence of
2204 arguments using ..., instead of printing argument names and values.
2206 set print raw-frame-arguments
2207 show print raw-frame-arguments
2209 These commands replace the similarly-named "set/show print raw
2210 frame-arguments" commands (now with a dash instead of a space). The
2211 old commands are now deprecated and may be removed in a future
2214 add-inferior [-no-connection]
2215 The add-inferior command now supports a "-no-connection" flag that
2216 makes the new inferior start with no target connection associated.
2217 By default, the new inferior inherits the target connection of the
2218 current inferior. See also "info connections".
2221 This command's output now includes a new "Connection" column
2222 indicating which target connection an inferior is bound to. See
2223 "info connections" above.
2225 maint test-options require-delimiter
2226 maint test-options unknown-is-error
2227 maint test-options unknown-is-operand
2228 maint show test-options-completion-result
2229 Commands used by the testsuite to validate the command options
2232 focus, winheight, +, -, >, <
2233 These commands are now case-sensitive.
2235 * New command options, command completion
2237 GDB now has a standard infrastructure to support dash-style command
2238 options ('-OPT'). One benefit is that commands that use it can
2239 easily support completion of command line arguments. Try "CMD
2240 -[TAB]" or "help CMD" to find options supported by a command. Over
2241 time, we intend to migrate most commands to this infrastructure. A
2242 number of commands got support for new command options in this
2245 ** The "print" and "compile print" commands now support a number of
2246 options that allow overriding relevant global print settings as
2247 set by "set print" subcommands:
2251 -array-indexes [on|off]
2252 -elements NUMBER|unlimited
2256 -raw-values [on|off]
2257 -repeats NUMBER|unlimited
2258 -static-members [on|off]
2263 Note that because the "print"/"compile print" commands accept
2264 arbitrary expressions which may look like options (including
2265 abbreviations), if you specify any command option, then you must
2266 use a double dash ("--") to mark the end of argument processing.
2268 ** The "backtrace" command now supports a number of options that
2269 allow overriding relevant global print settings as set by "set
2270 backtrace" and "set print" subcommands:
2272 -entry-values no|only|preferred|if-needed|both|compact|default
2273 -frame-arguments all|scalars|none
2274 -raw-frame-arguments [on|off]
2275 -frame-info auto|source-line|location|source-and-location
2276 |location-and-address|short-location
2278 -past-entry [on|off]
2280 In addition, the full/no-filters/hide qualifiers are now also
2281 exposed as command options too:
2287 ** The "frame apply", "tfaas" and "faas" commands similarly now
2288 support the following options:
2291 -past-entry [on|off]
2293 ** The new "info sources" options -dirname and -basename options
2294 are using the standard '-OPT' infrastructure.
2296 All options above can also be abbreviated. The argument of boolean
2297 (on/off) options can be 0/1 too, and also the argument is assumed
2298 "on" if omitted. This allows writing compact command invocations,
2301 (gdb) p -ra -p -o 0 -- *myptr
2303 The above is equivalent to:
2305 (gdb) print -raw-values -pretty -object off -- *myptr
2307 ** The "info types" command now supports the '-q' flag to disable
2308 printing of some header information in a similar fashion to "info
2309 variables" and "info functions".
2311 ** The "info variables", "info functions", and "whereis" commands
2312 now take a '-n' flag that excludes non-debug symbols (symbols
2313 from the symbol table, not from the debug info such as DWARF)
2316 * Completion improvements
2318 ** GDB can now complete the options of the "thread apply all" and
2319 "taas" commands, and their "-ascending" option can now be
2322 ** GDB can now complete the options of the "info threads", "info
2323 functions", "info variables", "info locals", and "info args"
2326 ** GDB can now complete the options of the "compile file" and
2327 "compile code" commands. The "compile file" command now
2328 completes on filenames.
2330 ** GDB can now complete the backtrace command's
2331 "full/no-filters/hide" qualifiers.
2333 * In settings, you can now abbreviate "unlimited".
2335 E.g., "set print elements u" is now equivalent to "set print
2336 elements unlimited".
2341 This lists all the possible completions for the rest of the line, if it
2342 were to be given as a command itself. This is intended for use by MI
2343 frontends in cases when separate CLI and MI channels cannot be used.
2345 -catch-throw, -catch-rethrow, and -catch-catch
2346 These can be used to catch C++ exceptions in a similar fashion to
2347 the CLI commands 'catch throw', 'catch rethrow', and 'catch catch'.
2349 -symbol-info-functions, -symbol-info-types, and -symbol-info-variables
2350 These commands are the MI equivalent of the CLI commands 'info
2351 functions', 'info types', and 'info variables' respectively.
2353 -symbol-info-modules, this is the MI equivalent of the CLI 'info
2356 -symbol-info-module-functions and -symbol-info-module-variables.
2357 These commands are the MI equivalent of the CLI commands 'info
2358 module functions' and 'info module variables'.
2362 ** The default version of the MI interpreter is now 3 (-i=mi3).
2364 ** The output of information about multi-location breakpoints (which is
2365 syntactically incorrect in MI 2) has changed in MI 3. This affects
2366 the following commands and events:
2370 - =breakpoint-created
2371 - =breakpoint-modified
2373 The -fix-multi-location-breakpoint-output command can be used to enable
2374 this behavior with previous MI versions.
2376 ** Backtraces and frames include a new optional field addr_flags which is
2377 given after the addr field. On AArch64 this contains PAC if the address
2378 has been masked in the frame. On all other targets the field is not
2383 The testsuite now creates the files gdb.cmd (containing the arguments
2384 used to launch GDB) and gdb.in (containing all the commands sent to
2385 GDB) in the output directory for each test script. Multiple invocations
2386 are appended with .1, .2, .3 etc.
2388 * Building GDB and GDBserver now requires GNU make >= 3.82.
2390 Using another implementation of the make program or an earlier version of
2391 GNU make to build GDB or GDBserver is not supported.
2393 * Building GDB now requires GNU readline >= 7.0.
2395 GDB now bundles GNU readline 8.0, but if you choose to use
2396 --with-system-readline, only readline >= 7.0 can be used.
2398 * The TUI SingleKey keymap is now named "SingleKey". This can be used
2399 from .inputrc to bind keys in this keymap. This feature is only
2400 available when gdb is built against GNU readline 8.0 or later.
2402 * Removed targets and native configurations
2404 GDB no longer supports debugging the Cell Broadband Engine. This includes
2405 both debugging standalone Cell/B.E. SPU applications and integrated debugging
2406 of Cell/B.E. applications that use both the PPU and SPU architectures.
2412 * Removed targets and native configurations
2414 Solaris 10 i?86-*-solaris2.10, x86_64-*-solaris2.10,
2415 sparc*-*-solaris2.10
2417 *** Changes in GDB 8.3
2419 * GDB and GDBserver now support access to additional registers on
2420 PowerPC GNU/Linux targets: PPR, DSCR, TAR, EBB/PMU registers, and
2423 * GDB now has experimental support for the compilation and injection of
2424 C++ source code into the inferior. This beta release does not include
2425 support for several language features, such as templates, constructors,
2428 This feature requires GCC 7.1 or higher built with libcp1.so
2431 * GDB and GDBserver now support IPv6 connections. IPv6 addresses
2432 can be passed using the '[ADDRESS]:PORT' notation, or the regular
2433 'ADDRESS:PORT' method.
2435 * DWARF index cache: GDB can now automatically save indices of DWARF
2436 symbols on disk to speed up further loading of the same binaries.
2438 * Ada task switching is now supported on aarch64-elf targets when
2439 debugging a program using the Ravenscar Profile. For more information,
2440 see the "Tasking Support when using the Ravenscar Profile" section
2441 in the GDB user manual.
2443 * GDB in batch mode now exits with status 1 if the last command to be
2446 * The RISC-V target now supports target descriptions.
2448 * System call catchpoints now support system call aliases on FreeBSD.
2449 When the ABI of a system call changes in FreeBSD, this is
2450 implemented by leaving a compatibility system call using the old ABI
2451 at the existing number and allocating a new system call number for
2452 the new ABI. For example, FreeBSD 12 altered the layout of 'struct
2453 kevent' used by the 'kevent' system call. As a result, FreeBSD 12
2454 kernels ship with both 'kevent' and 'freebsd11_kevent' system calls.
2455 The 'freebsd11_kevent' system call is assigned an alias of 'kevent'
2456 so that a system call catchpoint for the 'kevent' system call will
2457 catch invocations of both the 'kevent' and 'freebsd11_kevent'
2458 binaries. This ensures that 'kevent' system calls are caught for
2459 binaries using either the old or new ABIs.
2461 * Terminal styling is now available for the CLI and the TUI. GNU
2462 Source Highlight can additionally be used to provide styling of
2463 source code snippets. See the "set style" commands, below, for more
2466 * Removed support for old demangling styles arm, edg, gnu, hp and
2471 set debug compile-cplus-types
2472 show debug compile-cplus-types
2473 Control the display of debug output about type conversion in the
2474 C++ compile feature. Commands have no effect while compiling
2475 for other languages.
2479 Control whether debug output about files/functions skipping is
2482 frame apply [all | COUNT | -COUNT | level LEVEL...] [FLAG]... COMMAND
2483 Apply a command to some frames.
2484 FLAG arguments allow to control what output to produce and how to handle
2485 errors raised when applying COMMAND to a frame.
2488 Apply a command to all threads (ignoring errors and empty output).
2489 Shortcut for 'thread apply all -s COMMAND'.
2492 Apply a command to all frames (ignoring errors and empty output).
2493 Shortcut for 'frame apply all -s COMMAND'.
2496 Apply a command to all frames of all threads (ignoring errors and empty
2498 Shortcut for 'thread apply all -s frame apply all -s COMMAND'.
2500 maint set dwarf unwinders (on|off)
2501 maint show dwarf unwinders
2502 Control whether DWARF unwinders can be used.
2505 Display a list of open files for a process.
2509 Changes to the "frame", "select-frame", and "info frame" CLI commands.
2510 These commands all now take a frame specification which
2511 is either a frame level, or one of the keywords 'level', 'address',
2512 'function', or 'view' followed by a parameter. Selecting a frame by
2513 address, or viewing a frame outside the current backtrace now
2514 requires the use of a keyword. Selecting a frame by level is
2515 unchanged. The MI comment "-stack-select-frame" is unchanged.
2517 target remote FILENAME
2518 target extended-remote FILENAME
2519 If FILENAME is a Unix domain socket, GDB will attempt to connect
2520 to this socket instead of opening FILENAME as a character device.
2522 info args [-q] [-t TYPEREGEXP] [NAMEREGEXP]
2523 info functions [-q] [-t TYPEREGEXP] [NAMEREGEXP]
2524 info locals [-q] [-t TYPEREGEXP] [NAMEREGEXP]
2525 info variables [-q] [-t TYPEREGEXP] [NAMEREGEXP]
2526 These commands can now print only the searched entities
2527 matching the provided regexp(s), giving a condition
2528 on the entity names or entity types. The flag -q disables
2529 printing headers or informations messages.
2535 These commands now determine the syntax for the shown entities
2536 according to the language chosen by `set language'. In particular,
2537 `set language auto' means to automatically choose the language of
2540 thread apply [all | COUNT | -COUNT] [FLAG]... COMMAND
2541 The 'thread apply' command accepts new FLAG arguments.
2542 FLAG arguments allow to control what output to produce and how to handle
2543 errors raised when applying COMMAND to a thread.
2545 set tui tab-width NCHARS
2546 show tui tab-width NCHARS
2547 "set tui tab-width" replaces the "tabset" command, which has been deprecated.
2549 set style enabled [on|off]
2551 Enable or disable terminal styling. Styling is enabled by default
2552 on most hosts, but disabled by default when in batch mode.
2554 set style sources [on|off]
2556 Enable or disable source code styling. Source code styling is
2557 enabled by default, but only takes effect if styling in general is
2558 enabled, and if GDB was linked with GNU Source Highlight.
2560 set style filename foreground COLOR
2561 set style filename background COLOR
2562 set style filename intensity VALUE
2563 Control the styling of file names.
2565 set style function foreground COLOR
2566 set style function background COLOR
2567 set style function intensity VALUE
2568 Control the styling of function names.
2570 set style variable foreground COLOR
2571 set style variable background COLOR
2572 set style variable intensity VALUE
2573 Control the styling of variable names.
2575 set style address foreground COLOR
2576 set style address background COLOR
2577 set style address intensity VALUE
2578 Control the styling of addresses.
2582 ** The '-data-disassemble' MI command now accepts an '-a' option to
2583 disassemble the whole function surrounding the given program
2584 counter value or function name. Support for this feature can be
2585 verified by using the "-list-features" command, which should
2586 contain "data-disassemble-a-option".
2588 ** Command responses and notifications that include a frame now include
2589 the frame's architecture in a new "arch" attribute.
2591 * New native configurations
2593 GNU/Linux/RISC-V riscv*-*-linux*
2594 FreeBSD/riscv riscv*-*-freebsd*
2598 GNU/Linux/RISC-V riscv*-*-linux*
2599 CSKY ELF csky*-*-elf
2600 CSKY GNU/LINUX csky*-*-linux
2601 FreeBSD/riscv riscv*-*-freebsd*
2603 GNU/Linux/OpenRISC or1k*-*-linux*
2607 GDB no longer supports native debugging on versions of MS-Windows
2612 ** GDB no longer supports Python versions less than 2.6.
2614 ** The gdb.Inferior type has a new 'progspace' property, which is the program
2615 space associated to that inferior.
2617 ** The gdb.Progspace type has a new 'objfiles' method, which returns the list
2618 of objfiles associated to that program space.
2620 ** gdb.SYMBOL_LOC_COMMON_BLOCK, gdb.SYMBOL_MODULE_DOMAIN, and
2621 gdb.SYMBOL_COMMON_BLOCK_DOMAIN were added to reflect changes to
2624 ** gdb.SYMBOL_VARIABLES_DOMAIN, gdb.SYMBOL_FUNCTIONS_DOMAIN, and
2625 gdb.SYMBOL_TYPES_DOMAIN are now deprecated. These were never
2626 correct and did not work properly.
2628 ** The gdb.Value type has a new constructor, which is used to construct a
2629 gdb.Value from a Python buffer object and a gdb.Type.
2635 Enable or disable the undefined behavior sanitizer. This is
2636 disabled by default, but passing --enable-ubsan=yes or
2637 --enable-ubsan=auto to configure will enable it. Enabling this can
2638 cause a performance penalty. The undefined behavior sanitizer was
2639 first introduced in GCC 4.9.
2641 *** Changes in GDB 8.2
2643 * The 'set disassembler-options' command now supports specifying options
2644 for the MIPS target.
2646 * The 'symbol-file' command now accepts an '-o' option to add a relative
2647 offset to all sections.
2649 * Similarly, the 'add-symbol-file' command also accepts an '-o' option to add
2650 a relative offset to all sections, but it allows to override the load
2651 address of individual sections using '-s'.
2653 * The 'add-symbol-file' command no longer requires the second argument
2654 (address of the text section).
2656 * The endianness used with the 'set endian auto' mode in the absence of
2657 an executable selected for debugging is now the last endianness chosen
2658 either by one of the 'set endian big' and 'set endian little' commands
2659 or by inferring from the last executable used, rather than the startup
2662 * The pager now allows a "c" response, meaning to disable the pager
2663 for the rest of the current command.
2665 * The commands 'info variables/functions/types' now show the source line
2666 numbers of symbol definitions when available.
2668 * 'info proc' now works on running processes on FreeBSD systems and core
2669 files created on FreeBSD systems.
2671 * C expressions can now use _Alignof, and C++ expressions can now use
2674 * Support for SVE on AArch64 Linux. Note that GDB does not detect changes to
2675 the vector length while the process is running.
2681 Control display of debugging info regarding the FreeBSD native target.
2683 set|show varsize-limit
2684 This new setting allows the user to control the maximum size of Ada
2685 objects being printed when those objects have a variable type,
2686 instead of that maximum size being hardcoded to 65536 bytes.
2688 set|show record btrace cpu
2689 Controls the processor to be used for enabling errata workarounds for
2690 branch trace decode.
2692 maint check libthread-db
2693 Run integrity checks on the current inferior's thread debugging
2696 maint set check-libthread-db (on|off)
2697 maint show check-libthread-db
2698 Control whether to run integrity checks on inferior specific thread
2699 debugging libraries as they are loaded. The default is not to
2700 perform such checks.
2704 ** Type alignment is now exposed via the "align" attribute of a gdb.Type.
2706 ** The commands attached to a breakpoint can be set by assigning to
2707 the breakpoint's "commands" field.
2709 ** gdb.execute can now execute multi-line gdb commands.
2711 ** The new functions gdb.convenience_variable and
2712 gdb.set_convenience_variable can be used to get and set the value
2713 of convenience variables.
2715 ** A gdb.Parameter will no longer print the "set" help text on an
2716 ordinary "set"; instead by default a "set" will be silent unless
2717 the get_set_string method returns a non-empty string.
2721 RiscV ELF riscv*-*-elf
2723 * Removed targets and native configurations
2725 m88k running OpenBSD m88*-*-openbsd*
2726 SH-5/SH64 ELF sh64-*-elf*, SH-5/SH64 support in sh*
2727 SH-5/SH64 running GNU/Linux SH-5/SH64 support in sh*-*-linux*
2728 SH-5/SH64 running OpenBSD SH-5/SH64 support in sh*-*-openbsd*
2730 * Aarch64/Linux hardware watchpoints improvements
2732 Hardware watchpoints on unaligned addresses are now properly
2733 supported when running Linux kernel 4.10 or higher: read and access
2734 watchpoints are no longer spuriously missed, and all watchpoints
2735 lengths between 1 and 8 bytes are supported. On older kernels,
2736 watchpoints set on unaligned addresses are no longer missed, with
2737 the tradeoff that there is a possibility of false hits being
2742 --enable-codesign=CERT
2743 This can be used to invoke "codesign -s CERT" after building gdb.
2744 This option is useful on macOS, where code signing is required for
2745 gdb to work properly.
2747 --disable-gdbcli has been removed
2748 This is now silently accepted, but does nothing.
2750 *** Changes in GDB 8.1
2752 * GDB now supports dynamically creating arbitrary register groups specified
2753 in XML target descriptions. This allows for finer grain grouping of
2754 registers on systems with a large amount of registers.
2756 * The 'ptype' command now accepts a '/o' flag, which prints the
2757 offsets and sizes of fields in a struct, like the pahole(1) tool.
2759 * New "--readnever" command line option instructs GDB to not read each
2760 symbol file's symbolic debug information. This makes startup faster
2761 but at the expense of not being able to perform symbolic debugging.
2762 This option is intended for use cases where symbolic debugging will
2763 not be used, e.g., when you only need to dump the debuggee's core.
2765 * GDB now uses the GNU MPFR library, if available, to emulate target
2766 floating-point arithmetic during expression evaluation when the target
2767 uses different floating-point formats than the host. At least version
2768 3.1 of GNU MPFR is required.
2770 * GDB now supports access to the guarded-storage-control registers and the
2771 software-based guarded-storage broadcast control registers on IBM z14.
2773 * On Unix systems, GDB now supports transmitting environment variables
2774 that are to be set or unset to GDBserver. These variables will
2775 affect the environment to be passed to the remote inferior.
2777 To inform GDB of environment variables that are to be transmitted to
2778 GDBserver, use the "set environment" command. Only user set
2779 environment variables are sent to GDBserver.
2781 To inform GDB of environment variables that are to be unset before
2782 the remote inferior is started by the GDBserver, use the "unset
2783 environment" command.
2785 * Completion improvements
2787 ** GDB can now complete function parameters in linespecs and
2788 explicit locations without quoting. When setting breakpoints,
2789 quoting around functions names to help with TAB-completion is
2790 generally no longer necessary. For example, this now completes
2793 (gdb) b function(in[TAB]
2794 (gdb) b function(int)
2796 Related, GDB is no longer confused with completing functions in
2797 C++ anonymous namespaces:
2800 (gdb) b (anonymous namespace)::[TAB][TAB]
2801 (anonymous namespace)::a_function()
2802 (anonymous namespace)::b_function()
2804 ** GDB now has much improved linespec and explicit locations TAB
2805 completion support, that better understands what you're
2806 completing and offers better suggestions. For example, GDB no
2807 longer offers data symbols as possible completions when you're
2808 setting a breakpoint.
2810 ** GDB now TAB-completes label symbol names.
2812 ** The "complete" command now mimics TAB completion accurately.
2814 * New command line options (gcore)
2817 Dump all memory mappings.
2819 * Breakpoints on C++ functions are now set on all scopes by default
2821 By default, breakpoints on functions/methods are now interpreted as
2822 specifying all functions with the given name ignoring missing
2823 leading scopes (namespaces and classes).
2825 For example, assuming a C++ program with symbols named:
2830 both commands "break func()" and "break B::func()" set a breakpoint
2833 You can use the new flag "-qualified" to override this. This makes
2834 GDB interpret the specified function name as a complete
2835 fully-qualified name instead. For example, using the same C++
2836 program, the "break -q B::func" command sets a breakpoint on
2837 "B::func", only. A parameter has been added to the Python
2838 gdb.Breakpoint constructor to achieve the same result when creating
2839 a breakpoint from Python.
2841 * Breakpoints on functions marked with C++ ABI tags
2843 GDB can now set breakpoints on functions marked with C++ ABI tags
2844 (e.g., [abi:cxx11]). See here for a description of ABI tags:
2845 https://developers.redhat.com/blog/2015/02/05/gcc5-and-the-c11-abi/
2847 Functions with a C++11 abi tag are demangled/displayed like this:
2849 function[abi:cxx11](int)
2852 You can now set a breakpoint on such functions simply as if they had
2855 (gdb) b function(int)
2857 Or if you need to disambiguate between tags, like:
2859 (gdb) b function[abi:other_tag](int)
2861 Tab completion was adjusted accordingly as well.
2865 ** New events gdb.new_inferior, gdb.inferior_deleted, and
2866 gdb.new_thread are emitted. See the manual for further
2867 description of these.
2869 ** A new function, "gdb.rbreak" has been added to the Python API.
2870 This function allows the setting of a large number of breakpoints
2871 via a regex pattern in Python. See the manual for further details.
2873 ** Python breakpoints can now accept explicit locations. See the
2874 manual for a further description of this feature.
2877 * New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
2879 ** GDBserver is now able to start inferior processes with a
2880 specified initial working directory.
2882 The user can set the desired working directory to be used from
2883 GDB using the new "set cwd" command.
2885 ** New "--selftest" command line option runs some GDBserver self
2886 tests. These self tests are disabled in releases.
2888 ** On Unix systems, GDBserver now does globbing expansion and variable
2889 substitution in inferior command line arguments.
2891 This is done by starting inferiors using a shell, like GDB does.
2892 See "set startup-with-shell" in the user manual for how to disable
2893 this from GDB when using "target extended-remote". When using
2894 "target remote", you can disable the startup with shell by using the
2895 new "--no-startup-with-shell" GDBserver command line option.
2897 ** On Unix systems, GDBserver now supports receiving environment
2898 variables that are to be set or unset from GDB. These variables
2899 will affect the environment to be passed to the inferior.
2901 * When catching an Ada exception raised with a message, GDB now prints
2902 the message in the catchpoint hit notification. In GDB/MI mode, that
2903 information is provided as an extra field named "exception-message"
2904 in the *stopped notification.
2906 * Trait objects can now be inspected When debugging Rust code. This
2907 requires compiler support which will appear in Rust 1.24.
2909 * New remote packets
2911 QEnvironmentHexEncoded
2912 Inform GDBserver of an environment variable that is to be passed to
2913 the inferior when starting it.
2916 Inform GDBserver of an environment variable that is to be unset
2917 before starting the remote inferior.
2920 Inform GDBserver that the environment should be reset (i.e.,
2921 user-set environment variables should be unset).
2924 Indicates whether the inferior must be started with a shell or not.
2927 Tell GDBserver that the inferior to be started should use a specific
2930 * The "maintenance print c-tdesc" command now takes an optional
2931 argument which is the file name of XML target description.
2933 * The "maintenance selftest" command now takes an optional argument to
2934 filter the tests to be run.
2936 * The "enable", and "disable" commands now accept a range of
2937 breakpoint locations, e.g. "enable 1.3-5".
2942 Set and show the current working directory for the inferior.
2944 set|show compile-gcc
2945 Set and show compilation command used for compiling and injecting code
2946 with the 'compile' commands.
2948 set debug separate-debug-file
2949 show debug separate-debug-file
2950 Control the display of debug output about separate debug file search.
2952 set dump-excluded-mappings
2953 show dump-excluded-mappings
2954 Control whether mappings marked with the VM_DONTDUMP flag should be
2955 dumped when generating a core file.
2957 maint info selftests
2958 List the registered selftests.
2961 Start the debugged program stopping at the first instruction.
2964 Control display of debugging messages related to OpenRISC targets.
2966 set|show print type nested-type-limit
2967 Set and show the limit of nesting level for nested types that the
2968 type printer will show.
2970 * TUI Single-Key mode now supports two new shortcut keys: `i' for stepi and
2973 * Safer/improved support for debugging with no debug info
2975 GDB no longer assumes functions with no debug information return
2978 This means that GDB now refuses to call such functions unless you
2979 tell it the function's type, by either casting the call to the
2980 declared return type, or by casting the function to a function
2981 pointer of the right type, and calling that:
2983 (gdb) p getenv ("PATH")
2984 'getenv' has unknown return type; cast the call to its declared return type
2985 (gdb) p (char *) getenv ("PATH")
2986 $1 = 0x7fffffffe "/usr/local/bin:/"...
2987 (gdb) p ((char * (*) (const char *)) getenv) ("PATH")
2988 $2 = 0x7fffffffe "/usr/local/bin:/"...
2990 Similarly, GDB no longer assumes that global variables with no debug
2991 info have type 'int', and refuses to print the variable's value
2992 unless you tell it the variable's type:
2995 'var' has unknown type; cast it to its declared type
2999 * New native configurations
3001 FreeBSD/aarch64 aarch64*-*-freebsd*
3002 FreeBSD/arm arm*-*-freebsd*
3006 FreeBSD/aarch64 aarch64*-*-freebsd*
3007 FreeBSD/arm arm*-*-freebsd*
3008 OpenRISC ELF or1k*-*-elf
3010 * Removed targets and native configurations
3012 Solaris 2.0-9 i?86-*-solaris2.[0-9], sparc*-*-solaris2.[0-9]
3014 *** Changes in GDB 8.0
3016 * GDB now supports access to the PKU register on GNU/Linux. The register is
3017 added by the Memory Protection Keys for Userspace feature which will be
3018 available in future Intel CPUs.
3020 * GDB now supports C++11 rvalue references.
3024 ** New functions to start, stop and access a running btrace recording.
3025 ** Rvalue references are now supported in gdb.Type.
3027 * GDB now supports recording and replaying rdrand and rdseed Intel 64
3030 * Building GDB and GDBserver now requires a C++11 compiler.
3032 For example, GCC 4.8 or later.
3034 It is no longer possible to build GDB or GDBserver with a C
3035 compiler. The --disable-build-with-cxx configure option has been
3038 * Building GDB and GDBserver now requires GNU make >= 3.81.
3040 It is no longer supported to build GDB or GDBserver with another
3041 implementation of the make program or an earlier version of GNU make.
3043 * Native debugging on MS-Windows supports command-line redirection
3045 Command-line arguments used for starting programs on MS-Windows can
3046 now include redirection symbols supported by native Windows shells,
3047 such as '<', '>', '>>', '2>&1', etc. This affects GDB commands such
3048 as "run", "start", and "set args", as well as the corresponding MI
3051 * Support for thread names on MS-Windows.
3053 GDB now catches and handles the special exception that programs
3054 running on MS-Windows use to assign names to threads in the
3057 * Support for Java programs compiled with gcj has been removed.
3059 * User commands now accept an unlimited number of arguments.
3060 Previously, only up to 10 was accepted.
3062 * The "eval" command now expands user-defined command arguments.
3064 This makes it easier to process a variable number of arguments:
3069 eval "print $arg%d", $i
3074 * Target descriptions can now describe registers for sparc32 and sparc64.
3076 * GDB now supports DWARF version 5 (debug information format).
3077 Its .debug_names index is not yet supported.
3079 * New native configurations
3081 FreeBSD/mips mips*-*-freebsd
3085 Synopsys ARC arc*-*-elf32
3086 FreeBSD/mips mips*-*-freebsd
3088 * Removed targets and native configurations
3090 Alpha running FreeBSD alpha*-*-freebsd*
3091 Alpha running GNU/kFreeBSD alpha*-*-kfreebsd*-gnu
3096 Erases all the flash memory regions reported by the target.
3098 maint print arc arc-instruction address
3099 Print internal disassembler information about instruction at a given address.
3103 set disassembler-options
3104 show disassembler-options
3105 Controls the passing of target specific information to the disassembler.
3106 If it is necessary to specify more than one disassembler option then
3107 multiple options can be placed together into a comma separated list.
3108 The default value is the empty string. Currently, the only supported
3109 targets are ARM, PowerPC and S/390.
3114 Erases all the flash memory regions reported by the target. This is
3115 equivalent to the CLI command flash-erase.
3117 -file-list-shared-libraries
3118 List the shared libraries in the program. This is
3119 equivalent to the CLI command "info shared".
3122 Catchpoints stopping the program when Ada exceptions are
3123 handled. This is equivalent to the CLI command "catch handlers".
3125 *** Changes in GDB 7.12
3127 * GDB and GDBserver now build with a C++ compiler by default.
3129 The --enable-build-with-cxx configure option is now enabled by
3130 default. One must now explicitly configure with
3131 --disable-build-with-cxx in order to build with a C compiler. This
3132 option will be removed in a future release.
3134 * GDBserver now supports recording btrace without maintaining an active
3137 * GDB now supports a negative repeat count in the 'x' command to examine
3138 memory backward from the given address. For example:
3141 #0 Func1 (n=42, p=0x40061c "hogehoge") at main.cpp:4
3142 #1 0x400580 in main (argc=1, argv=0x7fffffffe5c8) at main.cpp:8
3143 (gdb) x/-5i 0x0000000000400580
3144 0x40056a <main(int, char**)+8>: mov %edi,-0x4(%rbp)
3145 0x40056d <main(int, char**)+11>: mov %rsi,-0x10(%rbp)
3146 0x400571 <main(int, char**)+15>: mov $0x40061c,%esi
3147 0x400576 <main(int, char**)+20>: mov $0x2a,%edi
3148 0x40057b <main(int, char**)+25>:
3149 callq 0x400536 <Func1(int, char const*)>
3151 * Fortran: Support structures with fields of dynamic types and
3152 arrays of dynamic types.
3154 * The symbol dumping maintenance commands have new syntax.
