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1 What has changed in GDB?
2 (Organized release by release)
3
751b375e 4*** Changes since GDB 7.12
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5
6* GDB now supports access to the PKU register on GNU/Linux. The register is
7 added by the Memory Protection Keys for Userspace feature which will be
8 available in future Intel CPUs.
751b375e 9
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10* GDB now supports C++11 rvalue references.
11
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12* Python Scripting
13
14 ** New functions to start, stop and access a running btrace recording.
c0f55cc6 15 ** Rvalue references are now supported in gdb.Type.
0a0faf9f 16
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17* GDB now supports recording and replaying rdrand and rdseed Intel 64
18 instructions.
19
e6485aaf 20* Building GDB and GDBserver now requires a C++11 compiler.
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21
22 For example, GCC 4.8 or later.
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23
24 It is no longer possible to build GDB or GDBserver with a C
25 compiler. The --disable-build-with-cxx configure option has been
26 removed.
27
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28* Building GDB and GDBserver now requires GNU make >= 3.81.
29
30 It is no longer supported to build GDB or GDBserver with another
31 implementation of the make program or an earlier version of GNU make.
32
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33* Native debugging on MS-Windows supports command-line redirection
34
35 Command-line arguments used for starting programs on MS-Windows can
36 now include redirection symbols supported by native Windows shells,
37 such as '<', '>', '>>', '2>&1', etc. This affects GDB commands such
38 as "run", "start", and "set args", as well as the corresponding MI
39 features.
40
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41* Support for thread names on MS-Windows.
42
43 GDB now catches and handles the special exception that programs
44 running on MS-Windows use to assign names to threads in the
45 debugger.
46
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47* Support for Java programs compiled with gcj has been removed.
48
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49* User commands now accept an unlimited number of arguments.
50 Previously, only up to 10 was accepted.
51
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52* The "eval" command now expands user-defined command arguments.
53
54 This makes it easier to process a variable number of arguments:
55
56 define mycommand
57 set $i = 0
58 while $i < $argc
59 eval "print $arg%d", $i
60 set $i = $i + 1
61 end
62 end
63
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64* Target descriptions can now describe registers for sparc32 and sparc64.
65
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66* GDB now supports DWARF version 5 (debug information format).
67 Its .debug_names index is not yet supported.
68
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69* New native configurations
70
71FreeBSD/mips mips*-*-freebsd
72
73
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74* New targets
75
76Synopsys ARC arc*-*-elf32
387360da 77FreeBSD/mips mips*-*-freebsd
ad0a504f 78
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79* New commands
80
81flash-erase
82 Erases all the flash memory regions reported by the target.
83
84* New MI commands
85
86-target-flash-erase
87 Erases all the flash memory regions reported by the target. This is
88 equivalent to the CLI command flash-erase.
89
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90-file-list-shared-libraries
91 List the shared libraries in the program. This is
92 equivalent to the CLI command "info shared".
93
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94* New commands
95
96set disassembler-options
97show disassembler-options
98 Controls the passing of target specific information to the disassembler.
99 If it is necessary to specify more than one disassembler option then
100 multiple options can be placed together into a comma separated list.
101 The default value is the empty string. Currently, the only supported
102 targets are ARM, PowerPC and S/390.
103
751b375e 104*** Changes in GDB 7.12
1233c0ba 105
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106* GDB and GDBserver now build with a C++ compiler by default.
107
108 The --enable-build-with-cxx configure option is now enabled by
109 default. One must now explicitly configure with
110 --disable-build-with-cxx in order to build with a C compiler. This
111 option will be removed in a future release.
112
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113* GDBserver now supports recording btrace without maintaining an active
114 GDB connection.
115
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116* GDB now supports a negative repeat count in the 'x' command to examine
117 memory backward from the given address. For example:
118
119 (gdb) bt
120 #0 Func1 (n=42, p=0x40061c "hogehoge") at main.cpp:4
121 #1 0x400580 in main (argc=1, argv=0x7fffffffe5c8) at main.cpp:8
122 (gdb) x/-5i 0x0000000000400580
123 0x40056a <main(int, char**)+8>: mov %edi,-0x4(%rbp)
124 0x40056d <main(int, char**)+11>: mov %rsi,-0x10(%rbp)
125 0x400571 <main(int, char**)+15>: mov $0x40061c,%esi
126 0x400576 <main(int, char**)+20>: mov $0x2a,%edi
127 0x40057b <main(int, char**)+25>:
128 callq 0x400536 <Func1(int, char const*)>
129
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130* Fortran: Support structures with fields of dynamic types and
131 arrays of dynamic types.
132
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133* The symbol dumping maintenance commands have new syntax.
134maint print symbols [-pc address] [--] [filename]
135maint print symbols [-objfile objfile] [-source source] [--] [filename]
136maint print psymbols [-objfile objfile] [-pc address] [--] [filename]
137maint print psymbols [-objfile objfile] [-source source] [--] [filename]
138maint print msymbols [-objfile objfile] [--] [filename]
139
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140* GDB now supports multibit bitfields and enums in target register
141 descriptions.
142
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143* New Python-based convenience function $_as_string(val), which returns
144 the textual representation of a value. This function is especially
145 useful to obtain the text label of an enum value.
146
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147* Intel MPX bound violation handling.
148
149 Segmentation faults caused by a Intel MPX boundary violation
150 now display the kind of violation (upper or lower), the memory
151 address accessed and the memory bounds, along with the usual
152 signal received and code location.
153
154 For example:
155
156 Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault
157 Upper bound violation while accessing address 0x7fffffffc3b3
158 Bounds: [lower = 0x7fffffffc390, upper = 0x7fffffffc3a3]
159 0x0000000000400d7c in upper () at i386-mpx-sigsegv.c:68
160
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161* Rust language support.
162 GDB now supports debugging programs written in the Rust programming
163 language. See https://www.rust-lang.org/ for more information about
164 Rust.
165
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166* Support for running interpreters on specified input/output devices
167
168 GDB now supports a new mechanism that allows frontends to provide
169 fully featured GDB console views, as a better alternative to
170 building such views on top of the "-interpreter-exec console"
171 command. See the new "new-ui" command below. With that command,
172 frontends can now start GDB in the traditional command-line mode
173 running in an embedded terminal emulator widget, and create a
174 separate MI interpreter running on a specified i/o device. In this
175 way, GDB handles line editing, history, tab completion, etc. in the
176 console all by itself, and the GUI uses the separate MI interpreter
177 for its own control and synchronization, invisible to the command
178 line.
179
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180* The "catch syscall" command catches groups of related syscalls.
181
182 The "catch syscall" command now supports catching a group of related
183 syscalls using the 'group:' or 'g:' prefix.
184
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185* New commands
186
187skip -file file
188skip -gfile file-glob-pattern
189skip -function function
190skip -rfunction regular-expression
191 A generalized form of the skip command, with new support for
192 glob-style file names and regular expressions for function names.
193 Additionally, a file spec and a function spec may now be combined.
194
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195maint info line-table REGEXP
196 Display the contents of GDB's internal line table data struture.
197
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198maint selftest
199 Run any GDB unit tests that were compiled in.
200
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201new-ui INTERP TTY
202 Start a new user interface instance running INTERP as interpreter,
203 using the TTY file for input/output.
204
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205* Python Scripting
206
207 ** gdb.Breakpoint objects have a new attribute "pending", which
208 indicates whether the breakpoint is pending.
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209 ** Three new breakpoint-related events have been added:
210 gdb.breakpoint_created, gdb.breakpoint_modified, and
211 gdb.breakpoint_deleted.
93daf339 212
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213signal-event EVENTID
214 Signal ("set") the given MS-Windows event object. This is used in
215 conjunction with the Windows JIT debugging (AeDebug) support, where
216 the OS suspends a crashing process until a debugger can attach to
217 it. Resuming the crashing process, in order to debug it, is done by
218 signalling an event.
219
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220* Support for tracepoints and fast tracepoints on s390-linux and s390x-linux
221 was added in GDBserver, including JIT compiling fast tracepoint's
222 conditional expression bytecode into native code.
223
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224* Support for various remote target protocols and ROM monitors has
225 been removed:
226
227 target m32rsdi Remote M32R debugging over SDI
228 target mips MIPS remote debugging protocol
229 target pmon PMON ROM monitor
230 target ddb NEC's DDB variant of PMON for Vr4300
231 target rockhopper NEC RockHopper variant of PMON
232 target lsi LSI variant of PMO
233
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234* Support for tracepoints and fast tracepoints on powerpc-linux,
235 powerpc64-linux, and powerpc64le-linux was added in GDBserver,
236 including JIT compiling fast tracepoint's conditional expression
237 bytecode into native code.
238
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239* MI async record =record-started now includes the method and format used for
240 recording. For example:
241
242 =record-started,thread-group="i1",method="btrace",format="bts"
243
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244* MI async record =thread-selected now includes the frame field. For example:
245
246 =thread-selected,id="3",frame={level="0",addr="0x00000000004007c0"}
247
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248* New targets
249
250Andes NDS32 nds32*-*-elf
251
1233c0ba 252*** Changes in GDB 7.11
7c79d316 253
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254* GDB now supports debugging kernel-based threads on FreeBSD.
255
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256* Per-inferior thread numbers
257
258 Thread numbers are now per inferior instead of global. If you're
259 debugging multiple inferiors, GDB displays thread IDs using a
260 qualified INF_NUM.THR_NUM form. For example:
261
262 (gdb) info threads
263 Id Target Id Frame
264 1.1 Thread 0x7ffff7fc2740 (LWP 8155) (running)
265 1.2 Thread 0x7ffff7fc1700 (LWP 8168) (running)
266 * 2.1 Thread 0x7ffff7fc2740 (LWP 8157) (running)
267 2.2 Thread 0x7ffff7fc1700 (LWP 8190) (running)
268
269 As consequence, thread numbers as visible in the $_thread
270 convenience variable and in Python's InferiorThread.num attribute
271 are no longer unique between inferiors.
272
273 GDB now maintains a second thread ID per thread, referred to as the
274 global thread ID, which is the new equivalent of thread numbers in
663f6d42 275 previous releases. See also $_gthread below.
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276
277 For backwards compatibility, MI's thread IDs always refer to global
278 IDs.
279
280* Commands that accept thread IDs now accept the qualified
281 INF_NUM.THR_NUM form as well. For example:
282
283 (gdb) thread 2.1
284 [Switching to thread 2.1 (Thread 0x7ffff7fc2740 (LWP 8157))] (running)
285 (gdb)
286
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287* In commands that accept a list of thread IDs, you can now refer to
288 all threads of an inferior using a star wildcard. GDB accepts
289 "INF_NUM.*", to refer to all threads of inferior INF_NUM, and "*" to
290 refer to all threads of the current inferior. For example, "info
291 threads 2.*".
292
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293* You can use "info threads -gid" to display the global thread ID of
294 all threads.
295
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296* The new convenience variable $_gthread holds the global number of
297 the current thread.
298
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299* The new convenience variable $_inferior holds the number of the
300 current inferior.
301
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302* GDB now displays the ID and name of the thread that hit a breakpoint
303 or received a signal, if your program is multi-threaded. For
304 example:
305
306 Thread 3 "bar" hit Breakpoint 1 at 0x40087a: file program.c, line 20.
307 Thread 1 "main" received signal SIGINT, Interrupt.
308
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309* Record btrace now supports non-stop mode.
310
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311* Support for tracepoints on aarch64-linux was added in GDBserver.
312
da8c46d2 313* The 'record instruction-history' command now indicates speculative execution
bc504a31 314 when using the Intel Processor Trace recording format.
da8c46d2 315
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316* GDB now allows users to specify explicit locations, bypassing
317 the linespec parser. This feature is also available to GDB/MI
318 clients.
319
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320* Multi-architecture debugging is supported on AArch64 GNU/Linux.
321 GDB now is able to debug both AArch64 applications and ARM applications
322 at the same time.
323
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324* Support for fast tracepoints on aarch64-linux was added in GDBserver,
325 including JIT compiling fast tracepoint's conditional expression bytecode
326 into native code.
327
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328* GDB now supports displaced stepping on AArch64 GNU/Linux.
329
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330* "info threads", "info inferiors", "info display", "info checkpoints"
331 and "maint info program-spaces" now list the corresponding items in
332 ascending ID order, for consistency with all other "info" commands.
333
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334* In Ada, the overloads selection menu has been enhanced to display the
335 parameter types and the return types for the matching overloaded subprograms.
336
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337* New commands
338
339maint set target-non-stop (on|off|auto)
340maint show target-non-stop
341 Control whether GDB targets always operate in non-stop mode even if
342 "set non-stop" is "off". The default is "auto", meaning non-stop
343 mode is enabled if supported by the target.
344
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345maint set bfd-sharing
346maint show bfd-sharing
347 Control the reuse of bfd objects.
348
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349set debug bfd-cache
350show debug bfd-cache
351 Control display of debugging info regarding bfd caching.
352
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353set debug fbsd-lwp
354show debug fbsd-lwp
355 Control display of debugging info regarding FreeBSD threads.
356
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357set remote multiprocess-extensions-packet
358show remote multiprocess-extensions-packet
359 Set/show the use of the remote protocol multiprocess extensions.
360
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361set remote thread-events
362show remote thread-events
363 Set/show the use of thread create/exit events.
364
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365set ada print-signatures on|off
366show ada print-signatures"
367 Control whether parameter types and return types are displayed in overloads
368 selection menus. It is activaled (@code{on}) by default.
369
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370set max-value-size
371show max-value-size
372 Controls the maximum size of memory, in bytes, that GDB will
373 allocate for value contents. Prevents incorrect programs from
374 causing GDB to allocate overly large buffers. Default is 64k.
375
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376* The "disassemble" command accepts a new modifier: /s.
377 It prints mixed source+disassembly like /m with two differences:
378 - disassembled instructions are now printed in program order, and
379 - and source for all relevant files is now printed.
380 The "/m" option is now considered deprecated: its "source-centric"
381 output hasn't proved useful in practice.
382
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383* The "record instruction-history" command accepts a new modifier: /s.
384 It behaves exactly like /m and prints mixed source+disassembly.
385
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386* The "set scheduler-locking" command supports a new mode "replay".
387 It behaves like "off" in record mode and like "on" in replay mode.
388
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389* Support for various ROM monitors has been removed:
390
391 target dbug dBUG ROM monitor for Motorola ColdFire
392 target picobug Motorola picobug monitor
393 target dink32 DINK32 ROM monitor for PowerPC
394 target m32r Renesas M32R/D ROM monitor
395 target mon2000 mon2000 ROM monitor
396 target ppcbug PPCBUG ROM monitor for PowerPC
397
fd2ae5d6 398* Support for reading/writing memory and extracting values on architectures
d63dd61e 399 whose memory is addressable in units of any integral multiple of 8 bits.
fd2ae5d6 400
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401* New remote packets
402
403exec stop reason
404 Indicates that an exec system call was executed.
405
406exec-events feature in qSupported
407 The qSupported packet allows GDB to request support for exec
408 events using the new 'gdbfeature' exec-event, and the qSupported
409 response can contain the corresponding 'stubfeature'. Set and
410 show commands can be used to display whether these features are enabled.
411
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412vCtrlC
413 Equivalent to interrupting with the ^C character, but works in
414 non-stop mode.
415
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416thread created stop reason (T05 create:...)
417 Indicates that the thread was just created and is stopped at entry.
418
419thread exit stop reply (w exitcode;tid)
420 Indicates that the thread has terminated.
421
422QThreadEvents
423 Enables/disables thread create and exit event reporting. For
424 example, this is used in non-stop mode when GDB stops a set of
425 threads and synchronously waits for the their corresponding stop
426 replies. Without exit events, if one of the threads exits, GDB
427 would hang forever not knowing that it should no longer expect a
428 stop for that same thread.
429
f2faf941 430N stop reply
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431 Indicates that there are no resumed threads left in the target (all
432 threads are stopped). The remote stub reports support for this stop
433 reply to GDB's qSupported query.
434
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435QCatchSyscalls
436 Enables/disables catching syscalls from the inferior process.
437 The remote stub reports support for this packet to GDB's qSupported query.
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438
439syscall_entry stop reason
440 Indicates that a syscall was just called.
441
442syscall_return stop reason
443 Indicates that a syscall just returned.
444
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445* Extended-remote exec events
446
447 ** GDB now has support for exec events on extended-remote Linux targets.
448 For such targets with Linux kernels 2.5.46 and later, this enables
449 follow-exec-mode and exec catchpoints.
450
451set remote exec-event-feature-packet
452show remote exec-event-feature-packet
453 Set/show the use of the remote exec event feature.
454
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455 * Thread names in remote protocol
456
457 The reply to qXfer:threads:read may now include a name attribute for each
458 thread.
459
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460* Target remote mode fork and exec events
461
462 ** GDB now has support for fork and exec events on target remote mode
463 Linux targets. For such targets with Linux kernels 2.5.46 and later,
464 this enables follow-fork-mode, detach-on-fork, follow-exec-mode, and
465 fork and exec catchpoints.
466
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467* Remote syscall events
468
469 ** GDB now has support for catch syscall on remote Linux targets,
470 currently enabled on x86/x86_64 architectures.
471
472set remote catch-syscall-packet
473show remote catch-syscall-packet
474 Set/show the use of the remote catch syscall feature.
475
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476* MI changes
477
478 ** The -var-set-format command now accepts the zero-hexadecimal
479 format. It outputs data in hexadecimal format with zero-padding on the
480 left.
481
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482* Python Scripting
483
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484 ** gdb.InferiorThread objects have a new attribute "global_num",
485 which refers to the thread's global thread ID. The existing
486 "num" attribute now refers to the thread's per-inferior number.
487 See "Per-inferior thread numbers" above.
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488 ** gdb.InferiorThread objects have a new attribute "inferior", which
489 is the Inferior object the thread belongs to.
490
7c79d316 491*** Changes in GDB 7.10
df8411da 492
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493* Support for process record-replay and reverse debugging on aarch64*-linux*
494 targets has been added. GDB now supports recording of A64 instruction set
495 including advance SIMD instructions.
496
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497* Support for Sun's version of the "stabs" debug file format has been removed.
498
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499* GDB now honors the content of the file /proc/PID/coredump_filter
500 (PID is the process ID) on GNU/Linux systems. This file can be used
501 to specify the types of memory mappings that will be included in a
502 corefile. For more information, please refer to the manual page of
503 "core(5)". GDB also has a new command: "set use-coredump-filter
504 on|off". It allows to set whether GDB will read the content of the
505 /proc/PID/coredump_filter file when generating a corefile.
3b2f13ff 506
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507* The "info os" command on GNU/Linux can now display information on
508 cpu information :
509 "info os cpus" Listing of all cpus/cores on the system
510
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511* GDB has two new commands: "set serial parity odd|even|none" and
512 "show serial parity". These allows to set or show parity for the
513 remote serial I/O.
514
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515* The "info source" command now displays the producer string if it was
516 present in the debug info. This typically includes the compiler version
517 and may include things like its command line arguments.
518
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519* The "info dll", an alias of the "info sharedlibrary" command,
520 is now available on all platforms.
521
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522* Directory names supplied to the "set sysroot" commands may be
523 prefixed with "target:" to tell GDB to access shared libraries from
524 the target system, be it local or remote. This replaces the prefix
525 "remote:". The default sysroot has been changed from "" to
526 "target:". "remote:" is automatically converted to "target:" for
527 backward compatibility.
528
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529* The system root specified by "set sysroot" will be prepended to the
530 filename of the main executable (if reported to GDB as absolute by
531 the operating system) when starting processes remotely, and when
532 attaching to already-running local or remote processes.
533
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534* GDB now supports automatic location and retrieval of executable
535 files from remote targets. Remote debugging can now be initiated
536 using only a "target remote" or "target extended-remote" command
537 (no "set sysroot" or "file" commands are required). See "New remote
538 packets" below.
539
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540* The "dump" command now supports verilog hex format.
541
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542* GDB now supports the vector ABI on S/390 GNU/Linux targets.
543
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544* On GNU/Linux, GDB and gdbserver are now able to access executable
545 and shared library files without a "set sysroot" command when
546 attaching to processes running in different mount namespaces from
547 the debugger. This makes it possible to attach to processes in
548 containers as simply as "gdb -p PID" or "gdbserver --attach PID".
549 See "New remote packets" below.
550
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551* The "tui reg" command now provides completion for all of the
552 available register groups, including target specific groups.
553
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554* The HISTSIZE environment variable is no longer read when determining
555 the size of GDB's command history. GDB now instead reads the dedicated
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556 GDBHISTSIZE environment variable. Setting GDBHISTSIZE to "-1" or to "" now
557 disables truncation of command history. Non-numeric values of GDBHISTSIZE
558 are ignored.
b58c513b 559
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560* Guile Scripting
561
562 ** Memory ports can now be unbuffered.
563
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564* Python Scripting
565
566 ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "username",
567 which is the name of the objfile as specified by the user,
568 without, for example, resolving symlinks.
d11916aa 569 ** You can now write frame unwinders in Python.
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570 ** gdb.Type objects have a new method "optimized_out",
571 returning optimized out gdb.Value instance of this type.
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572 ** gdb.Value objects have new methods "reference_value" and
573 "const_value" which return a reference to the value and a
574 "const" version of the value respectively.
3a8b707a 575
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576* New commands
577
578maint print symbol-cache
579 Print the contents of the symbol cache.
580
581maint print symbol-cache-statistics
582 Print statistics of symbol cache usage.
583
584maint flush-symbol-cache
585 Flush the contents of the symbol cache.
586
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587record btrace bts
588record bts
589 Start branch trace recording using Branch Trace Store (BTS) format.
590
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591compile print
592 Evaluate expression by using the compiler and print result.
593
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594tui enable
595tui disable
596 Explicit commands for enabling and disabling tui mode.
597
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598show mpx bound
599set mpx bound on i386 and amd64
bc504a31 600 Support for bound table investigation on Intel MPX enabled applications.
29c1c244 601
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MM
602record btrace pt
603record pt
bc504a31 604 Start branch trace recording using Intel Processor Trace format.
b20a6524 605
b0627500
MM
606maint info btrace
607 Print information about branch tracing internals.
608
609maint btrace packet-history
610 Print the raw branch tracing data.
611
612maint btrace clear-packet-history
613 Discard the stored raw branch tracing data.
614
615maint btrace clear
616 Discard all branch tracing data. It will be fetched and processed
617 anew by the next "record" command.
618
253828f1
JK
619* New options
620
b4f54984
DE
621set debug dwarf-die
622 Renamed from "set debug dwarf2-die".
623show debug dwarf-die
624 Renamed from "show debug dwarf2-die".
625
626set debug dwarf-read
627 Renamed from "set debug dwarf2-read".
628show debug dwarf-read
629 Renamed from "show debug dwarf2-read".
630
631maint set dwarf always-disassemble
632 Renamed from "maint set dwarf2 always-disassemble".
633maint show dwarf always-disassemble
634 Renamed from "maint show dwarf2 always-disassemble".
635
636maint set dwarf max-cache-age
637 Renamed from "maint set dwarf2 max-cache-age".
638maint show dwarf max-cache-age
639 Renamed from "maint show dwarf2 max-cache-age".
640
27e0867f
DE
641set debug dwarf-line
642show debug dwarf-line
643 Control display of debugging info regarding DWARF line processing.
644
ef0b411a
GB
645set max-completions
646show max-completions
647 Set the maximum number of candidates to be considered during
648 completion. The default value is 200. This limit allows GDB
649 to avoid generating large completion lists, the computation of
650 which can cause the debugger to become temporarily unresponsive.
651
fc637f04
PP
652set history remove-duplicates
653show history remove-duplicates
654 Control the removal of duplicate history entries.
655
f57d2163
DE
656maint set symbol-cache-size
657maint show symbol-cache-size
658 Control the size of the symbol cache.
659
d33501a5
MM
660set|show record btrace bts buffer-size
661 Set and show the size of the ring buffer used for branch tracing in
662 BTS format.
663 The obtained size may differ from the requested size. Use "info
664 record" to see the obtained buffer size.
665
7a6a1731
GB
666set debug linux-namespaces
667show debug linux-namespaces
668 Control display of debugging info regarding Linux namespaces.
669
b20a6524
MM
670set|show record btrace pt buffer-size
671 Set and show the size of the ring buffer used for branch tracing in
bc504a31 672 Intel Processor Trace format.
b20a6524
MM
673 The obtained size may differ from the requested size. Use "info
674 record" to see the obtained buffer size.
675
b0627500
MM
676maint set|show btrace pt skip-pad
677 Set and show whether PAD packets are skipped when computing the
678 packet history.
679
253828f1
JK
680* The command 'thread apply all' can now support new option '-ascending'
681 to call its specified command for all threads in ascending order.
682
9f050062
DE
683* Python/Guile scripting
684
685 ** GDB now supports auto-loading of Python/Guile scripts contained in the
686 special section named `.debug_gdb_scripts'.
687
f4abbc16
MM
688* New remote packets
689
690qXfer:btrace-conf:read
691 Return the branch trace configuration for the current thread.
692
d33501a5
MM
693Qbtrace-conf:bts:size
694 Set the requested ring buffer size for branch tracing in BTS format.
695
b20a6524 696Qbtrace:pt
bc504a31 697 Enable Intel Procesor Trace-based branch tracing for the current
b20a6524
MM
698 process. The remote stub reports support for this packet to GDB's
699 qSupported query.
700
701Qbtrace-conf:pt:size
bc504a31 702 Set the requested ring buffer size for branch tracing in Intel Processor
b20a6524
MM
703 Trace format.
704
f7e6eed5
PA
705swbreak stop reason
706 Indicates a memory breakpoint instruction was executed, irrespective
707 of whether it was GDB that planted the breakpoint or the breakpoint
708 is hardcoded in the program. This is required for correct non-stop
709 mode operation.
710
711hwbreak stop reason
712 Indicates the target stopped for a hardware breakpoint. This is
713 required for correct non-stop mode operation.
714
0a93529c
GB
715vFile:fstat:
716 Return information about files on the remote system.
717
c78fa86a
GB
718qXfer:exec-file:read
719 Return the full absolute name of the file that was executed to
720 create a process running on the remote system.
721
15a201c8
GB
722vFile:setfs:
723 Select the filesystem on which vFile: operations with filename
724 arguments will operate. This is required for GDB to be able to
725 access files on remote targets where the remote stub does not
726 share a common filesystem with the inferior(s).
727
0d71eef5
DB
728fork stop reason
729 Indicates that a fork system call was executed.
730
731vfork stop reason
732 Indicates that a vfork system call was executed.
733
734vforkdone stop reason
735 Indicates that a vfork child of the specified process has executed
736 an exec or exit, allowing the vfork parent to resume execution.
737
738fork-events and vfork-events features in qSupported
739 The qSupported packet allows GDB to request support for fork and
740 vfork events using new 'gdbfeatures' fork-events and vfork-events,
741 and the qSupported response can contain the corresponding
742 'stubfeatures'. Set and show commands can be used to display
743 whether these features are enabled.
744
745* Extended-remote fork events
746
747 ** GDB now has support for fork events on extended-remote Linux
748 targets. For targets with Linux kernels 2.5.60 and later, this
749 enables follow-fork-mode and detach-on-fork for both fork and
750 vfork, as well as fork and vfork catchpoints.
751
d33501a5
MM
752* The info record command now shows the recording format and the
753 branch tracing configuration for the current thread when using
754 the btrace record target.
755 For the BTS format, it shows the ring buffer size.
756
b05e3b0d
JM
757* GDB now has support for DTrace USDT (Userland Static Defined
758 Tracing) probes. The supported targets are x86_64-*-linux-gnu.
759
550bdf96
AA
760* GDB now supports access to vector registers on S/390 GNU/Linux
761 targets.
762
4f45d445
JK
763* Removed command line options
764
765-xdb HP-UX XDB compatibility mode.
766
0800b440
JK
767* Removed targets and native configurations
768
769HP/PA running HP-UX hppa*-*-hpux*
770Itanium running HP-UX ia64-*-hpux*
771
58bfce93
MM
772* New configure options
773
774--with-intel-pt
775 This configure option allows the user to build GDB with support for
bc504a31 776 Intel Processor Trace (default: auto). This requires libipt.
58bfce93
MM
777
778--with-libipt-prefix=PATH
779 Specify the path to the version of libipt that GDB should use.
780 $PATH/include should contain the intel-pt.h header and
781 $PATH/lib should contain the libipt.so library.
782
f5f85ab9
JB
783*** Changes in GDB 7.9.1
784
785* Python Scripting
786
787 ** Xmethods can now specify a result type.
788
3b2f13ff 789*** Changes in GDB 7.9
919b9a93 790
05db5edd
ST
791* GDB now supports hardware watchpoints on x86 GNU Hurd.
792
5f3b99cf 793* Python Scripting
2b4fd423
DE
794
795 ** You can now access frame registers from Python scripts.
796 ** New attribute 'producer' for gdb.Symtab objects.
d096d8c1
DE
797 ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "progspace",
798 which is the gdb.Progspace object of the containing program space.
a0be3e44 799 ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "owner".
7c50a931
DE
800 ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new attribute "build_id",
801 which is the build ID generated when the file was built.
86e4ed39 802 ** gdb.Objfile objects have a new method "add_separate_debug_file".
4ffbba72
DE
803 ** A new event "gdb.clear_objfiles" has been added, triggered when
804 selecting a new file to debug.
02be9a71 805 ** You can now add attributes to gdb.Objfile and gdb.Progspace objects.
6dddd6a5 806 ** New function gdb.lookup_objfile.
5f3b99cf 807
8fda9068
YQ
808 New events which are triggered when GDB modifies the state of the
809 inferior.
810
811 ** gdb.events.inferior_call_pre: Function call is about to be made.
812 ** gdb.events.inferior_call_post: Function call has just been made.
813 ** gdb.events.memory_changed: A memory location has been altered.
814 ** gdb.events.register_changed: A register has been altered.
815
faa42425
DE
816* New Python-based convenience functions:
817
818 ** $_caller_is(name [, number_of_frames])
819 ** $_caller_matches(regexp [, number_of_frames])
820 ** $_any_caller_is(name [, number_of_frames])
821 ** $_any_caller_matches(regexp [, number_of_frames])
822
bb2ec1b3
TT
823* GDB now supports the compilation and injection of source code into
824 the inferior. GDB will use GCC 5.0 or higher built with libcc1.so
825 to compile the source code to object code, and if successful, inject
826 and execute that code within the current context of the inferior.
827 Currently the C language is supported. The commands used to
828 interface with this new feature are:
829
830 compile code [-raw|-r] [--] [source code]
831 compile file [-raw|-r] filename
832
81219e53
DE
833* New commands
834
439250fb
DE
835demangle [-l language] [--] name
836 Demangle "name" in the specified language, or the current language
837 if elided. This command is renamed from the "maint demangle" command.
838 The latter is kept as a no-op to avoid "maint demangle" being interpreted
839 as "maint demangler-warning".
840
81219e53
DE
841queue-signal signal-name-or-number
842 Queue a signal to be delivered to the thread when it is resumed.
843
f10c5b19
JK
844add-auto-load-scripts-directory directory
845 Add entries to the list of directories from which to load auto-loaded
846 scripts.
847
f5b95c01
AA
848maint print user-registers
849 List all currently available "user" registers.
850
bb2ec1b3
TT
851compile code [-r|-raw] [--] [source code]
852 Compile, inject, and execute in the inferior the executable object
853 code produced by compiling the provided source code.
854
855compile file [-r|-raw] filename
856 Compile and inject into the inferior the executable object code
857 produced by compiling the source code stored in the filename
858 provided.
859
70509625
PA
860* On resume, GDB now always passes the signal the program had stopped
861 for to the thread the signal was sent to, even if the user changed
862 threads before resuming. Previously GDB would often (but not
863 always) deliver the signal to the thread that happens to be current
864 at resume time.
865
866* Conversely, the "signal" command now consistently delivers the
867 requested signal to the current thread. GDB now asks for
868 confirmation if the program had stopped for a signal and the user
869 switched threads meanwhile.
870
a25a5a45
PA
871* "breakpoint always-inserted" modes "off" and "auto" merged.
872
873 Now, when 'breakpoint always-inserted mode' is set to "off", GDB
874 won't remove breakpoints from the target until all threads stop,
875 even in non-stop mode. The "auto" mode has been removed, and "off"
876 is now the default mode.
877
cc485e62
DE
878* New options
879
880set debug symbol-lookup
881show debug symbol-lookup
882 Control display of debugging info regarding symbol lookup.
883
2ddf4301
SM
884* MI changes
885
886 ** The -list-thread-groups command outputs an exit-code field for
887 inferiors that have exited.
888
bb7e3f4d
YQ
889* New targets
890
891MIPS SDE mips*-sde*-elf*
892
3831839c
PA
893* Removed targets
894
895Support for these obsolete configurations has been removed.
896
5ab806de
PA
897Alpha running OSF/1 (or Tru64) alpha*-*-osf*
898SGI Irix-5.x mips-*-irix5*
899SGI Irix-6.x mips-*-irix6*
09dd9a69
PA
900VAX running (4.2 - 4.3 Reno) BSD vax-*-bsd*
901VAX running Ultrix vax-*-ultrix*
3831839c 902
6bf6fd09
JB
903* The "dll-symbols" command, and its two aliases ("add-shared-symbol-files"
904 and "assf"), have been removed. Use the "sharedlibrary" command, or
905 its alias "share", instead.
906
919b9a93 907*** Changes in GDB 7.8
e9475ead 908
8d551b02
DE
909* New command line options
910
911-D data-directory
912 This is an alias for the --data-directory option.
913
e9475ead
SA
914* GDB supports printing and modifying of variable length automatic arrays
915 as specified in ISO C99.
916
a75fef0e
NC
917* The ARM simulator now supports instruction level tracing
918 with or without disassembly.
b7bba001 919
ed3ef339
DE
920* Guile scripting
921
922 GDB now has support for scripting using Guile. Whether this is
923 available is determined at configure time.
924 Guile version 2.0 or greater is required.
925 Guile version 2.0.9 is well tested, earlier 2.0 versions are not.
926
927* New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
928
929guile [code]
930gu [code]
931 Invoke CODE by passing it to the Guile interpreter.
932
933guile-repl
934gr
935 Start a Guile interactive prompt (or "repl" for "read-eval-print loop").
936
937info auto-load guile-scripts [regexp]
938 Print the list of automatically loaded Guile scripts.
939
940* The source command is now capable of sourcing Guile scripts.
941 This feature is dependent on the debugger being built with Guile support.
942
c6044dd1
JB
943* New options
944
770e7fc7
DE
945set print symbol-loading (off|brief|full)
946show print symbol-loading
947 Control whether to print informational messages when loading symbol
948 information for a file. The default is "full", but when debugging
949 programs with large numbers of shared libraries the amount of output
950 becomes less useful.
951
ed3ef339
DE
952set guile print-stack (none|message|full)
953show guile print-stack
954 Show a stack trace when an error is encountered in a Guile script.
955
956set auto-load guile-scripts (on|off)
957show auto-load guile-scripts
958 Control auto-loading of Guile script files.
959
c6044dd1
JB
960maint ada set ignore-descriptive-types (on|off)
961maint ada show ignore-descriptive-types
962 Control whether the debugger should ignore descriptive types in Ada
963 programs. The default is not to ignore the descriptive types. See
964 the user manual for more details on descriptive types and the intended
965 usage of this option.
966
6a3cb8e8
PA
967set auto-connect-native-target
968
969 Control whether GDB is allowed to automatically connect to the
970 native target for the run, attach, etc. commands when not connected
971 to any target yet. See also "target native" below.
972
67b5c0c1
MM
973set record btrace replay-memory-access (read-only|read-write)
974show record btrace replay-memory-access
975 Control what memory accesses are allowed during replay.
976
329ea579
PA
977maint set target-async (on|off)
978maint show target-async
5784b3ca
JK
979 This controls whether GDB targets operate in synchronous or
980 asynchronous mode. Normally the default is asynchronous, if it is
329ea579 981 available; but this can be changed to more easily debug problems
5784b3ca 982 occurring only in synchronous mode.
329ea579
PA
983
984set mi-async (on|off)
985show mi-async
986 Control whether MI asynchronous mode is preferred. This supersedes
987 "set target-async" of previous GDB versions.
988
989* "set target-async" is deprecated as a CLI option and is now an alias
990 for "set mi-async" (only puts MI into async mode).
991
992* Background execution commands (e.g., "c&", "s&", etc.) are now
993 possible ``out of the box'' if the target supports them. Previously
994 the user would need to explicitly enable the possibility with the
995 "set target-async on" command.
996
87ce2a04
DE
997* New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
998
999 ** New option --debug-format=option1[,option2,...] allows one to add
1000 additional text to each output. At present only timestamps
1001 are supported: --debug-format=timestamps.
1002 Timestamps can also be turned on with the
1003 "monitor set debug-format timestamps" command from GDB.
1004
5de9129b
MM
1005* The 'record instruction-history' command now starts counting instructions
1006 at one. This also affects the instruction ranges reported by the
1007 'record function-call-history' command when given the /i modifier.
1008
8710b709
MM
1009* The command 'record function-call-history' supports a new modifier '/c' to
1010 indent the function names based on their call stack depth.
1011 The fields for the '/i' and '/l' modifier have been reordered.
1012 The source line range is now prefixed with 'at'.
1013 The instruction range is now prefixed with 'inst'.
1014 Both ranges are now printed as '<from>, <to>' to allow copy&paste to the
1015 "record instruction-history" and "list" commands.
1016
0688d04e
MM
1017* The ranges given as arguments to the 'record function-call-history' and
1018 'record instruction-history' commands are now inclusive.
1019
066ce621 1020* The btrace record target now supports the 'record goto' command.
0b722aec
MM
1021 For locations inside the execution trace, the back trace is computed
1022 based on the information stored in the execution trace.
066ce621 1023
52834460
MM
1024* The btrace record target supports limited reverse execution and replay.
1025 The target does not record data and therefore does not allow reading
1026 memory or registers.
1027
237b092b
AA
1028* The "catch syscall" command now works on s390*-linux* targets.
1029
936d2992
PA
1030* The "compare-sections" command is no longer specific to target
1031 remote. It now works with all targets.
1032
930ee1b1
PA
1033* All native targets are now consistently called "native".
1034 Consequently, the "target child", "target GNU", "target djgpp",
1035 "target procfs" (Solaris/Irix/OSF/AIX) and "target darwin-child"
1036 commands have been replaced with "target native". The QNX/NTO port
1037 leaves the "procfs" target in place and adds a "native" target for
1038 consistency with other ports. The impact on users should be minimal
1039 as these commands previously either throwed an error, or were
1040 no-ops. The target's name is visible in the output of the following
1041 commands: "help target", "info target", "info files", "maint print
1042 target-stack".
1043
6a3cb8e8
PA
1044* The "target native" command now connects to the native target. This
1045 can be used to launch native programs even when "set
1046 auto-connect-native-target" is set to off.
1047
bc504a31 1048* GDB now supports access to Intel MPX registers on GNU/Linux.
dc304a94 1049
bc504a31
PA
1050* Support for Intel AVX-512 registers on GNU/Linux.
1051 Support displaying and modifying Intel AVX-512 registers
dc304a94
JK
1052 $zmm0 - $zmm31 and $k0 - $k7 on GNU/Linux.
1053
969c39fb
MM
1054* New remote packets
1055
1056qXfer:btrace:read's annex
1057 The qXfer:btrace:read packet supports a new annex 'delta' to read
1058 branch trace incrementally.
1059
f7bd0f78
SC
1060* Python Scripting
1061
1062 ** Valid Python operations on gdb.Value objects representing
1063 structs/classes invoke the corresponding overloaded operators if
1064 available.
0c6e92a5
SC
1065 ** New `Xmethods' feature in the Python API. Xmethods are
1066 additional methods or replacements for existing methods of a C++
1067 class. This feature is useful for those cases where a method
1068 defined in C++ source code could be inlined or optimized out by
1069 the compiler, making it unavailable to GDB.
f7bd0f78 1070
36c24d95
UW
1071* New targets
1072PowerPC64 GNU/Linux little-endian powerpc64le-*-linux*
1073
95060284
JB
1074* The "dll-symbols" command, and its two aliases ("add-shared-symbol-files"
1075 and "assf"), have been deprecated. Use the "sharedlibrary" command, or
1076 its alias "share", instead.
1077
7f3c0343
JB
1078* The commands "set remotebaud" and "show remotebaud" are no longer
1079 supported. Use "set serial baud" and "show serial baud" (respectively)
1080 instead.
1081
329ea579
PA
1082* MI changes
1083
1084 ** A new option "-gdb-set mi-async" replaces "-gdb-set
1085 target-async". The latter is left as a deprecated alias of the
1086 former for backward compatibility. If the target supports it,
1087 CLI background execution commands are now always possible by
1088 default, independently of whether the frontend stated a
1089 preference for asynchronous execution with "-gdb-set mi-async".
1090 Previously "-gdb-set target-async off" affected both MI execution
1091 commands and CLI execution commands.
1092
b7bba001 1093*** Changes in GDB 7.7
2d450646 1094
33a97bbe
OJ
1095* Improved support for process record-replay and reverse debugging on
1096 arm*-linux* targets. Support for thumb32 and syscall instruction
1097 recording has been added.
1098
08248ca9
SDJ
1099* GDB now supports SystemTap SDT probes on AArch64 GNU/Linux.
1100
73869dc2
DE
1101* GDB now supports Fission DWP file format version 2.
1102 http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/DebugFission
1103
a280dbd1
SDJ
1104* New convenience function "$_isvoid", to check whether an expression
1105 is void. A void expression is an expression where the type of the
1106 result is "void". For example, some convenience variables may be
1107 "void" when evaluated (e.g., "$_exitcode" before the execution of
1108 the program being debugged; or an undefined convenience variable).
1109 Another example, when calling a function whose return type is
1110 "void".
1111
52e260a3
DE
1112* The "maintenance print objfiles" command now takes an optional regexp.
1113
9f948660
SDJ
1114* The "catch syscall" command now works on arm*-linux* targets.
1115
901461f8
PA
1116* GDB now consistently shows "<not saved>" when printing values of
1117 registers the debug info indicates have not been saved in the frame
1118 and there's nowhere to retrieve them from
1119 (callee-saved/call-clobbered registers):
1120
1121 (gdb) p $rax
1122 $1 = <not saved>
1123
1124 (gdb) info registers rax
1125 rax <not saved>
1126
1127 Before, the former would print "<optimized out>", and the latter
1128 "*value not available*".
1129
caf26be9
SB
1130* New script contrib/gdb-add-index.sh for adding .gdb_index sections
1131 to binaries.
1132
1e611234
PM
1133* Python scripting
1134
1135 ** Frame filters and frame decorators have been added.
f76c27b5 1136 ** Temporary breakpoints are now supported.
bc79de95 1137 ** Line tables representation has been added.
a16b0e22
SC
1138 ** New attribute 'parent_type' for gdb.Field objects.
1139 ** gdb.Field objects can be used as subscripts on gdb.Value objects.
c0d48811 1140 ** New attribute 'name' for gdb.Type objects.
1e611234 1141
a1217d97
SL
1142* New targets
1143
1144Nios II ELF nios2*-*-elf
1145Nios II GNU/Linux nios2*-*-linux
42059f0e 1146Texas Instruments MSP430 msp430*-*-elf
a1217d97 1147
2659903b
JK
1148* Removed native configurations
1149
1150Support for these a.out NetBSD and OpenBSD obsolete configurations has
1151been removed. ELF variants of these configurations are kept supported.
1152
1153arm*-*-netbsd* but arm*-*-netbsdelf* is kept supported.
1154i[34567]86-*-netbsd* but i[34567]86-*-netbsdelf* is kept supported.
1155i[34567]86-*-openbsd[0-2].* but i[34567]86-*-openbsd* is kept supported.
1156i[34567]86-*-openbsd3.[0-3]
1157m68*-*-netbsd* but m68*-*-netbsdelf* is kept supported.
1158sparc-*-netbsd* but sparc-*-netbsdelf* is kept supported.
1159vax-*-netbsd* but vax-*-netbsdelf* is kept supported.
1160
bd712aed 1161* New commands:
b340913d
TT
1162catch rethrow
1163 Like "catch throw", but catches a re-thrown exception.
7d0c9981
DE
1164maint check-psymtabs
1165 Renamed from old "maint check-symtabs".
1166maint check-symtabs
1167 Perform consistency checks on symtabs.
1168maint expand-symtabs
1169 Expand symtabs matching an optional regexp.
b340913d 1170
dccca75d
EZ
1171show configuration
1172 Display the details of GDB configure-time options.
1173
bd712aed
DE
1174maint set|show per-command
1175maint set|show per-command space
1176maint set|show per-command time
1177maint set|show per-command symtab
1178 Enable display of per-command gdb resource usage.
1179
98297bf6
NB
1180remove-symbol-file FILENAME
1181remove-symbol-file -a ADDRESS
1182 Remove a symbol file added via add-symbol-file. The file to remove
1183 can be identified by its filename or by an address that lies within
1184 the boundaries of this symbol file in memory.
1185
58d06528
JB
1186info exceptions
1187info exceptions REGEXP
1188 Display the list of Ada exceptions defined in the program being
1189 debugged. If provided, only the exceptions whose names match REGEXP
1190 are listed.
1191
bd3eecc3
PA
1192* New options
1193
8fb8eb5c
DE
1194set debug symfile off|on
1195show debug symfile
1196 Control display of debugging info regarding reading symbol files and
1197 symbol tables within those files
1198
e7045703
DE
1199set print raw frame-arguments
1200show print raw frame-arguments
1201 Set/show whether to print frame arguments in raw mode,
1202 disregarding any defined pretty-printers.
1203
bd3eecc3
PA
1204set remote trace-status-packet
1205show remote trace-status-packet
1206 Set/show the use of remote protocol qTStatus packet.
1207
a1217d97
SL
1208set debug nios2
1209show debug nios2
1210 Control display of debugging messages related to Nios II targets.
1211
c1e36e3e
PA
1212set range-stepping
1213show range-stepping
1214 Control whether target-assisted range stepping is enabled.
1215
98882a26
PA
1216set startup-with-shell
1217show startup-with-shell
1218 Specifies whether Unix child processes are started via a shell or
1219 directly.
1220
29453a14
YQ
1221set code-cache
1222show code-cache
1223 Use the target memory cache for accesses to the code segment. This
1224 improves performance of remote debugging (particularly disassembly).
1225
1c2e4450
PA
1226* You can now use a literal value 'unlimited' for options that
1227 interpret 0 or -1 as meaning "unlimited". E.g., "set
1228 trace-buffer-size unlimited" is now an alias for "set
1229 trace-buffer-size -1" and "set height unlimited" is now an alias for
1230 "set height 0".
1231
db0fec5c
DE
1232* The "set debug symtab-create" debugging option of GDB has been changed to
1233 accept a verbosity level. 0 means "off", 1 provides basic debugging
1234 output, and values of 2 or greater provides more verbose output.
1235
dccca75d
EZ
1236* New command-line options
1237--configuration
1238 Display the details of GDB configure-time options.
1239
d0353e76
YQ
1240* The command 'tsave' can now support new option '-ctf' to save trace
1241 buffer in Common Trace Format.
1242
b292c783
JK
1243* Newly installed $prefix/bin/gcore acts as a shell interface for the
1244 GDB command gcore.
1245
6e72ca20
TT
1246* GDB now implements the the C++ 'typeid' operator.
1247
b340913d
TT
1248* The new convenience variable $_exception holds the exception being
1249 thrown or caught at an exception-related catchpoint.
1250
1251* The exception-related catchpoints, like "catch throw", now accept a
1252 regular expression which can be used to filter exceptions by type.
1253
0c557179
SDJ
1254* The new convenience variable $_exitsignal is automatically set to
1255 the terminating signal number when the program being debugged dies
1256 due to an uncaught signal.
1257
d0353e76
YQ
1258* MI changes
1259
403cb6b1 1260 ** All MI commands now accept an optional "--language" option.
4e35e808
JB
1261 Support for this feature can be verified by using the "-list-features"
1262 command, which should contain "language-option".
403cb6b1 1263
6b7cbff1
JB
1264 ** The new command -info-gdb-mi-command allows the user to determine
1265 whether a GDB/MI command is supported or not.
1266
2ea126fa
JB
1267 ** The "^error" result record returned when trying to execute an undefined
1268 GDB/MI command now provides a variable named "code" whose content is the
1269 "undefined-command" error code. Support for this feature can be verified
1270 by using the "-list-features" command, which should contain
1271 "undefined-command-error-code".
1272
d0353e76
YQ
1273 ** The -trace-save MI command can optionally save trace buffer in Common
1274 Trace Format now.
1275
c5867ab6
HZ
1276 ** The new command -dprintf-insert sets a dynamic printf breakpoint.
1277
c898adb7
YQ
1278 ** The command -data-list-register-values now accepts an optional
1279 "--skip-unavailable" option. When used, only the available registers
1280 are displayed.
1281
dc673c81
YQ
1282 ** The new command -trace-frame-collected dumps collected variables,
1283 computed expressions, tvars, memory and registers in a traceframe.
1284
6211c335
YQ
1285 ** The commands -stack-list-locals, -stack-list-arguments and
1286 -stack-list-variables now accept an option "--skip-unavailable".
1287 When used, only the available locals or arguments are displayed.
1288
5713b9b5
JB
1289 ** The -exec-run command now accepts an optional "--start" option.
1290 When used, the command follows the same semantics as the "start"
1291 command, stopping the program's execution at the start of its
72bfa06c
JB
1292 main subprogram. Support for this feature can be verified using
1293 the "-list-features" command, which should contain
1294 "exec-run-start-option".
5713b9b5 1295
40555925
JB
1296 ** The new commands -catch-assert and -catch-exceptions insert
1297 catchpoints stopping the program when Ada exceptions are raised.
1298
58d06528
JB
1299 ** The new command -info-ada-exceptions provides the equivalent of
1300 the new "info exceptions" command.
1301
0201faac
JB
1302* New system-wide configuration scripts
1303 A GDB installation now provides scripts suitable for use as system-wide
1304 configuration scripts for the following systems:
1305 ** ElinOS
1306 ** Wind River Linux
1307
c1e36e3e
PA
1308* GDB now supports target-assigned range stepping with remote targets.
1309 This improves the performance of stepping source lines by reducing
1310 the number of control packets from/to GDB. See "New remote packets"
1311 below.
1312
28a93511
YQ
1313* GDB now understands the element 'tvar' in the XML traceframe info.
1314 It has the id of the collected trace state variables.
1315
4ac33720
UW
1316* On S/390 targets that provide the transactional-execution feature,
1317 the program interruption transaction diagnostic block (TDB) is now
1318 represented as a number of additional "registers" in GDB.
1319
c1e36e3e
PA
1320* New remote packets
1321
1322vCont;r
1323
1324 The vCont packet supports a new 'r' action, that tells the remote
1325 stub to step through an address range itself, without GDB
1326 involvemement at each single-step.
1327
7f91dbec
GB
1328qXfer:libraries-svr4:read's annex
1329 The previously unused annex of the qXfer:libraries-svr4:read packet
1330 is now used to support passing an argument list. The remote stub
1331 reports support for this argument list to GDB's qSupported query.
1332 The defined arguments are "start" and "prev", used to reduce work
1333 necessary for library list updating, resulting in significant
1334 speedup.
1335
c2d6af84
PA
1336* New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
1337
1338 ** GDBserver now supports target-assisted range stepping. Currently
1339 enabled on x86/x86_64 GNU/Linux targets.
1340
28a93511
YQ
1341 ** GDBserver now adds element 'tvar' in the XML in the reply to
1342 'qXfer:traceframe-info:read'. It has the id of the collected
1343 trace state variables.
1344
7a60ad40
YQ
1345 ** GDBserver now supports hardware watchpoints on the MIPS GNU/Linux
1346 target.
1347
6fbe845e
AB
1348* New 'z' formatter for printing and examining memory, this displays the
1349 value as hexadecimal zero padded on the left to the size of the type.
1350
9058cc3a
TG
1351* GDB can now use Windows x64 unwinding data.
1352
0d12017b
JB
1353* The "set remotebaud" command has been replaced by "set serial baud".
1354 Similarly, "show remotebaud" has been replaced by "show serial baud".
1355 The "set remotebaud" and "show remotebaud" commands are still available
1356 to provide backward compatibility with older versions of GDB.
1357
2d450646 1358*** Changes in GDB 7.6
80c8d323 1359
59ea5688
MM
1360* Target record has been renamed to record-full.
1361 Record/replay is now enabled with the "record full" command.
1362 This also affects settings that are associated with full record/replay
1363 that have been moved from "set/show record" to "set/show record full":
1364
1365set|show record full insn-number-max
1366set|show record full stop-at-limit
1367set|show record full memory-query
1368
1369* A new record target "record-btrace" has been added. The new target
1370 uses hardware support to record the control-flow of a process. It
1371 does not support replaying the execution, but it implements the
1372 below new commands for investigating the recorded execution log.
1373 This new recording method can be enabled using:
1374
1375record btrace
1376
1377 The "record-btrace" target is only available on Intel Atom processors
1378 and requires a Linux kernel 2.6.32 or later.
1379
1380* Two new commands have been added for record/replay to give information
1381 about the recorded execution without having to replay the execution.
1382 The commands are only supported by "record btrace".
1383
1384record instruction-history prints the execution history at
1385 instruction granularity
1386
1387record function-call-history prints the execution history at
1388 function granularity
1389
543bf33d
AT
1390* New native configurations
1391
51d66578 1392ARM AArch64 GNU/Linux aarch64*-*-linux-gnu
543bf33d 1393FreeBSD/powerpc powerpc*-*-freebsd
4f4352f7 1394x86_64/Cygwin x86_64-*-cygwin*
ea5f3910 1395Tilera TILE-Gx GNU/Linux tilegx*-*-linux-gnu
543bf33d 1396
249729c4
JB
1397* New targets
1398
51d66578
MS
1399ARM AArch64 aarch64*-*-elf
1400ARM AArch64 GNU/Linux aarch64*-*-linux
249729c4 1401Lynx 178 PowerPC powerpc-*-lynx*178
3c095f49 1402x86_64/Cygwin x86_64-*-cygwin*
ea5f3910 1403Tilera TILE-Gx GNU/Linux tilegx*-*-linux
249729c4 1404
e64e0392
DE
1405* If the configured location of system.gdbinit file (as given by the
1406 --with-system-gdbinit option at configure time) is in the
1407 data-directory (as specified by --with-gdb-datadir at configure
1408 time) or in one of its subdirectories, then GDB will look for the
1409 system-wide init file in the directory specified by the
1410 --data-directory command-line option.
1411
07540c15
DE
1412* New command line options:
1413
1414-nh Disables auto-loading of ~/.gdbinit, but still executes all the
1415 other initialization files, unlike -nx which disables all of them.
1416
e93a8774
TT
1417* Removed command line options
1418
1419-epoch This was used by the gdb mode in Epoch, an ancient fork of
1420 Emacs.
1421
53342f27
TT
1422* The 'ptype' and 'whatis' commands now accept an argument to control
1423 type formatting.
1424
451b7c33
TT
1425* 'info proc' now works on some core files.
1426
a72c3253
DE
1427* Python scripting
1428
1429 ** Vectors can be created with gdb.Type.vector.
1430
d7de8e3c
TT
1431 ** Python's atexit.register now works in GDB.
1432
18a9fc12
TT
1433 ** Types can be pretty-printed via a Python API.
1434
9a27f2c6
PK
1435 ** Python 3 is now supported (in addition to Python 2.4 or later)
1436
bea883fd
SCR
1437 ** New class gdb.Architecture exposes GDB's internal representation
1438 of architecture in the Python API.
1439
1440 ** New method Frame.architecture returns the gdb.Architecture object
1441 corresponding to the frame's architecture.
1442
a72c3253
DE
1443* New Python-based convenience functions:
1444
1445 ** $_memeq(buf1, buf2, length)
1446 ** $_streq(str1, str2)
1447 ** $_strlen(str)
1448 ** $_regex(str, regex)
1449
f3c8a52a
JK
1450* The 'cd' command now defaults to using '~' (the home directory) if not
1451 given an argument.
1452
1605ef26
TT
1453* The C++ ABI now defaults to the GNU v3 ABI. This has been the
1454 default for GCC since November 2000.
1455
504b36fd
YQ
1456* The command 'forward-search' can now be abbreviated as 'fo'.
1457
f2a8bc8a
YQ
1458* The command 'info tracepoints' can now display 'installed on target'
1459 or 'not installed on target' for each non-pending location of tracepoint.
1460
23a80689
JB
1461* New configure options
1462
1463--enable-libmcheck/--disable-libmcheck
1464 By default, development versions are built with -lmcheck on hosts
1465 that support it, in order to help track memory corruption issues.
1466 Release versions, on the other hand, are built without -lmcheck
1467 by default. The --enable-libmcheck/--disable-libmcheck configure
1468 options allow the user to override that default.
393fd4c3
YQ
1469--with-babeltrace/--with-babeltrace-include/--with-babeltrace-lib
1470 This configure option allows the user to build GDB with
1471 libbabeltrace using which GDB can read Common Trace Format data.
23a80689 1472
d6b28940
TT
1473* New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
1474
ab04a2af
TT
1475catch signal
1476 Catch signals. This is similar to "handle", but allows commands and
1477 conditions to be attached.
1478
d6b28940
TT
1479maint info bfds
1480 List the BFDs known to GDB.
1481
8315665e
YPK
1482python-interactive [command]
1483pi [command]
1484 Start a Python interactive prompt, or evaluate the optional command
1485 and print the result of expressions.
1486
1487py [command]
1488 "py" is a new alias for "python".
1489
18a9fc12
TT
1490enable type-printer [name]...
1491disable type-printer [name]...
1492 Enable or disable type printers.
1493
aa9259cc
TS
1494* Removed commands
1495
1496 ** For the Renesas Super-H architecture, the "regs" command has been removed
1497 (has been deprecated in GDB 7.5), and "info all-registers" should be used
1498 instead.
1499
53342f27
TT
1500* New options
1501
1502set print type methods (on|off)
1503show print type methods
1504 Control whether method declarations are displayed by "ptype".
1505 The default is to show them.
1506
1507set print type typedefs (on|off)
1508show print type typedefs
1509 Control whether typedef definitions are displayed by "ptype".
1510 The default is to show them.
1511
1b56eb55
JK
1512set filename-display basename|relative|absolute
1513show filename-display
1514 Control the way in which filenames is displayed.
1515 The default is "relative", which preserves previous behavior.
1516
e9f1758d
PA
1517set trace-buffer-size
1518show trace-buffer-size
1519 Request target to change the size of trace buffer.
1520
a46c1e42
PA
1521set remote trace-buffer-size-packet auto|on|off
1522show remote trace-buffer-size-packet
1523 Control the use of the remote protocol `QTBuffer:size' packet.
1524
be9a8770
PA
1525set debug aarch64
1526show debug aarch64
1527 Control display of debugging messages related to ARM AArch64.
1528 The default is off.
1529
1530set debug coff-pe-read
1531show debug coff-pe-read
1532 Control display of debugging messages related to reading of COFF/PE
1533 exported symbols.
1534
1535set debug mach-o
1536show debug mach-o
1537 Control display of debugging messages related to Mach-O symbols
1538 processing.
1539
1540set debug notification
1541show debug notification
1542 Control display of debugging info for async remote notification.
1543
5b9afe8a
YQ
1544* MI changes
1545
1546 ** Command parameter changes are now notified using new async record
1547 "=cmd-param-changed".
201b4506
YQ
1548 ** Trace frame changes caused by command "tfind" are now notified using
1549 new async record "=traceframe-changed".
134a2066
YQ
1550 ** The creation, deletion and modification of trace state variables
1551 are now notified using new async records "=tsv-created",
1552 "=tsv-deleted" and "=tsv-modified".
82a90ccf
YQ
1553 ** The start and stop of process record are now notified using new
1554 async record "=record-started" and "=record-stopped".
8de0566d
YQ
1555 ** Memory changes are now notified using new async record
1556 "=memory-changed".
ed8a1c2d 1557 ** The data-disassemble command response will include a "fullname" field
ec83d211 1558 containing the absolute file name when source has been requested.
62747a60
TT
1559 ** New optional parameter COUNT added to the "-data-write-memory-bytes"
1560 command, to allow pattern filling of memory areas.
3fa7bf06
MG
1561 ** New commands "-catch-load"/"-catch-unload" added for intercepting
1562 library load/unload events.
f2a8bc8a
YQ
1563 ** The response to breakpoint commands and breakpoint async records
1564 includes an "installed" field containing a boolean state about each
1565 non-pending tracepoint location is whether installed on target or not.
f5911ea1
HAQ
1566 ** Output of the "-trace-status" command includes a "trace-file" field
1567 containing the name of the trace file being examined. This field is
1568 optional, and only present when examining a trace file.
ec83d211
JK
1569 ** The "fullname" field is now always present along with the "file" field,
1570 even if the file cannot be found by GDB.
5b9afe8a 1571
608e2dbb
TT
1572* GDB now supports the "mini debuginfo" section, .gnu_debugdata.
1573 You must have the LZMA library available when configuring GDB for this
1574 feature to be enabled. For more information, see:
1575 http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/MiniDebugInfo
1576
f6f899bf
HAQ
1577* New remote packets
1578
1579QTBuffer:size
1580 Set the size of trace buffer. The remote stub reports support for this
1581 packet to gdb's qSupported query.
1582
10782d74
MM
1583Qbtrace:bts
1584 Enable Branch Trace Store (BTS)-based branch tracing for the current
1585 thread. The remote stub reports support for this packet to gdb's
1586 qSupported query.
1587
1588Qbtrace:off
1589 Disable branch tracing for the current thread. The remote stub reports
1590 support for this packet to gdb's qSupported query.
1591
1592qXfer:btrace:read
1593 Read the traced branches for the current thread. The remote stub
1594 reports support for this packet to gdb's qSupported query.
1595
80c8d323 1596*** Changes in GDB 7.5
d6e00af6 1597
1b3371b1
L
1598* GDB now supports x32 ABI. Visit <http://sites.google.com/site/x32abi/>
1599 for more x32 ABI info.
1600
d0e64392
MR
1601* GDB now supports access to MIPS DSP registers on Linux targets.
1602
4cc0665f
MR
1603* GDB now supports debugging microMIPS binaries.
1604
85d4a676
SS
1605* The "info os" command on GNU/Linux can now display information on
1606 several new classes of objects managed by the operating system:
1607 "info os procgroups" lists process groups
1608 "info os files" lists file descriptors
1609 "info os sockets" lists internet-domain sockets
1610 "info os shm" lists shared-memory regions
1611 "info os semaphores" lists semaphores
1612 "info os msg" lists message queues
1613 "info os modules" lists loaded kernel modules
1614
55aa24fb
SDJ
1615* GDB now has support for SDT (Static Defined Tracing) probes. Currently,
1616 the only implemented backend is for SystemTap probes (<sys/sdt.h>). You
1617 can set a breakpoint using the new "-probe, "-pstap" or "-probe-stap"
1618 options and inspect the probe arguments using the new $_probe_arg family
1619 of convenience variables. You can obtain more information about SystemTap
1620 in <http://sourceware.org/systemtap/>.
1621
72508ac0
PO
1622* GDB now supports reversible debugging on ARM, it allows you to
1623 debug basic ARM and THUMB instructions, and provides
1624 record/replay support.
1625
16899756
DE
1626* The option "symbol-reloading" has been deleted as it is no longer used.
1627
4795f398
DE
1628* Python scripting
1629
7d74f244
DE
1630 ** GDB commands implemented in Python can now be put in command class
1631 "gdb.COMMAND_USER".
1632
4795f398
DE
1633 ** The "maint set python print-stack on|off" is now deleted.
1634
50897289
TT
1635 ** A new class, gdb.printing.FlagEnumerationPrinter, can be used to
1636 apply "flag enum"-style pretty-printing to any enum.
1637
64e7d9dd
TT
1638 ** gdb.lookup_symbol can now work when there is no current frame.
1639
1640 ** gdb.Symbol now has a 'line' attribute, holding the line number in
1641 the source at which the symbol was defined.
1642
f0823d2c
TT
1643 ** gdb.Symbol now has the new attribute 'needs_frame' and the new
1644 method 'value'. The former indicates whether the symbol needs a
1645 frame in order to compute its value, and the latter computes the
1646 symbol's value.
1647
7b282c5a
SCR
1648 ** A new method 'referenced_value' on gdb.Value objects which can
1649 dereference pointer as well as C++ reference values.
1650
a20ee7a4
SCR
1651 ** New methods 'global_block' and 'static_block' on gdb.Symtab objects
1652 which return the global and static blocks (as gdb.Block objects),
1653 of the underlying symbol table, respectively.
1654
7efc75aa
SCR
1655 ** New function gdb.find_pc_line which returns the gdb.Symtab_and_line
1656 object associated with a PC value.
1657
ee0bf529
SCR
1658 ** gdb.Symtab_and_line has new attribute 'last' which holds the end
1659 of the address range occupied by code for the current source line.
1660
a766d390
DE
1661* Go language support.
1662 GDB now supports debugging programs written in the Go programming
1663 language.
1664
e0f9f062
DE
1665* GDBserver now supports stdio connections.
1666 E.g. (gdb) target remote | ssh myhost gdbserver - hello
1667
217bff3e
JK
1668* The binary "gdbtui" can no longer be built or installed.