3155 maint print symbols [-pc address] [--] [filename]
3156 maint print symbols [-objfile objfile] [-source source] [--] [filename]
3157 maint print psymbols [-objfile objfile] [-pc address] [--] [filename]
3158 maint print psymbols [-objfile objfile] [-source source] [--] [filename]
3159 maint print msymbols [-objfile objfile] [--] [filename]
3161 * GDB now supports multibit bitfields and enums in target register
3164 * New Python-based convenience function $_as_string(val), which returns
3165 the textual representation of a value. This function is especially
3166 useful to obtain the text label of an enum value.
3168 * Intel MPX bound violation handling.
3170 Segmentation faults caused by a Intel MPX boundary violation
3171 now display the kind of violation (upper or lower), the memory
3172 address accessed and the memory bounds, along with the usual
3173 signal received and code location.
3177 Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault
3178 Upper bound violation while accessing address 0x7fffffffc3b3
3179 Bounds: [lower = 0x7fffffffc390, upper = 0x7fffffffc3a3]
3180 0x0000000000400d7c in upper () at i386-mpx-sigsegv.c:68
3182 * Rust language support.
3183 GDB now supports debugging programs written in the Rust programming
3184 language. See https://www.rust-lang.org/ for more information about
3187 * Support for running interpreters on specified input/output devices
3189 GDB now supports a new mechanism that allows frontends to provide
3190 fully featured GDB console views, as a better alternative to
3191 building such views on top of the "-interpreter-exec console"
3192 command. See the new "new-ui" command below. With that command,
3193 frontends can now start GDB in the traditional command-line mode
3194 running in an embedded terminal emulator widget, and create a
3195 separate MI interpreter running on a specified i/o device. In this
3196 way, GDB handles line editing, history, tab completion, etc. in the
3197 console all by itself, and the GUI uses the separate MI interpreter
3198 for its own control and synchronization, invisible to the command
3201 * The "catch syscall" command catches groups of related syscalls.
3203 The "catch syscall" command now supports catching a group of related
3204 syscalls using the 'group:' or 'g:' prefix.
3209 skip -gfile file-glob-pattern
3210 skip -function function
3211 skip -rfunction regular-expression
3212 A generalized form of the skip command, with new support for
3213 glob-style file names and regular expressions for function names.
3214 Additionally, a file spec and a function spec may now be combined.
3216 maint info line-table REGEXP
3217 Display the contents of GDB's internal line table data structure.
3220 Run any GDB unit tests that were compiled in.
3223 Start a new user interface instance running INTERP as interpreter,
3224 using the TTY file for input/output.
3228 ** gdb.Breakpoint objects have a new attribute "pending", which
3229 indicates whether the breakpoint is pending.
3230 ** Three new breakpoint-related events have been added:
3231 gdb.breakpoint_created, gdb.breakpoint_modified, and
3232 gdb.breakpoint_deleted.
3234 signal-event EVENTID
3235 Signal ("set") the given MS-Windows event object. This is used in
3236 conjunction with the Windows JIT debugging (AeDebug) support, where
3237 the OS suspends a crashing process until a debugger can attach to
3238 it. Resuming the crashing process, in order to debug it, is done by
3239 signalling an event.
3241 * Support for tracepoints and fast tracepoints on s390-linux and s390x-linux
3242 was added in GDBserver, including JIT compiling fast tracepoint's
3243 conditional expression bytecode into native code.
3245 * Support for various remote target protocols and ROM monitors has
3248 target m32rsdi Remote M32R debugging over SDI
3249 target mips MIPS remote debugging protocol
3250 target pmon PMON ROM monitor
3251 target ddb NEC's DDB variant of PMON for Vr4300
3252 target rockhopper NEC RockHopper variant of PMON
3253 target lsi LSI variant of PMO
3255 * Support for tracepoints and fast tracepoints on powerpc-linux,
3256 powerpc64-linux, and powerpc64le-linux was added in GDBserver,
3257 including JIT compiling fast tracepoint's conditional expression
3258 bytecode into native code.
3260 * MI async record =record-started now includes the method and format used for
3261 recording. For example:
3263 =record-started,thread-group="i1",method="btrace",format="bts"
3265 * MI async record =thread-selected now includes the frame field. For example:
3267 =thread-selected,id="3",frame={level="0",addr="0x00000000004007c0"}
3271 Andes NDS32 nds32*-*-elf
3273 *** Changes in GDB 7.11
3275 * GDB now supports debugging kernel-based threads on FreeBSD.
3277 * Per-inferior thread numbers
3279 Thread numbers are now per inferior instead of global. If you're
3280 debugging multiple inferiors, GDB displays thread IDs using a
3281 qualified INF_NUM.THR_NUM form. For example:
3285 1.1 Thread 0x7ffff7fc2740 (LWP 8155) (running)
3286 1.2 Thread 0x7ffff7fc1700 (LWP 8168) (running)
3287 * 2.1 Thread 0x7ffff7fc2740 (LWP 8157) (running)
3288 2.2 Thread 0x7ffff7fc1700 (LWP 8190) (running)
3290 As consequence, thread numbers as visible in the $_thread
3291 convenience variable and in Python's InferiorThread.num attribute
3292 are no longer unique between inferiors.
3294 GDB now maintains a second thread ID per thread, referred to as the
3295 global thread ID, which is the new equivalent of thread numbers in
3296 previous releases. See also $_gthread below.
3298 For backwards compatibility, MI's thread IDs always refer to global
3301 * Commands that accept thread IDs now accept the qualified
3302 INF_NUM.THR_NUM form as well. For example:
3305 [Switching to thread 2.1 (Thread 0x7ffff7fc2740 (LWP 8157))] (running)
3308 * In commands that accept a list of thread IDs, you can now refer to
3309 all threads of an inferior using a star wildcard. GDB accepts
3310 "INF_NUM.*", to refer to all threads of inferior INF_NUM, and "*" to
3311 refer to all threads of the current inferior. For example, "info
3314 * You can use "info threads -gid" to display the global thread ID of
3317 * The new convenience variable $_gthread holds the global number of
3320 * The new convenience variable $_inferior holds the number of the
3323 * GDB now displays the ID and name of the thread that hit a breakpoint
3324 or received a signal, if your program is multi-threaded. For
3327 Thread 3 "bar" hit Breakpoint 1 at 0x40087a: file program.c, line 20.
3328 Thread 1 "main" received signal SIGINT, Interrupt.
3330 * Record btrace now supports non-stop mode.
3332 * Support for tracepoints on aarch64-linux was added in GDBserver.
3334 * The 'record instruction-history' command now indicates speculative execution
3335 when using the Intel Processor Trace recording format.
3337 * GDB now allows users to specify explicit locations, bypassing
3338 the linespec parser. This feature is also available to GDB/MI
3341 * Multi-architecture debugging is supported on AArch64 GNU/Linux.
3342 GDB now is able to debug both AArch64 applications and ARM applications
3345 * Support for fast tracepoints on aarch64-linux was added in GDBserver,
3346 including JIT compiling fast tracepoint's conditional expression bytecode
3349 * GDB now supports displaced stepping on AArch64 GNU/Linux.
3351 * "info threads", "info inferiors", "info display", "info checkpoints"
3352 and "maint info program-spaces" now list the corresponding items in
3353 ascending ID order, for consistency with all other "info" commands.
3355 * In Ada, the overloads selection menu has been enhanced to display the
3356 parameter types and the return types for the matching overloaded subprograms.
3360 maint set target-non-stop (on|off|auto)
3361 maint show target-non-stop
3362 Control whether GDB targets always operate in non-stop mode even if
3363 "set non-stop" is "off". The default is "auto", meaning non-stop
3364 mode is enabled if supported by the target.
3366 maint set bfd-sharing
3367 maint show bfd-sharing
3368 Control the reuse of bfd objects.
3371 show debug bfd-cache
3372 Control display of debugging info regarding bfd caching.
3376 Control display of debugging info regarding FreeBSD threads.
3378 set remote multiprocess-extensions-packet
3379 show remote multiprocess-extensions-packet
3380 Set/show the use of the remote protocol multiprocess extensions.
3382 set remote thread-events
3383 show remote thread-events
3384 Set/show the use of thread create/exit events.
3386 set ada print-signatures on|off
3387 show ada print-signatures"
3388 Control whether parameter types and return types are displayed in overloads
3389 selection menus. It is activated (@code{on}) by default.
3393 Controls the maximum size of memory, in bytes, that GDB will
3394 allocate for value contents. Prevents incorrect programs from
3395 causing GDB to allocate overly large buffers. Default is 64k.
3397 * The "disassemble" command accepts a new modifier: /s.
3398 It prints mixed source+disassembly like /m with two differences:
3399 - disassembled instructions are now printed in program order, and
3400 - and source for all relevant files is now printed.
3401 The "/m" option is now considered deprecated: its "source-centric"
3402 output hasn't proved useful in practice.
3404 * The "record instruction-history" command accepts a new modifier: /s.
3405 It behaves exactly like /m and prints mixed source+disassembly.
3407 * The "set scheduler-locking" command supports a new mode "replay".
3408 It behaves like "off" in record mode and like "on" in replay mode.
3410 * Support for various ROM monitors has been removed:
3412 target dbug dBUG ROM monitor for Motorola ColdFire
3413 target picobug Motorola picobug monitor
3414 target dink32 DINK32 ROM monitor for PowerPC
3415 target m32r Renesas M32R/D ROM monitor
3416 target mon2000 mon2000 ROM monitor
3417 target ppcbug PPCBUG ROM monitor for PowerPC
3419 * Support for reading/writing memory and extracting values on architectures
3420 whose memory is addressable in units of any integral multiple of 8 bits.
3423 Allows to break when an Ada exception is handled.
3425 * New remote packets
3428 Indicates that an exec system call was executed.
3430 exec-events feature in qSupported
3431 The qSupported packet allows GDB to request support for exec
3432 events using the new 'gdbfeature' exec-event, and the qSupported
3433 response can contain the corresponding 'stubfeature'. Set and
3434 show commands can be used to display whether these features are enabled.
3437 Equivalent to interrupting with the ^C character, but works in
3440 thread created stop reason (T05 create:...)
3441 Indicates that the thread was just created and is stopped at entry.
3443 thread exit stop reply (w exitcode;tid)
3444 Indicates that the thread has terminated.
3447 Enables/disables thread create and exit event reporting. For
3448 example, this is used in non-stop mode when GDB stops a set of
3449 threads and synchronously waits for the their corresponding stop
3450 replies. Without exit events, if one of the threads exits, GDB
3451 would hang forever not knowing that it should no longer expect a
3452 stop for that same thread.
3455 Indicates that there are no resumed threads left in the target (all
3456 threads are stopped). The remote stub reports support for this stop
3457 reply to GDB's qSupported query.
3460 Enables/disables catching syscalls from the inferior process.
3461 The remote stub reports support for this packet to GDB's qSupported query.
3463 syscall_entry stop reason
3464 Indicates that a syscall was just called.
3466 syscall_return stop reason
3467 Indicates that a syscall just returned.
3469 * Extended-remote exec events
3471 ** GDB now has support for exec events on extended-remote Linux targets.
3472 For such targets with Linux kernels 2.5.46 and later, this enables
3473 follow-exec-mode and exec catchpoints.
3475 set remote exec-event-feature-packet
3476 show remote exec-event-feature-packet
3477 Set/show the use of the remote exec event feature.
3479 * Thread names in remote protocol
3481 The reply to qXfer:threads:read may now include a name attribute for each
3484 * Target remote mode fork and exec events
3486 ** GDB now has support for fork and exec events on target remote mode
3487 Linux targets. For such targets with Linux kernels 2.5.46 and later,
3488 this enables follow-fork-mode, detach-on-fork, follow-exec-mode, and
3489 fork and exec catchpoints.
3491 * Remote syscall events
3493 ** GDB now has support for catch syscall on remote Linux targets,
3494 currently enabled on x86/x86_64 architectures.
3496 set remote catch-syscall-packet
3497 show remote catch-syscall-packet
3498 Set/show the use of the remote catch syscall feature.
3502 ** The -var-set-format command now accepts the zero-hexadecimal
3503 format. It outputs data in hexadecimal format with zero-padding on the
3508 ** gdb.InferiorThread objects have a new attribute "global_num",
3509 which refers to the thread's global thread ID. The existing
3510 "num" attribute now refers to the thread's per-inferior number.
3511 See "Per-inferior thread numbers" above.
3512 ** gdb.InferiorThread objects have a new attribute "inferior", which
3513 is the Inferior object the thread belongs to.
3515 *** Changes in GDB 7.10
3517 * Support for process record-replay and reverse debugging on aarch64*-linux*
3518 targets has been added. GDB now supports recording of A64 instruction set
3519 including advance SIMD instructions.
3521 * Support for Sun's version of the "stabs" debug file format has been removed.
3523 * GDB now honors the content of the file /proc/PID/coredump_filter
3524 (PID is the process ID) on GNU/Linux systems. This file can be used
3525 to specify the types of memory mappings that will be included in a
3526 corefile. For more information, please refer to the manual page of
3527 "core(5)". GDB also has a new command: "set use-coredump-filter
3528 on|off". It allows to set whether GDB will read the content of the
3529 /proc/PID/coredump_filter file when generating a corefile.
3531 * The "info os" command on GNU/Linux can now display information on
3533 "info os cpus" Listing of all cpus/cores on the system
3535 * GDB has two new commands: "set serial parity odd|even|none" and
3536 "show serial parity". These allows to set or show parity for the
3539 * The "info source" command now displays the producer string if it was
3540 present in the debug info. This typically includes the compiler version
3541 and may include things like its command line arguments.
3543 * The "info dll", an alias of the "info sharedlibrary" command,
3544 is now available on all platforms.
3546 * Directory names supplied to the "set sysroot" commands may be
3547 prefixed with "target:" to tell GDB to access shared libraries from
3548 the target system, be it local or remote. This replaces the prefix
3549 "remote:". The default sysroot has been changed from "" to
3550 "target:". "remote:" is automatically converted to "target:" for
3551 backward compatibility.
3553 * The system root specified by "set sysroot" will be prepended to the
3554 filename of the main executable (if reported to GDB as absolute by
3555 the operating system) when starting processes remotely, and when
3556 attaching to already-running local or remote processes.
3558 * GDB now supports automatic location and retrieval of executable
3559 files from remote targets. Remote debugging can now be initiated
3560 using only a "target remote" or "target extended-remote" command
3561 (no "set sysroot" or "file" commands are required). See "New remote
3564 * The "dump" command now supports verilog hex format.
3566 * GDB now supports the vector ABI on S/390 GNU/Linux targets.
3568 * On GNU/Linux, GDB and gdbserver are now able to access executable
3569 and shared library files without a "set sysroot" command when
3570 attaching to processes running in different mount namespaces from
3571 the debugger. This makes it possible to attach to processes in
3572 containers as simply as "gdb -p PID" or "gdbserver --attach PID".
3573 See "New remote packets" below.
3575 * The "tui reg" command now provides completion for all of the
3576 available register groups, including target specific groups.
3578 * The HISTSIZE environment variable is no longer read when determining
3579 the size of GDB's command history. GDB now instead reads the dedicated
3580 GDBHISTSIZE environment variable. Setting GDBHISTSIZE to "-1" or to "" now
3581 disables truncation of command history. Non-numeric values of GDBHISTSIZE
3586 ** Memory ports can now be unbuffered.
3590 ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "username",
3591 which is the name of the objfile as specified by the user,
3592 without, for example, resolving symlinks.
3593 ** You can now write frame unwinders in Python.
3594 ** gdb.Type objects have a new method "optimized_out",
3595 returning optimized out gdb.Value instance of this type.
3596 ** gdb.Value objects have new methods "reference_value" and
3597 "const_value" which return a reference to the value and a
3598 "const" version of the value respectively.
3602 maint print symbol-cache
3603 Print the contents of the symbol cache.
3605 maint print symbol-cache-statistics
3606 Print statistics of symbol cache usage.
3608 maint flush-symbol-cache
3609 Flush the contents of the symbol cache.
3613 Start branch trace recording using Branch Trace Store (BTS) format.
3616 Evaluate expression by using the compiler and print result.
3620 Explicit commands for enabling and disabling tui mode.
3623 set mpx bound on i386 and amd64
3624 Support for bound table investigation on Intel MPX enabled applications.
3628 Start branch trace recording using Intel Processor Trace format.
3631 Print information about branch tracing internals.
3633 maint btrace packet-history
3634 Print the raw branch tracing data.
3636 maint btrace clear-packet-history
3637 Discard the stored raw branch tracing data.
3640 Discard all branch tracing data. It will be fetched and processed
3641 anew by the next "record" command.
3646 Renamed from "set debug dwarf2-die".
3647 show debug dwarf-die
3648 Renamed from "show debug dwarf2-die".
3650 set debug dwarf-read
3651 Renamed from "set debug dwarf2-read".
3652 show debug dwarf-read
3653 Renamed from "show debug dwarf2-read".
3655 maint set dwarf always-disassemble
3656 Renamed from "maint set dwarf2 always-disassemble".
3657 maint show dwarf always-disassemble
3658 Renamed from "maint show dwarf2 always-disassemble".
3660 maint set dwarf max-cache-age
3661 Renamed from "maint set dwarf2 max-cache-age".
3662 maint show dwarf max-cache-age
3663 Renamed from "maint show dwarf2 max-cache-age".
3665 set debug dwarf-line
3666 show debug dwarf-line
3667 Control display of debugging info regarding DWARF line processing.
3670 show max-completions
3671 Set the maximum number of candidates to be considered during
3672 completion. The default value is 200. This limit allows GDB
3673 to avoid generating large completion lists, the computation of
3674 which can cause the debugger to become temporarily unresponsive.
3676 set history remove-duplicates
3677 show history remove-duplicates
3678 Control the removal of duplicate history entries.
3680 maint set symbol-cache-size
3681 maint show symbol-cache-size
3682 Control the size of the symbol cache.
3684 set|show record btrace bts buffer-size
3685 Set and show the size of the ring buffer used for branch tracing in
3687 The obtained size may differ from the requested size. Use "info
3688 record" to see the obtained buffer size.
3690 set debug linux-namespaces
3691 show debug linux-namespaces
3692 Control display of debugging info regarding Linux namespaces.
3694 set|show record btrace pt buffer-size
3695 Set and show the size of the ring buffer used for branch tracing in
3696 Intel Processor Trace format.
3697 The obtained size may differ from the requested size. Use "info
3698 record" to see the obtained buffer size.
3700 maint set|show btrace pt skip-pad
3701 Set and show whether PAD packets are skipped when computing the
3704 * The command 'thread apply all' can now support new option '-ascending'
3705 to call its specified command for all threads in ascending order.
3707 * Python/Guile scripting
3709 ** GDB now supports auto-loading of Python/Guile scripts contained in the
3710 special section named `.debug_gdb_scripts'.
3712 * New remote packets
3714 qXfer:btrace-conf:read
3715 Return the branch trace configuration for the current thread.
3717 Qbtrace-conf:bts:size
3718 Set the requested ring buffer size for branch tracing in BTS format.
3721 Enable Intel Processor Trace-based branch tracing for the current
3722 process. The remote stub reports support for this packet to GDB's
3725 Qbtrace-conf:pt:size
3726 Set the requested ring buffer size for branch tracing in Intel Processor
3730 Indicates a memory breakpoint instruction was executed, irrespective
3731 of whether it was GDB that planted the breakpoint or the breakpoint
3732 is hardcoded in the program. This is required for correct non-stop
3736 Indicates the target stopped for a hardware breakpoint. This is
3737 required for correct non-stop mode operation.
3740 Return information about files on the remote system.
3742 qXfer:exec-file:read
3743 Return the full absolute name of the file that was executed to
3744 create a process running on the remote system.
3747 Select the filesystem on which vFile: operations with filename
3748 arguments will operate. This is required for GDB to be able to
3749 access files on remote targets where the remote stub does not
3750 share a common filesystem with the inferior(s).
3753 Indicates that a fork system call was executed.
3756 Indicates that a vfork system call was executed.
3758 vforkdone stop reason
3759 Indicates that a vfork child of the specified process has executed
3760 an exec or exit, allowing the vfork parent to resume execution.
3762 fork-events and vfork-events features in qSupported
3763 The qSupported packet allows GDB to request support for fork and
3764 vfork events using new 'gdbfeatures' fork-events and vfork-events,
3765 and the qSupported response can contain the corresponding
3766 'stubfeatures'. Set and show commands can be used to display
3767 whether these features are enabled.
3769 * Extended-remote fork events
3771 ** GDB now has support for fork events on extended-remote Linux
3772 targets. For targets with Linux kernels 2.5.60 and later, this
3773 enables follow-fork-mode and detach-on-fork for both fork and
3774 vfork, as well as fork and vfork catchpoints.
3776 * The info record command now shows the recording format and the
3777 branch tracing configuration for the current thread when using
3778 the btrace record target.
3779 For the BTS format, it shows the ring buffer size.
3781 * GDB now has support for DTrace USDT (Userland Static Defined
3782 Tracing) probes. The supported targets are x86_64-*-linux-gnu.
3784 * GDB now supports access to vector registers on S/390 GNU/Linux
3787 * Removed command line options
3789 -xdb HP-UX XDB compatibility mode.
3791 * Removed targets and native configurations
3793 HP/PA running HP-UX hppa*-*-hpux*
3794 Itanium running HP-UX ia64-*-hpux*
3796 * New configure options
3799 This configure option allows the user to build GDB with support for
3800 Intel Processor Trace (default: auto). This requires libipt.
3802 --with-libipt-prefix=PATH
3803 Specify the path to the version of libipt that GDB should use.
3804 $PATH/include should contain the intel-pt.h header and
3805 $PATH/lib should contain the libipt.so library.
3807 *** Changes in GDB 7.9.1
3811 ** Xmethods can now specify a result type.
3813 *** Changes in GDB 7.9
3815 * GDB now supports hardware watchpoints on x86 GNU Hurd.
3819 ** You can now access frame registers from Python scripts.
3820 ** New attribute 'producer' for gdb.Symtab objects.
3821 ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "progspace",
3822 which is the gdb.Progspace object of the containing program space.
3823 ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "owner".
3824 ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "build_id",
3825 which is the build ID generated when the file was built.
3826 ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new method "add_separate_debug_file".
3827 ** A new event "gdb.clear_objfiles" has been added, triggered when
3828 selecting a new file to debug.
3829 ** You can now add attributes to gdb.Objfile and gdb.Progspace objects.
3830 ** New function gdb.lookup_objfile.
3832 New events which are triggered when GDB modifies the state of the
3835 ** gdb.events.inferior_call_pre: Function call is about to be made.
3836 ** gdb.events.inferior_call_post: Function call has just been made.
3837 ** gdb.events.memory_changed: A memory location has been altered.
3838 ** gdb.events.register_changed: A register has been altered.
3840 * New Python-based convenience functions:
3842 ** $_caller_is(name [, number_of_frames])
3843 ** $_caller_matches(regexp [, number_of_frames])
3844 ** $_any_caller_is(name [, number_of_frames])
3845 ** $_any_caller_matches(regexp [, number_of_frames])
3847 * GDB now supports the compilation and injection of source code into
3848 the inferior. GDB will use GCC 5.0 or higher built with libcc1.so
3849 to compile the source code to object code, and if successful, inject
3850 and execute that code within the current context of the inferior.
3851 Currently the C language is supported. The commands used to
3852 interface with this new feature are:
3854 compile code [-raw|-r] [--] [source code]
3855 compile file [-raw|-r] filename
3859 demangle [-l language] [--] name
3860 Demangle "name" in the specified language, or the current language
3861 if elided. This command is renamed from the "maint demangle" command.
3862 The latter is kept as a no-op to avoid "maint demangle" being interpreted
3863 as "maint demangler-warning".
3865 queue-signal signal-name-or-number
3866 Queue a signal to be delivered to the thread when it is resumed.
3868 add-auto-load-scripts-directory directory
3869 Add entries to the list of directories from which to load auto-loaded
3872 maint print user-registers
3873 List all currently available "user" registers.
3875 compile code [-r|-raw] [--] [source code]
3876 Compile, inject, and execute in the inferior the executable object
3877 code produced by compiling the provided source code.
3879 compile file [-r|-raw] filename
3880 Compile and inject into the inferior the executable object code
3881 produced by compiling the source code stored in the filename
3884 * On resume, GDB now always passes the signal the program had stopped
3885 for to the thread the signal was sent to, even if the user changed
3886 threads before resuming. Previously GDB would often (but not
3887 always) deliver the signal to the thread that happens to be current
3890 * Conversely, the "signal" command now consistently delivers the
3891 requested signal to the current thread. GDB now asks for
3892 confirmation if the program had stopped for a signal and the user
3893 switched threads meanwhile.
3895 * "breakpoint always-inserted" modes "off" and "auto" merged.
3897 Now, when 'breakpoint always-inserted mode' is set to "off", GDB
3898 won't remove breakpoints from the target until all threads stop,
3899 even in non-stop mode. The "auto" mode has been removed, and "off"
3900 is now the default mode.
3904 set debug symbol-lookup
3905 show debug symbol-lookup
3906 Control display of debugging info regarding symbol lookup.
3910 ** The -list-thread-groups command outputs an exit-code field for
3911 inferiors that have exited.
3915 MIPS SDE mips*-sde*-elf*
3919 Support for these obsolete configurations has been removed.
3921 Alpha running OSF/1 (or Tru64) alpha*-*-osf*
3922 SGI Irix-5.x mips-*-irix5*
3923 SGI Irix-6.x mips-*-irix6*
3924 VAX running (4.2 - 4.3 Reno) BSD vax-*-bsd*
3925 VAX running Ultrix vax-*-ultrix*
3927 * The "dll-symbols" command, and its two aliases ("add-shared-symbol-files"
3928 and "assf"), have been removed. Use the "sharedlibrary" command, or
3929 its alias "share", instead.
3931 *** Changes in GDB 7.8
3933 * New command line options
3936 This is an alias for the --data-directory option.
3938 * GDB supports printing and modifying of variable length automatic arrays
3939 as specified in ISO C99.
3941 * The ARM simulator now supports instruction level tracing
3942 with or without disassembly.
3946 GDB now has support for scripting using Guile. Whether this is
3947 available is determined at configure time.
3948 Guile version 2.0 or greater is required.
3949 Guile version 2.0.9 is well tested, earlier 2.0 versions are not.
3951 * New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
3955 Invoke CODE by passing it to the Guile interpreter.
3959 Start a Guile interactive prompt (or "repl" for "read-eval-print loop").
3961 info auto-load guile-scripts [regexp]
3962 Print the list of automatically loaded Guile scripts.
3964 * The source command is now capable of sourcing Guile scripts.
3965 This feature is dependent on the debugger being built with Guile support.
3969 set print symbol-loading (off|brief|full)
3970 show print symbol-loading
3971 Control whether to print informational messages when loading symbol
3972 information for a file. The default is "full", but when debugging
3973 programs with large numbers of shared libraries the amount of output
3974 becomes less useful.
3976 set guile print-stack (none|message|full)
3977 show guile print-stack
3978 Show a stack trace when an error is encountered in a Guile script.
3980 set auto-load guile-scripts (on|off)
3981 show auto-load guile-scripts
3982 Control auto-loading of Guile script files.
3984 maint ada set ignore-descriptive-types (on|off)
3985 maint ada show ignore-descriptive-types
3986 Control whether the debugger should ignore descriptive types in Ada
3987 programs. The default is not to ignore the descriptive types. See
3988 the user manual for more details on descriptive types and the intended
3989 usage of this option.
3991 set auto-connect-native-target
3993 Control whether GDB is allowed to automatically connect to the
3994 native target for the run, attach, etc. commands when not connected
3995 to any target yet. See also "target native" below.
3997 set record btrace replay-memory-access (read-only|read-write)
3998 show record btrace replay-memory-access
3999 Control what memory accesses are allowed during replay.
4001 maint set target-async (on|off)
4002 maint show target-async
4003 This controls whether GDB targets operate in synchronous or
4004 asynchronous mode. Normally the default is asynchronous, if it is
4005 available; but this can be changed to more easily debug problems
4006 occurring only in synchronous mode.
4008 set mi-async (on|off)
4010 Control whether MI asynchronous mode is preferred. This supersedes
4011 "set target-async" of previous GDB versions.
4013 * "set target-async" is deprecated as a CLI option and is now an alias
4014 for "set mi-async" (only puts MI into async mode).
4016 * Background execution commands (e.g., "c&", "s&", etc.) are now
4017 possible ``out of the box'' if the target supports them. Previously
4018 the user would need to explicitly enable the possibility with the
4019 "set target-async on" command.
4021 * New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
4023 ** New option --debug-format=option1[,option2,...] allows one to add
4024 additional text to each output. At present only timestamps
4025 are supported: --debug-format=timestamps.
4026 Timestamps can also be turned on with the
4027 "monitor set debug-format timestamps" command from GDB.
4029 * The 'record instruction-history' command now starts counting instructions
4030 at one. This also affects the instruction ranges reported by the
4031 'record function-call-history' command when given the /i modifier.
4033 * The command 'record function-call-history' supports a new modifier '/c' to
4034 indent the function names based on their call stack depth.
4035 The fields for the '/i' and '/l' modifier have been reordered.
4036 The source line range is now prefixed with 'at'.
4037 The instruction range is now prefixed with 'inst'.
4038 Both ranges are now printed as '<from>, <to>' to allow copy&paste to the
4039 "record instruction-history" and "list" commands.
4041 * The ranges given as arguments to the 'record function-call-history' and
4042 'record instruction-history' commands are now inclusive.
4044 * The btrace record target now supports the 'record goto' command.
4045 For locations inside the execution trace, the back trace is computed
4046 based on the information stored in the execution trace.
4048 * The btrace record target supports limited reverse execution and replay.
4049 The target does not record data and therefore does not allow reading
4050 memory or registers.
4052 * The "catch syscall" command now works on s390*-linux* targets.
4054 * The "compare-sections" command is no longer specific to target
4055 remote. It now works with all targets.
4057 * All native targets are now consistently called "native".
4058 Consequently, the "target child", "target GNU", "target djgpp",
4059 "target procfs" (Solaris/Irix/OSF/AIX) and "target darwin-child"
4060 commands have been replaced with "target native". The QNX/NTO port
4061 leaves the "procfs" target in place and adds a "native" target for
4062 consistency with other ports. The impact on users should be minimal
4063 as these commands previously either throwed an error, or were
4064 no-ops. The target's name is visible in the output of the following
4065 commands: "help target", "info target", "info files", "maint print
4068 * The "target native" command now connects to the native target. This
4069 can be used to launch native programs even when "set
4070 auto-connect-native-target" is set to off.
4072 * GDB now supports access to Intel MPX registers on GNU/Linux.
4074 * Support for Intel AVX-512 registers on GNU/Linux.
4075 Support displaying and modifying Intel AVX-512 registers
4076 $zmm0 - $zmm31 and $k0 - $k7 on GNU/Linux.
4078 * New remote packets
4080 qXfer:btrace:read's annex
4081 The qXfer:btrace:read packet supports a new annex 'delta' to read
4082 branch trace incrementally.
4086 ** Valid Python operations on gdb.Value objects representing
4087 structs/classes invoke the corresponding overloaded operators if
4089 ** New `Xmethods' feature in the Python API. Xmethods are
4090 additional methods or replacements for existing methods of a C++
4091 class. This feature is useful for those cases where a method
4092 defined in C++ source code could be inlined or optimized out by
4093 the compiler, making it unavailable to GDB.
4096 PowerPC64 GNU/Linux little-endian powerpc64le-*-linux*
4098 * The "dll-symbols" command, and its two aliases ("add-shared-symbol-files"
4099 and "assf"), have been deprecated. Use the "sharedlibrary" command, or
4100 its alias "share", instead.
4102 * The commands "set remotebaud" and "show remotebaud" are no longer
4103 supported. Use "set serial baud" and "show serial baud" (respectively)
4108 ** A new option "-gdb-set mi-async" replaces "-gdb-set
4109 target-async". The latter is left as a deprecated alias of the
4110 former for backward compatibility. If the target supports it,
4111 CLI background execution commands are now always possible by
4112 default, independently of whether the frontend stated a
4113 preference for asynchronous execution with "-gdb-set mi-async".
4114 Previously "-gdb-set target-async off" affected both MI execution
4115 commands and CLI execution commands.
4117 *** Changes in GDB 7.7
4119 * Improved support for process record-replay and reverse debugging on
4120 arm*-linux* targets. Support for thumb32 and syscall instruction
4121 recording has been added.
4123 * GDB now supports SystemTap SDT probes on AArch64 GNU/Linux.
4125 * GDB now supports Fission DWP file format version 2.
4126 http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/DebugFission
4128 * New convenience function "$_isvoid", to check whether an expression
4129 is void. A void expression is an expression where the type of the
4130 result is "void". For example, some convenience variables may be
4131 "void" when evaluated (e.g., "$_exitcode" before the execution of
4132 the program being debugged; or an undefined convenience variable).
4133 Another example, when calling a function whose return type is
4136 * The "maintenance print objfiles" command now takes an optional regexp.
4138 * The "catch syscall" command now works on arm*-linux* targets.
4140 * GDB now consistently shows "<not saved>" when printing values of
4141 registers the debug info indicates have not been saved in the frame
4142 and there's nowhere to retrieve them from
4143 (callee-saved/call-clobbered registers):
4148 (gdb) info registers rax
4151 Before, the former would print "<optimized out>", and the latter
4152 "*value not available*".
4154 * New script contrib/gdb-add-index.sh for adding .gdb_index sections
4159 ** Frame filters and frame decorators have been added.
4160 ** Temporary breakpoints are now supported.
4161 ** Line tables representation has been added.
4162 ** New attribute 'parent_type' for gdb.Field objects.
4163 ** gdb.Field objects can be used as subscripts on gdb.Value objects.
4164 ** New attribute 'name' for gdb.Type objects.
4168 Nios II ELF nios2*-*-elf
4169 Nios II GNU/Linux nios2*-*-linux
4170 Texas Instruments MSP430 msp430*-*-elf
4172 * Removed native configurations
4174 Support for these a.out NetBSD and OpenBSD obsolete configurations has
4175 been removed. ELF variants of these configurations are kept supported.
4177 arm*-*-netbsd* but arm*-*-netbsdelf* is kept supported.
4178 i[34567]86-*-netbsd* but i[34567]86-*-netbsdelf* is kept supported.
4179 i[34567]86-*-openbsd[0-2].* but i[34567]86-*-openbsd* is kept supported.
4180 i[34567]86-*-openbsd3.[0-3]
4181 m68*-*-netbsd* but m68*-*-netbsdelf* is kept supported.
4182 sparc-*-netbsd* but sparc-*-netbsdelf* is kept supported.
4183 vax-*-netbsd* but vax-*-netbsdelf* is kept supported.
4187 Like "catch throw", but catches a re-thrown exception.
4188 maint check-psymtabs
4189 Renamed from old "maint check-symtabs".
4191 Perform consistency checks on symtabs.
4192 maint expand-symtabs
4193 Expand symtabs matching an optional regexp.
4196 Display the details of GDB configure-time options.
4198 maint set|show per-command
4199 maint set|show per-command space
4200 maint set|show per-command time
4201 maint set|show per-command symtab
4202 Enable display of per-command gdb resource usage.
4204 remove-symbol-file FILENAME
4205 remove-symbol-file -a ADDRESS
4206 Remove a symbol file added via add-symbol-file. The file to remove
4207 can be identified by its filename or by an address that lies within
4208 the boundaries of this symbol file in memory.
4211 info exceptions REGEXP
4212 Display the list of Ada exceptions defined in the program being
4213 debugged. If provided, only the exceptions whose names match REGEXP
4218 set debug symfile off|on
4220 Control display of debugging info regarding reading symbol files and
4221 symbol tables within those files
4223 set print raw frame-arguments
4224 show print raw frame-arguments
4225 Set/show whether to print frame arguments in raw mode,
4226 disregarding any defined pretty-printers.
4228 set remote trace-status-packet
4229 show remote trace-status-packet
4230 Set/show the use of remote protocol qTStatus packet.
4234 Control display of debugging messages related to Nios II targets.
4238 Control whether target-assisted range stepping is enabled.
4240 set startup-with-shell
4241 show startup-with-shell
4242 Specifies whether Unix child processes are started via a shell or
4247 Use the target memory cache for accesses to the code segment. This
4248 improves performance of remote debugging (particularly disassembly).
4250 * You can now use a literal value 'unlimited' for options that
4251 interpret 0 or -1 as meaning "unlimited". E.g., "set
4252 trace-buffer-size unlimited" is now an alias for "set
4253 trace-buffer-size -1" and "set height unlimited" is now an alias for
4256 * The "set debug symtab-create" debugging option of GDB has been changed to
4257 accept a verbosity level. 0 means "off", 1 provides basic debugging
4258 output, and values of 2 or greater provides more verbose output.
4260 * New command-line options
4262 Display the details of GDB configure-time options.
4264 * The command 'tsave' can now support new option '-ctf' to save trace
4265 buffer in Common Trace Format.
4267 * Newly installed $prefix/bin/gcore acts as a shell interface for the
4270 * GDB now implements the C++ 'typeid' operator.
4272 * The new convenience variable $_exception holds the exception being
4273 thrown or caught at an exception-related catchpoint.
4275 * The exception-related catchpoints, like "catch throw", now accept a
4276 regular expression which can be used to filter exceptions by type.
4278 * The new convenience variable $_exitsignal is automatically set to
4279 the terminating signal number when the program being debugged dies
4280 due to an uncaught signal.
4284 ** All MI commands now accept an optional "--language" option.
4285 Support for this feature can be verified by using the "-list-features"
4286 command, which should contain "language-option".
4288 ** The new command -info-gdb-mi-command allows the user to determine
4289 whether a GDB/MI command is supported or not.
4291 ** The "^error" result record returned when trying to execute an undefined
4292 GDB/MI command now provides a variable named "code" whose content is the
4293 "undefined-command" error code. Support for this feature can be verified
4294 by using the "-list-features" command, which should contain
4295 "undefined-command-error-code".
4297 ** The -trace-save MI command can optionally save trace buffer in Common
4300 ** The new command -dprintf-insert sets a dynamic printf breakpoint.
4302 ** The command -data-list-register-values now accepts an optional
4303 "--skip-unavailable" option. When used, only the available registers
4306 ** The new command -trace-frame-collected dumps collected variables,
4307 computed expressions, tvars, memory and registers in a traceframe.
4309 ** The commands -stack-list-locals, -stack-list-arguments and
4310 -stack-list-variables now accept an option "--skip-unavailable".
4311 When used, only the available locals or arguments are displayed.
4313 ** The -exec-run command now accepts an optional "--start" option.
4314 When used, the command follows the same semantics as the "start"
4315 command, stopping the program's execution at the start of its
4316 main subprogram. Support for this feature can be verified using
4317 the "-list-features" command, which should contain
4318 "exec-run-start-option".
4320 ** The new commands -catch-assert and -catch-exceptions insert
4321 catchpoints stopping the program when Ada exceptions are raised.
4323 ** The new command -info-ada-exceptions provides the equivalent of
4324 the new "info exceptions" command.
4326 * New system-wide configuration scripts
4327 A GDB installation now provides scripts suitable for use as system-wide
4328 configuration scripts for the following systems:
4332 * GDB now supports target-assigned range stepping with remote targets.
4333 This improves the performance of stepping source lines by reducing
4334 the number of control packets from/to GDB. See "New remote packets"
4337 * GDB now understands the element 'tvar' in the XML traceframe info.
4338 It has the id of the collected trace state variables.
4340 * On S/390 targets that provide the transactional-execution feature,
4341 the program interruption transaction diagnostic block (TDB) is now
4342 represented as a number of additional "registers" in GDB.
4344 * New remote packets
4348 The vCont packet supports a new 'r' action, that tells the remote
4349 stub to step through an address range itself, without GDB
4350 involvemement at each single-step.
4352 qXfer:libraries-svr4:read's annex
4353 The previously unused annex of the qXfer:libraries-svr4:read packet
4354 is now used to support passing an argument list. The remote stub
4355 reports support for this argument list to GDB's qSupported query.
4356 The defined arguments are "start" and "prev", used to reduce work
4357 necessary for library list updating, resulting in significant
4360 * New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
4362 ** GDBserver now supports target-assisted range stepping. Currently
4363 enabled on x86/x86_64 GNU/Linux targets.
4365 ** GDBserver now adds element 'tvar' in the XML in the reply to
4366 'qXfer:traceframe-info:read'. It has the id of the collected
4367 trace state variables.
4369 ** GDBserver now supports hardware watchpoints on the MIPS GNU/Linux
4372 * New 'z' formatter for printing and examining memory, this displays the
4373 value as hexadecimal zero padded on the left to the size of the type.
4375 * GDB can now use Windows x64 unwinding data.
4377 * The "set remotebaud" command has been replaced by "set serial baud".
4378 Similarly, "show remotebaud" has been replaced by "show serial baud".
4379 The "set remotebaud" and "show remotebaud" commands are still available
4380 to provide backward compatibility with older versions of GDB.
4382 *** Changes in GDB 7.6
4384 * Target record has been renamed to record-full.
4385 Record/replay is now enabled with the "record full" command.
4386 This also affects settings that are associated with full record/replay
4387 that have been moved from "set/show record" to "set/show record full":
4389 set|show record full insn-number-max
4390 set|show record full stop-at-limit
4391 set|show record full memory-query
4393 * A new record target "record-btrace" has been added. The new target
4394 uses hardware support to record the control-flow of a process. It
4395 does not support replaying the execution, but it implements the
4396 below new commands for investigating the recorded execution log.
4397 This new recording method can be enabled using:
4401 The "record-btrace" target is only available on Intel Atom processors
4402 and requires a Linux kernel 2.6.32 or later.
4404 * Two new commands have been added for record/replay to give information
4405 about the recorded execution without having to replay the execution.
4406 The commands are only supported by "record btrace".
4408 record instruction-history prints the execution history at
4409 instruction granularity
4411 record function-call-history prints the execution history at
4412 function granularity
4414 * New native configurations
4416 ARM AArch64 GNU/Linux aarch64*-*-linux-gnu
4417 FreeBSD/powerpc powerpc*-*-freebsd
4418 x86_64/Cygwin x86_64-*-cygwin*
4419 Tilera TILE-Gx GNU/Linux tilegx*-*-linux-gnu
4423 ARM AArch64 aarch64*-*-elf
4424 ARM AArch64 GNU/Linux aarch64*-*-linux
4425 Lynx 178 PowerPC powerpc-*-lynx*178
4426 x86_64/Cygwin x86_64-*-cygwin*
4427 Tilera TILE-Gx GNU/Linux tilegx*-*-linux
4429 * If the configured location of system.gdbinit file (as given by the
4430 --with-system-gdbinit option at configure time) is in the
4431 data-directory (as specified by --with-gdb-datadir at configure
4432 time) or in one of its subdirectories, then GDB will look for the
4433 system-wide init file in the directory specified by the
4434 --data-directory command-line option.
4436 * New command line options:
4438 -nh Disables auto-loading of ~/.gdbinit, but still executes all the
4439 other initialization files, unlike -nx which disables all of them.
4441 * Removed command line options
4443 -epoch This was used by the gdb mode in Epoch, an ancient fork of
4446 * The 'ptype' and 'whatis' commands now accept an argument to control
4449 * 'info proc' now works on some core files.
4453 ** Vectors can be created with gdb.Type.vector.
4455 ** Python's atexit.register now works in GDB.
4457 ** Types can be pretty-printed via a Python API.
4459 ** Python 3 is now supported (in addition to Python 2.4 or later)
4461 ** New class gdb.Architecture exposes GDB's internal representation
4462 of architecture in the Python API.
4464 ** New method Frame.architecture returns the gdb.Architecture object
4465 corresponding to the frame's architecture.
4467 * New Python-based convenience functions:
4469 ** $_memeq(buf1, buf2, length)
4470 ** $_streq(str1, str2)
4472 ** $_regex(str, regex)
4474 * The 'cd' command now defaults to using '~' (the home directory) if not
4477 * The C++ ABI now defaults to the GNU v3 ABI. This has been the
4478 default for GCC since November 2000.
4480 * The command 'forward-search' can now be abbreviated as 'fo'.
4482 * The command 'info tracepoints' can now display 'installed on target'
4483 or 'not installed on target' for each non-pending location of tracepoint.
4485 * New configure options
4487 --enable-libmcheck/--disable-libmcheck
4488 By default, development versions are built with -lmcheck on hosts
4489 that support it, in order to help track memory corruption issues.
4490 Release versions, on the other hand, are built without -lmcheck
4491 by default. The --enable-libmcheck/--disable-libmcheck configure
4492 options allow the user to override that default.
4493 --with-babeltrace/--with-babeltrace-include/--with-babeltrace-lib
4494 This configure option allows the user to build GDB with
4495 libbabeltrace using which GDB can read Common Trace Format data.
4497 * New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
4500 Catch signals. This is similar to "handle", but allows commands and
4501 conditions to be attached.
4504 List the BFDs known to GDB.
4506 python-interactive [command]
4508 Start a Python interactive prompt, or evaluate the optional command
4509 and print the result of expressions.
4512 "py" is a new alias for "python".
4514 enable type-printer [name]...
4515 disable type-printer [name]...
4516 Enable or disable type printers.
4520 ** For the Renesas Super-H architecture, the "regs" command has been removed
4521 (has been deprecated in GDB 7.5), and "info all-registers" should be used
4526 set print type methods (on|off)
4527 show print type methods
4528 Control whether method declarations are displayed by "ptype".
4529 The default is to show them.
4531 set print type typedefs (on|off)
4532 show print type typedefs
4533 Control whether typedef definitions are displayed by "ptype".
4534 The default is to show them.
4536 set filename-display basename|relative|absolute
4537 show filename-display
4538 Control the way in which filenames is displayed.
4539 The default is "relative", which preserves previous behavior.
4541 set trace-buffer-size
4542 show trace-buffer-size
4543 Request target to change the size of trace buffer.
4545 set remote trace-buffer-size-packet auto|on|off
4546 show remote trace-buffer-size-packet
4547 Control the use of the remote protocol `QTBuffer:size' packet.
4551 Control display of debugging messages related to ARM AArch64.
4554 set debug coff-pe-read
4555 show debug coff-pe-read
4556 Control display of debugging messages related to reading of COFF/PE
4561 Control display of debugging messages related to Mach-O symbols
4564 set debug notification
4565 show debug notification
4566 Control display of debugging info for async remote notification.
4570 ** Command parameter changes are now notified using new async record
4571 "=cmd-param-changed".
4572 ** Trace frame changes caused by command "tfind" are now notified using
4573 new async record "=traceframe-changed".
4574 ** The creation, deletion and modification of trace state variables
4575 are now notified using new async records "=tsv-created",
4576 "=tsv-deleted" and "=tsv-modified".
4577 ** The start and stop of process record are now notified using new
4578 async record "=record-started" and "=record-stopped".
4579 ** Memory changes are now notified using new async record
4581 ** The data-disassemble command response will include a "fullname" field
4582 containing the absolute file name when source has been requested.
4583 ** New optional parameter COUNT added to the "-data-write-memory-bytes"
4584 command, to allow pattern filling of memory areas.
4585 ** New commands "-catch-load"/"-catch-unload" added for intercepting
4586 library load/unload events.
4587 ** The response to breakpoint commands and breakpoint async records
4588 includes an "installed" field containing a boolean state about each
4589 non-pending tracepoint location is whether installed on target or not.
4590 ** Output of the "-trace-status" command includes a "trace-file" field
4591 containing the name of the trace file being examined. This field is
4592 optional, and only present when examining a trace file.
4593 ** The "fullname" field is now always present along with the "file" field,
4594 even if the file cannot be found by GDB.
4596 * GDB now supports the "mini debuginfo" section, .gnu_debugdata.
4597 You must have the LZMA library available when configuring GDB for this
4598 feature to be enabled. For more information, see:
4599 http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/MiniDebugInfo
4601 * New remote packets
4604 Set the size of trace buffer. The remote stub reports support for this
4605 packet to gdb's qSupported query.
4608 Enable Branch Trace Store (BTS)-based branch tracing for the current
4609 thread. The remote stub reports support for this packet to gdb's
4613 Disable branch tracing for the current thread. The remote stub reports
4614 support for this packet to gdb's qSupported query.
4617 Read the traced branches for the current thread. The remote stub
4618 reports support for this packet to gdb's qSupported query.
4620 *** Changes in GDB 7.5
4622 * GDB now supports x32 ABI. Visit <http://sites.google.com/site/x32abi/>
4623 for more x32 ABI info.
4625 * GDB now supports access to MIPS DSP registers on Linux targets.
4627 * GDB now supports debugging microMIPS binaries.
4629 * The "info os" command on GNU/Linux can now display information on
4630 several new classes of objects managed by the operating system:
4631 "info os procgroups" lists process groups
4632 "info os files" lists file descriptors
4633 "info os sockets" lists internet-domain sockets
4634 "info os shm" lists shared-memory regions
4635 "info os semaphores" lists semaphores
4636 "info os msg" lists message queues
4637 "info os modules" lists loaded kernel modules
4639 * GDB now has support for SDT (Static Defined Tracing) probes. Currently,
4640 the only implemented backend is for SystemTap probes (<sys/sdt.h>). You
4641 can set a breakpoint using the new "-probe, "-pstap" or "-probe-stap"
4642 options and inspect the probe arguments using the new $_probe_arg family
4643 of convenience variables. You can obtain more information about SystemTap
4644 in <http://sourceware.org/systemtap/>.
4646 * GDB now supports reversible debugging on ARM, it allows you to
4647 debug basic ARM and THUMB instructions, and provides
4648 record/replay support.
4650 * The option "symbol-reloading" has been deleted as it is no longer used.
4654 ** GDB commands implemented in Python can now be put in command class
4657 ** The "maint set python print-stack on|off" is now deleted.
4659 ** A new class, gdb.printing.FlagEnumerationPrinter, can be used to
4660 apply "flag enum"-style pretty-printing to any enum.
4662 ** gdb.lookup_symbol can now work when there is no current frame.
4664 ** gdb.Symbol now has a 'line' attribute, holding the line number in
4665 the source at which the symbol was defined.
4667 ** gdb.Symbol now has the new attribute 'needs_frame' and the new
4668 method 'value'. The former indicates whether the symbol needs a
4669 frame in order to compute its value, and the latter computes the
4672 ** A new method 'referenced_value' on gdb.Value objects which can
4673 dereference pointer as well as C++ reference values.
4675 ** New methods 'global_block' and 'static_block' on gdb.Symtab objects
4676 which return the global and static blocks (as gdb.Block objects),
4677 of the underlying symbol table, respectively.
4679 ** New function gdb.find_pc_line which returns the gdb.Symtab_and_line
4680 object associated with a PC value.
4682 ** gdb.Symtab_and_line has new attribute 'last' which holds the end
4683 of the address range occupied by code for the current source line.
4685 * Go language support.
4686 GDB now supports debugging programs written in the Go programming
4689 * GDBserver now supports stdio connections.
4690 E.g. (gdb) target remote | ssh myhost gdbserver - hello
4692 * The binary "gdbtui" can no longer be built or installed.
4693 Use "gdb -tui" instead.
4695 * GDB will now print "flag" enums specially. A flag enum is one where
4696 all the enumerator values have no bits in common when pairwise
4697 "and"ed. When printing a value whose type is a flag enum, GDB will
4698 show all the constants, e.g., for enum E { ONE = 1, TWO = 2}:
4699 (gdb) print (enum E) 3
4702 * The filename part of a linespec will now match trailing components
4703 of a source file name. For example, "break gcc/expr.c:1000" will
4704 now set a breakpoint in build/gcc/expr.c, but not
4705 build/libcpp/expr.c.
4707 * The "info proc" and "generate-core-file" commands will now also
4708 work on remote targets connected to GDBserver on Linux.
4710 * The command "info catch" has been removed. It has been disabled
4711 since December 2007.
4713 * The "catch exception" and "catch assert" commands now accept
4714 a condition at the end of the command, much like the "break"
4715 command does. For instance:
4717 (gdb) catch exception Constraint_Error if Barrier = True
4719 Previously, it was possible to add a condition to such catchpoints,
4720 but it had to be done as a second step, after the catchpoint had been
4721 created, using the "condition" command.
4723 * The "info static-tracepoint-marker" command will now also work on
4724 native Linux targets with in-process agent.
4726 * GDB can now set breakpoints on inlined functions.
4728 * The .gdb_index section has been updated to include symbols for
4729 inlined functions. GDB will ignore older .gdb_index sections by
4730 default, which could cause symbol files to be loaded more slowly
4731 until their .gdb_index sections can be recreated. The new command
4732 "set use-deprecated-index-sections on" will cause GDB to use any older
4733 .gdb_index sections it finds. This will restore performance, but the
4734 ability to set breakpoints on inlined functions will be lost in symbol
4735 files with older .gdb_index sections.
4737 The .gdb_index section has also been updated to record more information
4738 about each symbol. This speeds up the "info variables", "info functions"
4739 and "info types" commands when used with programs having the .gdb_index
4740 section, as well as speeding up debugging with shared libraries using
4741 the .gdb_index section.
4743 * Ada support for GDB/MI Variable Objects has been added.
4745 * GDB can now support 'breakpoint always-inserted mode' in 'record'
4750 ** New command -info-os is the MI equivalent of "info os".
4752 ** Output logs ("set logging" and related) now include MI output.
4756 ** "set use-deprecated-index-sections on|off"
4757 "show use-deprecated-index-sections on|off"
4758 Controls the use of deprecated .gdb_index sections.
4760 ** "catch load" and "catch unload" can be used to stop when a shared
4761 library is loaded or unloaded, respectively.
4763 ** "enable count" can be used to auto-disable a breakpoint after
4766 ** "info vtbl" can be used to show the virtual method tables for
4767 C++ and Java objects.
4769 ** "explore" and its sub commands "explore value" and "explore type"
4770 can be used to recursively explore values and types of
4771 expressions. These commands are available only if GDB is
4772 configured with '--with-python'.
4774 ** "info auto-load" shows status of all kinds of auto-loaded files,
4775 "info auto-load gdb-scripts" shows status of auto-loading GDB canned
4776 sequences of commands files, "info auto-load python-scripts"
4777 shows status of auto-loading Python script files,
4778 "info auto-load local-gdbinit" shows status of loading init file
4779 (.gdbinit) from current directory and "info auto-load libthread-db" shows
4780 status of inferior specific thread debugging shared library loading.
4782 ** "info auto-load-scripts", "set auto-load-scripts on|off"
4783 and "show auto-load-scripts" commands have been deprecated, use their
4784 "info auto-load python-scripts", "set auto-load python-scripts on|off"
4785 and "show auto-load python-scripts" counterparts instead.
4787 ** "dprintf location,format,args..." creates a dynamic printf, which
4788 is basically a breakpoint that does a printf and immediately
4789 resumes your program's execution, so it is like a printf that you
4790 can insert dynamically at runtime instead of at compiletime.
4792 ** "set print symbol"
4794 Controls whether GDB attempts to display the symbol, if any,
4795 corresponding to addresses it prints. This defaults to "on", but
4796 you can set it to "off" to restore GDB's previous behavior.
4798 * Deprecated commands
4800 ** For the Renesas Super-H architecture, the "regs" command has been
4801 deprecated, and "info all-registers" should be used instead.
4805 Renesas RL78 rl78-*-elf
4806 HP OpenVMS ia64 ia64-hp-openvms*
4808 * GDBserver supports evaluation of breakpoint conditions. When
4809 support is advertised by GDBserver, GDB may be told to send the
4810 breakpoint conditions in bytecode form to GDBserver. GDBserver
4811 will only report the breakpoint trigger to GDB when its condition
4816 set mips compression
4817 show mips compression
4818 Select the compressed ISA encoding used in functions that have no symbol
4819 information available. The encoding can be set to either of:
4822 and is updated automatically from ELF file flags if available.
4824 set breakpoint condition-evaluation
4825 show breakpoint condition-evaluation
4826 Control whether breakpoint conditions are evaluated by GDB ("host") or by
4827 GDBserver ("target"). Default option "auto" chooses the most efficient
4829 This option can improve debugger efficiency depending on the speed of the
4833 Disable auto-loading globally.
4836 Show auto-loading setting of all kinds of auto-loaded files.
4838 set auto-load gdb-scripts on|off
4839 show auto-load gdb-scripts
4840 Control auto-loading of GDB canned sequences of commands files.
4842 set auto-load python-scripts on|off
4843 show auto-load python-scripts
4844 Control auto-loading of Python script files.
4846 set auto-load local-gdbinit on|off
4847 show auto-load local-gdbinit
4848 Control loading of init file (.gdbinit) from current directory.
4850 set auto-load libthread-db on|off
4851 show auto-load libthread-db
4852 Control auto-loading of inferior specific thread debugging shared library.
4854 set auto-load scripts-directory <dir1>[:<dir2>...]
4855 show auto-load scripts-directory
4856 Set a list of directories from which to load auto-loaded scripts.
4857 Automatically loaded Python scripts and GDB scripts are located in one
4858 of the directories listed by this option.
4859 The delimiter (':' above) may differ according to the host platform.
4861 set auto-load safe-path <dir1>[:<dir2>...]
4862 show auto-load safe-path
4863 Set a list of directories from which it is safe to auto-load files.
4864 The delimiter (':' above) may differ according to the host platform.
4866 set debug auto-load on|off
4867 show debug auto-load
4868 Control display of debugging info for auto-loading the files above.
4870 set dprintf-style gdb|call|agent
4872 Control the way in which a dynamic printf is performed; "gdb"
4873 requests a GDB printf command, while "call" causes dprintf to call a
4874 function in the inferior. "agent" requests that the target agent
4875 (such as GDBserver) do the printing.
4877 set dprintf-function <expr>
4878 show dprintf-function
4879 set dprintf-channel <expr>
4880 show dprintf-channel
4881 Set the function and optional first argument to the call when using
4882 the "call" style of dynamic printf.
4884 set disconnected-dprintf on|off
4885 show disconnected-dprintf
4886 Control whether agent-style dynamic printfs continue to be in effect
4887 after GDB disconnects.
4889 * New configure options
4891 --with-auto-load-dir
4892 Configure default value for the 'set auto-load scripts-directory'
4893 setting above. It defaults to '$debugdir:$datadir/auto-load',
4894 $debugdir representing global debugging info directories (available
4895 via 'show debug-file-directory') and $datadir representing GDB's data
4896 directory (available via 'show data-directory').
4898 --with-auto-load-safe-path
4899 Configure default value for the 'set auto-load safe-path' setting
4900 above. It defaults to the --with-auto-load-dir setting.
4902 --without-auto-load-safe-path
4903 Set 'set auto-load safe-path' to '/', effectively disabling this
4906 * New remote packets
4908 z0/z1 conditional breakpoints extension
4910 The z0/z1 breakpoint insertion packets have been extended to carry
4911 a list of conditional expressions over to the remote stub depending on the
4912 condition evaluation mode. The use of this extension can be controlled
4913 via the "set remote conditional-breakpoints-packet" command.
4917 Specify the signals which the remote stub may pass to the debugged
4918 program without GDB involvement.
4920 * New command line options
4922 --init-command=FILE, -ix Like --command, -x but execute it
4923 before loading inferior.
4924 --init-eval-command=COMMAND, -iex Like --eval-command=COMMAND, -ex but
4925 execute it before loading inferior.
4927 *** Changes in GDB 7.4
4929 * GDB now handles ambiguous linespecs more consistently; the existing
4930 FILE:LINE support has been expanded to other types of linespecs. A
4931 breakpoint will now be set on all matching locations in all
4932 inferiors, and locations will be added or removed according to
4935 * GDB now allows you to skip uninteresting functions and files when
4936 stepping with the "skip function" and "skip file" commands.
4938 * GDB has two new commands: "set remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit"
4939 and "show remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit". These allows to
4940 set or show the maximum length limit (in bytes) of a remote
4941 target hardware watchpoint.
4943 This allows e.g. to use "unlimited" hardware watchpoints with the
4944 gdbserver integrated in Valgrind version >= 3.7.0. Such Valgrind
4945 watchpoints are slower than real hardware watchpoints but are
4946 significantly faster than gdb software watchpoints.
4950 ** The register_pretty_printer function in module gdb.printing now takes
4951 an optional `replace' argument. If True, the new printer replaces any
4954 ** The "maint set python print-stack on|off" command has been
4955 deprecated and will be deleted in GDB 7.5.
4956 A new command: "set python print-stack none|full|message" has
4957 replaced it. Additionally, the default for "print-stack" is
4958 now "message", which just prints the error message without
4961 ** A prompt substitution hook (prompt_hook) is now available to the
4964 ** A new Python module, gdb.prompt has been added to the GDB Python
4965 modules library. This module provides functionality for
4966 escape sequences in prompts (used by set/show
4967 extended-prompt). These escape sequences are replaced by their
4968 corresponding value.
4970 ** Python commands and convenience-functions located in
4971 'data-directory'/python/gdb/command and
4972 'data-directory'/python/gdb/function are now automatically loaded
4975 ** Blocks now provide four new attributes. global_block and
4976 static_block will return the global and static blocks
4977 respectively. is_static and is_global are boolean attributes
4978 that indicate if the block is one of those two types.
4980 ** Symbols now provide the "type" attribute, the type of the symbol.
4982 ** The "gdb.breakpoint" function has been deprecated in favor of
4985 ** A new class "gdb.FinishBreakpoint" is provided to catch the return
4986 of a function. This class is based on the "finish" command
4987 available in the CLI.