1669 Use "gdb -tui" instead.
1670
cafec441
TT
1671* GDB will now print "flag" enums specially. A flag enum is one where
1672 all the enumerator values have no bits in common when pairwise
1673 "and"ed. When printing a value whose type is a flag enum, GDB will
1674 show all the constants, e.g., for enum E { ONE = 1, TWO = 2}:
1675 (gdb) print (enum E) 3
1676 $1 = (ONE | TWO)
1677
4aac40c8
TT
1678* The filename part of a linespec will now match trailing components
1679 of a source file name. For example, "break gcc/expr.c:1000" will
1680 now set a breakpoint in build/gcc/expr.c, but not
1681 build/libcpp/expr.c.
1682
d99bd577
UW
1683* The "info proc" and "generate-core-file" commands will now also
1684 work on remote targets connected to GDBserver on Linux.
1685
53fe1783
GB
1686* The command "info catch" has been removed. It has been disabled
1687 since December 2007.
1688
e41eec66
JB
1689* The "catch exception" and "catch assert" commands now accept
1690 a condition at the end of the command, much like the "break"
1691 command does. For instance:
1692
1693 (gdb) catch exception Constraint_Error if Barrier = True
1694
1695 Previously, it was possible to add a condition to such catchpoints,
1696 but it had to be done as a second step, after the catchpoint had been
1697 created, using the "condition" command.
1698
5808517f
YQ
1699* The "info static-tracepoint-marker" command will now also work on
1700 native Linux targets with in-process agent.
1701
481860b3
GB
1702* GDB can now set breakpoints on inlined functions.
1703
1704* The .gdb_index section has been updated to include symbols for
1705 inlined functions. GDB will ignore older .gdb_index sections by
1706 default, which could cause symbol files to be loaded more slowly
e615022a
DE
1707 until their .gdb_index sections can be recreated. The new command
1708 "set use-deprecated-index-sections on" will cause GDB to use any older
1709 .gdb_index sections it finds. This will restore performance, but the
1710 ability to set breakpoints on inlined functions will be lost in symbol
1711 files with older .gdb_index sections.
481860b3 1712
156942c7
DE
1713 The .gdb_index section has also been updated to record more information
1714 about each symbol. This speeds up the "info variables", "info functions"
1715 and "info types" commands when used with programs having the .gdb_index
1716 section, as well as speeding up debugging with shared libraries using
1717 the .gdb_index section.
1718
927fbba6
JB
1719* Ada support for GDB/MI Variable Objects has been added.
1720
20388dd6
YQ
1721* GDB can now support 'breakpoint always-inserted mode' in 'record'
1722 target.
1723
f3e0e960
SS
1724* MI changes
1725
1726 ** New command -info-os is the MI equivalent of "info os".
1727
37ce89eb
SS
1728 ** Output logs ("set logging" and related) now include MI output.
1729
edcc5120
TT
1730* New commands
1731
e615022a
DE
1732 ** "set use-deprecated-index-sections on|off"
1733 "show use-deprecated-index-sections on|off"
1734 Controls the use of deprecated .gdb_index sections.
1735
edcc5120
TT
1736 ** "catch load" and "catch unload" can be used to stop when a shared
1737 library is loaded or unloaded, respectively.
1738
816338b5
SS
1739 ** "enable count" can be used to auto-disable a breakpoint after
1740 several hits.
1741
57651221 1742 ** "info vtbl" can be used to show the virtual method tables for
c4aeac85
TT
1743 C++ and Java objects.
1744
06fc020f 1745 ** "explore" and its sub commands "explore value" and "explore type"
6ea71545 1746 can be used to recursively explore values and types of
06fc020f
SCR
1747 expressions. These commands are available only if GDB is
1748 configured with '--with-python'.
1749
bf88dd68
JK
1750 ** "info auto-load" shows status of all kinds of auto-loaded files,
1751 "info auto-load gdb-scripts" shows status of auto-loading GDB canned
1752 sequences of commands files, "info auto-load python-scripts"
1753 shows status of auto-loading Python script files,
1754 "info auto-load local-gdbinit" shows status of loading init file
1755 (.gdbinit) from current directory and "info auto-load libthread-db" shows
1756 status of inferior specific thread debugging shared library loading.
1757
1758 ** "info auto-load-scripts", "set auto-load-scripts on|off"
1759 and "show auto-load-scripts" commands have been deprecated, use their
1760 "info auto-load python-scripts", "set auto-load python-scripts on|off"
1761 and "show auto-load python-scripts" counterparts instead.
1762
e7e0cddf
SS
1763 ** "dprintf location,format,args..." creates a dynamic printf, which
1764 is basically a breakpoint that does a printf and immediately
1765 resumes your program's execution, so it is like a printf that you
1766 can insert dynamically at runtime instead of at compiletime.
1767
9cb709b6
TT
1768 ** "set print symbol"
1769 "show print symbol"
1770 Controls whether GDB attempts to display the symbol, if any,
1771 corresponding to addresses it prints. This defaults to "on", but
1772 you can set it to "off" to restore GDB's previous behavior.
1773
2d4c29c5
TS
1774* Deprecated commands
1775
1776 ** For the Renesas Super-H architecture, the "regs" command has been
1777 deprecated, and "info all-registers" should be used instead.
1778
a58b110a
KB
1779* New targets
1780
1781Renesas RL78 rl78-*-elf
60c9a3c0 1782HP OpenVMS ia64 ia64-hp-openvms*
a58b110a 1783
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LM
1784* GDBserver supports evaluation of breakpoint conditions. When
1785 support is advertised by GDBserver, GDB may be told to send the
1786 breakpoint conditions in bytecode form to GDBserver. GDBserver
1787 will only report the breakpoint trigger to GDB when its condition
1788 evaluates to true.
1789
1790* New options
1791
4cc0665f
MR
1792set mips compression
1793show mips compression
1794 Select the compressed ISA encoding used in functions that have no symbol
1795 information available. The encoding can be set to either of:
1796 mips16
1797 micromips
1798 and is updated automatically from ELF file flags if available.
1799
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LM
1800set breakpoint condition-evaluation
1801show breakpoint condition-evaluation
cf65ecd3 1802 Control whether breakpoint conditions are evaluated by GDB ("host") or by
5b43fab2
JK
1803 GDBserver ("target"). Default option "auto" chooses the most efficient
1804 available mode.
72895ff6
LM
1805 This option can improve debugger efficiency depending on the speed of the
1806 target.
1807
bf88dd68
JK
1808set auto-load off
1809 Disable auto-loading globally.
1810
1811show auto-load
1812 Show auto-loading setting of all kinds of auto-loaded files.
1813
1814set auto-load gdb-scripts on|off
1815show auto-load gdb-scripts
1816 Control auto-loading of GDB canned sequences of commands files.
1817
1818set auto-load python-scripts on|off
1819show auto-load python-scripts
1820 Control auto-loading of Python script files.
1821
1822set auto-load local-gdbinit on|off
1823show auto-load local-gdbinit
1824 Control loading of init file (.gdbinit) from current directory.
1825
1826set auto-load libthread-db on|off
1827show auto-load libthread-db
1828 Control auto-loading of inferior specific thread debugging shared library.
1829
7349ff92 1830set auto-load scripts-directory <dir1>[:<dir2>...]
9cc815f5 1831show auto-load scripts-directory
7349ff92
JK
1832 Set a list of directories from which to load auto-loaded scripts.
1833 Automatically loaded Python scripts and GDB scripts are located in one
1834 of the directories listed by this option.
1835 The delimiter (':' above) may differ according to the host platform.
1836
bccbefd2
JK
1837set auto-load safe-path <dir1>[:<dir2>...]
1838show auto-load safe-path
1839 Set a list of directories from which it is safe to auto-load files.
1840 The delimiter (':' above) may differ according to the host platform.
1841
4dc84fd1
JK
1842set debug auto-load on|off
1843show debug auto-load
1844 Control display of debugging info for auto-loading the files above.
1845
d3ce09f5 1846set dprintf-style gdb|call|agent
e7e0cddf 1847show dprintf-style
d3ce09f5
SS
1848 Control the way in which a dynamic printf is performed; "gdb"
1849 requests a GDB printf command, while "call" causes dprintf to call a
1850 function in the inferior. "agent" requests that the target agent
1851 (such as GDBserver) do the printing.
e7e0cddf
SS
1852
1853set dprintf-function <expr>
1854show dprintf-function
1855set dprintf-channel <expr>
1856show dprintf-channel
1857 Set the function and optional first argument to the call when using
1858 the "call" style of dynamic printf.
1859
d3ce09f5
SS
1860set disconnected-dprintf on|off
1861show disconnected-dprintf
1862 Control whether agent-style dynamic printfs continue to be in effect
1863 after GDB disconnects.
1864
6dea1fbd
JK
1865* New configure options
1866
7349ff92
JK
1867--with-auto-load-dir
1868 Configure default value for the 'set auto-load scripts-directory'
1564a261
JK
1869 setting above. It defaults to '$debugdir:$datadir/auto-load',
1870 $debugdir representing global debugging info directories (available
1871 via 'show debug-file-directory') and $datadir representing GDB's data
1872 directory (available via 'show data-directory').
7349ff92 1873
6dea1fbd
JK
1874--with-auto-load-safe-path
1875 Configure default value for the 'set auto-load safe-path' setting
7349ff92 1876 above. It defaults to the --with-auto-load-dir setting.
6dea1fbd
JK
1877
1878--without-auto-load-safe-path
1879 Set 'set auto-load safe-path' to '/', effectively disabling this
1880 security feature.
1881
72895ff6
LM
1882* New remote packets
1883
74c48cbb
PA
1884z0/z1 conditional breakpoints extension
1885
72895ff6
LM
1886 The z0/z1 breakpoint insertion packets have been extended to carry
1887 a list of conditional expressions over to the remote stub depending on the
1888 condition evaluation mode. The use of this extension can be controlled
1889 via the "set remote conditional-breakpoints-packet" command.
1890
9b224c5e
PA
1891QProgramSignals:
1892
1893 Specify the signals which the remote stub may pass to the debugged
1894 program without GDB involvement.
1895
8320cc4f
JK
1896* New command line options
1897
1898--init-command=FILE, -ix Like --command, -x but execute it
1899 before loading inferior.
1900--init-eval-command=COMMAND, -iex Like --eval-command=COMMAND, -ex but
1901 execute it before loading inferior.
1902
8837a20f
JB
1903*** Changes in GDB 7.4
1904
f8eba3c6
TT
1905* GDB now handles ambiguous linespecs more consistently; the existing
1906 FILE:LINE support has been expanded to other types of linespecs. A
1907 breakpoint will now be set on all matching locations in all
1908 inferiors, and locations will be added or removed according to
1909 inferior changes.
1910
1bfeeb0f
JL
1911* GDB now allows you to skip uninteresting functions and files when
1912 stepping with the "skip function" and "skip file" commands.
1913
480a3f21
PW
1914* GDB has two new commands: "set remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit"
1915 and "show remote hardware-watchpoint-length-limit". These allows to
1916 set or show the maximum length limit (in bytes) of a remote
1917 target hardware watchpoint.
1918
1919 This allows e.g. to use "unlimited" hardware watchpoints with the
1920 gdbserver integrated in Valgrind version >= 3.7.0. Such Valgrind
1921 watchpoints are slower than real hardware watchpoints but are
1922 significantly faster than gdb software watchpoints.
1923
3a7bf607
PM
1924* Python scripting
1925
32d1c362 1926 ** The register_pretty_printer function in module gdb.printing now takes
7d0aff21 1927 an optional `replace' argument. If True, the new printer replaces any
32d1c362
DE
1928 existing one.
1929
3a7bf607 1930 ** The "maint set python print-stack on|off" command has been
4795f398
DE
1931 deprecated and will be deleted in GDB 7.5.
1932 A new command: "set python print-stack none|full|message" has
1933 replaced it. Additionally, the default for "print-stack" is
1934 now "message", which just prints the error message without
1935 the stack trace.
3a7bf607 1936
baacfb07 1937 ** A prompt substitution hook (prompt_hook) is now available to the
3a7bf607 1938 Python API.
713389e0 1939
fa3a4f15
PM
1940 ** A new Python module, gdb.prompt has been added to the GDB Python
1941 modules library. This module provides functionality for
baacfb07 1942 escape sequences in prompts (used by set/show
fa3a4f15
PM
1943 extended-prompt). These escape sequences are replaced by their
1944 corresponding value.
1945
5e239b84
PM
1946 ** Python commands and convenience-functions located in
1947 'data-directory'/python/gdb/command and
1948 'data-directory'/python/gdb/function are now automatically loaded
1949 on GDB start-up.
1950
9df2fbc4
PM
1951 ** Blocks now provide four new attributes. global_block and
1952 static_block will return the global and static blocks
1953 respectively. is_static and is_global are boolean attributes
1954 that indicate if the block is one of those two types.
1955
457e09f0
DE
1956 ** Symbols now provide the "type" attribute, the type of the symbol.
1957
6839b47f
KP
1958 ** The "gdb.breakpoint" function has been deprecated in favor of
1959 "gdb.breakpoints".
1960
cc72b2a2
KP
1961 ** A new class "gdb.FinishBreakpoint" is provided to catch the return
1962 of a function. This class is based on the "finish" command
1963 available in the CLI.
1964
84ad80e6
PK
1965 ** Type objects for struct and union types now allow access to
1966 the fields using standard Python dictionary (mapping) methods.
1967 For example, "some_type['myfield']" now works, as does
1968 "some_type.items()".
1969
20c168b5
KP
1970 ** A new event "gdb.new_objfile" has been added, triggered by loading a
1971 new object file.
1972
03c3051a
PK
1973 ** A new function, "deep_items" has been added to the gdb.types
1974 module in the GDB Python modules library. This function returns
1975 an iterator over the fields of a struct or union type. Unlike
1976 the standard Python "iteritems" method, it will recursively traverse
1977 any anonymous fields.
1978
7376e450
TT
1979* MI changes
1980
1981 ** "*stopped" events can report several new "reason"s, such as
1982 "solib-event".
1983
1984 ** Breakpoint changes are now notified using new async records, like
1985 "=breakpoint-modified".
1986
1987 ** New command -ada-task-info.
1988
98a5dd13
DE
1989* libthread-db-search-path now supports two special values: $sdir and $pdir.
1990 $sdir specifies the default system locations of shared libraries.
1991 $pdir specifies the directory where the libpthread used by the application
1992 lives.
1993
1994 GDB no longer looks in $sdir and $pdir after it has searched the directories
1995 mentioned in libthread-db-search-path. If you want to search those
1996 directories, they must be specified in libthread-db-search-path.
1997 The default value of libthread-db-search-path on GNU/Linux and Solaris
1998 systems is now "$sdir:$pdir".
1999
2000 $pdir is not supported by gdbserver, it is currently ignored.
2001 $sdir is supported by gdbserver.
2002
478aac75
DE
2003* New configure option --with-iconv-bin.
2004 When using the internationalization support like the one in the GNU C
2005 library, GDB will invoke the "iconv" program to get a list of supported
2006 character sets. If this program lives in a non-standard location, one can
2007 use this option to specify where to find it.
2008
9c06b0b4
TJB
2009* When natively debugging programs on PowerPC BookE processors running
2010 a Linux kernel version 2.6.34 or later, GDB supports masked hardware
2011 watchpoints, which specify a mask in addition to an address to watch.
2012 The mask specifies that some bits of an address (the bits which are
2013 reset in the mask) should be ignored when matching the address accessed
2014 by the inferior against the watchpoint address. See the "PowerPC Embedded"
2015 section in the user manual for more details.
2016
03f2bd59
JK
2017* The new option --once causes GDBserver to stop listening for connections once
2018 the first connection is made. The listening port used by GDBserver will
2019 become available after that.
2020
71eba9c2 2021* New commands "info macros" and "alias" have been added.
edc84990 2022
2bda9cc5
JK
2023* New function parameters suffix @entry specifies value of function parameter
2024 at the time the function got called. Entry values are available only since
2025 gcc version 4.7.
2026
ed59ded5
DE
2027* New commands
2028
2029!SHELL COMMAND
2030 "!" is now an alias of the "shell" command.
2031 Note that no space is needed between "!" and SHELL COMMAND.
2032
9c06b0b4
TJB
2033* Changed commands
2034
2035watch EXPRESSION mask MASK_VALUE
2036 The watch command now supports the mask argument which allows creation
2037 of masked watchpoints, if the current architecture supports this feature.
2038
dbaefcf7
DE
2039info auto-load-scripts [REGEXP]
2040 This command was formerly named "maintenance print section-scripts".
2041 It is now generally useful and is no longer a maintenance-only command.
2042
71eba9c2 2043info macro [-all] [--] MACRO
2044 The info macro command has new options `-all' and `--'. The first for
2045 printing all definitions of a macro. The second for explicitly specifying
2046 the end of arguments and the beginning of the macro name in case the macro
2047 name starts with a hyphen.
2048
3065dfb6
SS
2049collect[/s] EXPRESSIONS
2050 The tracepoint collect command now takes an optional modifier "/s"
2051 that directs it to dereference pointer-to-character types and
2052 collect the bytes of memory up to a zero byte. The behavior is
2053 similar to what you see when you use the regular print command on a
2054 string. An optional integer following the "/s" sets a bound on the
2055 number of bytes that will be collected.
2056
f196051f
SS
2057tstart [NOTES]
2058 The trace start command now interprets any supplied arguments as a
2059 note to be recorded with the trace run, with an effect similar to
2060 setting the variable trace-notes.
2061
2062tstop [NOTES]
2063 The trace stop command now interprets any arguments as a note to be
2064 mentioned along with the tstatus report that the trace was stopped
2065 with a command. The effect is similar to setting the variable
2066 trace-stop-notes.
2067
d248b706
KY
2068* Tracepoints can now be enabled and disabled at any time after a trace
2069 experiment has been started using the standard "enable" and "disable"
2070 commands. It is now possible to start a trace experiment with no enabled
2071 tracepoints; GDB will display a warning, but will allow the experiment to
2072 begin, assuming that tracepoints will be enabled as needed while the trace
2073 is running.
2074
405f8e94
SS
2075* Fast tracepoints on 32-bit x86-architectures can now be placed at
2076 locations with 4-byte instructions, when they were previously
2077 limited to locations with instructions of 5 bytes or longer.
2078
2bda9cc5
JK
2079* New options
2080
45cfd468
DE
2081set debug dwarf2-read
2082show debug dwarf2-read
2083 Turns on or off display of debugging messages related to reading
2084 DWARF debug info. The default is off.
2085
2086set debug symtab-create
2087show debug symtab-create
2088 Turns on or off display of debugging messages related to symbol table
2089 creation. The default is off.
2090
baacfb07
PM
2091set extended-prompt
2092show extended-prompt
2093 Set the GDB prompt, and allow escape sequences to be inserted to
2094 display miscellaneous information (see 'help set extended-prompt'
2095 for the list of sequences). This prompt (and any information
2096 accessed through the escape sequences) is updated every time the
2097 prompt is displayed.
2098
2bda9cc5
JK
2099set print entry-values (both|compact|default|if-needed|no|only|preferred)
2100show print entry-values
2101 Set printing of frame argument values at function entry. In some cases
2102 GDB can determine the value of function argument which was passed by the
2103 function caller, even if the value was modified inside the called function.
2104
2105set debug entry-values
2106show debug entry-values
2107 Control display of debugging info for determining frame argument values at
2108 function entry and virtual tail call frames.
2109
c011a4f4
DE
2110set basenames-may-differ
2111show basenames-may-differ
2112 Set whether a source file may have multiple base names.
2113 (A "base name" is the name of a file with the directory part removed.
2114 Example: The base name of "/home/user/hello.c" is "hello.c".)
2115 If set, GDB will canonicalize file names (e.g., expand symlinks)
2116 before comparing them. Canonicalization is an expensive operation,
2117 but it allows the same file be known by more than one base name.
2118 If not set (the default), all source files are assumed to have just
2119 one base name, and gdb will do file name comparisons more efficiently.
2120
f196051f
SS
2121set trace-user
2122show trace-user
2123set trace-notes
2124show trace-notes
2125 Set a user name and notes for the current and any future trace runs.
2126 This is useful for long-running and/or disconnected traces, to
2127 inform others (or yourself) as to who is running the trace, supply
2128 contact information, or otherwise explain what is going on.
2129
2130set trace-stop-notes
2131show trace-stop-notes
2132 Set a note attached to the trace run, that is displayed when the
2133 trace has been stopped by a tstop command. This is useful for
2134 instance as an explanation, if you are stopping a trace run that was
2135 started by someone else.
2136
d248b706
KY
2137* New remote packets
2138
2139QTEnable
2140
2141 Dynamically enable a tracepoint in a started trace experiment.
2142
2143QTDisable
2144
2145 Dynamically disable a tracepoint in a started trace experiment.
2146
f196051f
SS
2147QTNotes
2148
2149 Set the user and notes of the trace run.
2150
2151qTP
2152
2153 Query the current status of a tracepoint.
2154
405f8e94
SS
2155qTMinFTPILen
2156
2157 Query the minimum length of instruction at which a fast tracepoint may
2158 be placed.
2159
1a532630
PP
2160* Dcache size (number of lines) and line-size are now runtime-configurable
2161 via "set dcache line" and "set dcache line-size" commands.
2162
11315641
YQ
2163* New targets
2164
2165Texas Instruments TMS320C6x tic6x-*-*
2166
87326c78
DD
2167* New Simulators
2168
2169Renesas RL78 rl78-*-elf
2170
e8d56f18
JB
2171*** Changes in GDB 7.3.1
2172
2173* The build failure for NetBSD and OpenBSD targets have now been fixed.
2174
d6e00af6 2175*** Changes in GDB 7.3
797054e6 2176
60f98dde
MS
2177* GDB has a new command: "thread find [REGEXP]".
2178 It finds the thread id whose name, target id, or thread extra info
2179 matches the given regular expression.
2180
eee5b35e
DD
2181* The "catch syscall" command now works on mips*-linux* targets.
2182
b716877b
AB
2183* The -data-disassemble MI command now supports modes 2 and 3 for
2184 dumping the instruction opcodes.
2185
aae1c79a
DE
2186* New command line options
2187
2188-data-directory DIR Specify DIR as the "data-directory".
2189 This is mostly for testing purposes.
2190
a86caf66
DE
2191* The "maint set python auto-load on|off" command has been renamed to
2192 "set auto-load-scripts on|off".
2193
99e7ae30
DE
2194* GDB has a new command: "set directories".
2195 It is like the "dir" command except that it replaces the
2196 source path list instead of augmenting it.
2197
4694da01
TT
2198* GDB now understands thread names.
2199
2200 On GNU/Linux, "info threads" will display the thread name as set by
2201 prctl or pthread_setname_np.
2202
2203 There is also a new command, "thread name", which can be used to
2204 assign a name internally for GDB to display.
2205
f4b8a18d
KW
2206* OpenCL C
2207 Initial support for the OpenCL C language (http://www.khronos.org/opencl)
2208 has been integrated into GDB.
2209
585d1eb8
PM
2210* Python scripting
2211
da5d4055
PM
2212 ** The function gdb.Write now accepts an optional keyword 'stream'.
2213 This keyword, when provided, will direct the output to either
2214 stdout, stderr, or GDB's logging output.
2215
9a6f1302
PM
2216 ** Parameters can now be be sub-classed in Python, and in particular
2217 you may implement the get_set_doc and get_show_doc functions.
2218 This improves how Parameter set/show documentation is processed
2219 and allows for more dynamic content.
2220
29703da4
PM
2221 ** Symbols, Symbol Table, Symbol Table and Line, Object Files,
2222 Inferior, Inferior Thread, Blocks, and Block Iterator APIs now
2223 have an is_valid method.
2224
350c6c65
PM
2225 ** Breakpoints can now be sub-classed in Python, and in particular
2226 you may implement a 'stop' function that is executed each time
2227 the inferior reaches that breakpoint.
2228
6e6fbe60
DE
2229 ** New function gdb.lookup_global_symbol looks up a global symbol.
2230
585d1eb8
PM
2231 ** GDB values in Python are now callable if the value represents a
2232 function. For example, if 'some_value' represents a function that
2233 takes two integer parameters and returns a value, you can call
2234 that function like so:
2235
2236 result = some_value (10,20)
2237
0e3509db
DE
2238 ** Module gdb.types has been added.
2239 It contains a collection of utilities for working with gdb.Types objects:
2240 get_basic_type, has_field, make_enum_dict.
2241
7b51bc51
DE
2242 ** Module gdb.printing has been added.
2243 It contains utilities for writing and registering pretty-printers.
2244 New classes: PrettyPrinter, SubPrettyPrinter,
2245 RegexpCollectionPrettyPrinter.
2246 New function: register_pretty_printer.
2247
2248 ** New commands "info pretty-printers", "enable pretty-printer" and
2249 "disable pretty-printer" have been added.
2250
99e7ae30
DE
2251 ** gdb.parameter("directories") is now available.
2252
d8e22779
TT
2253 ** New function gdb.newest_frame returns the newest frame in the
2254 selected thread.
2255
4694da01
TT
2256 ** The gdb.InferiorThread class has a new "name" attribute. This
2257 holds the thread's name.
2258
505500db
SW
2259 ** Python Support for Inferior events.
2260 Python scripts can add observers to be notified of events
824446ad 2261 occurring in the process being debugged.
c17a9e46
HZ
2262 The following events are currently supported:
2263 - gdb.events.cont Continue event.
2264 - gdb.events.exited Inferior exited event.
2265 - gdb.events.stop Signal received, and Breakpoint hit events.
2266
def98928
TT
2267* C++ Improvements:
2268
2269 ** GDB now puts template parameters in scope when debugging in an
2270 instantiation. For example, if you have:
2271
2272 template<int X> int func (void) { return X; }
2273
2274 then if you step into func<5>, "print X" will show "5". This
2275 feature requires proper debuginfo support from the compiler; it
2276 was added to GCC 4.5.
2277
66cb8159
TT
2278 ** The motion commands "next", "finish", "until", and "advance" now
2279 work better when exceptions are thrown. In particular, GDB will
2280 no longer lose control of the inferior; instead, the GDB will
2281 stop the inferior at the point at which the exception is caught.
2282 This functionality requires a change in the exception handling
2283 code that was introduced in GCC 4.5.
2284
4aac0db7
UW
2285* GDB now follows GCC's rules on accessing volatile objects when
2286 reading or writing target state during expression evaluation.
2287 One notable difference to prior behavior is that "print x = 0"
2288 no longer generates a read of x; the value of the assignment is
2289 now always taken directly from the value being assigned.
2290
283e6a52
TT
2291* GDB now has some support for using labels in the program's source in
2292 linespecs. For instance, you can use "advance label" to continue
2293 execution to a label.
2294
2295* GDB now has support for reading and writing a new .gdb_index
2296 section. This section holds a fast index of DWARF debugging
2297 information and can be used to greatly speed up GDB startup and
2298 operation. See the documentation for `save gdb-index' for details.
2299
b56df873 2300* The "watch" command now accepts an optional "-location" argument.
14c0d4e1 2301 When used, this causes GDB to watch the memory referred to by the
b56df873
TT
2302 expression. Such a watchpoint is never deleted due to it going out
2303 of scope.
2304
ae53ffa4
PA
2305* GDB now supports thread debugging of core dumps on GNU/Linux.
2306
2307 GDB now activates thread debugging using the libthread_db library
2308 when debugging GNU/Linux core dumps, similarly to when debugging
2309 live processes. As a result, when debugging a core dump file, GDB
2310 is now able to display pthread_t ids of threads. For example, "info
2311 threads" shows the same output as when debugging the process when it
2312 was live. In earlier releases, you'd see something like this:
2313
2314 (gdb) info threads
2315 * 1 LWP 6780 main () at main.c:10
2316
2317 While now you see this:
2318
2319 (gdb) info threads
2320 * 1 Thread 0x7f0f5712a700 (LWP 6780) main () at main.c:10
2321
2322 It is also now possible to inspect TLS variables when debugging core
2323 dumps.
2324
2325 When debugging a core dump generated on a machine other than the one
2326 used to run GDB, you may need to point GDB at the correct
2327 libthread_db library with the "set libthread-db-search-path"
2328 command. See the user manual for more details on this command.
2329
f1310107
TJB
2330* When natively debugging programs on PowerPC BookE processors running
2331 a Linux kernel version 2.6.34 or later, GDB supports ranged breakpoints,
2332 which stop execution of the inferior whenever it executes an instruction
2333 at any address within the specified range. See the "PowerPC Embedded"
2334 section in the user manual for more details.
2335
248c9dbc
JB
2336* New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
2337
1aee7009
JB
2338 ** GDBserver is now supported on PowerPC LynxOS (versions 4.x and 5.x),
2339 and i686 LynxOS (version 5.x).
248c9dbc 2340
eb826dc6
MF
2341 ** GDBserver is now supported on Blackfin Linux.
2342
44603653
JB
2343* New native configurations
2344
2345ia64 HP-UX ia64-*-hpux*
2346
91021223
MF
2347* New targets:
2348
2349Analog Devices, Inc. Blackfin Processor bfin-*
2350
6e1bb179
JB
2351* Ada task switching is now supported on sparc-elf targets when
2352 debugging a program using the Ravenscar Profile. For more information,
2353 see the "Tasking Support when using the Ravenscar Profile" section
2354 in the GDB user manual.
2355
50c97f38
TT
2356* Guile support was removed.
2357
448a92bf
MF
2358* New features in the GNU simulator
2359
2360 ** The --map-info flag lists all known core mappings.
2361
66ee2731
MF
2362 ** CFI flashes may be simulated via the "cfi" device.
2363
76b8507d 2364*** Changes in GDB 7.2
bfbf3774 2365
ba25b921
PA
2366* Shared library support for remote targets by default
2367
2368 When GDB is configured for a generic, non-OS specific target, like
2369 for example, --target=arm-eabi or one of the many *-*-elf targets,
2370 GDB now queries remote stubs for loaded shared libraries using the
2371 `qXfer:libraries:read' packet. Previously, shared library support
2372 was always disabled for such configurations.
2373
4656f5c6
SW
2374* C++ Improvements:
2375
2376 ** Argument Dependent Lookup (ADL)
2377
2378 In C++ ADL lookup directs function search to the namespaces of its
2379 arguments even if the namespace has not been imported.
2380 For example:
2381 namespace A
2382 {
2383 class B { };
2384 void foo (B) { }
2385 }
2386 ...
2387 A::B b
2388 foo(b)
2389 Here the compiler will search for `foo' in the namespace of 'b'
2390 and find A::foo. GDB now supports this. This construct is commonly
2391 used in the Standard Template Library for operators.
2392
2393 ** Improved User Defined Operator Support
2394
2395 In addition to member operators, GDB now supports lookup of operators
2396 defined in a namespace and imported with a `using' directive, operators
2397 defined in the global scope, operators imported implicitly from an
2398 anonymous namespace, and the ADL operators mentioned in the previous
2399 entry.
2400 GDB now also supports proper overload resolution for all the previously
2401 mentioned flavors of operators.
2402
254e6b9e
DE
2403 ** static const class members
2404
2405 Printing of static const class members that are initialized in the
2406 class definition has been fixed.
2407
711e434b
PM
2408* Windows Thread Information Block access.
2409
2410 On Windows targets, GDB now supports displaying the Windows Thread
2411 Information Block (TIB) structure. This structure is visible either
2412 by using the new command `info w32 thread-information-block' or, by
2413 dereferencing the new convenience variable named `$_tlb', a
2414 thread-specific pointer to the TIB. This feature is also supported
2415 when remote debugging using GDBserver.
2416
0fb4aa4b
PA
2417* Static tracepoints
2418
2419 Static tracepoints are calls in the user program into a tracing
2420 library. One such library is a port of the LTTng kernel tracer to
2421 userspace --- UST (LTTng Userspace Tracer, http://lttng.org/ust).
2422 When debugging with GDBserver, GDB now supports combining the GDB
2423 tracepoint machinery with such libraries. For example: the user can
2424 use GDB to probe a static tracepoint marker (a call from the user
2425 program into the tracing library) with the new "strace" command (see
2426 "New commands" below). This creates a "static tracepoint" in the
2427 breakpoint list, that can be manipulated with the same feature set
2428 as fast and regular tracepoints. E.g., collect registers, local and
2429 global variables, collect trace state variables, and define
2430 tracepoint conditions. In addition, the user can collect extra
2431 static tracepoint marker specific data, by collecting the new
2432 $_sdata internal variable. When analyzing the trace buffer, you can
2433 inspect $_sdata like any other variable available to GDB. For more
2434 information, see the "Tracepoints" chapter in GDB user manual. New
2435 remote packets have been defined to support static tracepoints, see
2436 the "New remote packets" section below.
2437
ca11e899
SS
2438* Better reconstruction of tracepoints after disconnected tracing
2439
2440 GDB will attempt to download the original source form of tracepoint
2441 definitions when starting a trace run, and then will upload these
2442 upon reconnection to the target, resulting in a more accurate
2443 reconstruction of the tracepoints that are in use on the target.