4989 ** Type objects for struct and union types now allow access to
4990 the fields using standard Python dictionary (mapping) methods.
4991 For example, "some_type['myfield']" now works, as does
4992 "some_type.items()".
4994 ** A new event "gdb.new_objfile" has been added, triggered by loading a
4997 ** A new function, "deep_items" has been added to the gdb.types
4998 module in the GDB Python modules library. This function returns
4999 an iterator over the fields of a struct or union type. Unlike
5000 the standard Python "iteritems" method, it will recursively traverse
5001 any anonymous fields.
5005 ** "*stopped" events can report several new "reason"s, such as
5008 ** Breakpoint changes are now notified using new async records, like
5009 "=breakpoint-modified".
5011 ** New command -ada-task-info.
5013 * libthread-db-search-path now supports two special values: $sdir and $pdir.
5014 $sdir specifies the default system locations of shared libraries.
5015 $pdir specifies the directory where the libpthread used by the application
5018 GDB no longer looks in $sdir and $pdir after it has searched the directories
5019 mentioned in libthread-db-search-path. If you want to search those
5020 directories, they must be specified in libthread-db-search-path.
5021 The default value of libthread-db-search-path on GNU/Linux and Solaris
5022 systems is now "$sdir:$pdir".
5024 $pdir is not supported by gdbserver, it is currently ignored.
5025 $sdir is supported by gdbserver.
5027 * New configure option --with-iconv-bin.
5028 When using the internationalization support like the one in the GNU C
5029 library, GDB will invoke the "iconv" program to get a list of supported
5030 character sets. If this program lives in a non-standard location, one can
5031 use this option to specify where to find it.
5033 * When natively debugging programs on PowerPC BookE processors running
5034 a Linux kernel version 2.6.34 or later, GDB supports masked hardware
5035 watchpoints, which specify a mask in addition to an address to watch.
5036 The mask specifies that some bits of an address (the bits which are
5037 reset in the mask) should be ignored when matching the address accessed
5038 by the inferior against the watchpoint address. See the "PowerPC Embedded"
5039 section in the user manual for more details.
5041 * The new option --once causes GDBserver to stop listening for connections once
5042 the first connection is made. The listening port used by GDBserver will
5043 become available after that.
5045 * New commands "info macros" and "alias" have been added.
5047 * New function parameters suffix @entry specifies value of function parameter
5048 at the time the function got called. Entry values are available only since
5054 "!" is now an alias of the "shell" command.
5055 Note that no space is needed between "!" and SHELL COMMAND.
5059 watch EXPRESSION mask MASK_VALUE
5060 The watch command now supports the mask argument which allows creation
5061 of masked watchpoints, if the current architecture supports this feature.
5063 info auto-load-scripts [REGEXP]
5064 This command was formerly named "maintenance print section-scripts".
5065 It is now generally useful and is no longer a maintenance-only command.
5067 info macro [-all] [--] MACRO
5068 The info macro command has new options `-all' and `--'. The first for
5069 printing all definitions of a macro. The second for explicitly specifying
5070 the end of arguments and the beginning of the macro name in case the macro
5071 name starts with a hyphen.
5073 collect[/s] EXPRESSIONS
5074 The tracepoint collect command now takes an optional modifier "/s"
5075 that directs it to dereference pointer-to-character types and
5076 collect the bytes of memory up to a zero byte. The behavior is
5077 similar to what you see when you use the regular print command on a
5078 string. An optional integer following the "/s" sets a bound on the
5079 number of bytes that will be collected.
5082 The trace start command now interprets any supplied arguments as a
5083 note to be recorded with the trace run, with an effect similar to
5084 setting the variable trace-notes.
5087 The trace stop command now interprets any arguments as a note to be
5088 mentioned along with the tstatus report that the trace was stopped
5089 with a command. The effect is similar to setting the variable
5092 * Tracepoints can now be enabled and disabled at any time after a trace
5093 experiment has been started using the standard "enable" and "disable"
5094 commands. It is now possible to start a trace experiment with no enabled
5095 tracepoints; GDB will display a warning, but will allow the experiment to
5096 begin, assuming that tracepoints will be enabled as needed while the trace
5099 * Fast tracepoints on 32-bit x86-architectures can now be placed at
5100 locations with 4-byte instructions, when they were previously
5101 limited to locations with instructions of 5 bytes or longer.
5105 set debug dwarf2-read
5106 show debug dwarf2-read
5107 Turns on or off display of debugging messages related to reading
5108 DWARF debug info. The default is off.
5110 set debug symtab-create
5111 show debug symtab-create
5112 Turns on or off display of debugging messages related to symbol table
5113 creation. The default is off.
5116 show extended-prompt
5117 Set the GDB prompt, and allow escape sequences to be inserted to
5118 display miscellaneous information (see 'help set extended-prompt'
5119 for the list of sequences). This prompt (and any information
5120 accessed through the escape sequences) is updated every time the
5121 prompt is displayed.
5123 set print entry-values (both|compact|default|if-needed|no|only|preferred)
5124 show print entry-values
5125 Set printing of frame argument values at function entry. In some cases
5126 GDB can determine the value of function argument which was passed by the
5127 function caller, even if the value was modified inside the called function.
5129 set debug entry-values
5130 show debug entry-values
5131 Control display of debugging info for determining frame argument values at
5132 function entry and virtual tail call frames.
5134 set basenames-may-differ
5135 show basenames-may-differ
5136 Set whether a source file may have multiple base names.
5137 (A "base name" is the name of a file with the directory part removed.
5138 Example: The base name of "/home/user/hello.c" is "hello.c".)
5139 If set, GDB will canonicalize file names (e.g., expand symlinks)
5140 before comparing them. Canonicalization is an expensive operation,
5141 but it allows the same file be known by more than one base name.
5142 If not set (the default), all source files are assumed to have just
5143 one base name, and gdb will do file name comparisons more efficiently.
5149 Set a user name and notes for the current and any future trace runs.
5150 This is useful for long-running and/or disconnected traces, to
5151 inform others (or yourself) as to who is running the trace, supply
5152 contact information, or otherwise explain what is going on.
5154 set trace-stop-notes
5155 show trace-stop-notes
5156 Set a note attached to the trace run, that is displayed when the
5157 trace has been stopped by a tstop command. This is useful for
5158 instance as an explanation, if you are stopping a trace run that was
5159 started by someone else.
5161 * New remote packets
5165 Dynamically enable a tracepoint in a started trace experiment.
5169 Dynamically disable a tracepoint in a started trace experiment.
5173 Set the user and notes of the trace run.
5177 Query the current status of a tracepoint.
5181 Query the minimum length of instruction at which a fast tracepoint may
5184 * Dcache size (number of lines) and line-size are now runtime-configurable
5185 via "set dcache line" and "set dcache line-size" commands.
5189 Texas Instruments TMS320C6x tic6x-*-*
5193 Renesas RL78 rl78-*-elf
5195 *** Changes in GDB 7.3.1
5197 * The build failure for NetBSD and OpenBSD targets have now been fixed.
5199 *** Changes in GDB 7.3
5201 * GDB has a new command: "thread find [REGEXP]".
5202 It finds the thread id whose name, target id, or thread extra info
5203 matches the given regular expression.
5205 * The "catch syscall" command now works on mips*-linux* targets.
5207 * The -data-disassemble MI command now supports modes 2 and 3 for
5208 dumping the instruction opcodes.
5210 * New command line options
5212 -data-directory DIR Specify DIR as the "data-directory".
5213 This is mostly for testing purposes.
5215 * The "maint set python auto-load on|off" command has been renamed to
5216 "set auto-load-scripts on|off".
5218 * GDB has a new command: "set directories".
5219 It is like the "dir" command except that it replaces the
5220 source path list instead of augmenting it.
5222 * GDB now understands thread names.
5224 On GNU/Linux, "info threads" will display the thread name as set by
5225 prctl or pthread_setname_np.
5227 There is also a new command, "thread name", which can be used to
5228 assign a name internally for GDB to display.
5231 Initial support for the OpenCL C language (http://www.khronos.org/opencl)
5232 has been integrated into GDB.
5236 ** The function gdb.Write now accepts an optional keyword 'stream'.
5237 This keyword, when provided, will direct the output to either
5238 stdout, stderr, or GDB's logging output.
5240 ** Parameters can now be be sub-classed in Python, and in particular
5241 you may implement the get_set_doc and get_show_doc functions.
5242 This improves how Parameter set/show documentation is processed
5243 and allows for more dynamic content.
5245 ** Symbols, Symbol Table, Symbol Table and Line, Object Files,
5246 Inferior, Inferior Thread, Blocks, and Block Iterator APIs now
5247 have an is_valid method.
5249 ** Breakpoints can now be sub-classed in Python, and in particular
5250 you may implement a 'stop' function that is executed each time
5251 the inferior reaches that breakpoint.
5253 ** New function gdb.lookup_global_symbol looks up a global symbol.
5255 ** GDB values in Python are now callable if the value represents a
5256 function. For example, if 'some_value' represents a function that
5257 takes two integer parameters and returns a value, you can call
5258 that function like so:
5260 result = some_value (10,20)
5262 ** Module gdb.types has been added.
5263 It contains a collection of utilities for working with gdb.Types objects:
5264 get_basic_type, has_field, make_enum_dict.
5266 ** Module gdb.printing has been added.
5267 It contains utilities for writing and registering pretty-printers.
5268 New classes: PrettyPrinter, SubPrettyPrinter,
5269 RegexpCollectionPrettyPrinter.
5270 New function: register_pretty_printer.
5272 ** New commands "info pretty-printers", "enable pretty-printer" and
5273 "disable pretty-printer" have been added.
5275 ** gdb.parameter("directories") is now available.
5277 ** New function gdb.newest_frame returns the newest frame in the
5280 ** The gdb.InferiorThread class has a new "name" attribute. This
5281 holds the thread's name.
5283 ** Python Support for Inferior events.
5284 Python scripts can add observers to be notified of events
5285 occurring in the process being debugged.
5286 The following events are currently supported:
5287 - gdb.events.cont Continue event.
5288 - gdb.events.exited Inferior exited event.
5289 - gdb.events.stop Signal received, and Breakpoint hit events.
5293 ** GDB now puts template parameters in scope when debugging in an
5294 instantiation. For example, if you have:
5296 template<int X> int func (void) { return X; }
5298 then if you step into func<5>, "print X" will show "5". This
5299 feature requires proper debuginfo support from the compiler; it
5300 was added to GCC 4.5.
5302 ** The motion commands "next", "finish", "until", and "advance" now
5303 work better when exceptions are thrown. In particular, GDB will
5304 no longer lose control of the inferior; instead, the GDB will
5305 stop the inferior at the point at which the exception is caught.
5306 This functionality requires a change in the exception handling
5307 code that was introduced in GCC 4.5.
5309 * GDB now follows GCC's rules on accessing volatile objects when
5310 reading or writing target state during expression evaluation.
5311 One notable difference to prior behavior is that "print x = 0"
5312 no longer generates a read of x; the value of the assignment is
5313 now always taken directly from the value being assigned.
5315 * GDB now has some support for using labels in the program's source in
5316 linespecs. For instance, you can use "advance label" to continue
5317 execution to a label.
5319 * GDB now has support for reading and writing a new .gdb_index
5320 section. This section holds a fast index of DWARF debugging
5321 information and can be used to greatly speed up GDB startup and
5322 operation. See the documentation for `save gdb-index' for details.
5324 * The "watch" command now accepts an optional "-location" argument.
5325 When used, this causes GDB to watch the memory referred to by the
5326 expression. Such a watchpoint is never deleted due to it going out
5329 * GDB now supports thread debugging of core dumps on GNU/Linux.
5331 GDB now activates thread debugging using the libthread_db library
5332 when debugging GNU/Linux core dumps, similarly to when debugging
5333 live processes. As a result, when debugging a core dump file, GDB
5334 is now able to display pthread_t ids of threads. For example, "info
5335 threads" shows the same output as when debugging the process when it
5336 was live. In earlier releases, you'd see something like this:
5339 * 1 LWP 6780 main () at main.c:10
5341 While now you see this:
5344 * 1 Thread 0x7f0f5712a700 (LWP 6780) main () at main.c:10
5346 It is also now possible to inspect TLS variables when debugging core
5349 When debugging a core dump generated on a machine other than the one
5350 used to run GDB, you may need to point GDB at the correct
5351 libthread_db library with the "set libthread-db-search-path"
5352 command. See the user manual for more details on this command.
5354 * When natively debugging programs on PowerPC BookE processors running
5355 a Linux kernel version 2.6.34 or later, GDB supports ranged breakpoints,
5356 which stop execution of the inferior whenever it executes an instruction
5357 at any address within the specified range. See the "PowerPC Embedded"
5358 section in the user manual for more details.
5360 * New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
5362 ** GDBserver is now supported on PowerPC LynxOS (versions 4.x and 5.x),
5363 and i686 LynxOS (version 5.x).
5365 ** GDBserver is now supported on Blackfin Linux.
5367 * New native configurations
5369 ia64 HP-UX ia64-*-hpux*
5373 Analog Devices, Inc. Blackfin Processor bfin-*
5375 * Ada task switching is now supported on sparc-elf targets when
5376 debugging a program using the Ravenscar Profile. For more information,
5377 see the "Tasking Support when using the Ravenscar Profile" section
5378 in the GDB user manual.
5380 * Guile support was removed.
5382 * New features in the GNU simulator
5384 ** The --map-info flag lists all known core mappings.
5386 ** CFI flashes may be simulated via the "cfi" device.
5388 *** Changes in GDB 7.2
5390 * Shared library support for remote targets by default
5392 When GDB is configured for a generic, non-OS specific target, like
5393 for example, --target=arm-eabi or one of the many *-*-elf targets,
5394 GDB now queries remote stubs for loaded shared libraries using the
5395 `qXfer:libraries:read' packet. Previously, shared library support
5396 was always disabled for such configurations.
5400 ** Argument Dependent Lookup (ADL)
5402 In C++ ADL lookup directs function search to the namespaces of its
5403 arguments even if the namespace has not been imported.
5413 Here the compiler will search for `foo' in the namespace of 'b'
5414 and find A::foo. GDB now supports this. This construct is commonly
5415 used in the Standard Template Library for operators.
5417 ** Improved User Defined Operator Support
5419 In addition to member operators, GDB now supports lookup of operators
5420 defined in a namespace and imported with a `using' directive, operators
5421 defined in the global scope, operators imported implicitly from an
5422 anonymous namespace, and the ADL operators mentioned in the previous
5424 GDB now also supports proper overload resolution for all the previously
5425 mentioned flavors of operators.
5427 ** static const class members
5429 Printing of static const class members that are initialized in the
5430 class definition has been fixed.
5432 * Windows Thread Information Block access.
5434 On Windows targets, GDB now supports displaying the Windows Thread
5435 Information Block (TIB) structure. This structure is visible either
5436 by using the new command `info w32 thread-information-block' or, by
5437 dereferencing the new convenience variable named `$_tlb', a
5438 thread-specific pointer to the TIB. This feature is also supported
5439 when remote debugging using GDBserver.
5441 * Static tracepoints
5443 Static tracepoints are calls in the user program into a tracing
5444 library. One such library is a port of the LTTng kernel tracer to
5445 userspace --- UST (LTTng Userspace Tracer, http://lttng.org/ust).
5446 When debugging with GDBserver, GDB now supports combining the GDB
5447 tracepoint machinery with such libraries. For example: the user can
5448 use GDB to probe a static tracepoint marker (a call from the user
5449 program into the tracing library) with the new "strace" command (see
5450 "New commands" below). This creates a "static tracepoint" in the
5451 breakpoint list, that can be manipulated with the same feature set
5452 as fast and regular tracepoints. E.g., collect registers, local and
5453 global variables, collect trace state variables, and define
5454 tracepoint conditions. In addition, the user can collect extra
5455 static tracepoint marker specific data, by collecting the new
5456 $_sdata internal variable. When analyzing the trace buffer, you can
5457 inspect $_sdata like any other variable available to GDB. For more
5458 information, see the "Tracepoints" chapter in GDB user manual. New
5459 remote packets have been defined to support static tracepoints, see
5460 the "New remote packets" section below.
5462 * Better reconstruction of tracepoints after disconnected tracing
5464 GDB will attempt to download the original source form of tracepoint
5465 definitions when starting a trace run, and then will upload these
5466 upon reconnection to the target, resulting in a more accurate
5467 reconstruction of the tracepoints that are in use on the target.
5471 You can now exercise direct control over the ways that GDB can
5472 affect your program. For instance, you can disallow the setting of
5473 breakpoints, so that the program can run continuously (assuming
5474 non-stop mode). In addition, the "observer" variable is available
5475 to switch all of the different controls; in observer mode, GDB
5476 cannot affect the target's behavior at all, which is useful for
5477 tasks like diagnosing live systems in the field.
5479 * The new convenience variable $_thread holds the number of the
5482 * New remote packets
5486 Return the address of the Windows Thread Information Block of a given thread.
5490 In response to several of the tracepoint packets, the target may now
5491 also respond with a number of intermediate `qRelocInsn' request
5492 packets before the final result packet, to have GDB handle
5493 relocating an instruction to execute at a different address. This
5494 is particularly useful for stubs that support fast tracepoints. GDB
5495 reports support for this feature in the qSupported packet.
5499 List static tracepoint markers in the target program.
5503 List static tracepoint markers at a given address in the target
5506 qXfer:statictrace:read
5508 Read the static trace data collected (by a `collect $_sdata'
5509 tracepoint action). The remote stub reports support for this packet
5510 to gdb's qSupported query.
5514 Send the current settings of GDB's permission flags.
5518 Send part of the source (textual) form of a tracepoint definition,
5519 which includes location, conditional, and action list.
5521 * The source command now accepts a -s option to force searching for the
5522 script in the source search path even if the script name specifies
5525 * New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
5527 - GDBserver now support tracepoints (including fast tracepoints, and
5528 static tracepoints). The feature is currently supported by the
5529 i386-linux and amd64-linux builds. See the "Tracepoints support
5530 in gdbserver" section in the manual for more information.
5532 GDBserver JIT compiles the tracepoint's conditional agent
5533 expression bytecode into native code whenever possible for low
5534 overhead dynamic tracepoints conditionals. For such tracepoints,
5535 an expression that examines program state is evaluated when the
5536 tracepoint is reached, in order to determine whether to capture
5537 trace data. If the condition is simple and false, processing the
5538 tracepoint finishes very quickly and no data is gathered.
5540 GDBserver interfaces with the UST (LTTng Userspace Tracer) library
5541 for static tracepoints support.
5543 - GDBserver now supports x86_64 Windows 64-bit debugging.
5545 * GDB now sends xmlRegisters= in qSupported packet to indicate that
5546 it understands register description.
5548 * The --batch flag now disables pagination and queries.
5550 * X86 general purpose registers
5552 GDB now supports reading/writing byte, word and double-word x86
5553 general purpose registers directly. This means you can use, say,
5554 $ah or $ax to refer, respectively, to the byte register AH and
5555 16-bit word register AX that are actually portions of the 32-bit
5556 register EAX or 64-bit register RAX.
5558 * The `commands' command now accepts a range of breakpoints to modify.
5559 A plain `commands' following a command that creates multiple
5560 breakpoints affects all the breakpoints set by that command. This
5561 applies to breakpoints set by `rbreak', and also applies when a
5562 single `break' command creates multiple breakpoints (e.g.,
5563 breakpoints on overloaded c++ functions).
5565 * The `rbreak' command now accepts a filename specification as part of
5566 its argument, limiting the functions selected by the regex to those
5567 in the specified file.
5569 * Support for remote debugging Windows and SymbianOS shared libraries
5570 from Unix hosts has been improved. Non Windows GDB builds now can
5571 understand target reported file names that follow MS-DOS based file
5572 system semantics, such as file names that include drive letters and
5573 use the backslash character as directory separator. This makes it
5574 possible to transparently use the "set sysroot" and "set
5575 solib-search-path" on Unix hosts to point as host copies of the
5576 target's shared libraries. See the new command "set
5577 target-file-system-kind" described below, and the "Commands to
5578 specify files" section in the user manual for more information.
5582 eval template, expressions...
5583 Convert the values of one or more expressions under the control
5584 of the string template to a command line, and call it.
5586 set target-file-system-kind unix|dos-based|auto
5587 show target-file-system-kind
5588 Set or show the assumed file system kind for target reported file
5591 save breakpoints <filename>
5592 Save all current breakpoint definitions to a file suitable for use
5593 in a later debugging session. To read the saved breakpoint
5594 definitions, use the `source' command.
5596 `save tracepoints' is a new alias for `save-tracepoints'. The latter
5599 info static-tracepoint-markers
5600 Display information about static tracepoint markers in the target.
5602 strace FN | FILE:LINE | *ADDR | -m MARKER_ID
5603 Define a static tracepoint by probing a marker at the given
5604 function, line, address, or marker ID.
5608 Enable and disable observer mode.
5610 set may-write-registers on|off
5611 set may-write-memory on|off
5612 set may-insert-breakpoints on|off
5613 set may-insert-tracepoints on|off
5614 set may-insert-fast-tracepoints on|off
5615 set may-interrupt on|off
5616 Set individual permissions for GDB effects on the target. Note that
5617 some of these settings can have undesirable or surprising
5618 consequences, particularly when changed in the middle of a session.
5619 For instance, disabling the writing of memory can prevent
5620 breakpoints from being inserted, cause single-stepping to fail, or
5621 even crash your program, if you disable after breakpoints have been
5622 inserted. However, GDB should not crash.
5624 set record memory-query on|off
5625 show record memory-query
5626 Control whether to stop the inferior if memory changes caused
5627 by an instruction cannot be recorded.
5632 The disassemble command now supports "start,+length" form of two arguments.
5636 ** GDB now provides a new directory location, called the python directory,
5637 where Python scripts written for GDB can be installed. The location
5638 of that directory is <data-directory>/python, where <data-directory>
5639 is the GDB data directory. For more details, see section `Scripting
5640 GDB using Python' in the manual.
5642 ** The GDB Python API now has access to breakpoints, symbols, symbol
5643 tables, program spaces, inferiors, threads and frame's code blocks.
5644 Additionally, GDB Parameters can now be created from the API, and
5645 manipulated via set/show in the CLI.
5647 ** New functions gdb.target_charset, gdb.target_wide_charset,
5648 gdb.progspaces, gdb.current_progspace, and gdb.string_to_argv.
5650 ** New exception gdb.GdbError.
5652 ** Pretty-printers are now also looked up in the current program space.
5654 ** Pretty-printers can now be individually enabled and disabled.
5656 ** GDB now looks for names of Python scripts to auto-load in a
5657 special section named `.debug_gdb_scripts', in addition to looking
5658 for a OBJFILE-gdb.py script when OBJFILE is read by the debugger.
5660 * Tracepoint actions were unified with breakpoint commands. In particular,
5661 there are no longer differences in "info break" output for breakpoints and
5662 tracepoints and the "commands" command can be used for both tracepoints and
5663 regular breakpoints.
5667 ARM Symbian arm*-*-symbianelf*
5669 * D language support.
5670 GDB now supports debugging programs written in the D programming
5673 * GDB now supports the extended ptrace interface for PowerPC which is
5674 available since Linux kernel version 2.6.34. This automatically enables
5675 any hardware breakpoints and additional hardware watchpoints available in
5676 the processor. The old ptrace interface exposes just one hardware
5677 watchpoint and no hardware breakpoints.
5679 * GDB is now able to use the Data Value Compare (DVC) register available on
5680 embedded PowerPC processors to implement in hardware simple watchpoint
5681 conditions of the form:
5683 watch ADDRESS|VARIABLE if ADDRESS|VARIABLE == CONSTANT EXPRESSION
5685 This works in native GDB running on Linux kernels with the extended ptrace
5686 interface mentioned above.
5688 *** Changes in GDB 7.1
5692 ** Namespace Support
5694 GDB now supports importing of namespaces in C++. This enables the
5695 user to inspect variables from imported namespaces. Support for
5696 namepace aliasing has also been added. So, if a namespace is
5697 aliased in the current scope (e.g. namepace C=A; ) the user can
5698 print variables using the alias (e.g. (gdb) print C::x).
5702 All known bugs relating to the printing of virtual base class were
5703 fixed. It is now possible to call overloaded static methods using a
5708 The C++ cast operators static_cast<>, dynamic_cast<>, const_cast<>,
5709 and reinterpret_cast<> are now handled by the C++ expression parser.
5713 Xilinx MicroBlaze microblaze-*-*
5718 Xilinx MicroBlaze microblaze
5721 * Multi-program debugging.
5723 GDB now has support for multi-program (a.k.a. multi-executable or
5724 multi-exec) debugging. This allows for debugging multiple inferiors
5725 simultaneously each running a different program under the same GDB
5726 session. See "Debugging Multiple Inferiors and Programs" in the
5727 manual for more information. This implied some user visible changes
5728 in the multi-inferior support. For example, "info inferiors" now
5729 lists inferiors that are not running yet or that have exited
5730 already. See also "New commands" and "New options" below.
5732 * New tracing features
5734 GDB's tracepoint facility now includes several new features:
5736 ** Trace state variables
5738 GDB tracepoints now include support for trace state variables, which
5739 are variables managed by the target agent during a tracing
5740 experiment. They are useful for tracepoints that trigger each
5741 other, so for instance one tracepoint can count hits in a variable,
5742 and then a second tracepoint has a condition that is true when the
5743 count reaches a particular value. Trace state variables share the
5744 $-syntax of GDB convenience variables, and can appear in both
5745 tracepoint actions and condition expressions. Use the "tvariable"
5746 command to create, and "info tvariables" to view; see "Trace State
5747 Variables" in the manual for more detail.
5751 GDB now includes an option for defining fast tracepoints, which
5752 targets may implement more efficiently, such as by installing a jump
5753 into the target agent rather than a trap instruction. The resulting
5754 speedup can be by two orders of magnitude or more, although the
5755 tradeoff is that some program locations on some target architectures
5756 might not allow fast tracepoint installation, for instance if the
5757 instruction to be replaced is shorter than the jump. To request a
5758 fast tracepoint, use the "ftrace" command, with syntax identical to
5759 the regular trace command.
5761 ** Disconnected tracing
5763 It is now possible to detach GDB from the target while it is running
5764 a trace experiment, then reconnect later to see how the experiment
5765 is going. In addition, a new variable disconnected-tracing lets you
5766 tell the target agent whether to continue running a trace if the
5767 connection is lost unexpectedly.
5771 GDB now has the ability to save the trace buffer into a file, and
5772 then use that file as a target, similarly to you can do with
5773 corefiles. You can select trace frames, print data that was
5774 collected in them, and use tstatus to display the state of the
5775 tracing run at the moment that it was saved. To create a trace
5776 file, use "tsave <filename>", and to use it, do "target tfile
5779 ** Circular trace buffer
5781 You can ask the target agent to handle the trace buffer as a
5782 circular buffer, discarding the oldest trace frames to make room for
5783 newer ones, by setting circular-trace-buffer to on. This feature may
5784 not be available for all target agents.
5789 The disassemble command, when invoked with two arguments, now requires
5790 the arguments to be comma-separated.
5793 The info variables command now displays variable definitions. Files
5794 which only declare a variable are not shown.
5797 The source command is now capable of sourcing Python scripts.
5798 This feature is dependent on the debugger being build with Python
5801 Related to this enhancement is also the introduction of a new command
5802 "set script-extension" (see below).
5804 * New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
5806 record save [<FILENAME>]
5807 Save a file (in core file format) containing the process record
5808 execution log for replay debugging at a later time.
5810 record restore <FILENAME>
5811 Restore the process record execution log that was saved at an
5812 earlier time, for replay debugging.
5814 add-inferior [-copies <N>] [-exec <FILENAME>]
5817 clone-inferior [-copies <N>] [ID]
5818 Make a new inferior ready to execute the same program another
5819 inferior has loaded.
5824 maint info program-spaces
5825 List the program spaces loaded into GDB.
5827 set remote interrupt-sequence [Ctrl-C | BREAK | BREAK-g]
5828 show remote interrupt-sequence
5829 Allow the user to select one of ^C, a BREAK signal or BREAK-g
5830 as the sequence to the remote target in order to interrupt the execution.
5831 Ctrl-C is a default. Some system prefers BREAK which is high level of
5832 serial line for some certain time. Linux kernel prefers BREAK-g, a.k.a
5833 Magic SysRq g. It is BREAK signal and character 'g'.
5835 set remote interrupt-on-connect [on | off]
5836 show remote interrupt-on-connect
5837 When interrupt-on-connect is ON, gdb sends interrupt-sequence to
5838 remote target when gdb connects to it. This is needed when you debug
5841 set remotebreak [on | off]
5843 Deprecated. Use "set/show remote interrupt-sequence" instead.
5845 tvariable $NAME [ = EXP ]
5846 Create or modify a trace state variable.
5849 List trace state variables and their values.
5851 delete tvariable $NAME ...
5852 Delete one or more trace state variables.
5855 Evaluate the given expressions without collecting anything into the
5856 trace buffer. (Valid in tracepoint actions only.)
5858 ftrace FN / FILE:LINE / *ADDR
5859 Define a fast tracepoint at the given function, line, or address.
5861 * New expression syntax
5863 GDB now parses the 0b prefix of binary numbers the same way as GCC does.
5864 GDB now parses 0b101010 identically with 42.
5868 set follow-exec-mode new|same
5869 show follow-exec-mode
5870 Control whether GDB reuses the same inferior across an exec call or
5871 creates a new one. This is useful to be able to restart the old
5872 executable after the inferior having done an exec call.
5874 set default-collect EXPR, ...
5875 show default-collect
5876 Define a list of expressions to be collected at each tracepoint.
5877 This is a useful way to ensure essential items are not overlooked,
5878 such as registers or a critical global variable.
5880 set disconnected-tracing
5881 show disconnected-tracing
5882 If set to 1, the target is instructed to continue tracing if it
5883 loses its connection to GDB. If 0, the target is to stop tracing
5886 set circular-trace-buffer
5887 show circular-trace-buffer
5888 If set to on, the target is instructed to use a circular trace buffer
5889 and discard the oldest trace frames instead of stopping the trace due
5890 to a full trace buffer. If set to off, the trace stops when the buffer
5891 fills up. Some targets may not support this.
5893 set script-extension off|soft|strict
5894 show script-extension
5895 If set to "off", the debugger does not perform any script language
5896 recognition, and all sourced files are assumed to be GDB scripts.
5897 If set to "soft" (the default), files are sourced according to
5898 filename extension, falling back to GDB scripts if the first
5900 If set to "strict", files are sourced according to filename extension.
5902 set ada trust-PAD-over-XVS on|off
5903 show ada trust-PAD-over-XVS
5904 If off, activate a workaround against a bug in the debugging information
5905 generated by the compiler for PAD types (see gcc/exp_dbug.ads in
5906 the GCC sources for more information about the GNAT encoding and
5907 PAD types in particular). It is always safe to set this option to
5908 off, but this introduces a slight performance penalty. The default
5911 * Python API Improvements
5913 ** GDB provides the new class gdb.LazyString. This is useful in
5914 some pretty-printing cases. The new method gdb.Value.lazy_string
5915 provides a simple way to create objects of this type.
5917 ** The fields returned by gdb.Type.fields now have an
5918 `is_base_class' attribute.
5920 ** The new method gdb.Type.range returns the range of an array type.
5922 ** The new method gdb.parse_and_eval can be used to parse and
5923 evaluate an expression.
5925 * New remote packets
5928 Define a trace state variable.
5931 Get the current value of a trace state variable.
5934 Set desired tracing behavior upon disconnection.
5937 Set the trace buffer to be linear or circular.
5940 Get data about the tracepoints currently in use.
5944 Process record now works correctly with hardware watchpoints.
5946 Multiple bug fixes have been made to the mips-irix port, making it
5947 much more reliable. In particular:
5948 - Debugging threaded applications is now possible again. Previously,
5949 GDB would hang while starting the program, or while waiting for
5950 the program to stop at a breakpoint.
5951 - Attaching to a running process no longer hangs.
5952 - An error occurring while loading a core file has been fixed.
5953 - Changing the value of the PC register now works again. This fixes
5954 problems observed when using the "jump" command, or when calling
5955 a function from GDB, or even when assigning a new value to $pc.
5956 - With the "finish" and "return" commands, the return value for functions
5957 returning a small array is now correctly printed.
5958 - It is now possible to break on shared library code which gets executed
5959 during a shared library init phase (code executed while executing
5960 their .init section). Previously, the breakpoint would have no effect.
5961 - GDB is now able to backtrace through the signal handler for
5962 non-threaded programs.
5964 PIE (Position Independent Executable) programs debugging is now supported.
5965 This includes debugging execution of PIC (Position Independent Code) shared
5966 libraries although for that, it should be possible to run such libraries as an
5969 *** Changes in GDB 7.0
5971 * GDB now has an interface for JIT compilation. Applications that
5972 dynamically generate code can create symbol files in memory and register
5973 them with GDB. For users, the feature should work transparently, and
5974 for JIT developers, the interface is documented in the GDB manual in the
5975 "JIT Compilation Interface" chapter.
5977 * Tracepoints may now be conditional. The syntax is as for
5978 breakpoints; either an "if" clause appended to the "trace" command,
5979 or the "condition" command is available. GDB sends the condition to
5980 the target for evaluation using the same bytecode format as is used
5981 for tracepoint actions.
5983 * The disassemble command now supports: an optional /r modifier, print the
5984 raw instructions in hex as well as in symbolic form, and an optional /m
5985 modifier to print mixed source+assembly.
5987 * Process record and replay
5989 In a architecture environment that supports ``process record and
5990 replay'', ``process record and replay'' target can record a log of
5991 the process execution, and replay it with both forward and reverse
5994 * Reverse debugging: GDB now has new commands reverse-continue, reverse-
5995 step, reverse-next, reverse-finish, reverse-stepi, reverse-nexti, and
5996 set execution-direction {forward|reverse}, for targets that support
5999 * GDB now supports hardware watchpoints on MIPS/Linux systems. This
6000 feature is available with a native GDB running on kernel version
6003 * GDB now has support for multi-byte and wide character sets on the
6004 target. Strings whose character type is wchar_t, char16_t, or
6005 char32_t are now correctly printed. GDB supports wide- and unicode-
6006 literals in C, that is, L'x', L"string", u'x', u"string", U'x', and
6007 U"string" syntax. And, GDB allows the "%ls" and "%lc" formats in
6008 `printf'. This feature requires iconv to work properly; if your
6009 system does not have a working iconv, GDB can use GNU libiconv. See
6010 the installation instructions for more information.
6012 * GDB now supports automatic retrieval of shared library files from
6013 remote targets. To use this feature, specify a system root that begins
6014 with the `remote:' prefix, either via the `set sysroot' command or via
6015 the `--with-sysroot' configure-time option.
6017 * "info sharedlibrary" now takes an optional regex of libraries to show,
6018 and it now reports if a shared library has no debugging information.
6020 * Commands `set debug-file-directory', `set solib-search-path' and `set args'
6021 now complete on file names.
6023 * When completing in expressions, gdb will attempt to limit
6024 completions to allowable structure or union fields, where appropriate.
6025 For instance, consider:
6027 # struct example { int f1; double f2; };
6028 # struct example variable;
6031 If the user types TAB at the end of this command line, the available
6032 completions will be "f1" and "f2".
6034 * Inlined functions are now supported. They show up in backtraces, and
6035 the "step", "next", and "finish" commands handle them automatically.
6037 * GDB now supports the token-splicing (##) and stringification (#)
6038 operators when expanding macros. It also supports variable-arity
6041 * GDB now supports inspecting extra signal information, exported by
6042 the new $_siginfo convenience variable. The feature is currently
6043 implemented on linux ARM, i386 and amd64.
6045 * GDB can now display the VFP floating point registers and NEON vector
6046 registers on ARM targets. Both ARM GNU/Linux native GDB and gdbserver
6047 can provide these registers (requires Linux 2.6.30 or later). Remote
6048 and simulator targets may also provide them.
6050 * New remote packets
6053 Search memory for a sequence of bytes.
6056 Turn off `+'/`-' protocol acknowledgments to permit more efficient
6057 operation over reliable transport links. Use of this packet is
6058 controlled by the `set remote noack-packet' command.
6061 Kill the process with the specified process ID. Use this in preference
6062 to `k' when multiprocess protocol extensions are supported.
6065 Obtains additional operating system information
6069 Read or write additional signal information.
6071 * Removed remote protocol undocumented extension
6073 An undocumented extension to the remote protocol's `S' stop reply
6074 packet that permitted the stub to pass a process id was removed.
6075 Remote servers should use the `T' stop reply packet instead.
6077 * GDB now supports multiple function calling conventions according to the
6078 DWARF-2 DW_AT_calling_convention function attribute.
6080 * The SH target utilizes the aforementioned change to distinguish between gcc
6081 and Renesas calling convention. It also adds the new CLI commands
6082 `set/show sh calling-convention'.
6084 * GDB can now read compressed debug sections, as produced by GNU gold
6085 with the --compress-debug-sections=zlib flag.
6087 * 64-bit core files are now supported on AIX.
6089 * Thread switching is now supported on Tru64.
6091 * Watchpoints can now be set on unreadable memory locations, e.g. addresses
6092 which will be allocated using malloc later in program execution.
6094 * The qXfer:libraries:read remote protocol packet now allows passing a
6095 list of section offsets.
6097 * On GNU/Linux, GDB can now attach to stopped processes. Several race
6098 conditions handling signals delivered during attach or thread creation
6099 have also been fixed.
6101 * GDB now supports the use of DWARF boolean types for Ada's type Boolean.
6102 From the user's standpoint, all unqualified instances of True and False
6103 are treated as the standard definitions, regardless of context.
6105 * GDB now parses C++ symbol and type names more flexibly. For
6108 template<typename T> class C { };
6111 GDB will now correctly handle all of:
6113 ptype C<char const *>
6114 ptype C<char const*>
6115 ptype C<const char *>
6116 ptype C<const char*>
6118 * New features in the GDB remote stub, gdbserver
6120 - The "--wrapper" command-line argument tells gdbserver to use a
6121 wrapper program to launch programs for debugging.
6123 - On PowerPC and S/390 targets, it is now possible to use a single
6124 gdbserver executable to debug both 32-bit and 64-bit programs.
6125 (This requires gdbserver itself to be built as a 64-bit executable.)
6127 - gdbserver uses the new noack protocol mode for TCP connections to
6128 reduce communications latency, if also supported and enabled in GDB.
6130 - Support for the sparc64-linux-gnu target is now included in
6133 - The amd64-linux build of gdbserver now supports debugging both
6134 32-bit and 64-bit programs.
6136 - The i386-linux, amd64-linux, and i386-win32 builds of gdbserver
6137 now support hardware watchpoints, and will use them automatically
6142 GDB now has support for scripting using Python. Whether this is
6143 available is determined at configure time.
6145 New GDB commands can now be written in Python.
6147 * Ada tasking support
6149 Ada tasks can now be inspected in GDB. The following commands have
6153 Print the list of Ada tasks.
6155 Print detailed information about task number N.
6157 Print the task number of the current task.
6159 Switch the context of debugging to task number N.
6161 * Support for user-defined prefixed commands. The "define" command can
6162 add new commands to existing prefixes, e.g. "target".
6164 * Multi-inferior, multi-process debugging.
6166 GDB now has generalized support for multi-inferior debugging. See
6167 "Debugging Multiple Inferiors" in the manual for more information.
6168 Although availability still depends on target support, the command
6169 set is more uniform now. The GNU/Linux specific multi-forks support
6170 has been migrated to this new framework. This implied some user
6171 visible changes; see "New commands" and also "Removed commands"
6174 * Target descriptions can now describe the target OS ABI. See the
6175 "Target Description Format" section in the user manual for more
6178 * Target descriptions can now describe "compatible" architectures
6179 to indicate that the target can execute applications for a different
6180 architecture in addition to those for the main target architecture.
6181 See the "Target Description Format" section in the user manual for
6184 * Multi-architecture debugging.
6186 GDB now includes general supports for debugging applications on
6187 hybrid systems that use more than one single processor architecture
6188 at the same time. Each such hybrid architecture still requires
6189 specific support to be added. The only hybrid architecture supported
6190 in this version of GDB is the Cell Broadband Engine.
6192 * GDB now supports integrated debugging of Cell/B.E. applications that
6193 use both the PPU and SPU architectures. To enable support for hybrid
6194 Cell/B.E. debugging, you need to configure GDB to support both the
6195 powerpc-linux or powerpc64-linux and the spu-elf targets, using the
6196 --enable-targets configure option.
6198 * Non-stop mode debugging.
6200 For some targets, GDB now supports an optional mode of operation in
6201 which you can examine stopped threads while other threads continue
6202 to execute freely. This is referred to as non-stop mode, with the
6203 old mode referred to as all-stop mode. See the "Non-Stop Mode"
6204 section in the user manual for more information.
6206 To be able to support remote non-stop debugging, a remote stub needs
6207 to implement the non-stop mode remote protocol extensions, as
6208 described in the "Remote Non-Stop" section of the user manual. The
6209 GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been adjusted to support these
6210 extensions on linux targets.
6212 * New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
6214 catch syscall [NAME(S) | NUMBER(S)]
6215 Catch system calls. Arguments, which should be names of system
6216 calls or their numbers, mean catch only those syscalls. Without
6217 arguments, every syscall will be caught. When the inferior issues
6218 any of the specified syscalls, GDB will stop and announce the system
6219 call, both when it is called and when its call returns. This
6220 feature is currently available with a native GDB running on the
6221 Linux Kernel, under the following architectures: x86, x86_64,
6222 PowerPC and PowerPC64.
6224 find [/size-char] [/max-count] start-address, end-address|+search-space-size,
6226 Search memory for a sequence of bytes.
6228 maint set python print-stack
6229 maint show python print-stack
6230 Show a stack trace when an error is encountered in a Python script.
6233 Invoke CODE by passing it to the Python interpreter.
6238 These allow macros to be defined, undefined, and listed
6242 Show operating system information about processes.
6245 List the inferiors currently under GDB's control.
6248 Switch focus to inferior number NUM.
6251 Detach from inferior number NUM.
6254 Kill inferior number NUM.
6258 set spu stop-on-load
6259 show spu stop-on-load
6260 Control whether to stop for new SPE threads during Cell/B.E. debugging.
6262 set spu auto-flush-cache
6263 show spu auto-flush-cache
6264 Control whether to automatically flush the software-managed cache
6265 during Cell/B.E. debugging.
6267 set sh calling-convention
6268 show sh calling-convention
6269 Control the calling convention used when calling SH target functions.
6272 show debug timestamp
6273 Control display of timestamps with GDB debugging output.
6275 set disassemble-next-line
6276 show disassemble-next-line
6277 Control display of disassembled source lines or instructions when
6280 set remote noack-packet
6281 show remote noack-packet
6282 Set/show the use of remote protocol QStartNoAckMode packet. See above
6283 under "New remote packets."
6285 set remote query-attached-packet
6286 show remote query-attached-packet
6287 Control use of remote protocol `qAttached' (query-attached) packet.
6289 set remote read-siginfo-object
6290 show remote read-siginfo-object
6291 Control use of remote protocol `qXfer:siginfo:read' (read-siginfo-object)
6294 set remote write-siginfo-object
6295 show remote write-siginfo-object
6296 Control use of remote protocol `qXfer:siginfo:write' (write-siginfo-object)
6299 set remote reverse-continue
6300 show remote reverse-continue
6301 Control use of remote protocol 'bc' (reverse-continue) packet.
6303 set remote reverse-step
6304 show remote reverse-step
6305 Control use of remote protocol 'bs' (reverse-step) packet.
6307 set displaced-stepping
6308 show displaced-stepping
6309 Control displaced stepping mode. Displaced stepping is a way to
6310 single-step over breakpoints without removing them from the debuggee.
6311 Also known as "out-of-line single-stepping".
6314 show debug displaced
6315 Control display of debugging info for displaced stepping.
6317 maint set internal-error
6318 maint show internal-error
6319 Control what GDB does when an internal error is detected.
6321 maint set internal-warning
6322 maint show internal-warning
6323 Control what GDB does when an internal warning is detected.
6328 Use a wrapper program to launch programs for debugging.
6330 set multiple-symbols (all|ask|cancel)
6331 show multiple-symbols
6332 The value of this variable can be changed to adjust the debugger behavior
6333 when an expression or a breakpoint location contains an ambiguous symbol
6334 name (an overloaded function name, for instance).
6336 set breakpoint always-inserted
6337 show breakpoint always-inserted
6338 Keep breakpoints always inserted in the target, as opposed to inserting
6339 them when resuming the target, and removing them when the target stops.
6340 This option can improve debugger performance on slow remote targets.
6342 set arm fallback-mode (arm|thumb|auto)
6343 show arm fallback-mode
6344 set arm force-mode (arm|thumb|auto)
6346 These commands control how ARM GDB determines whether instructions
6347 are ARM or Thumb. The default for both settings is auto, which uses
6348 the current CPSR value for instructions without symbols; previous
6349 versions of GDB behaved as if "set arm fallback-mode arm".
6351 set arm unwind-secure-frames
6352 Enable unwinding from Non-secure to Secure mode on Cortex-M with
6354 This can trigger security exceptions when unwinding exception stacks.
6356 set disable-randomization
6357 show disable-randomization
6358 Standalone programs run with the virtual address space randomization enabled
6359 by default on some platforms. This option keeps the addresses stable across
6360 multiple debugging sessions.
6364 Control whether other threads are stopped or not when some thread hits
6369 Requests that asynchronous execution is enabled in the target, if available.
6370 In this case, it's possible to resume target in the background, and interact
6371 with GDB while the target is running. "show target-async" displays the
6372 current state of asynchronous execution of the target.
6374 set target-wide-charset
6375 show target-wide-charset
6376 The target-wide-charset is the name of the character set that GDB
6377 uses when printing characters whose type is wchar_t.
6379 set tcp auto-retry (on|off)
6381 set tcp connect-timeout
6382 show tcp connect-timeout
6383 These commands allow GDB to retry failed TCP connections to a remote stub
6384 with a specified timeout period; this is useful if the stub is launched
6385 in parallel with GDB but may not be ready to accept connections immediately.
6387 set libthread-db-search-path
6388 show libthread-db-search-path
6389 Control list of directories which GDB will search for appropriate
6392 set schedule-multiple (on|off)
6393 show schedule-multiple
6394 Allow GDB to resume all threads of all processes or only threads of
6395 the current process.
6399 Use more aggressive caching for accesses to the stack. This improves
6400 performance of remote debugging (particularly backtraces) without
6401 affecting correctness.
6403 set interactive-mode (on|off|auto)
6404 show interactive-mode
6405 Control whether GDB runs in interactive mode (on) or not (off).
6406 When in interactive mode, GDB waits for the user to answer all
6407 queries. Otherwise, GDB does not wait and assumes the default
6408 answer. When set to auto (the default), GDB determines which
6409 mode to use based on the stdin settings.
6414 For program forks, this is replaced by the new more generic `info
6415 inferiors' command. To list checkpoints, you can still use the
6416 `info checkpoints' command, which was an alias for the `info forks'
6420 Replaced by the new `inferior' command. To switch between
6421 checkpoints, you can still use the `restart' command, which was an
6422 alias for the `fork' command.
6425 This is removed, since some targets don't have a notion of
6426 processes. To switch between processes, you can still use the
6427 `inferior' command using GDB's own inferior number.
6430 For program forks, this is replaced by the new more generic `kill
6431 inferior' command. To delete a checkpoint, you can still use the
6432 `delete checkpoint' command, which was an alias for the `delete
6436 For program forks, this is replaced by the new more generic `detach
6437 inferior' command. To detach a checkpoint, you can still use the
6438 `detach checkpoint' command, which was an alias for the `detach
6441 * New native configurations
6443 x86/x86_64 Darwin i[34567]86-*-darwin*
6445 x86_64 MinGW x86_64-*-mingw*
6449 Lattice Mico32 lm32-*
6450 x86 DICOS i[34567]86-*-dicos*
6451 x86_64 DICOS x86_64-*-dicos*
6454 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports x86 Windows CE
6455 (mingw32ce) debugging.
6461 These commands were actually not implemented on any target.
6463 *** Changes in GDB 6.8
6465 * New native configurations
6467 NetBSD/hppa hppa*-*netbsd*
6468 Xtensa GNU/Linux xtensa*-*-linux*
6472 NetBSD/hppa hppa*-*-netbsd*
6473 Xtensa GNU/Linux xtensa*-*-linux*
6475 * Change in command line behavior -- corefiles vs. process ids.
6477 When the '-p NUMBER' or '--pid NUMBER' options are used, and
6478 attaching to process NUMBER fails, GDB no longer attempts to open a
6479 core file named NUMBER. Attaching to a program using the -c option
6480 is no longer supported. Instead, use the '-p' or '--pid' options.
6482 * GDB can now be built as a native debugger for debugging Windows x86
6483 (mingw32) Portable Executable (PE) programs.
6485 * Pending breakpoints no longer change their number when their address
6488 * GDB now supports breakpoints with multiple locations,
6489 including breakpoints on C++ constructors, inside C++ templates,
6490 and in inlined functions.
6492 * GDB's ability to debug optimized code has been improved. GDB more
6493 accurately identifies function bodies and lexical blocks that occupy
6494 more than one contiguous range of addresses.
6496 * Target descriptions can now describe registers for PowerPC.
6498 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports the AltiVec and SPE
6499 registers on PowerPC targets.
6501 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports thread debugging on GNU/Linux
6502 targets even when the libthread_db library is not available.
6504 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports the new file transfer
6505 commands (remote put, remote get, and remote delete).
6507 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports run and attach in
6508 extended-remote mode.
6510 * hppa*64*-*-hpux11* target broken
6511 The debugger is unable to start a program and fails with the following
6512 error: "Error trying to get information about dynamic linker".
6513 The gdb-6.7 release is also affected.
6515 * GDB now supports the --enable-targets= configure option to allow
6516 building a single GDB executable that supports multiple remote
6517 target architectures.
6519 * GDB now supports debugging C and C++ programs which use the
6520 Decimal Floating Point extension. In addition, the PowerPC target
6521 now has a set of pseudo-registers to inspect decimal float values
6522 stored in two consecutive float registers.
6524 * The -break-insert MI command can optionally create pending
6527 * Improved support for debugging Ada
6528 Many improvements to the Ada language support have been made. These
6530 - Better support for Ada2005 interface types
6531 - Improved handling of arrays and slices in general
6532 - Better support for Taft-amendment types
6533 - The '{type} ADDRESS' expression is now allowed on the left hand-side
6535 - Improved command completion in Ada
6538 * GDB on GNU/Linux and HP/UX can now debug through "exec" of a new
6543 set print frame-arguments (all|scalars|none)
6544 show print frame-arguments
6545 The value of this variable can be changed to control which argument
6546 values should be printed by the debugger when displaying a frame.
6551 Transfer files to and from a remote target, and delete remote files.
6558 Transfer files to and from a remote target, and delete remote files.
6560 * New remote packets
6567 Open, close, read, write, and delete files on the remote system.
6570 Attach to an existing process on the remote system, in extended-remote
6574 Run a new process on the remote system, in extended-remote mode.
6576 *** Changes in GDB 6.7
6578 * Resolved 101 resource leaks, null pointer dereferences, etc. in gdb,
6579 bfd, libiberty and opcodes, as revealed by static analysis donated by
6580 Coverity, Inc. (http://scan.coverity.com).
6582 * When looking up multiply-defined global symbols, GDB will now prefer the
6583 symbol definition in the current shared library if it was built using the
6584 -Bsymbolic linker option.
6586 * When the Text User Interface (TUI) is not configured, GDB will now
6587 recognize the -tui command-line option and print a message that the TUI
6590 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now has lower overhead for high
6591 frequency signals (e.g. SIGALRM) via the QPassSignals packet.
6593 * GDB for MIPS targets now autodetects whether a remote target provides
6594 32-bit or 64-bit register values.
6596 * Support for C++ member pointers has been improved.
6598 * GDB now understands XML target descriptions, which specify the
6599 target's overall architecture. GDB can read a description from
6600 a local file or over the remote serial protocol.
6602 * Vectors of single-byte data use a new integer type which is not
6603 automatically displayed as character or string data.
6605 * The /s format now works with the print command. It displays
6606 arrays of single-byte integers and pointers to single-byte integers
6609 * Target descriptions can now describe target-specific registers,
6610 for architectures which have implemented the support (currently
6611 only ARM, M68K, and MIPS).
6613 * GDB and the GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now support the XScale
6616 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been updated to support
6617 ARM Windows CE (mingw32ce) debugging, and GDB Windows CE support
6618 has been rewritten to use the standard GDB remote protocol.
6620 * GDB can now step into C++ functions which are called through thunks.
6622 * GDB for the Cell/B.E. SPU now supports overlay debugging.
6624 * The GDB remote protocol "qOffsets" packet can now honor ELF segment
6625 layout. It also supports a TextSeg= and DataSeg= response when only
6626 segment base addresses (rather than offsets) are available.
6628 * The /i format now outputs any trailing branch delay slot instructions
6629 immediately following the last instruction within the count specified.
6631 * The GDB remote protocol "T" stop reply packet now supports a
6632 "library" response. Combined with the new "qXfer:libraries:read"
6633 packet, this response allows GDB to debug shared libraries on targets
6634 where the operating system manages the list of loaded libraries (e.g.
6635 Windows and SymbianOS).
6637 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports dynamic link libraries
6638 (DLLs) on Windows and Windows CE targets.
6640 * GDB now supports a faster verification that a .debug file matches its binary
6641 according to its build-id signature, if the signature is present.
6647 Enable or disable hardware flow control (RTS/CTS) on the serial port
6648 when debugging using remote targets.
6650 set mem inaccessible-by-default
6651 show mem inaccessible-by-default
6652 If the target supplies a memory map, for instance via the remote
6653 protocol's "qXfer:memory-map:read" packet, setting this variable
6654 prevents GDB from accessing memory outside the memory map. This
6655 is useful for targets with memory mapped registers or which react
6656 badly to accesses of unmapped address space.
6658 set breakpoint auto-hw
6659 show breakpoint auto-hw
6660 If the target supplies a memory map, for instance via the remote
6661 protocol's "qXfer:memory-map:read" packet, setting this variable
6662 lets GDB use hardware breakpoints automatically for memory regions
6663 where it can not use software breakpoints. This covers both the
6664 "break" command and internal breakpoints used for other commands
6665 including "next" and "finish".
6668 catch exception unhandled
6669 Stop the program execution when Ada exceptions are raised.
6672 Stop the program execution when an Ada assertion failed.
6676 Set an alternate system root for target files. This is a more
6677 general version of "set solib-absolute-prefix", which is now
6678 an alias to "set sysroot".
6681 Provide extended SPU facility status information. This set of
6682 commands is available only when debugging the Cell/B.E. SPU
6685 * New native configurations
6687 OpenBSD/sh sh*-*openbsd*
6690 unset tdesc filename
6692 Use the specified local file as an XML target description, and do
6693 not query the target for its built-in description.
6697 OpenBSD/sh sh*-*-openbsd*
6698 MIPS64 GNU/Linux (gdbserver) mips64-linux-gnu
6699 Toshiba Media Processor mep-elf
6701 * New remote packets
6704 Ignore the specified signals; pass them directly to the debugged program
6705 without stopping other threads or reporting them to GDB.
6707 qXfer:features:read:
6708 Read an XML target description from the target, which describes its
6713 Read or write contents of an spufs file on the target system. These
6714 packets are available only on the Cell/B.E. SPU architecture.
6716 qXfer:libraries:read:
6717 Report the loaded shared libraries. Combined with new "T" packet
6718 response, this packet allows GDB to debug shared libraries on
6719 targets where the operating system manages the list of loaded
6720 libraries (e.g. Windows and SymbianOS).
6724 Support for these obsolete configurations has been removed.
6732 i[34567]86-*-lynxos*
6733 i[34567]86-*-netware*
6734 i[34567]86-*-sco3.2v5*
6735 i[34567]86-*-sco3.2v4*
6737 i[34567]86-*-sysv4.2*
6740 i[34567]86-*-unixware2*
6741 i[34567]86-*-unixware*
6750 * Other removed features
6757 Various m68k-only ROM monitors.
6764 Various Renesas ROM monitors and debugging interfaces for SH and
6769 Support for a Macraigor serial interface to on-chip debugging.
6770 GDB does not directly support the newer parallel or USB
6775 A debug information format. The predecessor to DWARF 2 and
6776 DWARF 3, which are still supported.
6778 Support for the HP aCC compiler on HP-UX/PA-RISC
6780 SOM-encapsulated symbolic debugging information, automatic
6781 invocation of pxdb, and the aCC custom C++ ABI. This does not
6782 affect HP-UX for Itanium or GCC for HP-UX/PA-RISC. Code compiled
6783 with aCC can still be debugged on an assembly level.
6785 MIPS ".pdr" sections
6787 A MIPS-specific format used to describe stack frame layout
6788 in debugging information.
6792 GDB could work with an older version of Guile to debug
6793 the interpreter and Scheme programs running in it.
6795 set mips stack-arg-size
6796 set mips saved-gpreg-size
6798 Use "set mips abi" to control parameter passing for MIPS.
6800 *** Changes in GDB 6.6
6805 Cell Broadband Engine SPU spu-elf
6807 * GDB can now be configured as a cross-debugger targeting native Windows
6808 (mingw32) or Cygwin. It can communicate with a remote debugging stub
6809 running on a Windows system over TCP/IP to debug Windows programs.
6811 * The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been updated to support Windows and
6812 Cygwin debugging. Both single-threaded and multi-threaded programs are
6815 * The "set trust-readonly-sections" command works again. This command was
6816 broken in GDB 6.3, 6.4, and 6.5.
6818 * The "load" command now supports writing to flash memory, if the remote
6819 stub provides the required support.
6821 * Support for GNU/Linux Thread Local Storage (TLS, per-thread variables) no
6822 longer requires symbolic debug information (e.g. DWARF-2).
6827 unset substitute-path
6828 show substitute-path
6829 Manage a list of substitution rules that GDB uses to rewrite the name
6830 of the directories where the sources are located. This can be useful
6831 for instance when the sources were moved to a different location
6832 between compilation and debugging.
6836 Print each CLI command as it is executed. Each command is prefixed with
6837 a number of `+' symbols representing the nesting depth.
6838 The source command now has a `-v' option to enable the same feature.
6842 The ARM Demon monitor support (RDP protocol, "target rdp").
6844 Kernel Object Display, an embedded debugging feature which only worked with
6845 an obsolete version of Cisco IOS.
6847 The 'set download-write-size' and 'show download-write-size' commands.
6849 * New remote packets
6852 Tell a stub about GDB client features, and request remote target features.
6853 The first feature implemented is PacketSize, which allows the target to
6854 specify the size of packets it can handle - to minimize the number of
6855 packets required and improve performance when connected to a remote
6859 Fetch an OS auxiliary vector from the remote stub. This packet is a
6860 more efficient replacement for qPart:auxv:read.
6862 qXfer:memory-map:read:
6863 Fetch a memory map from the remote stub, including information about
6864 RAM, ROM, and flash memory devices.
6869 Erase and program a flash memory device.
6871 * Removed remote packets
6874 This packet has been replaced by qXfer:auxv:read. Only GDB 6.4 and 6.5
6875 used it, and only gdbserver implemented it.
6877 *** Changes in GDB 6.5
6881 Renesas M32C/M16C m32c-elf
6883 Morpho Technologies ms1 ms1-elf
6887 init-if-undefined Initialize a convenience variable, but
6888 only if it doesn't already have a value.
6890 The following commands are presently only implemented for native GNU/Linux:
6892 checkpoint Save a snapshot of the program state.
6894 restart <n> Return the program state to a
6895 previously saved state.
6897 info checkpoints List currently saved checkpoints.
6899 delete-checkpoint <n> Delete a previously saved checkpoint.
6901 set|show detach-on-fork Tell gdb whether to detach from a newly
6902 forked process, or to keep debugging it.
6904 info forks List forks of the user program that
6905 are available to be debugged.
6907 fork <n> Switch to debugging one of several
6908 forks of the user program that are
6909 available to be debugged.
6911 delete-fork <n> Delete a fork from the list of forks
6912 that are available to be debugged (and
6913 kill the forked process).
6915 detach-fork <n> Delete a fork from the list of forks
6916 that are available to be debugged (and
6917 allow the process to continue).
6921 Morpho Technologies ms2 ms1-elf
6923 * Improved Windows host support
6925 GDB now builds as a cross debugger hosted on i686-mingw32, including
6926 native console support, and remote communications using either
6927 network sockets or serial ports.
6929 * Improved Modula-2 language support
6931 GDB can now print most types in the Modula-2 syntax. This includes:
6932 basic types, set types, record types, enumerated types, range types,
6933 pointer types and ARRAY types. Procedure var parameters are correctly
6934 printed and hexadecimal addresses and character constants are also
6935 written in the Modula-2 syntax. Best results can be obtained by using
6936 GNU Modula-2 together with the -gdwarf-2 command line option.
6940 The ARM rdi-share module.
6942 The Netware NLM debug server.
6944 *** Changes in GDB 6.4
6946 * New native configurations
6948 OpenBSD/arm arm*-*-openbsd*
6949 OpenBSD/mips64 mips64-*-openbsd*
6953 Morpho Technologies ms1 ms1-elf
6955 * New command line options
6957 --batch-silent As for --batch, but totally silent.