2444
2445* Observer mode
2446
2447 You can now exercise direct control over the ways that GDB can
2448 affect your program. For instance, you can disallow the setting of
2449 breakpoints, so that the program can run continuously (assuming
2450 non-stop mode). In addition, the "observer" variable is available
2451 to switch all of the different controls; in observer mode, GDB
2452 cannot affect the target's behavior at all, which is useful for
2453 tasks like diagnosing live systems in the field.
2454
2455* The new convenience variable $_thread holds the number of the
2456 current thread.
2457
711e434b
PM
2458* New remote packets
2459
2460qGetTIBAddr
2461
2462 Return the address of the Windows Thread Information Block of a given thread.
2463
dde08ee1
PA
2464qRelocInsn
2465
2466 In response to several of the tracepoint packets, the target may now
2467 also respond with a number of intermediate `qRelocInsn' request
2468 packets before the final result packet, to have GDB handle
2469 relocating an instruction to execute at a different address. This
2470 is particularly useful for stubs that support fast tracepoints. GDB
2471 reports support for this feature in the qSupported packet.
2472
0fb4aa4b
PA
2473qTfSTM, qTsSTM
2474
2475 List static tracepoint markers in the target program.
2476
2477qTSTMat
2478
2479 List static tracepoint markers at a given address in the target
2480 program.
2481
2482qXfer:statictrace:read
2483
2484 Read the static trace data collected (by a `collect $_sdata'
2485 tracepoint action). The remote stub reports support for this packet
2486 to gdb's qSupported query.
2487
ca11e899
SS
2488QAllow
2489
2490 Send the current settings of GDB's permission flags.
2491
2492QTDPsrc
2493
2494 Send part of the source (textual) form of a tracepoint definition,
2495 which includes location, conditional, and action list.
2496
3f7b2faa
DE
2497* The source command now accepts a -s option to force searching for the
2498 script in the source search path even if the script name specifies
2499 a directory.
2500
d337e9f0
PA
2501* New features in the GDB remote stub, GDBserver
2502
0fb4aa4b
PA
2503 - GDBserver now support tracepoints (including fast tracepoints, and
2504 static tracepoints). The feature is currently supported by the
2505 i386-linux and amd64-linux builds. See the "Tracepoints support
2506 in gdbserver" section in the manual for more information.
2507
2508 GDBserver JIT compiles the tracepoint's conditional agent
2509 expression bytecode into native code whenever possible for low
2510 overhead dynamic tracepoints conditionals. For such tracepoints,
2511 an expression that examines program state is evaluated when the
2512 tracepoint is reached, in order to determine whether to capture
2513 trace data. If the condition is simple and false, processing the
2514 tracepoint finishes very quickly and no data is gathered.
2515
2516 GDBserver interfaces with the UST (LTTng Userspace Tracer) library
2517 for static tracepoints support.
d337e9f0 2518
c24d0242
PM
2519 - GDBserver now supports x86_64 Windows 64-bit debugging.
2520
c8d5aac9
L
2521* GDB now sends xmlRegisters= in qSupported packet to indicate that
2522 it understands register description.
2523
7c953934
TT
2524* The --batch flag now disables pagination and queries.
2525
8685c86f
L
2526* X86 general purpose registers
2527
2528 GDB now supports reading/writing byte, word and double-word x86
2529 general purpose registers directly. This means you can use, say,
2530 $ah or $ax to refer, respectively, to the byte register AH and
2531 16-bit word register AX that are actually portions of the 32-bit
2532 register EAX or 64-bit register RAX.
2533
95a42b64 2534* The `commands' command now accepts a range of breakpoints to modify.
86b17b60
PA
2535 A plain `commands' following a command that creates multiple
2536 breakpoints affects all the breakpoints set by that command. This
2537 applies to breakpoints set by `rbreak', and also applies when a
2538 single `break' command creates multiple breakpoints (e.g.,
2539 breakpoints on overloaded c++ functions).
95a42b64 2540
8bd10a10
CM
2541* The `rbreak' command now accepts a filename specification as part of
2542 its argument, limiting the functions selected by the regex to those
2543 in the specified file.
2544
ab38a727
PA
2545* Support for remote debugging Windows and SymbianOS shared libraries
2546 from Unix hosts has been improved. Non Windows GDB builds now can
2547 understand target reported file names that follow MS-DOS based file
2548 system semantics, such as file names that include drive letters and
2549 use the backslash character as directory separator. This makes it
2550 possible to transparently use the "set sysroot" and "set
2551 solib-search-path" on Unix hosts to point as host copies of the
2552 target's shared libraries. See the new command "set
2553 target-file-system-kind" described below, and the "Commands to
2554 specify files" section in the user manual for more information.
2555
6149aea9
PA
2556* New commands
2557
f1421989
HZ
2558eval template, expressions...
2559 Convert the values of one or more expressions under the control
2560 of the string template to a command line, and call it.
2561
ab38a727
PA
2562set target-file-system-kind unix|dos-based|auto
2563show target-file-system-kind
2564 Set or show the assumed file system kind for target reported file
2565 names.
2566
6149aea9
PA
2567save breakpoints <filename>
2568 Save all current breakpoint definitions to a file suitable for use
2569 in a later debugging session. To read the saved breakpoint
2570 definitions, use the `source' command.
2571
2572`save tracepoints' is a new alias for `save-tracepoints'. The latter
2573is now deprecated.
2574
0fb4aa4b
PA
2575info static-tracepoint-markers
2576 Display information about static tracepoint markers in the target.
2577
2578strace FN | FILE:LINE | *ADDR | -m MARKER_ID
2579 Define a static tracepoint by probing a marker at the given
2580 function, line, address, or marker ID.
2581
ca11e899
SS
2582set observer on|off
2583show observer
2584 Enable and disable observer mode.
2585
2586set may-write-registers on|off
2587set may-write-memory on|off
2588set may-insert-breakpoints on|off
2589set may-insert-tracepoints on|off
2590set may-insert-fast-tracepoints on|off
2591set may-interrupt on|off
2592 Set individual permissions for GDB effects on the target. Note that
2593 some of these settings can have undesirable or surprising
2594 consequences, particularly when changed in the middle of a session.
2595 For instance, disabling the writing of memory can prevent
2596 breakpoints from being inserted, cause single-stepping to fail, or
2597 even crash your program, if you disable after breakpoints have been
2598 inserted. However, GDB should not crash.
2599
2600set record memory-query on|off
2601show record memory-query
2602 Control whether to stop the inferior if memory changes caused
2603 by an instruction cannot be recorded.
2604
53a71c06
CR
2605* Changed commands
2606
2607disassemble
2608 The disassemble command now supports "start,+length" form of two arguments.
2609
f3e9a817
PM
2610* Python scripting
2611
9279c692
JB
2612** GDB now provides a new directory location, called the python directory,
2613 where Python scripts written for GDB can be installed. The location
2614 of that directory is <data-directory>/python, where <data-directory>
2615 is the GDB data directory. For more details, see section `Scripting
2616 GDB using Python' in the manual.
2617
adc36818 2618** The GDB Python API now has access to breakpoints, symbols, symbol
595939de
PM
2619 tables, program spaces, inferiors, threads and frame's code blocks.
2620 Additionally, GDB Parameters can now be created from the API, and
2621 manipulated via set/show in the CLI.
f870a310 2622
fa33c3cd 2623** New functions gdb.target_charset, gdb.target_wide_charset,
07ca107c
DE
2624 gdb.progspaces, gdb.current_progspace, and gdb.string_to_argv.
2625
2626** New exception gdb.GdbError.
fa33c3cd
DE
2627
2628** Pretty-printers are now also looked up in the current program space.
f3e9a817 2629
967cf477
DE
2630** Pretty-printers can now be individually enabled and disabled.
2631
8a1ea21f
DE
2632** GDB now looks for names of Python scripts to auto-load in a
2633 special section named `.debug_gdb_scripts', in addition to looking
2634 for a OBJFILE-gdb.py script when OBJFILE is read by the debugger.
2635
a7bdde9e
VP
2636* Tracepoint actions were unified with breakpoint commands. In particular,
2637there are no longer differences in "info break" output for breakpoints and
2638tracepoints and the "commands" command can be used for both tracepoints and
2639regular breakpoints.
2640
05071a4d
PA
2641* New targets
2642
2643ARM Symbian arm*-*-symbianelf*
2644
6aecb9c2
JB
2645* D language support.
2646 GDB now supports debugging programs written in the D programming
2647 language.
2648
431e49aa
TJB
2649* GDB now supports the extended ptrace interface for PowerPC which is
2650 available since Linux kernel version 2.6.34. This automatically enables
2651 any hardware breakpoints and additional hardware watchpoints available in
2652 the processor. The old ptrace interface exposes just one hardware
2653 watchpoint and no hardware breakpoints.
2654
2655* GDB is now able to use the Data Value Compare (DVC) register available on
2656 embedded PowerPC processors to implement in hardware simple watchpoint
2657 conditions of the form:
2658
2659 watch ADDRESS|VARIABLE if ADDRESS|VARIABLE == CONSTANT EXPRESSION
2660
2661 This works in native GDB running on Linux kernels with the extended ptrace
2662 interface mentioned above.
2663
bfbf3774 2664*** Changes in GDB 7.1
abc7453d 2665
4eef138c
TT
2666* C++ Improvements
2667
2668 ** Namespace Support
71dee663
SW
2669
2670 GDB now supports importing of namespaces in C++. This enables the
2671 user to inspect variables from imported namespaces. Support for
2672 namepace aliasing has also been added. So, if a namespace is
2673 aliased in the current scope (e.g. namepace C=A; ) the user can
2674 print variables using the alias (e.g. (gdb) print C::x).
2675
4eef138c
TT
2676 ** Bug Fixes
2677
2678 All known bugs relating to the printing of virtual base class were
2679 fixed. It is now possible to call overloaded static methods using a
2680 qualified name.
2681
2682 ** Cast Operators
2683
2684 The C++ cast operators static_cast<>, dynamic_cast<>, const_cast<>,
2685 and reinterpret_cast<> are now handled by the C++ expression parser.
2686
2d1c1221
ME
2687* New targets
2688
2689Xilinx MicroBlaze microblaze-*-*
34207b9e 2690Renesas RX rx-*-elf
2d1c1221
ME
2691
2692* New Simulators
2693
2694Xilinx MicroBlaze microblaze
34207b9e 2695Renesas RX rx
2d1c1221 2696
6c95b8df
PA
2697* Multi-program debugging.
2698
2699 GDB now has support for multi-program (a.k.a. multi-executable or
2700 multi-exec) debugging. This allows for debugging multiple inferiors
2701 simultaneously each running a different program under the same GDB
2702 session. See "Debugging Multiple Inferiors and Programs" in the
2703 manual for more information. This implied some user visible changes
2704 in the multi-inferior support. For example, "info inferiors" now
2705 lists inferiors that are not running yet or that have exited
2706 already. See also "New commands" and "New options" below.
2707
d5551862
SS
2708* New tracing features
2709
2710 GDB's tracepoint facility now includes several new features:
2711
2712 ** Trace state variables
f61e138d
SS
2713
2714 GDB tracepoints now include support for trace state variables, which
2715 are variables managed by the target agent during a tracing
2716 experiment. They are useful for tracepoints that trigger each
2717 other, so for instance one tracepoint can count hits in a variable,
2718 and then a second tracepoint has a condition that is true when the
2719 count reaches a particular value. Trace state variables share the
2720 $-syntax of GDB convenience variables, and can appear in both
2721 tracepoint actions and condition expressions. Use the "tvariable"
2722 command to create, and "info tvariables" to view; see "Trace State
2723 Variables" in the manual for more detail.
7a697b8d 2724
d5551862 2725 ** Fast tracepoints
7a697b8d
SS
2726
2727 GDB now includes an option for defining fast tracepoints, which
2728 targets may implement more efficiently, such as by installing a jump
2729 into the target agent rather than a trap instruction. The resulting
2730 speedup can be by two orders of magnitude or more, although the
2731 tradeoff is that some program locations on some target architectures
2732 might not allow fast tracepoint installation, for instance if the
2733 instruction to be replaced is shorter than the jump. To request a
2734 fast tracepoint, use the "ftrace" command, with syntax identical to
2735 the regular trace command.
2736
d5551862
SS
2737 ** Disconnected tracing
2738
2739 It is now possible to detach GDB from the target while it is running
2740 a trace experiment, then reconnect later to see how the experiment
2741 is going. In addition, a new variable disconnected-tracing lets you
2742 tell the target agent whether to continue running a trace if the
2743 connection is lost unexpectedly.
2744
00bf0b85
SS
2745 ** Trace files
2746
2747 GDB now has the ability to save the trace buffer into a file, and
2748 then use that file as a target, similarly to you can do with
2749 corefiles. You can select trace frames, print data that was
2750 collected in them, and use tstatus to display the state of the
2751 tracing run at the moment that it was saved. To create a trace
2752 file, use "tsave <filename>", and to use it, do "target tfile
2753 <name>".
4daf5ac0
SS
2754
2755 ** Circular trace buffer
2756
2757 You can ask the target agent to handle the trace buffer as a
2758 circular buffer, discarding the oldest trace frames to make room for
2759 newer ones, by setting circular-trace-buffer to on. This feature may
2760 not be available for all target agents.
2761
21a0512e
PP
2762* Changed commands
2763
2764disassemble
2765 The disassemble command, when invoked with two arguments, now requires
2766 the arguments to be comma-separated.
2767
0fe7935b
DJ
2768info variables
2769 The info variables command now displays variable definitions. Files
2770 which only declare a variable are not shown.
2771
fb2e7cb4
JB
2772source
2773 The source command is now capable of sourcing Python scripts.
2774 This feature is dependent on the debugger being build with Python
2775 support.
2776
2777 Related to this enhancement is also the introduction of a new command
2778 "set script-extension" (see below).
2779
6c95b8df
PA
2780* New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
2781
399cd161
MS
2782record save [<FILENAME>]
2783 Save a file (in core file format) containing the process record
2784 execution log for replay debugging at a later time.
2785
2786record restore <FILENAME>
2787 Restore the process record execution log that was saved at an
2788 earlier time, for replay debugging.
2789
6c95b8df
PA
2790add-inferior [-copies <N>] [-exec <FILENAME>]
2791 Add a new inferior.
2792
2793clone-inferior [-copies <N>] [ID]
2794 Make a new inferior ready to execute the same program another
2795 inferior has loaded.
2796
2797remove-inferior ID
2798 Remove an inferior.
2799
2800maint info program-spaces
2801 List the program spaces loaded into GDB.
2802
9a7071a8
JB
2803set remote interrupt-sequence [Ctrl-C | BREAK | BREAK-g]
2804show remote interrupt-sequence
2805 Allow the user to select one of ^C, a BREAK signal or BREAK-g
2806 as the sequence to the remote target in order to interrupt the execution.
2807 Ctrl-C is a default. Some system prefers BREAK which is high level of
2808 serial line for some certain time. Linux kernel prefers BREAK-g, a.k.a
2809 Magic SysRq g. It is BREAK signal and character 'g'.
2810
2811set remote interrupt-on-connect [on | off]
2812show remote interrupt-on-connect
2813 When interrupt-on-connect is ON, gdb sends interrupt-sequence to
2814 remote target when gdb connects to it. This is needed when you debug
2815 Linux kernel.
2816
2817set remotebreak [on | off]
2818show remotebreak
2819Deprecated. Use "set/show remote interrupt-sequence" instead.
2820
f61e138d
SS
2821tvariable $NAME [ = EXP ]
2822 Create or modify a trace state variable.
2823
2824info tvariables
2825 List trace state variables and their values.
2826
2827delete tvariable $NAME ...
2828 Delete one or more trace state variables.
2829
6da95a67
SS
2830teval EXPR, ...
2831 Evaluate the given expressions without collecting anything into the
2832 trace buffer. (Valid in tracepoint actions only.)
2833
7a697b8d
SS
2834ftrace FN / FILE:LINE / *ADDR
2835 Define a fast tracepoint at the given function, line, or address.
2836
b0f02ee9
JK
2837* New expression syntax
2838
2839 GDB now parses the 0b prefix of binary numbers the same way as GCC does.
2840 GDB now parses 0b101010 identically with 42.
2841
6c95b8df
PA
2842* New options
2843
2844set follow-exec-mode new|same
2845show follow-exec-mode
2846 Control whether GDB reuses the same inferior across an exec call or
2847 creates a new one. This is useful to be able to restart the old
2848 executable after the inferior having done an exec call.
2849
236f1d4d
SS
2850set default-collect EXPR, ...
2851show default-collect
2852 Define a list of expressions to be collected at each tracepoint.
2853 This is a useful way to ensure essential items are not overlooked,
2854 such as registers or a critical global variable.
2855
d5551862
SS
2856set disconnected-tracing
2857show disconnected-tracing
2858 If set to 1, the target is instructed to continue tracing if it
2859 loses its connection to GDB. If 0, the target is to stop tracing
2860 upon disconnection.
2861
4daf5ac0
SS
2862set circular-trace-buffer
2863show circular-trace-buffer
2864 If set to on, the target is instructed to use a circular trace buffer
2865 and discard the oldest trace frames instead of stopping the trace due
2866 to a full trace buffer. If set to off, the trace stops when the buffer
2867 fills up. Some targets may not support this.
2868
fb2e7cb4
JB
2869set script-extension off|soft|strict
2870show script-extension
2871 If set to "off", the debugger does not perform any script language
2872 recognition, and all sourced files are assumed to be GDB scripts.
2873 If set to "soft" (the default), files are sourced according to
2874 filename extension, falling back to GDB scripts if the first
2875 evaluation failed.
2876 If set to "strict", files are sourced according to filename extension.
2877
2b71fc8e
JB
2878set ada trust-PAD-over-XVS on|off
2879show ada trust-PAD-over-XVS
2880 If off, activate a workaround against a bug in the debugging information
2881 generated by the compiler for PAD types (see gcc/exp_dbug.ads in
2882 the GCC sources for more information about the GNAT encoding and
2883 PAD types in particular). It is always safe to set this option to
2884 off, but this introduces a slight performance penalty. The default
2885 is on.
2886
de2e5182
TT
2887* Python API Improvements
2888
2889 ** GDB provides the new class gdb.LazyString. This is useful in
2890 some pretty-printing cases. The new method gdb.Value.lazy_string
2891 provides a simple way to create objects of this type.
2892
2893 ** The fields returned by gdb.Type.fields now have an
2894 `is_base_class' attribute.
2895
2896 ** The new method gdb.Type.range returns the range of an array type.
2897
2898 ** The new method gdb.parse_and_eval can be used to parse and
2899 evaluate an expression.
2900
f61e138d
SS
2901* New remote packets
2902
2903QTDV
2904 Define a trace state variable.
2905
2906qTV
2907 Get the current value of a trace state variable.
2908
d5551862
SS
2909QTDisconnected
2910 Set desired tracing behavior upon disconnection.
2911
4daf5ac0
SS
2912QTBuffer:circular
2913 Set the trace buffer to be linear or circular.
2914
d5551862
SS
2915qTfP, qTsP
2916 Get data about the tracepoints currently in use.
2917
2d483d34
MS
2918* Bug fixes
2919
2920Process record now works correctly with hardware watchpoints.
2921
6e0e5977
JB
2922Multiple bug fixes have been made to the mips-irix port, making it
2923much more reliable. In particular:
2924 - Debugging threaded applications is now possible again. Previously,
2925 GDB would hang while starting the program, or while waiting for
2926 the program to stop at a breakpoint.
2927 - Attaching to a running process no longer hangs.
2928 - An error occurring while loading a core file has been fixed.
2929 - Changing the value of the PC register now works again. This fixes
2930 problems observed when using the "jump" command, or when calling
2931 a function from GDB, or even when assigning a new value to $pc.
2932 - With the "finish" and "return" commands, the return value for functions
2933 returning a small array is now correctly printed.
2934 - It is now possible to break on shared library code which gets executed
2935 during a shared library init phase (code executed while executing
2936 their .init section). Previously, the breakpoint would have no effect.
2937 - GDB is now able to backtrace through the signal handler for
2938 non-threaded programs.
2939
93c26624
JK
2940PIE (Position Independent Executable) programs debugging is now supported.
2941This includes debugging execution of PIC (Position Independent Code) shared
2942libraries although for that, it should be possible to run such libraries as an
2943executable program.
2944
abc7453d 2945*** Changes in GDB 7.0
75feb17d 2946
4efc6507
DE
2947* GDB now has an interface for JIT compilation. Applications that
2948dynamically generate code can create symbol files in memory and register
2949them with GDB. For users, the feature should work transparently, and
2950for JIT developers, the interface is documented in the GDB manual in the
2951"JIT Compilation Interface" chapter.
2952
782b2b07
SS
2953* Tracepoints may now be conditional. The syntax is as for
2954breakpoints; either an "if" clause appended to the "trace" command,
2955or the "condition" command is available. GDB sends the condition to
2956the target for evaluation using the same bytecode format as is used
2957for tracepoint actions.
2958
53a71c06
CR
2959* The disassemble command now supports: an optional /r modifier, print the
2960raw instructions in hex as well as in symbolic form, and an optional /m
2961modifier to print mixed source+assembly.
e6158f16 2962
e7a8dbfb
HZ
2963* Process record and replay
2964
2965 In a architecture environment that supports ``process record and
2966 replay'', ``process record and replay'' target can record a log of
2967 the process execution, and replay it with both forward and reverse
2968 execute commands.
2969
64644d9b
MS
2970* Reverse debugging: GDB now has new commands reverse-continue, reverse-
2971step, reverse-next, reverse-finish, reverse-stepi, reverse-nexti, and
2972set execution-direction {forward|reverse}, for targets that support
2973reverse execution.
2974
b9412953
DD
2975* GDB now supports hardware watchpoints on MIPS/Linux systems. This
2976feature is available with a native GDB running on kernel version
29772.6.28 or later.
2978
6c7a06a3
TT
2979* GDB now has support for multi-byte and wide character sets on the
2980target. Strings whose character type is wchar_t, char16_t, or
2981char32_t are now correctly printed. GDB supports wide- and unicode-
2982literals in C, that is, L'x', L"string", u'x', u"string", U'x', and
2983U"string" syntax. And, GDB allows the "%ls" and "%lc" formats in
2984`printf'. This feature requires iconv to work properly; if your
2985system does not have a working iconv, GDB can use GNU libiconv. See
2986the installation instructions for more information.
2987
f1838a98
UW
2988* GDB now supports automatic retrieval of shared library files from
2989remote targets. To use this feature, specify a system root that begins
2990with the `remote:' prefix, either via the `set sysroot' command or via
2991the `--with-sysroot' configure-time option.
2992
55333a84
DE
2993* "info sharedlibrary" now takes an optional regex of libraries to show,
2994and it now reports if a shared library has no debugging information.
2995
7f6a6314
PM
2996* Commands `set debug-file-directory', `set solib-search-path' and `set args'
2997now complete on file names.
2998
65d12d83
TT
2999* When completing in expressions, gdb will attempt to limit
3000completions to allowable structure or union fields, where appropriate.
3001For instance, consider:
3002
3003 # struct example { int f1; double f2; };
3004 # struct example variable;
3005 (gdb) p variable.
3006
3007If the user types TAB at the end of this command line, the available
3008completions will be "f1" and "f2".
3009
edb3359d
DJ
3010* Inlined functions are now supported. They show up in backtraces, and
3011the "step", "next", and "finish" commands handle them automatically.
3012
2fae03e8
TT
3013* GDB now supports the token-splicing (##) and stringification (#)
3014operators when expanding macros. It also supports variable-arity
3015macros.
3016
47a3467a 3017* GDB now supports inspecting extra signal information, exported by
58d6951d
DJ
3018the new $_siginfo convenience variable. The feature is currently
3019implemented on linux ARM, i386 and amd64.
3020
3021* GDB can now display the VFP floating point registers and NEON vector
3022registers on ARM targets. Both ARM GNU/Linux native GDB and gdbserver
3023can provide these registers (requires Linux 2.6.30 or later). Remote
3024and simulator targets may also provide them.
47a3467a 3025
08388c79
DE
3026* New remote packets
3027
3028qSearch:memory:
3029 Search memory for a sequence of bytes.
3030
a6f3e723
SL
3031QStartNoAckMode
3032 Turn off `+'/`-' protocol acknowledgments to permit more efficient
3033 operation over reliable transport links. Use of this packet is
3034 controlled by the `set remote noack-packet' command.
3035
d7713ae0
EZ
3036vKill
3037 Kill the process with the specified process ID. Use this in preference
3038 to `k' when multiprocess protocol extensions are supported.
3039
07e059b5
VP
3040qXfer:osdata:read
3041 Obtains additional operating system information
3042
47a3467a
PA
3043qXfer:siginfo:read
3044qXfer:siginfo:write
3045 Read or write additional signal information.
3046
060871df
PA
3047* Removed remote protocol undocumented extension
3048
3049 An undocumented extension to the remote protocol's `S' stop reply
3050 packet that permited the stub to pass a process id was removed.
3051 Remote servers should use the `T' stop reply packet instead.
3052
c055b101 3053* GDB now supports multiple function calling conventions according to the
a0ef4274 3054DWARF-2 DW_AT_calling_convention function attribute.
c055b101
CV
3055
3056* The SH target utilizes the aforementioned change to distinguish between gcc
a0ef4274
DJ
3057and Renesas calling convention. It also adds the new CLI commands
3058`set/show sh calling-convention'.
c055b101 3059
31fffb02
CS
3060* GDB can now read compressed debug sections, as produced by GNU gold
3061with the --compress-debug-sections=zlib flag.
3062
88d8a8e0
JB
3063* 64-bit core files are now supported on AIX.
3064
7f99b190
JB
3065* Thread switching is now supported on Tru64.
3066
ccd213ac
DJ
3067* Watchpoints can now be set on unreadable memory locations, e.g. addresses
3068which will be allocated using malloc later in program execution.
3069
1fddbabb 3070* The qXfer:libraries:read remote procotol packet now allows passing a
31fffb02 3071list of section offsets.
1fddbabb 3072
a0ef4274
DJ
3073* On GNU/Linux, GDB can now attach to stopped processes. Several race
3074conditions handling signals delivered during attach or thread creation
3075have also been fixed.
3076
bfb8797a 3077* GDB now supports the use of DWARF boolean types for Ada's type Boolean.
158c7665
PH
3078From the user's standpoint, all unqualified instances of True and False
3079are treated as the standard definitions, regardless of context.
bfb8797a 3080
71c25dea
TT
3081* GDB now parses C++ symbol and type names more flexibly. For
3082example, given:
3083
3084 template<typename T> class C { };
3085 C<char const *> c;
3086
3087GDB will now correctly handle all of:
3088
3089 ptype C<char const *>
3090 ptype C<char const*>
3091 ptype C<const char *>
3092 ptype C<const char*>
3093
ccd213ac
DJ
3094* New features in the GDB remote stub, gdbserver
3095
3096 - The "--wrapper" command-line argument tells gdbserver to use a
3097 wrapper program to launch programs for debugging.
3098
7ae0e2a2
UW
3099 - On PowerPC and S/390 targets, it is now possible to use a single
3100 gdbserver executable to debug both 32-bit and 64-bit programs.
3101 (This requires gdbserver itself to be built as a 64-bit executable.)
3102
a6f3e723
SL
3103 - gdbserver uses the new noack protocol mode for TCP connections to
3104 reduce communications latency, if also supported and enabled in GDB.
3105
da8bd9a3
DJ
3106 - Support for the sparc64-linux-gnu target is now included in
3107 gdbserver.
3108
d70e31dd
DE
3109 - The amd64-linux build of gdbserver now supports debugging both
3110 32-bit and 64-bit programs.
3111
3112 - The i386-linux, amd64-linux, and i386-win32 builds of gdbserver
3113 now support hardware watchpoints, and will use them automatically
3114 as appropriate.
3115
d57a3c85
TJB
3116* Python scripting
3117
3118 GDB now has support for scripting using Python. Whether this is
3119 available is determined at configure time.
3120
d8906c6f
TJB
3121 New GDB commands can now be written in Python.
3122
aadc346a
JB
3123* Ada tasking support
3124
3125 Ada tasks can now be inspected in GDB. The following commands have
3126 been introduced:
3127
3128 info tasks
3129 Print the list of Ada tasks.
3130 info task N
3131 Print detailed information about task number N.
3132 task
3133 Print the task number of the current task.
3134 task N
3135 Switch the context of debugging to task number N.
3136
adb483fe
DJ
3137* Support for user-defined prefixed commands. The "define" command can
3138add new commands to existing prefixes, e.g. "target".
3139
2277426b
PA
3140* Multi-inferior, multi-process debugging.
3141
3142 GDB now has generalized support for multi-inferior debugging. See
3143 "Debugging Multiple Inferiors" in the manual for more information.
3144 Although availability still depends on target support, the command
3145 set is more uniform now. The GNU/Linux specific multi-forks support
3146 has been migrated to this new framework. This implied some user
3147 visible changes; see "New commands" and also "Removed commands"
3148 below.
3149
08d16641
PA
3150* Target descriptions can now describe the target OS ABI. See the
3151"Target Description Format" section in the user manual for more
3152information.
3153
e35359c5
UW
3154* Target descriptions can now describe "compatible" architectures
3155to indicate that the target can execute applications for a different
3156architecture in addition to those for the main target architecture.
3157See the "Target Description Format" section in the user manual for
3158more information.
3159
85e747d2
UW
3160* Multi-architecture debugging.
3161
3162 GDB now includes general supports for debugging applications on
3163 hybrid systems that use more than one single processor architecture
3164 at the same time. Each such hybrid architecture still requires
3165 specific support to be added. The only hybrid architecture supported
3166 in this version of GDB is the Cell Broadband Engine.
3167
3168* GDB now supports integrated debugging of Cell/B.E. applications that
3169use both the PPU and SPU architectures. To enable support for hybrid
3170Cell/B.E. debugging, you need to configure GDB to support both the
3171powerpc-linux or powerpc64-linux and the spu-elf targets, using the
3172--enable-targets configure option.
3173
11ade57a
PA
3174* Non-stop mode debugging.
3175
3176 For some targets, GDB now supports an optional mode of operation in
3177 which you can examine stopped threads while other threads continue
3178 to execute freely. This is referred to as non-stop mode, with the
3179 old mode referred to as all-stop mode. See the "Non-Stop Mode"
3180 section in the user manual for more information.
3181
3182 To be able to support remote non-stop debugging, a remote stub needs
3183 to implement the non-stop mode remote protocol extensions, as
3184 described in the "Remote Non-Stop" section of the user manual. The
3185 GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been adjusted to support these
3186 extensions on linux targets.
3187
d7713ae0 3188* New commands (for set/show, see "New options" below)
75feb17d 3189
a96d9b2e
SDJ
3190catch syscall [NAME(S) | NUMBER(S)]
3191 Catch system calls. Arguments, which should be names of system
3192 calls or their numbers, mean catch only those syscalls. Without
3193 arguments, every syscall will be caught. When the inferior issues
3194 any of the specified syscalls, GDB will stop and announce the system
3195 call, both when it is called and when its call returns. This
3196 feature is currently available with a native GDB running on the
3197 Linux Kernel, under the following architectures: x86, x86_64,
3198 PowerPC and PowerPC64.
3199
08388c79
DE
3200find [/size-char] [/max-count] start-address, end-address|+search-space-size,
3201 val1 [, val2, ...]
3202 Search memory for a sequence of bytes.
3203
d57a3c85
TJB
3204maint set python print-stack
3205maint show python print-stack
3206 Show a stack trace when an error is encountered in a Python script.
3207
3208python [CODE]
3209 Invoke CODE by passing it to the Python interpreter.
3210
d7713ae0
EZ
3211macro define
3212macro list
3213macro undef
3214 These allow macros to be defined, undefined, and listed
3215 interactively.
3216
3217info os processes
3218 Show operating system information about processes.
3219
2277426b
PA
3220info inferiors
3221 List the inferiors currently under GDB's control.
3222
3223inferior NUM
3224 Switch focus to inferior number NUM.
3225
3226detach inferior NUM
3227 Detach from inferior number NUM.
3228
3229kill inferior NUM
3230 Kill inferior number NUM.
3231
d7713ae0
EZ
3232* New options
3233
3285f3fe
UW
3234set spu stop-on-load
3235show spu stop-on-load
3236 Control whether to stop for new SPE threads during Cell/B.E. debugging.
3237
ff1a52c6
UW
3238set spu auto-flush-cache
3239show spu auto-flush-cache
3240 Control whether to automatically flush the software-managed cache
3241 during Cell/B.E. debugging.
3242
d7713ae0
EZ
3243set sh calling-convention
3244show sh calling-convention
3245 Control the calling convention used when calling SH target functions.
3246
e0a3ce09 3247set debug timestamp
75feb17d 3248show debug timestamp
d7713ae0
EZ
3249 Control display of timestamps with GDB debugging output.
3250
3251set disassemble-next-line
3252show disassemble-next-line
3253 Control display of disassembled source lines or instructions when
3254 the debuggee stops.