6958 --return-child-result The debugger will exist with the same value
6959 the child (debugged) program exited with.
6960 --eval-command COMMAND, -ex COMMAND
6961 Execute a single GDB CLI command. This may be
6962 specified multiple times and in conjunction
6963 with the --command (-x) option.
6965 * Deprecated commands removed
6967 The following commands, that were deprecated in 2000, have been
6971 set|show arm disassembly-flavor set|show arm disassembler
6972 othernames set arm disassembler
6973 set|show remotedebug set|show debug remote
6974 set|show archdebug set|show debug arch
6975 set|show eventdebug set|show debug event
6978 * New BSD user-level threads support
6980 It is now possible to debug programs using the user-level threads
6981 library on OpenBSD and FreeBSD. Currently supported (target)
6984 FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
6985 FreeBSD/i386 i386-*-freebsd*
6986 OpenBSD/i386 i386-*-openbsd*
6988 Note that the new kernel threads libraries introduced in FreeBSD 5.x
6989 are not yet supported.
6991 * New support for Matsushita MN10300 w/sim added
6992 (Work in progress). mn10300-elf.
6994 * REMOVED configurations and files
6996 VxWorks and the XDR protocol *-*-vxworks
6997 Motorola MCORE mcore-*-*
6998 National Semiconductor NS32000 ns32k-*-*
7000 * New "set print array-indexes" command
7002 After turning this setting "on", GDB prints the index of each element
7003 when displaying arrays. The default is "off" to preserve the previous
7006 * VAX floating point support
7008 GDB now supports the not-quite-ieee VAX F and D floating point formats.
7010 * User-defined command support
7012 In addition to using $arg0..$arg9 for argument passing, it is now possible
7013 to use $argc to determine now many arguments have been passed. See the
7014 section on user-defined commands in the user manual for more information.
7016 *** Changes in GDB 6.3:
7018 * New command line option
7020 GDB now accepts -l followed by a number to set the timeout for remote
7023 * GDB works with GCC -feliminate-dwarf2-dups
7025 GDB now supports a more compact representation of DWARF-2 debug
7026 information using DW_FORM_ref_addr references. These are produced
7027 by GCC with the option -feliminate-dwarf2-dups and also by some
7028 proprietary compilers. With GCC, you must use GCC 3.3.4 or later
7029 to use -feliminate-dwarf2-dups.
7031 * Internationalization
7033 When supported by the host system, GDB will be built with
7034 internationalization (libintl). The task of marking up the sources is
7035 continued, we're looking forward to our first translation.
7039 Initial support for debugging programs compiled with the GNAT
7040 implementation of the Ada programming language has been integrated
7041 into GDB. In this release, support is limited to expression evaluation.
7043 * New native configurations
7045 GNU/Linux/m32r m32r-*-linux-gnu
7049 GDB's remote protocol now includes support for the 'p' packet. This
7050 packet is used to fetch individual registers from a remote inferior.
7052 * END-OF-LIFE registers[] compatibility module
7054 GDB's internal register infrastructure has been completely rewritten.
7055 The new infrastructure making possible the implementation of key new
7056 features including 32x64 (e.g., 64-bit amd64 GDB debugging a 32-bit
7059 GDB 6.3 will be the last release to include the registers[]
7060 compatibility module that allowed out-of-date configurations to
7061 continue to work. This change directly impacts the following
7071 powerpc bdm protocol
7073 Unless there is activity to revive these configurations, they will be
7074 made OBSOLETE in GDB 6.4, and REMOVED from GDB 6.5.
7076 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
7078 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
7079 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
7080 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
7081 permanently REMOVED.
7090 *** Changes in GDB 6.2.1:
7092 * MIPS `break main; run' gave an heuristic-fence-post warning
7094 When attempting to run even a simple program, a warning about
7095 heuristic-fence-post being hit would be reported. This problem has
7098 * MIPS IRIX 'long double' crashed GDB
7100 When examining a long double variable, GDB would get a segmentation
7101 fault. The crash has been fixed (but GDB 6.2 cannot correctly examine
7102 IRIX long double values).
7106 A bug in the VAX stack code was causing problems with the "next"
7107 command. This problem has been fixed.
7109 *** Changes in GDB 6.2:
7111 * Fix for ``many threads''
7113 On GNU/Linux systems that use the NPTL threads library, a program
7114 rapidly creating and deleting threads would confuse GDB leading to the
7117 ptrace: No such process.
7118 thread_db_get_info: cannot get thread info: generic error
7120 This problem has been fixed.
7122 * "-async" and "-noasync" options removed.
7124 Support for the broken "-noasync" option has been removed (it caused
7127 * New ``start'' command.
7129 This command runs the program until the beginning of the main procedure.
7131 * New BSD Kernel Data Access Library (libkvm) interface
7133 Using ``target kvm'' it is now possible to debug kernel core dumps and
7134 live kernel memory images on various FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD
7135 platforms. Currently supported (native-only) configurations are:
7137 FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
7138 FreeBSD/i386 i?86-*-freebsd*
7139 NetBSD/i386 i?86-*-netbsd*
7140 NetBSD/m68k m68*-*-netbsd*
7141 NetBSD/sparc sparc-*-netbsd*
7142 OpenBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-openbsd*
7143 OpenBSD/i386 i?86-*-openbsd*
7144 OpenBSD/m68k m68*-openbsd*
7145 OpenBSD/sparc sparc-*-openbsd*
7147 * Signal trampoline code overhauled
7149 Many generic problems with GDB's signal handling code have been fixed.
7150 These include: backtraces through non-contiguous stacks; recognition
7151 of sa_sigaction signal trampolines; backtrace from a NULL pointer
7152 call; backtrace through a signal trampoline; step into and out of
7153 signal handlers; and single-stepping in the signal trampoline.
7155 Please note that kernel bugs are a limiting factor here. These
7156 features have been shown to work on an s390 GNU/Linux system that
7157 include a 2.6.8-rc1 kernel. Ref PR breakpoints/1702.
7159 * Cygwin support for DWARF 2 added.
7161 * New native configurations
7163 GNU/Linux/hppa hppa*-*-linux*
7164 OpenBSD/hppa hppa*-*-openbsd*
7165 OpenBSD/m68k m68*-*-openbsd*
7166 OpenBSD/m88k m88*-*-openbsd*
7167 OpenBSD/powerpc powerpc-*-openbsd*
7168 NetBSD/vax vax-*-netbsd*
7169 OpenBSD/vax vax-*-openbsd*
7171 * END-OF-LIFE frame compatibility module
7173 GDB's internal frame infrastructure has been completely rewritten.
7174 The new infrastructure making it possible to support key new features
7175 including DWARF 2 Call Frame Information. To aid in the task of
7176 migrating old configurations to this new infrastructure, a
7177 compatibility module, that allowed old configurations to continue to
7178 work, was also included.
7180 GDB 6.2 will be the last release to include this frame compatibility
7181 module. This change directly impacts the following configurations:
7191 Unless there is activity to revive these configurations, they will be
7192 made OBSOLETE in GDB 6.3, and REMOVED from GDB 6.4.
7194 * REMOVED configurations and files
7196 Sun 3, running SunOS 3 m68*-*-sunos3*
7197 Sun 3, running SunOS 4 m68*-*-sunos4*
7198 Sun 2, running SunOS 3 m68000-*-sunos3*
7199 Sun 2, running SunOS 4 m68000-*-sunos4*
7200 Motorola 680x0 running LynxOS m68*-*-lynxos*
7201 AT&T 3b1/Unix pc m68*-att-*
7202 Bull DPX2 (68k, System V release 3) m68*-bull-sysv*
7203 decstation mips-dec-* mips-little-*
7204 riscos mips-*-riscos* mips-*-sysv*
7205 sonymips mips-sony-*
7206 sysv mips*-*-sysv4* (IRIX 5/6 not included)
7208 *** Changes in GDB 6.1.1:
7210 * TUI (Text-mode User Interface) built-in (also included in GDB 6.1)
7212 The TUI (Text-mode User Interface) is now built as part of a default
7213 GDB configuration. It is enabled by either selecting the TUI with the
7214 command line option "-i=tui" or by running the separate "gdbtui"
7215 program. For more information on the TUI, see the manual "Debugging
7218 * Pending breakpoint support (also included in GDB 6.1)
7220 Support has been added to allow you to specify breakpoints in shared
7221 libraries that have not yet been loaded. If a breakpoint location
7222 cannot be found, and the "breakpoint pending" option is set to auto,
7223 GDB queries you if you wish to make the breakpoint pending on a future
7224 shared-library load. If and when GDB resolves the breakpoint symbol,
7225 the pending breakpoint is removed as one or more regular breakpoints
7228 Pending breakpoints are very useful for GCJ Java debugging.
7230 * Fixed ISO-C build problems
7232 The files bfd/elf-bfd.h, gdb/dictionary.c and gdb/types.c contained
7233 non ISO-C code that stopped them being built using a more strict ISO-C
7234 compiler (e.g., IBM's C compiler).
7236 * Fixed build problem on IRIX 5
7238 Due to header problems with <sys/proc.h>, the file gdb/proc-api.c
7239 wasn't able to compile compile on an IRIX 5 system.
7241 * Added execute permission to gdb/gdbserver/configure
7243 The shell script gdb/testsuite/gdb.stabs/configure lacked execute
7244 permission. This bug would cause configure to fail on a number of
7245 systems (Solaris, IRIX). Ref: server/519.
7247 * Fixed build problem on hpux2.0w-hp-hpux11.00 using the HP ANSI C compiler
7249 Older HPUX ANSI C compilers did not accept variable array sizes. somsolib.c
7250 has been updated to use constant array sizes.
7252 * Fixed a panic in the DWARF Call Frame Info code on Solaris 2.7
7254 GCC 3.3.2, on Solaris 2.7, includes the DW_EH_PE_funcrel encoding in
7255 its generated DWARF Call Frame Info. This encoding was causing GDB to
7256 panic, that panic has been fixed. Ref: gdb/1628.
7258 * Fixed a problem when examining parameters in shared library code.
7260 When examining parameters in optimized shared library code generated
7261 by a mainline GCC, GDB would incorrectly report ``Variable "..." is
7262 not available''. GDB now correctly displays the variable's value.
7264 *** Changes in GDB 6.1:
7266 * Removed --with-mmalloc
7268 Support for the mmalloc memory manager has been removed, as it
7269 conflicted with the internal gdb byte cache.
7271 * Changes in AMD64 configurations
7273 The AMD64 target now includes the %cs and %ss registers. As a result
7274 the AMD64 remote protocol has changed; this affects the floating-point
7275 and SSE registers. If you rely on those registers for your debugging,
7276 you should upgrade gdbserver on the remote side.
7278 * Revised SPARC target
7280 The SPARC target has been completely revised, incorporating the
7281 FreeBSD/sparc64 support that was added for GDB 6.0. As a result
7282 support for LynxOS and SunOS 4 has been dropped. Calling functions
7283 from within GDB on operating systems with a non-executable stack
7284 (Solaris, OpenBSD) now works.
7288 GDB has a new C++ demangler which does a better job on the mangled
7289 names generated by current versions of g++. It also runs faster, so
7290 with this and other changes gdb should now start faster on large C++
7293 * DWARF 2 Location Expressions
7295 GDB support for location expressions has been extended to support function
7296 arguments and frame bases. Older versions of GDB could crash when they
7299 * C++ nested types and namespaces
7301 GDB's support for nested types and namespaces in C++ has been
7302 improved, especially if you use the DWARF 2 debugging format. (This
7303 is the default for recent versions of GCC on most platforms.)
7304 Specifically, if you have a class "Inner" defined within a class or
7305 namespace "Outer", then GDB realizes that the class's name is
7306 "Outer::Inner", not simply "Inner". This should greatly reduce the
7307 frequency of complaints about not finding RTTI symbols. In addition,
7308 if you are stopped at inside of a function defined within a namespace,
7309 GDB modifies its name lookup accordingly.
7311 * New native configurations
7313 NetBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-netbsd*
7314 OpenBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-openbsd*
7315 OpenBSD/alpha alpha*-*-openbsd*
7316 OpenBSD/sparc sparc-*-openbsd*
7317 OpenBSD/sparc64 sparc64-*-openbsd*
7319 * New debugging protocols
7321 M32R with SDI protocol m32r-*-elf*
7323 * "set prompt-escape-char" command deleted.
7325 The command "set prompt-escape-char" has been deleted. This command,
7326 and its very obscure effect on GDB's prompt, was never documented,
7327 tested, nor mentioned in the NEWS file.
7329 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
7331 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
7332 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
7333 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
7334 permanently REMOVED.
7336 Sun 3, running SunOS 3 m68*-*-sunos3*
7337 Sun 3, running SunOS 4 m68*-*-sunos4*
7338 Sun 2, running SunOS 3 m68000-*-sunos3*
7339 Sun 2, running SunOS 4 m68000-*-sunos4*
7340 Motorola 680x0 running LynxOS m68*-*-lynxos*
7341 AT&T 3b1/Unix pc m68*-att-*
7342 Bull DPX2 (68k, System V release 3) m68*-bull-sysv*
7343 decstation mips-dec-* mips-little-*
7344 riscos mips-*-riscos* mips-*-sysv*
7345 sonymips mips-sony-*
7346 sysv mips*-*-sysv4* (IRIX 5/6 not included)
7348 * REMOVED configurations and files
7350 SGI Irix-4.x mips-sgi-irix4 or iris4
7351 SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris
7352 Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
7353 Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
7354 H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
7355 HP/PA running BSD hppa*-*-bsd*
7356 HP/PA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
7357 HP/PA Pro target hppa*-*-pro*
7358 PMAX (MIPS) running Mach 3.0 mips*-*-mach3*
7359 386BSD i[3456]86-*-bsd*
7360 Sequent family i[3456]86-sequent-sysv4*
7361 i[3456]86-sequent-sysv*
7362 i[3456]86-sequent-bsd*
7363 SPARC running LynxOS sparc-*-lynxos*
7364 SPARC running SunOS 4 sparc-*-sunos4*
7365 Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
7366 Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
7368 *** Changes in GDB 6.0:
7372 Support for debugging the Objective-C programming language has been
7373 integrated into GDB.
7375 * New backtrace mechanism (includes DWARF 2 Call Frame Information).
7377 DWARF 2's Call Frame Information makes available compiler generated
7378 information that more exactly describes the program's run-time stack.
7379 By using this information, GDB is able to provide more robust stack
7382 The i386, amd64 (nee, x86-64), Alpha, m68hc11, ia64, and m32r targets
7383 have been updated to use a new backtrace mechanism which includes
7384 DWARF 2 CFI support.
7388 GDB's remote protocol has been extended to include support for hosted
7389 file I/O (where the remote target uses GDB's file system). See GDB's
7390 remote protocol documentation for details.
7392 * All targets using the new architecture framework.
7394 All of GDB's targets have been updated to use the new internal
7395 architecture framework. The way is now open for future GDB releases
7396 to include cross-architecture native debugging support (i386 on amd64,
7399 * GNU/Linux's Thread Local Storage (TLS)
7401 GDB now includes support for for the GNU/Linux implementation of
7402 per-thread variables.
7404 * GNU/Linux's Native POSIX Thread Library (NPTL)
7406 GDB's thread code has been updated to work with either the new
7407 GNU/Linux NPTL thread library or the older "LinuxThreads" library.
7409 * Separate debug info.
7411 GDB, in conjunction with BINUTILS, now supports a mechanism for
7412 automatically loading debug information from a separate file. Instead
7413 of shipping full debug and non-debug versions of system libraries,
7414 system integrators can now instead ship just the stripped libraries
7415 and optional debug files.
7417 * DWARF 2 Location Expressions
7419 DWARF 2 Location Expressions allow the compiler to more completely
7420 describe the location of variables (even in optimized code) to the
7423 GDB now includes preliminary support for location expressions (support
7424 for DW_OP_piece is still missing).
7428 A number of long standing bugs that caused GDB to die while starting a
7429 Java application have been fixed. GDB's Java support is now
7430 considered "useable".
7432 * GNU/Linux support for fork, vfork, and exec.
7434 The "catch fork", "catch exec", "catch vfork", and "set follow-fork-mode"
7435 commands are now implemented for GNU/Linux. They require a 2.5.x or later
7438 * GDB supports logging output to a file
7440 There are two new commands, "set logging" and "show logging", which can be
7441 used to capture GDB's output to a file.
7443 * The meaning of "detach" has changed for gdbserver
7445 The "detach" command will now resume the application, as documented. To
7446 disconnect from gdbserver and leave it stopped, use the new "disconnect"
7449 * d10v, m68hc11 `regs' command deprecated
7451 The `info registers' command has been updated so that it displays the
7452 registers using a format identical to the old `regs' command.
7456 A new command, "maint set profile on/off", has been added. This command can
7457 be used to enable or disable profiling while running GDB, to profile a
7458 session or a set of commands. In addition there is a new configure switch,
7459 "--enable-profiling", which will cause GDB to be compiled with profiling
7460 data, for more informative profiling results.
7462 * Default MI syntax changed to "mi2".
7464 The default MI (machine interface) syntax, enabled by the command line
7465 option "-i=mi", has been changed to "mi2". The previous MI syntax,
7466 "mi1", can be enabled by specifying the option "-i=mi1".
7468 Support for the original "mi0" syntax (included in GDB 5.0) has been
7471 Fix for gdb/192: removed extraneous space when displaying frame level.
7472 Fix for gdb/672: update changelist is now output in mi list format.
7473 Fix for gdb/702: a -var-assign that updates the value now shows up
7474 in a subsequent -var-update.
7476 * New native configurations.
7478 FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
7480 * Multi-arched targets.
7482 HP/PA HPUX11 hppa*-*-hpux*
7483 Renesas M32R/D w/simulator m32r-*-elf*
7485 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
7487 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
7488 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
7489 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
7490 permanently REMOVED.
7492 Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
7493 Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
7494 H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
7495 HP/PA running BSD hppa*-*-bsd*
7496 HP/PA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
7497 HP/PA Pro target hppa*-*-pro*
7498 PMAX (MIPS) running Mach 3.0 mips*-*-mach3*
7499 Sequent family i[3456]86-sequent-sysv4*
7500 i[3456]86-sequent-sysv*
7501 i[3456]86-sequent-bsd*
7502 Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
7503 Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
7505 * REMOVED configurations and files
7508 Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
7509 IBM AIX PS/2 i[3456]86-*-aix
7510 i386 running Mach 3.0 i[3456]86-*-mach3*
7511 i386 running Mach i[3456]86-*-mach*
7512 i386 running OSF/1 i[3456]86-*osf1mk*
7513 HP/Apollo 68k Family m68*-apollo*-sysv*,
7515 m68*-hp-bsd*, m68*-hp-hpux*
7516 Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
7517 Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
7518 Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
7519 OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
7520 I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
7522 * MIPS $fp behavior changed
7524 The convenience variable $fp, for the MIPS, now consistently returns
7525 the address of the current frame's base. Previously, depending on the
7526 context, $fp could refer to either $sp or the current frame's base
7527 address. See ``8.10 Registers'' in the manual ``Debugging with GDB:
7528 The GNU Source-Level Debugger''.
7530 *** Changes in GDB 5.3:
7532 * GNU/Linux shared library multi-threaded performance improved.
7534 When debugging a multi-threaded application on GNU/Linux, GDB now uses
7535 `/proc', in preference to `ptrace' for memory reads. This may result
7536 in an improvement in the start-up time of multi-threaded, shared
7537 library applications when run under GDB. One GDB user writes: ``loads
7538 shared libs like mad''.
7540 * ``gdbserver'' now supports multi-threaded applications on some targets
7542 Support for debugging multi-threaded applications which use
7543 the GNU/Linux LinuxThreads package has been added for
7544 arm*-*-linux*-gnu*, i[3456]86-*-linux*-gnu*, mips*-*-linux*-gnu*,
7545 powerpc*-*-linux*-gnu*, and sh*-*-linux*-gnu*.
7547 * GDB now supports C/C++ preprocessor macros.
7549 GDB now expands preprocessor macro invocations in C/C++ expressions,
7550 and provides various commands for showing macro definitions and how
7553 The new command `macro expand EXPRESSION' expands any macro
7554 invocations in expression, and shows the result.
7556 The new command `show macro MACRO-NAME' shows the definition of the
7557 macro named MACRO-NAME, and where it was defined.
7559 Most compilers don't include information about macros in the debugging
7560 information by default. In GCC 3.1, for example, you need to compile
7561 your program with the options `-gdwarf-2 -g3'. If the macro
7562 information is present in the executable, GDB will read it.
7564 * Multi-arched targets.
7566 DEC Alpha (partial) alpha*-*-*
7567 DEC VAX (partial) vax-*-*
7569 National Semiconductor NS32000 (partial) ns32k-*-*
7570 Motorola 68000 (partial) m68k-*-*
7571 Motorola MCORE mcore-*-*
7575 Fujitsu FRV architecture added by Red Hat frv*-*-*
7578 * New native configurations
7580 Alpha NetBSD alpha*-*-netbsd*
7581 SH NetBSD sh*-*-netbsdelf*
7582 MIPS NetBSD mips*-*-netbsd*
7583 UltraSPARC NetBSD sparc64-*-netbsd*
7585 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
7587 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
7588 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
7589 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
7590 permanently REMOVED.
7592 Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
7593 OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
7594 IBM AIX PS/2 i[3456]86-*-aix
7595 Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
7596 Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
7597 Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
7598 i386 running Mach 3.0 i[3456]86-*-mach3*
7599 i386 running Mach i[3456]86-*-mach*
7600 i386 running OSF/1 i[3456]86-*osf1mk*
7601 HP/Apollo 68k Family m68*-apollo*-sysv*,
7603 m68*-hp-bsd*, m68*-hp-hpux*
7604 I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
7606 * OBSOLETE languages
7608 CHILL, a Pascal like language used by telecommunications companies.
7610 * REMOVED configurations and files
7612 AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi, udi29k
7613 A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
7614 AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
7615 AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
7616 AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
7618 testsuite/gdb.hp/gdb.threads-hp/ directory
7620 * New command "set max-user-call-depth <nnn>"
7622 This command allows the user to limit the call depth of user-defined
7623 commands. The default is 1024.
7625 * Changes in FreeBSD/i386 native debugging.
7627 Support for the "generate-core-file" has been added.
7629 * New commands "dump", "append", and "restore".
7631 These commands allow data to be copied from target memory
7632 to a bfd-format or binary file (dump and append), and back
7633 from a file into memory (restore).
7635 * Improved "next/step" support on multi-processor Alpha Tru64.
7637 The previous single-step mechanism could cause unpredictable problems,
7638 including the random appearance of SIGSEGV or SIGTRAP signals. The use
7639 of a software single-step mechanism prevents this.
7641 *** Changes in GDB 5.2.1:
7649 gdb/182: gdb/323: gdb/237: On alpha, gdb was reporting:
7650 mdebugread.c:2443: gdb-internal-error: sect_index_data not initialized
7651 Fix, by Joel Brobecker imported from mainline.
7653 gdb/439: gdb/291: On some ELF object files, gdb was reporting:
7654 dwarf2read.c:1072: gdb-internal-error: sect_index_text not initialize
7655 Fix, by Fred Fish, imported from mainline.
7657 Dwarf2 .debug_frame & .eh_frame handler improved in many ways.
7658 Surprisingly enough, it works now.
7659 By Michal Ludvig, imported from mainline.
7661 i386 hardware watchpoint support:
7662 avoid misses on second run for some targets.
7663 By Pierre Muller, imported from mainline.
7665 *** Changes in GDB 5.2:
7667 * New command "set trust-readonly-sections on[off]".
7669 This command is a hint that tells gdb that read-only sections
7670 really are read-only (ie. that their contents will not change).
7671 In this mode, gdb will go to the object file rather than the
7672 target to read memory from read-only sections (such as ".text").
7673 This can be a significant performance improvement on some
7674 (notably embedded) targets.
7676 * New command "generate-core-file" (or "gcore").
7678 This new gdb command allows the user to drop a core file of the child
7679 process state at any time. So far it's been implemented only for
7680 GNU/Linux and Solaris, but should be relatively easily ported to other
7681 hosts. Argument is core file name (defaults to core.<pid>).
7683 * New command line option
7685 GDB now accepts --pid or -p followed by a process id.
7687 * Change in command line behavior -- corefiles vs. process ids.
7689 There is a subtle behavior in the way in which GDB handles
7690 command line arguments. The first non-flag argument is always
7691 a program to debug, but the second non-flag argument may either
7692 be a corefile or a process id. Previously, GDB would attempt to
7693 open the second argument as a corefile, and if that failed, would
7694 issue a superfluous error message and then attempt to attach it as
7695 a process. Now, if the second argument begins with a non-digit,
7696 it will be treated as a corefile. If it begins with a digit,
7697 GDB will attempt to attach it as a process, and if no such process
7698 is found, will then attempt to open it as a corefile.
7700 * Changes in ARM configurations.
7702 Multi-arch support is enabled for all ARM configurations. The ARM/NetBSD
7703 configuration is fully multi-arch.
7705 * New native configurations
7707 ARM NetBSD arm*-*-netbsd*
7708 x86 OpenBSD i[3456]86-*-openbsd*
7709 AMD x86-64 running GNU/Linux x86_64-*-linux-*
7710 Sparc64 running FreeBSD sparc64-*-freebsd*
7714 Sanyo XStormy16 xstormy16-elf
7716 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
7718 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
7719 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
7720 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
7721 permanently REMOVED.
7723 AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi, udi29k
7724 A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
7725 AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
7726 AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
7727 AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
7729 testsuite/gdb.hp/gdb.threads-hp/ directory
7731 * REMOVED configurations and files
7733 TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
7735 PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
7736 PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
7737 PowerPC Netware powerpc-*-netware*
7738 Harris/CXUX m88k m88*-harris-cxux*
7739 Most ns32k hosts and targets ns32k-*-mach3* ns32k-umax-*
7740 ns32k-utek-sysv* ns32k-utek-*
7741 SunOS 4.0.Xi on i386 i[3456]86-*-sunos*
7742 Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1 a29k-nyu-sym1 a29k-*-kern*
7743 Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x m68*-sony-sysv news
7744 ISI Optimum V (3.05) under 4.3bsd. m68*-isi-*
7745 Apple Macintosh (MPW) host and target N/A host, powerpc-*-macos*
7747 * Changes to command line processing
7749 The new `--args' feature can be used to specify command-line arguments
7750 for the inferior from gdb's command line.
7752 * Changes to key bindings
7754 There is a new `operate-and-get-next' function bound to `C-o'.
7756 *** Changes in GDB 5.1.1
7758 Fix compile problem on DJGPP.
7760 Fix a problem with floating-point registers on the i386 being
7763 Fix to stop GDB crashing on .debug_str debug info.
7765 Numerous documentation fixes.
7767 Numerous testsuite fixes.
7769 *** Changes in GDB 5.1:
7771 * New native configurations
7773 Alpha FreeBSD alpha*-*-freebsd*
7774 x86 FreeBSD 3.x and 4.x i[3456]86*-freebsd[34]*
7775 MIPS GNU/Linux mips*-*-linux*
7776 MIPS SGI Irix 6.x mips*-sgi-irix6*
7777 ia64 AIX ia64-*-aix*
7778 s390 and s390x GNU/Linux {s390,s390x}-*-linux*
7782 Motorola 68HC11 and 68HC12 m68hc11-elf
7784 UltraSparc running GNU/Linux sparc64-*-linux*
7786 * OBSOLETE configurations and files
7788 x86 FreeBSD before 2.2 i[3456]86*-freebsd{1,2.[01]}*,
7789 Harris/CXUX m88k m88*-harris-cxux*
7790 Most ns32k hosts and targets ns32k-*-mach3* ns32k-umax-*
7791 ns32k-utek-sysv* ns32k-utek-*
7792 TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
7794 Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1 a29k-nyu-sym1 a29k-*-kern*
7795 PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
7796 PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
7797 PowerPC Netware powerpc-*-netware*
7798 SunOS 4.0.Xi on i386 i[3456]86-*-sunos*
7799 Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x m68*-sony-sysv news
7800 ISI Optimum V (3.05) under 4.3bsd. m68*-isi-*
7801 Apple Macintosh (MPW) host N/A
7803 stuff.c (Program to stuff files into a specially prepared space in kdb)
7804 kdb-start.c (Main loop for the standalone kernel debugger)
7806 Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
7807 been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
7808 configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
7809 permanently REMOVED.
7811 * REMOVED configurations and files
7813 Altos 3068 m68*-altos-*
7814 Convex c1-*-*, c2-*-*
7816 ARM RISCix arm-*-* (as host)
7820 * GDB has been converted to ISO C.
7822 GDB's source code has been converted to ISO C. In particular, the
7823 sources are fully protoized, and rely on standard headers being
7828 * "info symbol" works on platforms which use COFF, ECOFF, XCOFF, and NLM.
7830 * The MI enabled by default.
7832 The new machine oriented interface (MI) introduced in GDB 5.0 has been
7833 revised and enabled by default. Packages which use GDB as a debugging
7834 engine behind a UI or another front end are encouraged to switch to
7835 using the GDB/MI interface, instead of the old annotations interface
7836 which is now deprecated.
7838 * Support for debugging Pascal programs.
7840 GDB now includes support for debugging Pascal programs. The following
7841 main features are supported:
7843 - Pascal-specific data types such as sets;
7845 - automatic recognition of Pascal sources based on file-name
7848 - Pascal-style display of data types, variables, and functions;
7850 - a Pascal expression parser.
7852 However, some important features are not yet supported.
7854 - Pascal string operations are not supported at all;
7856 - there are some problems with boolean types;
7858 - Pascal type hexadecimal constants are not supported
7859 because they conflict with the internal variables format;
7861 - support for Pascal objects and classes is not full yet;
7863 - unlike Pascal, GDB is case-sensitive for symbol names.
7865 * Changes in completion.
7867 Commands such as `shell', `run' and `set args', which pass arguments
7868 to inferior programs, now complete on file names, similar to what
7869 users expect at the shell prompt.
7871 Commands which accept locations, such as `disassemble', `print',
7872 `breakpoint', `until', etc. now complete on filenames as well as
7873 program symbols. Thus, if you type "break foob TAB", and the source
7874 files linked into the programs include `foobar.c', that file name will
7875 be one of the candidates for completion. However, file names are not
7876 considered for completion after you typed a colon that delimits a file
7877 name from a name of a function in that file, as in "break foo.c:bar".
7879 `set demangle-style' completes on available demangling styles.
7881 * New platform-independent commands:
7883 It is now possible to define a post-hook for a command as well as a
7884 hook that runs before the command. For more details, see the
7885 documentation of `hookpost' in the GDB manual.
7887 * Changes in GNU/Linux native debugging.
7889 Support for debugging multi-threaded programs has been completely
7890 revised for all platforms except m68k and sparc. You can now debug as
7891 many threads as your system allows you to have.