3255
3256set remote noack-packet
3257show remote noack-packet
3258 Set/show the use of remote protocol QStartNoAckMode packet. See above
3259 under "New remote packets."
3260
3261set remote query-attached-packet
3262show remote query-attached-packet
3263 Control use of remote protocol `qAttached' (query-attached) packet.
3264
3265set remote read-siginfo-object
3266show remote read-siginfo-object
3267 Control use of remote protocol `qXfer:siginfo:read' (read-siginfo-object)
3268 packet.
3269
3270set remote write-siginfo-object
3271show remote write-siginfo-object
3272 Control use of remote protocol `qXfer:siginfo:write' (write-siginfo-object)
3273 packet.
3274
40ab02ce
MS
3275set remote reverse-continue
3276show remote reverse-continue
3277 Control use of remote protocol 'bc' (reverse-continue) packet.
3278
3279set remote reverse-step
3280show remote reverse-step
3281 Control use of remote protocol 'bs' (reverse-step) packet.
3282
d7713ae0
EZ
3283set displaced-stepping
3284show displaced-stepping
3285 Control displaced stepping mode. Displaced stepping is a way to
3286 single-step over breakpoints without removing them from the debuggee.
3287 Also known as "out-of-line single-stepping".
3288
3289set debug displaced
3290show debug displaced
3291 Control display of debugging info for displaced stepping.
3292
3293maint set internal-error
3294maint show internal-error
3295 Control what GDB does when an internal error is detected.
3296
3297maint set internal-warning
3298maint show internal-warning
3299 Control what GDB does when an internal warning is detected.
75feb17d 3300
ccd213ac
DJ
3301set exec-wrapper
3302show exec-wrapper
3303unset exec-wrapper
3304 Use a wrapper program to launch programs for debugging.
fa4727a6 3305
aad4b048
JB
3306set multiple-symbols (all|ask|cancel)
3307show multiple-symbols
3308 The value of this variable can be changed to adjust the debugger behavior
3309 when an expression or a breakpoint location contains an ambiguous symbol
3310 name (an overloaded function name, for instance).
3311
74960c60
VP
3312set breakpoint always-inserted
3313show breakpoint always-inserted
3314 Keep breakpoints always inserted in the target, as opposed to inserting
3315 them when resuming the target, and removing them when the target stops.
3316 This option can improve debugger performance on slow remote targets.
3317
0428b8f5
DJ
3318set arm fallback-mode (arm|thumb|auto)
3319show arm fallback-mode
3320set arm force-mode (arm|thumb|auto)
3321show arm force-mode
3322 These commands control how ARM GDB determines whether instructions
3323 are ARM or Thumb. The default for both settings is auto, which uses
3324 the current CPSR value for instructions without symbols; previous
3325 versions of GDB behaved as if "set arm fallback-mode arm".
3326
10568435
JK
3327set disable-randomization
3328show disable-randomization
3329 Standalone programs run with the virtual address space randomization enabled
3330 by default on some platforms. This option keeps the addresses stable across
3331 multiple debugging sessions.
3332
d7713ae0
EZ
3333set non-stop
3334show non-stop
3335 Control whether other threads are stopped or not when some thread hits
3336 a breakpoint.
3337
b3eb342c 3338set target-async
d7713ae0 3339show target-async
b3eb342c
VP
3340 Requests that asynchronous execution is enabled in the target, if available.
3341 In this case, it's possible to resume target in the background, and interact
3342 with GDB while the target is running. "show target-async" displays the
3343 current state of asynchronous execution of the target.
3344
6c7a06a3
TT
3345set target-wide-charset
3346show target-wide-charset
3347 The target-wide-charset is the name of the character set that GDB
3348 uses when printing characters whose type is wchar_t.
3349
84603566
SL
3350set tcp auto-retry (on|off)
3351show tcp auto-retry
3352set tcp connect-timeout
3353show tcp connect-timeout
3354 These commands allow GDB to retry failed TCP connections to a remote stub
3355 with a specified timeout period; this is useful if the stub is launched
3356 in parallel with GDB but may not be ready to accept connections immediately.
3357
17a37d48
PP
3358set libthread-db-search-path
3359show libthread-db-search-path
3360 Control list of directories which GDB will search for appropriate
3361 libthread_db.
3362
d4db2f36
PA
3363set schedule-multiple (on|off)
3364show schedule-multiple
3365 Allow GDB to resume all threads of all processes or only threads of
3366 the current process.
3367
4e5d721f
DE
3368set stack-cache
3369show stack-cache
3370 Use more aggressive caching for accesses to the stack. This improves
3371 performance of remote debugging (particularly backtraces) without
3372 affecting correctness.
3373
910c5da8
JB
3374set interactive-mode (on|off|auto)
3375show interactive-mode
3376 Control whether GDB runs in interactive mode (on) or not (off).
3377 When in interactive mode, GDB waits for the user to answer all
3378 queries. Otherwise, GDB does not wait and assumes the default
3379 answer. When set to auto (the default), GDB determines which
3380 mode to use based on the stdin settings.
3381
2277426b
PA
3382* Removed commands
3383
3384info forks
3385 For program forks, this is replaced by the new more generic `info
3386 inferiors' command. To list checkpoints, you can still use the
3387 `info checkpoints' command, which was an alias for the `info forks'
3388 command.
3389
3390fork NUM
3391 Replaced by the new `inferior' command. To switch between
3392 checkpoints, you can still use the `restart' command, which was an
3393 alias for the `fork' command.
3394
3395process PID
3396 This is removed, since some targets don't have a notion of
3397 processes. To switch between processes, you can still use the
3398 `inferior' command using GDB's own inferior number.
3399
3400delete fork NUM
3401 For program forks, this is replaced by the new more generic `kill
3402 inferior' command. To delete a checkpoint, you can still use the
3403 `delete checkpoint' command, which was an alias for the `delete
3404 fork' command.
3405
3406detach fork NUM
3407 For program forks, this is replaced by the new more generic `detach
3408 inferior' command. To detach a checkpoint, you can still use the
3409 `detach checkpoint' command, which was an alias for the `detach
3410 fork' command.
3411
a80b95ba
TG
3412* New native configurations
3413
3414x86/x86_64 Darwin i[34567]86-*-darwin*
3415
b8bfd3ed
JB
3416x86_64 MinGW x86_64-*-mingw*
3417
75a2d5e7
TT
3418* New targets
3419
c28c63d8 3420Lattice Mico32 lm32-*
75a2d5e7 3421x86 DICOS i[34567]86-*-dicos*
4c1d2973 3422x86_64 DICOS x86_64-*-dicos*
5f814c3b 3423S+core 3 score-*-*
75a2d5e7 3424
6de3146c
PA
3425* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports x86 Windows CE
3426 (mingw32ce) debugging.
3427
d5cbbe6e
JB
3428* Removed commands
3429
3430catch load
3431catch unload
3432 These commands were actually not implemented on any target.
3433
75feb17d 3434*** Changes in GDB 6.8
f9ed52be 3435
af5ca30d
NH
3436* New native configurations
3437
3438NetBSD/hppa hppa*-*netbsd*
94a0e877 3439Xtensa GNU/Linux xtensa*-*-linux*
af5ca30d
NH
3440
3441* New targets
3442
3443NetBSD/hppa hppa*-*-netbsd*
94a0e877 3444Xtensa GNU/Lunux xtensa*-*-linux*
af5ca30d 3445
7a404eba
PA
3446* Change in command line behavior -- corefiles vs. process ids.
3447
3448 When the '-p NUMBER' or '--pid NUMBER' options are used, and
3449 attaching to process NUMBER fails, GDB no longer attempts to open a
3450 core file named NUMBER. Attaching to a program using the -c option
3451 is no longer supported. Instead, use the '-p' or '--pid' options.
3452
430ebac9
PA
3453* GDB can now be built as a native debugger for debugging Windows x86
3454(mingw32) Portable Executable (PE) programs.
3455
fe6fbf8b 3456* Pending breakpoints no longer change their number when their address
8d5f9c6f 3457is resolved.
fe6fbf8b
VP
3458
3459* GDB now supports breakpoints with multiple locations,
8d5f9c6f
DJ
3460including breakpoints on C++ constructors, inside C++ templates,
3461and in inlined functions.
fe6fbf8b 3462
10665d76
JB
3463* GDB's ability to debug optimized code has been improved. GDB more
3464accurately identifies function bodies and lexical blocks that occupy
3465more than one contiguous range of addresses.
3466
7cc46491
DJ
3467* Target descriptions can now describe registers for PowerPC.
3468
d71340b8
DJ
3469* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports the AltiVec and SPE
3470registers on PowerPC targets.
3471
523c4513
DJ
3472* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports thread debugging on GNU/Linux
3473targets even when the libthread_db library is not available.
3474
a6b151f1
DJ
3475* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports the new file transfer
3476commands (remote put, remote get, and remote delete).
3477
2d717e4f
DJ
3478* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports run and attach in
3479extended-remote mode.
3480
24a836bd 3481* hppa*64*-*-hpux11* target broken
d001be7a
DJ
3482The debugger is unable to start a program and fails with the following
3483error: "Error trying to get information about dynamic linker".
3484The gdb-6.7 release is also affected.
24a836bd 3485
d0c678e6
UW
3486* GDB now supports the --enable-targets= configure option to allow
3487building a single GDB executable that supports multiple remote
3488target architectures.
3489
d64a946d
TJB
3490* GDB now supports debugging C and C++ programs which use the
3491Decimal Floating Point extension. In addition, the PowerPC target
3492now has a set of pseudo-registers to inspect decimal float values
3493stored in two consecutive float registers.
3494
ee163bf5
VP
3495* The -break-insert MI command can optionally create pending
3496breakpoints now.
3497
b93b6ca7 3498* Improved support for debugging Ada
d001be7a
DJ
3499Many improvements to the Ada language support have been made. These
3500include:
b93b6ca7
JB
3501 - Better support for Ada2005 interface types
3502 - Improved handling of arrays and slices in general
3503 - Better support for Taft-amendment types
3504 - The '{type} ADDRESS' expression is now allowed on the left hand-side
3505 of an assignment
3506 - Improved command completion in Ada
3507 - Several bug fixes
3508
d001be7a
DJ
3509* GDB on GNU/Linux and HP/UX can now debug through "exec" of a new
3510process.
3511
a6b151f1
DJ
3512* New commands
3513
6d53d0af
JB
3514set print frame-arguments (all|scalars|none)
3515show print frame-arguments
3516 The value of this variable can be changed to control which argument
3517 values should be printed by the debugger when displaying a frame.
3518
a6b151f1
DJ
3519remote put
3520remote get
3521remote delete
3522 Transfer files to and from a remote target, and delete remote files.
3523
3524* New MI commands
3525
3526-target-file-put
3527-target-file-get
3528-target-file-delete
3529 Transfer files to and from a remote target, and delete remote files.
3530
3531* New remote packets
3532
3533vFile:open:
3534vFile:close:
3535vFile:pread:
3536vFile:pwrite:
3537vFile:unlink:
3538 Open, close, read, write, and delete files on the remote system.
d0c678e6 3539
2d717e4f
DJ
3540vAttach
3541 Attach to an existing process on the remote system, in extended-remote
3542 mode.
3543
3544vRun
3545 Run a new process on the remote system, in extended-remote mode.
3546
8d5f9c6f 3547*** Changes in GDB 6.7
6dd09645 3548
19d378fc
MS
3549* Resolved 101 resource leaks, null pointer dereferences, etc. in gdb,
3550bfd, libiberty and opcodes, as revealed by static analysis donated by
3551Coverity, Inc. (http://scan.coverity.com).
3552
3a40aaa0
UW
3553* When looking up multiply-defined global symbols, GDB will now prefer the
3554symbol definition in the current shared library if it was built using the
3555-Bsymbolic linker option.
3556
a6ec25f2
BW
3557* When the Text User Interface (TUI) is not configured, GDB will now
3558recognize the -tui command-line option and print a message that the TUI
3559is not supported.
3560
6dd09645
JB
3561* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now has lower overhead for high
3562frequency signals (e.g. SIGALRM) via the QPassSignals packet.
3563
c9bb8148
DJ
3564* GDB for MIPS targets now autodetects whether a remote target provides
356532-bit or 64-bit register values.
3566
0d5de010
DJ
3567* Support for C++ member pointers has been improved.
3568
23181151
DJ
3569* GDB now understands XML target descriptions, which specify the
3570target's overall architecture. GDB can read a description from
3571a local file or over the remote serial protocol.
3572
ea37ba09
DJ
3573* Vectors of single-byte data use a new integer type which is not
3574automatically displayed as character or string data.
3575
3576* The /s format now works with the print command. It displays
3577arrays of single-byte integers and pointers to single-byte integers
3578as strings.
e1f48ead 3579
123dc839
DJ
3580* Target descriptions can now describe target-specific registers,
3581for architectures which have implemented the support (currently
8d5f9c6f 3582only ARM, M68K, and MIPS).
123dc839 3583
05a4558a
DJ
3584* GDB and the GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now support the XScale
3585iWMMXt coprocessor.
fb1e4ffc 3586
7c963485
PA
3587* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been updated to support
3588ARM Windows CE (mingw32ce) debugging, and GDB Windows CE support
3589has been rewritten to use the standard GDB remote protocol.
3590
b18be20d
DJ
3591* GDB can now step into C++ functions which are called through thunks.
3592
0ca420ce
UW
3593* GDB for the Cell/B.E. SPU now supports overlay debugging.
3594
31d99776
DJ
3595* The GDB remote protocol "qOffsets" packet can now honor ELF segment
3596layout. It also supports a TextSeg= and DataSeg= response when only
3597segment base addresses (rather than offsets) are available.
3598
a4642986
MR
3599* The /i format now outputs any trailing branch delay slot instructions
3600immediately following the last instruction within the count specified.
3601
cfa9d6d9
DJ
3602* The GDB remote protocol "T" stop reply packet now supports a
3603"library" response. Combined with the new "qXfer:libraries:read"
3604packet, this response allows GDB to debug shared libraries on targets
3605where the operating system manages the list of loaded libraries (e.g.
3606Windows and SymbianOS).
255e7678
DJ
3607
3608* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, now supports dynamic link libraries
3609(DLLs) on Windows and Windows CE targets.
f5db8714
JK
3610
3611* GDB now supports a faster verification that a .debug file matches its binary
3612according to its build-id signature, if the signature is present.
cfa9d6d9 3613
c9bb8148
DJ
3614* New commands
3615
23776285
MR
3616set remoteflow
3617show remoteflow
3618 Enable or disable hardware flow control (RTS/CTS) on the serial port
3619 when debugging using remote targets.
3620
c9bb8148
DJ
3621set mem inaccessible-by-default
3622show mem inaccessible-by-default
3623 If the target supplies a memory map, for instance via the remote
3624 protocol's "qXfer:memory-map:read" packet, setting this variable
3625 prevents GDB from accessing memory outside the memory map. This
3626 is useful for targets with memory mapped registers or which react
3627 badly to accesses of unmapped address space.
3628
3629set breakpoint auto-hw
3630show breakpoint auto-hw
3631 If the target supplies a memory map, for instance via the remote
3632 protocol's "qXfer:memory-map:read" packet, setting this variable
3633 lets GDB use hardware breakpoints automatically for memory regions
3634 where it can not use software breakpoints. This covers both the
3635 "break" command and internal breakpoints used for other commands
3636 including "next" and "finish".
3637
0e420bd8
JB
3638catch exception
3639catch exception unhandled
3640 Stop the program execution when Ada exceptions are raised.
3641
3642catch assert
3643 Stop the program execution when an Ada assertion failed.
3644
f822c95b
DJ
3645set sysroot
3646show sysroot
3647 Set an alternate system root for target files. This is a more
3648 general version of "set solib-absolute-prefix", which is now
3649 an alias to "set sysroot".
3650
83cc5c53
UW
3651info spu
3652 Provide extended SPU facility status information. This set of
3653 commands is available only when debugging the Cell/B.E. SPU
3654 architecture.
3655
bd372731
MK
3656* New native configurations
3657
3658OpenBSD/sh sh*-*openbsd*
3659
23181151
DJ
3660set tdesc filename
3661unset tdesc filename
3662show tdesc filename
3663 Use the specified local file as an XML target description, and do
3664 not query the target for its built-in description.
3665
c9bb8148
DJ
3666* New targets
3667
54fe9172 3668OpenBSD/sh sh*-*-openbsd*
c9bb8148 3669MIPS64 GNU/Linux (gdbserver) mips64-linux-gnu
c077150c 3670Toshiba Media Processor mep-elf
c9bb8148 3671
6dd09645
JB
3672* New remote packets
3673
3674QPassSignals:
3675 Ignore the specified signals; pass them directly to the debugged program
3676 without stopping other threads or reporting them to GDB.
3677
23181151
DJ
3678qXfer:features:read:
3679 Read an XML target description from the target, which describes its
3680 features.
6dd09645 3681
83cc5c53
UW
3682qXfer:spu:read:
3683qXfer:spu:write:
3684 Read or write contents of an spufs file on the target system. These
3685 packets are available only on the Cell/B.E. SPU architecture.
3686
cfa9d6d9
DJ
3687qXfer:libraries:read:
3688 Report the loaded shared libraries. Combined with new "T" packet
3689 response, this packet allows GDB to debug shared libraries on
3690 targets where the operating system manages the list of loaded
3691 libraries (e.g. Windows and SymbianOS).
3692
483367ee
DJ
3693* Removed targets
3694
3695Support for these obsolete configurations has been removed.
3696
d08950c4
UW
3697alpha*-*-osf1*
3698alpha*-*-osf2*
7ce59000 3699d10v-*-*
483367ee
DJ
3700hppa*-*-hiux*
3701i[34567]86-ncr-*
3702i[34567]86-*-dgux*
3703i[34567]86-*-lynxos*
3704i[34567]86-*-netware*
3705i[34567]86-*-sco3.2v5*
3706i[34567]86-*-sco3.2v4*
3707i[34567]86-*-sco*
3708i[34567]86-*-sysv4.2*
3709i[34567]86-*-sysv4*
3710i[34567]86-*-sysv5*
3711i[34567]86-*-unixware2*
3712i[34567]86-*-unixware*
3713i[34567]86-*-sysv*
3714i[34567]86-*-isc*
3715m68*-cisco*-*
3716m68*-tandem-*
ad527d2e 3717mips*-*-pe
483367ee 3718rs6000-*-lynxos*
ad527d2e 3719sh*-*-pe
483367ee 3720
7ce59000
DJ
3721* Other removed features
3722
3723target abug
3724target cpu32bug
3725target est
3726target rom68k
3727
3728 Various m68k-only ROM monitors.
3729
ea35711c
DJ
3730target hms
3731target e7000
3732target sh3
3733target sh3e
3734
3735 Various Renesas ROM monitors and debugging interfaces for SH and
3736 H8/300.
3737
3738target ocd
3739
3740 Support for a Macraigor serial interface to on-chip debugging.
3741 GDB does not directly support the newer parallel or USB
3742 interfaces.
3743
7ce59000
DJ
3744DWARF 1 support
3745
3746 A debug information format. The predecessor to DWARF 2 and
3747 DWARF 3, which are still supported.
3748
54d61198
DJ
3749Support for the HP aCC compiler on HP-UX/PA-RISC
3750
3751 SOM-encapsulated symbolic debugging information, automatic
3752 invocation of pxdb, and the aCC custom C++ ABI. This does not
3753 affect HP-UX for Itanium or GCC for HP-UX/PA-RISC. Code compiled
3754 with aCC can still be debugged on an assembly level.
3755
ea35711c
DJ
3756MIPS ".pdr" sections
3757
3758 A MIPS-specific format used to describe stack frame layout
3759 in debugging information.
3760
3761Scheme support
3762
3763 GDB could work with an older version of Guile to debug
3764 the interpreter and Scheme programs running in it.
3765
1a69e1e4
DJ
3766set mips stack-arg-size
3767set mips saved-gpreg-size
3768
3769 Use "set mips abi" to control parameter passing for MIPS.
3770
6dd09645 3771*** Changes in GDB 6.6
e374b601 3772
ca3bf3bd
DJ
3773* New targets
3774
3775Xtensa xtensa-elf
9c309e77 3776Cell Broadband Engine SPU spu-elf
ca3bf3bd 3777
6aec2e11
DJ
3778* GDB can now be configured as a cross-debugger targeting native Windows
3779(mingw32) or Cygwin. It can communicate with a remote debugging stub
3780running on a Windows system over TCP/IP to debug Windows programs.
3781
3782* The GDB remote stub, gdbserver, has been updated to support Windows and
3783Cygwin debugging. Both single-threaded and multi-threaded programs are
3784supported.
3785
17218d91
DJ
3786* The "set trust-readonly-sections" command works again. This command was
3787broken in GDB 6.3, 6.4, and 6.5.
3788
9ebce043
DJ
3789* The "load" command now supports writing to flash memory, if the remote
3790stub provides the required support.
3791
7d3d3ece
DJ
3792* Support for GNU/Linux Thread Local Storage (TLS, per-thread variables) no
3793longer requires symbolic debug information (e.g. DWARF-2).
3794
4f8253f3
JB
3795* New commands
3796
3797set substitute-path
3798unset substitute-path
3799show substitute-path
3800 Manage a list of substitution rules that GDB uses to rewrite the name
3801 of the directories where the sources are located. This can be useful
3802 for instance when the sources were moved to a different location
3803 between compilation and debugging.
3804
9fa66fd7
AS
3805set trace-commands
3806show trace-commands
3807 Print each CLI command as it is executed. Each command is prefixed with
3808 a number of `+' symbols representing the nesting depth.
3809 The source command now has a `-v' option to enable the same feature.
3810
1f5befc1
DJ
3811* REMOVED features
3812
3813The ARM Demon monitor support (RDP protocol, "target rdp").
3814
2ec3381a
DJ
3815Kernel Object Display, an embedded debugging feature which only worked with
3816an obsolete version of Cisco IOS.
3817
3d00d119
DJ
3818The 'set download-write-size' and 'show download-write-size' commands.
3819
be2a5f71
DJ
3820* New remote packets
3821
3822qSupported:
3823 Tell a stub about GDB client features, and request remote target features.
3824 The first feature implemented is PacketSize, which allows the target to
3825 specify the size of packets it can handle - to minimize the number of
3826 packets required and improve performance when connected to a remote
3827 target.
3828
0876f84a
DJ
3829qXfer:auxv:read:
3830 Fetch an OS auxilliary vector from the remote stub. This packet is a
3831 more efficient replacement for qPart:auxv:read.
3832
9ebce043
DJ
3833qXfer:memory-map:read:
3834 Fetch a memory map from the remote stub, including information about
3835 RAM, ROM, and flash memory devices.
3836
3837vFlashErase:
3838vFlashWrite:
3839vFlashDone:
3840 Erase and program a flash memory device.
3841
0876f84a
DJ
3842* Removed remote packets
3843
3844qPart:auxv:read:
3845 This packet has been replaced by qXfer:auxv:read. Only GDB 6.4 and 6.5
3846 used it, and only gdbserver implemented it.
3847
e374b601 3848*** Changes in GDB 6.5
53e5f3cf 3849
96309189
MS
3850* New targets
3851
3852Renesas M32C/M16C m32c-elf
3853
3854Morpho Technologies ms1 ms1-elf
3855
53e5f3cf
AS
3856* New commands
3857
3858init-if-undefined Initialize a convenience variable, but
3859 only if it doesn't already have a value.
3860
ac264b3b
MS
3861The following commands are presently only implemented for native GNU/Linux:
3862
3863checkpoint Save a snapshot of the program state.
3864
3865restart <n> Return the program state to a
3866 previously saved state.
3867
3868info checkpoints List currently saved checkpoints.
3869
3870delete-checkpoint <n> Delete a previously saved checkpoint.
3871
3872set|show detach-on-fork Tell gdb whether to detach from a newly
3873 forked process, or to keep debugging it.
3874
3875info forks List forks of the user program that
3876 are available to be debugged.
3877
3878fork <n> Switch to debugging one of several
3879 forks of the user program that are
3880 available to be debugged.
3881
3882delete-fork <n> Delete a fork from the list of forks
3883 that are available to be debugged (and
3884 kill the forked process).
3885
3886detach-fork <n> Delete a fork from the list of forks
3887 that are available to be debugged (and
3888 allow the process to continue).
3889
3950dc3f
NS
3890* New architecture
3891
3892Morpho Technologies ms2 ms1-elf
3893
0ea3f30e
DJ
3894* Improved Windows host support
3895
3896GDB now builds as a cross debugger hosted on i686-mingw32, including
3897native console support, and remote communications using either
3898network sockets or serial ports.
3899
f79daebb
GM
3900* Improved Modula-2 language support
3901
3902GDB can now print most types in the Modula-2 syntax. This includes:
3903basic types, set types, record types, enumerated types, range types,
3904pointer types and ARRAY types. Procedure var parameters are correctly
3905printed and hexadecimal addresses and character constants are also
3906written in the Modula-2 syntax. Best results can be obtained by using
3907GNU Modula-2 together with the -gdwarf-2 command line option.
3908
acab6ab2
MM
3909* REMOVED features
3910
3911The ARM rdi-share module.
3912
f4267320
DJ
3913The Netware NLM debug server.
3914
53e5f3cf 3915*** Changes in GDB 6.4
156a53ca 3916
e0ecbda1
MK
3917* New native configurations
3918
02a677ac 3919OpenBSD/arm arm*-*-openbsd*
e0ecbda1
MK
3920OpenBSD/mips64 mips64-*-openbsd*
3921
d64a6579
KB
3922* New targets
3923
3924Morpho Technologies ms1 ms1-elf
3925
b33a6190
AS
3926* New command line options
3927
3928--batch-silent As for --batch, but totally silent.
3929--return-child-result The debugger will exist with the same value
3930 the child (debugged) program exited with.
3931--eval-command COMMAND, -ex COMMAND
3932 Execute a single GDB CLI command. This may be
3933 specified multiple times and in conjunction
3934 with the --command (-x) option.
3935
11dced61
AC
3936* Deprecated commands removed
3937
3938The following commands, that were deprecated in 2000, have been
3939removed:
3940
3941 Command Replacement
3942 set|show arm disassembly-flavor set|show arm disassembler
3943 othernames set arm disassembler
3944 set|show remotedebug set|show debug remote
3945 set|show archdebug set|show debug arch
3946 set|show eventdebug set|show debug event
3947 regs info registers
3948
6fe85783
MK
3949* New BSD user-level threads support
3950
3951It is now possible to debug programs using the user-level threads
3952library on OpenBSD and FreeBSD. Currently supported (target)
3953configurations are:
3954
3955FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
3956FreeBSD/i386 i386-*-freebsd*
3957OpenBSD/i386 i386-*-openbsd*
3958
3959Note that the new kernel threads libraries introduced in FreeBSD 5.x
3960are not yet supported.
3961
5260ca71
MS
3962* New support for Matsushita MN10300 w/sim added
3963(Work in progress). mn10300-elf.
3964
e84ecc99
AC
3965* REMOVED configurations and files
3966
3967VxWorks and the XDR protocol *-*-vxworks
9445aa30 3968Motorola MCORE mcore-*-*
9445aa30 3969National Semiconductor NS32000 ns32k-*-*
156a53ca 3970
31e35378
JB
3971* New "set print array-indexes" command
3972
3973After turning this setting "on", GDB prints the index of each element
3974when displaying arrays. The default is "off" to preserve the previous
3975behavior.
3976
e85e5c83
MK
3977* VAX floating point support
3978
3979GDB now supports the not-quite-ieee VAX F and D floating point formats.
3980
d91e9901
AS
3981* User-defined command support
3982
3983In addition to using $arg0..$arg9 for argument passing, it is now possible
3984to use $argc to determine now many arguments have been passed. See the
3985section on user-defined commands in the user manual for more information.
3986
f2cb65ca
MC
3987*** Changes in GDB 6.3:
3988
f47b1503
AS
3989* New command line option
3990
3991GDB now accepts -l followed by a number to set the timeout for remote
3992debugging.
3993
f2cb65ca
MC
3994* GDB works with GCC -feliminate-dwarf2-dups
3995
3996GDB now supports a more compact representation of DWARF-2 debug
3997information using DW_FORM_ref_addr references. These are produced
3998by GCC with the option -feliminate-dwarf2-dups and also by some
3999proprietary compilers. With GCC, you must use GCC 3.3.4 or later
4000to use -feliminate-dwarf2-dups.
860660cb 4001
d08c0230
AC
4002* Internationalization
4003
4004When supported by the host system, GDB will be built with
4005internationalization (libintl). The task of marking up the sources is
4006continued, we're looking forward to our first translation.
4007
117ea3cf
PH
4008* Ada
4009
4010Initial support for debugging programs compiled with the GNAT
4011implementation of the Ada programming language has been integrated
4012into GDB. In this release, support is limited to expression evaluation.
4013
d08c0230
AC
4014* New native configurations
4015
4016GNU/Linux/m32r m32r-*-linux-gnu
4017
4018* Remote 'p' packet
4019
4020GDB's remote protocol now includes support for the 'p' packet. This
4021packet is used to fetch individual registers from a remote inferior.
4022
4023* END-OF-LIFE registers[] compatibility module
4024
4025GDB's internal register infrastructure has been completely rewritten.
4026The new infrastructure making possible the implementation of key new
4027features including 32x64 (e.g., 64-bit amd64 GDB debugging a 32-bit
4028i386 application).
4029
4030GDB 6.3 will be the last release to include the the registers[]
4031compatibility module that allowed out-of-date configurations to
4032continue to work. This change directly impacts the following
4033configurations:
4034
4035hppa-*-hpux
4036ia64-*-aix
4037mips-*-irix*
4038*-*-lynx
4039mips-*-linux-gnu
4040sds protocol
4041xdr protocol
4042powerpc bdm protocol
4043
4044Unless there is activity to revive these configurations, they will be
4045made OBSOLETE in GDB 6.4, and REMOVED from GDB 6.5.
4046
4047* OBSOLETE configurations and files
4048
4049Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
4050been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
4051configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
4052permanently REMOVED.
4053
4054h8300-*-*
4055mcore-*-*
4056mn10300-*-*
4057ns32k-*-*
4058sh64-*-*
4059v850-*-*
4060
ebb7c577
AC
4061*** Changes in GDB 6.2.1:
4062
4063* MIPS `break main; run' gave an heuristic-fence-post warning
4064
4065When attempting to run even a simple program, a warning about
4066heuristic-fence-post being hit would be reported. This problem has
4067been fixed.
4068
4069* MIPS IRIX 'long double' crashed GDB
4070
4071When examining a long double variable, GDB would get a segmentation
4072fault. The crash has been fixed (but GDB 6.2 cannot correctly examine
4073IRIX long double values).
4074
4075* VAX and "next"
4076
4077A bug in the VAX stack code was causing problems with the "next"
4078command. This problem has been fixed.
4079
860660cb 4080*** Changes in GDB 6.2:
faae5abe 4081
0dea2468
AC
4082* Fix for ``many threads''
4083
4084On GNU/Linux systems that use the NPTL threads library, a program
4085rapidly creating and deleting threads would confuse GDB leading to the
4086error message:
4087
4088 ptrace: No such process.
4089 thread_db_get_info: cannot get thread info: generic error
4090
4091This problem has been fixed.
4092
2c07db7a
AC
4093* "-async" and "-noasync" options removed.
4094
4095Support for the broken "-noasync" option has been removed (it caused
4096GDB to dump core).
4097
c23968a2
JB
4098* New ``start'' command.
4099
4100This command runs the program until the begining of the main procedure.
4101
71009278
MK
4102* New BSD Kernel Data Access Library (libkvm) interface
4103
4104Using ``target kvm'' it is now possible to debug kernel core dumps and
4105live kernel memory images on various FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD
4106platforms. Currently supported (native-only) configurations are:
4107
4108FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
4109FreeBSD/i386 i?86-*-freebsd*
4110NetBSD/i386 i?86-*-netbsd*
4111NetBSD/m68k m68*-*-netbsd*
4112NetBSD/sparc sparc-*-netbsd*
4113OpenBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-openbsd*
4114OpenBSD/i386 i?86-*-openbsd*
4115OpenBSD/m68k m68*-openbsd*
4116OpenBSD/sparc sparc-*-openbsd*
4117
3c0b7db2
AC
4118* Signal trampoline code overhauled
4119
4120Many generic problems with GDB's signal handling code have been fixed.
4121These include: backtraces through non-contiguous stacks; recognition
4122of sa_sigaction signal trampolines; backtrace from a NULL pointer
4123call; backtrace through a signal trampoline; step into and out of
4124signal handlers; and single-stepping in the signal trampoline.
4125
73cc75f3
AC
4126Please note that kernel bugs are a limiting factor here. These
4127features have been shown to work on an s390 GNU/Linux system that
4128include a 2.6.8-rc1 kernel. Ref PR breakpoints/1702.
3c0b7db2 4129
7243600a
BF
4130* Cygwin support for DWARF 2 added.