7893 Attach/detach is supported for multi-threaded programs.
7895 Support for SSE registers was added for x86. This doesn't work for
7896 multi-threaded programs though.
7898 * Changes in MIPS configurations.
7900 Multi-arch support is enabled for all MIPS configurations.
7902 GDB can now be built as native debugger on SGI Irix 6.x systems for
7903 debugging n32 executables. (Debugging 64-bit executables is not yet
7906 * Unified support for hardware watchpoints in all x86 configurations.
7908 Most (if not all) native x86 configurations support hardware-assisted
7909 breakpoints and watchpoints in a unified manner. This support
7910 implements debug register sharing between watchpoints, which allows to
7911 put a virtually infinite number of watchpoints on the same address,
7912 and also supports watching regions up to 16 bytes with several debug
7915 The new maintenance command `maintenance show-debug-regs' toggles
7916 debugging print-outs in functions that insert, remove, and test
7917 watchpoints and hardware breakpoints.
7919 * Changes in the DJGPP native configuration.
7921 New command ``info dos sysinfo'' displays assorted information about
7922 the CPU, OS, memory, and DPMI server.
7924 New commands ``info dos gdt'', ``info dos ldt'', and ``info dos idt''
7925 display information about segment descriptors stored in GDT, LDT, and
7928 New commands ``info dos pde'' and ``info dos pte'' display entries
7929 from Page Directory and Page Tables (for now works with CWSDPMI only).
7930 New command ``info dos address-pte'' displays the Page Table entry for
7931 a given linear address.
7933 GDB can now pass command lines longer than 126 characters to the
7934 program being debugged (requires an update to the libdbg.a library
7935 which is part of the DJGPP development kit).
7937 DWARF2 debug info is now supported.
7939 It is now possible to `step' and `next' through calls to `longjmp'.
7941 * Changes in documentation.
7943 All GDB documentation was converted to GFDL, the GNU Free
7944 Documentation License.
7946 Tracepoints-related commands are now fully documented in the GDB
7949 TUI, the Text-mode User Interface, is now documented in the manual.
7951 Tracepoints-related commands are now fully documented in the GDB
7954 The "GDB Internals" manual now has an index. It also includes
7955 documentation of `ui_out' functions, GDB coding standards, x86
7956 hardware watchpoints, and memory region attributes.
7958 * GDB's version number moved to ``version.in''
7960 The Makefile variable VERSION has been replaced by the file
7961 ``version.in''. People creating GDB distributions should update the
7962 contents of this file.
7966 GUD support is now a standard part of the EMACS distribution.
7968 *** Changes in GDB 5.0:
7970 * Improved support for debugging FP programs on x86 targets
7972 Unified and much-improved support for debugging floating-point
7973 programs on all x86 targets. In particular, ``info float'' now
7974 displays the FP registers in the same format on all x86 targets, with
7975 greater level of detail.
7977 * Improvements and bugfixes in hardware-assisted watchpoints
7979 It is now possible to watch array elements, struct members, and
7980 bitfields with hardware-assisted watchpoints. Data-read watchpoints
7981 on x86 targets no longer erroneously trigger when the address is
7984 * Improvements in the native DJGPP version of GDB
7986 The distribution now includes all the scripts and auxiliary files
7987 necessary to build the native DJGPP version on MS-DOS/MS-Windows
7988 machines ``out of the box''.
7990 The DJGPP version can now debug programs that use signals. It is
7991 possible to catch signals that happened in the debuggee, deliver
7992 signals to it, interrupt it with Ctrl-C, etc. (Previously, a signal
7993 would kill the program being debugged.) Programs that hook hardware
7994 interrupts (keyboard, timer, etc.) can also be debugged.
7996 It is now possible to debug DJGPP programs that redirect their
7997 standard handles or switch them to raw (as opposed to cooked) mode, or
7998 even close them. The command ``run < foo > bar'' works as expected,
7999 and ``info terminal'' reports useful information about the debuggee's
8000 terminal, including raw/cooked mode, redirection, etc.
8002 The DJGPP version now uses termios functions for console I/O, which
8003 enables debugging graphics programs. Interrupting GDB with Ctrl-C
8006 DOS-style file names with drive letters are now fully supported by
8009 It is now possible to debug DJGPP programs that switch their working
8010 directory. It is also possible to rerun the debuggee any number of
8011 times without restarting GDB; thus, you can use the same setup,
8012 breakpoints, etc. for many debugging sessions.
8014 * New native configurations
8016 ARM GNU/Linux arm*-*-linux*
8017 PowerPC GNU/Linux powerpc-*-linux*
8021 Motorola MCore mcore-*-*
8022 x86 VxWorks i[3456]86-*-vxworks*
8023 PowerPC VxWorks powerpc-*-vxworks*
8024 TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
8026 * OBSOLETE configurations
8028 Altos 3068 m68*-altos-*
8029 Convex c1-*-*, c2-*-*
8031 ARM RISCix arm-*-* (as host)
8034 Configurations that have been declared obsolete will be commented out,
8035 but the code will be left in place. If there is no activity to revive
8036 these configurations before the next release of GDB, the sources will
8037 be permanently REMOVED.
8039 * Gould support removed
8041 Support for the Gould PowerNode and NP1 has been removed.
8043 * New features for SVR4
8045 On SVR4 native platforms (such as Solaris), if you attach to a process
8046 without first loading a symbol file, GDB will now attempt to locate and
8047 load symbols from the running process's executable file.
8049 * Many C++ enhancements
8051 C++ support has been greatly improved. Overload resolution now works properly
8052 in almost all cases. RTTI support is on the way.
8054 * Remote targets can connect to a sub-program
8056 A popen(3) style serial-device has been added. This device starts a
8057 sub-process (such as a stand-alone simulator) and then communicates
8058 with that. The sub-program to run is specified using the syntax
8059 ``|<program> <args>'' vis:
8061 (gdb) set remotedebug 1
8062 (gdb) target extended-remote |mn10300-elf-sim program-args
8064 * MIPS 64 remote protocol
8066 A long standing bug in the mips64 remote protocol where by GDB
8067 expected certain 32 bit registers (ex SR) to be transferred as 32
8068 instead of 64 bits has been fixed.
8070 The command ``set remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs on'' has been
8071 added to provide backward compatibility with older versions of GDB.
8073 * ``set remotebinarydownload'' replaced by ``set remote X-packet''
8075 The command ``set remotebinarydownload'' command has been replaced by
8076 ``set remote X-packet''. Other commands in ``set remote'' family
8077 include ``set remote P-packet''.
8079 * Breakpoint commands accept ranges.
8081 The breakpoint commands ``enable'', ``disable'', and ``delete'' now
8082 accept a range of breakpoints, e.g. ``5-7''. The tracepoint command
8083 ``tracepoint passcount'' also accepts a range of tracepoints.
8085 * ``apropos'' command added.
8087 The ``apropos'' command searches through command names and
8088 documentation strings, printing out matches, making it much easier to
8089 try to find a command that does what you are looking for.
8093 A new machine oriented interface (MI) has been added to GDB. This
8094 interface is designed for debug environments running GDB as a separate
8095 process. This is part of the long term libGDB project. See the
8096 "GDB/MI" chapter of the GDB manual for further information. It can be
8097 enabled by configuring with:
8099 .../configure --enable-gdbmi
8101 *** Changes in GDB-4.18:
8103 * New native configurations
8105 HP-UX 10.20 hppa*-*-hpux10.20
8106 HP-UX 11.x hppa*-*-hpux11.0*
8107 M68K GNU/Linux m68*-*-linux*
8111 Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
8112 Intel StrongARM strongarm-*-*
8113 Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
8115 * OBSOLETE configurations
8117 Gould PowerNode, NP1 np1-*-*, pn-*-*
8119 Configurations that have been declared obsolete will be commented out,
8120 but the code will be left in place. If there is no activity to revive
8121 these configurations before the next release of GDB, the sources will
8122 be permanently REMOVED.
8126 As a compatibility experiment, GDB's source files buildsym.h and
8127 buildsym.c have been converted to pure standard C, no longer
8128 containing any K&R compatibility code. We believe that all systems in
8129 use today either come with a standard C compiler, or have a GCC port
8130 available. If this is not true, please report the affected
8131 configuration to bug-gdb@gnu.org immediately. See the README file for
8132 information about getting a standard C compiler if you don't have one
8137 GDB now uses readline 2.2.
8139 * set extension-language
8141 You can now control the mapping between filename extensions and source
8142 languages by using the `set extension-language' command. For instance,
8143 you can ask GDB to treat .c files as C++ by saying
8144 set extension-language .c c++
8145 The command `info extensions' lists all of the recognized extensions
8146 and their associated languages.
8148 * Setting processor type for PowerPC and RS/6000
8150 When GDB is configured for a powerpc*-*-* or an rs6000*-*-* target,
8151 you can use the `set processor' command to specify what variant of the
8152 PowerPC family you are debugging. The command
8156 sets the PowerPC/RS6000 variant to NAME. GDB knows about the
8157 following PowerPC and RS6000 variants:
8159 ppc-uisa PowerPC UISA - a PPC processor as viewed by user-level code
8160 rs6000 IBM RS6000 ("POWER") architecture, user-level view
8162 403GC IBM PowerPC 403GC
8163 505 Motorola PowerPC 505
8164 860 Motorola PowerPC 860 or 850
8165 601 Motorola PowerPC 601
8166 602 Motorola PowerPC 602
8167 603 Motorola/IBM PowerPC 603 or 603e
8168 604 Motorola PowerPC 604 or 604e
8169 750 Motorola/IBM PowerPC 750 or 750
8171 At the moment, this command just tells GDB what to name the
8172 special-purpose processor registers. Since almost all the affected
8173 registers are inaccessible to user-level programs, this command is
8174 only useful for remote debugging in its present form.
8178 Thanks to a major code donation from Hewlett-Packard, GDB now has much
8179 more extensive support for HP-UX. Added features include shared
8180 library support, kernel threads and hardware watchpoints for 11.00,
8181 support for HP's ANSI C and C++ compilers, and a compatibility mode
8182 for xdb and dbx commands.
8186 HP's donation includes the new concept of catchpoints, which is a
8187 generalization of the old catch command. On HP-UX, it is now possible
8188 to catch exec, fork, and vfork, as well as library loading.
8190 This means that the existing catch command has changed; its first
8191 argument now specifies the type of catch to be set up. See the
8192 output of "help catch" for a list of catchpoint types.
8194 * Debugging across forks
8196 On HP-UX, you can choose which process to debug when a fork() happens
8201 HP has donated a curses-based terminal user interface (TUI). To get
8202 it, build with --enable-tui. Although this can be enabled for any
8203 configuration, at present it only works for native HP debugging.
8205 * GDB remote protocol additions
8207 A new protocol packet 'X' that writes binary data is now available.
8208 Default behavior is to try 'X', then drop back to 'M' if the stub
8209 fails to respond. The settable variable `remotebinarydownload'
8210 allows explicit control over the use of 'X'.
8212 For 64-bit targets, the memory packets ('M' and 'm') can now contain a
8213 full 64-bit address. The command
8215 set remoteaddresssize 32
8217 can be used to revert to the old behavior. For existing remote stubs
8218 the change should not be noticed, as the additional address information
8221 In order to assist in debugging stubs, you may use the maintenance
8222 command `packet' to send any text string to the stub. For instance,
8224 maint packet heythere
8226 sends the packet "$heythere#<checksum>". Note that it is very easy to
8227 disrupt a debugging session by sending the wrong packet at the wrong
8230 The compare-sections command allows you to compare section data on the
8231 target to what is in the executable file without uploading or
8232 downloading, by comparing CRC checksums.
8234 * Tracing can collect general expressions
8236 You may now collect general expressions at tracepoints. This requires
8237 further additions to the target-side stub; see tracepoint.c and
8238 doc/agentexpr.texi for further details.
8240 * mask-address variable for Mips
8242 For Mips targets, you may control the zeroing of the upper 32 bits of
8243 a 64-bit address by entering `set mask-address on'. This is mainly
8244 of interest to users of embedded R4xxx and R5xxx processors.
8246 * Higher serial baud rates
8248 GDB's serial code now allows you to specify baud rates 57600, 115200,
8249 230400, and 460800 baud. (Note that your host system may not be able
8250 to achieve all of these rates.)
8254 The i960 configuration now includes an initial implementation of a
8255 builtin simulator, contributed by Jim Wilson.
8258 *** Changes in GDB-4.17:
8260 * New native configurations
8262 Alpha GNU/Linux alpha*-*-linux*
8263 Unixware 2.x i[3456]86-unixware2*
8264 Irix 6.x mips*-sgi-irix6*
8265 PowerPC GNU/Linux powerpc-*-linux*
8266 PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
8267 Sparc GNU/Linux sparc-*-linux*
8268 Motorola sysV68 R3V7.1 m68k-motorola-sysv
8272 Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
8273 Hitachi H8/300S h8300*-*-*
8274 Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
8275 Matsushita MN10300 w/simulator mn10300-*-*
8276 MIPS NEC VR4100 mips64*vr4100*{,el}-*-elf*
8277 MIPS NEC VR5000 mips64*vr5000*{,el}-*-elf*
8278 MIPS Toshiba TX39 mips64*tx39*{,el}-*-elf*
8279 Mitsubishi D10V w/simulator d10v-*-*
8280 Mitsubishi M32R/D w/simulator m32r-*-elf*
8281 Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
8282 NEC V850 w/simulator v850-*-*
8284 * New debugging protocols
8286 ARM with RDI protocol arm*-*-*
8287 M68K with dBUG monitor m68*-*-{aout,coff,elf}
8288 DDB and LSI variants of PMON protocol mips*-*-*
8289 PowerPC with DINK32 monitor powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
8290 PowerPC with SDS protocol powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
8291 Macraigor OCD (Wiggler) devices powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
8295 All configurations can now understand and use the DWARF 2 debugging
8296 format. The choice is automatic, if the symbol file contains DWARF 2
8301 GDB now includes basic Java language support. This support is
8302 only useful with Java compilers that produce native machine code.
8304 * solib-absolute-prefix and solib-search-path
8306 For SunOS and SVR4 shared libraries, you may now set the prefix for
8307 loading absolute shared library symbol files, and the search path for
8308 locating non-absolute shared library symbol files.
8310 * Live range splitting
8312 GDB can now effectively debug code for which GCC has performed live
8313 range splitting as part of its optimization. See gdb/doc/LRS for
8314 more details on the expected format of the stabs information.
8318 GDB's support for the GNU Hurd, including thread debugging, has been
8319 updated to work with current versions of the Hurd.
8323 GDB's ARM target configuration now handles the ARM7T (Thumb) 16-bit
8324 instruction set. ARM GDB automatically detects when Thumb
8325 instructions are in use, and adjusts disassembly and backtracing
8330 GDB's MIPS target configurations now handle the MIP16 16-bit
8335 GDB now includes support for overlays; if an executable has been
8336 linked such that multiple sections are based at the same address, GDB
8337 will decide which section to use for symbolic info. You can choose to
8338 control the decision manually, using overlay commands, or implement
8339 additional target-side support and use "overlay load-target" to bring
8340 in the overlay mapping. Do "help overlay" for more detail.
8344 The command "info symbol <address>" displays information about
8345 the symbol at the specified address.
8349 The standard remote protocol now includes an extension that allows
8350 asynchronous collection and display of trace data. This requires
8351 extensive support in the target-side debugging stub. Tracing mode
8352 includes a new interaction mode in GDB and new commands: see the
8353 file tracepoint.c for more details.
8357 Configurations for embedded MIPS now include a simulator contributed
8358 by Cygnus Solutions. The simulator supports the instruction sets
8359 of most MIPS variants.
8363 Sparc configurations may now include the ERC32 simulator contributed
8364 by the European Space Agency. The simulator is not built into
8365 Sparc targets by default; configure with --enable-sim to include it.
8369 For target configurations that may include multiple variants of a
8370 basic architecture (such as MIPS and SH), you may now set the
8371 architecture explicitly. "set arch" sets, "info arch" lists
8372 the possible architectures.
8374 *** Changes in GDB-4.16:
8376 * New native configurations
8378 Windows 95, x86 Windows NT i[345]86-*-cygwin32
8379 M68K NetBSD m68k-*-netbsd*
8380 PowerPC AIX 4.x powerpc-*-aix*
8381 PowerPC MacOS powerpc-*-macos*
8382 PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
8383 RS/6000 AIX 4.x rs6000-*-aix4*
8387 ARM with RDP protocol arm-*-*
8388 I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
8389 MIPS VxWorks mips*-*-vxworks*
8390 MIPS VR4300 with PMON mips64*vr4300{,el}-*-elf*
8391 PowerPC with PPCBUG monitor powerpc{,le}-*-eabi*
8393 Matra Sparclet sparclet-*-*
8397 The powerpc-eabi configuration now includes the PSIM simulator,
8398 contributed by Andrew Cagney, with assistance from Mike Meissner.
8399 PSIM is a very elaborate model of the PowerPC, including not only
8400 basic instruction set execution, but also details of execution unit
8401 performance and I/O hardware. See sim/ppc/README for more details.
8405 GDB now works with Solaris 2.5.
8407 * Windows 95/NT native
8409 GDB will now work as a native debugger on Windows 95 and Windows NT.
8410 To build it from source, you must use the "gnu-win32" environment,
8411 which uses a DLL to emulate enough of Unix to run the GNU tools.
8412 Further information, binaries, and sources are available at
8413 ftp.cygnus.com, under pub/gnu-win32.
8415 * dont-repeat command
8417 If a user-defined command includes the command `dont-repeat', then the
8418 command will not be repeated if the user just types return. This is
8419 useful if the command is time-consuming to run, so that accidental
8420 extra keystrokes don't run the same command many times.
8422 * Send break instead of ^C
8424 The standard remote protocol now includes an option to send a break
8425 rather than a ^C to the target in order to interrupt it. By default,
8426 GDB will send ^C; to send a break, set the variable `remotebreak' to 1.
8428 * Remote protocol timeout
8430 The standard remote protocol includes a new variable `remotetimeout'
8431 that allows you to set the number of seconds before GDB gives up trying
8432 to read from the target. The default value is 2.
8434 * Automatic tracking of dynamic object loading (HPUX and Solaris only)
8436 By default GDB will automatically keep track of objects as they are
8437 loaded and unloaded by the dynamic linker. By using the command `set
8438 stop-on-solib-events 1' you can arrange for GDB to stop the inferior
8439 when shared library events occur, thus allowing you to set breakpoints
8440 in shared libraries which are explicitly loaded by the inferior.
8442 Note this feature does not work on hpux8. On hpux9 you must link
8443 /usr/lib/end.o into your program. This feature should work
8444 automatically on hpux10.
8446 * Irix 5.x hardware watchpoint support
8448 Irix 5 configurations now support the use of hardware watchpoints.
8450 * Mips protocol "SYN garbage limit"
8452 When debugging a Mips target using the `target mips' protocol, you
8453 may set the number of characters that GDB will ignore by setting
8454 the `syn-garbage-limit'. A value of -1 means that GDB will ignore
8455 every character. The default value is 1050.
8457 * Recording and replaying remote debug sessions
8459 If you set `remotelogfile' to the name of a file, gdb will write to it
8460 a recording of a remote debug session. This recording may then be
8461 replayed back to gdb using "gdbreplay". See gdbserver/README for
8462 details. This is useful when you have a problem with GDB while doing
8463 remote debugging; you can make a recording of the session and send it
8464 to someone else, who can then recreate the problem.
8466 * Speedups for remote debugging
8468 GDB includes speedups for downloading and stepping MIPS systems using
8469 the IDT monitor, fast downloads to the Hitachi SH E7000 emulator,
8470 and more efficient S-record downloading.
8472 * Memory use reductions and statistics collection
8474 GDB now uses less memory and reports statistics about memory usage.
8475 Try the `maint print statistics' command, for example.
8477 *** Changes in GDB-4.15:
8479 * Psymtabs for XCOFF
8481 The symbol reader for AIX GDB now uses partial symbol tables. This
8482 can greatly improve startup time, especially for large executables.
8484 * Remote targets use caching
8486 Remote targets now use a data cache to speed up communication with the
8487 remote side. The data cache could lead to incorrect results because
8488 it doesn't know about volatile variables, thus making it impossible to
8489 debug targets which use memory mapped I/O devices. `set remotecache
8490 off' turns the data cache off.
8492 * Remote targets may have threads
8494 The standard remote protocol now includes support for multiple threads
8495 in the target system, using new protocol commands 'H' and 'T'. See
8496 gdb/remote.c for details.
8500 If GDB is configured with `--enable-netrom', then it will include
8501 support for the NetROM ROM emulator from XLNT Designs. The NetROM
8502 acts as though it is a bank of ROM on the target board, but you can
8503 write into it over the network. GDB's support consists only of
8504 support for fast loading into the emulated ROM; to debug, you must use
8505 another protocol, such as standard remote protocol. The usual
8506 sequence is something like
8508 target nrom <netrom-hostname>
8510 target remote <netrom-hostname>:1235
8514 GDB now includes support for the Apple Macintosh, as a host only. It
8515 may be run as either an MPW tool or as a standalone application, and
8516 it can debug through the serial port. All the usual GDB commands are
8517 available, but to the target command, you must supply "serial" as the
8518 device type instead of "/dev/ttyXX". See mpw-README in the main
8519 directory for more information on how to build. The MPW configuration
8520 scripts */mpw-config.in support only a few targets, and only the
8521 mips-idt-ecoff target has been tested.
8525 GDB configuration now uses autoconf. This is not user-visible,
8526 but does simplify configuration and building.
8530 GDB now supports hpux10.
8532 *** Changes in GDB-4.14:
8534 * New native configurations
8536 x86 FreeBSD i[345]86-*-freebsd
8537 x86 NetBSD i[345]86-*-netbsd
8538 NS32k NetBSD ns32k-*-netbsd
8539 Sparc NetBSD sparc-*-netbsd
8543 A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
8544 HP PA PRO embedded (WinBond W89K & Oki OP50N) hppa*-*-pro*
8545 CPU32 EST-300 emulator m68*-*-est*
8546 PowerPC ELF powerpc-*-elf
8549 * Alpha OSF/1 support for procfs
8551 GDB now supports procfs under OSF/1-2.x and higher, which makes it
8552 possible to attach to running processes. As the mounting of the /proc
8553 filesystem is optional on the Alpha, GDB automatically determines
8554 the availability of /proc during startup. This can lead to problems
8555 if /proc is unmounted after GDB has been started.
8557 * Arguments to user-defined commands
8559 User commands may accept up to 10 arguments separated by whitespace.
8560 Arguments are accessed within the user command via $arg0..$arg9. A
8563 print $arg0 + $arg1 + $arg2
8565 To execute the command use:
8568 Defines the command "adder" which prints the sum of its three arguments.
8569 Note the arguments are text substitutions, so they may reference variables,
8570 use complex expressions, or even perform inferior function calls.
8572 * New `if' and `while' commands
8574 This makes it possible to write more sophisticated user-defined
8575 commands. Both commands take a single argument, which is the
8576 expression to evaluate, and must be followed by the commands to
8577 execute, one per line, if the expression is nonzero, the list being
8578 terminated by the word `end'. The `if' command list may include an
8579 `else' word, which causes the following commands to be executed only
8580 if the expression is zero.
8582 * Fortran source language mode
8584 GDB now includes partial support for Fortran 77. It will recognize
8585 Fortran programs and can evaluate a subset of Fortran expressions, but
8586 variables and functions may not be handled correctly. GDB will work
8587 with G77, but does not yet know much about symbols emitted by other
8590 * Better HPUX support
8592 Most debugging facilities now work on dynamic executables for HPPAs
8593 running hpux9 or later. You can attach to running dynamically linked
8594 processes, but by default the dynamic libraries will be read-only, so
8595 for instance you won't be able to put breakpoints in them. To change
8596 that behavior do the following before running the program:
8602 This will cause the libraries to be mapped private and read-write.
8603 To revert to the normal behavior, do this:
8609 You cannot set breakpoints or examine data in the library until after
8610 the library is loaded if the function/data symbols do not have
8613 GDB can now also read debug symbols produced by the HP C compiler on
8614 HPPAs (sorry, no C++, Fortran or 68k support).
8616 * Target byte order now dynamically selectable
8618 You can choose which byte order to use with a target system, via the
8619 commands "set endian big" and "set endian little", and you can see the
8620 current setting by using "show endian". You can also give the command
8621 "set endian auto", in which case GDB will use the byte order
8622 associated with the executable. Currently, only embedded MIPS
8623 configurations support dynamic selection of target byte order.
8625 * New DOS host serial code
8627 This version uses DPMI interrupts to handle buffered I/O, so you
8628 no longer need to run asynctsr when debugging boards connected to
8631 *** Changes in GDB-4.13:
8633 * New "complete" command
8635 This lists all the possible completions for the rest of the line, if it
8636 were to be given as a command itself. This is intended for use by emacs.
8638 * Trailing space optional in prompt
8640 "set prompt" no longer adds a space for you after the prompt you set. This
8641 allows you to set a prompt which ends in a space or one that does not.
8643 * Breakpoint hit counts
8645 "info break" now displays a count of the number of times the breakpoint
8646 has been hit. This is especially useful in conjunction with "ignore"; you
8647 can ignore a large number of breakpoint hits, look at the breakpoint info
8648 to see how many times the breakpoint was hit, then run again, ignoring one
8649 less than that number, and this will get you quickly to the last hit of
8652 * Ability to stop printing at NULL character
8654 "set print null-stop" will cause GDB to stop printing the characters of
8655 an array when the first NULL is encountered. This is useful when large
8656 arrays actually contain only short strings.
8658 * Shared library breakpoints
8660 In SunOS 4.x, SVR4, and Alpha OSF/1 configurations, you can now set
8661 breakpoints in shared libraries before the executable is run.
8663 * Hardware watchpoints
8665 There is a new hardware breakpoint for the watch command for sparclite
8666 targets. See gdb/sparclite/hw_breakpoint.note.
8668 Hardware watchpoints are also now supported under GNU/Linux.
8672 Annotations have been added. These are for use with graphical interfaces,
8673 and are still experimental. Currently only gdba.el uses these.
8675 * Improved Irix 5 support
8677 GDB now works properly with Irix 5.2.
8679 * Improved HPPA support
8681 GDB now works properly with the latest GCC and GAS.
8683 * New native configurations
8685 Sequent PTX4 i[34]86-sequent-ptx4
8686 HPPA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
8687 Atari TT running SVR4 m68*-*-sysv4*
8688 RS/6000 LynxOS rs6000-*-lynxos*
8692 OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
8693 MIPS R4000 mips64*{,el}-*-{ecoff,elf}
8696 * Hitachi SH7000 and E7000-PC ICE support
8698 There is now support for communicating with the Hitachi E7000-PC ICE.
8699 This is available automatically when GDB is configured for the SH.
8703 As usual, a variety of small fixes and improvements, both generic
8704 and configuration-specific. See the ChangeLog for more detail.
8706 *** Changes in GDB-4.12:
8708 * Irix 5 is now supported
8712 GDB-4.12 on the HPPA has a number of changes which make it unable
8713 to debug the output from the currently released versions of GCC and
8714 GAS (GCC 2.5.8 and GAS-2.2 or PAGAS-1.36). Until the next major release
8715 of GCC and GAS, versions of these tools designed to work with GDB-4.12
8716 can be retrieved via anonymous ftp from jaguar.cs.utah.edu:/dist.
8719 *** Changes in GDB-4.11:
8721 * User visible changes:
8725 The "set remotedebug" option is now consistent between the mips remote
8726 target, remote targets using the gdb-specific protocol, UDI (AMD's
8727 debug protocol for the 29k) and the 88k bug monitor. It is now an
8728 integer specifying a debug level (normally 0 or 1, but 2 means more
8729 debugging info for the mips target).
8731 * DEC Alpha native support
8733 GDB now works on the DEC Alpha. GCC 2.4.5 does not produce usable
8734 debug info, but GDB works fairly well with the DEC compiler and should
8735 work with a future GCC release. See the README file for a few
8736 Alpha-specific notes.
8738 * Preliminary thread implementation
8740 GDB now has preliminary thread support for both SGI/Irix and LynxOS.
8742 * LynxOS native and target support for 386
8744 This release has been hosted on LynxOS 2.2, and also can be configured
8745 to remotely debug programs running under LynxOS (see gdb/gdbserver/README
8748 * Improvements in C++ mangling/demangling.
8750 This release has much better g++ debugging, specifically in name
8751 mangling/demangling, virtual function calls, print virtual table,
8752 call methods, ...etc.
8754 *** Changes in GDB-4.10:
8756 * User visible changes:
8758 Remote debugging using the GDB-specific (`target remote') protocol now
8759 supports the `load' command. This is only useful if you have some
8760 other way of getting the stub to the target system, and you can put it
8761 somewhere in memory where it won't get clobbered by the download.
8763 Filename completion now works.
8765 When run under emacs mode, the "info line" command now causes the
8766 arrow to point to the line specified. Also, "info line" prints
8767 addresses in symbolic form (as well as hex).
8769 All vxworks based targets now support a user settable option, called
8770 vxworks-timeout. This option represents the number of seconds gdb
8771 should wait for responses to rpc's. You might want to use this if
8772 your vxworks target is, perhaps, a slow software simulator or happens
8773 to be on the far side of a thin network line.
8777 This release contains support for using a DEC alpha as a GDB host for
8778 cross debugging. Native alpha debugging is not supported yet.
8781 *** Changes in GDB-4.9:
8785 This is the first GDB release which is accompanied by a matching testsuite.
8786 The testsuite requires installation of dejagnu, which should be available
8787 via ftp from most sites that carry GNU software.
8791 'Cfront' style demangling has had its name changed to 'ARM' style, to
8792 emphasize that it was written from the specifications in the C++ Annotated
8793 Reference Manual, not necessarily to be compatible with AT&T cfront. Despite
8794 disclaimers, it still generated too much confusion with users attempting to
8795 use gdb with AT&T cfront.
8799 GDB now uses a standard remote interface to a simulator library.
8800 So far, the library contains simulators for the Zilog Z8001/2, the
8801 Hitachi H8/300, H8/500 and Super-H.
8803 * New targets supported
8805 H8/300 simulator h8300-hitachi-hms or h8300hms
8806 H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
8807 SH simulator sh-hitachi-hms or sh
8808 Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
8809 IDT MIPS board over serial line mips-idt-ecoff
8811 Cross-debugging to GO32 targets is supported. It requires a custom
8812 version of the i386-stub.c module which is integrated with the
8813 GO32 memory extender.
8815 * New remote protocols
8817 MIPS remote debugging protocol.
8819 * New source languages supported
8821 This version includes preliminary support for Chill, a Pascal like language
8822 used by telecommunications companies. Chill support is also being integrated
8823 into the GNU compiler, but we don't know when it will be publicly available.