4131
6f606e1c
MK
4132* New native configurations
4133
97dc871c 4134GNU/Linux/hppa hppa*-*-linux*
0e56aeaf 4135OpenBSD/hppa hppa*-*-openbsd*
bf2ca189
MK
4136OpenBSD/m68k m68*-*-openbsd*
4137OpenBSD/m88k m88*-*-openbsd*
d195bc9f 4138OpenBSD/powerpc powerpc-*-openbsd*
6f606e1c 4139NetBSD/vax vax-*-netbsd*
9f076e7a 4140OpenBSD/vax vax-*-openbsd*
6f606e1c 4141
a1b461bf
AC
4142* END-OF-LIFE frame compatibility module
4143
4144GDB's internal frame infrastructure has been completely rewritten.
4145The new infrastructure making it possible to support key new features
4146including DWARF 2 Call Frame Information. To aid in the task of
4147migrating old configurations to this new infrastructure, a
4148compatibility module, that allowed old configurations to continue to
4149work, was also included.
4150
4151GDB 6.2 will be the last release to include this frame compatibility
4152module. This change directly impacts the following configurations:
4153
4154h8300-*-*
4155mcore-*-*
4156mn10300-*-*
4157ns32k-*-*
4158sh64-*-*
4159v850-*-*
4160xstormy16-*-*
4161
4162Unless there is activity to revive these configurations, they will be
4163made OBSOLETE in GDB 6.3, and REMOVED from GDB 6.4.
4164
3c7012f5
AC
4165* REMOVED configurations and files
4166
4167Sun 3, running SunOS 3 m68*-*-sunos3*
4168Sun 3, running SunOS 4 m68*-*-sunos4*
4169Sun 2, running SunOS 3 m68000-*-sunos3*
4170Sun 2, running SunOS 4 m68000-*-sunos4*
4171Motorola 680x0 running LynxOS m68*-*-lynxos*
4172AT&T 3b1/Unix pc m68*-att-*
4173Bull DPX2 (68k, System V release 3) m68*-bull-sysv*
4174decstation mips-dec-* mips-little-*
4175riscos mips-*-riscos* mips-*-sysv*
4176sonymips mips-sony-*
4177sysv mips*-*-sysv4* (IRIX 5/6 not included)
4178
e5fe55f7
AC
4179*** Changes in GDB 6.1.1:
4180
4181* TUI (Text-mode User Interface) built-in (also included in GDB 6.1)
4182
4183The TUI (Text-mode User Interface) is now built as part of a default
4184GDB configuration. It is enabled by either selecting the TUI with the
4185command line option "-i=tui" or by running the separate "gdbtui"
4186program. For more information on the TUI, see the manual "Debugging
4187with GDB".
4188
4189* Pending breakpoint support (also included in GDB 6.1)
4190
4191Support has been added to allow you to specify breakpoints in shared
4192libraries that have not yet been loaded. If a breakpoint location
4193cannot be found, and the "breakpoint pending" option is set to auto,
4194GDB queries you if you wish to make the breakpoint pending on a future
4195shared-library load. If and when GDB resolves the breakpoint symbol,
4196the pending breakpoint is removed as one or more regular breakpoints
4197are created.
4198
4199Pending breakpoints are very useful for GCJ Java debugging.
4200
4201* Fixed ISO-C build problems
4202
4203The files bfd/elf-bfd.h, gdb/dictionary.c and gdb/types.c contained
4204non ISO-C code that stopped them being built using a more strict ISO-C
4205compiler (e.g., IBM's C compiler).
4206
4207* Fixed build problem on IRIX 5
4208
4209Due to header problems with <sys/proc.h>, the file gdb/proc-api.c
4210wasn't able to compile compile on an IRIX 5 system.
4211
4212* Added execute permission to gdb/gdbserver/configure
4213
4214The shell script gdb/testsuite/gdb.stabs/configure lacked execute
4215permission. This bug would cause configure to fail on a number of
4216systems (Solaris, IRIX). Ref: server/519.
4217
4218* Fixed build problem on hpux2.0w-hp-hpux11.00 using the HP ANSI C compiler
4219
4220Older HPUX ANSI C compilers did not accept variable array sizes. somsolib.c
4221has been updated to use constant array sizes.
4222
4223* Fixed a panic in the DWARF Call Frame Info code on Solaris 2.7
4224
4225GCC 3.3.2, on Solaris 2.7, includes the DW_EH_PE_funcrel encoding in
4226its generated DWARF Call Frame Info. This encoding was causing GDB to
4227panic, that panic has been fixed. Ref: gdb/1628.
4228
4229* Fixed a problem when examining parameters in shared library code.
4230
4231When examining parameters in optimized shared library code generated
4232by a mainline GCC, GDB would incorrectly report ``Variable "..." is
4233not available''. GDB now correctly displays the variable's value.
4234
faae5abe 4235*** Changes in GDB 6.1:
f2c06f52 4236
9175c9a3
MC
4237* Removed --with-mmalloc
4238
4239Support for the mmalloc memory manager has been removed, as it
4240conflicted with the internal gdb byte cache.
4241
3cc87ec0
MK
4242* Changes in AMD64 configurations
4243
4244The AMD64 target now includes the %cs and %ss registers. As a result
4245the AMD64 remote protocol has changed; this affects the floating-point
4246and SSE registers. If you rely on those registers for your debugging,
4247you should upgrade gdbserver on the remote side.
4248
f0424ef6
MK
4249* Revised SPARC target
4250
4251The SPARC target has been completely revised, incorporating the
4252FreeBSD/sparc64 support that was added for GDB 6.0. As a result
03cebad2
MK
4253support for LynxOS and SunOS 4 has been dropped. Calling functions
4254from within GDB on operating systems with a non-executable stack
4255(Solaris, OpenBSD) now works.
f0424ef6 4256
59659be2
ILT
4257* New C++ demangler
4258
4259GDB has a new C++ demangler which does a better job on the mangled
4260names generated by current versions of g++. It also runs faster, so
4261with this and other changes gdb should now start faster on large C++
4262programs.
4263
9e08b29b
DJ
4264* DWARF 2 Location Expressions
4265
4266GDB support for location expressions has been extended to support function
4267arguments and frame bases. Older versions of GDB could crash when they
4268encountered these.
4269
8dfe8985
DC
4270* C++ nested types and namespaces
4271
4272GDB's support for nested types and namespaces in C++ has been
4273improved, especially if you use the DWARF 2 debugging format. (This
4274is the default for recent versions of GCC on most platforms.)
4275Specifically, if you have a class "Inner" defined within a class or
4276namespace "Outer", then GDB realizes that the class's name is
4277"Outer::Inner", not simply "Inner". This should greatly reduce the
4278frequency of complaints about not finding RTTI symbols. In addition,
4279if you are stopped at inside of a function defined within a namespace,
4280GDB modifies its name lookup accordingly.
4281
cced5e27
MK
4282* New native configurations
4283
4284NetBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-netbsd*
27d1e716 4285OpenBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-openbsd*
2031c21a 4286OpenBSD/alpha alpha*-*-openbsd*
f2cab569
MK
4287OpenBSD/sparc sparc-*-openbsd*
4288OpenBSD/sparc64 sparc64-*-openbsd*
cced5e27 4289
b4b4b794
KI
4290* New debugging protocols
4291
4292M32R with SDI protocol m32r-*-elf*
4293
7989c619
AC
4294* "set prompt-escape-char" command deleted.
4295
4296The command "set prompt-escape-char" has been deleted. This command,
4297and its very obscure effet on GDB's prompt, was never documented,
4298tested, nor mentioned in the NEWS file.
4299
5994185b
AC
4300* OBSOLETE configurations and files
4301
4302Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
4303been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
4304configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
4305permanently REMOVED.
4306
4307Sun 3, running SunOS 3 m68*-*-sunos3*
4308Sun 3, running SunOS 4 m68*-*-sunos4*
4309Sun 2, running SunOS 3 m68000-*-sunos3*
4310Sun 2, running SunOS 4 m68000-*-sunos4*
4311Motorola 680x0 running LynxOS m68*-*-lynxos*
4312AT&T 3b1/Unix pc m68*-att-*
4313Bull DPX2 (68k, System V release 3) m68*-bull-sysv*
0748d941
AC
4314decstation mips-dec-* mips-little-*
4315riscos mips-*-riscos* mips-*-sysv*
4316sonymips mips-sony-*
4317sysv mips*-*-sysv4* (IRIX 5/6 not included)
5994185b 4318
0ddabb4c
AC
4319* REMOVED configurations and files
4320
4321SGI Irix-4.x mips-sgi-irix4 or iris4
4322SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris
4a8269c0
AC
4323Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
4324Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
4325H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
4326HP/PA running BSD hppa*-*-bsd*
4327HP/PA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
4328HP/PA Pro target hppa*-*-pro*
4329PMAX (MIPS) running Mach 3.0 mips*-*-mach3*
cf7c5c23 4330386BSD i[3456]86-*-bsd*
4a8269c0
AC
4331Sequent family i[3456]86-sequent-sysv4*
4332 i[3456]86-sequent-sysv*
4333 i[3456]86-sequent-bsd*
f0424ef6
MK
4334SPARC running LynxOS sparc-*-lynxos*
4335SPARC running SunOS 4 sparc-*-sunos4*
4a8269c0
AC
4336Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
4337Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
0ddabb4c 4338
c7f1390e
DJ
4339*** Changes in GDB 6.0:
4340
1fe43d45
AC
4341* Objective-C
4342
4343Support for debugging the Objective-C programming language has been
4344integrated into GDB.
4345
e6beb428
AC
4346* New backtrace mechanism (includes DWARF 2 Call Frame Information).
4347
4348DWARF 2's Call Frame Information makes available compiler generated
4349information that more exactly describes the program's run-time stack.
4350By using this information, GDB is able to provide more robust stack
4351backtraces.
4352
4353The i386, amd64 (nee, x86-64), Alpha, m68hc11, ia64, and m32r targets
4354have been updated to use a new backtrace mechanism which includes
4355DWARF 2 CFI support.
4356
4357* Hosted file I/O.
4358
4359GDB's remote protocol has been extended to include support for hosted
4360file I/O (where the remote target uses GDB's file system). See GDB's
4361remote protocol documentation for details.
4362
4363* All targets using the new architecture framework.
4364
4365All of GDB's targets have been updated to use the new internal
4366architecture framework. The way is now open for future GDB releases
4367to include cross-architecture native debugging support (i386 on amd64,
4368ppc32 on ppc64).
4369
4370* GNU/Linux's Thread Local Storage (TLS)
4371
4372GDB now includes support for for the GNU/Linux implementation of
4373per-thread variables.
4374
4375* GNU/Linux's Native POSIX Thread Library (NPTL)
4376
4377GDB's thread code has been updated to work with either the new
4378GNU/Linux NPTL thread library or the older "LinuxThreads" library.
4379
4380* Separate debug info.
4381
4382GDB, in conjunction with BINUTILS, now supports a mechanism for
4383automatically loading debug information from a separate file. Instead
4384of shipping full debug and non-debug versions of system libraries,
4385system integrators can now instead ship just the stripped libraries
4386and optional debug files.
4387
4388* DWARF 2 Location Expressions
4389
4390DWARF 2 Location Expressions allow the compiler to more completely
4391describe the location of variables (even in optimized code) to the
4392debugger.
4393
4394GDB now includes preliminary support for location expressions (support
4395for DW_OP_piece is still missing).
4396
4397* Java
4398
4399A number of long standing bugs that caused GDB to die while starting a
4400Java application have been fixed. GDB's Java support is now
4401considered "useable".
4402
85f8f974
DJ
4403* GNU/Linux support for fork, vfork, and exec.
4404
4405The "catch fork", "catch exec", "catch vfork", and "set follow-fork-mode"
4406commands are now implemented for GNU/Linux. They require a 2.5.x or later
4407kernel.
4408
0fac0b41
DJ
4409* GDB supports logging output to a file
4410
4411There are two new commands, "set logging" and "show logging", which can be
4412used to capture GDB's output to a file.
f2c06f52 4413
6ad8ae5c
DJ
4414* The meaning of "detach" has changed for gdbserver
4415
4416The "detach" command will now resume the application, as documented. To
4417disconnect from gdbserver and leave it stopped, use the new "disconnect"
4418command.
4419
e286caf2 4420* d10v, m68hc11 `regs' command deprecated
5f601589
AC
4421
4422The `info registers' command has been updated so that it displays the
4423registers using a format identical to the old `regs' command.
4424
d28f9cdf
DJ
4425* Profiling support
4426
4427A new command, "maint set profile on/off", has been added. This command can
4428be used to enable or disable profiling while running GDB, to profile a
4429session or a set of commands. In addition there is a new configure switch,
4430"--enable-profiling", which will cause GDB to be compiled with profiling
4431data, for more informative profiling results.
4432
da0f9dcd
AC
4433* Default MI syntax changed to "mi2".
4434
4435The default MI (machine interface) syntax, enabled by the command line
4436option "-i=mi", has been changed to "mi2". The previous MI syntax,
b68767c1 4437"mi1", can be enabled by specifying the option "-i=mi1".
da0f9dcd
AC
4438
4439Support for the original "mi0" syntax (included in GDB 5.0) has been
4440removed.
4441
fb9b6b35
JJ
4442Fix for gdb/192: removed extraneous space when displaying frame level.
4443Fix for gdb/672: update changelist is now output in mi list format.
4444Fix for gdb/702: a -var-assign that updates the value now shows up
4445 in a subsequent -var-update.
4446
954a4db8
MK
4447* New native configurations.
4448
4449FreeBSD/amd64 x86_64-*-freebsd*
4450
6760f9e6
JB
4451* Multi-arched targets.
4452
b4263afa 4453HP/PA HPUX11 hppa*-*-hpux*
85a453d5 4454Renesas M32R/D w/simulator m32r-*-elf*
6760f9e6 4455
1b831c93
AC
4456* OBSOLETE configurations and files
4457
4458Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
4459been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
4460configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
4461permanently REMOVED.
4462
8b0e5691 4463Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
67f16606 4464Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
fd2299bd 4465H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
56056df7
AC
4466HP/PA running BSD hppa*-*-bsd*
4467HP/PA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
4468HP/PA Pro target hppa*-*-pro*
78c43945 4469PMAX (MIPS) running Mach 3.0 mips*-*-mach3*
2fbce691
AC
4470Sequent family i[3456]86-sequent-sysv4*
4471 i[3456]86-sequent-sysv*
4472 i[3456]86-sequent-bsd*
f81824a9
AC
4473Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
4474Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
fd2299bd 4475
5835abe7
NC
4476* REMOVED configurations and files
4477
4478V850EA ISA
1b831c93
AC
4479Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
4480IBM AIX PS/2 i[3456]86-*-aix
4481i386 running Mach 3.0 i[3456]86-*-mach3*
4482i386 running Mach i[3456]86-*-mach*
4483i386 running OSF/1 i[3456]86-*osf1mk*
4484HP/Apollo 68k Family m68*-apollo*-sysv*,
4485 m68*-apollo*-bsd*,
4486 m68*-hp-bsd*, m68*-hp-hpux*
4487Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
4488Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
4489Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
4490OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
4491I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
5835abe7 4492
a094c6fb
AC
4493* MIPS $fp behavior changed
4494
4495The convenience variable $fp, for the MIPS, now consistently returns
4496the address of the current frame's base. Previously, depending on the
4497context, $fp could refer to either $sp or the current frame's base
4498address. See ``8.10 Registers'' in the manual ``Debugging with GDB:
4499The GNU Source-Level Debugger''.
4500
299ffc64 4501*** Changes in GDB 5.3:
37057839 4502
46248966
AC
4503* GNU/Linux shared library multi-threaded performance improved.
4504
4505When debugging a multi-threaded application on GNU/Linux, GDB now uses
4506`/proc', in preference to `ptrace' for memory reads. This may result
4507in an improvement in the start-up time of multi-threaded, shared
4508library applications when run under GDB. One GDB user writes: ``loads
4509shared libs like mad''.
4510
b9d14705 4511* ``gdbserver'' now supports multi-threaded applications on some targets
6da02953 4512
b9d14705
DJ
4513Support for debugging multi-threaded applications which use
4514the GNU/Linux LinuxThreads package has been added for
4515arm*-*-linux*-gnu*, i[3456]86-*-linux*-gnu*, mips*-*-linux*-gnu*,
4516powerpc*-*-linux*-gnu*, and sh*-*-linux*-gnu*.
6da02953 4517
e0e9281e
JB
4518* GDB now supports C/C++ preprocessor macros.
4519
4520GDB now expands preprocessor macro invocations in C/C++ expressions,
4521and provides various commands for showing macro definitions and how
4522they expand.
4523
dd73b9bb
AC
4524The new command `macro expand EXPRESSION' expands any macro
4525invocations in expression, and shows the result.
4526
4527The new command `show macro MACRO-NAME' shows the definition of the
4528macro named MACRO-NAME, and where it was defined.
4529
e0e9281e
JB
4530Most compilers don't include information about macros in the debugging
4531information by default. In GCC 3.1, for example, you need to compile
4532your program with the options `-gdwarf-2 -g3'. If the macro
4533information is present in the executable, GDB will read it.
4534
2250ee0c
CV
4535* Multi-arched targets.
4536
6e3ba3b8
JT
4537DEC Alpha (partial) alpha*-*-*
4538DEC VAX (partial) vax-*-*
2250ee0c 4539NEC V850 v850-*-*
6e3ba3b8 4540National Semiconductor NS32000 (partial) ns32k-*-*
a1789893
GS
4541Motorola 68000 (partial) m68k-*-*
4542Motorola MCORE mcore-*-*
2250ee0c 4543
cd9bfe15 4544* New targets.
e33ce519 4545
456f8b9d
DB
4546Fujitsu FRV architecture added by Red Hat frv*-*-*
4547
e33ce519 4548
da8ca43d
JT
4549* New native configurations
4550
4551Alpha NetBSD alpha*-*-netbsd*
029923d4 4552SH NetBSD sh*-*-netbsdelf*
45888261 4553MIPS NetBSD mips*-*-netbsd*
9ce5c36a 4554UltraSPARC NetBSD sparc64-*-netbsd*
da8ca43d 4555
cd9bfe15
AC
4556* OBSOLETE configurations and files
4557
4558Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
4559been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
4560configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
4561permanently REMOVED.
4562
92eb23c5 4563Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
a99a9e1b 4564OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
1c7cc583 4565IBM AIX PS/2 i[3456]86-*-aix
7a3085c1 4566Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
7fb623f7 4567Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
eb4c54a2 4568Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
d8ee244c
MK
4569i386 running Mach 3.0 i[3456]86-*-mach3*
4570i386 running Mach i[3456]86-*-mach*
4571i386 running OSF/1 i[3456]86-*osf1mk*
822e978b
AC
4572HP/Apollo 68k Family m68*-apollo*-sysv*,
4573 m68*-apollo*-bsd*,
4574 m68*-hp-bsd*, m68*-hp-hpux*
4d210288 4575I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
92eb23c5 4576
db034ac5
AC
4577* OBSOLETE languages
4578
4579CHILL, a Pascal like language used by telecommunications companies.
4580
cd9bfe15
AC
4581* REMOVED configurations and files
4582
4583AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi, udi29k
4584A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
4585AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
4586AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
4587AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
4588
4589testsuite/gdb.hp/gdb.threads-hp/ directory
4590
20f01a46
DH
4591* New command "set max-user-call-depth <nnn>"
4592
4593This command allows the user to limit the call depth of user-defined
4594commands. The default is 1024.
4595
a5941fbf
MK
4596* Changes in FreeBSD/i386 native debugging.
4597
4598Support for the "generate-core-file" has been added.
4599
89743e04
MS
4600* New commands "dump", "append", and "restore".
4601
4602These commands allow data to be copied from target memory
4603to a bfd-format or binary file (dump and append), and back
4604from a file into memory (restore).
37057839 4605
9fb14e79
JB
4606* Improved "next/step" support on multi-processor Alpha Tru64.
4607
4608The previous single-step mechanism could cause unpredictable problems,
4609including the random appearance of SIGSEGV or SIGTRAP signals. The use
4610of a software single-step mechanism prevents this.
4611
2037aebb
AC
4612*** Changes in GDB 5.2.1:
4613
4614* New targets.
4615
4616Atmel AVR avr*-*-*
4617
4618* Bug fixes
4619
4620gdb/182: gdb/323: gdb/237: On alpha, gdb was reporting:
4621mdebugread.c:2443: gdb-internal-error: sect_index_data not initialized
4622Fix, by Joel Brobecker imported from mainline.
4623
4624gdb/439: gdb/291: On some ELF object files, gdb was reporting:
4625dwarf2read.c:1072: gdb-internal-error: sect_index_text not initialize
4626Fix, by Fred Fish, imported from mainline.
4627
4628Dwarf2 .debug_frame & .eh_frame handler improved in many ways.
4629Surprisingly enough, it works now.
4630By Michal Ludvig, imported from mainline.
4631
4632i386 hardware watchpoint support:
4633avoid misses on second run for some targets.
4634By Pierre Muller, imported from mainline.
4635
37057839 4636*** Changes in GDB 5.2:
eb7cedd9 4637
1a703748
MS
4638* New command "set trust-readonly-sections on[off]".
4639
4640This command is a hint that tells gdb that read-only sections
4641really are read-only (ie. that their contents will not change).
4642In this mode, gdb will go to the object file rather than the
4643target to read memory from read-only sections (such as ".text").
4644This can be a significant performance improvement on some
4645(notably embedded) targets.
4646
cefd4ef5
MS
4647* New command "generate-core-file" (or "gcore").
4648
55241689
AC
4649This new gdb command allows the user to drop a core file of the child
4650process state at any time. So far it's been implemented only for
4651GNU/Linux and Solaris, but should be relatively easily ported to other
4652hosts. Argument is core file name (defaults to core.<pid>).
cefd4ef5 4653
352ed7b4
MS
4654* New command line option
4655
4656GDB now accepts --pid or -p followed by a process id.
4657
4658* Change in command line behavior -- corefiles vs. process ids.
4659
4660There is a subtle behavior in the way in which GDB handles
4661command line arguments. The first non-flag argument is always
4662a program to debug, but the second non-flag argument may either
4663be a corefile or a process id. Previously, GDB would attempt to
4664open the second argument as a corefile, and if that failed, would
4665issue a superfluous error message and then attempt to attach it as
4666a process. Now, if the second argument begins with a non-digit,
4667it will be treated as a corefile. If it begins with a digit,
4668GDB will attempt to attach it as a process, and if no such process
4669is found, will then attempt to open it as a corefile.
4670
fe419ffc
RE
4671* Changes in ARM configurations.
4672
4673Multi-arch support is enabled for all ARM configurations. The ARM/NetBSD
4674configuration is fully multi-arch.
4675
eb7cedd9
MK
4676* New native configurations
4677
fe419ffc 4678ARM NetBSD arm*-*-netbsd*
eb7cedd9 4679x86 OpenBSD i[3456]86-*-openbsd*
55241689 4680AMD x86-64 running GNU/Linux x86_64-*-linux-*
768f0842 4681Sparc64 running FreeBSD sparc64-*-freebsd*
eb7cedd9 4682
c9f63e6b
CV
4683* New targets
4684
4685Sanyo XStormy16 xstormy16-elf
4686
9b4ff276
AC
4687* OBSOLETE configurations and files
4688
4689Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
4690been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
4691configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
4692permanently REMOVED.
4693
4694AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi, udi29k
4695A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
4696AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
4697AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
4698AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
4699
b4ceaee6 4700testsuite/gdb.hp/gdb.threads-hp/ directory
9b4ff276 4701
e2caac18
AC
4702* REMOVED configurations and files
4703
4704TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
7bc65f05 4705WDC 65816 w65-*-*
7768dd6c
AC
4706PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
4707PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
4708PowerPC Netware powerpc-*-netware*
5e734e1f 4709Harris/CXUX m88k m88*-harris-cxux*
1406caf7
AC
4710Most ns32k hosts and targets ns32k-*-mach3* ns32k-umax-*
4711 ns32k-utek-sysv* ns32k-utek-*
7e24f0b1 4712SunOS 4.0.Xi on i386 i[3456]86-*-sunos*
9b567150 4713Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1 a29k-nyu-sym1 a29k-*-kern*
3680c638
AC
4714Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x m68*-sony-sysv news
4715ISI Optimum V (3.05) under 4.3bsd. m68*-isi-*
a752853e 4716Apple Macintosh (MPW) host and target N/A host, powerpc-*-macos*
e2caac18 4717
c2a727fa
TT
4718* Changes to command line processing
4719
4720The new `--args' feature can be used to specify command-line arguments
4721for the inferior from gdb's command line.
4722
467d8519
TT
4723* Changes to key bindings
4724
4725There is a new `operate-and-get-next' function bound to `C-o'.
4726
7072a954
AC
4727*** Changes in GDB 5.1.1
4728
4729Fix compile problem on DJGPP.
4730
4731Fix a problem with floating-point registers on the i386 being
4732corrupted.
4733
4734Fix to stop GDB crashing on .debug_str debug info.
4735
4736Numerous documentation fixes.
4737
4738Numerous testsuite fixes.
4739
34f47bc4 4740*** Changes in GDB 5.1:
139760b7
MK
4741
4742* New native configurations
4743
4744Alpha FreeBSD alpha*-*-freebsd*
4745x86 FreeBSD 3.x and 4.x i[3456]86*-freebsd[34]*
55241689 4746MIPS GNU/Linux mips*-*-linux*
e23194cb
EZ
4747MIPS SGI Irix 6.x mips*-sgi-irix6*
4748ia64 AIX ia64-*-aix*
55241689 4749s390 and s390x GNU/Linux {s390,s390x}-*-linux*
139760b7 4750
bf64bfd6
AC
4751* New targets
4752
def90278 4753Motorola 68HC11 and 68HC12 m68hc11-elf
24be5c34 4754CRIS cris-axis
55241689 4755UltraSparc running GNU/Linux sparc64-*-linux*
def90278 4756
17e78a56 4757* OBSOLETE configurations and files
bf64bfd6
AC
4758
4759x86 FreeBSD before 2.2 i[3456]86*-freebsd{1,2.[01]}*,
9b9c068d 4760Harris/CXUX m88k m88*-harris-cxux*
bb19ff3b
AC
4761Most ns32k hosts and targets ns32k-*-mach3* ns32k-umax-*
4762 ns32k-utek-sysv* ns32k-utek-*
76f4ea53
AC
4763TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
4764WDC 65816 w65-*-*
4a1968f4 4765Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1 a29k-nyu-sym1 a29k-*-kern*
1b2b2c16
AC
4766PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
4767PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
4768PowerPC Netware powerpc-*-netware*
24f89b68 4769SunOS 4.0.Xi on i386 i[3456]86-*-sunos*
514e603d
AC
4770Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x m68*-sony-sysv news
4771ISI Optimum V (3.05) under 4.3bsd. m68*-isi-*
d036b4d9 4772Apple Macintosh (MPW) host N/A
bf64bfd6 4773
17e78a56
AC
4774stuff.c (Program to stuff files into a specially prepared space in kdb)
4775kdb-start.c (Main loop for the standalone kernel debugger)
4776
7fcca85b
AC
4777Configurations that have been declared obsolete in this release have
4778been commented out. Unless there is activity to revive these
4779configurations, the next release of GDB will have their sources
4780permanently REMOVED.
4781
a196c81c 4782* REMOVED configurations and files
7fcca85b
AC
4783
4784Altos 3068 m68*-altos-*
4785Convex c1-*-*, c2-*-*
4786Pyramid pyramid-*-*
4787ARM RISCix arm-*-* (as host)
4788Tahoe tahoe-*-*
a196c81c 4789ser-ocd.c *-*-*
bf64bfd6 4790
6d6b80e5 4791* GDB has been converted to ISO C.
e23194cb 4792
6d6b80e5 4793GDB's source code has been converted to ISO C. In particular, the
e23194cb
EZ
4794sources are fully protoized, and rely on standard headers being
4795present.
4796
bf64bfd6
AC
4797* Other news:
4798
e23194cb
EZ
4799* "info symbol" works on platforms which use COFF, ECOFF, XCOFF, and NLM.
4800
4801* The MI enabled by default.
4802
4803The new machine oriented interface (MI) introduced in GDB 5.0 has been
4804revised and enabled by default. Packages which use GDB as a debugging
4805engine behind a UI or another front end are encouraged to switch to
4806using the GDB/MI interface, instead of the old annotations interface
4807which is now deprecated.
4808
4809* Support for debugging Pascal programs.
4810
4811GDB now includes support for debugging Pascal programs. The following
4812main features are supported:
4813
4814 - Pascal-specific data types such as sets;
4815
4816 - automatic recognition of Pascal sources based on file-name
4817 extension;
4818
4819 - Pascal-style display of data types, variables, and functions;
4820
4821 - a Pascal expression parser.
4822
4823However, some important features are not yet supported.
4824
4825 - Pascal string operations are not supported at all;
4826
4827 - there are some problems with boolean types;
4828
4829 - Pascal type hexadecimal constants are not supported
4830 because they conflict with the internal variables format;
4831
4832 - support for Pascal objects and classes is not full yet;
4833
4834 - unlike Pascal, GDB is case-sensitive for symbol names.
4835
4836* Changes in completion.
4837
4838Commands such as `shell', `run' and `set args', which pass arguments
4839to inferior programs, now complete on file names, similar to what
4840users expect at the shell prompt.
4841
4842Commands which accept locations, such as `disassemble', `print',
4843`breakpoint', `until', etc. now complete on filenames as well as
4844program symbols. Thus, if you type "break foob TAB", and the source
4845files linked into the programs include `foobar.c', that file name will
4846be one of the candidates for completion. However, file names are not
4847considered for completion after you typed a colon that delimits a file
4848name from a name of a function in that file, as in "break foo.c:bar".
4849
4850`set demangle-style' completes on available demangling styles.
4851
4852* New platform-independent commands:
4853
4854It is now possible to define a post-hook for a command as well as a
4855hook that runs before the command. For more details, see the
4856documentation of `hookpost' in the GDB manual.
4857
4858* Changes in GNU/Linux native debugging.
4859
d7275149
MK
4860Support for debugging multi-threaded programs has been completely
4861revised for all platforms except m68k and sparc. You can now debug as
4862many threads as your system allows you to have.
4863
e23194cb
EZ
4864Attach/detach is supported for multi-threaded programs.
4865
d7275149
MK
4866Support for SSE registers was added for x86. This doesn't work for
4867multi-threaded programs though.
e23194cb
EZ
4868
4869* Changes in MIPS configurations.
bf64bfd6
AC
4870
4871Multi-arch support is enabled for all MIPS configurations.
4872
e23194cb
EZ
4873GDB can now be built as native debugger on SGI Irix 6.x systems for
4874debugging n32 executables. (Debugging 64-bit executables is not yet
4875supported.)
4876
4877* Unified support for hardware watchpoints in all x86 configurations.
4878
4879Most (if not all) native x86 configurations support hardware-assisted
4880breakpoints and watchpoints in a unified manner. This support
4881implements debug register sharing between watchpoints, which allows to
4882put a virtually infinite number of watchpoints on the same address,
4883and also supports watching regions up to 16 bytes with several debug
4884registers.
4885
4886The new maintenance command `maintenance show-debug-regs' toggles
4887debugging print-outs in functions that insert, remove, and test
4888watchpoints and hardware breakpoints.
4889
4890* Changes in the DJGPP native configuration.
4891
4892New command ``info dos sysinfo'' displays assorted information about
4893the CPU, OS, memory, and DPMI server.
4894
4895New commands ``info dos gdt'', ``info dos ldt'', and ``info dos idt''
4896display information about segment descriptors stored in GDT, LDT, and
4897IDT.
4898
4899New commands ``info dos pde'' and ``info dos pte'' display entries
4900from Page Directory and Page Tables (for now works with CWSDPMI only).
4901New command ``info dos address-pte'' displays the Page Table entry for
4902a given linear address.
4903
4904GDB can now pass command lines longer than 126 characters to the
4905program being debugged (requires an update to the libdbg.a library
4906which is part of the DJGPP development kit).
4907
4908DWARF2 debug info is now supported.
4909
6c56c069
EZ
4910It is now possible to `step' and `next' through calls to `longjmp'.
4911
e23194cb
EZ
4912* Changes in documentation.
4913
4914All GDB documentation was converted to GFDL, the GNU Free
4915Documentation License.
4916
4917Tracepoints-related commands are now fully documented in the GDB
4918manual.
4919
4920TUI, the Text-mode User Interface, is now documented in the manual.
4921
4922Tracepoints-related commands are now fully documented in the GDB
4923manual.
4924
4925The "GDB Internals" manual now has an index. It also includes
4926documentation of `ui_out' functions, GDB coding standards, x86
4927hardware watchpoints, and memory region attributes.
4928
5d6640b1
AC
4929* GDB's version number moved to ``version.in''
4930
4931The Makefile variable VERSION has been replaced by the file
4932``version.in''. People creating GDB distributions should update the
4933contents of this file.