8826 *** Changes in GDB-4.8:
8828 * HP Precision Architecture supported
8830 GDB now supports HP PA-RISC machines running HPUX. A preliminary
8831 version of this support was available as a set of patches from the
8832 University of Utah. GDB does not support debugging of programs
8833 compiled with the HP compiler, because HP will not document their file
8834 format. Instead, you must use GCC (version 2.3.2 or later) and PA-GAS
8835 (as available from jaguar.cs.utah.edu:/dist/pa-gas.u4.tar.Z).
8837 Many problems in the preliminary version have been fixed.
8839 * Faster and better demangling
8841 We have improved template demangling and fixed numerous bugs in the GNU style
8842 demangler. It can now handle type modifiers such as `static' or `const'. Wide
8843 character types (wchar_t) are now supported. Demangling of each symbol is now
8844 only done once, and is cached when the symbol table for a file is read in.
8845 This results in a small increase in memory usage for C programs, a moderate
8846 increase in memory usage for C++ programs, and a fantastic speedup in
8849 `Cfront' style demangling still doesn't work with AT&T cfront. It was written
8850 from the specifications in the Annotated Reference Manual, which AT&T's
8851 compiler does not actually implement.
8853 * G++ multiple inheritance compiler problem
8855 In the 2.3.2 release of gcc/g++, how the compiler resolves multiple
8856 inheritance lattices was reworked to properly discover ambiguities. We
8857 recently found an example which causes this new algorithm to fail in a
8858 very subtle way, producing bad debug information for those classes.
8859 The file 'gcc.patch' (in this directory) can be applied to gcc to
8860 circumvent the problem. A future GCC release will contain a complete
8863 The previous G++ debug info problem (mentioned below for the gdb-4.7
8864 release) is fixed in gcc version 2.3.2.
8866 * Improved configure script
8868 The `configure' script will now attempt to guess your system type if
8869 you don't supply a host system type. The old scheme of supplying a
8870 host system triplet is preferable over using this. All the magic is
8871 done in the new `config.guess' script. Examine it for details.
8873 We have also brought our configure script much more in line with the FSF's
8874 version. It now supports the --with-xxx options. In particular,
8875 `--with-minimal-bfd' can be used to make the GDB binary image smaller.
8876 The resulting GDB will not be able to read arbitrary object file formats --
8877 only the format ``expected'' to be used on the configured target system.
8878 We hope to make this the default in a future release.
8880 * Documentation improvements
8882 There's new internal documentation on how to modify GDB, and how to
8883 produce clean changes to the code. We implore people to read it
8884 before submitting changes.
8886 The GDB manual uses new, sexy Texinfo conditionals, rather than arcane
8887 M4 macros. The new texinfo.tex is provided in this release. Pre-built
8888 `info' files are also provided. To build `info' files from scratch,
8889 you will need the latest `makeinfo' release, which will be available in
8890 a future texinfo-X.Y release.
8892 *NOTE* The new texinfo.tex can cause old versions of TeX to hang.
8893 We're not sure exactly which versions have this problem, but it has
8894 been seen in 3.0. We highly recommend upgrading to TeX version 3.141
8895 or better. If that isn't possible, there is a patch in
8896 `texinfo/tex3patch' that will modify `texinfo/texinfo.tex' to work
8897 around this problem.
8901 GDB now supports array constants that can be used in expressions typed in by
8902 the user. The syntax is `{element, element, ...}'. Ie: you can now type
8903 `print {1, 2, 3}', and it will build up an array in memory malloc'd in
8906 The new directory `gdb/sparclite' contains a program that demonstrates
8907 how the sparc-stub.c remote stub runs on a Fujitsu SPARClite processor.
8909 * New native hosts supported
8911 HP/PA-RISC under HPUX using GNU tools hppa1.1-hp-hpux
8912 386 CPUs running SCO Unix 3.2v4 i386-unknown-sco3.2v4
8914 * New targets supported
8916 AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi or udi29k
8918 * New file formats supported
8920 BFD now supports reading HP/PA-RISC executables (SOM file format?),
8921 HPUX core files, and SCO 3.2v2 core files.
8925 Attaching to processes now works again; thanks for the many bug reports.
8927 We have also stomped on a bunch of core dumps caused by
8928 printf_filtered("%s") problems.
8930 We eliminated a copyright problem on the rpc and ptrace header files
8931 for VxWorks, which was discovered at the last minute during the 4.7
8932 release. You should now be able to build a VxWorks GDB.
8934 You can now interrupt gdb while an attached process is running. This
8935 will cause the attached process to stop, and give control back to GDB.
8937 We fixed problems caused by using too many file descriptors
8938 for reading symbols from object files and libraries. This was
8939 especially a problem for programs that used many (~100) shared
8942 The `step' command now only enters a subroutine if there is line number
8943 information for the subroutine. Otherwise it acts like the `next'
8944 command. Previously, `step' would enter subroutines if there was
8945 any debugging information about the routine. This avoids problems
8946 when using `cc -g1' on MIPS machines.
8948 * Internal improvements
8950 GDB's internal interfaces have been improved to make it easier to support
8951 debugging of multiple languages in the future.
8953 GDB now uses a common structure for symbol information internally.
8954 Minimal symbols (derived from linkage symbols in object files), partial
8955 symbols (from a quick scan of debug information), and full symbols
8956 contain a common subset of information, making it easier to write
8957 shared code that handles any of them.
8959 * New command line options
8961 We now accept --silent as an alias for --quiet.
8965 The memory-mapped-malloc library is now licensed under the GNU Library
8966 General Public License.
8968 *** Changes in GDB-4.7:
8970 * Host/native/target split
8972 GDB has had some major internal surgery to untangle the support for
8973 hosts and remote targets. Now, when you configure GDB for a remote
8974 target, it will no longer load in all of the support for debugging
8975 local programs on the host. When fully completed and tested, this will
8976 ensure that arbitrary host/target combinations are possible.
8978 The primary conceptual shift is to separate the non-portable code in
8979 GDB into three categories. Host specific code is required any time GDB
8980 is compiled on that host, regardless of the target. Target specific
8981 code relates to the peculiarities of the target, but can be compiled on
8982 any host. Native specific code is everything else: it can only be
8983 built when the host and target are the same system. Child process
8984 handling and core file support are two common `native' examples.
8986 GDB's use of /proc for controlling Unix child processes is now cleaner.
8987 It has been split out into a single module under the `target_ops' vector,
8988 plus two native-dependent functions for each system that uses /proc.
8990 * New hosts supported
8992 HP/Apollo 68k (under the BSD domain) m68k-apollo-bsd or apollo68bsd
8993 386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd
8994 386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or i386sco
8996 * New targets supported
8998 Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
8999 68030 and CPU32 m68030-*-*, m68332-*-*
9001 * New native hosts supported
9003 386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd
9004 (386bsd is not well tested yet)
9005 386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or sco
9007 * New file formats supported
9009 BFD now supports COFF files for the Zilog Z8000 microprocessor. It
9010 supports reading of `a.out.adobe' object files, which are an a.out
9011 format extended with minimal information about multiple sections.
9015 `show copying' is the same as the old `info copying'.
9016 `show warranty' is the same as `info warrantee'.
9017 These were renamed for consistency. The old commands continue to work.
9019 `info handle' is a new alias for `info signals'.
9021 You can now define pre-command hooks, which attach arbitrary command
9022 scripts to any command. The commands in the hook will be executed
9023 prior to the user's command. You can also create a hook which will be
9024 executed whenever the program stops. See gdb.texinfo.
9028 We now deal with Cfront style name mangling, and can even extract type
9029 info from mangled symbols. GDB can automatically figure out which
9030 symbol mangling style your C++ compiler uses.
9032 Calling of methods and virtual functions has been improved as well.
9036 The crash that occurred when debugging Sun Ansi-C compiled binaries is
9037 fixed. This was due to mishandling of the extra N_SO stabs output
9040 We also finally got Ultrix 4.2 running in house, and fixed core file
9041 support, with help from a dozen people on the net.
9043 John M. Farrell discovered that the reason that single-stepping was so
9044 slow on all of the Mips based platforms (primarily SGI and DEC) was
9045 that we were trying to demangle and lookup a symbol used for internal
9046 purposes on every instruction that was being stepped through. Changing
9047 the name of that symbol so that it couldn't be mistaken for a C++
9048 mangled symbol sped things up a great deal.
9050 Rich Pixley sped up symbol lookups in general by getting much smarter
9051 about when C++ symbol mangling is necessary. This should make symbol
9052 completion (TAB on the command line) much faster. It's not as fast as
9053 we'd like, but it's significantly faster than gdb-4.6.
9057 A new user controllable variable 'call_scratch_address' can
9058 specify the location of a scratch area to be used when GDB
9059 calls a function in the target. This is necessary because the
9060 usual method of putting the scratch area on the stack does not work
9061 in systems that have separate instruction and data spaces.
9063 We integrated changes to support the 29k UDI (Universal Debugger
9064 Interface), but discovered at the last minute that we didn't have all
9065 of the appropriate copyright paperwork. We are working with AMD to
9066 resolve this, and hope to have it available soon.
9070 We have sped up the remote serial line protocol, especially for targets
9071 with lots of registers. It now supports a new `expedited status' ('T')
9072 message which can be used in place of the existing 'S' status message.
9073 This allows the remote stub to send only the registers that GDB
9074 needs to make a quick decision about single-stepping or conditional
9075 breakpoints, eliminating the need to fetch the entire register set for
9076 each instruction being stepped through.
9078 The GDB remote serial protocol now implements a write-through cache for
9079 registers, only re-reading the registers if the target has run.
9081 There is also a new remote serial stub for SPARC processors. You can
9082 find it in gdb-4.7/gdb/sparc-stub.c. This was written to support the
9083 Fujitsu SPARClite processor, but will run on any stand-alone SPARC
9084 processor with a serial port.
9088 Configure.in files have become much easier to read and modify. A new
9089 `table driven' format makes it more obvious what configurations are
9090 supported, and what files each one uses.
9094 There is a new opcodes library which will eventually contain all of the
9095 disassembly routines and opcode tables. At present, it only contains
9096 Sparc and Z8000 routines. This will allow the assembler, debugger, and
9097 disassembler (binutils/objdump) to share these routines.
9099 The libiberty library is now copylefted under the GNU Library General
9100 Public License. This allows more liberal use, and was done so libg++
9101 can use it. This makes no difference to GDB, since the Library License
9102 grants all the rights from the General Public License.
9106 The file gdb-4.7/gdb/doc/stabs.texinfo is a (relatively) complete
9107 reference to the stabs symbol info used by the debugger. It is (as far
9108 as we know) the only published document on this fascinating topic. We
9109 encourage you to read it, compare it to the stabs information on your
9110 system, and send improvements on the document in general (to
9111 bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu).
9113 And, of course, many bugs have been fixed.
9116 *** Changes in GDB-4.6:
9118 * Better support for C++ function names
9120 GDB now accepts as input the "demangled form" of C++ overloaded function
9121 names and member function names, and can do command completion on such names
9122 (using TAB, TAB-TAB, and ESC-?). The names have to be quoted with a pair of
9123 single quotes. Examples are 'func (int, long)' and 'obj::operator==(obj&)'.
9124 Make use of command completion, it is your friend.
9126 GDB also now accepts a variety of C++ mangled symbol formats. They are
9127 the GNU g++ style, the Cfront (ARM) style, and the Lucid (lcc) style.
9128 You can tell GDB which format to use by doing a 'set demangle-style {gnu,
9129 lucid, cfront, auto}'. 'gnu' is the default. Do a 'set demangle-style foo'
9130 for the list of formats.
9132 * G++ symbol mangling problem
9134 Recent versions of gcc have a bug in how they emit debugging information for
9135 C++ methods (when using dbx-style stabs). The file 'gcc.patch' (in this
9136 directory) can be applied to gcc to fix the problem. Alternatively, if you
9137 can't fix gcc, you can #define GCC_MANGLE_BUG when compiling gdb/symtab.c. The
9138 usual symptom is difficulty with setting breakpoints on methods. GDB complains
9139 about the method being non-existent. (We believe that version 2.2.2 of GCC has
9142 * New 'maintenance' command
9144 All of the commands related to hacking GDB internals have been moved out of
9145 the main command set, and now live behind the 'maintenance' command. This
9146 can also be abbreviated as 'mt'. The following changes were made:
9148 dump-me -> maintenance dump-me
9149 info all-breakpoints -> maintenance info breakpoints
9150 printmsyms -> maintenance print msyms
9151 printobjfiles -> maintenance print objfiles
9152 printpsyms -> maintenance print psymbols
9153 printsyms -> maintenance print symbols
9155 The following commands are new:
9157 maintenance demangle Call internal GDB demangler routine to
9158 demangle a C++ link name and prints the result.
9159 maintenance print type Print a type chain for a given symbol
9161 * Change to .gdbinit file processing
9163 We now read the $HOME/.gdbinit file before processing the argv arguments
9164 (e.g. reading symbol files or core files). This allows global parameters to
9165 be set, which will apply during the symbol reading. The ./.gdbinit is still
9166 read after argv processing.
9168 * New hosts supported
9170 Solaris-2.0 !!! sparc-sun-solaris2 or sun4sol2
9172 GNU/Linux support i386-unknown-linux or linux
9174 We are also including code to support the HP/PA running BSD and HPUX. This
9175 is almost guaranteed not to work, as we didn't have time to test or build it
9176 for this release. We are including it so that the more adventurous (or
9177 masochistic) of you can play with it. We also had major problems with the
9178 fact that the compiler that we got from HP doesn't support the -g option.
9181 * New targets supported
9183 Hitachi H8/300 h8300-hitachi-hms or h8300hms
9185 * More smarts about finding #include files
9187 GDB now remembers the compilation directory for all include files, and for
9188 all files from which C is generated (like yacc and lex sources). This
9189 greatly improves GDB's ability to find yacc/lex sources, and include files,
9190 especially if you are debugging your program from a directory different from
9191 the one that contains your sources.
9193 We also fixed a bug which caused difficulty with listing and setting
9194 breakpoints in include files which contain C code. (In the past, you had to
9195 try twice in order to list an include file that you hadn't looked at before.)
9197 * Interesting infernals change
9199 GDB now deals with arbitrary numbers of sections, where the symbols for each
9200 section must be relocated relative to that section's landing place in the
9201 target's address space. This work was needed to support ELF with embedded
9202 stabs used by Solaris-2.0.
9204 * Bug fixes (of course!)
9206 There have been loads of fixes for the following things:
9207 mips, rs6000, 29k/udi, m68k, g++, type handling, elf/dwarf, m88k,
9208 i960, stabs, DOS(GO32), procfs, etc...
9210 See the ChangeLog for details.
9212 *** Changes in GDB-4.5:
9214 * New machines supported (host and target)
9216 IBM RS6000 running AIX rs6000-ibm-aix or rs6000
9218 SGI Irix-4.x mips-sgi-irix4 or iris4
9220 * New malloc package
9222 GDB now uses a new memory manager called mmalloc, based on gmalloc.
9223 Mmalloc is capable of handling multiple heaps of memory. It is also
9224 capable of saving a heap to a file, and then mapping it back in later.
9225 This can be used to greatly speedup the startup of GDB by using a
9226 pre-parsed symbol table which lives in a mmalloc managed heap. For
9227 more details, please read mmalloc/mmalloc.texi.
9231 The 'info proc' command (SVR4 only) has been enhanced quite a bit. See
9232 'help info proc' for details.
9234 * MIPS ecoff symbol table format
9236 The code that reads MIPS symbol table format is now supported on all hosts.
9237 Thanks to MIPS for releasing the sym.h and symconst.h files to make this
9240 * File name changes for MS-DOS
9242 Many files in the config directories have been renamed to make it easier to
9243 support GDB on MS-DOSe systems (which have very restrictive file name
9244 conventions :-( ). MS-DOSe host support (under DJ Delorie's GO32
9245 environment) is close to working but has some remaining problems. Note
9246 that debugging of DOS programs is not supported, due to limitations
9247 in the ``operating system'', but it can be used to host cross-debugging.
9249 * Cross byte order fixes
9251 Many fixes have been made to support cross debugging of Sparc and MIPS
9252 targets from hosts whose byte order differs.
9254 * New -mapped and -readnow options
9256 If memory-mapped files are available on your system through the 'mmap'
9257 system call, you can use the -mapped option on the `file' or
9258 `symbol-file' commands to cause GDB to write the symbols from your
9259 program into a reusable file. If the program you are debugging is
9260 called `/path/fred', the mapped symbol file will be `./fred.syms'.
9261 Future GDB debugging sessions will notice the presence of this file,
9262 and will quickly map in symbol information from it, rather than reading
9263 the symbol table from the executable program. Using the '-mapped'
9264 option in a GDB `file' or `symbol-file' command has the same effect as
9265 starting GDB with the '-mapped' command-line option.
9267 You can cause GDB to read the entire symbol table immediately by using
9268 the '-readnow' option with any of the commands that load symbol table
9269 information (or on the GDB command line). This makes the command
9270 slower, but makes future operations faster.
9272 The -mapped and -readnow options are typically combined in order to
9273 build a `fred.syms' file that contains complete symbol information.
9274 A simple GDB invocation to do nothing but build a `.syms' file for future
9277 gdb -batch -nx -mapped -readnow programname
9279 The `.syms' file is specific to the host machine on which GDB is run.
9280 It holds an exact image of GDB's internal symbol table. It cannot be
9281 shared across multiple host platforms.
9283 * longjmp() handling
9285 GDB is now capable of stepping and nexting over longjmp(), _longjmp(), and
9286 siglongjmp() without losing control. This feature has not yet been ported to
9287 all systems. It currently works on many 386 platforms, all MIPS-based
9288 platforms (SGI, DECstation, etc), and Sun3/4.
9292 Preliminary work has been put in to support the new Solaris OS from Sun. At
9293 this time, it can control and debug processes, but it is not capable of
9298 As always, many many bug fixes. The major areas were with g++, and mipsread.
9299 People using the MIPS-based platforms should experience fewer mysterious
9300 crashes and trashed symbol tables.
9302 *** Changes in GDB-4.4:
9304 * New machines supported (host and target)
9306 SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco
9308 BSD Reno on Vax vax-dec-bsd
9309 Ultrix on Vax vax-dec-ultrix
9311 * New machines supported (target)
9313 AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
9317 GDB continues to improve its handling of C++. `References' work better.
9318 The demangler has also been improved, and now deals with symbols mangled as
9319 per the Annotated C++ Reference Guide.
9321 GDB also now handles `stabs' symbol information embedded in MIPS
9322 `ecoff' symbol tables. Since the ecoff format was not easily
9323 extensible to handle new languages such as C++, this appeared to be a
9324 good way to put C++ debugging info into MIPS binaries. This option
9325 will be supported in the GNU C compiler, version 2, when it is
9328 * New features for SVR4
9330 GDB now handles SVR4 shared libraries, in the same fashion as SunOS
9331 shared libraries. Debugging dynamically linked programs should present
9332 only minor differences from debugging statically linked programs.
9334 The `info proc' command will print out information about any process
9335 on an SVR4 system (including the one you are debugging). At the moment,
9336 it prints the address mappings of the process.
9338 If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please send mail to
9339 bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were reqired (if any).
9341 * Better dynamic linking support in SunOS
9343 Reading symbols from shared libraries which contain debugging symbols
9344 now works properly. However, there remain issues such as automatic
9345 skipping of `transfer vector' code during function calls, which
9346 make it harder to debug code in a shared library, than to debug the
9347 same code linked statically.
9351 GDB is now using the latest `getopt' routines from the FSF. This
9352 version accepts the -- prefix for options with long names. GDB will
9353 continue to accept the old forms (-option and +option) as well.
9354 Various single letter abbreviations for options have been explicity
9355 added to the option table so that they won't get overshadowed in the
9356 future by other options that begin with the same letter.
9360 The `cleanup_undefined_types' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed.
9361 Many assorted bugs have been handled. Many more remain to be handled.
9362 See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details.
9365 *** Changes in GDB-4.3:
9367 * New machines supported (host and target)
9369 Amiga 3000 running Amix m68k-cbm-svr4 or amix
9370 NCR 3000 386 running SVR4 i386-ncr-svr4 or ncr3000
9371 Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
9373 * Almost SCO Unix support
9375 We had hoped to support:
9376 SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco
9377 (except for core file support), but we discovered very late in the release
9378 that it has problems with process groups that render gdb unusable. Sorry
9379 about that. I encourage people to fix it and post the fixes.
9381 * Preliminary ELF and DWARF support
9383 GDB can read ELF object files on System V Release 4, and can handle
9384 debugging records for C, in DWARF format, in ELF files. This support
9385 is preliminary. If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please
9386 send mail to bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were
9391 GDB now uses the latest `readline' library. One user-visible change
9392 is that two tabs will list possible command completions, which previously
9393 required typing M-? (meta-question mark, or ESC ?).
9397 The `stepi' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed.
9398 Many bugs in C++ have been handled. Many more remain to be handled.
9399 See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details.
9401 * State of the MIPS world (in case you wondered):
9403 GDB can understand the symbol tables emitted by the compilers
9404 supplied by most vendors of MIPS-based machines, including DEC. These
9405 symbol tables are in a format that essentially nobody else uses.
9407 Some versions of gcc come with an assembler post-processor called
9408 mips-tfile. This program is required if you want to do source-level
9409 debugging of gcc-compiled programs. I believe FSF does not ship
9410 mips-tfile with gcc version 1, but it will eventually come with gcc
9413 Debugging of g++ output remains a problem. g++ version 1.xx does not
9414 really support it at all. (If you're lucky, you should be able to get
9415 line numbers and stack traces to work, but no parameters or local
9416 variables.) With some work it should be possible to improve the
9419 When gcc version 2 is released, you will have somewhat better luck.
9420 However, even then you will get confusing results for inheritance and
9423 We will eventually provide full debugging of g++ output on
9424 DECstations. This will probably involve some kind of stabs-in-ecoff
9425 encapulation, but the details have not been worked out yet.
9428 *** Changes in GDB-4.2:
9430 * Improved configuration
9432 Only one copy of `configure' exists now, and it is not self-modifying.
9433 Porting BFD is simpler.
9437 The `step' and `next' commands now only stop at the first instruction
9438 of a source line. This prevents the multiple stops that used to occur
9439 in switch statements, for-loops, etc. `Step' continues to stop if a
9440 function that has debugging information is called within the line.
9444 Lots of small bugs fixed. More remain.
9446 * New host supported (not target)
9448 Intel 386 PC clone running Mach i386-none-mach
9451 *** Changes in GDB-4.1:
9453 * Multiple source language support
9455 GDB now has internal scaffolding to handle several source languages.
9456 It determines the type of each source file from its filename extension,
9457 and will switch expression parsing and number formatting to match the
9458 language of the function in the currently selected stack frame.
9459 You can also specifically set the language to be used, with
9460 `set language c' or `set language modula-2'.
9464 GDB now has preliminary support for the GNU Modula-2 compiler,
9465 currently under development at the State University of New York at
9466 Buffalo. Development of both GDB and the GNU Modula-2 compiler will
9467 continue through the fall of 1991 and into 1992.
9469 Other Modula-2 compilers are currently not supported, and attempting to
9470 debug programs compiled with them will likely result in an error as the
9471 symbol table is read. Feel free to work on it, though!
9473 There are hooks in GDB for strict type checking and range checking,
9474 in the `Modula-2 philosophy', but they do not currently work.
9478 GDB can now write to executable and core files (e.g. patch
9479 a variable's value). You must turn this switch on, specify
9480 the file ("exec foo" or "core foo"), *then* modify it, e.g.
9481 by assigning a new value to a variable. Modifications take
9484 * Automatic SunOS shared library reading
9486 When you run your program, GDB automatically determines where its
9487 shared libraries (if any) have been loaded, and reads their symbols.
9488 The `share' command is no longer needed. This also works when
9489 examining core files.
9493 You can specify the number of lines that the `list' command shows.
9496 * New machines supported (host and target)
9498 SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris
9499 Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x: m68k-sony-sysv or news
9500 Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1: a29k-nyu-sym1 or ultra3
9502 * New hosts supported (not targets)
9504 IBM RT/PC: romp-ibm-aix or rtpc
9506 * New targets supported (not hosts)
9508 AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
9509 AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
9510 Ultracomputer remote kernel debug a29k-nyu-kern
9512 * New remote interfaces
9518 *** Changes in GDB-4.0:
9522 Wide output is wrapped at good places to make the output more readable.
9524 Gdb now supports cross-debugging from a host machine of one type to a
9525 target machine of another type. Communication with the target system
9526 is over serial lines. The ``target'' command handles connecting to the
9527 remote system; the ``load'' command will download a program into the
9528 remote system. Serial stubs for the m68k and i386 are provided. Gdb
9529 also supports debugging of realtime processes running under VxWorks,
9530 using SunRPC Remote Procedure Calls over TCP/IP to talk to a debugger
9531 stub on the target system.
9533 New CPUs supported include the AMD 29000 and Intel 960.
9535 GDB now reads object files and symbol tables via a ``binary file''
9536 library, which allows a single copy of GDB to debug programs of multiple
9537 object file types such as a.out and coff.
9539 There is now a GDB reference card in "doc/refcard.tex". (Make targets
9540 refcard.dvi and refcard.ps are available to format it).
9543 * Control-Variable user interface simplified
9545 All variables that control the operation of the debugger can be set
9546 by the ``set'' command, and displayed by the ``show'' command.
9548 For example, ``set prompt new-gdb=>'' will change your prompt to new-gdb=>.
9549 ``Show prompt'' produces the response:
9550 Gdb's prompt is new-gdb=>.
9552 What follows are the NEW set commands. The command ``help set'' will
9553 print a complete list of old and new set commands. ``help set FOO''
9554 will give a longer description of the variable FOO. ``show'' will show
9555 all of the variable descriptions and their current settings.
9557 confirm on/off: Enables warning questions for operations that are
9558 hard to recover from, e.g. rerunning the program while
9559 it is already running. Default is ON.
9561 editing on/off: Enables EMACS style command line editing
9562 of input. Previous lines can be recalled with
9563 control-P, the current line can be edited with control-B,
9564 you can search for commands with control-R, etc.
9567 history filename NAME: NAME is where the gdb command history
9568 will be stored. The default is .gdb_history,
9569 or the value of the environment variable
9572 history size N: The size, in commands, of the command history. The
9573 default is 256, or the value of the environment variable
9576 history save on/off: If this value is set to ON, the history file will
9577 be saved after exiting gdb. If set to OFF, the
9578 file will not be saved. The default is OFF.
9580 history expansion on/off: If this value is set to ON, then csh-like
9581 history expansion will be performed on
9582 command line input. The default is OFF.
9584 radix N: Sets the default radix for input and output. It can be set
9585 to 8, 10, or 16. Note that the argument to "radix" is interpreted
9586 in the current radix, so "set radix 10" is always a no-op.
9588 height N: This integer value is the number of lines on a page. Default
9589 is 24, the current `stty rows'' setting, or the ``li#''
9590 setting from the termcap entry matching the environment
9593 width N: This integer value is the number of characters on a line.
9594 Default is 80, the current `stty cols'' setting, or the ``co#''
9595 setting from the termcap entry matching the environment
9598 Note: ``set screensize'' is obsolete. Use ``set height'' and
9599 ``set width'' instead.
9601 print address on/off: Print memory addresses in various command displays,
9602 such as stack traces and structure values. Gdb looks
9603 more ``symbolic'' if you turn this off; it looks more
9604 ``machine level'' with it on. Default is ON.
9606 print array on/off: Prettyprint arrays. New convenient format! Default
9609 print demangle on/off: Print C++ symbols in "source" form if on,
9612 print asm-demangle on/off: Same, for assembler level printouts
9615 print vtbl on/off: Prettyprint C++ virtual function tables. Default is OFF.
9618 * Support for Epoch Environment.
9620 The epoch environment is a version of Emacs v18 with windowing. One
9621 new command, ``inspect'', is identical to ``print'', except that if you
9622 are running in the epoch environment, the value is printed in its own
9626 * Support for Shared Libraries
9628 GDB can now debug programs and core files that use SunOS shared libraries.
9629 Symbols from a shared library cannot be referenced
9630 before the shared library has been linked with the program (this
9631 happens after you type ``run'' and before the function main() is entered).
9632 At any time after this linking (including when examining core files
9633 from dynamically linked programs), gdb reads the symbols from each
9634 shared library when you type the ``sharedlibrary'' command.
9635 It can be abbreviated ``share''.
9637 sharedlibrary REGEXP: Load shared object library symbols for files
9638 matching a unix regular expression. No argument
9639 indicates to load symbols for all shared libraries.
9641 info sharedlibrary: Status of loaded shared libraries.
9646 A watchpoint stops execution of a program whenever the value of an
9647 expression changes. Checking for this slows down execution
9648 tremendously whenever you are in the scope of the expression, but is
9649 quite useful for catching tough ``bit-spreader'' or pointer misuse
9650 problems. Some machines such as the 386 have hardware for doing this
9651 more quickly, and future versions of gdb will use this hardware.
9653 watch EXP: Set a watchpoint (breakpoint) for an expression.
9655 info watchpoints: Information about your watchpoints.
9657 delete N: Deletes watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
9658 disable N: Temporarily turns off watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
9659 enable N: Re-enables watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
9662 * C++ multiple inheritance
9664 When used with a GCC version 2 compiler, GDB supports multiple inheritance
9667 * C++ exception handling
9669 Gdb now supports limited C++ exception handling. Besides the existing
9670 ability to breakpoint on an exception handler, gdb can breakpoint on
9671 the raising of an exception (before the stack is peeled back to the
9674 catch FOO: If there is a FOO exception handler in the dynamic scope,
9675 set a breakpoint to catch exceptions which may be raised there.
9676 Multiple exceptions (``catch foo bar baz'') may be caught.
9678 info catch: Lists all exceptions which may be caught in the
9679 current stack frame.
9682 * Minor command changes
9684 The command ``call func (arg, arg, ...)'' now acts like the print
9685 command, except it does not print or save a value if the function's result
9686 is void. This is similar to dbx usage.
9688 The ``up'' and ``down'' commands now always print the frame they end up
9689 at; ``up-silently'' and `down-silently'' can be used in scripts to change
9690 frames without printing.
9692 * New directory command
9694 'dir' now adds directories to the FRONT of the source search path.
9695 The path starts off empty. Source files that contain debug information
9696 about the directory in which they were compiled can be found even
9697 with an empty path; Sun CC and GCC include this information. If GDB can't
9698 find your source file in the current directory, type "dir .".
9700 * Configuring GDB for compilation
9702 For normal use, type ``./configure host''. See README or gdb.texinfo
9705 GDB now handles cross debugging. If you are remotely debugging between
9706 two different machines, type ``./configure host -target=targ''.
9707 Host is the machine where GDB will run; targ is the machine
9708 where the program that you are debugging will run.