4934
1a1d8446
AC
4935* gdba.el deleted
4936
4937GUD support is now a standard part of the EMACS distribution.
139760b7 4938
9debab2f 4939*** Changes in GDB 5.0:
7a292a7a 4940
c63ce875
EZ
4941* Improved support for debugging FP programs on x86 targets
4942
4943Unified and much-improved support for debugging floating-point
4944programs on all x86 targets. In particular, ``info float'' now
4945displays the FP registers in the same format on all x86 targets, with
4946greater level of detail.
4947
4948* Improvements and bugfixes in hardware-assisted watchpoints
4949
4950It is now possible to watch array elements, struct members, and
4951bitfields with hardware-assisted watchpoints. Data-read watchpoints
4952on x86 targets no longer erroneously trigger when the address is
4953written.
4954
4955* Improvements in the native DJGPP version of GDB
4956
4957The distribution now includes all the scripts and auxiliary files
4958necessary to build the native DJGPP version on MS-DOS/MS-Windows
4959machines ``out of the box''.
4960
4961The DJGPP version can now debug programs that use signals. It is
4962possible to catch signals that happened in the debuggee, deliver
4963signals to it, interrupt it with Ctrl-C, etc. (Previously, a signal
4964would kill the program being debugged.) Programs that hook hardware
4965interrupts (keyboard, timer, etc.) can also be debugged.
4966
4967It is now possible to debug DJGPP programs that redirect their
4968standard handles or switch them to raw (as opposed to cooked) mode, or
4969even close them. The command ``run < foo > bar'' works as expected,
4970and ``info terminal'' reports useful information about the debuggee's
4971terminal, including raw/cooked mode, redirection, etc.
4972
4973The DJGPP version now uses termios functions for console I/O, which
4974enables debugging graphics programs. Interrupting GDB with Ctrl-C
4975also works.
4976
4977DOS-style file names with drive letters are now fully supported by
4978GDB.
4979
4980It is now possible to debug DJGPP programs that switch their working
4981directory. It is also possible to rerun the debuggee any number of
4982times without restarting GDB; thus, you can use the same setup,
4983breakpoints, etc. for many debugging sessions.
4984
ed9a39eb
JM
4985* New native configurations
4986
4987ARM GNU/Linux arm*-*-linux*
afc05dd4 4988PowerPC GNU/Linux powerpc-*-linux*
ed9a39eb 4989
7a292a7a
SS
4990* New targets
4991
96baa820 4992Motorola MCore mcore-*-*
adf40b2e
JM
4993x86 VxWorks i[3456]86-*-vxworks*
4994PowerPC VxWorks powerpc-*-vxworks*
7a292a7a
SS
4995TI TMS320C80 tic80-*-*
4996
085dd6e6
JM
4997* OBSOLETE configurations
4998
4999Altos 3068 m68*-altos-*
5000Convex c1-*-*, c2-*-*
9846de1b 5001Pyramid pyramid-*-*
ed9a39eb 5002ARM RISCix arm-*-* (as host)
104c1213 5003Tahoe tahoe-*-*
7a292a7a 5004
9debab2f
AC
5005Configurations that have been declared obsolete will be commented out,
5006but the code will be left in place. If there is no activity to revive
5007these configurations before the next release of GDB, the sources will
5008be permanently REMOVED.
5009
5330533d
SS
5010* Gould support removed
5011
5012Support for the Gould PowerNode and NP1 has been removed.
5013
bc9e5bbf
AC
5014* New features for SVR4
5015
5016On SVR4 native platforms (such as Solaris), if you attach to a process
5017without first loading a symbol file, GDB will now attempt to locate and
5018load symbols from the running process's executable file.
5019
5020* Many C++ enhancements
5021
5022C++ support has been greatly improved. Overload resolution now works properly
5023in almost all cases. RTTI support is on the way.
5024
adf40b2e
JM
5025* Remote targets can connect to a sub-program
5026
5027A popen(3) style serial-device has been added. This device starts a
5028sub-process (such as a stand-alone simulator) and then communicates
5029with that. The sub-program to run is specified using the syntax
5030``|<program> <args>'' vis:
5031
5032 (gdb) set remotedebug 1
5033 (gdb) target extended-remote |mn10300-elf-sim program-args
5034
43e526b9
JM
5035* MIPS 64 remote protocol
5036
5037A long standing bug in the mips64 remote protocol where by GDB
5038expected certain 32 bit registers (ex SR) to be transfered as 32
5039instead of 64 bits has been fixed.
5040
5041The command ``set remote-mips64-transfers-32bit-regs on'' has been
5042added to provide backward compatibility with older versions of GDB.
5043
96baa820
JM
5044* ``set remotebinarydownload'' replaced by ``set remote X-packet''
5045
5046The command ``set remotebinarydownload'' command has been replaced by
5047``set remote X-packet''. Other commands in ``set remote'' family
5048include ``set remote P-packet''.
5049
11cf8741
JM
5050* Breakpoint commands accept ranges.
5051
5052The breakpoint commands ``enable'', ``disable'', and ``delete'' now
5053accept a range of breakpoints, e.g. ``5-7''. The tracepoint command
5054``tracepoint passcount'' also accepts a range of tracepoints.
5055
7876dd43
DB
5056* ``apropos'' command added.
5057
5058The ``apropos'' command searches through command names and
5059documentation strings, printing out matches, making it much easier to
5060try to find a command that does what you are looking for.
5061
bc9e5bbf
AC
5062* New MI interface
5063
5064A new machine oriented interface (MI) has been added to GDB. This
5065interface is designed for debug environments running GDB as a separate
7162c0ca
EZ
5066process. This is part of the long term libGDB project. See the
5067"GDB/MI" chapter of the GDB manual for further information. It can be
5068enabled by configuring with:
bc9e5bbf
AC
5069
5070 .../configure --enable-gdbmi
5071
c906108c
SS
5072*** Changes in GDB-4.18:
5073
5074* New native configurations
5075
5076HP-UX 10.20 hppa*-*-hpux10.20
5077HP-UX 11.x hppa*-*-hpux11.0*
55241689 5078M68K GNU/Linux m68*-*-linux*
c906108c
SS
5079
5080* New targets
5081
5082Fujitsu FR30 fr30-*-elf*
5083Intel StrongARM strongarm-*-*
5084Mitsubishi D30V d30v-*-*
5085
5086* OBSOLETE configurations
5087
5088Gould PowerNode, NP1 np1-*-*, pn-*-*
5089
5090Configurations that have been declared obsolete will be commented out,
5091but the code will be left in place. If there is no activity to revive
5092these configurations before the next release of GDB, the sources will
5093be permanently REMOVED.
5094
5095* ANSI/ISO C
5096
5097As a compatibility experiment, GDB's source files buildsym.h and
5098buildsym.c have been converted to pure standard C, no longer
5099containing any K&R compatibility code. We believe that all systems in
5100use today either come with a standard C compiler, or have a GCC port
5101available. If this is not true, please report the affected
5102configuration to bug-gdb@gnu.org immediately. See the README file for
5103information about getting a standard C compiler if you don't have one
5104already.
5105
5106* Readline 2.2
5107
5108GDB now uses readline 2.2.
5109
5110* set extension-language
5111
5112You can now control the mapping between filename extensions and source
5113languages by using the `set extension-language' command. For instance,
5114you can ask GDB to treat .c files as C++ by saying
5115 set extension-language .c c++
5116The command `info extensions' lists all of the recognized extensions
5117and their associated languages.
5118
5119* Setting processor type for PowerPC and RS/6000
5120
5121When GDB is configured for a powerpc*-*-* or an rs6000*-*-* target,
5122you can use the `set processor' command to specify what variant of the
5123PowerPC family you are debugging. The command
5124
5125 set processor NAME
5126
5127sets the PowerPC/RS6000 variant to NAME. GDB knows about the
5128following PowerPC and RS6000 variants:
5129
5130 ppc-uisa PowerPC UISA - a PPC processor as viewed by user-level code
5131 rs6000 IBM RS6000 ("POWER") architecture, user-level view
5132 403 IBM PowerPC 403
5133 403GC IBM PowerPC 403GC
5134 505 Motorola PowerPC 505
5135 860 Motorola PowerPC 860 or 850
5136 601 Motorola PowerPC 601
5137 602 Motorola PowerPC 602
5138 603 Motorola/IBM PowerPC 603 or 603e
5139 604 Motorola PowerPC 604 or 604e
5140 750 Motorola/IBM PowerPC 750 or 750
5141
5142At the moment, this command just tells GDB what to name the
5143special-purpose processor registers. Since almost all the affected
5144registers are inaccessible to user-level programs, this command is
5145only useful for remote debugging in its present form.
5146
5147* HP-UX support
5148
5149Thanks to a major code donation from Hewlett-Packard, GDB now has much
5150more extensive support for HP-UX. Added features include shared
5151library support, kernel threads and hardware watchpoints for 11.00,
5152support for HP's ANSI C and C++ compilers, and a compatibility mode
5153for xdb and dbx commands.
5154
5155* Catchpoints
5156
5157HP's donation includes the new concept of catchpoints, which is a
5158generalization of the old catch command. On HP-UX, it is now possible
5159to catch exec, fork, and vfork, as well as library loading.
5160
5161This means that the existing catch command has changed; its first
5162argument now specifies the type of catch to be set up. See the
5163output of "help catch" for a list of catchpoint types.
5164
5165* Debugging across forks
5166
5167On HP-UX, you can choose which process to debug when a fork() happens
5168in the inferior.
5169
5170* TUI
5171
5172HP has donated a curses-based terminal user interface (TUI). To get
5173it, build with --enable-tui. Although this can be enabled for any
5174configuration, at present it only works for native HP debugging.
5175
5176* GDB remote protocol additions
5177
5178A new protocol packet 'X' that writes binary data is now available.
5179Default behavior is to try 'X', then drop back to 'M' if the stub
5180fails to respond. The settable variable `remotebinarydownload'
5181allows explicit control over the use of 'X'.
5182
5183For 64-bit targets, the memory packets ('M' and 'm') can now contain a
5184full 64-bit address. The command
5185
5186 set remoteaddresssize 32
5187
5188can be used to revert to the old behaviour. For existing remote stubs
5189the change should not be noticed, as the additional address information
5190will be discarded.
5191
5192In order to assist in debugging stubs, you may use the maintenance
5193command `packet' to send any text string to the stub. For instance,
5194
5195 maint packet heythere
5196
5197sends the packet "$heythere#<checksum>". Note that it is very easy to
5198disrupt a debugging session by sending the wrong packet at the wrong
5199time.
5200
5201The compare-sections command allows you to compare section data on the
5202target to what is in the executable file without uploading or
5203downloading, by comparing CRC checksums.
5204
5205* Tracing can collect general expressions
5206
5207You may now collect general expressions at tracepoints. This requires
5208further additions to the target-side stub; see tracepoint.c and
5209doc/agentexpr.texi for further details.
5210
5211* mask-address variable for Mips
5212
5213For Mips targets, you may control the zeroing of the upper 32 bits of
5214a 64-bit address by entering `set mask-address on'. This is mainly
5215of interest to users of embedded R4xxx and R5xxx processors.
5216
5217* Higher serial baud rates
5218
5219GDB's serial code now allows you to specify baud rates 57600, 115200,
5220230400, and 460800 baud. (Note that your host system may not be able
5221to achieve all of these rates.)
5222
5223* i960 simulator
5224
5225The i960 configuration now includes an initial implementation of a
5226builtin simulator, contributed by Jim Wilson.
5227
5228
5229*** Changes in GDB-4.17:
5230
5231* New native configurations
5232
5233Alpha GNU/Linux alpha*-*-linux*
5234Unixware 2.x i[3456]86-unixware2*
5235Irix 6.x mips*-sgi-irix6*
5236PowerPC GNU/Linux powerpc-*-linux*
5237PowerPC Solaris powerpcle-*-solaris*
5238Sparc GNU/Linux sparc-*-linux*
5239Motorola sysV68 R3V7.1 m68k-motorola-sysv
5240
5241* New targets
5242
5243Argonaut Risc Chip (ARC) arc-*-*
5244Hitachi H8/300S h8300*-*-*
5245Matsushita MN10200 w/simulator mn10200-*-*
5246Matsushita MN10300 w/simulator mn10300-*-*
5247MIPS NEC VR4100 mips64*vr4100*{,el}-*-elf*
5248MIPS NEC VR5000 mips64*vr5000*{,el}-*-elf*
5249MIPS Toshiba TX39 mips64*tx39*{,el}-*-elf*
5250Mitsubishi D10V w/simulator d10v-*-*
5251Mitsubishi M32R/D w/simulator m32r-*-elf*
5252Tsqware Sparclet sparclet-*-*
5253NEC V850 w/simulator v850-*-*
5254
5255* New debugging protocols
5256
5257ARM with RDI protocol arm*-*-*
5258M68K with dBUG monitor m68*-*-{aout,coff,elf}
5259DDB and LSI variants of PMON protocol mips*-*-*
5260PowerPC with DINK32 monitor powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
5261PowerPC with SDS protocol powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
5262Macraigor OCD (Wiggler) devices powerpc{,le}-*-eabi
5263
5264* DWARF 2
5265
5266All configurations can now understand and use the DWARF 2 debugging
5267format. The choice is automatic, if the symbol file contains DWARF 2
5268information.
5269
5270* Java frontend
5271
5272GDB now includes basic Java language support. This support is
5273only useful with Java compilers that produce native machine code.
5274
5275* solib-absolute-prefix and solib-search-path
5276
5277For SunOS and SVR4 shared libraries, you may now set the prefix for
5278loading absolute shared library symbol files, and the search path for
5279locating non-absolute shared library symbol files.
5280
5281* Live range splitting
5282
5283GDB can now effectively debug code for which GCC has performed live
5284range splitting as part of its optimization. See gdb/doc/LRS for
5285more details on the expected format of the stabs information.
5286
5287* Hurd support
5288
5289GDB's support for the GNU Hurd, including thread debugging, has been
5290updated to work with current versions of the Hurd.
5291
5292* ARM Thumb support
5293
5294GDB's ARM target configuration now handles the ARM7T (Thumb) 16-bit
5295instruction set. ARM GDB automatically detects when Thumb
5296instructions are in use, and adjusts disassembly and backtracing
5297accordingly.
5298
5299* MIPS16 support
5300
5301GDB's MIPS target configurations now handle the MIP16 16-bit
5302instruction set.
5303
5304* Overlay support
5305
5306GDB now includes support for overlays; if an executable has been
5307linked such that multiple sections are based at the same address, GDB
5308will decide which section to use for symbolic info. You can choose to
5309control the decision manually, using overlay commands, or implement
5310additional target-side support and use "overlay load-target" to bring
5311in the overlay mapping. Do "help overlay" for more detail.
5312
5313* info symbol
5314
5315The command "info symbol <address>" displays information about
5316the symbol at the specified address.
5317
5318* Trace support
5319
5320The standard remote protocol now includes an extension that allows
5321asynchronous collection and display of trace data. This requires
5322extensive support in the target-side debugging stub. Tracing mode
5323includes a new interaction mode in GDB and new commands: see the
5324file tracepoint.c for more details.
5325
5326* MIPS simulator
5327
5328Configurations for embedded MIPS now include a simulator contributed
5329by Cygnus Solutions. The simulator supports the instruction sets
5330of most MIPS variants.
5331
5332* Sparc simulator
5333
5334Sparc configurations may now include the ERC32 simulator contributed
5335by the European Space Agency. The simulator is not built into
5336Sparc targets by default; configure with --enable-sim to include it.
5337
5338* set architecture
5339
5340For target configurations that may include multiple variants of a
5341basic architecture (such as MIPS and SH), you may now set the
5342architecture explicitly. "set arch" sets, "info arch" lists
5343the possible architectures.
5344
5345*** Changes in GDB-4.16:
5346
5347* New native configurations
5348
5349Windows 95, x86 Windows NT i[345]86-*-cygwin32
5350M68K NetBSD m68k-*-netbsd*
5351PowerPC AIX 4.x powerpc-*-aix*
5352PowerPC MacOS powerpc-*-macos*
5353PowerPC Windows NT powerpcle-*-cygwin32
5354RS/6000 AIX 4.x rs6000-*-aix4*
5355
5356* New targets
5357
5358ARM with RDP protocol arm-*-*
5359I960 with MON960 i960-*-coff
5360MIPS VxWorks mips*-*-vxworks*
5361MIPS VR4300 with PMON mips64*vr4300{,el}-*-elf*
5362PowerPC with PPCBUG monitor powerpc{,le}-*-eabi*
5363Hitachi SH3 sh-*-*
5364Matra Sparclet sparclet-*-*
5365
5366* PowerPC simulator
5367
5368The powerpc-eabi configuration now includes the PSIM simulator,
5369contributed by Andrew Cagney, with assistance from Mike Meissner.
5370PSIM is a very elaborate model of the PowerPC, including not only
5371basic instruction set execution, but also details of execution unit
5372performance and I/O hardware. See sim/ppc/README for more details.
5373
5374* Solaris 2.5
5375
5376GDB now works with Solaris 2.5.
5377
5378* Windows 95/NT native
5379
5380GDB will now work as a native debugger on Windows 95 and Windows NT.
5381To build it from source, you must use the "gnu-win32" environment,
5382which uses a DLL to emulate enough of Unix to run the GNU tools.
5383Further information, binaries, and sources are available at
5384ftp.cygnus.com, under pub/gnu-win32.
5385
5386* dont-repeat command
5387
5388If a user-defined command includes the command `dont-repeat', then the
5389command will not be repeated if the user just types return. This is
5390useful if the command is time-consuming to run, so that accidental
5391extra keystrokes don't run the same command many times.
5392
5393* Send break instead of ^C
5394
5395The standard remote protocol now includes an option to send a break
5396rather than a ^C to the target in order to interrupt it. By default,
5397GDB will send ^C; to send a break, set the variable `remotebreak' to 1.
5398
5399* Remote protocol timeout
5400
5401The standard remote protocol includes a new variable `remotetimeout'
5402that allows you to set the number of seconds before GDB gives up trying
5403to read from the target. The default value is 2.
5404
5405* Automatic tracking of dynamic object loading (HPUX and Solaris only)
5406
5407By default GDB will automatically keep track of objects as they are
5408loaded and unloaded by the dynamic linker. By using the command `set
5409stop-on-solib-events 1' you can arrange for GDB to stop the inferior
5410when shared library events occur, thus allowing you to set breakpoints
5411in shared libraries which are explicitly loaded by the inferior.
5412
5413Note this feature does not work on hpux8. On hpux9 you must link
5414/usr/lib/end.o into your program. This feature should work
5415automatically on hpux10.
5416
5417* Irix 5.x hardware watchpoint support
5418
5419Irix 5 configurations now support the use of hardware watchpoints.
5420
5421* Mips protocol "SYN garbage limit"
5422
5423When debugging a Mips target using the `target mips' protocol, you
5424may set the number of characters that GDB will ignore by setting
5425the `syn-garbage-limit'. A value of -1 means that GDB will ignore
5426every character. The default value is 1050.
5427
5428* Recording and replaying remote debug sessions
5429
5430If you set `remotelogfile' to the name of a file, gdb will write to it
5431a recording of a remote debug session. This recording may then be
5432replayed back to gdb using "gdbreplay". See gdbserver/README for
5433details. This is useful when you have a problem with GDB while doing
5434remote debugging; you can make a recording of the session and send it
5435to someone else, who can then recreate the problem.
5436
5437* Speedups for remote debugging
5438
5439GDB includes speedups for downloading and stepping MIPS systems using
5440the IDT monitor, fast downloads to the Hitachi SH E7000 emulator,
5441and more efficient S-record downloading.
5442
5443* Memory use reductions and statistics collection
5444
5445GDB now uses less memory and reports statistics about memory usage.
5446Try the `maint print statistics' command, for example.
5447
5448*** Changes in GDB-4.15:
5449
5450* Psymtabs for XCOFF
5451
5452The symbol reader for AIX GDB now uses partial symbol tables. This
5453can greatly improve startup time, especially for large executables.
5454
5455* Remote targets use caching
5456
5457Remote targets now use a data cache to speed up communication with the
5458remote side. The data cache could lead to incorrect results because
5459it doesn't know about volatile variables, thus making it impossible to
5460debug targets which use memory mapped I/O devices. `set remotecache
5461off' turns the the data cache off.
5462
5463* Remote targets may have threads
5464
5465The standard remote protocol now includes support for multiple threads
5466in the target system, using new protocol commands 'H' and 'T'. See
5467gdb/remote.c for details.
5468
5469* NetROM support
5470
5471If GDB is configured with `--enable-netrom', then it will include
5472support for the NetROM ROM emulator from XLNT Designs. The NetROM
5473acts as though it is a bank of ROM on the target board, but you can
5474write into it over the network. GDB's support consists only of
5475support for fast loading into the emulated ROM; to debug, you must use
5476another protocol, such as standard remote protocol. The usual
5477sequence is something like
5478
5479 target nrom <netrom-hostname>
5480 load <prog>
5481 target remote <netrom-hostname>:1235
5482
5483* Macintosh host
5484
5485GDB now includes support for the Apple Macintosh, as a host only. It
5486may be run as either an MPW tool or as a standalone application, and
5487it can debug through the serial port. All the usual GDB commands are
5488available, but to the target command, you must supply "serial" as the
5489device type instead of "/dev/ttyXX". See mpw-README in the main
5490directory for more information on how to build. The MPW configuration
5491scripts */mpw-config.in support only a few targets, and only the
5492mips-idt-ecoff target has been tested.
5493
5494* Autoconf
5495
5496GDB configuration now uses autoconf. This is not user-visible,
5497but does simplify configuration and building.
5498
5499* hpux10
5500
5501GDB now supports hpux10.
5502
5503*** Changes in GDB-4.14:
5504
5505* New native configurations
5506
5507x86 FreeBSD i[345]86-*-freebsd
5508x86 NetBSD i[345]86-*-netbsd
5509NS32k NetBSD ns32k-*-netbsd
5510Sparc NetBSD sparc-*-netbsd
5511
5512* New targets
5513
5514A29K VxWorks a29k-*-vxworks
5515HP PA PRO embedded (WinBond W89K & Oki OP50N) hppa*-*-pro*
5516CPU32 EST-300 emulator m68*-*-est*
5517PowerPC ELF powerpc-*-elf
5518WDC 65816 w65-*-*
5519
5520* Alpha OSF/1 support for procfs
5521
5522GDB now supports procfs under OSF/1-2.x and higher, which makes it
5523possible to attach to running processes. As the mounting of the /proc
5524filesystem is optional on the Alpha, GDB automatically determines
5525the availability of /proc during startup. This can lead to problems
5526if /proc is unmounted after GDB has been started.
5527
5528* Arguments to user-defined commands
5529
5530User commands may accept up to 10 arguments separated by whitespace.
5531Arguments are accessed within the user command via $arg0..$arg9. A
5532trivial example:
5533define adder
5534 print $arg0 + $arg1 + $arg2
5535
5536To execute the command use:
5537adder 1 2 3
5538
5539Defines the command "adder" which prints the sum of its three arguments.
5540Note the arguments are text substitutions, so they may reference variables,
5541use complex expressions, or even perform inferior function calls.
5542
5543* New `if' and `while' commands
5544
5545This makes it possible to write more sophisticated user-defined
5546commands. Both commands take a single argument, which is the
5547expression to evaluate, and must be followed by the commands to
5548execute, one per line, if the expression is nonzero, the list being
5549terminated by the word `end'. The `if' command list may include an
5550`else' word, which causes the following commands to be executed only
5551if the expression is zero.
5552
5553* Fortran source language mode
5554
5555GDB now includes partial support for Fortran 77. It will recognize
5556Fortran programs and can evaluate a subset of Fortran expressions, but
5557variables and functions may not be handled correctly. GDB will work
5558with G77, but does not yet know much about symbols emitted by other
5559Fortran compilers.
5560
5561* Better HPUX support
5562
5563Most debugging facilities now work on dynamic executables for HPPAs
5564running hpux9 or later. You can attach to running dynamically linked
5565processes, but by default the dynamic libraries will be read-only, so
5566for instance you won't be able to put breakpoints in them. To change
5567that behavior do the following before running the program:
5568
5569 adb -w a.out
5570 __dld_flags?W 0x5
5571 control-d
5572
5573This will cause the libraries to be mapped private and read-write.
5574To revert to the normal behavior, do this:
5575
5576 adb -w a.out
5577 __dld_flags?W 0x4
5578 control-d
5579
5580You cannot set breakpoints or examine data in the library until after
5581the library is loaded if the function/data symbols do not have
5582external linkage.
5583
5584GDB can now also read debug symbols produced by the HP C compiler on
5585HPPAs (sorry, no C++, Fortran or 68k support).
5586
5587* Target byte order now dynamically selectable
5588
5589You can choose which byte order to use with a target system, via the
5590commands "set endian big" and "set endian little", and you can see the
5591current setting by using "show endian". You can also give the command
5592"set endian auto", in which case GDB will use the byte order
5593associated with the executable. Currently, only embedded MIPS
5594configurations support dynamic selection of target byte order.
5595
5596* New DOS host serial code
5597
5598This version uses DPMI interrupts to handle buffered I/O, so you
5599no longer need to run asynctsr when debugging boards connected to
5600a PC's serial port.
5601
5602*** Changes in GDB-4.13:
5603
5604* New "complete" command
5605
5606This lists all the possible completions for the rest of the line, if it
5607were to be given as a command itself. This is intended for use by emacs.
5608
5609* Trailing space optional in prompt
5610
5611"set prompt" no longer adds a space for you after the prompt you set. This
5612allows you to set a prompt which ends in a space or one that does not.
5613
5614* Breakpoint hit counts
5615
5616"info break" now displays a count of the number of times the breakpoint
5617has been hit. This is especially useful in conjunction with "ignore"; you
5618can ignore a large number of breakpoint hits, look at the breakpoint info
5619to see how many times the breakpoint was hit, then run again, ignoring one
5620less than that number, and this will get you quickly to the last hit of
5621that breakpoint.
5622
5623* Ability to stop printing at NULL character
5624
5625"set print null-stop" will cause GDB to stop printing the characters of
5626an array when the first NULL is encountered. This is useful when large
5627arrays actually contain only short strings.
5628
5629* Shared library breakpoints
5630
5631In SunOS 4.x, SVR4, and Alpha OSF/1 configurations, you can now set
5632breakpoints in shared libraries before the executable is run.
5633
5634* Hardware watchpoints
5635
5636There is a new hardware breakpoint for the watch command for sparclite
5637targets. See gdb/sparclite/hw_breakpoint.note.
5638
55241689 5639Hardware watchpoints are also now supported under GNU/Linux.
c906108c
SS
5640
5641* Annotations
5642
5643Annotations have been added. These are for use with graphical interfaces,
5644and are still experimental. Currently only gdba.el uses these.
5645
5646* Improved Irix 5 support
5647
5648GDB now works properly with Irix 5.2.
5649
5650* Improved HPPA support
5651
5652GDB now works properly with the latest GCC and GAS.
5653
5654* New native configurations
5655
5656Sequent PTX4 i[34]86-sequent-ptx4
5657HPPA running OSF/1 hppa*-*-osf*
5658Atari TT running SVR4 m68*-*-sysv4*
5659RS/6000 LynxOS rs6000-*-lynxos*
5660
5661* New targets
5662
5663OS/9000 i[34]86-*-os9k
5664MIPS R4000 mips64*{,el}-*-{ecoff,elf}
5665Sparc64 sparc64-*-*
5666
5667* Hitachi SH7000 and E7000-PC ICE support
5668
5669There is now support for communicating with the Hitachi E7000-PC ICE.
5670This is available automatically when GDB is configured for the SH.
5671
5672* Fixes
5673
5674As usual, a variety of small fixes and improvements, both generic
5675and configuration-specific. See the ChangeLog for more detail.
5676
5677*** Changes in GDB-4.12:
5678
5679* Irix 5 is now supported
5680
5681* HPPA support
5682
5683GDB-4.12 on the HPPA has a number of changes which make it unable
5684to debug the output from the currently released versions of GCC and
5685GAS (GCC 2.5.8 and GAS-2.2 or PAGAS-1.36). Until the next major release
5686of GCC and GAS, versions of these tools designed to work with GDB-4.12
5687can be retrieved via anonymous ftp from jaguar.cs.utah.edu:/dist.
5688
5689
5690*** Changes in GDB-4.11:
5691
5692* User visible changes:
5693
5694* Remote Debugging
5695
5696The "set remotedebug" option is now consistent between the mips remote
5697target, remote targets using the gdb-specific protocol, UDI (AMD's
5698debug protocol for the 29k) and the 88k bug monitor. It is now an
5699integer specifying a debug level (normally 0 or 1, but 2 means more
5700debugging info for the mips target).
5701
5702* DEC Alpha native support
5703
5704GDB now works on the DEC Alpha. GCC 2.4.5 does not produce usable
5705debug info, but GDB works fairly well with the DEC compiler and should
5706work with a future GCC release. See the README file for a few
5707Alpha-specific notes.
5708
5709* Preliminary thread implementation
5710
5711GDB now has preliminary thread support for both SGI/Irix and LynxOS.
5712
5713* LynxOS native and target support for 386
5714
5715This release has been hosted on LynxOS 2.2, and also can be configured
5716to remotely debug programs running under LynxOS (see gdb/gdbserver/README
5717for details).
5718
5719* Improvements in C++ mangling/demangling.
5720
5721This release has much better g++ debugging, specifically in name
5722mangling/demangling, virtual function calls, print virtual table,
5723call methods, ...etc.
5724
5725*** Changes in GDB-4.10:
5726
5727 * User visible changes:
5728
5729Remote debugging using the GDB-specific (`target remote') protocol now
5730supports the `load' command. This is only useful if you have some
5731other way of getting the stub to the target system, and you can put it
5732somewhere in memory where it won't get clobbered by the download.
5733
5734Filename completion now works.
5735
5736When run under emacs mode, the "info line" command now causes the
5737arrow to point to the line specified. Also, "info line" prints
5738addresses in symbolic form (as well as hex).
5739
5740All vxworks based targets now support a user settable option, called
5741vxworks-timeout. This option represents the number of seconds gdb
5742should wait for responses to rpc's. You might want to use this if
5743your vxworks target is, perhaps, a slow software simulator or happens
5744to be on the far side of a thin network line.
5745
5746 * DEC alpha support
5747
5748This release contains support for using a DEC alpha as a GDB host for
5749cross debugging. Native alpha debugging is not supported yet.
5750
5751
5752*** Changes in GDB-4.9:
5753
5754 * Testsuite
5755
5756This is the first GDB release which is accompanied by a matching testsuite.
5757The testsuite requires installation of dejagnu, which should be available
5758via ftp from most sites that carry GNU software.
5759
5760 * C++ demangling
5761
5762'Cfront' style demangling has had its name changed to 'ARM' style, to
5763emphasize that it was written from the specifications in the C++ Annotated
5764Reference Manual, not necessarily to be compatible with AT&T cfront. Despite
5765disclaimers, it still generated too much confusion with users attempting to
5766use gdb with AT&T cfront.
5767
5768 * Simulators
5769
5770GDB now uses a standard remote interface to a simulator library.
5771So far, the library contains simulators for the Zilog Z8001/2, the
5772Hitachi H8/300, H8/500 and Super-H.
5773
5774 * New targets supported
5775
5776H8/300 simulator h8300-hitachi-hms or h8300hms
5777H8/500 simulator h8500-hitachi-hms or h8500hms
5778SH simulator sh-hitachi-hms or sh
5779Z8000 simulator z8k-zilog-none or z8ksim
5780IDT MIPS board over serial line mips-idt-ecoff
5781
5782Cross-debugging to GO32 targets is supported. It requires a custom
5783version of the i386-stub.c module which is integrated with the
5784GO32 memory extender.
5785
5786 * New remote protocols
5787
5788MIPS remote debugging protocol.
5789
5790 * New source languages supported
5791
5792This version includes preliminary support for Chill, a Pascal like language
5793used by telecommunications companies. Chill support is also being integrated
5794into the GNU compiler, but we don't know when it will be publically available.
5795
5796
5797*** Changes in GDB-4.8:
5798
5799 * HP Precision Architecture supported
5800
5801GDB now supports HP PA-RISC machines running HPUX. A preliminary
5802version of this support was available as a set of patches from the
5803University of Utah. GDB does not support debugging of programs
5804compiled with the HP compiler, because HP will not document their file
5805format. Instead, you must use GCC (version 2.3.2 or later) and PA-GAS
5806(as available from jaguar.cs.utah.edu:/dist/pa-gas.u4.tar.Z).
5807
5808Many problems in the preliminary version have been fixed.
5809
5810 * Faster and better demangling
5811
5812We have improved template demangling and fixed numerous bugs in the GNU style
5813demangler. It can now handle type modifiers such as `static' or `const'. Wide
5814character types (wchar_t) are now supported. Demangling of each symbol is now
5815only done once, and is cached when the symbol table for a file is read in.
5816This results in a small increase in memory usage for C programs, a moderate
5817increase in memory usage for C++ programs, and a fantastic speedup in
5818symbol lookups.
5819
5820`Cfront' style demangling still doesn't work with AT&T cfront. It was written
5821from the specifications in the Annotated Reference Manual, which AT&T's
5822compiler does not actually implement.
5823
5824 * G++ multiple inheritance compiler problem
5825
5826In the 2.3.2 release of gcc/g++, how the compiler resolves multiple
5827inheritance lattices was reworked to properly discover ambiguities. We
5828recently found an example which causes this new algorithm to fail in a
5829very subtle way, producing bad debug information for those classes.
5830The file 'gcc.patch' (in this directory) can be applied to gcc to
5831circumvent the problem. A future GCC release will contain a complete
5832fix.
5833
5834The previous G++ debug info problem (mentioned below for the gdb-4.7
5835release) is fixed in gcc version 2.3.2.
5836
5837 * Improved configure script
5838
5839The `configure' script will now attempt to guess your system type if
5840you don't supply a host system type. The old scheme of supplying a
5841host system triplet is preferable over using this. All the magic is
5842done in the new `config.guess' script. Examine it for details.
5843
5844We have also brought our configure script much more in line with the FSF's
5845version. It now supports the --with-xxx options. In particular,
5846`--with-minimal-bfd' can be used to make the GDB binary image smaller.
5847The resulting GDB will not be able to read arbitrary object file formats --
5848only the format ``expected'' to be used on the configured target system.
5849We hope to make this the default in a future release.
5850
5851 * Documentation improvements
5852
5853There's new internal documentation on how to modify GDB, and how to
5854produce clean changes to the code. We implore people to read it
5855before submitting changes.
5856
5857The GDB manual uses new, sexy Texinfo conditionals, rather than arcane
5858M4 macros. The new texinfo.tex is provided in this release. Pre-built
5859`info' files are also provided. To build `info' files from scratch,
5860you will need the latest `makeinfo' release, which will be available in
5861a future texinfo-X.Y release.
5862
5863*NOTE* The new texinfo.tex can cause old versions of TeX to hang.
5864We're not sure exactly which versions have this problem, but it has
5865been seen in 3.0. We highly recommend upgrading to TeX version 3.141
5866or better. If that isn't possible, there is a patch in
5867`texinfo/tex3patch' that will modify `texinfo/texinfo.tex' to work
5868around this problem.
5869
5870 * New features
5871
5872GDB now supports array constants that can be used in expressions typed in by
5873the user. The syntax is `{element, element, ...}'. Ie: you can now type
5874`print {1, 2, 3}', and it will build up an array in memory malloc'd in
5875the target program.
5876
5877The new directory `gdb/sparclite' contains a program that demonstrates
5878how the sparc-stub.c remote stub runs on a Fujitsu SPARClite processor.
5879
5880 * New native hosts supported
5881
5882HP/PA-RISC under HPUX using GNU tools hppa1.1-hp-hpux
5883386 CPUs running SCO Unix 3.2v4 i386-unknown-sco3.2v4
5884
5885 * New targets supported
5886
5887AMD 29k family via UDI a29k-amd-udi or udi29k
5888
5889 * New file formats supported
5890
5891BFD now supports reading HP/PA-RISC executables (SOM file format?),
5892HPUX core files, and SCO 3.2v2 core files.
5893
5894 * Major bug fixes
5895
5896Attaching to processes now works again; thanks for the many bug reports.
5897
5898We have also stomped on a bunch of core dumps caused by
5899printf_filtered("%s") problems.
5900
5901We eliminated a copyright problem on the rpc and ptrace header files
5902for VxWorks, which was discovered at the last minute during the 4.7
5903release. You should now be able to build a VxWorks GDB.
5904
5905You can now interrupt gdb while an attached process is running. This
5906will cause the attached process to stop, and give control back to GDB.
5907
5908We fixed problems caused by using too many file descriptors
5909for reading symbols from object files and libraries. This was
5910especially a problem for programs that used many (~100) shared
5911libraries.
5912
5913The `step' command now only enters a subroutine if there is line number
5914information for the subroutine. Otherwise it acts like the `next'
5915command. Previously, `step' would enter subroutines if there was
5916any debugging information about the routine. This avoids problems
5917when using `cc -g1' on MIPS machines.
5918
5919 * Internal improvements
5920
5921GDB's internal interfaces have been improved to make it easier to support
5922debugging of multiple languages in the future.
5923
5924GDB now uses a common structure for symbol information internally.
5925Minimal symbols (derived from linkage symbols in object files), partial
5926symbols (from a quick scan of debug information), and full symbols
5927contain a common subset of information, making it easier to write
5928shared code that handles any of them.
5929
5930 * New command line options
5931
5932We now accept --silent as an alias for --quiet.
5933
5934 * Mmalloc licensing
5935
5936The memory-mapped-malloc library is now licensed under the GNU Library
5937General Public License.
5938
5939*** Changes in GDB-4.7:
5940
5941 * Host/native/target split
5942
5943GDB has had some major internal surgery to untangle the support for
5944hosts and remote targets. Now, when you configure GDB for a remote
5945target, it will no longer load in all of the support for debugging
5946local programs on the host. When fully completed and tested, this will
5947ensure that arbitrary host/target combinations are possible.
5948
5949The primary conceptual shift is to separate the non-portable code in
5950GDB into three categories. Host specific code is required any time GDB
5951is compiled on that host, regardless of the target. Target specific
5952code relates to the peculiarities of the target, but can be compiled on
5953any host. Native specific code is everything else: it can only be
5954built when the host and target are the same system. Child process
5955handling and core file support are two common `native' examples.
5956
5957GDB's use of /proc for controlling Unix child processes is now cleaner.
5958It has been split out into a single module under the `target_ops' vector,
5959plus two native-dependent functions for each system that uses /proc.
5960
5961 * New hosts supported
5962
5963HP/Apollo 68k (under the BSD domain) m68k-apollo-bsd or apollo68bsd
5964386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd
5965386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or i386sco
5966
5967 * New targets supported
5968
5969Fujitsu SPARClite sparclite-fujitsu-none or sparclite
597068030 and CPU32 m68030-*-*, m68332-*-*
5971
5972 * New native hosts supported
5973
5974386 CPUs running various BSD ports i386-unknown-bsd or 386bsd
5975 (386bsd is not well tested yet)
5976386 CPUs running SCO Unix i386-unknown-scosysv322 or sco
5977
5978 * New file formats supported
5979
5980BFD now supports COFF files for the Zilog Z8000 microprocessor. It
5981supports reading of `a.out.adobe' object files, which are an a.out
5982format extended with minimal information about multiple sections.
5983
5984 * New commands
5985
5986`show copying' is the same as the old `info copying'.
5987`show warranty' is the same as `info warrantee'.
5988These were renamed for consistency. The old commands continue to work.
5989
5990`info handle' is a new alias for `info signals'.
5991
5992You can now define pre-command hooks, which attach arbitrary command
5993scripts to any command. The commands in the hook will be executed
5994prior to the user's command. You can also create a hook which will be
5995executed whenever the program stops. See gdb.texinfo.
5996
5997 * C++ improvements
5998
5999We now deal with Cfront style name mangling, and can even extract type
6000info from mangled symbols. GDB can automatically figure out which
6001symbol mangling style your C++ compiler uses.
6002
6003Calling of methods and virtual functions has been improved as well.
6004
6005 * Major bug fixes
6006
6007The crash that occured when debugging Sun Ansi-C compiled binaries is
6008fixed. This was due to mishandling of the extra N_SO stabs output
6009by the compiler.
6010
6011We also finally got Ultrix 4.2 running in house, and fixed core file
6012support, with help from a dozen people on the net.
6013
6014John M. Farrell discovered that the reason that single-stepping was so
6015slow on all of the Mips based platforms (primarily SGI and DEC) was
6016that we were trying to demangle and lookup a symbol used for internal
6017purposes on every instruction that was being stepped through. Changing
6018the name of that symbol so that it couldn't be mistaken for a C++
6019mangled symbol sped things up a great deal.
6020
6021Rich Pixley sped up symbol lookups in general by getting much smarter
6022about when C++ symbol mangling is necessary. This should make symbol
6023completion (TAB on the command line) much faster. It's not as fast as
6024we'd like, but it's significantly faster than gdb-4.6.
6025
6026 * AMD 29k support
6027
6028A new user controllable variable 'call_scratch_address' can
6029specify the location of a scratch area to be used when GDB
6030calls a function in the target. This is necessary because the
6031usual method of putting the scratch area on the stack does not work
6032in systems that have separate instruction and data spaces.
6033
6034We integrated changes to support the 29k UDI (Universal Debugger
6035Interface), but discovered at the last minute that we didn't have all
6036of the appropriate copyright paperwork. We are working with AMD to
6037resolve this, and hope to have it available soon.
6038
6039 * Remote interfaces
6040
6041We have sped up the remote serial line protocol, especially for targets
6042with lots of registers. It now supports a new `expedited status' ('T')
6043message which can be used in place of the existing 'S' status message.
6044This allows the remote stub to send only the registers that GDB
6045needs to make a quick decision about single-stepping or conditional
6046breakpoints, eliminating the need to fetch the entire register set for
6047each instruction being stepped through.
6048
6049The GDB remote serial protocol now implements a write-through cache for
6050registers, only re-reading the registers if the target has run.
6051
6052There is also a new remote serial stub for SPARC processors. You can
6053find it in gdb-4.7/gdb/sparc-stub.c. This was written to support the
6054Fujitsu SPARClite processor, but will run on any stand-alone SPARC
6055processor with a serial port.
6056
6057 * Configuration
6058
6059Configure.in files have become much easier to read and modify. A new
6060`table driven' format makes it more obvious what configurations are
6061supported, and what files each one uses.
6062
6063 * Library changes
6064
6065There is a new opcodes library which will eventually contain all of the
6066disassembly routines and opcode tables. At present, it only contains
6067Sparc and Z8000 routines. This will allow the assembler, debugger, and
6068disassembler (binutils/objdump) to share these routines.
6069
6070The libiberty library is now copylefted under the GNU Library General
6071Public License. This allows more liberal use, and was done so libg++
6072can use it. This makes no difference to GDB, since the Library License
6073grants all the rights from the General Public License.
6074
6075 * Documentation
6076
6077The file gdb-4.7/gdb/doc/stabs.texinfo is a (relatively) complete
6078reference to the stabs symbol info used by the debugger. It is (as far
6079as we know) the only published document on this fascinating topic. We
6080encourage you to read it, compare it to the stabs information on your
6081system, and send improvements on the document in general (to
6082bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu).
6083
6084And, of course, many bugs have been fixed.
6085
6086
6087*** Changes in GDB-4.6:
6088
6089 * Better support for C++ function names
6090
6091GDB now accepts as input the "demangled form" of C++ overloaded function
6092names and member function names, and can do command completion on such names
6093(using TAB, TAB-TAB, and ESC-?). The names have to be quoted with a pair of
6094single quotes. Examples are 'func (int, long)' and 'obj::operator==(obj&)'.
6095Make use of command completion, it is your friend.
6096
6097GDB also now accepts a variety of C++ mangled symbol formats. They are
6098the GNU g++ style, the Cfront (ARM) style, and the Lucid (lcc) style.
6099You can tell GDB which format to use by doing a 'set demangle-style {gnu,
6100lucid, cfront, auto}'. 'gnu' is the default. Do a 'set demangle-style foo'
6101for the list of formats.
6102
6103 * G++ symbol mangling problem
6104
6105Recent versions of gcc have a bug in how they emit debugging information for
6106C++ methods (when using dbx-style stabs). The file 'gcc.patch' (in this
6107directory) can be applied to gcc to fix the problem. Alternatively, if you
6108can't fix gcc, you can #define GCC_MANGLE_BUG when compling gdb/symtab.c. The
6109usual symptom is difficulty with setting breakpoints on methods. GDB complains
6110about the method being non-existent. (We believe that version 2.2.2 of GCC has
6111this problem.)
6112
6113 * New 'maintenance' command
6114
6115All of the commands related to hacking GDB internals have been moved out of
6116the main command set, and now live behind the 'maintenance' command. This
6117can also be abbreviated as 'mt'. The following changes were made:
6118
6119 dump-me -> maintenance dump-me
6120 info all-breakpoints -> maintenance info breakpoints
6121 printmsyms -> maintenance print msyms
6122 printobjfiles -> maintenance print objfiles
6123 printpsyms -> maintenance print psymbols
6124 printsyms -> maintenance print symbols
6125
6126The following commands are new:
6127
6128 maintenance demangle Call internal GDB demangler routine to
6129 demangle a C++ link name and prints the result.
6130 maintenance print type Print a type chain for a given symbol
6131
6132 * Change to .gdbinit file processing
6133
6134We now read the $HOME/.gdbinit file before processing the argv arguments
6135(e.g. reading symbol files or core files). This allows global parameters to
6136be set, which will apply during the symbol reading. The ./.gdbinit is still
6137read after argv processing.
6138
6139 * New hosts supported
6140
6141Solaris-2.0 !!! sparc-sun-solaris2 or sun4sol2
6142
55241689 6143GNU/Linux support i386-unknown-linux or linux
c906108c
SS
6144
6145We are also including code to support the HP/PA running BSD and HPUX. This
6146is almost guaranteed not to work, as we didn't have time to test or build it
6147for this release. We are including it so that the more adventurous (or
6148masochistic) of you can play with it. We also had major problems with the
6149fact that the compiler that we got from HP doesn't support the -g option.
6150It costs extra.
6151
6152 * New targets supported
6153
6154Hitachi H8/300 h8300-hitachi-hms or h8300hms
6155
6156 * More smarts about finding #include files
6157
6158GDB now remembers the compilation directory for all include files, and for
6159all files from which C is generated (like yacc and lex sources). This
6160greatly improves GDB's ability to find yacc/lex sources, and include files,
6161especially if you are debugging your program from a directory different from
6162the one that contains your sources.
6163
6164We also fixed a bug which caused difficulty with listing and setting
6165breakpoints in include files which contain C code. (In the past, you had to
6166try twice in order to list an include file that you hadn't looked at before.)
6167
6168 * Interesting infernals change
6169
6170GDB now deals with arbitrary numbers of sections, where the symbols for each
6171section must be relocated relative to that section's landing place in the
6172target's address space. This work was needed to support ELF with embedded
6173stabs used by Solaris-2.0.
6174
6175 * Bug fixes (of course!)
6176
6177There have been loads of fixes for the following things:
6178 mips, rs6000, 29k/udi, m68k, g++, type handling, elf/dwarf, m88k,
6179 i960, stabs, DOS(GO32), procfs, etc...
6180
6181See the ChangeLog for details.
6182
6183*** Changes in GDB-4.5:
6184
6185 * New machines supported (host and target)
6186
6187IBM RS6000 running AIX rs6000-ibm-aix or rs6000
6188
6189SGI Irix-4.x mips-sgi-irix4 or iris4
6190
6191 * New malloc package
6192
6193GDB now uses a new memory manager called mmalloc, based on gmalloc.
6194Mmalloc is capable of handling mutiple heaps of memory. It is also
6195capable of saving a heap to a file, and then mapping it back in later.
6196This can be used to greatly speedup the startup of GDB by using a
6197pre-parsed symbol table which lives in a mmalloc managed heap. For
6198more details, please read mmalloc/mmalloc.texi.
6199
6200 * info proc
6201
6202The 'info proc' command (SVR4 only) has been enhanced quite a bit. See
6203'help info proc' for details.
6204
6205 * MIPS ecoff symbol table format
6206
6207The code that reads MIPS symbol table format is now supported on all hosts.
6208Thanks to MIPS for releasing the sym.h and symconst.h files to make this
6209possible.
6210
6211 * File name changes for MS-DOS
6212
6213Many files in the config directories have been renamed to make it easier to
6214support GDB on MS-DOSe systems (which have very restrictive file name
6215conventions :-( ). MS-DOSe host support (under DJ Delorie's GO32
6216environment) is close to working but has some remaining problems. Note
6217that debugging of DOS programs is not supported, due to limitations
6218in the ``operating system'', but it can be used to host cross-debugging.
6219
6220 * Cross byte order fixes
6221
6222Many fixes have been made to support cross debugging of Sparc and MIPS
6223targets from hosts whose byte order differs.
6224
6225 * New -mapped and -readnow options
6226
6227If memory-mapped files are available on your system through the 'mmap'
6228system call, you can use the -mapped option on the `file' or
6229`symbol-file' commands to cause GDB to write the symbols from your
6230program into a reusable file. If the program you are debugging is
6231called `/path/fred', the mapped symbol file will be `./fred.syms'.
6232Future GDB debugging sessions will notice the presence of this file,
6233and will quickly map in symbol information from it, rather than reading
6234the symbol table from the executable program. Using the '-mapped'
6235option in a GDB `file' or `symbol-file' command has the same effect as
6236starting GDB with the '-mapped' command-line option.
6237
6238You can cause GDB to read the entire symbol table immediately by using
6239the '-readnow' option with any of the commands that load symbol table
6240information (or on the GDB command line). This makes the command
6241slower, but makes future operations faster.
6242
6243The -mapped and -readnow options are typically combined in order to
6244build a `fred.syms' file that contains complete symbol information.
6245A simple GDB invocation to do nothing but build a `.syms' file for future
6246use is:
6247
6248 gdb -batch -nx -mapped -readnow programname
6249
6250The `.syms' file is specific to the host machine on which GDB is run.
6251It holds an exact image of GDB's internal symbol table. It cannot be
6252shared across multiple host platforms.
6253
6254 * longjmp() handling
6255
6256GDB is now capable of stepping and nexting over longjmp(), _longjmp(), and
6257siglongjmp() without losing control. This feature has not yet been ported to
6258all systems. It currently works on many 386 platforms, all MIPS-based
6259platforms (SGI, DECstation, etc), and Sun3/4.
6260
6261 * Solaris 2.0
6262
6263Preliminary work has been put in to support the new Solaris OS from Sun. At
6264this time, it can control and debug processes, but it is not capable of
6265reading symbols.
6266
6267 * Bug fixes
6268
6269As always, many many bug fixes. The major areas were with g++, and mipsread.
6270People using the MIPS-based platforms should experience fewer mysterious
6271crashes and trashed symbol tables.
6272
6273*** Changes in GDB-4.4:
6274
6275 * New machines supported (host and target)
6276
6277SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco
6278 (except core files)
6279BSD Reno on Vax vax-dec-bsd
6280Ultrix on Vax vax-dec-ultrix
6281
6282 * New machines supported (target)
6283
6284AMD 29000 embedded, using EBMON a29k-none-none
6285
6286 * C++ support
6287
6288GDB continues to improve its handling of C++. `References' work better.
6289The demangler has also been improved, and now deals with symbols mangled as
6290per the Annotated C++ Reference Guide.
6291
6292GDB also now handles `stabs' symbol information embedded in MIPS
6293`ecoff' symbol tables. Since the ecoff format was not easily
6294extensible to handle new languages such as C++, this appeared to be a
6295good way to put C++ debugging info into MIPS binaries. This option
6296will be supported in the GNU C compiler, version 2, when it is
6297released.
6298
6299 * New features for SVR4
6300
6301GDB now handles SVR4 shared libraries, in the same fashion as SunOS
6302shared libraries. Debugging dynamically linked programs should present
6303only minor differences from debugging statically linked programs.
6304
6305The `info proc' command will print out information about any process
6306on an SVR4 system (including the one you are debugging). At the moment,
6307it prints the address mappings of the process.
6308
6309If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please send mail to
6310bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were reqired (if any).
6311
6312 * Better dynamic linking support in SunOS
6313
6314Reading symbols from shared libraries which contain debugging symbols
6315now works properly. However, there remain issues such as automatic
6316skipping of `transfer vector' code during function calls, which
6317make it harder to debug code in a shared library, than to debug the
6318same code linked statically.
6319
6320 * New Getopt
6321
6322GDB is now using the latest `getopt' routines from the FSF. This
6323version accepts the -- prefix for options with long names. GDB will
6324continue to accept the old forms (-option and +option) as well.
6325Various single letter abbreviations for options have been explicity
6326added to the option table so that they won't get overshadowed in the
6327future by other options that begin with the same letter.
6328
6329 * Bugs fixed
6330
6331The `cleanup_undefined_types' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed.
6332Many assorted bugs have been handled. Many more remain to be handled.
6333See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details.
6334
6335
6336*** Changes in GDB-4.3:
6337
6338 * New machines supported (host and target)
6339
6340Amiga 3000 running Amix m68k-cbm-svr4 or amix
6341NCR 3000 386 running SVR4 i386-ncr-svr4 or ncr3000
6342Motorola Delta 88000 running Sys V m88k-motorola-sysv or delta88
6343
6344 * Almost SCO Unix support
6345
6346We had hoped to support:
6347SCO Unix on i386 IBM PC clones i386-sco-sysv or i386sco
6348(except for core file support), but we discovered very late in the release
6349that it has problems with process groups that render gdb unusable. Sorry
6350about that. I encourage people to fix it and post the fixes.
6351
6352 * Preliminary ELF and DWARF support
6353
6354GDB can read ELF object files on System V Release 4, and can handle
6355debugging records for C, in DWARF format, in ELF files. This support
6356is preliminary. If you bring up GDB on another SVR4 system, please
6357send mail to bug-gdb@prep.ai.mit.edu to let us know what changes were
6358reqired (if any).
6359
6360 * New Readline
6361
6362GDB now uses the latest `readline' library. One user-visible change
6363is that two tabs will list possible command completions, which previously
6364required typing M-? (meta-question mark, or ESC ?).
6365
6366 * Bugs fixed
6367
6368The `stepi' bug that many of you noticed has been squashed.
6369Many bugs in C++ have been handled. Many more remain to be handled.
6370See the various ChangeLog files (primarily in gdb and bfd) for details.
6371
6372 * State of the MIPS world (in case you wondered):
6373
6374GDB can understand the symbol tables emitted by the compilers
6375supplied by most vendors of MIPS-based machines, including DEC. These
6376symbol tables are in a format that essentially nobody else uses.
6377
6378Some versions of gcc come with an assembler post-processor called
6379mips-tfile. This program is required if you want to do source-level
6380debugging of gcc-compiled programs. I believe FSF does not ship
6381mips-tfile with gcc version 1, but it will eventually come with gcc
6382version 2.
6383
6384Debugging of g++ output remains a problem. g++ version 1.xx does not
6385really support it at all. (If you're lucky, you should be able to get
6386line numbers and stack traces to work, but no parameters or local
6387variables.) With some work it should be possible to improve the
6388situation somewhat.
6389
6390When gcc version 2 is released, you will have somewhat better luck.
6391However, even then you will get confusing results for inheritance and
6392methods.
6393
6394We will eventually provide full debugging of g++ output on
6395DECstations. This will probably involve some kind of stabs-in-ecoff
6396encapulation, but the details have not been worked out yet.
6397
6398
6399*** Changes in GDB-4.2:
6400
6401 * Improved configuration
6402
6403Only one copy of `configure' exists now, and it is not self-modifying.
6404Porting BFD is simpler.
6405
6406 * Stepping improved
6407
6408The `step' and `next' commands now only stop at the first instruction
6409of a source line. This prevents the multiple stops that used to occur
6410in switch statements, for-loops, etc. `Step' continues to stop if a
6411function that has debugging information is called within the line.
6412
6413 * Bug fixing
6414
6415Lots of small bugs fixed. More remain.
6416
6417 * New host supported (not target)
6418
6419Intel 386 PC clone running Mach i386-none-mach
6420
6421
6422*** Changes in GDB-4.1:
6423
6424 * Multiple source language support
6425
6426GDB now has internal scaffolding to handle several source languages.
6427It determines the type of each source file from its filename extension,
6428and will switch expression parsing and number formatting to match the
6429language of the function in the currently selected stack frame.
6430You can also specifically set the language to be used, with
6431`set language c' or `set language modula-2'.
6432
6433 * GDB and Modula-2
6434
6435GDB now has preliminary support for the GNU Modula-2 compiler,
6436currently under development at the State University of New York at
6437Buffalo. Development of both GDB and the GNU Modula-2 compiler will
6438continue through the fall of 1991 and into 1992.
6439
6440Other Modula-2 compilers are currently not supported, and attempting to
6441debug programs compiled with them will likely result in an error as the
6442symbol table is read. Feel free to work on it, though!
6443
6444There are hooks in GDB for strict type checking and range checking,
6445in the `Modula-2 philosophy', but they do not currently work.
6446
6447 * set write on/off
6448
6449GDB can now write to executable and core files (e.g. patch
6450a variable's value). You must turn this switch on, specify
6451the file ("exec foo" or "core foo"), *then* modify it, e.g.
6452by assigning a new value to a variable. Modifications take
6453effect immediately.
6454
6455 * Automatic SunOS shared library reading
6456
6457When you run your program, GDB automatically determines where its
6458shared libraries (if any) have been loaded, and reads their symbols.
6459The `share' command is no longer needed. This also works when
6460examining core files.
6461
6462 * set listsize
6463
6464You can specify the number of lines that the `list' command shows.
6465The default is 10.
6466
6467 * New machines supported (host and target)
6468
6469SGI Iris (MIPS) running Irix V3: mips-sgi-irix or iris
6470Sony NEWS (68K) running NEWSOS 3.x: m68k-sony-sysv or news
6471Ultracomputer (29K) running Sym1: a29k-nyu-sym1 or ultra3
6472
6473 * New hosts supported (not targets)
6474
6475IBM RT/PC: romp-ibm-aix or rtpc
6476
6477 * New targets supported (not hosts)
6478
6479AMD 29000 embedded with COFF a29k-none-coff
6480AMD 29000 embedded with a.out a29k-none-aout
6481Ultracomputer remote kernel debug a29k-nyu-kern
6482
6483 * New remote interfaces
6484
6485AMD 29000 Adapt
6486AMD 29000 Minimon
6487
6488
6489*** Changes in GDB-4.0:
6490
6491 * New Facilities
6492
6493Wide output is wrapped at good places to make the output more readable.
6494
6495Gdb now supports cross-debugging from a host machine of one type to a
6496target machine of another type. Communication with the target system
6497is over serial lines. The ``target'' command handles connecting to the
6498remote system; the ``load'' command will download a program into the
6499remote system. Serial stubs for the m68k and i386 are provided. Gdb
6500also supports debugging of realtime processes running under VxWorks,
6501using SunRPC Remote Procedure Calls over TCP/IP to talk to a debugger
6502stub on the target system.
6503
6504New CPUs supported include the AMD 29000 and Intel 960.
6505
6506GDB now reads object files and symbol tables via a ``binary file''
6507library, which allows a single copy of GDB to debug programs of multiple
6508object file types such as a.out and coff.
6509
6510There is now a GDB reference card in "doc/refcard.tex". (Make targets
6511refcard.dvi and refcard.ps are available to format it).
6512
6513
6514 * Control-Variable user interface simplified
6515
6516All variables that control the operation of the debugger can be set
6517by the ``set'' command, and displayed by the ``show'' command.
6518
6519For example, ``set prompt new-gdb=>'' will change your prompt to new-gdb=>.
6520``Show prompt'' produces the response:
6521Gdb's prompt is new-gdb=>.
6522
6523What follows are the NEW set commands. The command ``help set'' will
6524print a complete list of old and new set commands. ``help set FOO''
6525will give a longer description of the variable FOO. ``show'' will show
6526all of the variable descriptions and their current settings.
6527
6528confirm on/off: Enables warning questions for operations that are
6529 hard to recover from, e.g. rerunning the program while
6530 it is already running. Default is ON.
6531
6532editing on/off: Enables EMACS style command line editing
6533 of input. Previous lines can be recalled with
6534 control-P, the current line can be edited with control-B,
6535 you can search for commands with control-R, etc.
6536 Default is ON.
6537
6538history filename NAME: NAME is where the gdb command history
6539 will be stored. The default is .gdb_history,
6540 or the value of the environment variable
6541 GDBHISTFILE.
6542
6543history size N: The size, in commands, of the command history. The
6544 default is 256, or the value of the environment variable
6545 HISTSIZE.
6546
6547history save on/off: If this value is set to ON, the history file will
6548 be saved after exiting gdb. If set to OFF, the
6549 file will not be saved. The default is OFF.
6550
6551history expansion on/off: If this value is set to ON, then csh-like
6552 history expansion will be performed on
6553 command line input. The default is OFF.
6554
6555radix N: Sets the default radix for input and output. It can be set
6556 to 8, 10, or 16. Note that the argument to "radix" is interpreted
6557 in the current radix, so "set radix 10" is always a no-op.
6558
6559height N: This integer value is the number of lines on a page. Default
6560 is 24, the current `stty rows'' setting, or the ``li#''
6561 setting from the termcap entry matching the environment
6562 variable TERM.
6563
6564width N: This integer value is the number of characters on a line.
6565 Default is 80, the current `stty cols'' setting, or the ``co#''
6566 setting from the termcap entry matching the environment
6567 variable TERM.
6568
6569Note: ``set screensize'' is obsolete. Use ``set height'' and
6570``set width'' instead.
6571
6572print address on/off: Print memory addresses in various command displays,
6573 such as stack traces and structure values. Gdb looks
6574 more ``symbolic'' if you turn this off; it looks more
6575 ``machine level'' with it on. Default is ON.
6576
6577print array on/off: Prettyprint arrays. New convenient format! Default
6578 is OFF.
6579
6580print demangle on/off: Print C++ symbols in "source" form if on,
6581 "raw" form if off.
6582
6583print asm-demangle on/off: Same, for assembler level printouts
6584 like instructions.
6585
6586print vtbl on/off: Prettyprint C++ virtual function tables. Default is OFF.
6587
6588
6589 * Support for Epoch Environment.
6590
6591The epoch environment is a version of Emacs v18 with windowing. One
6592new command, ``inspect'', is identical to ``print'', except that if you
6593are running in the epoch environment, the value is printed in its own
6594window.
6595
6596
6597 * Support for Shared Libraries
6598
6599GDB can now debug programs and core files that use SunOS shared libraries.
6600Symbols from a shared library cannot be referenced
6601before the shared library has been linked with the program (this
6602happens after you type ``run'' and before the function main() is entered).
6603At any time after this linking (including when examining core files
6604from dynamically linked programs), gdb reads the symbols from each
6605shared library when you type the ``sharedlibrary'' command.
6606It can be abbreviated ``share''.
6607
6608sharedlibrary REGEXP: Load shared object library symbols for files
6609 matching a unix regular expression. No argument
6610 indicates to load symbols for all shared libraries.
6611
6612info sharedlibrary: Status of loaded shared libraries.
6613
6614
6615 * Watchpoints
6616
6617A watchpoint stops execution of a program whenever the value of an
6618expression changes. Checking for this slows down execution
6619tremendously whenever you are in the scope of the expression, but is
6620quite useful for catching tough ``bit-spreader'' or pointer misuse
6621problems. Some machines such as the 386 have hardware for doing this
6622more quickly, and future versions of gdb will use this hardware.
6623
6624watch EXP: Set a watchpoint (breakpoint) for an expression.
6625
6626info watchpoints: Information about your watchpoints.
6627
6628delete N: Deletes watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
6629disable N: Temporarily turns off watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
6630enable N: Re-enables watchpoint number N (same as breakpoints).
6631
6632
6633 * C++ multiple inheritance
6634
6635When used with a GCC version 2 compiler, GDB supports multiple inheritance
6636for C++ programs.
6637
6638 * C++ exception handling
6639
6640Gdb now supports limited C++ exception handling. Besides the existing
6641ability to breakpoint on an exception handler, gdb can breakpoint on
6642the raising of an exception (before the stack is peeled back to the
6643handler's context).
6644
6645catch FOO: If there is a FOO exception handler in the dynamic scope,
6646 set a breakpoint to catch exceptions which may be raised there.
6647 Multiple exceptions (``catch foo bar baz'') may be caught.
6648
6649info catch: Lists all exceptions which may be caught in the
6650 current stack frame.
6651
6652
6653 * Minor command changes
6654
6655The command ``call func (arg, arg, ...)'' now acts like the print
6656command, except it does not print or save a value if the function's result
6657is void. This is similar to dbx usage.
6658
6659The ``up'' and ``down'' commands now always print the frame they end up
6660at; ``up-silently'' and `down-silently'' can be used in scripts to change
6661frames without printing.
6662
6663 * New directory command
6664
6665'dir' now adds directories to the FRONT of the source search path.
6666The path starts off empty. Source files that contain debug information
6667about the directory in which they were compiled can be found even
6668with an empty path; Sun CC and GCC include this information. If GDB can't
6669find your source file in the current directory, type "dir .".
6670
6671 * Configuring GDB for compilation
6672
6673For normal use, type ``./configure host''. See README or gdb.texinfo
6674for more details.
6675
6676GDB now handles cross debugging. If you are remotely debugging between
6677two different machines, type ``./configure host -target=targ''.
6678Host is the machine where GDB will run; targ is the machine
6679where the program that you are debugging will run.